HER2-positive breast cancer accounts for about 15% of all breast cancers, and although anti-HER2 targeted therapies have dramatically improved patient survival, primary and acquired drug resistance remain major clinical challenges. In a comprehensive review, researchers from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Kunming Medical University, and collaborating institutions map ten major categories of resistance mechanisms, evaluate strategies to overcome them—including next-generation antibody-drug conjugates—and highlight predictive tools that are paving the way toward precision treatment.

The rise of “smart” vaping devices that combine nicotine or cannabis with cryptocurrency rewards, gamification and artificial intelligence is raising new public health concerns. In a New England Journal of Medicine perspective, MUSC Hollings Cancer Center researchers Amanda Palmer, Ph.D., Tracy Smith, Ph.D., and Benjamin Toll, Ph.D., warn that these products may reinforce addictive behaviors by rewarding users for vaping rather than quitting. The researchers are particularly concerned about their potential appeal to adolescents, young adults and people experiencing financial hardship, as well as regulatory gaps that have struggled to keep pace with rapidly evolving vaping technology. They are calling for greater scrutiny of these products before they become more widespread.

Los Angeles, CA, September 28, 2026 - The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation has been awarded an NIH U01 research grant of approximately $6.9 million to develop a first-of-its-kind multimodal smart contact lens platform for monitoring post-traumatic stress disorder in real-world settings. The multi-institutional project brings together Principal Investigators Dr. Yangzhi Zhu of the Terasaki Institute, Dr. Nanthia Suthana of Duke University, and Dr. Ximin He of UCLA, combining complementary expertise in bioengineering, neuroscience, wearable biosensing, ocular bioelectronics, and clinical translational research. 

Waterborne pathogens remain a major threat to public health, but many current monitoring methods are too slow or too narrowly focused to provide rapid warning of emerging biological risks. A new perspective published in Biocontaminant outlines how integrated biosensing systems could move aquatic pathogen surveillance from periodic single-target testing toward rapid, online monitoring of multiple pathogens at once.

Researchers identified the first known function of a little-studied brain region that helps coordinate the body’s response to cold. The newly identified brain pathway increases both food intake and energy expenditure, while also boosting heat production and improving glucose regulation. The findings identify a potential new drug target that could one day mimic some metabolic benefits of cold exposure without requiring people to actually get cold.