A new study from researchers at the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) investigated whether artificial intelligence (AI) could analyse MRI scans to reliably tell which cancers are less aggressive and which pose a greater risk. While AI showed promise, its accuracy varied significantly depending on the MRI scanner’s brand.

An international team, co-led by Adriana Sánchez-Danés, principal investigator of the Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Lab at the Champalimaud Foundation, in Lisbon, has shown for the first time the important role of Survivin – a protein that has key roles in regulating cell division and inhibiting apoptosis (programmed cell death) – in the initiation and formation of a basal cell carcinoma, the most common human skin cancer. Their results have now been published in the print edition of January 8, 2025, of the journal Cell Discovery.

An international team of scientists, including a principal investigator in neuroscience from the Champalimaud Foundation, in Lisbon, has analysed the way expert London taxi drivers plan their route in advance every time they pick up passengers. It is the first time a study about human planning has been performed in a real-world, large-scale environment. Their results are published today (23rd of January) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Over the past decade, interest in psychedelics—including psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA—as treatments for psychiatric disorders has grown exponentially among scientists, mental health professionals, the media, and the public.

During periods of low energy—such as intermittent fasting or exercise—immune cells step in to regulate blood sugar levels, acting as the “postman” in a previously unknown three-way conversation between the nervous, immune and hormonal systems. These findings open up new approaches for managing conditions like diabetes, obesity, and cancer.

Osteosarcoma is a type of aggressive bone cancer that most commonly affects children and young adults between the ages of 10 and 20, during times of rapid bone growth. Although rare, it has a significant impact on young people and their families as treatment can require surgery or amputation. The cancer also has the potential to spread to other organs, most commonly the lungs. Because osteosarcoma is so genomically complex, it has been challenging to identify what genetic mutations drive the disease.

Water is the matrix of our planet. Not only human societies, but all forms of life, are dependent on water. And while we still take its availability largely for granted, it is a resource which is becoming scarcer by the minute owing to climate change,  intensive agriculture, and access inequalities to water for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene.

Higher calorie foods were preferred among individuals with and without obesity despite similar taste and texture, according to a study published December 17th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Albino Oliveira-Maia from the Champalimaud Foundation, Portugal, and colleagues.

Precursor lesions of pancreatic cancer are very difficult to characterise with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). But now, in a new study, researchers led by Noam Shemesh and Carlos Bilreiro – respectively head of the Preclinical MRI lab at Champalimaud Research and a doctor at the Champalimaud Clinical Centre’s Radiology Department – have shown, for the first time, that a particular form of MRI, called Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), is capable of robustly detecting pre-malignant lesions in the pancreas.

Psychedelic substances like psilocybin (found in magic mushrooms), MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy), LSD (commonly known as acid), and ayahuasca have shown potential in treating conditions such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and addiction. These substances can induce profound psychological experiences that, when paired with psychotherapy — a form of talk therapy — have been proposed to lead to significant therapeutic benefits.