SMD

News story: Bacon – the salt mine on your breakfast table

Survey results published today by Action on Salt (based at Queen Mary University of London) have confirmed bacon’s unwelcome status as the second biggest contributor to salt in the UK diet.

News story: Queen Mary research team identifies new route for tackling drug resistance in skin cancer cells

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have found that melanoma cells fight anti-cancer drugs by changing their internal skeleton (cytoskeleton) – opening up a new therapeutic route for combatting skin and other cancers that develop resistance to treatment.

News story: Queen Mary Dentistry Professor finds a low-cost, non-intrusive solution to save children’s teeth

A study led by Queen Mary’s Professor of Dental Public Health, Professor Cynthia Pine, has identified a low-cost and low-intensity intervention technique that could prevent tooth decay for thousands of children across the UK.

News story: Call for ‘ready to drink’ alcoholic beverages to be reduced in sugar and calories

Popular ‘ready to drink’ pre-mixed spirits sold in major UK retailers are unnecessarily high in hidden sugar and calories[1] and should be forced to reformulate immediately to the agreed criterion set by government in the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) or pay the fine[2] – according to a NEW product survey by Action on Sugar at Queen Mary University of London to mark Sugar Awareness Week (20th-26th January 2020).

News story: Better primary care needed to help young stroke survivors return to work

The role of primary care needs to be improved to help young stroke survivors return to work, according to a new study from Queen Mary University of London and the University of Cambridge.

News story: Pinpointing rare disease mutations

A new study from Queen Mary University of London and EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute has uncovered the genes essential for supporting life, which could help researchers to identify mutations responsible for rare childhood diseases.

News story: Queen Mary marks another year of ground-breaking cancer research

On World Cancer Day, Tuesday 4 February, we are celebrating some of the cutting-edge cancer research and developments over the last 12 months from Queen Mary University of London.

News story: ‘Irrefutable evidence’ that lung cancer screening works

Professor Stephen Duffy, Professor of Cancer Screening at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, and Professor John Field, from the University of Liverpool’s Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine, comment on recently published results from a lung cancer screening trial.

News story: Dental students teach local pupils all about staying healthy with SUGAR SMART Tower Hamlets

Students from Queen Mary’s Institute of Dentistry and Barts Health NHS Trust have been teaching primary school pupils from Tower Hamlets all about the benefits of healthy living as part of delivering a national campaign – SUGAR SMART.

News story: International team delivers research breakthrough for leading cause of blindness

Research from Queen Mary University of London has identified a new protein linked to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that could offer new hope for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, which affects over 1.5 million people in the UK alone.

News story: Foot-and-mouth-disease virus could help target the deadliest cancer

The foot-and-mouth-disease virus is helping scientists at Queen Mary to tackle a common cancer with the worst survival rate – pancreatic cancer.

News story: World first in AI helps predict heart attacks and stroke

Artificial intelligence has been used for the first time to instantly and accurately measure blood flow, in a new study involving researchers from Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Diabetes drug reduces complications of long-term steroid therapy

A drug used to treat type 2 diabetes could offer a simple and cheap solution to reduce harmful side effects of steroid treatment, new research from Queen Mary University of London suggests.

News story: Professor of Pediatrics appointed as NIHR Senior Investigator

Queen Mary’s Professor Grigg has been appointed as a Senior Investigator for 2020 by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) - the nation's largest funder of health and care research.

News story: Immune therapy reduces risk of recurrence in aggressive breast cancer

An immune therapy for the most aggressive form of breast cancer can substantially reduce the risk of the disease returning, according to a clinical trial led by Professor Peter Schmid of Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Queen Mary’s Action on Salt finds ‘healthy’ plant-based meals are actually drowning in salt

New research by Action on Salt (based at Queen Mary University of London and Bart’s Hospital) have exposed the shocking reality of many ‘healthy’ sounding plant-based and vegan meals  being served at UK restaurants, fast food and coffee chains.

News story: Sharp rise in NHS negligence claims for lack of informed consent

Negligence claims against the NHS due to failure to inform patients before they consent to procedures have spiralled up since a landmark legal ruling in 2015, a new study has found. 

News story: Queen Mary researchers lead in UK first tuberculosis screening for migrants

For the first time in the UK, Queen Mary researchers are leading clinics at Barts Health NHS Trust to offer latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) screening for pregnant migrants in antenatal care.

News story: Coronavirus: UK researchers and educators suggest recruitment and training programme for community healthcare workers could help the most vulnerable

An emergency programme to train thousands of community health workers could help vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new comment piece published in The Lancet.

News story: Queen Mary professor to lead new NHS Nightingale Hospital

Charles Knight, Professor of Cardiology at Queen Mary University of London and Consultant Cardiologist at Barts Health NHS Trust, has been announced as the Chief Executive of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital London.

News story: Queen Mary 3D-prints protective equipment for COVID-19 NHS workers

The Queen Mary University of London community, including researchers, clinicians and support staff, have stepped in to assist the NHS with urgent requirements of personal protective equipment (PPE) to combat the outbreak of COVID-19.

News story: Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela visits Queen Mary’s campus in Gozo as it supports the fight against coronavirus

Queen Mary University of London’s medical school on the Maltese island of Gozo was visited by Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela as it helps in the fight against coronavirus in Malta by providing storage space for the administration of chemotherapy to cancer patients, beds for vulnerable patient care, space for staff and other critical support functions, such as the storage of sensitive medical equipment. 

News story: Researchers use magnetism to keep drugs at disease sites

New research from Queen Mary University of London suggests that a novel magnetism-based drug delivery approach could help ensure drugs are not removed from where they are needed in the body.

News story: Queen Mary and Barts Health launch Covid-19 research programme

Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust, as part of their Barts Life Sciences initiative, have begun a new programme of Covid-19 research across Barts Health hospitals, including NHS Nightingale Hospital London.

News story: Restrictive healthcare policies are associated with delayed TB diagnosis and treatment

The introduction of policies that restrict healthcare access for visitors and migrants not entitled to free NHS care may be associated with delays in diagnosis and treatment for patients with tuberculosis (TB) who were not born in the UK, according to a study led by researchers from Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Antibodies could provide new treatment for OCD

Mental health conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder could be treated in a new way using drugs that target the immune system, research suggests.

News story: Final year Queen Mary medical students join front line teams at the Royal London Hospital

Queen Mary medical student Osama Omrani  - along with a team of fellow final year students - brought forward his registration as a newly qualified doctor, enabling him to join front line NHS teams during the Covid-19 pandemic.

News story: Inside the lab testing thousands of NHS samples for COVID-19

Queen Mary University of London has been providing support to the UK Lighthouse Labs Network – the national COVID-19 diagnostic lab network. As well as donating a number of laboratory machines, a team of research staff have been seconded to help test thousands of samples from NHS workers every day. Dr Neil Dufton, Lecturer in Inflammatory Sciences at Queen Mary’s William Harvey Research Institute, has been volunteering at one of the Lighthouse Labs in Milton Keynes and shares his experiences in this blog post.

News story: Researchers uncover genetic cause behind glaucoma

New research has identified a genetic mutation linked to a type of glaucoma, known as primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG), which could open up new avenues for the early detection and treatment of the disease.

News story: Academics call for more psychological support for COVID-19 health workers

COVID-19 health workers may require psychological support to deal with witnessing ‘unacceptable’ situations, according to a review co-authored by Queen Mary University of London academics.

News story: New study to identify highest risk factors for COVID-19

Scientists are calling on the public to sign up to a new study which will help identify who is most at risk of contracting COVID-19 and why some people become more ill than others with the disease.

News story: Chronic illness in childhood linked to higher rates of mental illness

Children with long-term health conditions may be more likely to experience mental illness in early adolescence than healthy children, according to new research from Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Q&A with Dr Graham Easton - Why doctors need to be good communicators

Dr Graham Easton is Head of the Clinical and Communication Skills Unit at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, and Professor of Communication Skills. He joined Queen Mary in January 2020, and in this Q&A he talks about the importance of doctors having good clinical communication skills and how this applies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

News story: Training GPs to identify domestic violence leads to dramatic increase in finding victims

A training programme that teaches GPs how to identify domestic violence and abuse (DVA) victims has led to a 30-fold increase in DVA referrals, according to a collaborative study of 205 general practices led by Queen Mary University of London, in partnership with the Centre for Academic Primary Care, Bristol Medical School.

News story: From being a Dentist and Mother to being on Maternity wards during the COVID-19 pandemic

Swati Nehete is Senior Clinical Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London’s Institute of Dentistry. She was recently called up to volunteer in the Maternity wards at The Royal London Hospital to help during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this blog, she writes about her experiences and describes how she dealt with the uncertainty of not knowing where she was going to be deployed.

News story: Hospitals are safer places than you might think, new Covid-19 research finds

Research involving Queen Mary University of London suggests that currently the public should not fear contracting Covid-19 from hospital staff, who appear to be at low risk of infection by patients.

News story: Early breast screening lowers risk of developing fatal cancer

Mammography screening reduces the rates of advanced and fatal breast cancers, according to an analysis of more than half a million women involving researchers from Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Staff Q&A: Volunteering to support the NHS during the epidemic

Dr Aylin Baysan is Reader in Cariology at Queen Mary University of London’s Institute of Dentistry and has been volunteering in the Maternity wards at The Royal London Hospital to help during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Q&A she talks about the challenges of juggling her teaching and volunteering commitments and why this has been such a unique experience.

News story: Personalised ovarian cancer risk prediction reduces worries

Offering personalised ovarian cancer risk prediction to women shows that 98 per cent of participants felt less worried after finding out their ovarian cancer risk status, according to a study led by Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Scientists discover more than 200 genetic factors causing heart arrhythmias

Hundreds of new links have been found between people’s DNA and the heart’s electrical activity, according to a study of almost 300,000 people led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

News story: More than 1,500 people recruited to COVID-19 research projects

To mark International Clinical Trials Day, Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust have released a range of new resources to encourage people to get involved in COVID-19 research projects.

News story: A change of scenery for a Dentistry student

Tallulah Hall is a fourth year Dentistry BDS student at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London. In this blog, she talks about her experience volunteering at her local hospital to help on COVID-19 wards, getting to know the patients, and learning from her inspiring colleagues.

News story: Immunotherapy improves survival in patients with advanced bladder cancer

An immunotherapy drug called ‘avelumab’ has been shown to significantly improve survival in patients with the most common type of bladder cancer, according to results from a phase III clinical trial led by Professor Tom Powles from Queen Mary's Barts Cancer Institute, and Barts Cancer Centre.

News story: Impact of COVID-19 infection in blood cancer patients

One of the first studies to investigate the outcome of COVID-19 infection in patients with blood cancer has been conducted by clinical researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust.

News story: New antibody technology for monitoring MS patients may have potential in COVID-19 testing

A new study led by Queen Mary University of London has demonstrated the effectiveness of using a novel light technology to monitor the presence of anti-drug antibodies in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), which can lead to drug resistance and treatment failure.

News story: A multi-million pound boost for orthopaedic research

Barts Charity has donated £2.9 million to establish a new centre of excellence for academic trauma and orthopaedic surgery at Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust.

News story: Food industry must share blame for severity of Covid-19

The food industry shares the blame not only for the obesity pandemic but for the severity of Covid-19 disease and its devastating consequences, argue experts in a new editorial published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) today.  

News story: First drug found to reduce mortality in hospitalised COVID-19 patients

The steroid dexamethasone has been identified as the first drug to improve survival rates in certain coronavirus patients, according to a study carried out by Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust, as part of a nationwide NIHR-funded clinical trial.

News story: Higher rates of severe COVID-19 in BAME populations remain unexplained

Higher rates of severe COVID-19 infections in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) populations are not explained by socioeconomic or behavioral factors, cardiovascular disease risk, or by vitamin D status, according to new research led by Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Call for access to oxygen and medicines to help combat COVID-19 in the Amazon

Dr Doreen Montag is Lecturer in Global Public Health at Queen Mary University of London, and has almost 20 years of experience among indigenous and non-indigenous people in rural and urban areas of the Peruvian Andes and Amazon. In this article, originally published in Spanish on Lamula, she discusses the immense challenges faced by indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

News story: Scientists discover protective Alzheimer’s gene and develop rapid drug-testing platform

A gene has been discovered that can naturally suppress the signs of Alzheimer’s Disease in human brain cells, in research led by Queen Mary University of London. The scientists have also developed a new rapid drug-screening system for treatments that could potentially delay or prevent the disease.

News story: Broadening cancer gene testing is cost effective and could prevent millions more cancer cases worldwide

Screening entire populations for breast and ovarian cancer gene mutations could prevent millions more cancer cases across the world compared to current clinical practice, according to an international study led by Queen Mary University of London. The research also shows that it is cost effective in high and upper-middle income countries.

News story: Rapid PCR testing for COVID-19 being trialled in London care homes

In a UK-first, Queen Mary University of London is leading a clinical trial of a new rapid COVID-19 testing system that delivers results in under an hour. Working with the East London Health and Care Partnership, up to 2,000 staff and residents in 50 care homes are being recruited to see how effective rapid daily COVID-19 testing is at reducing rates of infection, hospitalisation and deaths.

News story: Queen Mary student wins award for space medicine research

A fourth year medical student at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, has won an award for presentation of her intercalated MSc project at the Physiological Society's annual Future Physiology conference.

News story: Funding awarded for data-driven healthcare in East London

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has awarded funding to Queen Mary University of London, as part of the Barts Life Sciences partnership, to develop a proposal for data-driven next generation healthcare in Whitechapel.

News story: Breast screening women in their forties could save lives

Breast screening women aged 40-49 reduces breast cancer mortality, with minimal increased overdiagnosis, according to a study led by Queen Mary University of London that looked at data from 160,000 women.

News story: New surgical approach for women at risk of ovarian cancer

A new two-stage surgical approach for cancer prevention is highly acceptable among premenopausal women at high risk of ovarian cancer, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Childhood obesity could increase the risk of multiple sclerosis

Childhood and adolescent obesity is projected to contribute up to 14 per cent of overall risk of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2035, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London.

News story: New study into air pollution exposure in African children

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have received funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to conduct research into air pollution exposure affecting children in Africa.

News story: Architecture of the heart different between women and men and with age

Differences in the shape and texture of men and women’s hearts could potentially explain why their risk of heart disease differs, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London.

News story: New molecule repairs cartilage and relieves symptoms of osteoarthritis

A newly discovered molecule has been found to provide long-lasting regeneration of bone and cartilage defects, as well as symptom relief, and could potentially play a role in treating osteoarthritis, according to early research in animals led by Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Staff profile: Using AI to improve heart scans

Dr Musa Abdulkareem is an Honorary Research Fellow at Queen Mary University of London and Principal Research Scientist on the Barts Life Sciences CAP-AI programme, where he has been working with Professor Steffen Petersen to use Artificial Intelligence in analysing cardiac MRI scans. In this Q&A, Dr Abdulkareem reflects on the progress of the project over the last 15 months and talks about his future ambitions of maximising AI’s huge potential in healthcare.

News story: Specialist centres hold key to keeping heart attack victims alive, major study shows

A trial led by Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health researchers looking at the effect of stem cell therapy in treating heart attack patients has revealed the importance of specialist centres to extending life.

News story: COVID-19 data from GPs shows triple the number of suspected cases and twice the risk for ethnic minorities

There were three times as many suspected COVID-19 cases presented to GPs during the peak of the pandemic than shown in official COVID-19 test results, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Improving the prediction of Parkinson’s Disease

Including genetic markers in addition to well known risk factors improves tests to predict Parkinson’s disease, according to a study led by Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Immunotherapy improves survival in patients with advanced bladder cancer

An immunotherapy drug called ‘avelumab’ has been shown to significantly improve survival in patients with the most common type of bladder cancer, according to results from a phase III clinical trial led by Queen Mary University of London and Barts Cancer Centre, UK.

News story: The impact of COVID-19 on access to Parkinson’s disease medication

A global survey of health professionals, led by Queen Mary University of London, has shown that during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients with Parkinson’s disease in large parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin and South America experienced difficulty in accessing their medication, which is likely to have led to deterioration of symptom control.

News story: Researcher awarded prestigious cardiology prize for MRI discovery

Dr Nay Aung, an academic clinical lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, has been awarded the Royal Society of Medicine President’s prize for best cardiology PhD project.

News story: Air pollution particles and metals found in the placenta

Pollution particles, including metals, have been found in the placentas of fifteen women in London, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Clinical trial shows combination therapy with vitamin A is safe for patients with pancreatic cancer

A treatment combination involving the addition of a form of vitamin A to the current standard treatment regimen for pancreatic cancer is safe for patients, according to an early phase clinical trial led by Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Poor bone quality is linked to poor heart health

New research by Queen Mary University of London and the University of Southampton’s Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit (MRC LEU) has found associations between lower bone mineral density and worse cardiovascular health in both men and women.

News story: Queen Mary joins alliance offering 20,500 extra COVID-19 tests a day

London’s leading life science and academic institutions have united to respond in an unprecedented way to the coronavirus pandemic by ramping up diagnostic testing capacity for the UK.

News story: Queen Mary researcher recognised in the Queen’s Birthday honours

Charles Knight, Professor of Cardiology at Queen Mary University of London and Chief Executive of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, has received an OBE for services to the NHS and people with heart disease in the Queen’s birthday honours.

News story: Clinical trial to investigate whether vitamin D protects against COVID-19

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London, funded by Barts Charity, have launched a new clinical trial to investigate whether taking vitamin D could protect people from COVID-19.

News story: Queen Mary researcher releases book on ‘Making a Psychopath’

Mark Freestone, Reader in Mental Health at Queen Mary’s Wolfson Institute, today releases his new book, Making a Psychopath.

News story: Herd immunity in COVID-19 control is a ‘dangerous fallacy’, say authors of open letter

A group of 80 researchers say that a so-called ‘herd immunity’ approach to managing COVID-19 by allowing immunity to develop in low-risk populations is “a dangerous fallacy unsupported by the scientific evidence”.

News story: New risk model estimates likelihood of death or hospitalisation from COVID-19

A model that can calculate a person’s risk of becoming infected and then seriously ill due to COVID-19 has been shown to accurately estimate risk during the first wave of the pandemic in England, in new research involving Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Honouring the slaves experimented on by the ‘father of gynaecology’

As part of our series of articles and profiles for Black History Month, Heidi Downes, Antenatal Screening Counsellor Midwife at Queen Mary, writes an opinion piece about the role of young, black, enslaved women in a series of experimental surgeries in the 19th century, and why she is calling for their contributions to be formally recognised. This was originally published on The Conversation.

News story: 'The UK needs a sustainable strategy for COVID-19'

As the UK’s second lockdown gets underway, a group of 79 researchers, public health professionals, and healthcare workers are calling for a sustainable public health strategy for COVID-19.

News story: Queen Mary and Barts Health deliver Covid-19 vaccine trial in east London

Londoners are today being urged to join a leading phase three Covid-19 vaccine study, as Barts Health NHS Trust and Queen Mary University of London administer a new trial from the Barts Health Vaccines Trials Centre at Bethnal Green Library.

News story: MS clinical trial to focus on people who can’t walk

The first multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical trial to focus only on people who can’t walk is to start recruiting. The ChariotMS trial, led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, will test whether cladribine tablets (Mavenclad®), already licensed for highly active relapsing MS, can slow the rate of upper limb disability progression in people with advanced MS.

News story: New study to determine if air pollution increases COVID-19 risk

A new study has been launched to better understand the link between air pollution and increased risk of developing COVID-19.

News story: Medical students taken on virtual ward visits

Students at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, have been virtually transported into a surgical ward to follow their lecturer on his ward rounds.

News story: Queen Mary project will study COVID-19 and maternal health

A new project, led by Queen Mary University of London and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, will study whether changes to maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic have affected existing inequalities. The study is funded by The Health Foundation.

News story: Psychiatry unit designated as WHO research centre

Queen Mary’s Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry has been re-designated as a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre.

News story: Queen Mary hosts UK’s national pancreas tissue bank

The UK’s national tissue bank for pancreatic diseases at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, is now open for UK-based researchers needing samples of blood, urine and saliva to aid their research.

News story: Queen Mary researcher elected as President of prestigious cardiology association

Steffen Petersen, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Queen Mary University of London, has been elected as President of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI).

News story: Genes could be key to new Covid-19 treatments, study finds

Potential treatments for Covid-19 have been identified after the discovery of five genes associated with the most severe form of the disease, in research involving Queen Mary academics.

News story: Queen Mary academic provides expert testimony for inquest on air pollution death

An inquest has ruled that air pollution was the cause of death of a nine year old girl. The outcome has made legal history as air pollution has never been identified as a cause of death before in the UK.

News story: £6.7 million investment to ‘harness’ the power of NHS patient data and develop targeted care

Barts Life Sciences – a partnership between Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust – has been awarded £6.7m by Barts Charity to research new ways to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a variety of diseases. The diseases that will be studied include COVID-19, cancer, heart disease and diabetes, which affect many in the east London population.

News story: Experts call for Europe-wide COVID-19 targets

A group of more than 300 leading scientists across the globe are calling for European governments to work together in managing the pandemic and make a clear commitment to COVID-19 case number targets.

News story: Study finds evidence of lasting immunity after mild or asymptomatic Covid-19 infection

New research involving scientists from Queen Mary University of London has found evidence of protective immunity in people up to four months after mild or asymptomatic Covid-19.