EurekAlert! In the Spotlight

Welcome to In the Spotlight, where each month we shine a light on something exciting, timely, or simply fascinating from the world of science.

This September, we're exploring the science behind vaccines. From how they train our immune systems to fight disease to the research shaping their future, vaccines offer an opportunity to discover the science helping protect individuals and communities around the world.

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Oct-2026 04:16 ET (21-Oct-2026 08:16 GMT/UTC)

15-May-2026

Recent COVID-19 vaccination and risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In this cohort study, recent COVID-19 vaccination was associated with a reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. These findings suggest that COVID-19 vaccination may have an indirect benefit of decreasing transmission and thus reducing overall exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

13-May-2026

The liver’s immune cells might be the key to curing hepatitis B

University of California - San Francisco
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Fifteen years ago, doctors in Europe noticed a remarkable thing happening in people with chronic hepatitis B infections. When patients went off their medications, the virus started to come back — and then some of the patients were cured. Something was goading their immune systems to go after the virus as the infection rebounded.

Journal: Science Translational Medicine
Funder: Ibrahim El-Hefni Liver Biorepositor, UCSF Liver Center, The California Liver Institute, Norman Raab Foundation, Technical Training Foundation, Ing Foundation, UCSF Data Science CoLab, Disease to Biology CoLab, UCSF Parnassus Flow Cytometry CoLab, UCSF Bakar ImmunoX Initiative

13-May-2026

Successful opening the largest BL3 and ABL3 special labs for the domestic universities and holding a symposium

Korea University College of Medicine
Business Announcement

On April 16, Korea University Medicine held a signboard unveiling ceremony for BL3 (Biosafety Level 3) and ABL3 (Animal Biosafety Level 3) special labs on the 6th floor of the Mediscience Park Chung Mong-Koo Future Medicine Building. Next, the institution held a successful opening commemorative symposium at Seung Myung-ho Hall on the 7th floor of the Donghwa Bio Building.

13-May-2026

MIT-MGH team finds a new approach to cancer vaccination that yields more powerful T cells

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

MIT engineers developed a new way to amplify the T cell response to mRNA vaccines, using an mRNA adjuvant. This approach could lead to much more powerful cancer vaccines and stronger protection against infectious diseases.

Journal: Nature Biotechnology
Funder: Sanofi, Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, Koch Institute Support (core) Grant from the National Cancer Institute

8-May-2026

Pregnant women’s mental images are directly linked to vaccine hesitancy and uptake

University of Plymouth
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study explored whether women visualised a vaccine would have a positive or negative impact on their babies, and if that affected their decision to be vaccinated. The findings, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, showed that mental images were common and – depending on whether that mental image was a positive or negative one, and about the impacts of diseases or the vaccine itself – could be used in some cases to predict if and when the women ultimately became vaccinated during pregnancy.

Journal: Social Science & Medicine
Funder: Channel 7 Telethon Trust, Forrest Research Foundation, National Health and Medical Research Council

7-May-2026

Needle-free flu vaccine aims to boost children’s immunity

Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
Reports and Proceedings

A new study will explore the effects of a nasal spray flu vaccine on children’s immune systems, aiming to boost future protection and lower vaccine hesitancy rates.

Funder: AstraZeneca

7-May-2026

LJI scientists take crucial step in developing world's first measles treatment

La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) are the first in the world to characterize human antibodies capable of neutralizing measles virus. These antibodies bind to key sites on measles virus and prevent the virus from entering host cells.

Funder: Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoc Mobility

7-May-2026

Seasonal COVID-19 vaccination in 2025/26 reduced risk of illness by half in Canada

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An early estimate of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness for the 2025/26 season in Canada found that the vaccine had a protective effect even in the context of mismatched lineages.

Journal: Eurosurveillance
Funder: Public Health Agency of Canada, British Columbia Ministry of Health, Public Health Ontario, Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Pacific Public Health Foundation