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Survey: Majority of Hoosiers view university, policymaker collaboration as crucial for Indiana
A new statewide survey commissioned as part of the Indiana University Grand Challenges program reveals that three out of four Hoosiers agree that universities in Indiana have a responsibility to help improve their surrounding communities. The survey’s release coincides with today’s IU Grand Challenges Summit, a virtual program featuring Gov. Eric J. Holcomb and IU President Michael A. McRobbie.
Survey respondents also overwhelmingly support universities partnering with policymakers and government officials, with 74% saying they want to see increased collaboration between Indiana’s government officials and state universities when it comes to initiatives that strengthen and improve Hoosier communities.
INDIANAPOLIS Worldwide, 1 in 4 people will suffer from a depressive episode in their lifetime.
While current diagnosis and treatment approaches are largely trial and error, a breakthrough study by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers sheds new light on the biological basis of mood disorders and offers a promising blood test aimed at a precision-medicine approach to treatment.
Led by Dr. Alexander B. Niculescu, professor of psychiatry at the IU School of Medicine, the study was published today in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. The work builds on previous research conducted by Niculescu and his colleagues into blood biomarkers that track suicidality as well as pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer’s disease.
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Methadone research could help babies exposed to opioids in utero
A study by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis and the Gill Center for Biomolecular Science at IU Bloomington found that in-utero exposure to methadone in mice could negatively affect developmental milestones related to proper functioning of the brain’s sensory and motor systems. The findings could one day lead to new treatment options that reduce long-term damage to human babies from in-utero opioid exposure.
“The opioid epidemic has led to a growing number of babies being born to mothers who used opioids throughout pregnancy, but little is known of the biological mechanisms that underlie prenatal, opioid-exposure-induced, long-term negative consequences,” said study lead Brady Atwood, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the IU School of Medicine. “Our findings revealed a disruption in physical, behavioral and neuronal development in prenatal
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Could rotavirus genome be key to COVID-19 vaccine for kids? IU researchers say yes
Since the pandemic struck the United States more than a year ago, Indiana University Bloomington virologist John Patton, graduate student Asha Philip and others have been working on a COVID-19 vaccine for young children, based on a well-established childhood vaccine for the common illness rotavirus.
Currently, no available COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized for use in children younger than 16.
John Patton. Photo by Eric Rudd, Indiana University
By reverse-engineering the rotavirus genome to serve as a vector for the now-familiar SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, the research team succeeded in generating genetically stable recombinant rotaviruses that contain portions of the spike protein, which could lead to a combined rotavirus-COVID-19 vaccine to replace current widely used rotavirus vaccines.
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$23.3M grant awarded to international chemical safety project involving IU researchers
A project involving Indiana University researchers was awarded $23.3 million from the European Commission to shape chemical safety regulation without the use of animal testing.
IU is part of a consortium of European and U.S. organizations called PrecisionTox, led by the University of Birmingham in the U.K., that received the award. PrecisionTox, short for precision toxicology, aims to protect human health from the toxic effects of chemicals found in people’s homes, food and the environment.
Joseph Shaw. Photo courtesy of the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.