The NHS programme called 鈥淗ealthy Living for people with type 2 diabetes鈥� is a website containing written articles, videos, self-assessment quizzes and tools.

It supports people to live well with T2D by providing information and advice about eating well, becoming more active, living with diabetes, and emotional wellbeing.

Published today in PLOS One, the study is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

The research team analysed data from people with T2D who activated a Healthy Living account and found they experienced better health outcomes at one year than those who did not take part.

They examined who was most likely to use the programme (uptake) and how engagement related to changes in HbA1c 鈥� a blood test used to measure average blood sugar levels - blood pressure, body mass index, insulin use, and completion of essential diabetes care processes.

The findings show, uptake of the programme was highest among women, people from least deprived areas (vs. most deprived areas), and people of White ethnicity, and current smokers (vs. never smokers).

To assess clinical outcomes, the study compared 4,940 Healthy Living users with 24,685 similar individuals who did not register for the programme. After a year, Healthy Living users saw an average HbA1c drop of 1.3 mmol/mol, alongside small but steady dips in BMI and blood pressure, all pointing to better day鈥憈o鈥慸ay control of their diabetes.

They were also 1.6 times more likely to complete the routine yearly MOT that helps spot problems early, keeping on top of the vital checks that protect the eyes, feet, heart and kidneys in the long run.

However, the study highlights that even small average improvements can translate into meaningful reductions in T2D鈥憆elated complications when applied across large populations.

It also underscores the need to address inequalities in uptake, with notably lower participation among Asian and Black communities despite higher T2D prevalence.

Lead author Dr said: 鈥淲hat this study shows, in the plainest possible terms, is that a free, nationally available NHS educational programme can help people with T2D make measurable improvements to their health, even when used in the complex reality of everyday life.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a silver bullet, but it is a practical tool that works 鈥� and the challenge now is ensuring that everyone who could benefit has the opportunity to do so.鈥�

鈥淲e feel Healthy Living offers a scalable, accessible option for supporting type 2 diabetes self鈥憁anagement, particularly for people who face barriers to attending in鈥憄erson diabetes education programmes.

鈥淚mproving uptake among underserved groups will be essential to ensuring the programme reduces existing health inequalities.鈥�

Co-author , Principal Investigator and an Honorary Reader at The University of 水多多导航 said: 鈥淧eople鈥檚 outcomes were better for those who attended more of the Healthy Living programme, so it would be worthwhile for the NHS to find ways to encourage people to attend for longer, such as improved signposting and motivational messages鈥�

• The paper Examining the uptake, retention, and effectiveness of a national online type 2 2 diabetes self-management intervention in England (Healthy Living): a retrospective 3 cohort study is available DOI

鈥淢ore young people are reporting good wellbeing, loneliness is falling and emotional difficulties are reducing 鈥� which are encouraging findings 鈥� but the picture is not the same for everyone. Significant inequalities remain, particularly for LGBTQ+ young people and those with special educational needs, and that remains a major challenge.鈥�

Report details

The latest #BeeWell findings report can be found .

The research, published in Biological Conservation, found that more than 493,000 square kilometres of land - an area larger than Spain - has been damaged by deforestation and fires in the vital transition zone between the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado savanna in Brazil.

The team - led by Dr Chuanze Li from The University of 水多多导航 - say the findings reveal a major conservation crisis in a region that helps protect the wider Amazon, stores huge amounts of carbon and supports exceptional biodiversity but has very little formal protection.

Key findings

• Researchers mapped more than 35 years of environmental damage using AI and satellite imagery

• At least 493,000 km虏 of land has been affected by deforestation or fire

• Large areas damaged by fire still had not recovered even after a decade

• Only around 2% of the study region currently has formal protection

• Repeated human-caused fires may be permanently changing ecosystems

What did the study find?

The research focused on the Cerrado-Amazon transition (CAT) zone in Brazil, a vast area where rainforest and savanna meet.

Using decades of Landsat satellite images combined with artificial intelligence, researchers tracked how forests and vegetation changed between 1986 and 2020.

They found widespread damage caused by both large-scale forest clearing and repeated fires linked to farming expansion and cattle ranching.

Why this region matters

This area is one of the world鈥檚 most important ecological frontiers, and acts as a buffer protecting the Amazon while supporting unique wildlife and storing carbon that would otherwise contribute to climate change if released.

But despite its importance, the region has received far less attention and protection than the Amazon rainforest itself.

Fires leave long-lasting scars

One of the study鈥檚 most striking findings was how slowly vegetation recovered after fire. Researchers found that even ten years later, many affected areas had still not returned to their previous condition.

The damage was particularly severe in parts of the Cerrado, where repeated human-driven burning appears to be weakening the ecosystem鈥檚 natural ability to recover.

A hidden protection gap

The study also exposed a major lack of protected areas across the region. While around 28% of the Amazon biome overall is protected, only around 2% of the Cerrado鈥揂mazon transition area studied falls within protected zones.

Researchers warn that large areas facing repeated destruction currently have little or no legal safeguard.

How AI helped uncover the damage

The team combined satellite imagery with advanced artificial intelligence tools capable of detecting different types of environmental disturbance over time.

This allowed researchers to distinguish between forest clearing and fire damage across an enormous area spanning more than one million square kilometres.

What the 水多多导航 researchers said

鈥淭he tools we used enabled us to produce the first wall-to-wall, multi-decade picture of what has actually happened to vegetation across this entire area,鈥� said lead author Dr Chuanze Li.

鈥淲e were particularly struck by the recovery data,鈥� said Dr Angela Harris. 鈥淭he conventional view is that Cerrado vegetation bounces back after fire. What this study shows - at a regional scale and across 35 years - is that it often does not, at least not within a decade.鈥�

"Repeated fires are eroding the very resilience these ecosystems evolved to have - this is a warning that we cannot ignore."

"This study gives policymakers something they have not had before: a precise, long-term map of where the CAT has been damaged, how badly, and how well, or how poorly, it is recovering,鈥� added Dr Polyanna da Concei莽茫o Bispo. 鈥淭his is the empirical foundation that conservation planning in this region has been missing. The protection gap we document is not acceptable, and the tools now exist to close it."

Why it matters

Researchers say the maps created by the study could help governments and conservation groups identify areas most urgently in need of protection, fire prevention and restoration.

They also warn that continued destruction in the transition zone could have consequences far beyond Brazil, affecting biodiversity, climate stability and the future health of the Amazon rainforest itself.

Publication details

The study was conducted by researchers at The University of 水多多导航 (UK),  Professor Beatriz Marimon and Professor Ben Hur Marimon at UNEMAT 鈥� Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (Brazil), and Dr. Ricardo da Silva at CTREES (USA). Field data from the Plant Ecology Laboratory at UNEMAT, a reference network spanning the CAT since 1994, underpinned the classification and validation of satellite-derived disturbance maps.

The paper was published in the Biological Conservation journal.

DOI:

The breakthrough could help explain why millions of people develop sight鈥憈hreatening conditions such as age鈥憆elated macular degeneration (AMD), as well as rarer inherited eye diseases.

The research is published in today.

Epidemiological research predicts that AMD, a leading cause of visual impairment in adults , will affect 288 million people worldwide by 2040.

And rarer inherited  eye disorders  which  interfere with cells in the retina that sense light and send visual signals to the brain include  Stargardt disease, retinitis pigmentosa, and cone鈥憆od dystrophy.

The researchers analysed whole鈥慻enome sequencing data alongside RNA profiles from 201 donated human eyes.

That allowed them to study two key tissues involved in vision: the neurosensory retina, which captures light, and the retinal pigment epithelium, which supports and nourishes it.

By comparing DNA differences with gene activity in these tissues, the researchers found over 1.4 million genetic signals that influence how genes are turned on or off, known as expression quantitative trait loci, or eQTLs.

The signals influence how nearly 10,000 genes behave in the retina and almost 4,000 genes in the retinal pigment epithelium.

Many of the genetic effects were found in regions of the genome that act as regulatory switches, helping to turn genes on or off.

The study also identified hundreds of individuals whose retinal gene activity was unusually high or low compared with typical patterns.

Among these 鈥渆xpression outliers,鈥� the researchers pinpointed nearly 300 rare genetic variants that could plausibly explain the unusual gene activity.

These variants included rare changes in parts of DNA that don鈥檛 code for proteins, as well as bigger structural shifts and differences in how many copies of certain DNA segments a person has.

Together, they accounted for around 28% of the outliers, offering new leads for understanding how rare mutations contribute to eye disease.

The findings provide an unprecedented resource for scientists studying the genetic roots of vision disorders, and are available to other researchers for

They also offer a roadmap for future research into personalised treatments and earlier diagnosis.

Author , from The University of 水多多导航,  said: 鈥淥ur study marks a major step toward decoding the complex genetic architecture of the human eye.

鈥淎nd it opens the door to new strategies for protecting and restoring vision in the future.

鈥淚t reveals how both common and rare genetic differences shape the way they are expressed in the human retina.

鈥淏y understanding these patterns, we move closer to uncovering the biological mechanisms that drive heritable vision loss and to developing more targeted therapies.鈥�

PhD Student at The University of 水多多导航, Jacob Sampson, who performed the extensive computational analysis reported in the study, added: 鈥淲e hope this dataset will accelerate discoveries across ophthalmology, genetics, and precision medicine.

鈥淎nd we hope it will support efforts to identify individuals at risk of sight鈥憈hreatening disease before symptoms appear.

Prof Simon J. Clark from the  University of T眉bingen in Germany, said: 鈥淭hese sorts of fundamental discoveries are only possible by using very well characterised human donor material.

鈥淲e are incredibly lucky to have access to one of Europe鈥檚 largest human eye donor repositories, founded originally in 水多多导航 back in 2015.

鈥淲e remain forever grateful for the generosity of all those donors and their families who contributed over the years.鈥�

The team included scientists from The University of 水多多导航, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, University of T眉bingen, University of Southampton, Universitas Riau, 水多多导航 University NHS Foundation Trust, and the European Bioinformatics Institute.

• The research was supported by the Macular Society, Fight For Sight, the Medical Research Council and the NIHR 水多多导航 Biomedical Research Centre.
• The paper Paired DNA and RNA sequencing uncovers common 1 and rare genomic variants regulating gene 2 expression in the human retina is published in nature Communications and available . DOI https://www.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72979-4 

The population-based study of more than two million people showed individuals with an intellectual disability are more likely to develop bowel cancer, especially before the age of 50.

Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Greater 水多多导航 Patient Safety Research Collaboration (GM PSRC), the study is published in (20/05/26). The research team is supported by both the NIHR GM PSRC and the NIHR 水多多导航 Biomedical Research Centre (BRC).

People with an intellectual disability present to their GP more often with symptoms linked to bowel cancer, but are less likely to receive key investigations such as stool tests, urgent referrals, or endoscopy the team show.

They were less likely to be diagnosed through screening programmes and more likely to be diagnosed in emergency settings or even on the date of death.

And they were also more likely to be diagnosed at stage IV, when the cancer has already spread.

Among those with early-stage disease, rates of curative surgery were similar, but survival remained significantly worse for people with an intellectual disability.

For advanced bowel cancer, individuals with an intellectual disability were far less likely to receive systemic anticancer therapy, which may contribute to poorer outcomes.

The findings highlight multiple missed opportunities for earlier diagnosis, including lower use of stool tests used to check for early signs of bowel cancer and fewer urgent suspected cancer referrals.

The researchers used anonymised GP records from a large UK database containing information on about 50 million people.

The records were linked with national data on deaths, cancer, hospital care, ethnicity and deprivation to support the research.

The study also raises concerns that current screening programmes, which often begin at age 50, may not adequately protect people with an intellectual disability, given their higher risk at younger ages.

They also highlight that emergency diagnoses can limit the time available for coordinated treatment planning, which may contribute to poorer survival even when surgery is offered.

However, lifestyle factors linked to early-onset bowel cancer鈥攕uch as obesity, diet, and physical inactivity鈥攎ay be more common among people with an intellectual disability, potentially amplifying their risk.

And distinguishing concerning symptoms may be more challenging for people with learning disabilities, though the researchers caution that this does not fully explain the scale of under-investigation.

Lead author Clinical Lecturer at The University of 水多多导航 and The Christie said: 鈥淥ur findings show clear and avoidable inequalities in bowel cancer diagnosis and treatment for people with an intellectual disability, and they underline the urgent need for earlier screening and more proactive investigation of symptoms.鈥�

Jon Sparkes OBE, Chief Executive of learning disability charity Mencap, said: 鈥淭his study lays bare the stark truth that people with a learning disability are being diagnosed with bowel cancer too late, too often, and are missing out on chances for earlier treatment that could save lives. We need the NHS, government and cancer services to join us in making inclusive health a priority, acting on these findings and putting the right support in place at every stage of the cancer pathway.鈥�

Claire Coughlan, Clinical Lead at Bowel Cancer UK, said: 鈥淏owel cancer is treatable and curable, especially if it is diagnosed early. However, this study makes clear that people with an ID are not only at increased risk of developing bowel cancer; they also face considerable barriers which can lead to later diagnosis and treatment.鈥�

Lisa Every and her niece Chloe鈥檚 story

Chloe Every died aged 27 in 2019, not long after being diagnosed with an advanced form of bowel cancer. She had a learning disability and myotonic dystrophy, a muscle condition known to affect the heart and breathing.

For Chloe鈥檚 family, the fact that her cancer was only identified at such a late stage is central to everything that followed. Like many people with a learning disability, Chloe was diagnosed when the disease was already advanced, limiting treatment options and reducing her chances of survival. Her family believe there were missed chances to investigate symptoms earlier and to take her health concerns seriously before her condition deteriorated.

Once Chloe was admitted to Queen鈥檚 Hospital in Romford, those missed chances continued. Her aunt Lisa Every says that Chloe鈥檚 learning disability and underlying condition were not properly considered when decisions were made about her care. Despite the seriousness of her diagnosis, there was no clear, coordinated plan that took account of her complex needs.

Chloe was left in the hospital鈥檚 initial assessment unit for six days, far longer than was appropriate. This delay meant she did not receive consistent care under one consultant at a critical point in her illness and contributed to a lack of joined up decision making. At a time when urgent, proactive care was needed, Chloe鈥檚 treatment drifted.

Her pain was not adequately managed, and she was given medication without a clear clinical reason. Despite her myotonic dystrophy and the known cardiac risks associated with it, staff did not contact Chloe鈥檚 specialist, who had treated her for many years. This was another missed opportunity to ensure her cancer treatment was informed by her wider health needs.

During her hospital stay, Chloe suffered two cardiac arrests. Before the first, she was not observed in line with her needs by nursing staff. An irregular heartbeat was noted shortly before she was given an enema, but this was not escalated to a doctor. After she was transferred to a general ward, Chloe was again not properly monitored. She later experienced a second cardiac arrest. The causes of either cardiac arrest were never investigated.

Mencap supported Lisa to fight for an inquest into Chloe鈥檚 death and forced the NHS to revisit a request that had previously been ignored. The subsequent A Level 3 Serious Untoward Investigation by the NHS Trust identified a series of serious failings in Chloe鈥檚 care. These included poor pain management, lack of specialist input, failures in observation and monitoring, and the fact that the Trust鈥檚 Learning Disability Admission Pathway was not properly followed when Chloe was admitted.

For Lisa, the experience is marked by repeated moments where earlier action could have made a difference, from diagnosis through to end-of-life care.

鈥業 was told by the head of palliative care not to be distressed if Chloe was not in ITU because she was being moved to a ward, which I assumed would be a palliative ward,鈥� Lisa said.

鈥榃hen I arrived, Chloe was not on any medical support at all. The nurse in charge did not know Chloe had a learning disability until I told her.

鈥業 was told to go home because the nurse had 鈥�11 patients to look after鈥� and that Chloe was 鈥渇ine鈥�. Chloe was then left unmonitored until she was found unresponsive.鈥�

Chloe died shortly afterwards.

Her story reflects wider evidence showing that people with a learning disability are more likely to be diagnosed with bowel cancer late, more likely to experience delays and missed chances for investigation, and more likely to face fragmented care once diagnosed. For Lisa, speaking out is about showing the consequences of those missed chances.

鈥楥hloe was young and she was loved,鈥� she said.

鈥楽he should have had the same chance as anyone else to be diagnosed earlier and to have her needs properly understood and acted on.鈥檋alf goes here

• the paper Bowel Cancer Care in Individuals with an Intellectual Disability: A Population-Based Cohort 水多多导航 of Symptoms, Diagnostic Pathways, Treatment and Survival is available DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-026-04906-9

Thousands of holes are appearing in the Pennine hills, as part of efforts to by restoring damaged peatland.

Peat itself is carbon rich and so as it grows it will help to capture the CO鈧� that is produced by that is .

Meanwhile, damaged or turn into a carbon source, releasing greenhouses gases themselves. About 15% of the world鈥檚 peatlands have been drained, making these kind of restoration projects essential.

But now a new project is attempting to bring these wetlands back to life. On Holcombe Moor in the West Pennines, , with a further 700 in 2024 as part of Natural England鈥檚 Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme. Improvements are already starting to be seen.

What鈥檚 the history here?

The hills of the West Pennines are no stranger to holes, with a long history of lead and coal mining stretching back to the .

Coal fired the mills nearby during the industrial revolution in cities such as 水多多导航, Leeds and Sheffield. Smoke drifted back to the hills, carrying the heavy metal impurities of lead and arsenic from coal burning.

The industrial legacy remains visible in the elevated near the soil surface, which made it difficult for most plants to survive. Areas were stripped of all vegetation, leaving expanses of exposed soil. In the most affected places, these cut deep into the surface, turning places like Kinder Scout into a moonscape.

What was exposed and eroded so quickly had taken over to form. Much of the Pennines are covered in blanket peatland, a type of bog made through the slow accumulation of partially decayed plant matter (the type of soil we call peat).

The , with the water table maintained high enough to limit the decomposition of plant matter, while still allowing plants to grow. Not just any plant can tolerate these harsh growing conditions. One species is truly specialised to bog life and forms the main building block of peat itself 鈥� Sphagnum.

Finding a super moss

Sphagnum moss is the key ecosystem engineer in peatlands, holding up to in water to maintain the saturated conditions needed for its growth.

When in a healthy state, new Sphagnum grows up through the older moss, raising the water table with it to leave the older moss submerged, partially decayed, which forms the peat itself. Bogs grow only millimetres per year, but over millennia this can build several metres of peat.

The organic nature of peat means it is carbon rich, so much so that UK peatlands store over , around ten times more than all .

Restored wetlands could also help protect the area from wildfires at the UK starts to see more .

Human pressure and pollution

With human pressures, including past industrial pollution, . Sphagnum has disappeared from these peatlands.

Now, peatland restoration efforts are under way. From the early 2000s organisations including Moors for the Future Partnership have spent decades blocking gullies to raise water tables, reseeding bare peat and , transforming the worst affected peatlands from dark .

Though blocking erosional gullies with stone or timber dams has in deeply eroded peat, restoring flatter moorland plateaux presents a different set of challenges. Namely, how to restore the wet conditions required to encourage more Sphagnum moss to grow. However, this hasn鈥檛 stopped restoration organisations from trying a novel restoration method which might work to restore flatter peatlands.

Five years on from the start of the project, the original bunds are covered with grasses and many pools are now brimming with Sphagnum moss, looking more like natural bog pools.

are crescent-shaped pools, created by digging shallow scrapes in the peat surface using special low impact excavators. The aim is to capture surface water which would otherwise run quickly off the hill after rainfall. The water stored in at the bog surface for Sphagnum moss to re-establish and grow on moorland plateaus.

The National Trust, in partnership with the University of 水多多导航, is undertaking long-term research to understand the potential for bunds as a peatland restoration method.

The followed one of the driest springs in England for over .

It provided the first test of extreme weather in this peat bund experiment. Preliminary monitoring during the 2025 drought suggests bunded areas remained wetter for longer than unrestored peat, helping to maintain wetter conditions near the peat surface for longer 鈥� the .

The excavator machines up on the hills today don鈥檛 signal a return to the industrial past, but an attempt to restore the damage it left behind.

, Honorary Research Associate in Peatland Hydrology,

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons licence. Read the .

路        Small and statistically insignificant drop in hotel prices on major online platforms and hotel websites
路        Prices fell by around 5% for bookings made directly with hotels offline
路        Customers shifted away from online travel agents towards direct booking
路        Offline bookings 鈥� the largest channel at the time 鈥� increased their relative sales share
路        Total consumer savings were meaningful, but modest relative to the overall market

Why this matters

Online platforms like Booking.com and Expedia play a major role in how people find and book hotels.

For years, many of these platforms used 鈥榩rice parity clauses鈥� to prevent hotels from offering cheaper deals elsewhere, including on their own websites. 

Policymakers expected that banning these rules would lead to lower prices across the board. However, the study suggests the reality is more complicated, and that headline online prices may not tell the full story.

Hidden cheaper rooms

For most travellers, booking a hotel is simple - search the internet, compare prices and click - but this research suggests that the best deal may not always be the one you see.

Instead, customers willing to call, email or walk into a hotel directly were more likely to find lower prices after the policy change. In other words, the cheapest room may be the one that never appears online.

What actually changed

The study focuses on France, which in 2015 became the first country to fully ban price parity clauses in the hotel sector. Researchers analysed data from 166 hotels across Europe, comparing France with countries where the rules were still in place.

They found:

路        Online prices showed small decreases of around 1鈥�2%, but these are not statistically distinguishable from zero
路        Offline prices dropped significantly, around 5% or 鈧�8.50 per booking
路        Bookings shifted away from online platforms towards direct offline channels

Why online prices didn鈥檛 fall

One reason may be that online platforms still have powerful ways to influence hotel behaviour. Hotels that offer lower prices elsewhere risk being pushed down search rankings, making them less visible to customers.

As a result, many hotels appear to have avoided cutting prices on visible online channels, even after the rules were removed. Instead, they offered discounts where platforms were less able to monitor - in direct, offline bookings.

What customers may be missing

The findings suggest that:

路        Not all price competition is visible online
路        Some of the best deals require extra effort to find
路        Consumers who rely only on platforms may miss cheaper options

At the same time, many users continue to use online booking tools for the convenience and additional services they offer 鈥� such as price comparison, guest reviews, and streamlined booking 鈥� even if it means paying slightly more.

A mixed success 

The policy did lead to more competition between booking channels, lower prices for some consumers and a shift away from platforms.

But overall, the impact was smaller than expected, especially on the highly visible online prices policymakers hoped to change.

Why it matters now

The findings are particularly relevant as new regulations, including the EU鈥檚 Digital Markets Act, aim to curb the power of large online platforms.

Understanding how businesses respond in practice is crucial to ensuring these policies deliver real benefits for consumers.

Publication details

The paper was carried out by economists from The University of 水多多导航, the University of Oxford, the European Commission鈥檚 Joint Research Centre and partner institutions across Europe. It was published in The Economic Journal.

DOI:

Professor Neil Humphrey, academic lead of #BeeWell, said: 鈥淎ttendance matters, but these findings show that it should not be viewed in isolation. Young people also need to feel that they belong, that they are noticed, and that they have supportive relationships with adults in school. Through #BeeWell, we are working with partners across Greater 水多多导航 to ensure that responses to attendance challenges also support young people鈥檚 mental wellbeing 

Publication details  

This research was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.   

DOI:   

Publishing in one of the world鈥檚 leading scientific journals Cell, the researchers analysed 322 healthy people from Europe, East Asia and South Asia to build the most detailed picture yet of how genetic ancestry and environment shape our biology.

They used a sweeping 鈥渕ultiomics鈥� approach, measuring everything from genes and proteins to gut bacteria, metabolic chemicals and metals to understand how ethnicity and geography shape our biology.

By recruiting people of the same genetic ancestry living on different continents, the scientists were able to separate the effects of DNA from the influence of environment with unprecedented clarity.

Genetic ancestry refers  to the estimation of where your ancestors came from based on patterns in your DNA, inherited across generations.

They found that your ethnic background leaves a deep mark on your immune system, metabolism and gut bacteria no matter where you move.

South Asian volunteers showed signs of higher exposure to pathogens across multiple biological layers.

European participants had richer gut microbial diversity and higher levels of chemicals tied to heart disease risk.

But geography also rewired key molecular networks involved in cholesterol, inflammation and energy processing.

Moving continents was enough to shift major metabolic pathways and alter the balance of gut microbes.

The most dramatic finding was that geography appears to change biological age 鈥� the molecular measure of how old your cells look.

East Asians living outside Asia were biologically older than those who stayed in Asia.

Europeans showed the opposite pattern, appearing biologically younger when living outside Europe.

The researchers say this suggests environment and genetic ancestry interact in surprising ways that could speed up or slow down ageing.

The study also uncovered a never-before-seen link between a telomerase gene involved in cellular ageing and a specific gut microbe, connected through a lipid molecule called sphingomyelin.

This unexpected three-way link hints at a molecular chain reaction through which gut bacteria may influence how quickly our cells age.

The findings create a powerful new resource for precision medicine, highlighting the need for healthcare tailored to genetic ancestry and environment rather than a one-size-fits-all model.

The researchers say their open-access dataset will help scientists and clinicians develop more accurate diagnostics, treatments and prevention strategies tailored to genetic ancestry, environment and individual biology.

鈥淲hat this study shows, more clearly than ever before, is that our biology is shaped by a combination of both our genetic ancestry and the places we live,鈥� said co鈥慳uthor Professor from The University of 水多多导航.

水多多导航 carried out analysis of biological metals alongside the international groups looking at proteins, the immune system, metabolism and microbiomes to generate a massive integrated picture of human variability.

Professor Unwin added: 鈥淲e were struck by how consistently ethnicity influenced immunity, metabolism and the microbiome, even when people moved thousands of miles away.

鈥淗owever, it is equally clear that where we live can have substantial impacts on nudging key molecular pathways 鈥� even how our cells appear to age 鈥� in different directions depending on who you are. It proves that precision medicine must reflect real global diversity, not a single population.鈥�

Michael Snyder, Professor of Genetics at the Stanford School of Medicine who led the study said: 鈥淥ur study is special because for the first time we have deeply profiled people from around the world, including Asia, Europe and North America. This enables us to see what properties such as metabolites and microbes are associated with ethnicity and which ones with geography.

鈥淥ne interesting finding is the association of age with geography. East Asians that live outside of Asia have a higher biological age than those residing in Asia. For Europeans, those residing outside of Europe are younger.鈥�

• The paper A Comparison of Deep Multiomics Profiles Across Ethnicity, Geography, and Age is available DOI

The Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness was established to champion journalism that sheds light on one of Britain鈥檚 most enduring social challenges. The prize recognises reporting that is person-centred, data-driven or policy-focused.

Chair of judges Michael Gove said: 鈥淭he Orwell Prize attracts some of the most powerful and most exciting journalism being produced in Britain today. Homelessness is a huge social evil, but it has also inspired some great reporting and fantastic analysis. It has been a joy to spend time both with this work and with my fellow judges, who have brought a huge amount of passion and authority to the business of sifting some brilliant entries.鈥�

The Orwell Foundation, which runs the awards, promotes the values associated with George Orwell鈥檚 writing, including integrity, courage and fidelity to truth.

The winners of the 2026 Orwell Prizes will be announced on 25 June at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London.

- Countries with higher climate vulnerability attract fewer international students
- Strong climate adaptation readiness significantly boosts student inflows
- Major climate summits such as COP15 and COP21 marked a turning point in student decision-making
- Economic factors still matter, but students increasingly weigh climate risk and resilience
- China, India and other emerging hubs could gain market share through stronger climate action and growing academic strength

What did the study find?

The study examined global student mobility patterns over two decades. Researchers found that a destination country鈥檚 climate vulnerability significantly reduced its attractiveness to prospective international students.

By contrast, countries with stronger climate adaptation readiness - meaning they are better prepared to respond to climate risks such as extreme weather, heat and infrastructure disruption - saw significantly higher student inflows.

Why climate now matters to students

Traditionally, international students have been drawn by factors such as prestigious universities, stronger economies, language links and career opportunities - but the study found this picture has changed.

Major global climate summits, including the Copenhagen Accord (COP15) in 2009 and the Paris Agreement (COP21) in 2015, acted as key turning points. After these moments, student choices increasingly reflected a country鈥檚 climate readiness and vulnerability, not just its economic strength.

A new competition for global talent

The findings suggest countries are now competing for students not only on education quality, but also on resilience, liveability and long-term stability. This could reshape the global higher education market in the years ahead.

Researchers found that proactive climate adaptation, combined with rising university capacity, could help emerging destinations such as China and India capture a larger share of international students.

Who could lose out?

The study suggests some traditional destinations could face growing pressure if climate vulnerability worsens or if progress on adaptation stalls.

Researchers say climate preparedness may increasingly influence how students judge future safety, quality of life and opportunity in a host country.

What the researchers said

鈥淚nternational students are making one of the biggest decisions of their lives when choosing where to study,鈥� said Dr Haoyu Hu.

鈥淥ur findings suggest they are not only thinking about degrees and careers, but also about what kind of future a country offers - whether it feels safe, stable and prepared for climate change.鈥�

Dr Hu is based at The University of 水多多导航, which has been recognised globally for its social and environmental impact and is the only university in the world to rank in the top ten of both the QS World University Sustainability Rankings and the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. 

The rankings recognise universities鈥� contributions towards the United Nations鈥� Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including research, teaching, public engagement and campus operations aimed at creating a healthier, fairer and more sustainable future. 

Why this matters

International students contribute billions to economies, strengthen research systems and help fill skills gaps.

The researchers say governments and universities may need to treat climate resilience as part of their international education strategy - from greener campuses and better infrastructure to stronger public climate policy.

They also say support is needed for climate-vulnerable countries, so global talent flows do not become even more unequal.

Publication details

The study was published in the Nature Portfolio journal Communications Sustainability.

DOI:  

What are the implications?

The researchers say the findings provide strong evidence for investing in high-quality, community-designed green spaces, particularly in disadvantaged areas.

They argue that urban park improvements could form a key part of strategies to improve public health, support wellbeing and create more equitable cities.

Publication details

The study was published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

DOI:

• Accent bias remains widespread across British society, including in education

• People are routinely stereotyped based on how they sound

• No accent is inherently 鈥榖etter鈥�, 鈥榳orse鈥� or more 鈥榩rofessional鈥� than another

• Linguistic science contradicts many common assumptions about accents

• Practical steps are needed to tackle accent bias

Why this matters

From the way we pronounce words like 鈥榖ath鈥� or 鈥榖us鈥� to whether we use a glottal stop in 鈥榳ater鈥�, accents continue to carry powerful - and often unfair - social meanings.

Baratta鈥檚 new book, Putting an Accent on British Accents, explores what he calls the 鈥榮ocial reality鈥� of accents - the knee-jerk judgments people make about others based on their speech. These can include assumptions about intelligence, trustworthiness, class and even personality. 

But the 鈥榣inguistic reality鈥� tells a very different story.

鈥淭here is nothing inherent in any accent,鈥� Baratta argues. 鈥淣o sound can ever be 鈥榮tupid鈥�, 鈥榮exy鈥� or 鈥榰nprofessional鈥� - these are social judgements we attach to speech, not properties of the speech itself.鈥�

A hidden prejudice in plain sight

Drawing on a study of British teachers, the book uncovers striking examples of accent bias in professional settings.

One teacher reported that his interview for a PGCE course was nearly terminated unless he modified his Rossendale accent, which was deemed 鈥榰nprofessional鈥� for teaching English.

A secondary school Art teacher from Croydon was instructed to write the word 鈥榳ater鈥� with a capital 鈥楾鈥� to discourage pupils from using a glottal stop - a common feature of many British accents.

Another teacher from Nottingham, working in primary phonics in the South of England, was told it would be 鈥榖est to go back to where you come from鈥� if she could not adopt Southern pronunciation.

These examples, Baratta argues, show that accent bias is not only persistent, but can directly affect careers and opportunities.

The sound of inequality

At the heart of the book is the simple but powerful idea that we interpret accents rather than just hearing them. A particular pronunciation can trigger assumptions about class, education, behaviour and even lifestyle, and these assumptions can then shape how individuals are treated in everyday life.

In this way, accent becomes a form of social inequality that often goes unrecognised.

What needs to change

Rather than accepting accent bias as inevitable, Baratta calls for a more informed and inclusive approach - particularly within education.

The book outlines practical steps to challenge accent prejudice, including greater awareness of linguistic diversity, changes in teacher training, and a shift away from the idea that one way of speaking is more 鈥榗orrect鈥� than another.

Ultimately, the aim is to move towards a society where people are judged by what they say, not how they say it.

鈥淎ccent bias isn鈥檛 about language at all - it鈥檚 about the social meanings we attach to it,鈥� said Dr Baratta. 鈥淲hen we hear an accent, we鈥檙e not just processing sounds - we鈥檙e making assumptions shaped by history, class and culture.鈥�

Publication details

Putting an Accent on British Accents by Dr Alex Baratta is published by and is available in hardcover and digital formats.

According to The University of 水多多导航 researchers, medication can be disrupted at the point of release, especially when people are discharged at short notice or outside normal working hours, when services are least able to coordinate care.

The study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Greater 水多多导航 Patient Safety Research Collaboration (GM PSRC), is published in the journal Health Expectations today(insert date).

It paints a picture of a system which needs to better coordinate to keep people safe during one of the most vulnerable moments in their lives.

Healthcare staff interviewed by the researchers described delays in transferring medical records between prison and community GPs, confusion over who is responsible for discharge planning, and staffing pressures that can leave little time to prepare people for release.

They also highlighted the lack of integrated IT systems, meaning important information can fail to follow people out of the prison gates, which can lead to missed doses, interrupted treatment, and increased risk of harm.

Lead author Research Associate at The University of 水多多导航 said: 鈥淭here are clear opportunities to reduce medication-related risks at the point of discharge. Discharge planning interventions developed collaboratively with prisoners and relevant services and which prioritise coordination and informational continuity are needed.鈥�

Co-author , Professor of Health Services and Mental Health at The University of 水多多导航 added: 鈥淢edication safety breaks down at one of the most vulnerable points in care鈥攚hen people leave prison. Our findings show that with better coordination, earlier planning, and improved information sharing, many of these risks are preventable.鈥�

The research team interviewed 12 professionals including GPs, pharmacists, and prison officers, analysing their insights using the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety framework (SEIPS) .

SEIPS is a model used in healthcare to understand how different parts of a work system affect patient safety and care outcomes.

They identified five major factors driving unsafe medication transitions: unpredictable release practices, poor communication between services, staffing shortages, outdated or incompatible IT systems, and patient-level challenges such as low health literacy, substance use, and unstable housing.

The study warns the pressures are intensified by the high turnover in prisons, with nearly half of all sentenced admissions in 2023 lasting under 12 months, and by the complex health needs of people in custody, who experience far higher rates of mental illness, chronic conditions, and substance dependence than the general population.

The researchers call for earlier discharge planning beginning at prison entry, electronic prescribing to ensure timely access to medication, better continuity of medical records, dedicated transitional discharge teams, and multi鈥慸isciplinary meetings to coordinate complex cases.

Dr Planner added: 鈥淭hese findings show that safer medication management is achievable but will require coordinated action across prison and community healthcare systems.

鈥淚mproving communication, clarifying responsibilities, and strengthening processes could significantly reduce avoidable harm for thousands of people leaving prison each year.鈥�

• The paper Exploring medication safety in transitions from prison to community: a qualitative study is available . DOI  

"There is an urgent need for a national spatial vision to address entrenched spatial inequalities across the UK. Delivering innovative policy and practice is best achieved through close collaboration between research and professional practice, combining reflexive professional insight with emerging digital opportunities. We are living through a period of uncertainty, but it is also a moment ripe for creative and ambitious discussion.鈥�

• Teenage girls want practical, long-term changes rather than quick fixes

• Girls highlighted pressures from school, social media and gender expectations

• They called for safer, more supportive schools and communities

• Researchers worked with young women as part of the study team itself

• The findings could help shape future policy and funding on girls鈥� wellbeing

What did the girls say would help?

The study found that teenage girls want practical, culture-changing solutions rather than quick fixes.

Their ideas were developed into some key approaches to improve mental health and wellbeing for girls in schools and communities.

Changes girls want to see

• Better support and regulation around social media

• Help recognising that what they see online is not always real, alongside advice on how to care for themselves digitally

• Challenge gender stereotypes in schools

• Training for teachers and changes in school culture to tackle stereotypes that shape girls鈥� daily lives

• Zero tolerance on sexual harassment

• Clearer, more consistent responses to sexual harassment in schools, with proper support for those affected

• More places to relax and belong

• More social hobby spaces in schools and communities where girls can relax, connect and have fun without pressure

• Mental health to be valued as much as grades

• Schools to become more caring and relationship-focused, where wellbeing is valued as highly as academic success

Why this matters now

The study鈥檚 insights come as schools and health services grapple with an unprecedented rise in mental health difficulties among young people.

The research team say they hope the findings will help shape future policy and funding decisions on girls鈥� wellbeing.

What the researchers said

鈥淲e talk a lot about girls鈥� mental health and why it might be worsening, but a lot of the available research does not engage with girls鈥� own views on this,鈥� said Dr Ola Demkowicz, senior lecturer at the 水多多导航 Institute of Education and co-lead author of the study.

鈥淗ere, we wanted to work with girls as a starting point to explore how we can approach this issue in ways that can meet their needs. The girls we spoke with made it clear that they don鈥檛 just want coping strategies - they want real changes in the environments where they live and learn.鈥�

鈥淭he girls spoke powerfully about pressures from school, social media and gender expectations,鈥� said co-author Dr Rebecca Jefferson, who helped to run the focus groups.

鈥淭hey had thought-through, actionable ideas - not just for support, but for changing the systems that affect them.鈥�

Girls helped to lead the research

The research also brought young women into the project team itself. Young researchers worked as a core part of the team to design the study, lead discussions and interpret findings - helping ensure the work stayed grounded in girls鈥� real experiences.

Publication details

The study was published in the NIHR Public Health Journal. 

DOI:

The research partially answers a quandary puzzling scientists for decades on why squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) in the mouth, lungs, and skin often look similar under the microscope, but vary dramatically in how aggressively they grow and spread. Squamous cell carcinomas are a type of epithelial cancer.

Co-author from The University of 水多多导航 says the key to the difference lies not in the cancer cells themselves, but in the fibroblasts鈥攕upporting cells in the surrounding tissue鈥攖hat send powerful biochemical signals shaping how the cancer behaves.

The translational study published in Nature Metabolism is funded by Cancer Research UK, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) 水多多导航 Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Cancer Research.

According to the study, fibroblasts from the mouth and lungs have strikingly different patterns of fat metabolism, producing and transferring different types of fats to nearby cancer cells.

The transferred fats act as molecular cues that push SCC cells to become more invasive through a process known as epithelial鈥憈o鈥憁esenchymal transition, a change that allows cancer cells to move more freely and spread.

In oral cancers, fibroblasts supply cancer cells with sphingomyelins, a type of fat that activates the ceramide/S1P/STAT3 pathway, a chain of molecular events known to drive cancer cell migration and invasion.

In lung cancers, fibroblasts instead transfer another type of fat called triglycerides, which stimulate cholesterol production inside the cancer cells and fuel a highly invasive behaviour associated with poorer patient survival.

By contrast, fibroblasts in the skin contain far fewer fats, and as a result, cutaneous SCC tends to be less invasive than its oral or lung counterparts.

Dr Viros said: 鈥淭hese findings highlight that the tumour microenvironment鈥攑articularly the fibroblasts and the fats they produce鈥攑lays a decisive role in determining how dangerous a particular SCC will become.

鈥淚t suggests several promising therapeutic strategies, including blocking fat production in fibroblasts, preventing cancer cells from taking up these fats, or disrupting the pathways that break them down once inside the tumour. It is encouraging that many drugs that already exist approved for lipid disorders, like statins, can potentially be repurposed to prevent aggressive epithelial cancers鈥�.

Co-author Dr Timothy Budden from the University of Liverpool said: 鈥淭argeting these fat鈥慸riven interactions could slow or even halt the spread of oral and lung SCC, offering new hope for patients with these aggressive cancers.

鈥淪o we think this work opens the door to more personalized cancer treatments based on the biology of the tissue where the tumour arises, rather than treating all SCCs as a single disease.鈥�

• The paper Tissue-specific fibroblast lipid cues impose the rate of epithelial cancer invasion is available DOI:

• Higher levels of education are consistently linked to longer life expectancy
• In some countries, the gap between education levels exceeds a decade of life
• Women aged 20-49 show particularly large differences in mortality by education
• New statistical methods allow researchers to estimate mortality even where data is missing
• The study provides new evidence from under-researched regions including North Africa and Western Asia

What did the study find?

The study, funded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences analysed mortality patterns across 13 countries in South-East Europe, Western Asia and North Africa between 1980 and 2015. 

Researchers reconstructed mortality rates by age, sex and education level using a new statistical model designed to work even where official data is incomplete or inconsistent.

The findings revealed a clear and consistent pattern: people with more education live significantly longer than those with little or no formal education. 

How was the research done?

The research was carried out by Professor Arkadiusz Wi艣niowski from The University of 水多多导航, alongside Dr Andrea Tamburini and Dr Dilek Yildiz from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.

The team developed an innovative modelling framework that combines data from multiple international sources, including the United Nations, Eurostat and Demographic and Health Surveys.

This approach made it possible to estimate life expectancy differences even in countries where reliable birth and death records are limited. 

Where are the biggest differences seen?

In some countries included in the study, the difference in life expectancy between people with higher and lower levels of education was equivalent to more than ten years.

The gap was particularly striking among women aged 20 to 49, where those with secondary education or higher experienced much lower mortality rates.

Why does education affect life expectancy?

The findings highlight the wide-ranging impact of education on people鈥檚 lives.

鈥淎ccess to education means better health knowledge, better jobs, and better access to healthcare - but it also changes how people make decisions about their lives,鈥� said Professor Arkadiusz Wi艣niowski. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a powerful social equaliser.鈥� 

Why has this been hard to measure before?

Until now, much of the global evidence linking education and life expectancy has come from high-income countries with strong data systems.

In many parts of the world, incomplete or inconsistent records have made it difficult to understand how education shapes health outcomes.

Why does this matter?

By filling these data gaps, the study provides one of the most comprehensive pictures to date of how education influences survival across diverse global populations.

The model could now be applied more widely to help governments and international organisations better understand population health and plan future services.

What are the implications?

The researchers say the findings strengthen the case for treating education as a key public health intervention, not just a social or economic priority.

鈥淲e hope this work helps policymakers see education not only as a path to better jobs, but as a key public health intervention,鈥� said Professor Wi艣niowski. 鈥淚nvesting in education is investing in life itself.鈥� 

Publication details

This research was funded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences and is published in Demographic Research.

DOI:

Keir Starmer鈥檚 decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US keeps coming back to haunt him. It has now emerged that Mandelson was granted security clearance by the Foreign Office, despite concerns raised during the . Top Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins was sacked over these revelations.

Mandelson was controversial long before Starmer appointed him in 2024. A New Labour figure known as the 鈥減rince of darkness鈥� due to his reputation as an adept but often ruthless and underhand political operator, Mandelson had already been embroiled in a number of scandals involving allegations of corruption. He was also known to have had a close relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as close business links in China.

Starmer fired him in September 2025 after emails were released showing Mandelson offering supportive messages to Epstein, who faced charges of soliciting a minor at the time. Further emails released by US officials suggested that Mandelson might have passed privileged and market-sensitive information to Epstein during the fallout of the financial crisis. In February 2026, the former ambassador was on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has denied criminal wrongdoing and has not been charged.

Therefore, it is perhaps unsurprising that Mandelson did not pass the vetting process carried out by the Cabinet Office鈥檚 UK Security Vetting team. Almost all civil servants are required to go through some form of vetting. But as a top diplomat, Mandelson was subject to the most intensive form of scrutiny. From what is known about the process, red flags were probably raised about Mandelson鈥檚 links with Chinese and Russian business interests, though the exact details have not been made public.

Starmer and his allies have argued that Robbins did not tell the prime minister about concerns raised in the vetting process as he should have. , Robbins said that Number 10 took a 鈥渄ismissive鈥� approach to the vetting process. He also said that he was under 鈥渃onstant pressure鈥� to approve Mandelson鈥檚 clearance due to this being a political priority for Starmer. Mandelson鈥檚 appointment was announced publicly before the vetting took place.

The opposition is piling on the pressure for Starmer to resign. But behind speculation about the prime minister鈥檚 future stands a deeper set of constitutional questions about accountability and standards in public life.

From Starmer鈥檚 perspective, the scandal has revealed a pressing need to improve the independent scrutiny of appointments. He has ordered a review into vetting procedures, and argued that failings lie with civil servants in the FCDO and with the robustness of vetting processes 鈥� not with him.

On one level, this defence is an effort to deflect blame. Yet the response also fits with Starmer鈥檚 approach to politics as a .

In arguing for a more robust independent process around vetting in their attempts to avoid blame, Starmer and his allies invoke a of Whitehall culture. This view treats independent, depoliticised scrutiny and checks and balances as key missing links in British politics. Building these would be vital for ensuring transparency and accountability around appointments and politics more broadly.

Since coming to office, Starmer has consistently argued for a rewiring of the British state to modernise the government. Like academics, thinktanks, journalists and former Whitehall insiders before him, Starmer鈥檚 view suggests that Whitehall and the centre of the British state operate in an antiquated way. When it comes to accountability and standards, the government arguably lacks proper independent scrutiny and constitutional checks and balances to hold decision-makers to account.

Instead, Whitehall is too reliant on a , which suggests politicians typically act with the best of intentions and therefore do not need to be subject to independent scrutiny.

Who is responsible?

Critics, echoing Robbins鈥� testimony, have argued that Starmer and his allies pressed Mandelson鈥檚 ambassadorship as a political priority, announcing it before vetting procedures had been completed in order to push through the appointment.

Many have pointed out that Mandelson鈥檚 reputation as a potentially suspect character was well known before the release of the Epstein files. Within this narrative, blame for the appointment of Mandelson lies squarely with Starmer.

In a sense, this approach offers a different view of British politics. In terms of appointments 鈥� both to top civil service positions and to more political posts 鈥� the UK鈥檚 approach has been argued to resemble . Here, the ruler decides their key advisers on the basis of their own preferences and objectives.

This too implies a lack of proper checks and balances around appointments. But one of the proposed advantages of such a system is that it places accountability and responsibility for decisions clearly in the hands of elected politicians. Britain has a longstanding tradition of individual ministerial accountability.

Starmer, however, is now seemingly weakening this tradition by deflecting blame onto the civil service and its processes. It is this notion of direct political accountability that Starmer鈥檚 opponents are invoking when they call for his resignation.

Overall, these two images of British politics are contradictory and indicative of the emergence of an . On the one hand, the state has failed to move towards modern and robust independent scrutiny of ministerial decision-making around appointments. On the other hand, politics has shifted away from a culture of clear, individual ministerial accountability.

This leaves Britain in a 鈥渨orst of both worlds鈥� scenario when it comes to accountability and standards in public life. It has neither robust independent scrutiny, nor clear lines of political accountability. More than anything, the Mandelson vetting scandal reveals the need to fix this broken system.

, Research Associate, Department of Politics, and , Research Associate,
This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

• Growing global demand for beef is a major driver of deforestation in the Amazon
• Up to 80% of cleared forest land is converted into cattle pasture
• Higher land values after deforestation create strong financial incentives to clear forests
• Gaps in supply chain oversight allow deforestation to continue
• New framework identifies where interventions could have the greatest impact

What did the study find?

The research focuses on the Brazilian Amazon, where cattle farming is a leading cause of deforestation. It shows that decisions made by farmers are shaped by a powerful mix of global market demand, land prices and government policies. 

In many cases, clearing forest actually increases land value, creating a cycle where deforestation leads to profit 鈥� and to more deforestation. At the same time, environmental rules and sustainability initiatives often fail to fully reach the people making land-use decisions on the ground. 

Why does this matter to people?

Although the Amazon may feel far away, the study highlights how everyday consumption is connected to environmental change. Beef sold around the world in supermarkets and restaurants can be linked back to land-use decisions in the rainforest. 

The consequences are global. The Amazon plays a vital role in storing carbon and regulating the climate. As forests are cleared, this contributes to climate change, biodiversity loss and more extreme weather patterns worldwide.

What makes this study different?

Most research looks either at economic systems or environmental systems, but rarely both together. This study introduces a new approach that connects global supply chains with local ecosystems, showing how they influence each other in real time. It reveals that environmental damage is not just an unintended side effect 鈥� it is built into how global production systems operate. 

Where are the biggest challenges?

A key issue is that governance systems are fragmented. Governments, companies, and environmental organisations often work separately, with limited coordination.

For example, large meat companies may enforce sustainability rules for direct suppliers, but indirect suppliers 鈥� where much deforestation occurs 鈥� can slip through the cracks. 

At the same time, smaller farmers often lack access to credit or technical support, making it harder for them to adopt more sustainable practices. 

What are the solutions?

The study highlights several key opportunities to reduce deforestation:

• Strengthening enforcement of environmental laws
• Improving traceability across supply chains
• Supporting farmers with finance and training
• Rewarding conservation through incentives like payments for ecosystem services

Importantly, the research shows that no single solution will work on its own 鈥� progress depends on better coordination across global and local systems. 

Why this research matters now

As global demand for beef continues to grow, pressure on the Amazon is expected to increase. The researchers say their findings provide a clearer roadmap for policymakers, businesses and organisations trying to balance economic growth with environmental protection, and offers a new way to tackle one of the world鈥檚 most urgent environmental challenges. 

The study was conducted by an international team of researchers from The University of 水多多导航 and Brazil鈥檚 Funda莽茫o Getulio Vargas S茫o Paulo School of Business Administration, and is published in Competition & Change.

DOI:  

A Lego-style Iranian military commander : 鈥淥ur inbox is flooded with Americans saying they don鈥檛 watch the news. They listen to our songs instead since your media is full of sh*t.鈥�

This is the opening line of an AI-generated video which is part of Iran鈥檚 meme campaign 鈥� built around Lego-style animation and rap soundtracks, which have online. The line captures the strange reality of contemporary politics: news is often most effectively disseminated not through journalism but humour, memes and entertainment.

Since late February, pro-Iranian media groups 鈥� most notably, the 鈥� have flooded social media with AI-generated video content mocking Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and US foreign policy. It has been dubbed 鈥� but the sophistication is striking.

These videos but do not look or feel like state propaganda 鈥� despite the spokesperson for Explosive Media admitting to the BBC that the . They capture the internet zeitgeist: fast, funny, visually familiar and designed for virality.

Trojan horses

The success of these memes lies in their audience strategy. They do not target people actively seeking news. Instead, they mimic the language of everyday internet culture to reach those who are not following events in the Middle East at all.

Humour is the mechanism they use to get reach. These videos function as Trojan horses, drawing viewers in with recognisable imagery, references and music 鈥� while communicating a narrative about American overreach, dysfunction and corruption.

As , a US-based expert in disinformation, notes, this kind of content reaches 鈥減olitically uninvested people who otherwise wouldn鈥檛 have engaged with war-related content鈥�.

The key insight here is not geopolitics but audiences. Conventional political communication, including press conferences, policy statements and traditional news coverage, reaches people who are already paying attention. These AI meme videos are designed to reach everyone else: the millions of people whose understanding of international conflict extends no further than what happens to appear in their social media feed.

Humour is the primary mechanism these videos have harnessed to conquer the social media algorithms. The joke is not the message 鈥� it is the delivery system. By packaging geopolitical arguments inside 鈥渄iss tracks鈥�, pop culture references and shareable clips, these videos communicate political ideas before audiences have even registered they are consuming political content.

What makes audiences receptive to 鈥榮lopaganda鈥�?

But this raises a deeper question. Why are people so receptive to receiving political information in this form? The answer is that they have been primed for it.

For two decades, a generation of Americans 鈥� and increasingly British and European viewers 鈥� have learned to process political news through satire. Jon Stewart鈥檚 The Daily Show became, for many younger viewers, a than the nightly news.

The likes of Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel also built enormous audiences by making politics funny, accessible and emotionally engaging in ways that conventional journalism often failed to do. The implicit message, repeated nightly, was that humour was not merely a gloss on political commentary. It was a .

This was largely a progressive phenomenon. The targets were politicians and large institutions, both government and private sector 鈥� and the satirists positioned themselves as holding power to account. But this created an expectation that , and that comedy is a legitimate vehicle for political understanding.

Iran is copying populist strategy

Since 2008, many populists have recognised the in their election campaigns 鈥� none more so than Trump. His campaign appearances on comedy podcasts, his and stunts, and his endless memes are not distractions from his political strategy 鈥� they are his political strategy.

Trump reached, and mobilised, millions of who had long since stopped engaging with political news in any traditional form.

Iran has been paying attention. The American scholar of propaganda has that Iran is now 鈥渦sing popular culture against the No.1 pop culture country, the United States鈥�.

The Lego aesthetic, the rap beats, the 1980s pop covers, the selection of jokes are not random choices. They demonstrate a precise calibration of what can effectively reach online audiences in the western attention economy.

The result is content that is not immediately visible as foreign propaganda, and instead looks like entertainment. For audiences already accustomed to learning about politics through comedy, the distinction barely registers.

There is a profound irony here. The cultural conditions that produced shows like The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight 鈥� the erosion of trust in mainstream political communication and the demand for authenticity and humour over formal rhetoric 鈥� have produced a media environment in which a foreign state can distribute propaganda to millions of Americans, and have it feel indistinguishable from domestic entertainment.

This is not to say that late-night satire and Iranian AI content is equivalent. But they are operating in the same media ecosystem 鈥� one in which humour has become a primary method of political communication.

The most unsettling thing about what is happening right now is what this means for our information environment.

If propaganda is indistinguishable from satire, and satire accumulates millions of views while news does not, the line between political entertainment and political persuasion has seemingly collapsed. And the people most affected are those who think they are not following the war at all.

, Early Career Researcher, Religions and Theology Department
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The University of 水多多导航鈥檚 University Challenge team have been crowned winners of the UK鈥檚 toughest quizzing tournament.

Having beaten out New College Oxford and LSE to reach the quarterfinals, from there defeating UCL and Sheffield, and sailing past Imperial with 250 points to 70 in the final semi-final round, they finally triumphed over Edinburgh in last night鈥檚 finale.

The victory is an historic one for the University, as with this fifth win (2006, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2025) it becomes the most successful University in the history of the competition, joint with Imperial College London.

The winning team this year was made up of Ray Power (Film Studies and English Literature), Kirsty Dickson (Medicine), Rob Faulkner (Physics with Astrophysics) and their captain, Kai Madgwick (PhD, AI and Astrophysics), along with reserve player, Argyro Olympitis (PHD in Immunology).

It can feel as though there鈥檚 something mystic about acquiring a seat on the University Challenge team, a tap on the shoulder in a quiet area of the quad one day maybe, but according to Ray, that that isn鈥檛 so.

鈥淕rowing up, my Grandma was always a huge fan of University Challenge, and when a friend of mine who鈥檇 been a contestant a couple of years before told me that they were recruiting again, I signed myself up!鈥�

After passing a first-stage online quiz, and doing herself proud in a trial match held by Quiz Society, Ray鈥檚 name was on the team sheet.

鈥淭he great thing about how UoM do it is that the whole thing is led by students. The Uni supports it, but it鈥檚 all run by Quiz Society. There鈥檚 a real sense of community, we even have contestants from previous years coming back for mentoring and to help us practice.鈥�

Rob, Kirsty, and Ray, all took the same sign-up route to the team, while their Captain, Kai Madgwick, was already a Quiz Soc stalwart, having competed in plenty of inter-university quiz tournaments.

Once in the team, the training process is tough, spending hours each Tuesday sequestered away in a quiet part of the library, testing each other and playing along with old episodes. It wasn鈥檛 all about gruelling revision, though.

鈥淚 feel really lucky to have been able to meet the rest of the team, I鈥檝e made four really good friends. I don鈥檛 think we expected to have such a good time together!鈥� said Ray. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to pick out just one highlight, but filming the trophy presentation in London was amazing, and it was so lovely to be together with the team through the whole process.鈥�

Ray insists that it isn鈥檛 all down to their hard work 鈥� there鈥檚 some chance involved too, and that losing starter questions, or feeling like you don鈥檛 have the momentum of the game, can really affect the outcome. The score of the semi-final against Imperial, she says, really didn鈥檛 reflect how strong that team were, and that 水多多导航 were lucky to have played such a great team game that round, where everybody contributed to the win.

And while there might be an element of chance, it sounds like there鈥檚 a little bit of fate in there too, with a semi-final tie against UCL seeing them ace a music round, picking out tunes from Fontaines DC, Black Midi, Squid, and Wet Leg.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so weird, Kai鈥檚 a huge Squid fan - one of the first conversations I remember having with them was about going to a Squid gig鈥� after that music round, Squid actually shouted us out on Instagram!鈥�

Ray says they never expected to win when they began the contest, they just kept playing and ended up in the final.

鈥淲e never expected to win, we were just happy to be there. The whole thing was nerve-wracking! It was so intense and felt so much like a super weird school trip!鈥�

Having been beaten by Edinburgh 195 to 80 in the quarterfinals of the competition, the tournament鈥檚 last leg was a chance for the 水多多导航 team to right some wrongs.

鈥淵eah, they beat us really badly. It was scary but we were happy with how far we鈥檇 already come. We knew how wonderful and clever the team from Edinburgh were, and we just went into it wanting to do our best!鈥�

Do their best they did, and in bringing home the trophy for 水多多导航, they are the fifth team to do so, placing UoM at the top of the all-time leaderboard, in the company of ICL.

• Social media can reduce loneliness when used to build or maintain relationships
• Passive use, such as scrolling without interacting, is linked to higher loneliness
• People with strong offline networks benefit more from social media use
• User motivations - such as connection versus escape - shape outcomes
• Platform design and online experiences influence whether users feel connected or isolated
• More long-term research is needed to fully understand impacts on wellbeing

What did the study find?

Dr Rebecca Nowland assessed the latest global evidence on the relationship between social media and loneliness.

The findings highlight a complex picture. Social media can strengthen social connections when it is used to interact meaningfully - such as messaging friends, sharing experiences or receiving supportive responses.

However, simply scrolling through content without engaging - often referred to as 鈥榩assive use鈥� - is consistently linked to higher levels of loneliness. 

Why does how we use social media matter?

The study shows that the impact of social media depends heavily on how and why people use it.

People who go online to connect with others may experience reduced loneliness. In contrast, those using social media to escape difficult feelings or social situations may see the opposite effect.

In some cases, trying to replace face-to-face interaction with online activity can actually make loneliness worse. 

Who benefits most from social media use?

Not everyone benefits equally.

The research found that people who already have strong social networks are more likely to gain positive experiences online, including support and a sense of belonging.

Those who feel isolated offline, however, may struggle to achieve the same benefits - even if they use social media frequently.

What role do platforms and online experiences play?

Platform design is also important.

Features that encourage direct interaction - such as private messaging or sharing images - can help create a stronger sense of connection. By contrast, platforms or features focused on broadcasting or passive consumption offer fewer emotional benefits.

Experiences themselves also matter. Supportive comments and meaningful exchanges can reduce loneliness, while being ignored, excluded or exposed to negative interactions can increase it. 

What are the gaps in current research?

Despite growing interest in the topic, the study highlights important gaps in existing research.

Much of the evidence is based on snapshots in time rather than long-term studies, making it difficult to determine cause and effect. The paper calls for more robust research using real usage data and longer-term methods.

Why does this matter?

With loneliness increasingly recognised as a major public health issue, the findings suggest that improving how people engage online could play an important role in tackling the problem.

Encouraging more active and meaningful use of social media - and designing platforms that support this - may help maximise benefits while reducing harms.

This research was published in Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences.

DOI:  

• Governments across the global North and South are increasing their role in delivering affordable housing
• States are adopting new tools to influence housing supply, finance and land development
• Public-private partnerships and new financial models are being used to support large-scale housing
• Cities are experimenting with different ways to balance social need and market pressures
• Salford and Shanghai highlight contrasting but equally interventionist approaches

What did the study find?

Led by Dr Tom Gillespie, the study provides one of the first global comparisons of how states are responding to a growing housing crisis affecting billions of people.

Drawing on research from Shanghai, Salford, Nairobi, Paris, Casablanca and Rome, it shows that governments are increasingly stepping in as private markets struggle to deliver adequate and affordable homes at scale.

While previous decades favoured light-touch state involvement, this is now changing, with governments taking a more active role in shaping housing systems.

How are governments responding?

The research shows that states are adopting a wide range of new approaches to influence housing supply, finance and land development.

In many cases, this includes experimenting with public-private partnerships, land value capture and new state-backed financial mechanisms to make large-scale housing programmes viable.

Across all six cities, the researchers identified common themes, including what motivates governments to intervene, how new financial and institutional tools are being used, and how risks in housing markets are being redistributed.

What is happening in Salford?

Salford is highlighted as one of the most distinctive examples in the study.

Within England鈥檚 market-driven planning system, the local authority has developed an unusually interventionist approach. While earlier regeneration focused on property-led development such as Salford Quays, more recent efforts have aimed to address the lack of affordable housing.

From 2016, the Council began redirecting developer contributions into a council-owned company to build new social housing. These homes are let at below-market 鈥淪alford rents鈥� and are exempt from the national 鈥榬ight to buy鈥�, helping to protect them from speculative pressures.

Although still relatively small in scale, the model is identified as an example of local state action designed to 鈥渄e-financialise鈥� housing while still working within a market-led system.

What about Shanghai?

Shanghai offers a contrasting but equally interventionist model.

After decades of market-driven housing growth, the city has shifted towards a more active role, using state control of land and developers to deliver affordable homes for different social groups.

Policies include shantytown renewal, shared ownership schemes and subsidised rental housing, aimed at tackling rising property prices while supporting social stability and inclusion.

Why is this shift happening?

The study highlights a broader global shift away from reliance on private markets alone.

As housing affordability crises deepen, governments are increasingly intervening to address gaps in supply and access. This marks the end of an era of minimal state involvement and the emergence of more active, experimental approaches to housing policy.

Researcher quote

鈥淥ur research shows that states are once again becoming central players in efforts to tackle the global affordable housing crisis, but this isn鈥檛 a simple return to old models of public housing,鈥� said Dr Tom Gillespie. 鈥淚nstead, we are seeing a wide range of new approaches emerging as governments try to balance social needs with the realities of financialised urban development.

What are the implications?

The researchers suggest that understanding how different cities are responding can help inform future housing policy.

By identifying shared patterns and innovative approaches, the study provides a framework for policymakers seeking to tackle housing crises in their own contexts.

Publication details

The study was published in journal Urban Studies.

DOI:

Key findings

Rwanda has achieved rapid economic growth and built a reputation for effective state-led development, but the book argues that long-term prosperity may depend on deeper industrial transformation rather than continued reliance on service-led growth.

Why has Rwanda been described as Africa鈥檚 鈥榤odel nation鈥�?

Over the past two decades, Rwanda has often been portrayed as one of Africa鈥檚 standout economic success stories. The country has recorded strong GDP growth, expanded healthcare and education, increased tourism revenues and built an international reputation for effective state leadership.

Kigali has also positioned itself as a hub for finance, conferences and high-end tourism, helping Rwanda gain praise from international donors and policymakers.

What does the new book examine?

In , Dr Pritish Behuria offers one of the most in-depth accounts yet of how Rwanda has pursued rapid development in the face of major historical and structural challenges.

Drawing on nearly two decades of research, including extensive fieldwork and interviews with policymakers, business leaders and development partners, the book explores whether Rwanda has achieved genuine economic transformation or whether its growth masks deeper vulnerabilities.

Why might Rwanda鈥檚 future remain uncertain?

Dr Behuria argues that growth alone does not necessarily lead to long-term development.

Instead, sustainable prosperity typically depends on what economists call structural transformation: the shift from dependence on agriculture and raw materials towards higher-value manufacturing and productive domestic industries.

While this process underpinned the rise of many economies in Europe and East Asia, manufacturing remains limited across much of Africa, including Rwanda.

Has Rwanda relied too heavily on services?

Rather than prioritising manufacturing, Rwanda has focused heavily on services such as tourism, finance and international events.

The book examines whether this strategy can create enough jobs, technological learning and domestic business development to sustain long-term economic progress.

Rather than offering a simple verdict, the book presents a balanced assessment that recognises Rwanda鈥檚 achievements while exploring the risks and limits of its current model.

What does Rwanda鈥檚 experience say about development more broadly?

The book contributes to wider debates about whether African countries can build new pathways to development in today鈥檚 global economy.

鈥淭he space to experiment, protect industries and build domestic champions is much narrower. Rwanda鈥檚 experience shows what is possible - and how fragile success can be - in today鈥檚 globalised era.鈥�

Publication details

will be published by Cambridge University Press on April 30th, and will be available open access.

• Peer pressure, bullying and emotional difficulties are linked to higher substance use
• Strong relationships with parents and teachers, and a sense of school belonging, are protective
• Substance use increases with age, with alcohol the most commonly reported
• Close friendships are not always protective and may increase exposure to substance use
• Girls, LGBTQ+ young people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds report higher levels of use
• Differences between schools explain more variation than differences between neighbourhoods

What did the study find?

The study analysed data from the #BeeWell programme, covering more than 30,000 pupils across 100 schools and over 1,500 neighbourhoods. #BeeWell is a collaboration between The University of 水多多导航, The Gregson Family Foundation and Anna Freud who, together with the Greater 水多多导航 Combined Authority (GMCA), launched the programme in 2019.

It shows that teenage substance use is shaped by a combination of social, emotional and environmental factors. Young people who felt pressured by peers, experienced bullying or struggled with emotional difficulties were more likely to use substances.

In contrast, those with strong relationships with parents and teachers, a sense of belonging at school and positive perceptions of their academic performance were less likely to report substance use.

How does substance use vary by age and type?

The findings show that substance use increases with age, with older teenagers significantly more likely to report using alcohol or drugs.

Alcohol was the most commonly-reported substance, with around one in six young people reporting recent use. Vaping was less common but still notable, with around one in fifteen reporting use.

What role do friendships and peer relationships play?

The study highlights a complex role for peer relationships. While often seen as protective, close friendships were in some cases associated with higher substance use.

This may reflect increased exposure to social situations where substances are available, suggesting that peer influence can both increase and reduce risk depending on context.

Are there differences between groups?

The researchers found important differences between groups of young people. Girls and LGBTQ+ young people were more likely to report substance use than boys.

Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds were also more likely to vape, smoke and use drugs, indicating that inequalities play a role in shaping these behaviours.

How do different factors influence different substances?

The study found that different substances are influenced by different factors.

Stress and emotional difficulties were strongly linked to vaping, smoking and alcohol use, suggesting these behaviours may act as coping mechanisms. In contrast, illicit drug use appeared to be more strongly shaped by relationships with adults and broader school experiences.

Why does the school environment matter?

While a wide range of determinants were identified, the study found that differences between schools explained more variation in substance use than differences between neighbourhoods.

This suggests that the school environment - particularly peer relationships, social norms and support systems - plays a crucial role in shaping young people鈥檚 behaviour.

Researcher quote

鈥淲e often assume that where young people live shapes their behaviour most, but our findings show that a wide range of social and emotional factors are at play,鈥� said lead researcher Dr Emma Thornton. 鈥淓xperiences like peer pressure, bullying and mental health difficulties can increase risk, while strong relationships and a sense of belonging can be protective.鈥�

What are the implications?

The research team hopes their findings will inform national policy and support the development of more targeted, evidence-based approaches to preventing substance use among young people.

Publication details

The study was published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.

DOI:

Key findings

• A grammar-based authorship analysis method matched or exceeded leading AI systems across most test datasets
• The approach outperformed several neural network-based authorship verification models
• Researchers tested the method across 12 real-world writing datasets including emails, forums and reviews
• The system is more transparent than many AI models because it shows which grammatical patterns informed decisions
• Researchers say the findings challenge assumptions that more complex AI always produces better results

What did the study find?

Researchers found that a relatively simple, linguistically grounded method can perform as well as - and in some cases better than - complex artificial intelligence systems in identifying authorship.

The study suggests that increasingly sophisticated AI is not always necessary for high-performing writing analysis, particularly when methods are designed around established principles of how language works.

How does the LambdaG method work?

The method, called LambdaG, analyses patterns in grammar rather than relying on large-scale machine learning models.

It builds a statistical profile of how an individual writes by measuring features such as function word usage (words like it, of and the), sentence structure, punctuation patterns and other grammatical habits.

The researchers say these features create a distinctive behavioural signature for each writer.

Why is this different from AI-based authorship analysis?

Many current authorship verification systems rely on complex AI models trained on vast datasets. While effective, these systems can be difficult to interpret, computationally expensive and hard to explain in high-stakes settings such as legal investigations. By contrast, LambdaG provides a transparent explanation of which grammatical features influenced its conclusions.

How accurate was the method?

Researchers tested LambdaG across 12 datasets designed to reflect real-world writing scenarios, including emails, online forum posts and consumer reviews.

In most cases, the method achieved higher accuracy than several established authorship verification systems, including neural network-based approaches.

Why does grammar reveal authorship?

The researchers argue that grammar acts as a behavioural signature, like how we write our signature or how we walk.

Over time, individuals develop unconscious habits in how they structure sentences and use language. These habits create identifiable linguistic patterns that can distinguish one writer from another.

What are the potential applications?

The researchers say the method could support work in:

• Forensic linguistics
• Criminal investigations
• Online abuse detection
• Academic integrity monitoring

The study was published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.

DOI:

DOI:  

Ava Begley鈥檚 parents say they feel 鈥渄eeply grateful鈥� that the researchers, from 水多多导航 University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and The University of 水多多导航 (UoM), have made this discovery, which is one of the most common genetic causes of severe epilepsy.

Delivered through the this groundbreaking work is already transforming the lives for many children and young people around the world, providing long-awaited answers and hope for the future.

Ava鈥檚 parents, Daniel Begley and Elizabeth Dowd, from Sydney, Australia, said: 鈥淥ur first reaction was a mixture of emotion 鈥� relief at finally having a diagnosis, but also sadness in understanding the seriousness of the condition and how rare it is. Above all, we felt grateful that Ava鈥檚 experience may contribute to greater knowledge and future progress and treatment.鈥�

This new condition, which the researchers have named as 鈥淩ecessive RNU2-2-related neurodevelopmental disorder鈥�, results in difficult-to-control seizures and severe developmental delays in children, often appearing within their first year of life.

Published in the journal , the research has so far identified 84 individuals living with the new condition, while experts estimate that thousands more remain undiagnosed across the world.

The team estimates that millions of people globally could be 鈥榗arriers鈥� of the faulty gene behind this disorder.

水多多导航 lead and first author of the paper Dr Adam Jackson, Academic Clinical Fellow at the 水多多导航 Centre for Genomic Medicine, part of MFT, and The University of 水多多导航, explained: 鈥淲e believe that as many as in 1 in 100 people could unknowingly be carriers of this condition. If both parents are carriers, there is a 1 in 4 chance with every pregnancy that their child could be affected. We estimate roughly 1 in 40,000 people may be living with this condition, making it one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders currently known. Our discovery brings hope for many patients and families who have been searching for answers and is already having a positive impact around the world.鈥�

This major advance builds on in which they showed the importance of the RNU genes in brain development and function.

The research team made the new discovery by analysing changes in several hundred RNU genes in data of individuals who took part in the 100,000 Genomes Project, a Genomics England initiative to sequence and study the role genes play in health and disease.

Dr Jackson, who is also an early career researcher in the NIHR 水多多导航 BRC鈥檚 Rare Conditions Theme, explained: 鈥淲hat makes this discovery even more remarkable is that RNU2-2 is extremely small in comparison to other genes. Unlike most other genes, RNU2-2 does not even make a protein. We were astonished to discover how changes in this tiny gene can have such profound effects in so many individuals.鈥�

Children with the condition experience severe early on in life, often in their first year. This means they have seizures 鈥� sudden surges of electrical activity in the brain which can cause the body to stiffen, jerk, shake and lose consciousness. These seizures can be difficult to fully control with medication, highlighting the urgent need for improved therapies.

The condition also has a profound impact on brain development, causing delays or inability to achieve key milestones such as walking or talking. Almost all affected individuals have significant learning problems.

Ava鈥檚 story

6-year-old Ava has lived with complex neurological symptoms from early childhood and requires full-time care and ongoing medical support.

Ava鈥檚 condition includes developmental delay, profound intellectual disability and severe epilepsy with frequent seizures. She would often experience 100 to 200 seizures per day, but these are now more controlled with medication.

Ava is non-verbal and cannot communicate through speech or gestures. She requires full-time support with daily life, including bathing, toileting and feeding. She also experiences major motor and balance difficulties, can only walk short distances and falls frequently. Ava often bites and pulls hair out and screams in frustration.

Collaborating with 水多多导航 researchers, the Sydney Children鈥檚 Hospital Clinical Genetics Team who support Ava and her family, were able to link Ava鈥檚 condition to the newly identified recessive RNU2-2-related disorder.

Ava鈥檚 dad, Daniel and mum, Elizabeth, said: 鈥淎va is a beautiful little girl with a bright presence. She loves looking through books, music, sensory play, being outdoors, and spending time with her family. Even with the immense challenges she faces, Ava brings extraordinary love and meaning into our lives. She has a deep presence about her that touches everyone who meets her.

鈥淔or many years we have been through extensive medical investigations, specialist appointments, and genetic testing, hoping to find an answer that could explain Ava鈥檚 condition and guide her care. Like many rare disease families, we have lived with a long period of uncertainty.

鈥淗aving a diagnosis is incredibly meaningful. It gives Ava a name and a place in the medical world, rather than being an unanswered mystery. It helps us feel that we are getting closer to the starting point of being able to find a cure/treatment, and provides hope that research and awareness may lead to better understanding and support in the future.

鈥淲e believe that rare disease research is vital, not only for families like ours, but for the broader medical community. Ava鈥檚 journey has been challenging, but she is deeply loved, and we are committed to advocating for her and for all children living with rare and complex conditions.鈥�

水多多导航 lead and senior author Consultant Clinical Geneticist at the 水多多导航 Centre for Genomic Medicine at MFT, Professor of Genomic Medicine and Rare Diseases at UoM and Rare Conditions Theme Co-Lead at the NIHR 水多多导航 BRC said: 鈥淥ur work helps expand knowledge of conditions related to RNU genes, an emerging group of diseases which potentially affect around 1 in 10,000 individuals globally. It also shines a light on the regions of the human genome sometimes dismissed as 鈥榡unk DNA鈥�. We now see that so-called 鈥榙ark regions鈥� are vital for health.鈥�

Prof Banka, who is also Clinical Director of the , a virtual centre based at MFT which aims to improve the lives of people with rare conditions, added: 鈥淎t MFT, we have established a dedicated RNU clinic to identify and support more patients with these conditions. Looking to the future, this discovery paves the way to help unlock life-changing treatments for the recessive RNU2-2-related neurodevelopmental disorder.鈥�

Professor Marian Knight, Scientific Director for NIHR Infrastructure, said: 鈥淒iscovering the cause for conditions like Ava鈥檚 is the first step to personalised treatment and improved lifelong health and quality of life. This breakthrough is a testament to the robust research infrastructure the NIHR has developed over the last 20 years, enabling us to turn world-class genomic science into better care.鈥�

• The paper 'Biallelic variants in RNU2-2 cause a remarkably frequent developmental and epileptic encephalopathy is published in DOI: . 

The study found SEND complaints make up 27% of the complaints received by the LGSCO and 48% of the cases that it upholds. Common issues include delays in carrying out Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessments, and failures to deliver the support children are legally entitled to.

Despite these challenges, the research also points to the impact of the Ombudsman鈥檚 work. Its recommendations can help councils identify problems, strengthen accountability, and push for improvements that benefit families.

In some cases, the findings have empowered local officials to argue for more resources or rethink how services are delivered - however, the report also highlights limitations including the time and capacity required to respond to investigations, and repeated recommendations on issues councils recognise but lack the means to resolve.

A key gap identified is that the Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints directly against schools - even though they play a central role in delivering SEND support - which can leave families without clear routes to resolve issues.

The report sets out recommendations to strengthen the system, which include extending the Ombudsman鈥檚 powers to cover schools, raising awareness of joint investigations with health bodies, and improving communication between councils and the Ombudsman. Crucially, it emphasises that meaningful reform must address underlying pressures on the SEND system, including funding shortages and workforce gaps.

鈥淭his research comes at a key moment for SEND system reform,鈥� said Ash Patel, Programme Head for Justice at the Nuffield Foundation. 鈥淭he Government鈥檚 intention to improve complaints and mediation processes - enabling faster and more collaborative, resolution of disagreements and reducing the need for appeals to the SEND Tribunal - is welcome. However, the proposals are silent on the role of the LGSCO, and it remains frustratingly unclear how disputes will be avoided or how routes for appeals and complaints will operate.鈥�

鈥淭he report points to high levels of tension between the education system and families of children with SEND; without greater attention to minimising these conflicts, it is difficult to see how existing pressures on complaints and appeals will ease.鈥� 

It follows a campaign led by a national coalition of partners, including academics from The University of 水多多导航, and  legal representatives from Garden Court Chambers and Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, who challenged the previous policy framework.

The rules, which affect asylum seekers who have waited 12 months or more for a decision on their initial claim, come into effect on 26 March 2026.

The previous policy restricted asylum seekers to occupations on the Immigration Salary List, excluding most health professions, including doctors and nurses.

One of the leading voices in the campaign was the Refugee and Asylum Seekers Centre for Healthcare Professionals Education (REACHE), directed by, Dr Aisha Awan, a Senior Clinical Lecturer at The University of 水多多导航 and Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation.

Displaced clinicians at REACHE receive specialist language, clinical and acculturation training alongside strong pastoral support, enabling them to secure regulatory registration and safely return to practice within the NHS.

The policy change follows legal proceedings which highlighted that highly qualified, NHS-ready clinicians were unable to work in shortage specialties despite clear workforce need.

Dr Awan said: 鈥淎s we continue to witness increasing displacement of people by conflict and global events, we must ethically address that doctors, nurses and health professionals becoming deskilled is a huge loss to humanity.

鈥淎longside being economically counterproductive, undermining NHS workforce capacity and negatively impacting mental health and integration.

鈥淎t a time of increasingly hostile rhetoric around migration, it鈥檚 been important to show the impressively positive impacts of this programme on the NHS and patients.

 鈥淚鈥檓 immensely  proud to be part of our University which supports this sort of positive and impactful change. Our success demonstrates how evidence, persistence and coalition-building can influence systems, no matter how big the resistance to change.鈥�

Undergraduate students from the University鈥檚 school of Law, Medicine, Computer Sciences and Languages were involved in the Interfaculty Service Learning project, attending the judicial review hearings.

Maria-Ioana Dicu a second year computer science undergraduate, was one of the undergraduates  to observe how research, evidence and advocacy connect within real-world policy debates.

She  said:  鈥淭hese doctors resilience and desire to help others was incredibly powerful and their fight to practice shows the impact you can have if you step outside your comfort zone, even against all the odds.鈥�

Aaron Drovandi, Senior Lecturer in Medical Education Research at The University of 水多多导航, who was involved in the data and evaluation for REACHE said: 鈥淭he team have achieved tremendous impact on international debate and national policy, with the work being  acknowledged by a broad range of stakeholders including the British Medical Association and World Health Organisation.鈥�

Stephanie Harrison KC, Garden Court Chambers, said: 鈥淥ur clients were highly qualified doctors who wished to provide their skills to NHS patients in need. One of our clients was able to take up a role that had remained unfilled for over a year. This is an important step but the full removal of restrictions still recommended. It is important that policy is guided by reason and compassion, recognising both the contribution individuals can make and the wider needs of society.鈥�

Becky Hart, from Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, said: 鈥淲e are glad the Secretary of State has agreed to amend her policy to expand the jobs those claiming asylum can work in鈥� to include doctors, nurses, and other skilled occupations.鈥�

Professor Nalin Thakkar, Vice-President (Social Responsibility), at The University of 水多多导航  said: 鈥淲e are proud to have played a part in this success, which is a powerful illustration of how The University of 水多多导航 values social responsibility and interdisciplinary collaboration.

鈥淚t also reflects our obligation, as a university, to act ethically, contribute positively to society, and prepare students not only academically but also as responsible global citizens. It is a concept that connects education with real-world impact, so that we do not exist in isolation but actively shape a better future.鈥�

Image from left to right:
Front Row: Becky Hart Solicitor Bhatt Murphy; Isaac Ricca-Richardson KC Garden Court Chambers; Aisha Awan Senior Clinical Lecturer UoM, Director of REACHE 
Back row: REACHE Doctors;  Stephanie Harrison KC  Garden Court Chambers; Maeve Keaney - REACHE Founder; Maria-Ioana Dicu - UoM Yr 2 Computer Science Undergraduate, Faculty of Science and Engineering; Dorothy Anand - UoM Yr 2 Law Undergraduate, Faculty of Arts

The rankings measure the quality and reputation of research and include measures on academic and employer reputation, citations performance and international collaboration.

The University remains in the top 40 globally in the broad subject rankings, with Engineering & Technology, Life Sciences & Medicine, and Social Sciences & Management all improving this year. Natural Sciences remained the same, while Arts & Humanities fell slightly. Life Sciences & Medicine achieved its highest ranking in the past seven years.

In individual subject rankings, the University was ranked in 46 subjects. Twenty subjects moved up in the rankings, 13 maintained their position and 13 declined.

Among the top performers, Geography moved into the global top 10, while Anatomy & Physiology rose into the top 25 worldwide.

Significant increases were also recorded in Medicine (up seven places to 26), Modern Languages (up seven places to 28), Physics (up 15 places to 34), Education (up 10 places to 35) and Dentistry (up to 48), reflecting the University鈥檚 continued strength across a diverse range of fields.

Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor, The University of 水多多导航 said: 鈥淚 am really pleased to see the strong progress across so many of our subjects in this year鈥檚 QS rankings. From Geography breaking into the top 10 to Life Sciences & Medicine achieving its highest rank in seven years, these results show how our colleagues across the University are excelling in teaching, research and innovation across a wide range of disciplines.

鈥淲e will continue to raise our standards, pushing to be at our best across everything we do, providing the best experience for our students and strengthening our position among the best universities in the world.鈥�

Performance at the Detailed Subject Level 

• Four subjects ranked in the top 10 globally (up from three in 2025)
• 34 subjects ranked in the top 50 globally (up from 31 in 2025)
• 19 subjects ranked between 50-100 (up from 11 in 2025)
• A total of 45 subjects ranked in the top 100 worldwide (up from 44 in 2025) 

Top 10 Subjects 

Development Studies 鈥� ranked 5 (up from 11 in 2025)

Architecture 鈥� ranked 5 (same as 2025)

Geography 鈥� ranked 9 (up from 18)

Nursing 鈥� ranked 10 (same as 2025)

Subjects Ranked 11-25 

Petroleum engineering 鈥� ranked 12 (down from 10)

Materials science 鈥� ranked 17 (up from 21)

Engineering 鈥� chemical 鈥� ranked 17 (down from 16)

Pharmacy and pharmacology 鈥� ranked 18 (up from 25)

Sociology 鈥� ranked 20 (same as 2025)

Anthropology - ranked 20 (up from 21)

Accounting and Finance 鈥� ranked 21 (up from 23)

Chemistry 鈥� ranked 23 (down from 22)

English Language at Literature 鈥� ranked 22 (same as 2025)

Library and Information Management 鈥� ranked 23 (down from 20)

Anatomy and physiology 鈥� ranked 24 (up from 29)

Another 19 subjects are ranked between 26 and 50 and 19 between 50 and 100 globally, demonstrating a strong presence and broad academic excellence across subject areas.

The annual QS World University Rankings by Subject evaluate universities across 55 individual subjects and five broad subject areas, using indicators including academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact.

This year, QS analysed the reputation and research output of almost 6,277 institutions and 1,912 were ranked.

The University of 水多多导航 is ranked 35th in the QS World University Rankings, 2025 (6th in the UK) and 46th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2025.  It was also recently recognised with 10 subjects featured in the top 100 in the  for 2026.

鈥淭hank you to the 57,000 young people who shared their views this year, and to the 161 schools who made it possible,鈥� said Councillor Mark Roberts, Greater 水多多导航鈥檚 portfolio lead for children and young people. 鈥淥ver five years #BeeWell has now heard from more than 143,000 young people, making this the biggest exercise of its kind.

鈥淚n Greater 水多多导航, we have committed to improving the wellbeing of young people across the city region, and it is through #BeeWell that we can track our progress. As this year鈥檚 results show, there is a need to continue strengthening relationships in schools to improve attendance, ensuring young people remain involved in the development of our Live Well approach, and working so that every young person has a clear line of sight to good jobs, through programmes like the MBacc and Beeline.

鈥淲e will continue to act on the views of young people across our city region, and be guided by our excellent Youth Steering Group, so that every young person in Greater 水多多导航 can thrive.鈥�

"This is just the start. It's encouraging to see wellbeing improving, but we are at the beginning of a long journey and we鈥檙e excited to see how things continue to improve,鈥� said Daniel & Ayisha from the #BeeWell Youth Steering Group. 鈥淭here are still worrying signs in the data, particularly in the inequalities we see. There are a lot of young people worried about these topics and a lot of work to be done. It's important young people are leading the next steps and actions following the results." 

The agreement to house the memorial at the University follows a commitment by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater 水多多导航, to find a permanent and fitting home for it within the city-region. The memorial will now become part of the University鈥檚 collections, where it will be cared for as a place of remembrance, reflection and learning for generations to come.

Developed in collaboration with Inquiry participants, the memorial contains bottles with a message in each one written by someone affected by the scandal.

On display at the Infected Blood Inquiry until the publication of the Inquiry Report in May 2024, the memorial has been sited  in the . Its presence at the University will support research, teaching and public engagement, particularly in areas relating to patient safety, ethical practice in healthcare, trust, and health inequalities.

As a civic university rooted in 水多多导航, the University is committed to working alongside communities to acknowledge difficult histories and to create spaces where reflection and learning can take place with care and respect. Through exhibitions, teaching programmes and public events including the annual Universally 水多多导航 Festival, the memorial will remain accessible to the public, helping to ensure that the experiences of those affected continue to be heard and understood. 

By providing a permanent home for the Infected Blood Inquiry Memorial, the University hopes to honour those whose lives were changed forever, while supporting ongoing dialogue, understanding and learning that can help shape a more compassionate and responsible future in healthcare and public life.

Christine Burney, the widow of Peter Burney, who died of hepatitis following a blood transfusion said: 鈥淚 lost my husband Peter Burney in 2019 to liver cancer, after being given hepatitis C following a blood transfusion. The inquiry memorial holds deep personal significance. As I live on the outskirts of 水多多导航 I have visited it numerous of times since its arrival on the university grounds, finding solace in its presence.

It serves as a vital, permanent reminder of this tragedy for the medical professionals of tomorrow. My hope is that by including this history in their curriculum we ensure that the lessons of the past directly inform the care and ethics of the future.鈥�

Sir Brian Langstaff, Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry, said: 鈥淲e must never forget the devastating effects of what happened. Foremost among them is the anguish, suffering and profound loss, so eloquently highlighted by the messages carefully placed in this Memorial by people infected and affected.  I wish to thank the University of 水多多导航 for providing a permanent home for the Memorial. It stands now, and for the future, as a testament to all of those who fought so long to be heard.  The infected blood disaster was not an accident and its like must never happen again.鈥� 

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater 水多多导航, said: "This memorial is a powerful way to honour those thousands of people and their family members who suffered so much and those whose lives continue to be blighted by the infected blood scandal.  I hope this memorial provides some closure, and a place for reflection for all people fighting injustice.

鈥淚 pay tribute to the campaigners like Fred and Eleanor Bates from Wythenshawe who never gave in and helped me understand the scale of the injustice. I am proud that the memorial will be based here, in the centre of 水多多导航, and I know they would be too.鈥�

Professor Stephanie Snow, Professor of Health, History and Policy and Academic Lead for Public Engagement who is based at The University鈥檚  Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine said: 鈥淥ur stewardship will honour the Inquiry鈥檚 intention that the Memorial will be a permanent symbol of the human suffering and loss caused by the contaminated blood scandal.

鈥淢any thousands of NHS patients were infected after being given contaminated blood in what has been called the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.

鈥淎ccording to the inquiry, the victims had been failed "not once, but repeatedly", since 1948, the date when the risk of viral infections in blood products originated. This memorial is a fitting tribute and a powerful reminder of their story. We are honoured it is to become part of the University鈥檚 collections.

John McAuliffe, Associate Vice President (Cultural Portfolio) at The University of 水多多导航 and Director of was also part of the team who helped to bring the monument to 水多多导航.

He said: 鈥淥ur collections inspire and nurture world-class research, teaching and learning and this memorial will be of huge interest to writers, historians, social scientists, clinicians and scientists,  and others connected to the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, and to the University鈥檚 research platforms, Creative 水多多导航 and Healthier Futures, which support interdisciplinary research, as well as to colleagues and students attached to the Justice Hub, the Centre for New Writing and the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology.

Professor Nalin Thakkar, Vice-President for Social Responsibility at The University of 水多多导航 said: 鈥淎s a civic university, we believe it is important to remember difficult histories with honesty, compassion and respect. The Memory Bank Memorial gives powerful voice to those affected by the contaminated blood scandal and stands as a reminder of the human impact behind it. 

鈥淚t is a privilege for the University to become its custodian, and we hope it will support reflection, learning and dialogue for generations to come, reflecting our commitment to social responsibility and to serving our communities in 水多多导航 and beyond.鈥�

• Image from left to right: Sir Brian Langstaff, Andy Burnham, Stephanie Snow, Christine Burney, Nalin Thakkar

DOI:  

She added: 鈥淪eparate from the UKCHA, the University of 水多多导航 has research partnerships with Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, Wuhan University and Chinese University of Hong Kong. Becoming the lead UK-based Coordinating Team reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting high quality, impactful research between world-leading Humanities academics.鈥� 

Established in 2016, The UKCHA鈥檚 aim is to intensify international cooperation in Humanities. This includes joint work on research and publication, staff and research exchanges, and connections with specialist arts and cultural institutions.   

The announcement has been made as part of a high-level delegation from The University of 水多多导航 to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Led by Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor and including a delegation of academic and university staff, the visit is connecting with alumni, donors, partners and universities. 

The visits are in conjunction with the University of 水多多导航 China Centre and the East Asia Centre, based in Hong Kong and will also include a graduation ceremony in Shanghai and launch events for the University鈥檚 fundraising and volunteering campaign, Challenge Accepted. 

This pioneering study, led by scientists at the University of 水多多导航 and involving teams in Denmark, has been published in

In what is considered a major breakthrough in the battle against brain cancer, scientists have found early evidence that a pair of proteins in the blood may help identify glioblastoma with high accuracy and provide insights into how the disease responds to treatment.

Glioblastoma is notorious for late diagnosis, rapid progression, resistance to treatment and extreme biological complexity. At present, diagnosis and follow-up rely largely on MRI scans and invasive surgical biopsies, which can miss early changes and cannot be repeated frequently. As a result, clinicians often struggle to determine in real time whether a treatment is working or whether the tumour is beginning to return.

The new research shows that two blood-borne proteins 鈥� coagulation factor IX (F9) and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) 鈥� form a powerful 鈥渄ual-marker鈥� signature that distinguishes patients with glioblastoma from healthy individuals with high accuracy (more than 90%). In samples taken from patients during surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the markers showed dynamic changes, reflecting treatment response and disease progression.

Professor, The Brain Tumour Charity chair of Translational Neuro-Oncology at The University of 水多多导航, who led the study, said: 鈥淕lioblastoma is one of the most devastating cancers we face. Late detection is among the contributing factors to poor outcomes and a source of anxiety our patients face leading up to their diagnosis. The lack of reliable tests has been a major barrier to earlier diagnosis and treatment response monitoring. What is remarkable about our findings is that, despite these tumours being very different in genetic make-up, and constantly evolving, the signal in the blood is stable, robust and highly informative. We hope that once validated, this simple blood test may pave the way for earlier diagnosis and more precise monitoring of patients during and after therapy.

 鈥淥ur dual-marker blood test achieved diagnostic accuracy greater than 90 percent and continued to perform just as well when the disease returned. This opens the door to a future where we can follow the tumour鈥檚 behaviour through a simple blood sample, complement brain scans, and potentially recognise when the treatment isn鈥檛 working and the cancer returns much earlier than is currently possible. We still have a long way to go before we would see this used in clinic, but it鈥檚 a very promising and exciting development in neuro-oncology research.鈥�

Dr Simon Newman, Chief Scientific Officer at The Brain Tumour Charity, said: 鈥淲e are immensely proud to support Petra鈥檚 role as The Brain Tumour Charity鈥檚 Chair of Translational Neuro-Oncology through a grant worth 拢1.35 million. Early and accurate diagnosis is absolutely critical for people with brain tumours, yet current tools are limited and often invasive. This research therefore marks a significant step towards a simple blood test that could help clinicians detect glioblastoma and monitor how patients are responding to treatment in real time.鈥�

Professor Hamerlik, who is also the brain tumour lead for concluded: 鈥淲hile validation of this finding is ongoing with the generous contribution of UK patients who kindly donated their blood for this research, our results strongly support the development of a clinically accessible blood test for glioblastoma. Ultimately, this could help doctors make more informed treatment decisions, reduce the need for repeated invasive procedures, and, most importantly, give patients and families clearer, earlier answers.鈥�

The study was co-funded by The Brain Tumour Charity and conducted at The University of 水多多导航 and the 水多多导航 Cancer Research Centre (MCRC), reinforcing 水多多导航鈥檚 leading role in translational neuro-oncology research. The Danish Cancer Society and NovoNordisk Foundation in Denmark also part-funded this study.

• The paper Non-Invasive Detection and Monitoring of Glioblastoma Subtypes via Dual-Marker Plasma Proteomics DOI
• Philanthropic support has been central to enabling this research. The University is proud to partner with the Brain Tumour Charity and a number of individual donors who support Petra and her team's work. Find out more about how supporting 水多多导航 drives impact across our research here: Challenge Accepted

Faye brings extensive experience in the Cambridge innovation cluster to the role, having worked across communications consultancy, innovation and economic development over the course of her career.

She founded and directed cofinitive 鈥� a communication consultancy at the forefront of innovation 鈥� for a decade before selling and exiting the business at the end of 2025.

Faye is currently Chair of the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce and has previously served as Business Board Member for the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority and as a Board Member and key contributor in other organisations involved in technology innovation and good growth.

Faye said of her appointment: 鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to be leading this partnership at a time when collaboration across the UK鈥檚 innovation ecosystems has never been more important.

鈥淐ambridge and Greater 水多多导航 are two of the UK鈥檚 most dynamic innovation ecosystems and by working together we can deliver far greater impact than either could alone. I鈥檓 excited to work with partners across both cities to move quickly and define a model for collaboration that could be replicated across the UK.鈥�

Faye鈥檚 appointment follows on from the launch of the partnership last year and the inaugural board meetings held in 水多多导航 in February 2026.

Driven by the cities鈥� respective universities and their innovation ecosystem organisations  and , the partnership aims to boost UK economic growth and advance inclusive innovation, while supporting the delivery of industrial strategy and local growth plans. 

Professor Duncan Ivison, President & Vice-Chancellor of The University of 水多多导航, said: 鈥淚nnovation is at the heart of our 水多多导航 2035 strategy and our sector-first collaboration with Cambridge plays a key role in this. We are working together and using our respective strengths to create a thriving cross-city innovation network, helping to grow investment and deliver inclusive growth. 

鈥淚 am so pleased to welcome Faye at such an exciting time for the partnership, and she joins us following an extensive career within the Cambridge innovation cluster. The partnership is a fantastic example of how universities can use their resources to contribute significantly to the economy, and we are all ready to work with Faye to drive it forward.鈥� 

Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge commented: 鈥淚 am delighted to welcome Faye Holland as the new Director of the Cambridge x 水多多导航 Partnership. Faye brings an exceptional understanding of the Cambridge innovation ecosystem, alongside a proven experience of convening organisations, championing talent, and strengthening regional collaboration. Her appointment marks an exciting next chapter for this strategic partnership between two great cities and universities.鈥�

As Director, Faye will spend time in Cambridge and 水多多导航 and will be integral to both the Unit M and Innovate Cambridge leadership teams, and she will drive the partnership forward as it strives to pioneer a new model of place-to-place collaboration.

Professor John Holden, Vice-President for Civic Engagement and Innovation at The University of 水多多导航, said: 鈥淭he Cambridge x 水多多导航 Partnership shows how universities can exchange knowledge, talent and assets and bring together their wider ecosystems to supercharge innovation and growth. Under Faye鈥檚 expert direction, this partnership will produce real-world impact and provide an example for other cities to follow.鈥�

Dr Kathryn Chapman, Executive Director, Innovate Cambridge commented: 鈥淔aye has an outstanding track record of working with innovators and turning ambition into impact. As we move into the next phase of delivery, with strong backing from government, academia and business, her leadership will play a key role in strengthening research networks, supporting the growth of scale-ups and attracting further private investment.鈥�

The partnership is a major focus for both cities, backed by each鈥檚 respective combined authorities, and has secured 拢4.8 million from UKRI Research England over the next three years and is bolstered by further investment from both universities.

Dr Simon Hepworth, Director of Knowledge Exchange at Research England, said: 鈥淯niversities are driving the evolution of innovation ecosystems through bold new models of collaboration. The appointment of Faye Holland will help drive the Cambridge x 水多多导航 innovation partnership forward and deliver successful outcomes for the country 鈥� to maximise opportunities for place-based innovation, economic growth, and as an exemplar for the wider HE system."

The partnership is connected at every level: University to University, innovation ecosystem to ecosystem, council to council, Combined Authority to Combined Authority and business to business. This multi-layered connectivity allows ideas, talent, investment and opportunity to flow between places and organisations.   

To find out more about the partnership, visit:   

DOI:  

The full conference programme and ticket information can be found at , or you can follow @fm44conference on X (Twitter) and @fm44conference.bsky.social on Bluesky. 

Conference sponsors: British Commission for Military History (BCMH), Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS) and The University of 水多多导航鈥檚 Student Enhancement Fund.

Published in , the study was mainly funded by the Medical Research Council. Respondents were members of a long-term project on police health at Imperial College London, which also provided infrastructure support for the survey. 

Most UK police officers wear an ear-piece in one ear. The devices are capable of high sound levels so that they can be heard over background noise. Past reports have emphasised that officers must choose low volume-control settings to protect their hearing. 

Until now, there has been no research into the volume settings actually used, or their effects on hearing health. 

The University of 水多多导航 researchers asked 4,498 UK police personnel about their volume-control settings, patterns of ear-piece use, immediate after-effects, and long-term hearing symptoms. 

Over 45% of ear-piece users reported experiencing signs of temporary hearing loss (muffled hearing or ringing in their ear) immediately after using an ear-piece. These after-effects were more common in police who used higher volume-control settings. 

Even more important were links to long-term hearing problems. Ear-piece use accompanied by immediate after-effects more than doubled an officer鈥檚 risk of having tinnitus (spontaneously ringing ears, which can indicate permanent hearing damage). It also raised the risk of having diagnosed hearing loss by 93%. 

Crucially, symptoms were much more common in the ear with the ear-piece than the opposite ear, increasing the likelihood that hearing problems were directly linked to ear-piece use. 

The project鈥檚 senior advisor, Professor Chris Plack of The University of 水多多导航, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not unusual to experience signs of temporary hearing loss after being in extremely noisy environments, such as nightclubs or concerts. For police to experience these after-effects in the workplace is concerning.鈥� 

The lead researcher, of The University of 水多多导航, said: 鈥淲e were surprised that ear-piece use with after-effects was so strongly linked to long-term hearing symptoms. And the fact that symptoms tended to appear in the exposed ear, rather than the opposite ear, is a particularly telling finding.鈥�

But Dr Guest cautioned: 鈥淚t鈥檚 important not to over-interpret our results, since they are based on survey responses. Going forward, laboratory hearing tests are needed to confirm whether ear-piece users have measurable differences between their ears.

鈥淭hese should include standard clinical hearing tests, like those used by NHS audiologists, but also tests that are sensitive to the early warning signs of hearing damage.鈥�

Professor Plack said: 鈥淲e also need to understand why officers choose such high volume-control settings. This knowledge could help us find ways to reduce risks to police hearing, such as improved ear-piece technology, training for officers on safe use, and increased monitoring of hearing health.

鈥淥ur data aren鈥檛 the final word, but they are a notable discovery that warrants further investigation. They point to the need not only for follow-up laboratory testing but also for practical steps to reduce long-term risk.鈥�

Dr Guest added: 鈥淲e are pleased that key groups within UK policing - including the Disabled Police Association and the Police Chief Medical Officer - have been open to discussing our findings and are keen to explore measures to protect police hearing.鈥�

• The paper, Leveraging monaural exposures to reveal early effects of noise: Evidence from police radio ear-piece use, is published at
• Simple visualisations of the key study findings are available for media professionals and the public at

The researchers found the same pattern of seasonal variation in the highest quality sperm in two very different climates鈥� Denmark and Florida鈥� suggesting that seasonality affects male fertility more than temperature alone.

The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal and has practical implications for male fertility care.

Understanding seasonal patterns, for example, could help clinics optimise the timing of treatment and fertility testing to provide better guidance to couples trying to conceive.

Though scientists have long known that many human biological processes change with the seasons, previous studies on the quality of semen at different times of the year have provided conflicting results due to small sample sizes or differences in climate and laboratory methods from study to study.

To address that, this new study analysed semen samples from 15,581 men applying to be sperm donors between 2018 and 2024.

The men were aged 18 to 45 and lived near Cryos International clinics in Denmark and Florida.

All samples were analysed within an hour using the same computer assisted system to ensure consistent measurement.

The team examined sperm concentration, sperm motility (how well sperm can swim and move forward), and ejaculate volume across all months of the year.

They also looked at outdoor temperatures during the month the sperm was collected and two months earlier, when early sperm development begins.

Advanced statistical models were used to identify seasonal trends while accounting for the man鈥檚 age, outdoor temperatures, and long-term changes across the study period.

The results revealed strong and consistent seasonal variation in the concentration of progressively motile sperm.

Fast鈥憁oving sperm were most abundant in June and July in both Denmark and Florida.

Levels were lowest in December and January, even though Florida remains warm year round.

The study found no seasonal changes in total sperm concentration or ejaculate volume, suggesting the number of sperm produced does not vary by season, though their ability to move effectively does.

The number of motile sperm per ejaculate also followed a seasonal pattern, even after accounting for temperature, indicating that factors other than heat鈥攕uch as variation in lifestyle, daylight, or environmental exposures鈥攎ay influence sperm motility.

Co-author P from The University of 水多多导航 said: 鈥淲e were struck by how similar the seasonal pattern was in two completely different climates.

鈥淓ven in Florida, where temperatures stay warm, sperm motility still peaked in summer and dipped in winter, which tells us that ambient temperature alone is unlikely to explain these changes.鈥�

He added: 鈥淥ur study highlights the importance of considering seasonality when evaluating semen quality. It also shows that seasonal variation in sperm motility occurs even in warm climates. These findings deepen our understanding of male reproductive health and may help improve fertility outcomes.鈥�

Medical director at Cryos international, Anne-Bine Skytte said: 鈥淭hese data suggest that the month of the year when a man first attends a clinic to be evaluated as a sperm donor, will impact on the quality of the sample he produces and therefore may influence the chances of him being accepted as a donor.

鈥淗aving an ejaculate that contains a high number of swimming sperm is one of the main characteristics we look for when deciding whether he is suitable or not.

• The paper Seasonal trends in sperm quality in Denmark and Florida is available https://doi.org/10.1186/s12958-026-01537-w

The University of 水多多导航 and Calgary researchers publish their study today in the Journal of Health Economics amid a backdrop of dwindling numbers of GPs practice owners-known as partners.

That, say the researchers, puts the managerial and financial burden of operating a practice on increasingly smaller numbers of GPs, with a heightened consequential risk of burnout and stress.

It is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Unit (PRU) in Health and Social Care Systems and Commissioning.

Practices in the UK are generally owned and operated by one or more self-employed independent contractors referred to as partners.

Under most general practice contracts with the NHS, there must be at least one General Practitioner (GP) partner at a practice; however, not all partners need to be GPs.

One potential way to provide a sustainable alternative structure for general practice they say, could be non-clinical ownership with practice managers as partners.

The managers, responsible for administration, HR, and financial management, typically handle the business and operational aspects of the practice and do not usually have medical training.

By 2022, the number of practices reporting they had a manager partner had grown to 335, from 0 in 2015, serving 7% of patients registered at general practices in England.

Based on analysis of data from England鈥檚 37,660 practice-years from 5,026 general practices between 2015 and 2023, the researchers use a range of sources to investigate the impact of non-clinical ownership stakes on key primary care outcomes.

They found that appointing a manager partner leads to significant increases in full-time equivalent (FTE) direct patient care staff, excluding GPs and nurses, as well as administrative staff numbers and total patient list size.

Practices that appoint a manager partner were found to be more sustainable because they were less likely to subsequently merge or close.

There were no significant impacts on numbers of GP or nurse staff, GP turnover, quality of care, patients鈥� satisfaction and access. And income from reimbursement for non-core services, such as local or direct enhanced service, quality outcome framework payments, and medication administration payments,  were higher following appointment of a practice manager as a partner.

Co -author from The University of 水多多导航 said: 鈥淥ur study shows shared GP and manager partnership has the potential to reduce risk of closure of practices while easing GP partners financial and administrative burden.鈥�

鈥淭his ownership model is feasible within many other healthcare systems, where physicians may seek to share with non-clinical colleagues the financial and administrative burden associated with operating practices.鈥�

Co-author Dr Sean Urwin from The University of 水多多导航, said: 鈥淎s the number of GP partners continues to decrease, the managerial and financial burden of operating a practice is placed upon an increasingly smaller number of GPs.

鈥淲hile not a like-for-like substitute for GPs, we argue that non-GP partners can alleviate some partnership burdens and offer additional managerial skills.

鈥淥ur analysis also indicates that manager partners offer a potential route for smaller practices to retain their independence rather than being integrated into larger organizations.鈥�

Co-author Dr Ben walker from the University of Calgary, Canada, said: 鈥淭he appointment as of practice managers as partners may offer a number of benefits.

鈥淭he increase in direct patient care staff in practices that appoint manager partners could be indicative of the manager鈥檚 efforts to improve the organisational efficiency and performance of the practice.

鈥淲ith expertise in business planning, they may be better placed and more incentivised to maximise income, leaving more time for GPs to concentrate ion patient care and even potentially slowing the decline in GP partner retention.

鈥淏ut also, manager partners鈥� skills in HR and financial planning may improve staff organisation and recruitment.鈥�

• The paper Shared Stakes in English General Practice: The Impact of Practice Managers as Partners on Outcomes is available  

Although focused on Mexico, the findings have global relevance as countries accelerate restoration pledges and international initiatives led by organisations such as the United Nations. The researchers hope their work will help policymakers to design fairer, more effective restoration strategies, ensuring that efforts to restore nature also strengthen communities and deliver lasting benefits for people and the planet.

DOI:

DOI:  

The landmark licensing agreement was announced at a celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Cypriot university this week (18 Feb) in Limassol.

The University of 水多多导航鈥檚 School of Medical Sciences programme will be used as a model to develop a new offering to teach undergraduate medical students at a new medical school in 2028, with a new building planned at the Limassol campus.

The agreement is testament to the quality of medical education at 水多多导航 which can trace its roots way back over 250 years.

It is also reflects the university鈥檚 commitment to  social responsibility by helping to reduce the global deficit of health professionals.

The University of 水多多导航 will provide training to support staff at Frederick University working with two private hospitals in Limassol: Ygia hospital and the Mediterranean Hospital of Cyprus to deliver clinical placements for the Frederick University medical students.

The programme is being thoughtfully adapted to reflect the healthcare priorities, regulatory framework, and cultural context of Cyprus, ensuring that graduates are prepared to meet local and regional medical needs while benefiting from an internationally respected academic framework.

The programme, which is still being finalised, will be submitted to the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education.

水多多导航, one of the UK鈥檚 leading centres for medical education, research, and clinical excellence, will provide ongoing support and training for each academic year.

Deputy Dean and Deputy Vice President of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health at The University of 水多多导航, Professor Allan Pacey and Professor Margaret Kingston,  Director of Undergraduate Medical and Dental Studies, were at the celebration.

Professor Pacey said: 鈥淎s one of the United Kingdom鈥檚 largest and most innovative medical schools, we are delighted to announce this partnership.

鈥淏ased in one of Europe鈥檚 largest healthcare hubs in 水多多导航, our medical students benefit from early patient contact, world-class teaching hospitals, and a curriculum grounded in innovation, compassion, and evidence-based practice.

鈥淕raduates leave not only as highly skilled clinicians, but as leaders ready to shape the future of global healthcare.

鈥淲e are delighted to be able to share our experience with Frederick University so they will be able to nurture their own world class medics in Cyprus.鈥�

Professor Tony Heagerty, Head of the School of Medical Sciences said: 鈥淭he University of 水多多导航,  founded as a civic university, has had a historic focus on social responsibility and this partnership has been built on a foundation of those shared values.  

鈥淥ur agreement between School of Medical Sciences and Frederick University  reflects our part in helping to reduce the global deficit of health professionals.

鈥淎nd It aligns with the university's commitment to ensuring teaching can make a positive, ethical, and lasting impact on society.

鈥淚n Frederick, we recognise a partner which is also focused on making a difference in Cyprus and the rest of the world.鈥�

President of the Council of Frederick University, Natassa Frederickou said: 鈥淲e are honoured to partner with The University of 水多多导航 in this landmark collaboration, which marks an important milestone for Frederick University and for the development of medical education in Cyprus.

鈥淭he establishment of the first Medical School in Limassol reflects the shared long-term vision of Frederick University and The University of 水多多导航 to advance medical education and research in the region. This partnership is grounded in a common commitment to academic excellence, social responsibility, and global impact.

鈥淏y sharing the curriculum approach, academic philosophy, and rigorous standards associated with one of the world鈥檚 leading medical schools, we will offer education of international calibre. Together, we aim to educate future doctors who combine scientific expertise with compassion, while strengthening healthcare systems and advancing medical research for the benefit of society. This partnership is built on shared values, and we are proud to take this significant step forward together.鈥�

Earth-observation satellites are increasingly relied upon to support efforts to meet the United Nations鈥� 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), providing critical data on issues like land use, urban development, ecosystems and disaster response. However, the rapid growth of satellite missions is also making Earth鈥檚 orbits more crowded and hazardous, increasing the risk of collisions and the creation of long-lasting space debris.

There are currently around 11,800 active satellites in orbit, but some predictions suggest that number could rise to more than 100,000 by the end of the decade. Collisions in space can generate large amounts of debris, threatening satellites, astronauts and the long-term usability of key orbital regions.

The new model, which links satellite mission objectives with collision risk as a key first step in mission design, is presented in the journal .

Lead author , PhD researcher at The University of 水多多导航, said: 鈥淥ur research addresses what is described as a 鈥渟pace sustainability paradox鈥�, the risk that using satellites to solve environmental and social challenges on Earth could ultimately undermine the long-term sustainability of space itself.

鈥淏y integrating collision risk into early mission design, we ensure Earth-observation missions can be planned more responsibly, balancing data quality with the need to protect the orbital environment.鈥�

Many applications that support the SDGs rely on very high-resolution satellite imagery. To achieve this level of detail, satellites often operate at lower altitudes, which reduces their field of view. Alternatively, they can operate at higher altitudes but must be larger and heavier to carry bigger optical systems. This increases their exposure to space debris and makes collisions more likely and potentially more damaging.

The new modelling framework allows satellite performance requirements and collision risk to be considered together during mission design, rather than being assessed separately or late in development.

The approach links mission requirements, such as image resolution and coverage, with estimates of satellite size, mass, the numbers of satellites in a constellation, and the level of debris present in different regions of low Earth orbit. This allows designers to explore how different mission choices affect both data quality and collision risk.

Using the model, the researchers found that collision risk does not simply peak where debris is most concentrated - satellite size also plays a major role. For example, for a satellite designed to deliver 0.5 metre resolution imagery, collision probability was highest between 850 and 950 kilometres above Earth - about 50 kilometres higher than the peak in debris density.

The study also found that although higher orbits require fewer satellites to achieve coverage, those satellites carry a greater individual collision risk because they are much larger. Lower orbits need more satellites, but each one can be smaller and therefore less hazardous.

Dr , Lecturer in Aerospace Systems at The University of 水多多导航, said: 鈥淎s satellite use continues to grow, our method offers a practical way to ensure that space remains safe, sustainable and usable for generations to come, while still delivering the data needed to address the world鈥檚 most pressing challenges.鈥�

, Professor of Space Technology at The University of 水多多导航, added: 鈥淭he method could also be adapted for different Earth-observation systems and expanded to include more detailed space-environment impacts. In future work, we could account for how long debris fragments stay in orbit, how likely they are to hit other satellites, and the wider environmental effects of satellite re-entry. This would allow mission designers to evaluate trade-offs across the full sustainability picture.鈥�

This research was published in the journal Advances in Space Research

Full title: Collision risk from performance requirements in Earth observation mission design

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