• Drug commonly used to treat HER2-positive breast cancer sees tumour shrinkage in several other cancer types.
• Cancer treatment combination may have more uses than previously thought.

Lockdowns imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the gut microbiome development of babies born during these periods according to new research from APC Microbiome Ireland (APC), a world leading SFI Research Centre, based in University College Cork, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and Children’s Health Ireland.

• Review finds no increase in suicide rate during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• A range of factors during the pandemic served as protective effects to the risk of suicide.
• Study also highlights the need for high-quality and timely data on suicide deaths worldwide.

A 280-million-year-old fossil that has baffled researchers for decades has been shown to be, in part, a forgery following new examination of the remnants. The discovery has led the team led by Dr Valentina Rossi of University College Cork, Ireland (UCC) to urge caution in how the fossil is used in future research.

Treatment in a recent study combined a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor - a drug that causes a chemical change to stop tumor cells from dividing - with two types of immunotherapy known as checkpoint inhibitors, which unharness the power of the immune response against cancer.

• Research shows that people with the complex lung disease COPD see improved health benefits from behaviour change interventions.
• It is estimated that over 380,000 people in Ireland suffer from COPD.
• Interventions ‘has helped me greatly’ says woman with COPD.

Study by APC Microbiome Ireland SFI Research Centre at University College Cork reveals the virome is a viable treatment option to restore the microbiome-gut-brain axis during stress. The findings pave the way for new treatments for stress-related disorders.

University College Cork (UCC) researchers have made a significant contribution to a landmark report published today on the impact of climate change on Ireland.