Health & Medicine
Factors associated with young children exhibiting picky eating behaviour
Picky eating in preschool children is a well-documented phase when children are reluctant to try new foods and/or show very strong preferences for particular foods. This behaviour can create concern for parents, and this has created a whole market for advice and guidance, not all of which is evidence-based. Dr Pauline Emmett and Dr Caroline Taylor, from the Centre for […]
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Local drug delivery to prosthetic vascular grafts: Preventing failure of prosthetic grafts in haemodialysis patients
Dr Ronald J. Shebuski, President and CEO of Cylerus, Inc., wants to revolutionise the way vascular grafts work. His company, Cylerus, has an innovative way to deliver an antiproliferative drug, sirolimus, in a consistent and controlled manner. This method of drug delivery, via a porous graft material called ePTFE, has the potential to reduce failure of arterio-venous access grafts crucial for […]
Lymph nodes targeted in novel cancer therapy
90% of global deaths caused by cancer are the result of its metastasis. Cancer can spread throughout the body through the blood system or the lymphatic system. With funding from JSPS KAKENHI, Professor Tetsuya Kodama at Tohoku University in Japan and his collaborators established a novel mouse model to study cancer metastasis through the lymphatic system. With this model, they identified lymph node metastasis as […]
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Clinical relevance aims to uncover novel regulators of human coronary artery function
Charting new territories in vascular disease research, The Human Vascular Research Group (HVRG) at the Medical College of Wisconsin uses fresh human tissues to address important questions in vascular biology. Focusing on the microcirculation, the smallest of blood vessels inside our bodies, their aim is to better understand coronary artery disease (CAD) and other clinical problems associated with microvascular defects. […]
Alcohol overuse: cutting to the bone
Building on several decades of research, Dr Martin Ronis, a Professor at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans explores the effects of alcohol on bone turnover. His current research aims to better understand the molecular basis for the toxic effects of alcohol, particularly in women, with a view to uncovering vital therapeutic targets to prevent bone loss. As […]
The epigenetic effects of adverse early-life experiences
Environmental factors interact with genetics in driving living organisms’ development throughout life. Epigenetics is the field of study that explores this interaction, as well as its potential effects on individuals’ behaviour and health. Dr Tania Roth, working at the University of Delaware in Newark, USA, carried out extensive research exploring the impact of the environment, particularly stress factors, on individual […]
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A new terahertz medical imaging tool could provide early detection of corneal disease
Recent research in medical imaging found that tools based on terahertz (THz) frequency illumination could help map the distribution and movement of water near the surface of body tissues. Dr Warren Grundfest and Dr Zachary Taylor, at The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, are developing a new imaging tool for non-contact high-resolution measurements of corneal hydration. […]
Unveiling the neurobiological processes behind cognitive control
The biological underpinnings of human mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge, processing information and understanding experiences, have been substantially investigated throughout the years. Prof Christian Beste, working at University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, in Dresden, Germany, has carried out extensive research to try and understand the neural underpinnings of human goal-directed behaviour. His studies are based both on clinical and […]
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Dual origins of tissue macrophages
Macrophages – large white blood cells that play a role in tissue homeostasis and immunity – have long been thought to derive solely from monocyte cells in the circulating blood. Accumulating evidence now shows that a large proportion of the macrophage populations ‘resident’ within tissues is in fact derived during embryonic development, independent of monocytes. Professor Christian Schulz from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, […]
The dangers of sleep disordered breathing in pregnancy
Professor Ghada Bourjeily and her team from Brown University are focusing their research efforts on understanding the manifestation of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in pregnancy and the consequent impact on maternal and foetal health. We spend one third of our life sleeping. As we rest, damaged tissues are repaired and cognitive function and energy levels are restored in preparation for […]
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