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Imperial and US medical technology company MediBeacon have partnered to advance a non-invasive method of assessing intestinal health. In healthy people, the wall of the intestine forms a barrier between the contents of the gut and the rest of the body, with only the nutrients produced by digestion passing through.

Studies of a 'future-proof' vaccine candidate have shown that just one antigen can be modified to provide a broadly protective immune response in animals. The studies suggest that a single vaccine with combinations of these antigens - a substance that causes the immune system to produce antibodies against it - could protect against an even greater range of current and future coronaviruses.

Molnupiravir, an antiviral drug used to treat patients with COVID-19, appears to be driving SARS-CoV-2 to mutate and evolve, with some of these new viruses being transmitted onwards, a new study has shown. It is not clear, however, whether these mutated viruses pose an increased risk to patients or are able to evade the vaccine.

A common research tool used to measure brain inflammation and test new dementia drugs may not be as helpful as scientists had hoped. In clinical research, scientists use a type of imaging called positron emission tomography (PET) to gain a detailed view of what's happening in the brain. One of the markers targeted by scans, called translocator protein (TSPO), has long been used to measure inflammation driven by microglia - the specialised immune cells in the brain which respond to damage and disease.

A team from the UCL Global Business School for Health (GBSH) and the UCL School of Pharmacy are using data collected from an "electric tongue" to create an AI model for predicting the bitterness of drugs. Taste is key to making sure people regularly take their medications and is an important part of drug development.

An ultraportable, low-cost device invented by researchers at the University of Bath proves highly successful at detecting the street drug Spice. Published on Monday 18 September 2023 Last updated on Tuesday 26 September 2023 A device that lights up in the presence of illegal drugs soaked into paper or fabric is expected to be cleared for rollout across the UK over the next few months.

Nearly 70 per cent of adolescents and young adults with ulcerative colitis stop taking medication to treat the disease within a year of diagnosis. Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes inflammation and ulcers (sores) in the intestine, and it affects around 200,000 people in the UK.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria get extra nutrients and thrive when the drugs kill 'good' bacteria in the gut. This is according to new research led by Imperial College London scientists, which could lead to better patient risk assessment and 'microbiome therapeutics' treatments to help combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Persistent high blood pressure - or hypertension - can increase the risk of a number of serious and potentially life-threatening health conditions, such as heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. The team of researchers, funded by the British Heart Foundation , and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) were investigating the kidney - the key organ responsible for the development of high blood pressure.

Using AI to interpret images from a handheld ultrasound device is comparable at detecting how well the heart pumps as the gold-standard of diagnosis currently used in the NHS. The breakthrough new findings suggest that the use of AI could significantly speed up heart failure diagnosis waiting times. Using AI to interpret images from a handheld ultrasound device is comparable at detecting how well the heart pumps as the gold-standard of diagnosis currently used in the NHS.

A simple blood test which may be able to rapidly diagnose the cause of a child's illness could be 'transformative', say researchers. An international team, led by researchers at Imperial College London, has developed and validated a diagnostic approach capable of simultaneously detecting and distinguishing between 18 infectious or inflammatory diseases - including group B Streptococcus (GBS), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and tuberculosis - with the potential to provide a result in a fraction of the time of current diagnostic tests.

A drug developed to combat type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease may offer new treatment hope for people with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), a form of blood cancer A drug being developed to combat metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease may offer new treatment hope for people with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), a form of blood cancer.

New research involving the University of Southampton has identified which people with compromised immune systems are less likely to have COVID-19 antibodies - making them more vulnerable to a severe infection. Around one in five people with solid organ transplant, rare autoimmune disease or blood cancer affecting lymphocytes had no COVID-19 antibodies after three or more vaccinations.

Researchers at Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences have developed a new tool to predict people's risks of getting oesophageal cancer in the next ten years. Researchers in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford have today unveiled a ground-breaking tool that could revolutionise the early detection of oesophageal cancer - the long tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach.

Here's a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial. From psychedelic therapies to exercise interventions for school pupils, here is some quick-read news from across the College. Psychedelic gambling treatment Researchers in Imperial's Centre for Psychedelic Research are set to investigate whether the active compound in magic mushrooms could help problem gamblers to break their addiction.

Men and women with raised blood sugar levels have 30-50% greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease even when these levels are below the threshold for diabetes, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, also found that, among people diagnosed with diabetes, women's higher relative risk of developing any cardiovascular disease than men disappeared once modifiable factors such as body measurements and medication use were taken into account.

Scientists have discovered how poxviruses evade natural defences in living cells, and realised that drugs to stop them doing this are already available. The drugs we identified may be more durable than the current treatment for monkeypox..and also effective against a range of other poxviruses Geoffrey Smith Scientists studying how poxviruses evade natural defences in human cells have identified a new approach to treatment that may be more durable than current treatments.

European research to tackle the triple challenge of dementia, hearing and vision impairment Researchers hope the discovery will accelerate development of treatments for the condition which affects around 150,000 people in the UK New research on mice has shed light on how high blood pressure causes changes to arteries in the brain, a process that leads to vascular dementia.

Patients prescribed medicines to replace illicit drugs are at higher risk of overdose resulting in hospital admission when taking other medicines which treat mental health conditions or pain, University of Manchester researchers have found. The authors of the study, published in the journal Addiction today (04/08/23), say doctors should avoid co-prescription of opioid agonists, with benzodiazepines, gabapentinoids, antipsychotics or Z-drugs if harm is greater than the benefit to patients.

Scientists from Cardiff University have discovered a superior form of killer T-cell in patients who have successfully cleared end stage solid cancer. Published today in the journal Cell , the researchers discovered that dominant, successful killer T-cells were capable of recognising multiple different cancer-associated targets at the same time.