Tag: Researchers

A new approach to programing cancer-fighting immune cells called CAR-T cells can prolong their activity and increase their effectiveness against human cancer cells grown in the laboratory and in mice, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The ability to circumvent the exhaustion that the genetically engineered cells often

Every year, more than 59,000 people around the world die of rabies and there remains no cheap and easy vaccine regimen to prevent the disease in humans. Now, researchers report in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases that adding a specific immune molecule to a rabies vaccine can boost its efficacy. Previous studies have suggested that the

Kessler Foundation researchers conducted a pilot study to determine ways to assess social communication difficulties in children with impaired social functioning caused by moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). The article, “The relationship between social communication and social functioning in pediatric TBI: A pilot study” was epublished on August 14, 2019 by Frontiers in Neurology. The

A global research team led by scientists from Singapore and the United States has discovered new evidence that there is an underlying link between degeneration of the eye and brain. They found that genetic variation at a beta-amyloid gene was significantly associated with increased risk of Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG), the most common form

A dense web of tissue can surround pancreatic cancer tumors, impeding treatment and sometimes acting as a barrier to the tumor’s spread. Researchers want to distinguish cancerous tissue from the surrounding connective tissue and cells known as stroma as well as from immune cells in the tumor’s environment in order to drive personalized treatment strategies.

A collaboration led by scientists at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), Japan, has discovered a novel amyloid protein that induces amyloidosis in rats. This new amyloid protein is known to be the lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) and accumulated very frequently in the mammary gland of aged rats. Although LBP was identified as an

Latina immigrants in farmworker communities are a vulnerable and understudied population who are at high risk for contracting HIV. Nationally, rates of new HIV infections among Latinas are more than four times that of non-Latina white women—and the rates are even higher for those in marginalized populations. Researchers from Robert Stempel College of Public Health

Researchers from Tel Aviv University and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital) have developed an innovative drug treatment for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), a rare, inherited condition that affects adolescents and young adults and often leads to colorectal cancer. The novel drug, based on antibiotics, inhibits the development of intestinal polyps that, left untreated,

A potential drug to treat heart attacks and to prevent heart failure—for which no cure currently exists—may result from pioneering research by a University of Guelph professor. Prof. Tami Martino, Department of Biomedical Sciences, and Ph.D. student Cristine Reitz have discovered what they believe is a novel drug target controlling the body’s repair responses after

Researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway have identified new genetic signals for the regulation of how infants grow. This may be a crucial step in the fight against growth-related diseases. “A better understanding of the biology of infant growth is important as growth-related diseases such as obesity and malnutrition are global societal challenges,”

People who achieve weight loss of 10% or more in the first five years following diagnosis with type 2 diabetes have the greatest chance of seeing their disease go into remission, according to a study led by the University of Cambridge. The findings suggest that it is possible to recover from the disease without intensive

When a 9-year-old girl with anemia, breathing problems, and recurrent infections sought help for her mysterious ailments, Yale researchers and their collaborators at the National Institutes of Health sequenced her genes to pinpoint a cause. What they discovered was not only a new disease but unexpected new roles for a gene that affects the immune

Cancer immunotherapies have given patients with particularly intractable cancers new hope, but not everyone benefits. One such immunotherapy, known as CAR T-cell therapy, works only in about a third of the people who take it—and the reason may lie in the microbes residing in our guts. Over the next year, a team of Stanford and

Australian scientists have led the development of the world’s most detailed gene map of the human retina, providing new insights which will help future research to prevent and treat blindness. The retina is the latest part of the human body and the first part of the eye to be mapped as part of the Human

A Mediterranean-style diet in pregnancy does not reduce the risk of overall adverse maternal and offspring complications, but may reduce weight gain during pregnancy and the risk of gestational diabetes, according to a new study published this week in PLOS Medicine by Shakila Thangaratinam of Queen Mary University of London, UK, and colleagues. A Mediterranean-style

Hyperglycemia, or high levels of glucose, is common in patients with acute ischemic stroke and is associated with worse outcomes compared to normal blood sugar levels. Animal studies also pointed to an effect of high blood sugar in worsening stroke injury. Stroke experts have debated whether intensive glucose management after acute ischemic stroke leads to

What is resilience? And why can trauma and stress leave one person reeling, while someone else may coast through the same troubles with just a shrug and a smile? That’s the heart of the research conducted at the Resilience Lab at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. The scientists there are studying groups that

A team of Penn State and University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine researchers is attempting to answer a question that has long puzzled experts: Why do some individuals suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after experiencing trauma, and others do not? The research, led by Nanyin Zhang, professor of biomedical engineering and Lloyd & Dorothy

Researchers at the University of Toronto and University Health Network have found that standard pathology grading for the most common type of pancreatic cancer can be improved to better predict patient outcomes. The research shows that conventional, histological analysis of pancreatic tumours—based in part on morphology, or shape and structure—can better predict outcomes by taking

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered how a dangerous parasite maintains a steady supply of nutrients while replicating inside of its host cell: it calls for delivery. Toxoplasma gondii is a single-celled parasite capable of infecting any animal, including humans. Up to one-third of infections in people happen through contact with cat