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Loneliness is responsible for 18% of depression among people over 50 in England, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The findings, published in The Lancet Psychiatry , suggest that almost one in five depression cases among older adults could be prevented if loneliness were eliminated. The researchers found that people's subjective experiences of loneliness contributed to depression up to 12 years later, independent of more objective measures of social isolation.

Scientists at UCL have invented a new experimental drug that aims to harness the full power of the immune system, launching a two-pronged response against cancer. The pioneering study in mice has been co-funded by Cancer Research UK. The innovative immunotherapy drug, developed by researchers at UCL Cancer Institute, targets suppressive 'regulatory' immune cells inside a tumour.

Fossils of small armoured amphibians provide the oldest evidence of a slingshot-style tongue, according to a new study co-led by a UCL researcher. The research team analysed 99-million-year-old fossils to find that the animals were sit-and-wait predators that snatched prey with a projectile firing of their tongue, as reported in the journal Science .

People who experience strokes while infected with COVID-19 appear to be left with greater disability after the stroke, according a study led by UCL and UCLH researchers. Having COVID-19 at stroke onset was also associated with more than double the mortality rate of other stroke patients, according to the findings published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry .

Some antibodies created by the immune system during infection with common cold coronaviruses can also target and provide a degree of protection against COVID-19, finds new research by scientists at UCL and the Francis Crick Institute. In response to infection with a virus, the immune system creates antibodies to help fight it.

Many of us rely on public transport to get to work, school, and to meet friends and family. But in the time of Covid-19, Dr Lena Ciric (UCL Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering) asks: is it safe to use these vehicles and is there a difference between them? Transport has contributed to the spread of coronavirus - locally, regionally and internationally.

Brain cells called astrocytes play a vital role in preventing acidification of the brain, according to a new study in mice led by UCL researchers. The researchers hope their findings, published , could help further understanding of several common brain diseases that involve disturbances of pH balance, such as stroke and epilepsy, and may support research into the development of new treatment options.

For a long time, it was assumed that hunting in prehistoric societies was primarily carried out by men. Now a new study adds to a body of evidence challenging this idea, says Honorary Research Fellow Dr Annemieke Milks (UCL Archaeology). The research reports the discovery of a female body, buried alongside hunting tools, in the Americas some 9,000 years ago.

A novel method to sample earwax could be a cheap and effective way to measure the hormone cortisol, according to a study led by researchers at UCL and King's College London. The findings, published in the academic journal Heliyon , could point to new ways of monitoring depression and stress-linked conditions.

A cell in worms that transforms itself into a completely different type of cell when males mature, to play a key role in mating behaviour, has been recently discovered by a team led by UCL researchers. The researchers say their findings, published in eLife , may lead to new clinical applications if scientists can reproduce the mechanism to reprogram cells to adopt new functions.

Specially-adapted drones developed by a UCL-led international team have been gathering data from never-before-explored volcanoes that will enable local communities to better forecast future eruptions. The cutting-edge research at Manam volcano in Papua New Guinea is improving scientists' understanding of how volcanoes contribute to the global carbon cycle, key to sustaining life on Earth.

After the last global mass extinction, 66 million years ago, most of the plankton that survived were those able to capture food to eat, according to a study led by UCL and University of Southampton researchers. The findings, published in Science Advances , support the theory that darkness drove the global extinctions, after an asteroid impact, as plankton and plants would not have been able to use photosynthesis to get their energy from the sun.

A UCL-led project exploring the impact of coronavirus on older people's mental health in Peru is one of the first to receive new government funding, aimed at addressing the pandemic's impact in lowand middle-income countries. Professor John Hurst (UCL Division of Medicine) is one of 12 lead academics to receive funding as part of the Global Effort on COVID-19 (GECO) Health Research initiative, led by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Covering up gaps around the screen separating bus drivers from passengers is an effective way to reduce Covid-19 transmission risk for drivers while they are in their cabin, according to a study by UCL researchers commissioned by Transport for London. The research team from UCL's Centre for Transport Studies and UCL Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering used computer simulations of airflow to determine the risk that bus drivers might breathe in droplets or aerosols from infected passengers.

Taking part in leisure activity in middle age does not appear to reduce dementia risk, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. Previous studies had suggested that leisure activities such as playing cards or gardening may be associated with a lower risk of developing dementia. But the new study, published in Neurology , found no association between taking part in leisure activities at age 56 and the risk of dementia over the next 18 years.

Two antiviral drugs are being given to COVID-19 positive adults to establish if they stop the virus replicating, as part of a trial led by UCL scientists. The FLARE trial aims to see if favipiravir and lopinavir/ritonavir, alone or in combination, can inhibit viral replication in early infection - within the first few days of illness.

A UCL clinical researcher who developed an innovative 3D printed neck collar, helping transform the lives of people with serious neurological disorders, has been shortlisted for the prestigious 'Beazley Designs of the Year 2020'. Dr Luke Hale (UCL Surgery and Interventional Science) is the lead designer behind an innovative workflow process, which combines 3D scanning, procedural design and 3D printing to create personalised support braces.

The percentage of people who reported stopping smoking more than doubled after the Covid-19 lockdown was implemented in March, according to a new study by UCL researchers. The research also found that high-risk drinking increased after lockdown despite the proportion of adults trying to reduce their alcohol intake being twice as high as before lockdown.

Elevated risk of Parkinson's disease among people with type 2 diabetes appears to be reduced by some medications used to treat their diabetes, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The researchers are testing one of the drugs, called exenatide, as a potential Parkinson's treatment in an upcoming clinical trial, and the new findings, published in Brain , lend support to repurposing diabetes medications for people with Parkinson's.

Just 13% of people in England feel they 'fully understand' the current Covid-19 lockdown rules, with half of adults (51%) in the country saying they understand 'the majority' of them, find UCL researchers as part of the Covid-19 Social Study.