Johns Hopkins Medicine receives first federal grant for psychedelic treatment research in 50 years
Combined with preparation and structured support, psilocybin has shown promise for treating a range of addictions and mental health disorders.
Science & academia
Psychedelics linked to lower heart disease and diabetes risk in new study
“The findings suggest that lifetime classic psychedelic use is associated with lower odds of having had heart disease or diabetes in the past year,” lead study author and Oxford sociologist Otto Simonsson.
New cancer treatment destroys tumors in terminally ill head and neck cancer patients
In a landmark trial, a cocktail of immunotherapy medications harnessed patients’ immune systems to kill their own cancer cells and prompted “a positive trend in survival.”
World Health Organization approves first-ever malaria vaccine
The vaccine – called RTS,S and developed by PATH and GlaxoSmithKline – was proven effective in 2015. Now, after the success of pilot immunization programs in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi, the World Health Organization says the vaccine should be rolled out across sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high malaria transmission. Having a safe, effective vaccine for one of the world’s deadly diseases – after more than a century of trying – is a historic milestone for medicine and public health.
New iron-based batteries offer an upgrade to storing renewable energy
“Long-duration energy storage, like this iron-flow battery, [is] key to adding more renewables to the grid,” Venkat Viswanathan, a battery expert and associate professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.
Aberdeen University decides to divest from fossil fuels
The move, coming just weeks away from the U.N. COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, makes the university, which lies in the heart of Europe’s “oil and gas capital”, the 90th in the U.K. to commit to divestment.
Boston University to fully divest from fossil fuel industry
Going forward, BU will phase out any investments in companies that extract oil and natural gas. The University’s endowment, more than $3 billion, will not have any direct investments in fossil fuel companies.
Harvard University to end investment in fossil fuels
President Bacow said the school’s endowment had no direct investments in fossil fuel exploration or development companies as of June and will not make such investments in the future.
mRNA cancer therapy now in human trials after shrinking mouse tumors
BioNTech, the German company that developed Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine, is now testing whether mRNAs can treat cancer in humans. The treatment has already completely shrunk tumors in mice.
University of Arizona, University of Queensland, and others beat Stanford to 100% clean, renewable electricity
Stanford University recently claimed to be the “first research university to use 100% renewable electricity.” But in fact, many universities around the world have already reached this important milestone.