Latest News Releases 6 April

A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can help interpret and assess how well treatments are working for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been developed by UCL researchers.

Trier developed into a major economic and political center in the Roman Empire’s northern provinces, which as a result saw extensive construction activity, including the widespread use of fired bricks. By analyzing stamps on preserved bricks, researchers from Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Goethe University Frankfurt, and the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA) are investigating how the production and distribution of ancient building materials were organized in northern Gaul. The interdisciplinary project, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with a grant of €340,000, will run for two years.

Vaccination to prevent shingles also reduces the risk of developing dementia in later life, according to a research paper published recently in Nature. This conclusion is based on the analysis of data collected in connection with the introduction of a shingles immunization program launched in Wales in 2013. Economists with their special expertise in statistical analyses have made a significant contribution to the corresponding study.

Article about Dr. Leeat Keren’s research, Dept. of Molecular Cell Biology, on CombPlex—an AI-assisted method that enables imaging dozens of proteins in tissue samples at once, offering a new, scalable tool for biomedical research and clinical diagnostics

A new study by the University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Finland, found that a significant proportion of Parkinson's disease diagnoses are later corrected. Up to one in six diagnoses changed after ten years of follow-up, and the majority of new diagnoses were made within two years of the original diagnosis. 

SISSA Medialab has successfully completed the first phase of Janeway’s development to meet the specific needs of its journals. As of April 8, 2025, the Journal of Science Communication (JCOM) has finalized its migration to the platform. The transition also includes the launch of JCOM’s new logo, reflecting the journal’s updated digital identity. This milestone marks a crucial step in the broader transition to bring all SISSA Medialab-managed journals onto Janeway, the open-source platform initially developed by the Open Library of Humanities based at Birkbeck, University of London, as part of the Open Libraries of Humanities initiative.

A new study presented today at the European Psychiatric Association Congress 2025 reveals significant socioeconomic inequalities in unmet needs for mental health care across European Union countries, with financial barriers disproportionately affecting lower-income populations.  

Chinese scientists have revealed a hidden metabolic partnership between breast cancer cells and immune cells that drives aggressive tumor behavior and resistance to immunotherapies. The study sheds light on how tumor cells exploit the amino acid arginine to both fuel their growth and evade the immune system.