news

A new study involving UCL that aims to inform mathematical models of sexually transmitted infections shows how the number of sexual partners we have changes as we age, with some surprising findings. A team from the UCL Institute of Health Informatics, the University of East Anglia (UEA) and King's College London surveyed more than 5,000 people aged 18 years and older during the 2022 mpox (previously known as "monkeypox") outbreak.

Having a hobby is linked to fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of happiness, self-reported health and life satisfaction among people aged 65 and over, and this holds true across 16 countries on three continents, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine , aimed to see if the benefits of hobbies were consistent in different national settings, and looked at data from 93,263 people aged 65 or over who had enrolled in five existing longitudinal studies in England, Japan, United States, China and 12 other European countries.

A gene therapy developed in mice by an international team of researchers led by UCL and the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, could significantly reduce hearing loss associated with Norrie disease. Norrie disease is a rare but devastating genetic disorder that causes blindness and hearing loss.

Education about domestic abuse equips and empowers friends, colleagues, and neighbours to respond in positive and helpful ways when someone discloses experiences of abuse, finds a new study by researchers from UCL and SafeLives. The study, published in the journal Trauma, Violence & Abuse , synthesised the findings of 11 existing studies from around the world that examined the effects of domestic abuse training for colleagues, neighbours, or faith leaders.

Disadvantaged teenagers are at greater risk of email scams and need better protection, according to an international study by a UCL researcher. The findings, published in the British Journal of Educational Studies , were based on more than 170,000 students aged 15 and show that one in five from low-income families or deprived areas could fall victim to phishing.

A team of UCL-led researchers has developed a new method to determine the attention levels of drivers and their readiness to respond to warning signals when using auto-pilot mode. The research, published in Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications , found that people's attention levels and how engrossed they are in on-screen activities can be detected from their eye movements.

Unparalleled speed, capacity and reliability of new fibre broadband technology, invented by UCL researchers, could provide connectivity needed for applications of the future such as driverless cars and drone fleets. The study, published in Nature Electronics , describes how the new telecommunications technology, called frequency referenced multiplexing, could provide more than 20 times the capacity of the best full fibre broadband networks available and 65 times the speed of typical current UK home broadband, along with a near-guaranteed connection and low latency 1 .

Children receiving services under a care and support plan had higher overall vaccination rates and were more up to date with immunisations than the general population of children in Wales, finds a new study involving UCL researchers. The research, published in Frontiers in Public Health , is the first data linkage study to explore vaccination coverage in children under social care services in Wales.

Markers that indicate the presence of Parkinson's disease in patients on average seven years before clinical presentation have been identified by a UCL and Moorfields Eye Hospital research team. This is the first time anyone has shown these findings several years before diagnosis, and these results were made possible by the largest study to date on retinal imaging in Parkinson's disease.

Using MRI as a screening test alongside PSA density allowed detection of cancers that would have been missed by the blood test alone, according to new research from UCL, UCLH and King's College London. The REIMAGINE study, published in BMJ Oncology , is the first study to use MRI scans with prostate specific antigen (PSA) density to assess the need for further standard NHS tests.

A significant number of healthcare workers have either left their job or considered changing it because they feel undervalued or have experienced discrimination, according to a new study led by the University of Leicester in collaboration with UCL. The study, published in The Lancet , found that 48% of healthcare workers surveyed had either considered or acted upon changing or leaving their roles.

The Big Wasp Survey, a citizen science project involving thousands of volunteers throughout the UK, has yielded important genetic insights into the common wasp, reports a study led by UCL researchers. Using data and samples of Vespula vulgaris (a species of yellowjacket wasp known as the Common Wasp) collected by amateur 'citizen scientists', the researchers conducted the first large-scale genetic analysis of the insect across its native range.

Researchers at UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital have collaborated with institutes across the world to use rapid genome sequencing to provide a diagnosis for children with unexplained epilepsy and significantly benefit their care. Epilepsy in children ranges in severity and can leave families and carers with many questions about their child's future health.

A new study led by UCL researchers has found a positive association between academic pressure or proximity to exams and mental health issues among young people. The research, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, reviewed 52 studies involving students who attended either primary school, secondary school or sixth-form college across the globe, between 1991 and 2022.

Receiving therapy for problematic social media use can be effective in improving the mental wellbeing of people with depression, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The research, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research , found that social media use interventions could help adults for whom social media use has become problematic or interferes with their mental health.

Specific receptors in the ears of mosquitoes have been revealed to modulate their hearing, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL and University of Oldenburg. Scientists say, this discovery could help develop new insecticides and control the spread of harmful diseases, such as malaria. The ability of male mosquitoes to hear female mosquitoes is a crucial requirement for their reproduction.

Men and women with raised blood sugar levels have 30-50% greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease even when these levels are below the threshold for diabetes, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, also found that, among people diagnosed with diabetes, women's higher relative risk of developing any cardiovascular disease than men disappeared once modifiable factors such as body measurements and medication use were taken into account.

Paleoclimate evidence shows that around 1.1 million years ago, the southern European climate cooled significantly and likely caused an extinction of early humans on the continent, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. Published in the journal Science , the team of researchers discovered the occurrence of previously unknown extreme glacial conditions around 1.1 million years ago.

A new, ultraprecise measurement of the subatomic muon particle's anomalous magnetic moment, conducted at US-based Fermilab and involving researchers from UCL, reinforces a discrepancy between theory and experiment that physicists can't explain, potentially hinting at new physics. The latest results, submitted to Physical Review Letters , reinforce previous measurements of the muon's magnetic moment conducted by the Muon g-2 collaboration, the international research team operating the experiment.

Machine learning can accurately predict subtypes of Parkinson's disease using images of patient-derived stem cells, finds a new study by researchers at UCL and the Francis Crick Institute. The research, published in Nature Medicine Intelligence and in partnership with technology company Faculty AI , has shown that computer models can accurately classify four subtypes of Parkinson's disease, with one reaching an accuracy of 95%.