An artificial pancreas developed with the help of staff and patients at Addenbrooke’s Hospital is one of four new devices to be rolled out by the NHS–helping tens of thousands of children and adults living with type one diabetes.The ground-breaking device–pioneered by Cambridge-based Professor Roman Hovorka and called the CamAPS FX app-continually monitors aperson’s blood glucose,then automatically adjusts the amount of insulin given to them through apump.It is the only device that has been fully developed in the UK and the only one suitable for women who are pregnant.Professor Hovorka said:“It is very exciting that adevice developed in Cambridge with the help of local experts and local people will now become accessible to patients all over the country.“It will enable them to spend less time having to focus on managing their condition and worrying about the blood sugar levels,and more time getting on with their lives.”For Professor Hovorka,the roll-out is the culmination of more than 20 years’work studying the disease and collaborating with colleagues.He is Professor of Metabolic Technology at the Institute of Metabolic Science-Metabolic Research Laboratories,and his work is facilitated by the NIHR Cambridge Clinical Research Facility,Cambridge Clinical Research Centre.In December 2021 an expert team from Addenbrooke’s and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals successfully used the closed-loop system,along with diluted insulin,to assist aseven-month-old baby.And in January the same year asimilar trial was held at Addenbrooke’s for adults living with type two diabetes.In November last year the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence(NICE)recommended systems such as the CamAPS FX for use in managing type one diabetes.Local NHS systems will now start identifying those who could benefit from the Hybrid Closed Loop system-sometimes called an artificial pancreas.There are currently 269,095 people living in England with type one diabetes.The technology will mean some with type one diabetes will no longer need to inject themselves with insulin but rely on technology to receive the life-saving medication.This can also help prevent life-threatening hypoglycaemic and hyperglycaemia attacks,which can lead to seizures,coma or even death.NHS England,which describes the roll-out as aworld-first,says it has provided local health systems with£2.5 million so they are ready to start identifying patients that can benefit.The mass rollout builds on asuccessful pilot of the technology by NHS England,which saw 835 adults and children with type one diabetes given devices to improve the management of their condition.Each year,the NHS in England currently spends around£10 billion ayear–around 10 per cent of its entire budget–on identifying and treating diabetes. 查看详细>>

A single genetic test could potentially replace the current two-step approach to diagnosing rare developmental disorders in children.This shift could enable earlier diagnoses for families and save the NHS vital resources.Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute,and their collaborators at the University of Exeter and the University of Cambridge,were able to reassess genetic data from nearly 10,000 families from the Deciphering Developmental Disorders study1.In anew study,recently published in Genetics in Medicine,they show for the first time that using exome sequencing–which reads only protein-coding DNA–is as accurate,if not better,than standard microarrays at identifying disease-causing structural genetic variations2.Its adoption offers hope for faster and more accurate diagnoses of rare genetic diseases.It could also deliver substantial cost savings for the NHS,though more training is needed for specialists to generate and analyse the data,say researchers.Changes in our genetic code can range from single letter changes to the deletion or duplication of larger stretches of DNA.These bigger changes–called copy number variations(CNVs)–can be harder for clinical teams to detect and understand in sequencing data,which is why microarrays are used.While usually harmless,making up one of the major sources of genetic diversity in humans3,these large-scale variations can sometimes cause various neurodevelopmental disorders,including Angelman syndrome,DiGeorge syndrome,and Williams-Beuren syndrome.Currently,children suspected to have genetic diseases arising from these large deletions or duplications of DNA go through alengthy process of testing and waiting for results from multiple diagnostic approaches,starting with amicroarray test before progressing to abroader genome-wide sequencing test(such as exome or genome sequencing).In this new study,scientists set out to develop asingle approach to detect these structural changes,using data available from genome-wide exome sequencing assays.Using data from the Deciphering Developmental Disorders study,the team developed asingle-assay approach that combined four algorithms using machine learning methods to analyse exome sequencing data.Comparison of the new single-assay approach with current standard clinical methods revealed it could reliably detect 305 large-scale pathogenic mutations,including 91 not previously detectable using standard clinical microarrays.The findings suggest it could replace the current methods. 查看详细>>

Anglia Ruskin University(ARU)has been named the Times Higher Education University of the Year 2023,the biggest prize in UK Higher Education.The Times Higher Education Awards are known as the Oscars of the UK university sector,and ARU received the prestigious award during aceremony in Liverpool.Other universities shortlisted for the main prize included the University of Exeter,Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine,and the University of York.Last night’s success is the latest high-profile award for ARU,after being named University of the Year at the UK Social Mobility Awards in October and receiving aGold award–the highest possible rating–for the quality of its education in the national Teaching Excellence Framework(TEF)announced in September.Praising the successful launch of ARU Peterborough and ARU’s leadership on public service education,amongst other achievements,Times Higher Education said:“The impact of the best universities on cities and regions is transformational.A university can be afocal point for community,a hub for innovation,and turn aspiration into reality.“Anglia Ruskin University does all this,not just in one city but across multiple centres spanning the east of England–with the institution extending its reach and impact significantly in 2021-22.”The judges of the award added:“Its achievements paint apicture of auniversity that knows what and who it is for,and one that is delivering–including taking calculated risks to support its region to the full.” 查看详细>>