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Evidence of an elite adult male conceived through a socially sanctioned incestuous relationship during the Neolithic period has been discovered in Ireland's largest passage tomb, finds a new study involving UCL and Trinity College Dublin. The remains were identified in New Grange, a 5,000 year-old passage tomb that sits within the UNESCO monumental site of Brú na Bóinne.

There is a faster decline in physical, mental and social function in people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, finds a large UCL-led cohort study. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) used a sample of 5,018 participants, aged 64 years on average, from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, first assessing them in 2004 and then eight years later in 2012.

The employment prospects of some ethnic minorities have improved since the 1970s but still lag behind the white majority because of "persistent racism", a major new study says. Research, led by the University of Bristol, revealed that despite progress, most ethnic minority groups studied are still more likely to be in manual work or unemployed or sick than their white counterparts.

Data from a BBC citizen science experiment has helped predict how different strategies could control the spread of Covid-19 - according to new preliminary research from Oxford University, University of East Anglia, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The team of researchers re-purposed the BBC data to simulate outbreaks of Covid-19, and see which public health interventions might be effective.

Levels of anxiety and depression in the UK have both fallen in the past week but remain above the usual reported averages, according to UCL's Covid-19 social study of over 90,000 adults during the coronavirus epidemic. The ongoing study, which was launched in the week before lockdown, is funded by the Nuffield Foundation with additional support from Wellcome and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

A new research project , awarded £360,000 from the Economic and Social Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation, will explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child protection practice and children and families, with the aim of improving the capacity of social workers to keep children safe in a period of institutionalised social distancing.

Black and south Asian ethnic groups in England appear to be at higher risk of COVID-19, as well as hospitalisation with the disease. New UK Biobank research, led by the University of Glasgow and published today in BMC Medicine , has found that black and south Asian ethnic groups have a higher risk of testing positive with SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19.

Data from a BBC citizen science experiment has helped predict how different strategies could control the spread of Covid-19 - according to new preliminary research from Oxford University, University of East Anglia, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The team of researchers re-purposed the BBC data to simulate outbreaks of Covid-19, and see which public health interventions might be effective.

Children and young people appear to be more than 50% less likely to catch SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, than adults but evidence remains weak on how likely they are to transmit the virus, finds a UCL-led review of test and tracing and population screening studies. Researchers say the findings, which are awaiting peer review and formal publication, provide further evidence on children's susceptibility to COVID-19, and the data will be important for governments making decisions about school reopening and easing lockdown restrictions.

Around 70% of young people who report self-harming or suicidal thoughts are within normal or non-clinical range of mental distress. Even modest improvements in mental health and wellbeing across the entire population may prevent more suicides than targeting only those who are severely depressed or anxious Peter Jones The vast majority of young people who self-harm or experience suicidal thoughts appear to have only mild or moderate mental distress, instead of more obvious symptoms associated with a diagnosable disorder, according to a new study.

New research by academics from four Universities including the University of Birmingham has found that anti-immigrant attitudes in the UK softened immediately following the Brexit referendum of 2016, among both Leave and Remain supporters. The report, ' A Populist Paradox? How Brexit Softened Anti-Immigrant Attitudes ' concludes that attitudes towards anti-immigration and anti-refugees were significantly softer even several months after the referendum.

A new report, published today by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, on the health and social well-being of schoolchildren from 45 countries, including the UK, shows that adolescent mental well-being declined in many countries between 2014 and 2018.

A woman dispenses soap at the Bakassi internally displaced people's camp in north-east Nigeria. Photograph: Audu Marte/AFP via Getty Images Forced migrant survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) face increasingly serious problems - some life-threatening - as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions, a new study reveals.

Hospital staff may be carrying SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease, without realising they are infected, according to a study by researchers at the University of Cambridge. Test! Test! Test! And then test some more Mike Weekes Patients admitted to NHS hospitals are now routinely screened for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and isolated if necessary.

The largest study to date, analysing NHS health data from 17.4 million UK adults between 01 February 2020 and 25 April 2020, has given the strongest evidence on risk factors associated with COVID-19 death. Academics at the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), working on behalf of NHS England and in partnership with NHSX, have analysed the pseudonymised health data of over 17.4 million UK adults to discover the key factors associated with death from COVID-19 .

Work was cited as the most frequent source of stress for parents, followed by their children's wellbeing  The  interim report  from 5,000 responses to the Co-SPACE (COVID-19 Supporting Parents, Adolescents, and Children in Epidemics) survey led by experts at the , indicates some important concerns for parents, employers and health professionals.

Using public transport, shopping, dining out, going to a party or place of worship and spending time with someone who has a cold are all associated with significantly higher risks of contracting a respiratory illness such as COVID-19, according to new UCL research. The peer-reviewed Wellcome funded study, used data from the England and Wales Flu Watch cohort and is the first to investigate the impact of specific public activities on the risk of acquiring respiratory tract infection in a population-based cohort.

Professor Nishi Chaturvedi (UCL MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing) considers demography, co-morbidities and age when analysing why more people from minorities are dying from Covid-19. One explanation is demography. The virus hit London first and hardest. But even when you take these regional differences into account there is a mismatch.

Researchers at the are looking for volunteers from across the globe to take part in a new study looking into how social distancing has affected their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. Volunteers can complete the online survey, which will track people's feelings and experiences over a 3-month period.

Dr Adam Cooper (UCL STEaPP) argues that the current response to Covid-19 coronavirus would be improved if the expertise of engineers was better utilised. The coronavirus outbreak has shone a bright light on the use of experts and scientific advice. In the UK the prime minister, Boris Johnson, is flanked by his chief scientist and chief medical officer when giving updates about his response to the outbreak - emphasising that it is driven by scientific advice.