Advances in medical technology have improved our health in part by bringing key aspects of care, once difficult to access, into the home. Tracking symptoms and even screening for certain types of illness outside of a laboratory or clinical setting puts more control into the hands of patients. New research from the University of Illinois is helping to provide a practical answer to the question, what does a holistic system need to look like in order to work outside the laboratory?

Research led by Han Keun Lee in the laboratory of electrical and computer engineering professor Brian Cunningham, in collaboration with bioengineering professor Xing Wang, was published in the IEEE Sensors Journal. Lee, Cunningham, Wang, and their coauthors shared the design and validation of a device that offers the capability to read and compare results from a variety of sensitive tests for pathogens or cancer-associated biomarkers, all within a housing similar in size and shape to an AirPods case.

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified the immune cell that acts as the architect and coordinator of powerful immune hubs that form inside tumors and plays a key role in antitumor immunity.  This discovery could lead to new strategies for making cancer immunotherapies more effective. The findings, published in the July 16 online issue of Science [DOI:10.1126/science.ady1678], reveal that a specialized immune cell called dendritic cell type 1 is essential for building and maintaining structures known as tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs). These organized clusters of immune cells serve as local command centers, or immune "outposts," where the body coordinates attacks against cancer directly within tumors.

Cancer develops when the body’s systems for controlling cell growth break down, allowing cells to multiply unchecked. Texas A&M researchers have identified two naturally occurring molecules that appear to help restore those controls, offering a potential new strategy for slowing the progression of lung cancer.

In a recent study, researchers from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS)  and the College of Education and Human Development found that microRNA-15a and microRNA-16 — small molecules that help regulate protein production within cells — can significantly reduce the growth and protein synthesis of non-small cell lung cancer cells.

The findings add to a growing body of research suggesting that these microRNAs play an important role in maintaining cellular balance and could someday serve as targets for therapies designed to slow cancer progression.

Laura J. Tafe will receive the Kant leadership award at the organization’s annual meeting in November in Seattle