Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease of the brain and spinal cord that impacts millions worldwide. In MS, the immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath—a protective layer surrounding nerve cells in the nervous system. The loss of myelin, combined with ongoing inflammation, causes dysfunction and death of nerve cells, making the disability worse, such as difficulties with movement, coordination, and sensation. Treatments now focus on reducing attacks on myelin, but don’t address nerve-cell damage and death. But with $1 million from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), a research team co-led by Paul Tesar, the Dr. Donald and Ruth Weber Goodman Professor of Innovative Therapeutics and director of the Institute for Glial Sciences, and Ben Clayton, assistant professor and founding member of the Institute for Glial Sciences, both in the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, will take a different approach.

Suicide, a leading global health concern, ranks fourth among young people. Although many studies have reported temporal variations in suicide risk, most are limited to Western countries. Addressing this gap, researchers from Korea and Japan in collaboration with other countries conducted a multi-country multi-city study to investigate variations in suicide risk based on the day of the week and national holidays, revealing key insights that could help form effective and targeted suicide prevention action plans.

Physicians often work for extended hours to provide medical care for patients, which can result in sleep loss and affect their optimal functioning. Researchers from Juntendo University have conducted a national survey and used a computer-based psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) to assess the impact of long work hours and sleep duration on alertness and the psychological health of Japanese physicians. Poor PVT performance was significantly associated with physician depression and burnout.