Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 12 January 2026    Follow @Annalsofim on X, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and Linkedin              Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing ...

Seattle, WA — In a groundbreaking study published in the in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scientists at Pacific Northwest Research Institute (PNRI) have overturned a long-held belief in genetics: that inheriting two harmful variants in the same gene always worsens disease. Instead, the team found that, in many cases, two harmful variants can actually restore normal protein function. The research focused on a human enzyme called argininosuccinate lyase (ASL), ...

For decades, researchers have focused on the problem of overgrazing, in which expanding herds of cattle and other livestock degrade grasslands, steppes and desert plains. But a new global study reveals that in large regions of the world, livestock numbers are substantially declining, not growing — a process the authors call destocking. “We often assume that rangelands are being degraded because we overgraze them, but the data show that it's not the whole story: nearly half of livestock production occurs in areas that have experienced destocking over the past 25 years,” said study co-author Osvaldo Sala, an ecologist and professor ...

Kyoto, Japan -- While investigating the FGF21-oxytocin-dopamine system, a mechanism that regulates sugar appetite, a team of researchers at Kyoto University noticed reports suggesting that the protein FGF21 may regulate alcohol ingestion. The team's original aim had been to address sugar appetite in lifestyle-related diseases, but since alcohol is a fermented product of sugar, they speculated that perhaps the body contains a system that recognizes both alcohol and sugar as the same entity. Excessive alcohol consumption is a major global health issue, and ...

Researchers at University of California San Diego have identified a previously unrecognized treatment target for triple‑negative breast cancer (TNBC), the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer. Their new study reveals that a protein called PUF60 plays an essential role in helping TNBC cells grow and survive by controlling how key genes are spliced. In models of TNBC, disrupting the activity of PUF60 caused widespread errors in gene processing, resulting in DNA damage, cell‑cycle arrest and ultimately tumor cell death. ...

For her decades of thoughtful Society leadership and energetic committee participation, the Seismological Society of America  will present Ruth Harris with its 2026 Distinguished Service Award. Harris will receive the award at the 2026 SSA Annual Meeting. Harris, a senior research geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, joined SSA in 1987. She was first elected as an SSA Board Member from 1997 to 2003. She served as SSA Vice President from 2005-2007, and twice as SSA President, from 2015-2016 and from 2023-2024. In ...

The Berlin Aging Study was carried out by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Freie Universität Berlin, and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in cooperation with partners from geriatrics, psychology, psychiatry, and the social sciences. BASE is regarded as a pioneering project of multidisciplinary gerontology, examining the lives of older Berliners aged between 70 and over 100 years. A window into life in old age Between 1990 and 1993, 516 inhabitants of former West-Berlin were interviewed and ...

Researchers from the IIASA Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program are involved in the recently launched EU-funded Trees4Adapt project. The project focuses on tree-based solutions for climate adaptation, aiming to strengthen Europe’s adaptation and resilience to climate change in a way that supports people and nature. Climate change and biodiversity loss are two of the most pressing challenges of our time. These crises are deeply interconnected, creating complex risks that threaten ecosystems, human wellbeing, and the economy. Yet, current decision-making and land-use planning often fails to account for this interconnectedness, limiting ...

Scientists at The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation have identified a previously unknown molecular safeguard that protects the heart during pregnancy, shedding new light on the causes of peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM), a rare and life-threatening form of pregnancy-related heart failure.  In a study published in Nature Communications, Michelle L. Matter, PhD, and her team reveal that the gene PTRH2 plays a critical role in helping the maternal heart adapt to pregnancy-induced stress.  “This work identifies a previously unrecognized molecular safeguard in the heart,” said Dr. Matter. “Understanding how the heart normally ...

BATON ROUGE, La. – Pennington Biomedical Research Center’s Dr. Gang Hu of the Center’s Chronic Disease Epidemiology Lab was recently appointed to serve as a member of the Population Sciences and Epidemiology Integrated Review Group (IRG) for the NIH Reproductive, Perinatal and Pediatric Health (RPPH) study section. The IRG for the RPPH previews applications submitted to the NIH, makes recommendations on the applications to ...

A new study demonstrates the effectiveness of a widely-used eye injection to manage the previously untreatable rare condition, hypotony, in a project by clinical researchers at University College London (UCL) and Moorfields Eye Hospital. Hypotony is characterised by abnormally low eye pressure, which alters the eye’s normal shape and internal structure. Over time, this can lead to progressive and permanent vision loss, often taking several years to result in blindness. Hypotony may develop as a result of underlying eye conditions that damage the part of the eye responsible for producing the fluid that maintains normal eye pressure. Until now, ...

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Fabric has long been difficult to render digitally because of the myriad ways different yarns can be woven or knitted together. Now, Cornell researchers, in partnership with the technology company NVIDIA, have developed a method for creating digital images of cloth that more accurately captures the texture of textiles. The team’s new study, presented Dec. 16 at the Association for Computing Machinery’s SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 meeting in Hong Kong, models how light interacts with yarns – both as it passes through and reflects ...

  Illustrations of brain cancer digital twin   A new machine-learning-based approach to mapping real-time tumor metabolism in brain cancer patients, developed at the University of Michigan, could help doctors discover which treatment strategies are most likely to be effective against individual cases of glioma. The team verified the accuracy of the model by comparing it against human patient data and running mouse experiments.   The study, published in Cell Metabolism, builds on previous research showing that some gliomas can be slowed down ...

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have uncovered new details about how a once-deadly coronavirus disease in cats spreads through the immune system. The findings may help scientists better understand long COVID and other long-lasting inflammatory illnesses in people. The disease, feline infectious peritonitis or FIP, is caused by a form of feline coronavirus that changes inside some cats. If left untreated, it is almost always fatal. While FIP only affects cats, it shares many features with serious coronavirus-related conditions in humans, including ...

The Paulson Family Foundation announced an additional $19 million donation to Hebrew University. Together with the foundation's previous donation of $27 million, this brings its total support to $46 million. The donation will be used for expansion of a state-of-the-art research and teaching complex dedicated to STEM disciplines critical to Israel's high-tech future. The combined gifts represent one of the largest donations ever received by the Hebrew University, and represent a significant investment in Israeli higher education and innovation. Both donations are designated for the expansion of a cutting-edge complex on the Edmond J. Safra Campus in Givat Ram, ...

A new international partnership between institutes in Canada and Estonia is accelerating community-based clean energy transformation in the European Union, with benefits for island communities abroad and across Canada.   The ACET–Estonian Islands Community Energy Partnership unites the University of Victoria (UVic)-led Accelerating Community Energy Transformation (ACET) initiative with the Estonian Islands Energy Agency (EISEA) to co-design and deliver applied clean energy research that responds directly to local priorities.   By ...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories generated a record $5.2 billion in economic impact in 2025, marking the 17th consecutive year Sandia has set a new high, according to its annual economic impact report released this week. The total represents a $40.5 million increase from 2024 and more than doubles Sandia’s economic impact from 12 years ago, reinforcing the laboratories’ role as one of New Mexico’s largest employers and economic engines. “Sandia has been a strong part of New Mexico’s economy for more than 75 years,” said Labs Director Laura McGill.  “We are extremely ...

Mutations in the tumor suppressor TP53 are a common cause of cancer, making the altered protein an attractive target for therapeutics. Among them, the Y220C mutation is the ninth most frequent and it creates a small crevice in the mutant protein that is not present in the wild type conformation. This druggable cavity has led to the development of small molecules such as rezatapopt that are designed to restore p53 and reactivate its normal tumor suppressor function. Rezatapopt has shown promising efficacy in early studies, but as with most targeted therapies, patients can eventually ...

Under tennis’s rules, the winner of a match is the player who wins the greater number of sets. In the majority of cases, that is also the player who wins the most games, too—but not always.  Ahead of this year’s Australian Open, a team of game theorists has highlighted a rare but striking fairness problem: a player can win a match on sets while winning fewer games overall than their opponent. In their research, which appears in the Journal of Sports Analytics, New York University’s Steven Brams, Wilfrid Laurier University’s Marc Kilgour, and King’s College London’s Mehmet Mars Seven analyzed more ...

Diagnoses of depression, one of the most common mental disorders, increased by nearly 50% between 1990 and 2017, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Currently, depression affects around 5% of the world's population. In Catalonia, the number of people diagnosed with the condition has also risen significantly in recent years. Between 2017 and 2022, the figures for depression and mood disorders grew by 86.6%, as reported by Catalonia's public network of primary healthcare centres. New technologies to ...

Although honey bees have the ability to regulate hive temperatures, new research published in Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology shows that extreme summer heat can overwhelm these critical pollinators' cooling systems, leading to significant colony population declines. The research in “Negative Effects of Excessive Heat on Colony Thermoregulation and Population Dynamics in Honey Bees,” conducted during a hot Arizona summer, monitored nine honey bee colonies through three months of temperatures that frequently exceeded 40°C (104°F). The results indicate that intensifying heat waves worldwide represent a significant threat to honey bees ...

January 12, 2026 – New research has identified that neuroinflammation driven by microglia (immune cells in the brain) is a primary underlying driver of prolonged negative feelings caused by repeated, sustained binge drinking (binge exposure). Negative emotional states caused by alcohol contribute to alcohol use disorder (AUD) and its associated mental health conditions such as depression. The findings from a study in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier, open the door for immune therapies to treat AUD, for which effective treatments are currently limited. The natural history of AUD ...

About The Study: This qualitative analysis characterizes the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) decision-making with respect to the regulation of mifepristone, with a particular interest in the agency’s rationale for establishing, maintaining, or modifying key components of its regulatory approach over time. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, G. Caleb Alexander, MD, MS, email galexan9@jhmi.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2025.23091) Editor’s ...

About The Study: Despite decades of guidelines cautioning against their use, many older adults receive potentially inappropriate central nervous system-active medications. Patients with cognitive impairment were more likely than those with normal cognition to receive such medications. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, John N. Mafi, MD, MPH, email jmafi@mednet.ucla.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2025.23697) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, ...

Despite years of clinical guidelines warning against the practice, one in four Medicare beneficiaries with dementia is prescribed brain-altering medications linked to falls, confusion, and hospitalization, according to new research to be published January 12 in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA. While prescriptions for these medications fell from 20% to 16% over the nine-year study period among all Medicare beneficiaries, they continue to be prescribed to individuals with cognitive impairment who are particularly susceptible ...