Health and Medicine
Using Mathematical Modelling to Predict Biology – Professor Stuart C. Sealfon, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
With unprecedented advances in scientific research comes a growing body of data. Accurately interpreting these data is a significant obstacle to an improved understanding of biological systems and their behaviour during disease. To overcome this challenge, Dr Stuart...
An Innovative Approach to Vascular Drug Delivery – Cylerus
Prosthetic vascular grafts for dialysis access have a limited lifespan and usefulness due to inflammation, infection and especially blood vessel narrowing at the site of graft implantation. Consequently, patients need repeated surgeries to revise or replace the...
Playing Voice Messages to Improve Hygiene and Health – Dr Stephen Lane, Stargates Inc.
Hand hygiene is the most cost-effective approach to preventing the transmission of infectious diseases in hospitals. While there has been much effort towards improving hand hygiene by healthcare workers, patients are seldom targeted. To this end, Dr Stephen Lane,...
Could a Better Understanding of Bacteria Prevent Colorectal Cancer- Professor Jason M. Crawford, Yale University
Our digestive system contains trillions of bacterial cells, constituting a highly diverse community of microorganisms living within us that can influence human physiology and cause disease. Dr Jason Crawford at Yale University has extensively researched some of the...
Combatting Cancer – Breakthrough Research Against the Dreaded Disease – Dr Anthony Berdis and Dr Jung-Suk Choi
In essence, cancer cannot be ‘cured’, but it can be vigorously treated. However, many of the treatments currently used to combat cancer often cause harmful side-effects, that are sometimes even more dangerous than the disease itself. Dr Anthony Berdis and his team at...
Tackling the Obesity Epidemic – Professor Barry Popkin, University of North Carolina
Capacitors are a vital component in virtually every electronic device we use, and yet, innovations that make them more efficient have been a long time coming. Mr John Fraley and his colleagues at Wolfspeed, A Cree Company, and International Femtoscience are now...
An Integrated Approach To Fighting Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Dr Claudio Fiocchi, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) causes significant pain and discomfort to sufferers and severely affects quality of life. Research on IBD focusing on the individual contributing factors has failed to provide truly effective treatment options, and the broader picture...
HTLV-1 The Forgotten Cousin of HIV – Professor Charles Bangham, Imperial College London
The catastrophic impact of HIV – human immunodeficiency virus – is well-known worldwide. Not so well known is its distant cousin HTLV-1, human T cell leukaemia virus type 1, which also has the potential to destroy lives. The study of HTLV-1 can shed light on HIV...
Bile Acids Are Not Just for Digestion – Professors Phillip Hylemon and Huiping Zhou, Virginia Commonwealth University
Over the last two decades, bile acids have gone from being thought of as mere helpers during digestion of fats and fat-soluble vitamins, to crucial players in the signalling pathways operating in the liver. Professor Phillip Hylemon and Professor Huiping Zhou, from...
Biological Mechanisms Link Smoking, Lung Cancer and Ethnicity – Professor Stephen Hecht and Colleagues
Cigarette smoking is a leading cause of cancer globally. Dr Stephen Hecht and co-workers at the University of Minnesota are investigating the substances present in cigarette smoke and in the urine and saliva of cigarette smokers that contribute to lung cancer. In a...
Understanding Hearing at the Cellular Level – Professor David Furness, Keele University
How do we hear and process sound? Professor David Furness at Keele University, UK, is endeavouring to answer this question. By utilising modern microscopical techniques, his team is visualising and identifying the proteins that enable us to convert sound into...
Understanding the Pathogenic Mechanisms of Intracellular Bacteria – Dr Darren Higgins, Harvard Medical School
Dr Darren Higgins and his team at Harvard Medical School use a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the mechanisms involved in the growth and spread of disease-causing bacteria that invade human cells. The team is developing new therapies to combat these...
Raising the Bar in Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation – The Medical University of South Carolina’s Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE)
Despite the high number of stroke survivors worldwide, research to help those with chronic disabilities after stroke has long been underemphasised. The Medical University of South Carolina’s Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Stroke Recovery aims to...
Complexed Drugs for Complex Diseases – Dr Joseph Anthoney Vetro, University of Nebraska Medical Center
RNA interference is a genetic mechanism for altering the expression of genes that is being developed to fight cancer. By increasing the activity of RNA interference molecules in solid tumours after administration into the blood stream, Dr Joseph Vetro and his group at...
Education and Health Disparity Across the US – Drs Mark D. Hayward & Jennifer Karas Montez
Adults living in certain US states suffer from more illnesses, more disability, and die sooner than residents of others. Dr Mark D. Hayward of the University of Texas at Austin and Dr Jennifer Karas Montez of Syracuse University are investigating these differences in...
Brain Training – Professor Sylvain Baillet, McGill University
Gaining insight into the brain and its inner workings improves our understanding of behaviour and our knowledge of the diseases and treatments of our most complex organ. Professor Sylvain Baillet and his research team at the McConnell Brain Imaging Centre of the...
Statistical Methods for Small Data – Dr Rens van de Schoot, Utrecht University
Researchers are heavily reliant on statistical techniques that are based on large sample sizes. Therefore, attempts to gain useful information from small samples can often lead to biased, or incorrect conclusions. Dr Rens van de Schoot at Utrecht University has shown...
Learning to Forget, Extinguishing Fearful Memories – Professor Stephen Maren, Texas A&M University
We often hear how impairments in learning can have a negative impact on peoples’ lives but what about problems with forgetting? The inability to forget the association between everyday cues and previous traumatic events underlies anxiety-related disorders, such as...
Good Bacteria Gone Bad – Professor Hannah M. Wexler, VA Health Care System
Bacteria within our gut play an essential role in breaking down our food, but when they escape to a new environment some can turn nasty in order to survive. Professor Hannah Wexler’s lab at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Health Care System (GLAVAHCS) has been...
Peroxisomes on the Rise – Professor Michael Schrader, University of Exeter
Professor Michael Schrader and his team at the University of Exeter are working to decipher how specialised compartments within cells called peroxisomes are formed and function to perform vital roles in processing the lipids that coat nerve cells and in defending the...
Vitamin D and Preeclampsia, Joining the Dots – Professor Yuping Wang, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Centre
Preeclampsia is a common but serious complication of pregnancy that can harm both mother and baby. Recent research has identified vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for developing preeclampsia and also the beneficial effects of vitamin D supplementation on this...
Multi-Sensory Tools for Autism – Lois Jean Brady and Matthew Guggemos, iTherapy LLC
For children with autism, communication can be a challenge. Drawing from a wealth of clinical experience, speech pathologists Lois Brady and Matthew Guggemos at iTherapy, LLC are developing innovative, engaging multi-sensory communication tools with the aim of...
Metal Transport Unlocks Routes to New Antibiotics – Dr Albert Guskov, University of Groningen
Metals have been improving our lives since the bronze age, but they also play a key role in keeping us healthy. We rely on numerous metals, such as cobalt, zinc and magnesium (among others), to perform essential roles in our bodies. Many bacteria also require these...
Determining the Link Between Ageing and Cardiovascular Disease – Drs Yu Wang, Bo Bai and Andy Man, The University of Hong Kong
Ageing is the most significant risk factor for a range of prevalent cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, such as hypertension and obesity. Accordingly, new interventions are needed for delaying or preventing these disorders. Dr Yu Wang is a pioneering researcher at...
From Surviving to Thriving Boosting the Oral Feeding Performance of Premature Babies – CHANTAL LAU, PHD BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
The survival rates of premature babies are increasing all the time, but many struggle to develop proper oral feeding skills. This can result in longer hospital stays due to delayed development of important skills, such as swallowing and proper coordination of swallow...
Tackling Trauma: A Revolutionary Approach to Emergency Medical Care – Dr Kayvan Najarian, University of Michigan
The multiple injuries sustained in a traumatic accident put victims’ lives at risk and can be difficult to diagnose accurately in fast paced emergency room settings. Dr Kayvan Najarian and his team of researchers at the University of Michigan are designing advanced...
An Absorbing Tale of the Intestine Unfolds – Andrew M. Freddo, Dr Katherine D. Walton, Professor Deborah L. Gumucio
Understanding the mechanisms behind the development of the small intestine will help aid discovery of new therapies targeting intestinal disorders. Andrew Freddo and his colleagues at the University of Michigan Medical School are working to understand these...
The Dynamics of Dynamin and Cancer Evolution – Professor Sandra Schmid, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
All cells need to transport vital biomolecules across membranes by packaging them into small membrane-bound containers called vesicles. Integral to this process is the large protein dynamin. In her insightful and pioneering research, Professor Sandra Schmid has begun...
Cellular Polka and Immune Cell Signalling – Professor Brian C. Schaefer, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Immunology remains an important branch of medical and biological sciences, providing us with protection against infection and disease. Professor Brian Schaefer of the Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, has dedicated his research to elucidating the molecular...
A Three-Dimensional Model of Lung Cancer – Dr Samantha Meenach, University of Rhode Island
New and successful drug development for the treatment of lung cancer requires imaginative and creative thinking by scientists and doctors alike. Dr Samantha Meenach and her colleagues at the University of Rhode Island have developed an innovative approach for testing...