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Health - Pharmacology - 15.06.2022

Opioid use disorder: flexible treatment at home proves effective
A pan-Canadian team announces initial results of the national OPTIMA study comparing the efficacy of two models of care for treating opioid use disorder. Did you know that more than 26,500 Canadians died from opioid intoxication between January 2016 and September 2021? Or that more than 350,000 people who used drugs containing opioids to relieve their pain did so problematically? In Quebec alone, 339 people died from opioid intoxication between January and September 2021, according to the latest data from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Life Sciences - 14.06.2022

How does the brain learn?
An international team co-led by UdeM computational neuroscientist Eilif Muller has simulated how synapses in the neocortex change - to better understand how we learn. Everyone knows the human brain is extremely complex - but how does it learn, exactly? Well, the answer may be a lot simpler than commonly believed.

Psychology - Life Sciences - 13.06.2022

Theta waves: a marker of emotional regulation
New findings on theta waves generated in the brain during emotional regulation could lead to more treatment options for disorders such as anxiety and schizophrenia. Without realizing it, we all rely on emotional regulation many times a day. It's the process by which we mitigate the effect of disturbing stimuli in order to stay focused, improve our well-being and respond to demands from our environment.

Health - Life Sciences - 09.06.2022

Regenerating the heart after an attack
Zebrafish are put under the lens at CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre to see how they repair damaged tissue - with some surprising results. Heart attacks are damaging, and the severity depends on how long blood flow has been interrupted; when temporarily deprived of oxygen, heart cells die. In addition, the heart can't rebuild its own tissue, leading to its failure, the main cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide.

Health - Astronomy / Space Science - 08.06.2022

A shoebox-sized biomed lab in space
UdeM research team to develop miniaturized technology to monitor the health of astronauts on future deep-space missions - and someday in the Far North. On May 25, the Canadian Space Agency and Impact Canada announced the 20 winning entries in the Deep Space Health Care Challenge , a competition to support the development of new health-care technologies for crews on deep-space missions and residents of Canada's remote communities.

Psychology - Health - 05.06.2022

COVID-19 affects the mental health of pregnant women
According to a study led by Professor Anick Bérard, 23% of pregnant and postpartum women experienced major depressive symptoms during the first three waves of the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected Canadian women's mental health both during pregnancy and in the postpartum period, confirms the CONCEPTION study led by Anick Bérard, researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine and professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Université de Montréal.

Psychology - Health - 01.06.2022

Does grief depend on how the loved one died?
Ph.D. candidate Philippe Laperle explores the grief experience after medical assistance in dying and natural death with palliative care. Is the grief experience different for individuals who have lost a loved one by medical assistance in dying (MAiD) compared to natural death with palliative care (NDPC)? Philippe Laperle examines this sensitive issue in a recent article published in the Journal of Death and Dying , based on his Ph.D.

Life Sciences - Health - 24.05.2022

Where are the next zoonotic viruses lurking?
A research team has used AI to produce a list of animal viruses that could jump the species barrier and cause infections in humans. Until recently, we knew of only two percent of the possible interactions between mammals and viruses, or the "virome." However, a new artificial intelligence (AI) technique has identified potential new host-virus interactions, increasing the size of the known virome by a factor of 15.

Social Sciences - 17.05.2022

Gun ownership and homicide in the U.S.: a stronger correlation
A study by UdeM economics professor Karim Chalak finds that U.S. gun ownership is more closely associated with risk of homicide than was previously thought. In 2017, there were nearly 40,000 gun-related deaths in the United States, including homicides and suicides. To delve into this alarming statistic, U.S.-trained Université de Montréal economist Karim Chalak and his coauthors did an econometric study of the rate of U.S. gun ownership and the associated risk of death, and found it to be much higher than previously thought.

Astronomy / Space Science - Chemistry - 13.05.2022

Cooperative molecular networks may have been the spark of life on other planets
According to a UdeM study, life could have emerged on an exoplanet as a result of a type of biochemical cooperation that is more likely to occur in nature than we might think! Darwin's theory of evolution probably isn't the full explanation for the emergence of life. Even in a barren environment conducive to fierce competition, cooperation between molecular networks may have spawned life on Earth and, by extension, elsewhere in the universe.

Physics - Materials Science - 09.05.2022

Unusual quantum state of matter observed for the first time at UdeM
Physicist Andrea Bianchi has observed the "quantum spin liquid" state in a magnetic material created in his lab. It's not every day that someone comes across a new state of matter in quantum physics, the scientific field devoted to describing the behaviour of atomic and subatomic particles in order to elucidate their properties.

Physics - Computer Science - 19.04.2022

New horizons in quantum physics
UdeM physicist William Witczak-Krempa studies unusual states of matter in the quantum realm. William Witczak-Krempa, a professor in UdeM's Department of Physics since 2016, is a quantum physicist who studies highly entangled quantum states of matter. Quantum entanglement enables the encoding and sharing of information at great distances, a property that is harnessed in quantum computing.

Life Sciences - 29.03.2022

Cell division in embryos: not a textbook case of symmetry
Two researchers from the CHUM Research Centre find that cell division in mouse embryos is not at all symmetrical, quite unlike what science textbooks say. As cell biologists, Université de Montréal professor Greg FitzHarris and his PhD candidate Lia Paim are very interested in fertility and what happens inside the eggs and embryos of the mice they study in their lab.

Health - Social Sciences - 23.03.2022

Decrease in relapses of Crohn’s disease in youth
Despite an increase in new diagnoses, a decrease in relapses of Crohn's disease was observed in children and adolescents. A research team led by Dr. Prévost Jantchou, clinician and researcher at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre, focused on the rate of Crohn's disease relapse, as well as factors associated with relapse, in children over the past decade.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 24.02.2022

The secret of mycorrhizal fungi
Researchers from Université de Montréal have found that mycorrhizas promote greater tree species diversity in North American forests. Fungi, specifically those that are "mycorrhizal," are natural allies of the forest because they improve tree nutrient acquisition.

Health - Environment - 22.02.2022

Need for National Breast Milk Monitoring Programs for PFAS
A Canada-U.S. research team has estimated concentrations of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in breast milk - and raise the need for more research. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large family of synthetic organic chemicals that do not occur naturally in the environment.

Environment - Life Sciences - 15.02.2022

Using the power of plants to filter wastewater
Two recent studies by UdeM biologist Jacques Brisson shine the spotlight on phytotechnologies. Plants can be decoration, medicine, food, garments-they have as many uses as they do shapes and sizes! And Jacques Brisson, professor in the University of Montreal's Department of Biological Sciences, knows it better than anyone.

Health - Life Sciences - 08.02.2022

A protein present in the gum may help prevent Alzheimer’s
A research team affiliated with the Faculty of Dentistry at UdeM has shed new light on a human protein with potential benefits beyond oral and dental health. Recent studies have shown that a protein present in the gingival epithelium (the part of the gums that surrounds the teeth) may have antimicrobial properties, in particular against the bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.

Health - Life Sciences - 07.02.2022

Glaucoma: seeing the light at the end of the (nano)tunnel
A CRCHUM research team reveals the fine mechanisms behind the major vascular defects observed in glaucoma patients and identifies new therapeutic targets. Reduced blood flow and impaired neurovascular coupling are well-known features of glaucoma, the main cause of non-curable blindness affecting 80 million people worldwide in 2020.

Health - Pharmacology - 02.02.2022

Cancer treatment: a berry from Brazil helps out
Castalagin, a polyphenol from the Amazonian fruit camu-camu, increases the efficacy of immunotherapy in mice by modifying their microbiome, Quebec researchers find. Quebec scientists have discovered that the Brazilian camu-camu berry, already recognized for its protective effects against obesity and diabetes, can also help to treat cancers.