Innovative algorithm makes genomic surveillance faster and more affordable for global disease outbreaks
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Oct-2026 19:16 ET (20-Oct-2026 23:16 GMT/UTC)
Genomic surveillance — the process of monitoring and sequencing pathogens — is one of the most important tools for detecting emerging viral threats. But global surveillance systems remain costly, unevenly distributed and often are too slow to identify dangerous variants before they spread internationally, amplifying future threats of disease outbreaks.
A recently published research paper in Nature Communications, co-authored by Dr. Patricia Ning, assistant statistics professor, and Jifan Li, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Statistics, along with collaborators from multiple international institutions, introduces a new framework to rectify these issues while using fewer resources, making genomic surveillance rapid and cost-effective in preparation for new strains of COVID-19.
Ten weeks of cognitive rehabilitation can help people with long Covid symptoms such as brain fog achieve their goals in returning to work and hobbies, finds a new clinical trial led by University College London (UCL) researchers.
COVID-19 vaccine boosters not only protect against SARS‑CoV‑2 – the virus behind the most recent pandemic – but may also help protect against some future coronaviruses that risk spreading from animals to humans, Cambridge researchers have shown. In a related study, the team has shown that an individual’s first exposure to SARS‑CoV‑2 ‘locks in’ their immune response, impeding their ability to respond to future variants, even when vaccinated.
A single-shot vaccine under development at the University at Buffalo could protect against flu, COVID-19 and RSV simultaneously. In a study published Friday (June 26) in Science Advances, the researchers found that their three-in-one vaccine triggered protective immunity against all three respiratory diseases in mice, ferrets and cotton rats.
Obesity affected nearly a third of adults in England in 2025, new research suggests. The study by researchers from the University of Cambridge, the British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre at Health Data Research UK and The George Institute for Global Health also revealed the most disadvantaged groups are bearing a disproportionate burden of the obesity crisis, and this gap has widened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A genetic difference carried by nearly one in three people may increase the risk of severe COVID-19 and lung fibrosis by disrupting the function of a previously unknown protein, according to a new study.