A dentist and former football manager whose life has changed dramatically since his ALS diagnosis has appealed with others who have the disease to join him in a new brain imaging study to help the race to find new treatments.
The University of Exeter’s world-leading Neurodegeneration Imaging Group, led by Professor Marios Politis, is appealing for people who have ALS (also known as motor neurone disease) to get in touch, and take part in a year-long study.
ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the...
Volunteers from across Exeter, East and Mid Devon and Cornwall will have the opportunity to take part in one of the world’s first Omicron-specific COVID-19 variant vaccine studies, as biotechnology company Moderna, Inc works with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
The innovative study, opening at the NIHR Patient Recruitment Centre: Exeter at Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust this week, will see participants receive a first or second booster.
The first part of the study, which launched at sites including...
One of the world’s first Omicron-specific variant vaccines is to be trialled in Devon and Cornwall, as the biotechnology company Moderna, Inc works with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
The innovative study will see participants receive a first or second booster. In the South West, it is opening first at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, with plans to open at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, and the NIHR Patient Recruitment Centre: Exeter at Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust later in March.
The quest to discover how some people can compare or “match” the intricate details of faces, fingerprints and even firearms only by sight has taken a new, exciting twist.
While TV programs like CSI show computer algorithms performing forensic science tasks – like fingerprint-matching – they are actually performed by forensic scientists who train for many years. However, new research led by Dr Bethany Growns, a cognitive psychologist from the University of Exeter, suggests there may be ordinary people with a natural talent in this task.
Skateboarding in middle age helps people navigate depression, bond with their children and cope with personal trials, a new study shows.
Older people who take part in the sport say it has a “spiritual meaning” in their lives and boosts their wellbeing and happiness. Physical benefits are a by-product.
Skateboarding allows them access to a community and gives them an identity separate from other parts of their lives.
One reason could be because the measure of success in skateboarding is more fluid compared to other sports, and failure is seen as part of the...
Volunteers from Exeter and the surrounding areas will soon be able to receive a third ‘booster’ COVID-19 vaccine through a new clinical trial launching this week, the Health Secretary has announced.
The Cov-Boost study, backed by £19.3 million of government funding through the Vaccines Taskforce, will be run at Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and is being led by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. It will be the first in the world to provide vital data on the impact of a third dose on patients’ immune responses.
Parents, children and teachers in Exeter are being asked to share their experiences of lockdown learning as part of a new survey.
Experts hope the research will help them develop new support for pupils in the city this summer to help their wellbeing and education.
The study, led by Professor Justin Dillon from the University of Exeter’s Graduate School of Education, will shed light on the impact of coronavirus lockdowns and changes to schooling over the last year on Exeter children, their parents and teachers in the EX1-4 postcodes.
Exeter researchers are seeking local volunteers to take part in the world’s most detailed study into the onset and development of Alzheimer’s disease.
The Deep and Frequent Phenotyping (DFP) study aims to tackle the challenge of diagnosing and tracking Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages – often decades before symptoms start to show.
DFP will recruit 250 participants from across the UK who are over 60 and in good health, but with a family history of dementia. Volunteers will undergo a range of existing and new tests over a year-long period, including brain scans,...
Elite runners need a specific combination of physiological abilities to have any chance of running a sub-two-hour marathon, new research shows .
The study is based on detailed testing of athletes who took part in Nike's Breaking2 project – an ambitious bid to break the two-hour barrier.
Professor Andrew Jones , of the University of Exeter, said the findings reveal that elite marathon runners must have a "perfect balance" of VO2 max (rate of oxygen uptake), efficiency of movement and a high "lactate turn point" (above which the body experiences more fatigue).
