Diseases

Looking for experts to who can comment on the current coronavirus outbreak? With the novel coronavirus outbreak happening now, we have prepared an abbreviated Focus On to help connect journalists with experts who are prepared to speak with international media about different aspects, including public health, virology, travel, tourism, economic impacts and spread of information.

Looking for experts to who can comment on the current coronavirus outbreak? With the new coronavirus outbreak happening now, we have prepared an abbreviated Focus On to help connect journalists with virus experts who are prepared to speak with international media as the situation unfolds.

Testing for a gene expression pattern could reduce the number of colorectal cancer patients referred for unnecessary radical surgery.

West Nile virus (WNV) inhibits autophagy — an essential system that digests or removes cellular constituents such as proteins — to induce the aggregation of proteins in infected cells, triggering cell death and brain inflammation (encephalitis), according to Hokkaido University researchers.

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak haematologist Kuan Jew Win is looking for ways to detect certain blood diseases and cancers early.

A new compound could help doctors detect epileptic foci in the living human brain as well as further the understanding of psychiatric disease.

Using tissue engineering techniques, researchers are developing living heart valves that can grow after implantation in the human heart.

A resource for journalists to find stories and sources. Focus On: Brain highlights research and experts exploring questions ranging from basic structure and function, to technology, diseases and treatments.

Blocking a central nervous system protein could treat irritable bowel syndrome.

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore has developed a personalised assessment tool which can detect the incidence of cancer, predict patient survivability and determine patient suitability for immunotherapy cancer treatment.

A hyperactive gene response to Japanese encephalitis virus infection ultimately leads to brain inflammation.

The war against antibiotic resistance requires a conceptual revision, namely design and creation of new types of degradable antibiotics with novel intracellular interactions, says Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2009) laureate Ada Yonath.

An implantable device has the potential to revolutionize how neuroscientists study the brain and treat diseases.

A small molecule could hold the key to tackling the protein build-up in nerve cells that occurs in several devastating neurological disorders.

Much-needed insight into raising young children with autism in Malaysia highlights the need to improve local research, awareness, acceptance and support services.

New findings could lead the way towards treatments for intellectual disability in Down syndrome.

Professor Ronald Ching Wan MA, Professor and Head of the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, and Professor Siew Chien NG, Professor of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics and Associate Director of the Centre for Gut Microbiota Research under the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), have received Croucher Senior Medical Research Fellowships 2020 in recognition of their excellent achievements in scientific research in medicine and the support that gives to the next generation of clinician scientists.

Over 70% of rare disease patients and non-patients are aware of the patient registry but the participation rate accounted for less than 30%, according to a recent survey of the public’s acknowledgement of and participation in the rare disease patient registry.

A recent study conducted by the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) revealed that Chinese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are at 4-fold higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) compared with those without the disorder, and also have younger onset of diabetes.

Inaugural Nipah virus Conference convenes leading experts to strengthen global collaboration, improve efforts to combat deadly virus.

Scientists in Korea find a protein that mediates the interaction between the cellular systems involved in rapid responses against foreign genes in plants

Umetaro Suzuki (7 April 1874 – 20 September 1943) was a Japanese scientist best remembered for his research on beriberi, a disease caused by vitamin B1 deficiency, characterized by limb stiffness, paralysis and pain.

Salimuzzaman Siddiqui (19 October 1897 – 14 April 1994) was an artist and chemist from Pakistan whose research focused on natural products from plants.

Foremost society of kidney specialists highlights Singapore-led global study to better understand diabetes complications and reduce their prevalence.

Development of novel agonist antibodies to treat cancer by collaboration between academia and industry

Large-scale study to identify human adenovirus genotypes in Singapore leads to discovery of four new adenovirus strains and increase in strains linked to severe diseases. Researchers suggest use of antiviral therapies and adenovirus vaccines, and routine monitoring of adenovirus strains.

A recent research led by a scientist at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has discovered an easily transmitted DNA piece that can make a new type of hyper-resistant and deadly superbug become hyper-virulent quickly, posing an unprecedented threat to human health.

When a fly eats sugar, a single brain cell sends simultaneous messages to stimulate one hormone and inhibit another to control glucose levels in the body. Further research into this control system with remarkable precision could shed light on the neural mechanisms of diabetes and obesity in humans.

A research team from the School of Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has successfully developed a novel aptamer, i.e. a single-stranded piece of DNA, for the treatment of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) with the aid of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. It is the first time a drug in Hong Kong has been granted orphan drug designation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A compound effective in killing chemotherapy-resistant glioblastoma-initiating cells (GICs) has been identified, raising hopes of producing drugs capable of eradicating refractory tumors with low toxicity.