Cure, the premier healthcare innovation ecosystem, is launching the Cure Innovation Index, the first data-driven framework to measure how effectively U.S. biomedical institutions translate scientific discovery into real-world healthcare solutions and treatments. The Index sets a new standard for measuring translational performance based on the full set of factors required to move innovation from discovery to early research to clinical and commercial impact. The Index ranks the top 303 U.S. academic institutions, selected from more than 6,000 nationwide, and provides benchmarked comparisons and customized improvement recommendations, making translational performance visible, comparable, and actionable. 

It is the first known protein kinase with the ability to activate using both the usual cellular fuel, ATP, and its waste product, ADP.

The research is published in ‘Nature Communications’.

This study reveals a novel multimodal mechanism for anti-photoaging by a topical lotion (JDY). Integrating transcriptomics, cellular assays, and clinical imaging, the authors demonstrate that JDY coordinates three key pathways: upregulating glutathione metabolism (GSTA4, GSTM2) to alleviate oxidative stress, activating TGF-β/Smad signaling (TGFBR1, SMAD3) to boost collagen/elastin synthesis, and suppressing MAPK/AP-1 (FOSL1, MMP1) to reduce matrix degradation. In UVA-irradiated fibroblasts, JDY enhances COL1 and ELN by ~14% and inhibits MMP-1. Clinical data show improved elasticity, hydration (+31.7%), and reduced wrinkles, providing a mechanism-based paradigm for anti-aging formulation development.

In sub-Saharan Africa, many people are undernourished or malnourished. A new study by the Universities of Bonn and Ghana shows how rising incomes and urbanization are influencing dietary patterns of local populations. According to this, the wealthier segments in African countries are increasingly eating like people in Western industrialized countries. Although this improves their supply of important nutrients, it also has a greater negative impact on the environment. The study also looks at how this environmental damage can be minimized. It has been published in the journal ‘Sustainable Production and Consumption.’ 

A new study led by University of British Columbia researchers has found that pet cats allowed to roam outside unsupervised carry infectious diseases at rates comparable to feral cats, even when they receive veterinary care, regular meals and shelter.

A new study by researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso has identified a significant rise in Valley fever cases in El Paso over the past decade and found strong connections between the disease and extreme weather, wind and airborne dust.

An international team led by Dr. Adolfo Poma (IPPT PAN, Poland) shows that antibody effectiveness depends not only on binding strength but also on their stability under mechanical forces. The findings provide a new framework for designing more robust antiviral therapeutics.