Keyword: Press release

Despite of continuous development in breast cancer treatments, metastases of the most aggressive breast cancer types are still a significant and growing medical problem. Together with a research group at Michigan University, the group of Professor Jukka Westermarck at Turku Bioscience Centre recently received funding from the US Department of Defense for the development of novel treatment strategies for breast cancer metastases.

Scientists from the Universities of Helsinki and Turku, Finland are part of the global consortium investigating the connection between the chemical senses and COVID-19. People with respiratory illnesses (including COVID-19) are urged to participate in survey on smell loss.

The Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project investigated the long-term effects of dietary counselling on cardiovascular health. The individuals, who had participated in the trial between ages 7 months and 20 years, were invited to a follow-up study at the age of 26. The results show that the intervention group who received dietary counselling had lower serum cholesterol level and better insulin sensitivity than those in the control group.

The Department of Child Psychiatry has opened a website for parents whose children develop symptoms of anxiety or fear during the current corona epidemic. The website provides information on anxiety, advice on how to handle difficult feelings and simple exercises to ease the anxiety of a parent and their child. The site has been implemented by experienced digital care researchers.

Researchers from Ghent University, Belgium, together with researchers from the University of Turku, Finland, have developed a new method for biomarker discovery of urological cancers. The method enables timely diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Urological cancers include e.g. prostate, bladder and kidney cancers.

At the beginning of May, a group of INVEST psychology researchers will conduct a survey amongst students in comprehensive school level about their experiences during the corona epidemic. The researchers will survey the experiences of children and young people in terms of studying and learning, social relations and mental well-being.

A Finnish study coordinated by the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Turku shows that exposure to parental smoking in childhood and adolescence is associated with poorer learning ability and memory in midlife.

New study from researchers in Finland and the United Kingdom reveals that tumors lacking a protein called BAP1 have an ineffective immune reaction against cancer, thus rendering immunotherapies ineffectual, particularly in uveal melanomas (UM). The researchers also discovered that when BAP1 is lost, other molecules will be present in order to support cancer growth. Luckily, some of these molecules can be targeted with existing drugs, which can lead to the development of novel immunotherapies.

An international research team led by the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Turku, Finland, mapped the interstellar magnetic field structure and interstellar matter distribution in the solar neighbourhood.  The results of the study have been published in the esteemed European journal Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) in March.

Special arrangements during the spring may put students’ ability to cope to the test. The Opintokamu (in English “Studypal”) programme offers educational institutions tools for improving student’s well-being. Students of universities of applied sciences in Finland can now access the free online course.