Topic: health

Natural proteins solve problems shaped by evolution. David Baker describes a different approach: designing proteins from scratch to meet current challenges in health, technology and sustainability. His laboratory develops deep-learning methods that generate proteins with new functions, synthesizes genes encoding the designs, and experimentally characterizes the resulting molecules. The lecture explains how this design-build-test approach extends beyond modifying existing natural proteins and presents applications of computational protein design to contemporary problems. Online via the Royal S

Research scholarship across disciplines, including health and natural sciences. Submit to up to three Canadian institutions through the Research Portal by December 1, 2026 before 8 p.m. Eastern Time; meet separate programme admission deadlines. Research-based master’s programmes and specified direct-entry or transitional doctoral pathways qualify; coursework-only degrees generally do not. Institutions select recipients and administer awards. Review the detailed study-duration and prior-award conditions before applying.

Applied mathematicians, statisticians, physical scientists and engineers collaborate with industry on practical technical problems during this week-long workshop. Typically four to six projects are selected, with topics spanning sectors such as mining, agriculture, health, environmental management and artificial intelligence. Participants work in moderated groups, present full or partial solutions on the final day and contribute technical reports, with potential follow-on research and publications. The workshop welcomes academic researchers from PhD level onward and participants from industry.

EuroCIM brings together researchers developing causal inference methods and applying them in health, economics and the social sciences. The meeting emphasizes statistical methodology and difficult applications that reveal the need for new methods. Early-career and established researchers can present developments, discuss ideas and form collaborations. The 2027 meeting takes place at Université Paris Cité’s Campus Saint-Germain on 14–16 April, preceded by courses on 13 April. Announced keynote speakers are Alex Luedtke, Émilie Kaufmann and Sara Magliacane. Participation is not restricted to Eur

Support for mid-career researchers developing ambitious independent programmes related to human life, health and wellbeing. The award develops research leadership and capabilities while supporting creative work intended to produce substantial advances in understanding.

Neighborhood conditions influence health and aging, but researchers can face difficulties finding contextual measures and combining them with their own studies. This practical workshop introduces NaNDA, a free archive of neighborhood measures covering the United States over several decades. Participants will work through dataset selection, geographic identifiers, matching time periods, and linkage to survey or administrative data. The programme includes a repository tour, aging-research examples, beginner and intermediate breakout groups, and discussion of participants’ data-linkage questions.

Chris Smith and Rachael Ralph explore the mechanisms and forecasting of El Niño and its consequences for weather, livelihoods and health. Contributions from Aidan McGivern and Peter Gibbs explain the climate dynamics; Vicky Pryce discusses economic disruption; Rachel Tolhurst and Teresa Zakaria examine health vulnerabilities and preparedness. The episode connects climate science with the decisions facing public-health services and communities.

Funding for established researchers and teams from any discipline to pursue bold, creative research that can deliver significant shifts in understanding related to human life, health and wellbeing.

There is no consensus on if sleep is for the brain, body or both. But the difference in how we feel following disrupted sleep or having a good night of continuous sleep is striking. Understanding how and why we sleep will likely give insights into many aspects of health. In this talk I will outline our recent work on how the prefrontal cortex can signal to the hypothalamus to regulate sleep preparatory behaviours and sleep itself, and how other brain regions, including the ventral tegmental area, respond to psychosocial stress to induce beneficial sleep. I will also outline our work on examin

In the last of this year’s Brain Prize webinars, Elizabeth Pollina (Washington University, USA), Eric Nestler (Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai, USA) and Michelle Monje (Stanford University, USA) will present their work on activity-dependent gene regulation in health and disease. Each speaker will present for 25 minutes, and the webinar will conclude with an open discussion. The webinar will be moderated by the winners of the 2023 Brain Prize, Michael Greenberg, Erin Schuman and Christine Holt.

The adult intestine is a major barrier epithelium and coordinator of multi-organ functions. Stem cells constantly repair the intestinal epithelium by adjusting their proliferation and differentiation to tissue intrinsic as well as micro- and macro-environmental signals. How these signals integrate to control intestinal and whole-body homeostasis is largely unknown. Addressing this gap in knowledge is central to an improved understanding of intestinal pathophysiology and its systemic consequences. Combining Drosophila and mammalian model systems my laboratory has discovered fundamental mechanis

Waiting is one of healthcare’s core experiences. It is there in the time it takes to access services; through the days, weeks, months or years needed for diagnoses; in the time that treatment takes; and in the elongated time-frames of recovery, relapse, remission and dying.Funded by the Wellcome Trust, our project opens up what it means to wait in and for healthcare by examining lived experiences, representations and histories of delayed and impeded time.In an era in which time is lived at increasingly different and complex tempos, Waiting Times looks to understand both the difficulties and v

The Aging Brain Initiative (ABI) is an interdisciplinary effort by MIT focusing on understanding neurodegeneration and discovery efforts to find hallmarks of aging, both in health and disease." "The Alana Down Syndrome Center (ADSC) aims to deepen knowledge about Down syndrome and to improve health, autonomy and inclusion of people with this genetic condition." "The ABI and the ADSC have joined forces for this year's symposium to highlight how aging-related changes to the brain overlap with neurological aspects of Down syndrome. Our hope is to encourage greater collaboration between the brai

We seek to determine how circadian rhythms and sleep are integrated with physiological processes to provide optimal fitness and health. Using initially a Drosophila model, and more recently also mammalian models, we have found that aspects of the blood brain barrier (BBB) are controlled by the circadian clock. BBB properties are also influenced by sleep:wake state in Drosophila, and, in fact, appear to be contribute to functions of sleep. This and other work, which implicates sleep in the regulation of metabolic processes, is providing insights into sleep function