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Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 23-Jun-2026 19:16 ET (23-Jun-2026 23:16 GMT/UTC)

Prenatal and early-life pollution exposures may influence childhood blood pressure patterns, ECHO study finds

Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A child’s blood pressure may be influenced by exposure to air pollution before and shortly after birth, according to a new study from the NIH-funded Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. The study focused on fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), common pollutants from vehicles, power plants, and other industrial sources.

Journal: Environmental Research

Insilico Medicine integrates Nach01 Foundation Model with Microsoft Discovery to enable AI-native, enterprise-ready drug discovery workflows

InSilico Medicine
Business Announcement

Cambridge, Massachusetts, January 14, 2025 - Insilico Medicine (“Insilico”, HKEX:03696), a clinical-stage biotechnology company driven by generative artificial intelligence (AI), today announced the demonstration of its Nach01 multimodal foundation model deployed on Microsoft Discovery, Microsoft’s science-focused platform designed to accelerate research and development through agentic AI. This collaboration highlights Microsoft Discovery’s extensibility with third-party AI models and illustrates how R&D organizations can adopt unified, AI-native workflows for computational drug discovery. By orchestrating secure, multi-step investigations within a Microsoft Azure-native environment, the demonstration underscores key benefits—including enhanced transparency, improved reproducibility, and scalable deployment—empowering scientific teams to streamline and advance discovery processes with great assurance.

Exposure to “forever chemicals” linked to higher risk of gestational diabetes, major review finds

The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of highly persistent environmental chemicals commonly referred to as “forever chemicals,” is associated with a higher risk of gestational diabetes mellitus and altered markers of insulin resistance and insulin secretion, according to a new systematic review and meta-analysis led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Journal: EClinicalMedicine

Study finds alpha-2 receptor drugs reduce heavy alcohol drinking

Boston University School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Alcohol use is widespread and alcohol use disorder (AUD) causes substantial harm. AUD affects 29 million individuals and causes more than 140,000 deaths annually in the U.S. alone. Individuals with AUD also often struggle with cognitive deficits, particularly in memory, attention, and cognitive flexibility, which can further undermine recovery. Current drug options are limited, and only modestly effective, so more efficacious and better-tolerated options are urgently needed.

Researchers at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine report for the first time that guanfacine, a selective alpha-2 adrenergic drug already used clinically for ADHD, reduces heavy alcohol consumption and improve certain alcohol-related cognitive deficits in an experimental model, without the sedation and dangerous drops in body temperature seen with older alpha-2 drugs such as clonidine.

Journal: eNeuro

BU researcher named Class of 2025 Fellow of American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Boston University School of Medicine
Grant and Award Announcement

Venetia Zachariou, PhD, Edward Avedisian Professor and chair of pharmacology, physiology & biophysics at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has been named a Class of 2025 Fellow of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). Selection as a Fellow is an honor bestowed to the most distinguished members of the organization. Fellows are recognized for their meritorious efforts to advance pharmacology, through their scientific achievements, mentorship and service to the Society. Zachariou is one of 17 new Fellows.

Cities@Heart - Tackling heart health and inequality in European cities

European Society of Cardiology
Business Announcement

Cardiovascular disease remains a major concern in cities, with poor outcomes and high societal cost often driven by unequal access to healthcare.

A pan-European consortium of 34 international partners launches an ambitious project to reduce the burden of urban cardiovascular disease.

The initiative will focus on obesity, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and diabetes, which are common yet treatable causes of death, heart disease, stroke and vascular dementia.

Dopamine under control: precision regulation of inhibition shapes learning, memory and mental health

Wroclaw Medical University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Dopamine is widely known as the brain’s “reward molecule,” but new research from Wroclaw Medical University reveals a far more nuanced role. Instead of simply amplifying neural activity, dopamine precisely regulates inhibitory circuits in the hippocampus, a brain region critical for learning and memory. By fine-tuning when and where neurons are silenced, dopamine helps shape stable and selective memory traces. The study shows that both too little and too much dopamine disrupt this balance, highlighting a narrow window in which healthy brain plasticity can occur. These findings challenge simplified views of dopamine function and suggest that many neuropsychiatric disorders may stem not from dopamine imbalance alone, but from a loss of precision in how this neurotransmitter controls neural networks.

Journal: Progress in Neurobiology

Korea University researchers revive an abandoned depression drug target using structurally novel NK1 receptor inhibitors

Korea University College of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers report that redesigning neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) antagonists can restore antidepressant-like effects in animal models. Using machine-learning-guided screening, the team identified structurally distinct compounds that lack chemical features found in earlier failed drugs. In mouse models of stress- and inflammation-induced depression, the lead compound reduced depressive-like behavior and brain inflammation without affecting locomotion. The findings suggest that NK1R remains a viable therapeutic target when approached with improved molecular design.

Journal: Experimental & Molecular Medicine

New study explores therapeutic potential of CRISPR-Cas3 genome-editing system

The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

CRISPR–Cas9-based therapies are widely investigated for their clinical applications. However, there are limitations associated with the strategy, including off-target DNA editing. A group of researchers from Japan has explored a novel strategy involving CRISPR–Cas3 and investigated its potential using a mouse model of transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR). The results highlight its potential as an efficient genome-editing system. The technology can be developed as a therapeutic strategy for treating ATTR and other genetic disorders.

Journal: Nature Biotechnology