Medical research

A Cochrane review reveals significant gaps in the clinical rating scales used to assess pain in newborn babies, highlighting the urgent need for improved tools and global collaboration. The review is published in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

A new, error-corrected method for detecting cancer from blood samples is much more sensitive and accurate than prior methods and may be useful for monitoring disease status in patients following treatment, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Genome Center investigators. The method, based on whole-genome sequencing of DNA, also represents an important step toward the goal of routine blood test-based screening for early cancer detection.

Traumatically injured women are considerably less likely to receive whole blood transfusions within the first four hours of injury compared to men, despite whole blood being associated with reduced mortality in both women and men, according to new research led by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists.

Federal cuts to funding could “decimate” medical research in the United States, delaying cures and costing countless lives, according to a leader in cancer research.

University of Florida scientists have helped identify a novel drug compound that selectively activates pain-altering receptors in the body, offering a potentially safer alternative to conventional pain medications.

In today’s interconnected world, infectious diseases pose an escalating threat, as demonstrated by the coronavirus pandemic and outbreaks of H1N1, SARS, Ebola, Zika, and H5N1 (bird flu) viruses—all of which have had significant global health and economic impacts.

The Swedish National Patient Register (NPR) has long been a cornerstone for epidemiological research. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have published a new review examining the validity of the register and found that it is good for most diagnoses and very good for surgical procedures.

Studying the early development of human embryos is challenging due to ethical constraints and technical difficulties. Therefore, animal models are often used to understand the biological processes that govern embryo development before it implants in the uterus.

Scientists have for the first time looked deep into the protein structure that may determine our vision—and discovered that it is much more dynamic than previously thought. RBP3 not only changes its shape depending on its load but may also play a role in protecting the retina from diseases ranging from diabetic retinopathy to retinitis pigmentosa.

University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center researchers presented promising results from an early-stage clinical trial investigating a unique coffee-based approach to ovarian cancer maintenance therapy at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology annual meeting in Seattle (SGO 2025).