Latest News Releases 2 April

3-Apr-2025

MIT engineers develop a way to mass manufacture nanoparticles that deliver cancer drugs directly to tumors

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

MIT researchers developed a manufacturing technique that rapidly generates large quantities of nanoparticles coated with drug-delivering polymers, which hold great potential for treating cancer. The particles can be targeted directly to tumors, where they release their payload while avoiding many of the side effects of traditional chemotherapy.

Journal: Advanced Functional Materials
Funder: U.S. National Institutes of Health, Marble Center for Nanomedicine, Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, Koch Institute Support (core) Grant from the National Cancer Institute

3-Apr-2025

New COVID-19 drug shows greater promise against resistant viral strains

Rutgers University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A second-generation compound outperforms predecessor in the fight against coronavirus.

Journal: Nature Communications

3-Apr-2025

New method assesses and improves the reliability of radiologists’ diagnostic reports

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reports and Proceedings

A new method assesses and improves the reliability of radiologists’ diagnostic reports. The framework helps clinicians choose terms that more accurately reflect the likelihood that certain conditions are present in X-rays.

Funder: Takeda Fellowship, MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, MIT CSAIL Wistrom Program, MIT Jameel Clinic

3-Apr-2025

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Biology by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, conducted by researchers from MARE, reveals new insights into the reproductive biology of the sheatfish, also known as the European catfish, in the Tagus River. Carried out as part of the LIFE-PREDATOR project (https://lifepredator.eu/), this study is the first to analyze the reproductive biology of the catfish populations in the Iberian Peninsula and one of the few conducted within its invasion area.

Journal: Journal of Vertebrate Biology

3-Apr-2025

Pharmacies often won’t sell syringes without a prescription, exacerbating bloodborne disease transmission

Oregon State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

More than two-fifths of Oregon community pharmacies require a prescription to purchase syringes, even though they can be sold over the counter, creating an access barrier that could exacerbate the spread of bloodborne diseases like hepatitis C.

Journal: Harm Reduction Journal
Funder: American Pharmacists Association

3-Apr-2025

Successful therapy confirmed for newborns with the fatal metabolic disorder MoCD type A

University of Cologne
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Early administration of the drug Fosdenopterin/rcPMP improves the chances of survival of infants with MoCD type A and promotes the development of brain functions / publication in the Journal of Inherited Metabolic Diseases

Journal: Journal of Inherited Metabolic Disease

3-Apr-2025

Firefly light gives rise to sensor that detects cellular alterations

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An enzyme cloned from an insect found by Brazilian researchers – and genetically modified – makes it possible to monitor intracellular acidity and could be used to study diseases and drugs.

Journal: Biosensors
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

3-Apr-2025

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

American College of Physicians
Grant and Award Announcement

Today, the American College of Physicians (ACP) announced that it has awarded a total of $260,000 in grants to support regional programs that address equity challenges in obesity care.

3-Apr-2025

Climate change and prehistoric human populations: Eastward shift of settlement areas at the end of the last ice age

University of Cologne
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An archaeological study of human settlement during the Final Palaeolithic revealed that populations in Europe did not decrease homogenously during the last cold phase of the Ice Age. Significant variation in regional population sizes indicate differentiated reactions nested in an overall shift of settlement areas towards the east / publication in PLOS One

Journal: PLOS One

3-Apr-2025

Promising drug discovery research gets funding boost from Ontario Institute for Cancer Research

Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
Grant and Award Announcement

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) has announced its support for five Ontario research teams working to develop the next generation of medicines that kill tumours more effectively, cause fewer side effects and reduce the risk that cancer will come back.

3-Apr-2025

Mass General Brigham researchers reveal 17 modifiable risk factors shared by stroke, dementia, and late-life depression

Mass General Brigham
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new extensive systematic review, Mass General Brigham researchers identified 17 modifiable risk factors that are shared by stroke, dementia, and late-life depression. Modifying any one of them can reduce your risk of all three conditions. The findings, which provide evidence to inform novel tools, such as the Brain Care Score, are published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry.

Journal: Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry

3-Apr-2025

Healthy nutrition and physical lifestyle choices lower cancer mortality risk for survivors, new ACS study finds

American Cancer Society
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In 2022, the American Cancer Society (ACS) updated its nutrition and activity guidelines for cancer survivors, recommending they avoid obesity, stay physically active, eat a healthy diet, and limit alcohol intake. New research by ACS scientists shows a lifestyle aligned with these guidelines is associated with a lower mortality risk among non-smoking survivors of obesity-related cancers in the United States. Survivors who maintained a healthy lifestyle both before and after their diagnosis — or those who improved their habits after diagnosis — also had a lower mortality risk. The study is out today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute

1 April

From pets to people: canine eyedrop study offers insights for human eye care

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Researchers teach LLMs to solve complex planning challenges

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Breakthrough in conductive polymers: First successful synthesis of polyaniline with golden luster

University of Tsukuba

1 April