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UMass Amherst researcher wins $2.5 million to expand nanoparticle cancer vaccine study

Having established the effectiveness of her nanoparticle drug-delivery system for cancer immunotherapy, University of Massachusetts Amherst researcher Prabhani Atukorale, has been awarded $2.5 million from the National Institutes of Health to broaden the scope of her vaccine research to include treating those with active cancer.

27 Aug 2026

Cellular glue protein found to help clear away dead cells

A protein which sticks cells and tissues together has been found to have a surprising second job: helping cells which are packed into a continuous sealed layer, also known as epithelial cells, engulf nearby dead cells.

27 Aug 2026

New funding backs pioneering research to make brain cancer treatment more effective

Adelaide researchers are challenging decades-old assumptions about brain cancer treatment in a bid to make radiation therapy more effective against tumors, while reducing damage to healthy tissue.

27 Aug 2026

Maternal immune response to urinary tract infection may drive preterm birth risk

A new study published in Science Translational Medicine shows that the increased risk of preterm pregnancies associated with urinary tract infection (UTI), is linked to the body's immune response to the infection rather than to the bacteria themselves.

26 Aug 2026

Researchers traced lifelong obesity resistance in mice back to an early microbial encounter

Natural wild-derived microbiota protected mice against diet-induced obesity across sexes, genetic backgrounds, and age by increasing energy expenditure and promoting a thermogenic program in brown adipose tissue. The effect depended on the immune system’s initial encounter with the microbiota and required CCR2-associated myeloid activity, revealing a long-lasting microbiota-immune-brown fat pathway.

25 Aug 2026

Scientists discover how neutrophils travel to infection sites without damaging healthy tissue

UMass Chan Medical School scientist Beth McCormick, PhD, and her team collaborated with researchers at the University of Bath to discover how neutrophils, the body's most abundant type of white blood cells, travel to infection sites without damaging healthy tissue.

25 Aug 2026

Martha's Vineyard Hospital launches study to better understand alpha-gal syndrome

Martha's Vineyard Hospital, a member of Mass General Brigham, has begun recruiting participants for a research study designed to better understand alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), a potentially serious allergic condition associated with lone star tick exposure.

25 Aug 2026

Study finds distinct patterns of innate immune activity in mental disorders

The immune system may also play a role in mental disorders. Scientists are investigating these links with brain function in greater detail, and new findings show that immune changes may differ by disorder type.

25 Aug 2026

Review uncovers how tryptophan metabolism affects female reproductive health

In recent years, issues concerning female reproductive health have become a global challenge that cannot be ignored.

24 Aug 2026

Yeast-based nanoparticle vaccine could make annual flu shots obsolete

The world mostly relies on an 80-year-old method for producing flu vaccines from chicken eggs - a slow, costly process that struggles to quickly adapt to new, mutant strains.

24 Aug 2026

Glioma microenvironment emerges as key target for future therapies

The prognosis for glioma patients remains extremely poor despite aggressive multimodal standard therapy: maximal safe resection, radiotherapy, and temozolomide chemotherapy, with median survival rarely exceeding 15 to 18 months.

20 Aug 2026

AI predicts vaccine response based on pre-existing antibody patterns

Vaccines protect most people from serious illness, but the strength of that protection can vary considerably from one person to another. A new study led by Arizona State University helps us understand why.

20 Aug 2026

First 24 hours shape the body's antiviral defense response

Age, genetics and lifestyle are known to influence how people respond to viral infections. Scientists also know that differences in immune response play an important role, but exactly how these factors shape the course of an infection has remained unclear.

19 Aug 2026

Scripps scientist receives NIAID award for immunotherapy research

Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to advance basic understanding of immune processes that could aid the design of next-generation immunotherapies.

19 Aug 2026

Novel norovirus vaccine approach may be adaptable for other RNA viruses

Every RNA virus — from stomach bugs and influenza to chickenpox and the common cold — has its own story to tell, with a unique combination of symptoms, rates of transmission, duration, and chemical blueprint.

19 Aug 2026

Skull bone marrow contains immune hubs that fight brain cancer

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered lymph node-like structures in the skull bone marrow of mice for the first time and demonstrated that they act as rapid first responders against brain cancer before distant lymph nodes get the signal that abnormal cells are present.

19 Aug 2026

Red blood cells inspire next-generation therapeutic nanocarriers

Red blood cells serve as the foundation for nanocarriers that show promise in a new study as effective and efficient vehicles for gene therapy, tumor targeting and other medical treatments.

19 Aug 2026

Paying attention to your body may change how an acute skin inflammation unfolds

Voluntary attention to inflammation-related bodily sensations reduced the magnitude of histamine-induced skin inflammation and promoted faster resolution compared with distraction in healthy adults. The findings point to complementary sensory-dependent and top-down autonomic pathways, although the precise neural and immune mechanisms remain unresolved.

18 Aug 2026

UC Irvine researchers develop framework to make CAR T-cell therapy safer

CAR T-cell therapy has transformed cancer care, offering new hope to patients with aggressive blood cancers who once had few treatment options.

18 Aug 2026

Engineered red blood cell vesicles improve gene therapy delivery

Red blood cells serve as the foundation for nanocarriers that show promise in a new study as effective and efficient vehicles for gene therapy, tumor targeting and other medical treatments.

17 Aug 2026