To build upon a quarter-century of world-renowned research in zoonotic viral diseases, X.J. Meng has been rewarded with a prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award – the first awarded to Virginia Tech.  “This is a huge honor and privilege,” said Meng, University Distinguished Professor of Molecular Virology in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. “It is really gratifying to know ...

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard Universityreceived a contract for up to $12M from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s new SHIELD program. The SHIELD (Synthetic Hemo-technologies to Locate and Disinfect) program aims to develop a prophylactic treatment that can be broadly administered to trauma victims in combat casualty care scenarios to rapidly clear multiple bloodborne bacterial and fungal pathogens, limit morbidity and mortality, and protect recipients for up to seven days. Blood ...

The deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus, which has killed millions of birds worldwide since 2021 – and in rare cases can be transmitted to humans – may be spread through the food-stealing behaviour of some seabirds. A study published today in the journal Conservation Letters highlights food theft – also known as ‘kleptoparasitism’, where some seabird species like frigatebirds and skuas force other birds to regurgitate their prey – as a possible transmission path for the spread of avian flu. Led by scientists from UNSW Sydney’s ...

SAN ANTONIO — September 16, 2024 —Researchers from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) are creating innovative military helmet pads designed to prevent traumatic brain injury (TBI). The project, led by SwRI’s Dr. Daniel Portillo and UTSA’s Dr. Morteza Seidi, is supported by a $125,000 grant from the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) program. Traumatic brain injury can affect human performance and quality of life. It is ...

Indianapolis – Patients with low-risk cancers undergoing active surveillance face a favorable long-term prognosis. David Haggstrom, M.D., MAS, makes the case that it’s time for the medical field to help manage the anxiety caused by waiting. Dr. Haggstrom, a physician-researcher with Regenstrief Institute, the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Indianapolis and the Indiana University School of Medicine, is lead author of a Viewpoint article, published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical ...

The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, in partnership with leading sexual wellbeing company the Lovehoney Group and its Womanizer brand, has released early data from new nationally representative surveys exploring menopause knowledge, symptom management, medical care engagement, and health disparities among Americans.   Phase 1 surveyed of 1,500 American adults aged 18-88, to assess overall public knowledge and understanding of menopause. Phase 2 surveyed 1,500 women aged 40-65, to better understand women’s experiences with menopause. ...

DALLAS, September 16, 2024 — As the new school year begins, the American Heart Association is supporting student health and well-being by awarding financial grants to nearly 80 elementary, middle and high schools nationwide. These grants, part of the Association’s commitment to improve cardiovascular health for all people everywhere, will allow local schools in communities across the country to invest in vital resources such as new fitness equipment, water filling stations and health education ...

BALTIMORE, September 16, 2024— A new study from Kennedy Krieger Institute shows that the majority of children diagnosed with long COVID are likely to experience orthostatic intolerance (OI), a condition that causes the body to struggle with regulating blood pressure and heart rate when standing up. As a result, children often feel dizzy, lightheaded, fatigued and may experience “brain fog” or cognitive difficulties. Orthostatic intolerance includes disorders such as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and orthostatic hypotension. Among the patients studied, dizziness (67%), fatigue (25%), ...

New research highlights the precarious status of one of Madagascar's most threatened amphibians, the harlequin mantella (Mantella cowanii), revealing small population sizes and the possible extirpation of the species from several of its historic habitats. The findings underscore the urgent need for targeted conservation action to prevent the species from slipping further towards extinction. Research Findings: A Dire Situation  Amphibians around the world are facing unprecedented population declines, and Mantella cowanii is no exception. The study, which focused on confirming the frog’s presence at historic localities and estimating its population size ...

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation has joined forces with the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation to fund research leading to new treatments and a cure for RLS. Earlier this year, the AASM Foundation began an agreement with the RLS Foundation to co-fund basic and clinical RLS research. The partnership for 2024 includes the following research priorities: Neurobiological interaction: Elucidate the points of interaction between RLS-relevant neurotransmitters, neuronal pathways, and iron deficiency. Pharmacologic treatments: Elucidate effects of novel pharmacological approaches on RLS. Clinical practice: Research based on innovations in patient ...

Discovery expands understanding of how language is produced by the brain Current method of mapping brain language function for surgery using electrical stimulation hasn’t changed in 50 years Finding could make it easier on patients and doctors to identify critical language sites in the brain to preserve function after surgery CHICAGO --- When surgeons perform brain surgery on people with brain tumors or epilepsy, they need to remove the tumor or abnormal tissue while preserving parts of the brain that control language and movement. A new Northwestern Medicine study may better inform doctors’ ...

Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope to confirm that supermassive black holes can starve their host galaxies of the fuel they need to form new stars. The international team, co-led by the University of Cambridge, used Webb to observe a galaxy roughly the size of the Milky Way in the early universe, about two billion years after the Big Bang. Like most large galaxies, it has a supermassive black hole at its centre. However, this galaxy is essentially ‘dead’: it has mostly stopped forming new stars. “Based ...

Imagine you’re looking at millions upon millions of mysterious genetic mutations. With CRISPR gene-editing technology, a select few of these mutations might have therapeutic potential. However, proving it would mean many thousands of hours of lab work. Just figuring out which ones are worth exploring further would take a lot of time and money. But what if you could do it in the virtual realm with artificial intelligence? CREME is a new AI-powered virtual laboratory invented by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Assistant Professor Peter Koo and his team. It allows geneticists to run thousands of virtual experiments ...

Statement Highlights: There are a variety of interrelated social and structural factors that contribute to differences in cardiovascular health among Asian Americans, and these factors are likely different within individual Asian ethnic subgroups. Asian Americans and Asian immigrants are quite diverse and comprise many ethnic groups.  Social determinants, such as immigration-related factors, discrimination, socioeconomic status, English proficiency and cultural beliefs, may influence health behaviors, access to health care and the ability ...

Researchers from the Kind Group have gained new insights into the mechanism behind the spatial organization of DNA within the cells of early embryos. When an embryo is first formed after fertilization, each cell has the potential to become any cell type of the body. The researchers have studied the spatial organization of DNA that is so particular to these early developmental stages. The paper was published in Nature Genetics on September 16th, 2024.  Every cell in our body contains the same DNA. ...

A recent study conducted by researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and Fudan University has revealed a significant association between socioeconomic status (SES) inequality and the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Published in Health Data Science, the study highlights how a healthy lifestyle can mitigate some of the risks associated with low SES.   Socioeconomic disparities have long been a concern in various health outcomes. This study, led ...

Researchers at Uppsala University have developed a gel inspired by cow slime for patients suffering from disc herniation. By adding the mucin gel immediately after surgery, it is possible to create a protective barrier around the discs to prevent the immune system from attacking their nucleus pulposus. This keeps the discs intact and reduces the risk of further damage. “This new approach offers hope for those suffering from back pain caused by disc herniation and may prevent further damage after removing ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Developing friendships is often seen as a natural part of childhood but it may be easier for some kids than others. And many parents worry about their children’s friendships, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, with one in five saying their child ages six to 12 has no friends or not enough friends. Ninety percent of parents believe their child would like to make new friends. “Friendships can play a significant role in children’s overall health and development, emotional well-being, ...

Can artificial intelligence (AI) help reduce deaths in hospital? An AI-based system was able to reduce risk of unexpected deaths by identifying hospitalized patients at high risk of deteriorating health, found new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.240132. Rapid deterioration among hospitalized patients is the primary cause of unplanned admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Previous research has attempted to use technology to identify these patients, but evidence is mixed about the application of prediction tools to ...

People who eat more ultra-processed foods (UPF) are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but this risk can be lowered by consuming less processed foods instead, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL. The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe in collaboration with experts at the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, investigated the relationship between the degree of food processing and type 2 diabetes risk, including which kinds of UPF were most high-risk. The team analysed UPF intake and health outcomes for 311,892 individuals from eight European countries over 10.9 years on average, during which time 14,236 people developed type 2 ...

RESEARCH SUMMARY Study Title: SOLARIS (Alliance A021703): A multicenter double-blind phase III randomized clinical trial of vitamin D combined with standard chemotherapy plus bevacizumab in patients with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer. Publication: European Society for Medical Oncology 2024 Abstract LBA26 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute authors: Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, Nadine McCleary, MD, MPH, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, MD, MPH Summary: A double-blind randomized phase 3 clinical trial led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers and conducted across several hundred cancer centers in the U.S. tested the addition of high-dose ...

Long-term data from a landmark international trial show about half of patients with metastatic melanoma treated with a combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors survive cancer-free for 10 years or more, according to a new report from Weill Cornell Medicine and Dana-Farber Cancer Center investigators and their colleagues. The 10-year follow-up study, published Sept. 15 in the New England Journal of Medicine, will bring the phase 3 CheckMate 067 trial to a close. The trial, which followed 945 patients treated at 137 sites in 21 countries, demonstrated that combining ...

A new study allays fears that rerouting flights to avoid forming climate-warming contrails could result in inadvertently making climate warming worse.  Researchers from Sorbonne Universite and the University of Reading found that for most flights that form contrails in the North Atlantic, the climate benefit of avoiding the contrail outweighs the extra carbon dioxide emitted from flying a different route.   Contrail avoidance requires comparing the climate impacts of carbon dioxide and contrails, called CO2 equivalence. Different methods have been proposed, and the choice of which has been largely political. Scientists feared that some choices ...

Young patients can safely breastfeed without increasing the risk of cancer recurrence or new cancer in the opposite breast Telephone-based intervention can successfully prompt patients who are overweight to exercise more, lowering their weight BARCELONA, SPAIN – Three studies led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers have encouraging implications for patients with breast cancer. Two studies focus on breastfeeding after breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. The studies found it was safe and feasible for young patients carrying specific genetic variations to breastfeed without raising their risk of a cancer recurrence or a cancer in the other breast, and that it was safe ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Sept 10, 2024) –Menopausal women are at greater risk of insulin resistance as a result of declining estrogen levels. Previous studies evaluating the potential benefits of hormone therapy on insulin resistance have produced mixed results. However, a new meta-analysis of 17 different randomized, controlled trials suggests hormone therapy can be beneficial. Results of the meta-analysis will be presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society in Chicago September 10-14.   Insulin resistance can occur in men or women, but menopausal women are at ...