A study shows blood tests that check for fetal disorders can sometimes hint at cancer in pregnant women.

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health.

Nearly two dozen retired research chimpanzees will be relocated from New Mexico to a sanctuary in Louisiana.

According to the National Institutes of Health, urinary incontinence affects twice as many women as men. And much of it has to do with pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. But one latest treatment called FormaV uses radio frequency to help ease and get rid of symptoms. It’s being touted as having a “surgery-like result” without the surgery.

Federal health officials are strengthening their endorsement of RSV vaccinations for people 75 and older.

Reports of a rare nervous system disorder are “more common than expected” in older U.S. adults who got the new RSV vaccines.

An array of advanced tests found no brain injuries or degeneration among U_S_ diplomats who suffer mysterious health problems once dubbed “Havana syndrome.”.

Health officials are investigating whether there's a link between two new RSV vaccines and cases of a rare nervous system disorder.

Women are far more likely than men to get autoimmune diseases, illnesses like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis that occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks their own bodies.

The Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to two scientists whose work led to mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

Americans 60 and older can get a new RSV vaccine but should discuss it with their doctor first.

President Joe Biden has tapped a cancer specialist to become director of the National Institutes of Health.

A new study from the National Institutes of Health looked at serum sodium data from 11,000 people. That number increases when we drink less.

Thousands of Americans who shared their DNA for science are about to learn if they have some particularly worrisome genes.

Women using chemical hair-straightening products are at a higher risk of uterine cancer than women who reported not using them, a new study by the National Institutes of Health found.

The U.S. government will soon spend $25 million to help patients access experimental drugs for the incurable illness known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, says he plans to retire by the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January 2025.

Some cancer patients can safely skip radiation or chemotherapy after surgery.

Scientists are getting their first peek at the genes of nearly 100,000 Americans in what's considered a uniquely diverse genomic database.

A U.S. health official suggests there may never be a test to measure whether someone who had COVID-19 is still infectious.

The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis S.

The U.S. government scientist who helped design one of the first COVID-19 vaccines and then tackled skepticism of the shots in communities of color is getting a new research home.

The FDA said J&J’s vaccine offers strong protection against what matters most: serious illness, hospitalizations and death. The J&J vaccine also is easier to handle, lasting three months in the refrigerator compared to the Pfizer and Moderna options, which must be frozen. Like other COVID-19 vaccines, the main side effects of the J&J shot are pain at the injection site and flu-like fever, fatigue and headache. All COVID-19 vaccines train the body to recognize the new coronavirus, usually by spotting the spikey protein that coats it. It’s the same technology the company used in making an Ebola vaccine, and similar to COVID-19 vaccines made by AstraZeneca and China’s CanSino Biologics.

From left, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients, Burn, registered nurse Elizabeth Galloway, and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci. On Thursday, Biden marked the administration of the 50 millionth dose of COVID-19 vaccine since his swearing-in. “We’re halfway there: 50 million shots in 37 days," Biden said. “We’ll have the vaccine waiting,” Biden said, predicting that point could come within 60 to 90 days. Ad“We have a plan to roll it out as quickly as Johnson & Johnson can make it," Biden said.

A federal judge late Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, indefinitely banned President Joe Biden's administration from enforcing a 100-day moratorium on most deportations. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)HOUSTON – A federal judge late Tuesday indefinitely banned President Joe Biden's administration from enforcing a 100-day moratorium on most deportations. Biden proposed the 100-day pause on deportations during his campaign as part of a larger review of immigration enforcement and an attempt to reverse the priorities of former President Donald Trump. Even without a moratorium, immigration agencies have wide latitude in enforcing removals and processing cases. AdIt was not immediately clear if the Biden administration will appeal Tipton's latest ruling.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden wants to raise refugee admissions to 62,500 for the current budget year, overriding former President Donald Trump’s record-low limit of 15,000, a U.S. official and others said Thursday. Trump set the ceiling on refugee admissions in October when the 2021 budget year started, and it runs until September 30. Biden's proposal of 62,500 would replace that, and the president has already announced plans to raise admissions to twice that amount in 2022. Trump targeted the refugee program under his anti-immigration policies, dropping admissions yearly until they reached a record low of 15,000. Biden, who co-sponsored legislation creating the refugee program in 1980, has said reopening the doors to refugees is “how we will restore the soul of our nation.”Ad___Watson reported from San Diego.

President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, in Bethesda, Md. – President Joe Biden said Thursday that the U.S. will have enough supply of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the summer to inoculate 300 million Americans. He toured the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory that created the COVID-19 vaccine now manufactured by Moderna and being rolled out in the U.S. and other countries. The U.S. is on pace to exceed Biden’s goal of administering 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office, with more than 26 million shots delivered in his first three weeks. On the tour, Biden was shown the lab bench where researchers sequenced the virus and developed the precursor of the Moderna vaccine.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks after receiving her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the National Institutes of Health, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, marking her first call to a foreign leader since entering the White House. The detained Canadians are a top priority for Trudeau, and Canada has pushed Washington to apply pressure on Beijing to release them. AdA senior official familiar with the call said Harris proactively brought up the two detained Canadians herself — something that was appreciated by Trudeau and Canadian officials. Canada has traditionally been the first foreign stop for new U.S. presidents, and Biden's first call to a foreign leader was to Trudeau, made the Friday after he was sworn in.

Past studies have shown that women who go through menopause before the age of 45 have an increased risk of early death, cognitive decline, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.

FILE - In this Dec. 22, 2020, file photo Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, prepares to receive his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Dr. Anthony Fauci endorsed the decision of U.S. officials to require negative COVID-19 tests before letting people from Britain enter the U.S. He declined to weigh in on whether that step should have been taken sooner. He said the variant strain is something “to follow very carefully” and “we’re looking at it very intensively now.”He said: “Does it make someone more ill? Fauci spoke on CNN's “State of the Union.”

The U.S. is poised to give the green light as early as Friday, Dec. 18, to a second COVID-19 vaccine, a critical new weapon against the surging coronavirus. The move marks the world’s first authorization for Moderna’s shots. FDA’s decision could help pave the way for other countries that are considering the Moderna vaccine, the first-ever regulatory clearance for the small Cambridge, Massachusetts, company. Injections of health workers and nursing home residents continue next week, before other essential workers and vulnerable groups are allowed to get in line. But there was a hint that Moderna’s shot might provide some protection against asymptomatic infection.

CVS Health and Walgreens on Friday are beginning to offer COVID-19 vaccinations for residents and staff at those long-term care facilities, making them among the first Americans to receive the shots, CNBC reported. Walgreens said its pharmacists will administer the shots at nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Ohio, Connecticut and Florida. CVS said it will provide them at facilities in Ohio and Connecticut. Both companies will expand to facilities in other states next week. For more, go to CNBC’s full report.

FDA’s decision could help pave the way for other countries that are considering the Moderna vaccine, the first-ever regulatory clearance for the small Cambridge, Massachusetts, company. Britain, Canada and a few other countries already have cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, with a European Union decision due Monday. The FDA’s main messages:--Both the new Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech shot require two doses several weeks apart. --In a study of 30,000 volunteers, the Moderna vaccine was more than 94% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in people 18 and older. Like with the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, expect sore arms, fever, fatigue and muscle aches, which are signs the immune system is revving up.

Moderna’s shot showed similarly strong effectiveness, providing 94% protection against COVID-19 in the company’s ongoing study of 30,000 people. Moderna’s vaccine uses the same groundbreaking technology as Pfizer-BioNTech’s shot. Both require two doses; Moderna's is four weeks apart. After the FDA acts, U.S. officials plan to move out an initial shipment of nearly 6 million Moderna doses. The government’s Operation Warp Speed program has orders for 200 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks at a drive-in rally for Georgia Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):7:55 p.m.President-elect Joe Biden has formally announced former rival Pete Buttigieg as his pick to be secretary of transportation. ___1:30 p.m.President-elect Joe Biden says he’s spoken with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after the Electoral College affirmed his victory Monday. ___8:40 a.m.Two foreign leaders who had not congratulated President-elect Joe Biden have now done so. ___7:30 a.m.Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris should be vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as possible.

Nurse Melissa Valentin shows a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be applied to medical personnel at the Ashford Presbyterian Community Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. Packed in dry ice, shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine began arriving Tuesday at more than 400 additional hospitals and other distribution sites. That projection assumes swift authorization of the Moderna vaccine, which also requires two shots for full protection. Elsewhere around the world, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is being given in Britain and Canada. The Moderna vaccine was more than 94% effective overall at preventing COVID-19 illness, and 86% effective in people 65 and older.

How could scientists race out COVID-19 vaccines so fast without cutting corners? A head start helped -- over a decade of behind-the-scenes research that had new vaccine technology poised for a challenge just as the coronavirus erupted. Both shots -- one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, the other by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health -- are so-called messenger RNA, or mRNA, vaccines, a brand-new technology. U.S. regulators are set to decide this month whether to allow emergency use, paving the way for rationed shots that will start with health workers and nursing home residents. Traditionally, making vaccines required growing viruses or pieces of viruses — often in giant vats of cells or, like most flu shots, in chicken eggs — and then purifying them before next steps in brewing shots.

As part of our Ask 2 series, the newsroom will answer your questions about all things Houston. Question: When the COVID-19 vaccine is released to the public, how much is going to cost and who is going to pay for it? Answer: Recent reports offer hope that the coronavirus vaccine will be widely available at no additional cost in the United States. Under the Trump Administration, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking steps to ensure all Americans have access to the COVID-19 vaccine at no cost when it becomes available, its website states. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we have developed a comprehensive plan to support the swift and successful distribution of a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said.

Moderna said its vaccine appears to be 94.5% effective, according to preliminary data from an ongoing study. Moderna’s vaccine is being studied in 30,000 volunteers who received either the real thing or a dummy shot. Moderna’s vaccine also starts off frozen, but the company said Monday it can be thawed and kept in a regular refrigerator for 30 days, easing that concern. Both Moderna's shots and the Pfizer-BioNTech candidate are so-called mRNA vaccines, a brand-new technology. Instead, the vaccine contains a piece of genetic code that trains the immune system to recognize the spiked protein on the surface of the virus.

(AP Photo/Hans Pennink)BOSTON – Microsoft said it has detected attempts by state-backed Russian and North Korean hackers to steal valuable data from leading pharmaceutical companies and vaccine researchers. Chinese state-backed hackers have also been targeting vaccine-makers, the U.S. government said in July while announcing criminal charges. Two others were North Korea’s Lazarus Group and a group Microsoft calls Cerium. The Lazarus Group posed as job recruiters while Cerium targeted spear-phishing emails that masqueraded as missives from World Health Organization representatives, Microsoft said. Optimism about a COVID-19 vaccine has grown since pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced earlier this week that preliminary data showed its vaccine to be 90% effective.

___5:30 p.m.Joe Biden is denouncing disruptive demonstrations by supporters of President Donald Trump across the country. Trump tweeted a video of the caravan and declared, “I LOVE TEXAS!” Biden also referenced reports that Trump supporters shut down a major roadway in New Jersey. ___12:25 p.m.Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris says Black voters are critical to defeating President Donald Trump and electing Joe Biden president. ___11:55 a.m.President Donald Trump is braving flurries and a stiff wind chill as he rallies thousands of supporters in Michigan. Biden’s return to Philadelphia underscores the significance of Pennsylvania, the Rust Belt state that helped deliver President Donald Trump the White House four years ago.

WASHINGTON – A high-ranking government whistleblower who alleges the Trump administration fumbled its coronavirus response resigned Tuesday, saying he has been forced out. Attorneys Debra Katz and Lisa Banks said NIH superiors ignored a national coronavirus testing strategy that Bright developed because he had become politically toxic within the Trump administration. The Food and Drug Administration ultimately revoked emergency authority for using the malaria drug to treat coronavirus patients. Trump, infected with the coronavirus and hospitalized over the weekend, is now back at the White House. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge.” He says he plans to return to the campaign trail.

“We are working with partners to understand how we might collaborate on the potential development of a COVID-19 vaccine through human challenge studies,” the U.K. Department for Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy said in a prepared statement. Those preliminary steps include examining the ethics of a challenge study, and funding research to create lab-grown virus strains that potentially could be used. The Financial Times newspaper reported Wednesday that the government planned to sponsor a challenge study that is set to begin in January. He told the BBC that there was a “long history” of challenge studies and that the risk to young and healthy people is low. In May, the World Health Organization issued a report on the ethical considerations for conducting a challenge study.

But public fears that a vaccine is unsafe or ineffective could be disastrous, derailing the effort to vaccinate millions of Americans. DOING THE MATHThe FDA already has told manufacturers it won't consider any vaccine that's less than 50% effective. On the other hand, if equal numbers from the vaccine and placebo groups got infected, the DSMB might declare a vaccine futile, he told The Associated Press. These panels also can calculate infections even before that 150 threshold is met, at set time points in each study. Several vaccine candidates made by Chinese companies are in late stages of testing in various countries, but with smaller numbers of volunteers.

Final-stage testing of the vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., began with volunteers at various U.S. sites given either a real shot or a dummy without being told which. In Washington, the White House disclosed that national security adviser Robert OBrien has the coronavirus the highest-ranking U.S. official to test positive so far. In Binghamton, New York, nurse Melissa Harting received one of the first injections of the Moderna vaccine candidate. But the U.S. requires its own tests of any vaccine that might be used in the country. Every month through the fall, the government-funded COVID-19 Prevention Network will roll out a new study of a leading candidate, each with 30,000 volunteers, to test not only whether the shots work but whether they are safe.

Many scientists dont expect a coronavirus vaccine to be nearly as protective as the measles shot. If the best COVID-19 vaccine is only 50% effective, "thats still to me a great vaccine, said Dr. Drew Weissman of the University of Pennsylvania. About 15 experimental COVID-19 vaccines are in various stages of human studies worldwide. Nothing is going to be easy.The Oxford shot, with a 10,000-person study underway in England, already encountered that hurdle. EXPECT IMPERFECT PROTECTIONAnimal research suggests COVID-19 vaccines could prevent serious disease but may not completely block infection.

HOUSTON – According to new studies the amount of time kids spend using electronics can have a negative effect on their progress in school. The National Institutes of Health said children under 2 should have no screen time and kids over the age of 2 should be limited to one to two hours a day. Too much time spent on electronics can effect kids sleep patterns, raise the risk of anxiety, depression, cause attention problems, childhood obesity and their schoolwork. They also said remove the t-v or computer from children's bedrooms, do not let children eat while watching t-v or using the computer, don't leave a television on just for background noise, and don't let children watch television while doing homework. The National Institutes of Health said parents can also help by setting an example and reducing their screen time to two hours or less a day.