Author: Vittoria D’Alessio

No organism on Earth is sterile. All living systems, from soil and plants to water and humans, are teeming with bacteria, fungi, microalgae and other microscopic life forms. Together, they make up complex ecosystems known as microbiomes. Thanks to advances in DNA sequencing and computing, scientists now have an impressive and growing catalogue of microbial […]

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. For millions of Europeans – and the health services that care for them – it is a ticking time bomb, with still no cure. But EU-funded researchers are developing a simple tool to enable much earlier detection, potentially decades before symptoms appear.  Early detection matters because […]

The environmental impact of climate change – shifting weather patterns or vanishing biodiversity – is widely recognised. But do we truly understand the toll rising temperatures are taking on human health? Members of the Climate-Health Cluster, an EU-funded network of European researchers, do not think so. Their mission is to measure these health risks and […]

Professor Majorie van Duursen, a Dutch environmental health expert and toxicologist, has her sights set on improving women’s health. Her principal target? Substances known as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) found everywhere around us, from the air we breathe and the clothes we wear to the products we put on our skin. Van Duursen, head of the […]

For someone in the peak of health, Martin Jenkins participates in an astonishing number of medical tests. In November 2024 alone, he underwent MRI scans of his brain and torso, an ultrasound scan of his neck, a bone density scan, an ECG of his heart and a series of computer-based tests to assess his memory […]

A new report dealing with gender equality in research and innovation in the EU reveals that only 32.8% of graduates in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in the EU were women. The ‘She Figures 2024’ report was released by the EU’s Publications Office on 11 February 2025, the International Day of Women and Girls […]

The story of Bojana Mirosavljević and her two healthy daughters, aged four and 10, is a testament to the power of modern reproductive medicine and the work of researchers like Greek fertility specialist Dr Aspasia Destouni and Estonian molecular biologist Dr Ants Kurg.  After losing her eldest daughter Zoja to a devastating genetic disorder, Mirosavljević […]

They call it the Angelina Jolie effect: the popular belief that only a preventative double mastectomy can safeguard a woman from developing a tumour if she carries gene mutations linked to breast cancer. Celebrity actress Jolie made headlines in 2013 when she underwent radical breast surgery after genetic testing revealed she carried a gene – […]

Clare Williams was in her early 30s when she received an unexpected diagnosis: obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), the most common sleep-related breathing disorder. Unlike the typical sufferer, she was young, petite and female. Those diagnosed with OSA are usually overweight, male and middle-aged. ‘For a long time, doctors dismissed my symptoms because I didn’t fit […]