Medical & Health Sciences
Dr Keith Brunt | Dr Jeremy Simpson – Old Drugs for New Tricks
Dr Keith Brunt from Dalhousie University and Dr Jeremy Simpson from the University of Guelph in Canada have pioneered research into understanding the mechanisms of increased shortness of breath in patients with heart failure. By applying a collaborative approach, they...
Professor Hannah M. Wexler – Good Bacteria Gone Bad
Bacteria within our gut play an essential role in breaking down our food, but when they escape to a new environment some can turn nasty in order to survive. Professor Hannah Wexler’s lab at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Health Care System (GLAVAHCS) has been...
Lois Jean Brady | Matthew Guggemos – Multi-Sensory Tools for Autism
For children with autism, communication can be a challenge. Drawing from a wealth of clinical experience, speech pathologists Lois Brady and Matthew Guggemos at iTherapy, LLC are developing innovative, engaging multi-sensory communication tools with the aim of...
Professor Romano Orru – Cheap and Eco-friendly Drug Synthesis using Biocatalysis and One-Pot Processes
Developing more efficient techniques for synthesising complex drug molecules is a painstaking process. However, this is something that Dr Romano Orru of Vrije University Amsterdam is very much committed to. His team is working towards higher efficiency and yield in...
Dr Yu Wang | Dr Bo Bai | Dr Andy Man – Determining the Link between Ageing and Cardiovascular Disease
Ageing is the most significant risk factor for a range of prevalent cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, such as hypertension and obesity. Accordingly, new interventions are needed for delaying or preventing these disorders. Dr Yu Wang is a pioneering researcher at...
Andrew Freddo | Dr Katherine D. Walton | Professor Deborah L. Gumucio – An Absorbing Tale of the Intestine Unfolds
Understanding the mechanisms behind the development of the small intestine will help aid discovery of new therapies targeting intestinal disorders. Andrew Freddo and his colleagues at the University of Michigan Medical School are working to understand these...
Dr Kayvan Najarian – A Revolutionary Approach to Emergency Medical Care
The multiple injuries sustained in a traumatic accident put victims’ lives at risk and can be difficult to diagnose accurately in fast paced emergency room settings. Dr Kayvan Najarian and his team of researchers at the University of Michigan are designing advanced...
Dr Francesca Dominici – Life-Saving Data: How Breathing ‘Safe’ Air Can Kill
Air pollution can have serious health impacts. However, until now, the link between air pollution and death had not been comprehensively shown in the US, especially for rural areas and underrepresented populations. Using data science methodologies, Dr Francesca...
FutSci and ORUK
FutSci (www.futsci.com) is a donation-rewards crowdfunding platform dedicated to complement funding for research, innovation and technology within the Life Science arena. At FutSci they have been developing a game-changing solution to three of the biggest challenges...
Professor Brian Schaefer – Cellular Polka and Immune Cell Signalling
Immunology remains an important branch of medical and biological sciences, providing us with protection against infection and disease. Professor Brian Schaefer of the Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, has dedicated his research to elucidating the molecular...
Professor Sandra Schmid – The Dynamics of Dynamin and Cancer Evolution
All cells need to transport vital biomolecules across membranes by packaging them into small membrane-bound containers called vesicles. Integral to this process is the large protein dynamin. In her insightful and pioneering research, Professor Sandra Schmid has begun...
Dr Samantha Meenach – A Three-Dimensional Model of Lung Cancer
New and successful drug development for the treatment of lung cancer requires imaginative and creative thinking by scientists and doctors alike. Dr Samantha Meenach and her colleagues at the University of Rhode Island have developed an innovative approach for testing...
Professor Terry Powley – The Brain and the Gut – a Meeting of Two Minds
Until now, the brain and the neural network of the gastrointestinal tract have been considered largely independent organs. Recent experiments conducted by Professor Terry Powley of Purdue University and his colleagues have fundamentally challenged this belief. Their...
National Research Council Canada – Medical Devices Research Centre
The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) celebrated 100 years of existence in 2016. It has a rich history of contributions in medical device innovation, from the development of one of the first cardiac pacemakers in the early 1950s, to the first mass-produced...
Dr Madhu Bhaskaran – Stretchable Sensors: Electronics on the Move
Stretchable electronic devices have numerous applications in many fields, such as healthcare monitoring, communications and detecting dangerous substances. Dr Madhu Bhaskaran and her group at the RMIT University have developed an innovative new method for producing...
Dr Fiona Stanley – Empowering Indigenous Communities: Modern Solutions to Colonial Problems
Dr Fiona Stanley and her team of multi-disciplinary researchers at the Centre for Research Excellence in Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing use novel strategies to empower Indigenous Australians and promote public health. An Institutional Legacy of Failure Worldwide, the...
Dr Olga Volpert – Assailing Vessel: Angiogenesis in Health and Disease
Angiogenesis – the formation of new blood vessels – is a major component of the progression of several diseases – especially cancer. Dr Olga Volpert at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center works on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of abnormal...
The Stroke Foundation, Australia
The Stroke Foundation, Australia has for the last two decades worked to support stroke survivors and their families. As ‘the voice of stroke’ in Australia, the national charity is working to increase community awareness and understanding of how stroke can be...
Dr. Erik Sontheimer – Innovation Is in Our RNA
DNA, as the molecular blueprint for life on earth, has long held a special place in scientific discourse and popular culture. DNA also has a lesser-known sister molecule, called RNA, which transfers specific instructions from DNA to produce proteins. RNA is now...
Dr. Peter Palese – Influenza – New Strategies for Defeating an Old Enemy
Influenza continues to be one of the most common respiratory diseases in humans and represents a significant public health burden, due to its associated morbidity and mortality. Dr. Peter Palese and his colleagues at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New...
The National Science Teachers Association
Founded in 1944, the Virginia-based National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) is the largest organisation in the world promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. In this exclusive interview, we talk to Executive Director of...
Dr Fei Hu – Virtual Reality and Robot-Based Rehabilitation for Post-Stroke Recovery
Stroke survivors often lose some of their motor functions, and recovery can be a long and expensive process. By integrating virtual reality, robot, and motion capture technology, a low-cost solution can be developed that is more effective and accessible than current...
Dr Annarita Di Lorenzo – Sphingolipids: Fats that Protect the Heart
Despite current therapies, cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide, suggesting that alternative drug targets are urgently needed to preserve cardiovascular health. Sphingolipids – a class of biologically active molecules and components of cell...
Professor Wenxuan Zhong – New Statistics for Smelling Out Disease
Cutting-edge scientific techniques are generating a wealth of details about biological systems. This information could enable the rapid detection of disease and toxic substances, and provide insights into the mechanisms behind complex diseases. However, teasing out...
Dr Sharon Brennan-Olsen – The Social Gradient in Musculoskeletal Health
Disease is as much a social and economic phenomenon as a biological one. Dr Sharon Brennan-Olsen and her team at the University of Melbourne, and the Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science (AIMSS), are investigating musculoskeletal disorders as a...
Count Down To The Future
At the NASA Ames Research Center in California, the next generation of space biologists are working to understand the effects of long duration space flight on model organisms, and are developing ways to protect the health of future astronauts. The human body has...
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences
As one of the 27 Centers, Institutes and Offices within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) supports basic research that increases our understanding of biological processes, laying the foundation for...
Professor Roy Robins-Browne – Disarming Bacterial Virulence
With antibiotic resistance rapidly emerging among many important bacterial pathogens, it is imperative that new classes of antimicrobials are developed. Professor Roy Robins-Browne and his team at The University of Melbourne are taking a novel approach to...
Dr Arun Srivastava – The AAV Club: Applying AAV Vectors to Gene Therapy
The sci-fi vision of gene therapy for curing genetic diseases is fast becoming a reality as more therapies are entering clinical and commercial development. Dr Arun Srivastava and his team at the University of Florida are investigating the use of the next generation...
Dr Ashley Cowart – Small Scale Roots of Metabolic Disease
Although metabolic diseases plague Western countries, we still don’t fully understand the molecular mechanisms that trigger these diseases. Therefore, biochemists such as Dr Ashley Cowart at the Medical University of South Carolina strive to uncover the cellular...
Outcomes of the 2017 Global Research Council meeting co-hosted by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Comprising the heads of research funding agencies worldwide, the Global Research Council (GRC) is an organisation dedicated to fostering multilateral research and collaboration across continents to benefit both developing and developed nations. The GRC holds annual...
