On 24th June, we had one of IMSE’s yearly Big Days: the annual lecture, supported by the gift of Dr Theo George Wilson. This year the speaker was Professor Sossina Haile of Northwestern University, who has pioneered the development of solid acid fuel cells.
Imperial College London is committed to sharing the wonder and excitement of the science that we do. So it is part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival every June, a two-day science and art party for all ages! In 2022, the theme was trailblazers. Imperial worked alongside some of the great museums and institutes in the Albertopolis to deliver talks, workshops, performances and activities. And of course IMSE was there as well!
It’s the little things that make the difference for climate change: very little things in this case. Can’t get much littler than needle and thread and lots of tiny stitches…
On Tuesday 10 May, IMSE staff Leah Adamson and Isabella von Holstein joined Ambrose Taylor of the Science and Engineering for Cultural Heritage (SERCH) network for a tour of the new Victoria and Albert Museum Conservation Science laboratory.
According to the UN, 2.4 billion people do not currently have access to basic clean water and sanitation, and each day, nearly 1,000 children die due to preventable water and sanitation-related diseases. Meanwhile, pollution from fertilizers, oil spills and human waste contaminate rivers, lakes and oceans. More than 80 percent of wastewater resulting from human activities is discharged into rivers or seas without any treatment to remove hazardous contaminants (Figure 1).
Given the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 of delivering access to water and sanitation for all, how can new materials be deployed to help? Pavani Cherukupally is working on developing low-cost sponges which can remove pollutants from water.
Digital twins are already being used in areas such as aircraft and automotive design. So what do they have to do with mental health? Can we make a digital model of a living molecular system?
For most physical illnesses, there are objective tests to determine what a patient’s issue is. Currently, diagnosis of mental health conditions is more subjective, as it relies on patient’s descriptions of their own symptoms. What if digital tools could identify biomarkers which were clearly linked to specific mental illnesses?
Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness affecting around 20 million people worldwide and is most common in young men (according to the World Health Organisation). How are the tools of genetics and AI being used to improve treatment?
Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health illnesses, affecting 264 million and 284 million people worldwide, respectively – equivalent to 3.4% and 3.8% of the global population. However, it’s thought that many cases are unreported – the real figures are expected to be double what is recorded. What’s going on at a molecular level in the brain during depression and anxiety? How does medication change this?
Mental health is the sum of our psychological, emotional, and social wellbeing. Combined, these help us cope with life’s difficulties. Yet a worryingly substantial proportion of the population will suffer from poor mental health at some point in their lives. This is the first in a series of blogs exploring the molecular basis of mental health, and how a molecular perspective can help develop new treatments.