News 2019

Antwerp and Ghent scientists discover new drug for deadly disease. Antwerp and Ghent scientists have discovered a new drug against African 'sleeping sickness'. "This disease seems to be on its way out, but it is still very useful to have a new drug to fall back on, because we can't rule out another sudden upswing ", says Prof. Guy Caljon (UAntwerp).

As the decade comes to an end, we reflect on the stories that spiked your interest and topped the 'most read articles' chart this year. Ranked by page views, here are your favourite stories of 2019: 10. Mystery arthritis-linked knee bone three times more common than 100 years ago Imperial News Is it time to adjust the official number of bones in the human body? In April, researchers found that the small fabella bone, once thought to be a relic of the past, has made a comeback over the last century.

FINDINGS A UCLA-led study revealed a new way to predict which patients with "stable" heart failure — those who have heart injury but do not require hospitalization — have a higher risk of dying within one to three years. Although people with stable heart failure have similar characteristics, some have rapid disease progression while others remain stable.

An investigational cancer drug that targets tumors caused by mutations in the KRAS gene will be evaluated in phase 2 clinical trials, following  promising safety and efficacy results  in preliminary human studies and excellent results in animal studies. The drug, developed by Amgen and currently referred to as AMG 510, is the first therapy to reach clinical trials that inhibits a mutant KRAS protein.

A Europe-wide study conducted over three flu seasons finds that the antiviral drug, oseltamivir (Tamiflu ), can help people recover from flu-like illness about one-day sooner on average, with older, sicker patients who have been unwell for longer recovering two-to-three days sooner. Published today in The Lancet , the European Commission-funded 'ALIC4E' study was led by the Universities of Oxford (UK) and Utrecht (The Netherlands).

New deep learning algorithm DeepMACT detects the smallest metastases Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the LMU Munich have developed a new algorithm that automatically detects metastases. The new technology uses artificial intelligence (AI) and even finds single disseminated cancer cells in the body of mice.

A new multicentre study will investigate the link between brain inflammation and psychosis, and use artificial intelligence techniques to identify patients that might benefit most from novel treatments. The study, funded by UKRI Medical Research Council , is led by the Universities of Birmingham and Cambridge.

Judging by the news stories they select to read, the nearly 40,000 readers of Stanford Report are interested in medical advances and all things Stanford. A story about a potential diagnostic tool and treatment for Parkinson's disease was first among the 10 most popular news stories for 2019. Here are the stories that garnered the most interest among Stanford Report readers: Scientists find potential diagnostic tool, treatment for Parkinson's disease , Sept.

Specialized dye, delivered along with a vaccine, could enable "on-patient" storage of vaccination history. Every year, a lack of vaccination leads to about 1.5 million preventable deaths, primarily in developing nations. One factor that makes vaccination campaigns in those nations more difficult is that there is little infrastructure for storing medical records, so there's often no easy way to determine who needs a particular vaccine.

A major £2.4 million research project is underway at the University of Birmingham aimed at improving treatment for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS affects at least ten percent of all women and causes irregular periods and difficulties trying to conceive. Most women with PCOS have high levels of male hormones, known as androgens, in their blood which can also cause unwanted body hair growth and acne.

Modified cancer drug effective against multi-resistant bacteria Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are increasingly the source of deadly infections. A team of scientists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig have now modified an approved cancer drug to develop an active agent against multidrug-resistant pathogens.

In brief  (20 seconds of reading) : Since 2004, Sophie Lucas, a researcher at the UCLouvain de Duve Institute, has been studying the immune responses that cancer patients can develop against their own tumour She is currently testing a new anti-cancer drug that would strengthen such immune responses This research won the prestigious Academy of Medicine GSK Award , which recognises work in the fields of vaccinology and immunology Sophie Lucas , a researcher at the UCLouvain de Duve Institute , studies the immune responses that cancer patients can develop against their own tumour.

A Europe-wide study conducted over three flu seasons finds that the antiviral drug Tamiflu can help people recover from flu-like illness about one-day sooner on average. Published today in The Lancet, the European Commission-funded 'ALIC4E' study was led by the Universities of Oxford (UK) and Utrecht (The Netherlands).

Measuring changes in the speed of electrical signals along nerves connecting the eyes to the brain may accurately reflect recovery from myelin loss in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and could be used to evaluate new treatments for the disease.

SIEPR's Maya Rossin-Slater finds the average rate of antidepressant use among youths under age 20 rose by 21 percent in the local communities where fatal school shootings occurred. The toll from gun violence at schools has only escalated in the 20 years since the jolting, horrific massacre at Columbine High.

Thanks to their expertise in single-molecule imaging of RNAs, researchers from the group of Jeff Chao at the FMI helped to reveal the biological mechanism of a small molecule that restricts Ewing's sarcoma cell growth. The study - published - is further evidence that each step of the gene expression pathway may be druggable, and a great example of a Novartis-FMI collaboration.

Between 2007 and 2017, children in eight lowand middle-income countries received, on average, 25 antibiotic prescriptions from birth through age five - up to five times higher than the already high levels observed in high-income settings. Many of the prescriptions are unnecessary and might exacerbate resistance.

As of this week, a phase one clinical trial to test a potential new Ebola vaccine developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is underway in Japan. Fifteen healthy young men* will receive two doses of the experimental vaccine. If the first group tolerates the vaccine, an additional group of up to 20 volunteers will receive a higher dose of the vaccine.

Rice, UTHealth discovery could aid fight against multidrug-resistant VRE  Researchers from Rice University and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston spent more than eight years trying to solve a puzzle: How could a deadly superbug known as VRE become resistant to a new antibiotic in less than five years' The answer surprised everyone.

Chemotherapy drugs have been used to treat cancer since the 1950s. While the drugs are often lifesaving for cancer patients, they are also linked to reproductive problems, breast cancer and other health issues in the medical staff who work with the medications. To help protect health care workers, the University of Minnesota School of Public Health conducted a survey to track how chemotherapy drugs are handled in hospitals and identify work surfaces that could be contaminated by them.