Medical & Health Sciences

Shigella flexneri is a species of bacteria that causes approximately 270 million cases of Shigellosis (bacillary dysentery) each year, resulting in more than 200,000 deaths worldwide. Professor Hervé Agaisse and his team, based at the University of Virginia, USA, have proposed a new model of the disease. By adopting a multidisciplinary approach, they have recapitulated the symptoms caused by Shigella flexneri in the laboratory, enabling them to determine more precisely how these bacteria cause disease.

Dental imaging has come a long way in the last 20 years. Mr Yihua Zhu and colleagues from the University of California have investigated new imaging methods and compared their performance to longstanding, traditional techniques. Mr Zhu and his fellow researchers have built upon short wavelength infrared transillumination (SWIR) and invented a dual probe for investigating dental cavities and, more recently, a new method of SWIR multispectral transillumination and reflective imaging. Their research offers a novel, highly sensitive and efficient approach to the visualisation of dental cavities, the progression of tooth decay, and the assessment of other common problems in dentistry.

Mathematical models for predicting the spread of COVID-19 directly influenced public health measures around the world, significantly impacting everyone’s day-to-day activities. At Kingston University, Dr Cristina Oliva and Professor Giampiero Favato are leading the way in COVID-19 research, looking at how complex statistical data is communicated to the general public. Their valuable work is helping drive changes in behaviour that could reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Patients with rare diseases and complex conditions pose unique challenges for clinicians, largely due to limited exposure to their associated anomalies. To overcome clinical obstacles, the European Commission launched a new Cross Border Health Innovation involving European experts in urology who have formed a European Reference Network (ERN) to facilitate knowledge sharing and skill development amongst healthcare providers. Recently, Ms Loes Oomen and colleagues in the Department of Urology at the Radboudumc Amalia Children’s Hospital in The Netherlands have reviewed the clinical activity and procedures across this newly established network and identified potential areas for improvement.

Knee injuries can be notoriously complex. In recent years, many studies have attempted to investigate a potential link between the geometry of the knee and the risk of injury to a ligament called the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). Dr Alan Barhorst from the University of Lousiana at Lafayette, alongside colleague Mr Ross Wilson, enlisted the help of two robots to perform a biomechanical study of this phenomenon. Their findings provide valuable insight into our vulnerability to ACL injuries.

Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynecological cancer and has the highest mortality rate of all female reproductive cancers in the United States. A lack of early detection, typically aggressive progression, and rapid development of resistance to chemotherapy are key contributing factors to the mortality rate. Dr. Dong-Joo (Ellen) Cheon and her team at Albany Medical College are working to determine the role of key players in the resistance to chemotherapy treatments and examining how best we can target these therapeutically to improve survival.

Chronic kidney disease is a common but irreversible condition with an increasing worldwide prevalence. The significant patient morbidity and mortality are accompanied by an unmet clinical need for more effective testing methods to identify affected patients and patients at high risk at the early stages of the disease, before it becomes irreversible. Dr. Aaron Carrithers and Dr. Stephen Carrithers at PrognostX Health have developed a new test to help reduce the number of patients progressing to late-stage chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease, aiming to improve human health and reduce the financial burdens on our pressured healthcare systems.

β1-adrenoceptors are found in the heart where they bind neurotransmitters/hormones such as noradrenaline and adrenaline. The binding of these β1-adrenoceptors agonists activates a response in the heart muscle that helps regulate the heart’s beat and contractile force. Drugs that block the action of these receptors are an established treatment for those suffering from left ventricular dysfunction due to chronic heart failure. However, their use in the acute setting is controversial. Professor Thomas Feuerstein of the University Hospital Freiburg in Germany and Dr Günther Krumpl of the Medical Research Network in Vienna are challenging these sceptical attitudes through mathematical modelling.

Kinases take energy from adenosine triphosphate molecules to fuel other molecules in performing vital biological processes. Dr Xu Hannah Zhang at City of Hope, Los Angeles, has worked with colleagues to better understand the p38 family of kinases, and in particular, how the p38γ isoform plays a role in cancer. Her work has shown – for the first time – that p38γ is much more than just a kinase, and her recent studies point to new avenues in the search for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma therapeutics.

Cell membranes are critical for cellular life. The effective extraction of proteins and lipids from cell membranes is a necessity for research, but traditional methods may damage the membrane components and limit the accuracy of data. Dr Youzhong Guo at Virginia Commonwealth University has recently developed a revolutionary method for the extraction of membrane components in the format of native cell membrane nanoparticles to allow in-depth structural studies of membrane proteins whilst preserving functionality and limiting damage to vital mechanisms. This exciting work is driving forward the understanding of the structure, function and protein-lipid interactions of membrane protein.

Recent work in humans and rodents suggests that consuming nutrients rich in nitrate improves exercise performance, although scientists do not fully understand the mechanisms behind this phenomenon. Dr. Rosa Keller from Oregon State University in the USA, worked with colleagues to investigate the effects of nitrate on muscle function. Unconventionally, the scientists decided to study the effect of nitrate in zebrafish. They observed that keeping fish in nitrate-containing water increased their ability to swim for extensive periods. Analysing chemical changes in the treated animals provided major novel insights into the inner workings of energy use during exercise.

Dr Michael Richardson and Dr Rachel Kallen from Macquarie University in Sydney have demonstrated through a wide body of research, that machines can play a vital role in collaborating with humans on perceptual-motor tasks. A key focus of Dr Richardson and Dr Kallen’s cutting-edge research is enhancing the performance of artificial agents using dynamic motor primitives, to create more natural and effective interactions with humans.

People living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) now have very effective treatment options to allow them to live long lives but the need for new and improved therapeutics remains. Dr Delphine Muriaux from Le Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in Montpellier, France, researches HIV infection and replication utilising advanced state-of-the-art microscopy. This super-resolution imaging has led to new findings on the importance of the HIV-1 Gag proteins and the cellular host co-factor IRSp53, a membrane curving protein, and how they interact with host cell membranes.

Two-dimensional materials, like graphene, have enriched the world of nanoscience and shown great potential for a variety of different application areas. In medicine, the use of graphene is being developed and adapted to offer novel solutions in addressing clinical challenges. The 2D-Health research programme, headed by Professor Kostas Kostarelos, is a multi-disciplinary research effort looking to engineer and refine graphene-based technologies that can be clinically utilised. Based mainly at the University of Manchester, work at 2D-Health is split into three Themes addressing needs in wound care and orthopaedic surgery, cell therapeutics and cancer immunotherapy. This exciting work is aiming to offer novel solutions in healthcare whilst deepening our knowledge of two-dimensional materials interacting with the living body.

Following exposure to injury or infection, the body elicits a counteractive immune response which involves many different cell types and processes. Cytokines are substances secreted by cells which play a pivotal role in the regulation of this response. Professor Paige Lacy and colleagues in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, have conducted extensive research into the exact mechanisms underpinning the regulation of cytokine release during the immune response with a particular focus on airway inflammatory disorders.

Chemotherapy, one of the mainstays of cancer treatment, can unfortunately act as a double-edged sword. While achieving the intended aim of killing cancerous cells, it also generates an accumulation of cell debris, which in turn, promotes tumour growth by stimulating inflammation in the tumour microenvironment. Dr Dipak Panigrahy and his colleagues from Harvard Medical School, USA, have conducted several studies in mice showing that targeting the tumour cell debris-mediated surge of proinflammatory and protumourigenic factors provides a strategy for enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapy.

People who live close to busy roads and highways are exposed to high levels of traffic-related air pollution. This puts them at risk of significant health difficulties such as high blood pressure, heart attacks and cancer. The Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health Studies led by Dr Doug Brugge from the University of Connecticut represent community-engaged research into the biological impact of high exposure to pollution and importantly, possible solutions to this. This work has shown that high-efficiency particulate arrestance filters are one promising intervention for minimising exposure to pollution and thus improving health.

Although human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is still prevalent worldwide, life-saving antiretroviral drugs can now prevent an infection from progressing into acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Nevertheless, people who are HIV-positive are still at increased risk of developing neurological disorders and cardiovascular diseases, known as co-morbidities. Professor Michael Bukrinsky from the George Washington University in Washington DC works to understand the underlying biological mechanisms that lead to these disorders. His research has produced interesting results that demonstrate the role of altered lipid (cholesterol) homeostasis in HIV-infected cells and how this comes to pass.