Stefan Isaac, PhD, assistant professor of biochemistry and cell biology at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has received a $2.1M Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) (R35) from the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to fund his five-year project “Regulation of mitochondrial DNA packaging and gene expression.”

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Bristol Myers Squibb, and the University of Oxford have discovered a way to give worn-out immune cells a second wind in the fight against multiple myeloma. In two studies published this month in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology, (doi.org/10.1182/blood.2025030891 and 10.1182/blood.2025030873) they found that using the drug mezigdomide (a cereblon E3 ligase modulator developed by Bristol Myers Squibb) can help these cells regain their strength and better destroy cancer by restoring the immune system’s ability to attack cancer and significantly improving the effectiveness of next-generation immunotherapies. 

Peking University, May 18, 2026: In a recent study from Peking University Health Science Center, doctoral student Kang Ning and colleagues found that air pollution reductions alone cannot offset the impact of rapid population ageing on dementia deaths in China. The study has been published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

Peking University, May 18, 2026: Chronic itch is often described as an "invisible torment." It can persist for weeks or months, severely affecting sleep, mental health, and quality of life. In patients with cholestatic liver disease, chronic itch remains a major clinical challenge, and current treatments often provide limited relief. A team led by PKU's Professor Lei Xiaoguang, together with Hepai-Tech Biopharma Technology and collaborators from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and the Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, has developed HEP-50768, a potent and selective small-molecule inverse agonist targeting the itch receptor MRGPRX4. The study was published in Nature Chemical Biology.