Elsevier and Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversitSchool of Medicine, have deepened their cooperation to launch an interdisciplinary academic journal LabMed Discovery (LMD) with international reach.

The research output in China continues to grow exponentially, leading to a significant rise in both article volume and quality. Recognizing the importance of Chinese research and serving thiscommunity, Elsevier has recently forged a long-term partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) -- one of China's top university and hospital institutions. The collaboration was formally celebrated at Ruijin Hospital during STJU’s Medicine-Engineering Interdisciplinary Journal Alliance launch ceremony, which highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary research in medicine and engineering.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex genetic neurodegenerative disorder. Epidemiology genetic discoveries have increased our understanding of the molecular contributors to Parkinson’s pathophysiology, especially when associated with the advent of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) technologies in the discovery of the risk linked to common germline genetic variants. The biggest limitation of those studies on genetic susceptibility to PD is the lack of information describing the impact of individuals’ ancestry on risk associations, especially in non-European populations. Current genetic data are mainly based on individuals of European origin, particularly those included in the UK biobank project. The effects of these ethical discrepancies can directly impact the discovery of risk variants associated with PD susceptibility and clinical management of PD patients in admixture populations, for example. Thus, we performed a PROSPERO-registered systematic review to elucidate the current state of the art about the role of common genetic variants based on GWAS studies in advancing precision medicine for PD susceptibility and pathobiology in multiethnic and non-European populations. Also, we discuss whether there are similarities or discrepancies of these data in relation to genomic data obtained in studies with PD patients of European origin.

Innovative virtual eye clinics in shopping centres could significantly reduce waiting times for routine eye appointments, UCL-led research suggests in a first-of-its-kind study.