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Researchers uncover a 'chemical metronome' in the brain, which helps to synchronise the master clock telling us when it's time to sleeep. In a study of brain cells from mice and humans, researchers have found that star-shaped cells called astrocytes rhythmically produce a chemical pulse that helps the brain's master clock to keep time, influencing our circadian rhythm and sleep-wake cycle.

Around 32% of people who have had prior damage from lung diseases will die after five years if they also get a common fungal infection, a major global review has found. The review also finds that 15% of people with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) die in the first year following other lung diseases.

The first computer algorithm capable of identifying which tumour cells are driving aggressive cancer growth has been developed by Cancer Research scientists from UCL and The Francis Crick Institute. The innovative algorithm, called SPRINTER*, analyses individual cells within a tumour to identify those that are growing the most rapidly.

New research has pinpointed key cells that could be targeted to prevent painful rheumatoid arthritis flare-ups, offering potential new hope to millions of people with the condition world-wide. The important new findings are published in the journal Immunity and highlight the potential to use dendritic cells as early markers to predict a rheumatoid arthritis flare-up, hopefully paving the way for more patients to achieve sustained remission.

Around 43% of NHS workers who took part in a recent study have considered leaving their role or taking early retirement. The national study, published today in Lancet Europe, also discovered a striking link between suffering from symptoms of depression, anxiety or PTSD, and wanting to leave healthcare.

The number of important routine health checks taking place since the pandemic has substantially reduced in England, with implications for missed diagnosis and increased health inequalities.

A study led by the University of Glasgow has revealed differences in the brains of paediatric and adult patients' that might explain the sometimes catastrophic outcomes seen in children following a traumatic brain injury. In findings published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the researchers found first pathological evidence that the pattern of damage to blood vessels after a severe brain injury appears to be age-dependant.

New research reveals public discreditation is the most common tactic used across all three sectors to intimidate researchers New research from the University of Bath shows researchers in the tobacco, ultra-processed food (UPF) and alcohol sectors are frequently targeted with identical intimidation tactics.

An Imperial-led study has highlighted how rare variants of a gene regulating the gut lining may increase the risk of MIS-C by up to four times. Scientists have uncovered genetic variants which help to explain why some children with mild COVID-19 go on to develop a severe inflammatory condition weeks after their infection.

A new study by researchers in the UK and Denmark, published in Digital Health , provides the first publicly accessible analysis of global downloads for menstrual tracking apps. While the market for menstrual tracking apps is rapidly growing, there have been no large-scale analyses about why users download these apps, and particularly few studies on their use in the Global South.

A new study by researchers in the UK and Denmark, published in Digital Health , provides the first publicly accessible analysis of global downloads for menstrual tracking apps. While the market for menstrual tracking apps is rapidly growing, there have been no large-scale analyses about why users download these apps, and particularly few studies on their use in the Global South.

People with poorer mental health are more prone to browsing negative content online, which further exacerbates their symptoms, finds a study led by UCL researchers. The relationship between mental health and web-browsing is causal and bi-directional, according to the study published in Nature Human Behaviour .

A potentially life-changing heart condition, dilated cardiomyopathy, can be caused by the cumulative influence of hundreds or thousands of genes and not just by a single "aberrant" genetic variant, as was previously thought, finds a new study co-led by researchers at UCL. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a condition in which the heart becomes progressively enlarged and weakened, reducing its ability to pump blood efficiently.

About one in five people who have stopped smoking for more than a year in England currently vape, equivalent to 2.2 million people, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine and funded by Cancer Research UK, found that this increased prevalence was largely driven by greater use of e-cigarettes in attempts to quit smoking.

Microscopic, single cell differences found in the lungs of COVID-19 patients in Malawi demonstrate the value and importance of cutting-edge infectious disease research in Sub-Saharan Africa. The new study - the first of its kind in a Sub-Saharan population - is published in Nature Medicine and reveals previously unobserved differences in the inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in patients who live in Malawi, compared to those who live in western countries.

Fighting bowel cancer with the bacteria Salmonella could be a step closer thanks to a new discovery by researchers at the University of Glasgow and the University of Birmingham. The new study, funded by Cancer Research UK and published today in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, studied the response of T cells to a specially engineered safe form of Salmonella in mice with colorectal cancer.

People with a high mammographic density (HMD) are more likely to develop breast cancer. Dr Isobel Taylor-Hearn is investigating why. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in UK women aged between 35 and 49. Routine breast screening doesn't start until women are 50. Overall, around 12% of the female population will get breast cancer at some point during their lifetime.

Working days lost to long Covid could be costing the economy billions of pounds every year as patients struggle to cope with symptoms and return to work, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The research, published in BMJ Open and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), examined the impact of long Covid on 4,087 patients who were referred to a long Covid clinic and registered in the Living With Covid Recovery (LWCR) programme between August 2020 and August 2022.

The ageing and failure of cells that occurs when the liver is damaged can spread to other organs, suggests a new study in mice and humans from researchers at UCL, the University of Edinburgh and the CRUK Scotland Institute. In the study, published in Nature Cell Biology , scientists demonstrate for the first time that the deterioration of cells in a damaged liver can activate a process associated with ageing and impaired function, which then transmits to otherwise healthy organs elsewhere in the body.

The most comprehensive study ever conducted of lung cancer diagnosis in England has revealed significant disparities between ethnic groups and striking evidence that people living in the most deprived areas were diagnosed with lung cancer at twice the rate of those in affluent areas.