A recent review by a collaborative team from Sun Yat-sen University and Jinan University systematically summarizes the latest advances in biomacromolecule-loaded microneedles for treating various major diseases. The article details the design of functional microneedles with specific structures to overcome drug delivery barriers in the skin, heart, and blood vessels, thereby improving therapeutic outcomes. It also discusses key challenges in industrial-scale manufacturing and clinical translation, proposing forward-looking solutions.

Australians undergoing open-heart surgery could soon benefit from safer, simpler care and get home earlier thanks to the results of a world-first clinical trial led by Monash University’s Victorian Heart Institute.

A multi-institutional study led by the University of California, Davis, finds that living in urban areas with a higher percentage of visible trees is associated with a 4% decrease in cardiovascular disease. By comparison, living in urban areas with a higher percentage of grass was associated with a 6% increase in cardiovascular disease. Likewise, a higher rate of other types of green space, like bushes or shrubs, was associated with a 3% increase in cardiovascular disease. The new research was published in Environmental Epidemiology.

Having an ischemic stroke during pregnancy or three months after pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack or second stroke, heart disease and depression later in life. The new study is published on January 21, 2026, in Neurology^®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke. It occurs when a clot or blockage reduces blood flow to the brain, depriving it of oxygen and nutrients.

Nitric oxide is a therapeutic gas that researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, helped establish as a life-saving therapy for hundreds of thousands of newborns with congenital heart disease. Nearly 30 years later, investigators from the same laboratory at Mass General Brigham report that high-dose inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) demonstrates potential antimicrobial activity in preclinical models and is safe and feasible in early human studies, supporting further clinical investigation. The findings are published in Science Translational Medicine.

Researchers have devised a new therapy for metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis (MASH) that generates CAR T cells in the body that target proteins responsible for fibrosis – and show that these cells can reduce liver fibrosis in mice. Their experiments take in vivo CAR T cell therapies one step closer to clinical translation, and with further work, could address the large gap in therapies for fibrotic liver disorders. MASH is a severe form of fatty liver disease that involves liver inflammation, fibrosis, tissue damage, and a higher risk of liver cancer. Fibrosis is the main driver of deaths in patients with MASH, as it stiffens tissues and severely impairs the organ’s overall function. Although there aren’t any therapies that can reverse fibrosis, researchers theorize that clearing out profibrotic hepatic stellate cells could help. One approach involves CAR T cells, which are mainly used against cancer but can also be designed to deplete noncancerous cells. However, traditional CAR T cells that are created in a lab aren’t suitable, as they persist for a long time and could deplete noncancerous cells excessively. Chittampalli Yashaswini and colleagues instead turned to in vivo CAR T cell generation, which has previously been tested against heart fibrosis. They designed lipid nanoparticles to ferry mRNA that instructs the body to produce CAR molecules specific to T cells. These in vivo-generated CAR T cells then target a protein named FAP that’s expressed on hepatic stellate cells. When given to mice with MASH, the nanoparticles generated anti-FAP CAR T cells that successfully targeted hepatic stellate cells. The CAR T cells also calmed inflammatory and fibrotic pathways in other cell types, such as immune and endothelial cells, leading to reduced fibrosis. “These findings highlight the potential of in vivo CAR T therapy to attenuate a highly morbid and pervasive liver disease, not only by directly reducing fibrosis but also through indirect effects on other cell types,” the authors conclude.

For reporters interested in trends, a January 2022 paper in Science used lipid nanoparticles to generate CAR T cells in vivo to treat heart fibrosis and restore heart function in mice: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm0594

A new genome-wide association study corroborates earlier findings that linked higher childhood BMI with reduced breast cancer risk. The work longitudinally evaluates 56,628 child-free European women from the age of menstruation (menarche) to first childbirth (up to 40 years of age). Prior studies suggest that higher adiposity (measured by body mass index, or BMI) before puberty may protect against breast cancer. However, higher BMI also corresponds with younger menarche, the latter of which correlates with increased breast cancer risk. The two factors are hard to disentangle, because BMI’s isolated impact might be reduced by subsequent earlier menarche. Now, Grace Power and colleagues have examined how BMI alone mediates breast cancer risk by influencing the genome. They conducted genome-wide association studies (GWAS) with longitudinal data for 56,628 child-free European women from menarche to the age of their first childbirth or 40 years of age – whichever came first. Doing so controlled for age of menarche as a confounding variable. They also analyzed genetic architectures at specific life stages (menarche to <20 years, 20 to <30 years, and 30 to <40 years). The multivariable Mendelian randomization and causal inference analyses confirmed that higher BMI in women across the ages ultimately reduced risk of overall breast cancer. Power et al. then incorporated data concerning participants’ prepubertal BMI, and saw that this life stage had the strongest impact on future breast cancer risk.

 

For reporters interested in trends, in 2025 Science Advances published a special issue focused on women’s health: https://www.science.org/toc/sciadv/11/10. The issue included a Focus on the value of understanding the menstrual cycle’s influence on the heart-brain axis: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt1243.

 

Another 2025 Science Advances study found a correlation between menstruation and the Moon’s cycle, with recent changes due to the increased popularity of LED light: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe1358. Moreover, a 2021 Science Advances study with several authors in common found that women’s menstrual cycles temporarily synchronize with Moon cycles: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe1358.

According to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update, heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S. and stroke has moved up to the #4 spot. Together, heart disease and stroke accounted for more than a quarter of all deaths in the U.S. in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available.