The Snapshot of Science is a monthly digest of publications, press releases and blog posts featuring researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital.

February 2024

Increase the sensitivity of liquid biopsies, neurons in the human brain able to predict what we’re going to say before we say it and much more


January 2024

PTSD from childbirth, Brain Care Score and much more


December 2023

PTSD from childbirth, Brain Care Score and much more


November 2023

COVID rebound on Paxlovid, mental and behavioral consequences of firearms injuries in children and much more.


October 2023

Hot yoga can reduce depression symptoms, technology to tabulate and characterize every cell in the human brain, and much more.


September 2023

Exercise-induced hormone may reduce Alzheimer’s tangles in the brain, the role of brain endothelial cells in psychotic disorders and much more.


August 2023

The unexpected importance of the thymus in adults, identification of genetic drivers for esophageal cancer creates new opportunities for screening and treatment, and a new blood-pressure related measure predicts health outcomes in patients in intensive care.


July 2023

A promising clinical trial for a smoking cessation medication, targeting immune cells may help treat atrial fibrillation , “weekend warrior” physical activity provides similar heart-related benefits as more regular exercise, and much more.


June 2023

Defining the symptoms long COVID-19, gene therapy produces long-term contraception in female domestic cats, genetic variants may affect treatment response to commonly prescribed type 2 diabetes medication, and much more.


May 2023

Unawareness of memory function is strongly associated with future clinical progression, a systematic review of the efficacy of sodium thiosulphate in treating calciphylaxis, a study of poop, perfume, and brain health, and more.


April 2023

The brain dynamics of ketamine, the physical and psychological outcomes of CAR-T treatment, a new drug delivery platform that uses E. coli to deliver antibodies, and more.


March 2023

A path to developing regenerative cell therapies to treat neurointestinal diseases, a new potential islet transplant location for treating type 1 diabetes, a computer model that detects Alzheimer's/dementia status in MRI's, and more.


February 2023

Blood Pressure Drug May Prevent Immunotherapy-Induced Brain Swelling in Patients with Glioblastoma, the Link Between Red Pigment and Parkinson’s in Both Periphery and the Brain, and more.


January 2023

AI model identifies potential candidates for stroke thrombectomy treatment, scientists identify gene target to boost effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy, higher levels of pre-pandemic physical activity associated with lower risk of COVID-19 infection and severity, and more.


December 2022

Spousal fillings of patient opioid prescriptions, new interventions needed to support patients undergoing CAR-T therapy, a potential new treatment for osteoporosis, and more.


November 2022

Alterations to genome structure contribute to neurodevelopmental variability, a new potential treatment for pediatric leukemia, insights into the mechanisms underlying Notch1 signaling, and more.


October 2022

Bionic pancreas associated with a greater reduction in glycated hemoglobin, predicting metastatic potential and patient survival in kidney cancer, natural language processing to predict risk of maternal morbidity, and much more.


September 2022

Identifying new blood biomarkers to distinguish between helpful and harmful inflammation, detecting early onset fibrosis with PET probes, a new clinical decision support system for Monkeypox infection and much more.


August 2022

mRNA vaccines are safe and effective in children, deeper understanding of the molecular underpinnings of pancreatic cancer, wrist-worn devices cost-effective for screening of atrial fibrillation, and more.


July 2022

A new strategy to extend survival in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, fat distribution has important inherited component, cortisone shots do not increase COVID-19 risk, and more.


June 2022

Improving the quality of artificial hearing, motor cortex replays learned sequences during sleep, neurodevelopmental effects of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in utero, and more.


May 2022

The effect of medication for alcohol use disorder on the risk of alcohol-associated liver disease, a microgel that supports graft survival after transplantation, and more.


April 2022

Women with infertility are at greater risk of developing heart failure, liquid biopsy for pancreatic cancer, repurposed cancer drug may be used as contraceptive, and more.


March 2022

Challenging the theory that light alcohol consumption benefits heart health, discovery of neurons that drive competition in groups, immediately translatable strategy for liver cancer treatment, and more.


February 2022

Stability of lipoprotein(a) levels over time, predicting future heart disease from a woman's reproductive history, the role of rare gene variants in cardiometabolic disease, and more.


January 2022

The relationship between depression and the likelihood of endorsing COVID-19 misinformation, a new technique for quantifying [CA2+] distribution in bone marrow, and more.


December 2021

Early detection of lung cancer from a drop of blood, insights into RSV vaccine development and more.


November 2021

A key genetic network in human embryonic stem cells, identifying a potential low cost treatment for neuroinflammatory disease, a new class of luminescent molecules and more.


October 2021

Personalizing lung cancer treatments, expanding the atlas of genetic assocations in non-European populations, the role of tissue morphology in dermal remodeling outcomes, and more.


September 2021

New insights into the mechanisms of RNA copying chemistry, minaturized lasers for single-cell imaging and more.


August 2021

Prison crowding and COVID-19 rates, new target for treating Alzheimer's disease and lifestyle/environmental effects on diabetes phenotypes, and more.


July 2021

Pathway to a T cell COVID-19 vaccine, reduced opioid prescriptions linked to better post-op results and microbiome connection to celiac disease onset in children and more.


June 2021

Increasing healthy food choices in the workplace, immune suppression during severe covid-19 and sepsis and more.


May 2021

Adverse childhood experiences and adult mental health, physician mental health and medical licenses, insights into hypoxic brain injury and more.


April 2021

Sex and age differences in mild TBI recovery, overlap between migraine and epilepsy, long term effects of COVID in young athletes and more.


March 2021

Patient preference for statin therapy, vaccine efficacy against SARS CoV-2 variants, the value of statistical suicide prevention and more.


February 2021

Retaining women participants in clinical trials, single neurons are critical for social reasoning and more.


January 2021

Airway stem cells mitigate hypoxia-induced damage, blue light for multidrug-resistant bacteria and Moco supplement therapy for Moco deficiency.


December 2020

An oxygen-sensing liquid bandage, a blood test that identifies pancreatic tumors, the maternal passage of SARS-CoV2 virus and antibodies and more.


November 2020

Premature menopause and heart health, insurance expansion may reduce utilization of emergency medical services, a novel, portable MRI scanner and more.


October 2020

Assessing barriers to behavioral health care, insights into allergies, imaging the patient-clinician interaction and more.


September 2020

Portable MRI for bedside imaging, a promising new treatment slows ALS progression, using AI to detect lung cancer from chest radiographs and more.


August 2020

Vitamin D supplements and depression, neural markers for chronic back pain, distinct viral reservoirs in HIV elite controllers and more.


July 2020

Osteocyte response to exercise, circulating tumor cell sorting, improving malaria vaccines and more.


June 2020

The largest catalog of human genetic data to date, FAN1 may alter Huntington's onset, ismA gene aids in cholesterol metabolism and more.


May 2020

Learned neural patterns are replayed during sleep, cellular diversity of the human heart, distracted driving laws and crashes and more.


April 2020

Implications of climate change on cardiovascular health, genetic risk scores and type-2 diabetes, efforts to mitigate perceived risks among immigrants and more.


March 2020

Aortic dilation in aging endurance athletes, a genetic history of the United States, regions of the genome that affect eating habits and more.


February 2020

A "universal" target for antiviral treatment, the role of trauma in FND, the cost of HIV treatment in the U.S. and more.


January 2020

Mediterranean diets may lower the risk of Crohn's disease, fluorometric imaging for arthritis, palliative care following acute heart attacks and more.


December 2019

Gender differences in how researchers present their science, vaccine practices for children traveling abroad and more.


November 2019

Cardiovascular risk in pregant women, links between autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and more.


October 2019

Using light to treat carbon monoxide exposure, cardiovascular risk in a subset of football players, utilizing genetic screening to assess diabetes risk and more.


September 2019

Creating a library for the microbiome, supercooling extends the viability of transplant organs, how a lack of sleep may increase the risk of a heart attack and more.


August 2019

How the quality of dietary fat may impact risk of type 2 diabetes, strategies to improve cancer prevention in the Caribbean, treating parents for tobacco use in the pediatric setting and more.


July 2019

Understanding how tumors become resistant to radiation therapy, stress-induced changes in bone marrow stromal cell populations, neuroepigenetic signatures of age and sex in the living brain and more.


June 2019

Socioeconomic status associates with heart health, antibodies are transferred from mother to child, identifying passenger hotspots in cancer and more.


May 2019

Identifying critical regions of viral proteins in HIV, the impact of job satisfaction, genetic triggers of mitral valve prolapse and more.


April 2019

A new method for calculating a genetic risk score for obesity, visualizing the efficacy of personalized cancer treatments, insights into elite controllers of HIV and more.


March 2019

Genetic links to insomnia and sleep duration, evaluating the risks of overlapping surgeries, assessing parental vaping policies in homes and cars and more.


February 2019

Poor sleep linked to heart disease, increased synaptic pruning found to be associated with schizophrenia, a new promising treatment for triple-negative breast cancer and more.


January 2019

The effect climate change has on health, links between physical activity and depression, how immune cells in the gut affect metabolism and more.