science wire

Instead of relying on vaccines alone, countries such as France and Germany are using extra measures to keep cases and deaths low - England should follow their example, argues Professor Christina Pagel (UCL Mathematics) in a co-authored piece with Professor Martin McKee.

The way we feel about our neighbours has largely improved since the start of the pandemic, find UCL researchers as part of the Covid-19 Social Study. This upswing in neighbourly relations could indicate an increased sense of togetherness borne through a shared experience. The largest improvements reported were for "support": 35% of respondents in September 2021 said that neighbourhood support had improved (vs 28% in July 2020), whilst 15% say support had deteriorated (vs 5% in July 2020) compared with before the pandemic.

Drug-related deaths are four times more likely to occur in the two days after hospital discharge than at any other time among users of opioids such as heroin, according to research led by UCL, Public Health England (PHE)* and King's College London. The peer-reviewed study, published today in PLOS Medicine, looked at data from 13,609 adults in England, who were aged between 18 and 64 and died after using non-prescribed opioids between 2010 and 2019.

Early years researchers leading a new landmark birth study, Children of the 2020s*, today welcomed Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge to UCL.

Early years researchers leading a new landmark birth study, Children of the 2020s*, today welcomed Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge to UCL.

A wearable brain scanner, co-developed by UCL researchers, is now being used in a specialist clinic for children with epilepsy.

UCL scientists investigating the immune system will work alongside doctors, nurses and patients from the Royal Free Hospital, in a unique partnership that will enable new treatments to be developed more quickly for global health problems, including Covid-19, diabetes and cancer.

Many people on depressants continue taking them for fear of having a relapse but new research could help doctors and patients make more informed decisions, say Dr Gemma Lewis and Professor Glyn Lewis (both UCL Psychiatry). The number of prescriptions written for antidepressants in wealthy countries has doubled in the past 20 years.

Find out more about what to expect on campus this term, what UCL is doing to keep our community safe, and the guidance staff and students should be following.

The chances of a teenager getting involved in politics is linked to how much education their parents had, according to UCL and University of Roehampton researchers. Additionally, while parental education has no effect on the political interest of children at age 11 it has a strong positive effect by the time they are 16.

Unprecedented access to thousands of artefacts gathered by the 18th century physician, naturalist and prolific collector Sir Hans Sloane, will be available online to everyone for free, thanks to a multi-million pound digital project led by UCL.

The COVID-19 crisis was uniquely wide-ranging and systemic and it needs a comparably systemic and inclusive model of inquiry, says Professor Sir Geoff Mulgan (UCL STEaPP).

Cancer is seen as the top health concern among non-infectious diseases, according to a report by UCL academics finding that most British adults will want blood tests for cancer once they are available. The report reveals high public demand for innovative diagnostic technologies such as single blood tests for multiple forms of cancer and access to optimally effective cancer treatments.

Giving the drug abiraterone alongside standard hormone therapy helps men with high-risk prostate cancer that has not spread elsewhere in the body to live longer, according to preliminary results of a UCL-led trial. This result from the STAMPEDE trial, based at the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL and funded by Cancer Research UK and MRC, was presented today at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.

UCL has published its second annual report into bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct looking at reports received through the online platform Report + Support between February 2020 - February 2021.

A UK-wide citizens' assembly looking at public attitudes towards democracy has been launched by the UCL Constitution Unit, which carries out independent research into constitutional change and the reform of political institutions.