A new study from Keck Medicine of USC quantifies how often BMI may miss cases of obesity. The research shows that one quarter of people considered to have a normal (healthy) BMI meet the standard of clinical obesity. And 50% of those deemed overweight by their BMI would be reclassified as obese.

A new PET tracer targeting carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) has demonstrated exceptional sensitivity and high tumor-to-background contrast in detecting clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), according to early clinical research. The newly developed tracer, ⁶⁸Ga-RCC78, successfully identified additional metastatic lesions missed by standard imaging while significantly reducing abdominal background noise, offering a powerful new tool for kidney cancer staging. This research was presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2026 Annual Meeting.

A novel PET imaging framework reveals that bariatric surgery impacts not only body weight, but also the metabolic function of multiple organs. These PET‑derived insights into organ-level responses to surgery could support more precise treatment monitoring and personalized metabolic care. This research was presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2026 Annual Meeting.

This year’s recipient of the Sobrato Prize in Neuroscience is Andrew Yang, PhD, whose research has reshaped scientific understanding of the blood-brain barrier and its role in brain health and disease. Yang is an investigator at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and an assistant professor of neurology and anatomy at the University of California, San Francisco. Launched in 2024, the Sobrato Prize in Neuroscience seeks to bridge the gap between discovery and the clinic, accelerating life-changing brain science with high potential for patient impact. It is awarded to scientists at Gladstone Institutes whose research has a particularly high potential to lead to new therapies for major brain diseases.

To the point:

In view of recent geopolitical tensions and the disruption of energy imports, an interdisciplinary and international research team led by Yafang Cheng at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry assessed how the costs and benefits of renewable energy expansion in the European Union may evolve under changing conditions.

Fossil fuel energy prices have risen to a level where faster deployment of renewable energies to achieve carbon neutrality is expected to provide substantial air quality, health and economic co-benefits beyond climate protection. The investigated scenarios, building on the fuel price levels observed during the years 2021–2023, yield EU-wide net benefits in the range of approximately 100 to 600 billion Euros.

A newly developed system dynamics model with country-specific parameters was applied to account for dynamic changes of electricity costs upon rapid renewable expansion, allowing for more realistic projections.

A new first-in-human study has validated a PET radiotracer that can effectively image overactive adrenal glands, offering an alternative to the highly invasive procedure currently utilized to diagnose primary aldosteronism. This approach, presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2026 Annual Meeting, could give physicians a noninvasive tool to tailor treatment plans for primary aldosteronism patients.