A team of researchers, through a collaborative study, now points to functional connectome uniqueness (an individual-level measure from brain fingerprinting that captures how distinctive a person’s intrinsic connectivity patterns are) as a reliable framework for discovering neurobiological biomarkers of major depressive disorder (MDD). This approach of individual connectivity profiles may cut through study heterogeneity and enhance reproducibility in biomarker research for MDD.

Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation play a key role in regulating gene expression. Emerging evidence suggests that intermediates generated during DNA demethylation may have distinct biological roles. However, their detection remains challenging due to their low abundance. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a novel light-sensitive oligonucleotide probe that selectively crosslinks with 5-formylcytosine, an epigenetically important intermediate, enabling its detection in target DNA and complex biological samples.

Next-generation vascular stents can make cardiovascular therapies minimally invasive and vascular treatments safe and less burdensome. In a new advancement, researchers from Japan and China have successfully proposed a novel adaptive 4D-printed vascular stent based on shape-memory polymer composite. The stent exhibits mechanical flexibility, radial strength, biomechanical compliance, and cytocompatibility in in vitro and in vivo experiments, making them promising for future clinical applications.

BrainIAC is an innovative AI foundation model developed by Mass General Brigham that was trained on nearly 49,000 brain MRI scans to identify key neurological health indicators, such as brain age and dementia risk, without the need for extensive labeled datasets. In a new study, it outperformed traditional task-specific models, demonstrating effectiveness in various clinical applications.

An interdisciplinary multi-centre research team led by the LKS Faculty of Medicine (HKUMed) and Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Hong Kong has constructed the world's largest multi-omics atlas of brain metastases. This comprehensive analysis included 1,032 brain metastasis samples from diverse primary tumours, together with 82 matched primary tumours and 20 glioblastomas (a highly malignant type of brain tumour) as controls. The findings provide a novel framework for classifying brain metastases and establish a foundation for the development of personalised treatment strategies, advancing the field of precision oncology. This breakthrough was published in the international journal Nature Communications.

The increasing adoption and recognition of LLMs within the academic community.

As a significant breakthrough in the field of AI, LLMs have introduced transformative advancements and innovations to academic research.

The academic community has increasingly acknowledged the potential challenges of LLMs to academic integrity, and the challenges posed by LLMs to academia are becoming increasingly diversified.

To systematically address the challenges posed by the application of LLMs in the academic domain, a comprehensive governance framework should be established from many dimensions.