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Chronic pain is one of the most challenging problems facing society. It has a significant impact on the daily lives of 23% of the population, and the care given to patients experiencing persistent pain is often not appropriate. The Pain in Motion research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) focuses on improving healthcare providers' understanding and treatment of persistent pain.

Early in the pandemic, scientists at the University of Luxembourg started to use their expertise to better understand the virus, its acute symptoms and longer-term consequences, and find effective responses against its propagation. Even if the crisis has passed, researchers are still investigating different aspects of the disease.

Scientists at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), led by Prof. Friedhelm C. Hummel and post-doctoral fellow Pierre Vassiliadis (EPFL and UCLouvain Institute of Neuroscience), have successfully tested a new technique enabling deep stimulation of the human brain, without surgery or implants, for potential therapeutic purposes.

An interdisciplinary team from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxembourg, together with international collaborators, established that a combination of small variations in genes regulating mitochondria, an important component of human cells, is associated with a higher risk for Parkinson's disease.

A ULB study reveals a new advance in our understanding of the immune system of the naked mole rat, opening up prospects for cellular immunotherapy of cancer . During the development of cancer, the immune system is able to exert antitumor activity thanks to natural killer (NK) cells and T lymphocytes.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia worldwide with around 59 million people concerned in 2019 . This irregular heartbeat is associated with increased risks of heart failure, dementia and stroke. It constitutes a significant burden to healthcare systems, making its early detection and treatment a major goal.

A ULB team has discovered how blood vessels in the brain are formed and how they differ from other vessels in the body. A major breakthrough that could lead to new therapeutic approaches . Cardiovascular disease, including myocardial infarction and stroke, is the world's leading cause of death, claiming around 18 million lives a year.

Dr. Arnout Bruggeman (VIB-UGent-UZ Gent), Prof. Debby Laukens (UGent), Prof. Roosmarijn Vandenbroucke (VIB-UGent) en Prof. Patrick Santens (UZ Gent) Clinical study shows stool transplantation of healthy gut bacteria reduces Parkinson's disease symptoms. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease that affects millions worldwide.

VUB researchers show xCT protein is key link in inhibiting pancreatic cancer growth and limiting mood disturbances The xCT protein, which plays an important role as a transport molecule in the cell, could play a part in cancer treatment in the future, researchers at VUB have discovered. Their work is the result of a collaboration between the research groups of neuroscientist Ann Massie of the Laboratory of Neuro-Aging & Viro-Immunotherapy and pancreatic cancer expert Ilse Rooman of the Laboratory for Medical and Molecular Oncology.

Researcher Marine Carpentier (Laboratoire de physiologie cardio-respiratoire à l'effort) tackles a blind spot in motor science research: the influence of the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraception on sports performance. On this International Women's Rights Day, she shares her findings, initial hypotheses and research prospects with us .

Scientists at UCLouvain have discovered that the balance between two proteins plays a decisive role in brain development. The study is published in the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) prestigious journal Science Advances . During embryonic development, cells continuously receive numerous stimuli to which they react via intracellular signals.

Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness, is a neglected tropical disease that affects millions of people and is fatal if left untreated. Most treatments and preventative options, however, are not very effective. New research identifies a protein that could pave the way toward drugs against sleeping sickness.

Chronic liver disease is a serious global health problem that has a severe impact on personal quality of life. A major characteristic of chronic liver disease is liver fibrosis, where certain liver cells, called hepatic stellate cells, become activated and produce scar tissue that damages the liver. At present, no specific drugs are available to treat this condition, partly because we know too little about the activation process for the stellate cells, and no specific targets have been identified to date.

What is a lipid membrane? Lipid membranes are ubiquitous structures in the cells of all unicellular and multicellular organisms. Take, for example, the cell wall, also known as the plasma membrane, whose function is to separate the inside of the cell from the outside: in a way, it's the cell's armor.

Death and the process of dying are increasingly the remit of clinical and medical professionals, creating a cultural and social distance. This distance from death has a major impact on how comfortable or uncomfortable many people feel about the idea of dying. What do you say to someone who is seriously ill and wants to talk about death? What do you do when you see someone suffering significant mental deterioration? Often, our attitude makes us feel insecure and we choose to avoid those people.

KU Leuven researchers discover how to break the negative feedback loop to improve cancer immunotherapy. Over the past years, immunotherapy has improved the outlook for many cancer patients. However, not all cancers respond to current immunotherapies. A research team led by KU Leuven discovered a key mechanism behind this lack of response, and it came up with an innovative solution.

New discoveries in the treatment of lung cancer: the role of the Bcl-xL protein in the aging of neutrophils, the white blood cells that contribute to tumor development . Neutrophils are white blood cells essential to our defense against bacterial infection. These cells patrol the body for 1 or 2 days, then die and are replaced by new neutrophils.

How are our cells able to detect tiny asperities in their support, the extracellular matrix, which bind them together - By what mechanism - Do they manage to modify their behavior in response to these small reliefs - These are the questions to which a team of cell biology researchers from UNamur and UCLouvain have provided major answers, which have just been published in the prestigious scientific journal Science Advances.

In a breakthrough discovery, scientists from VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology unraveled the mysteries of SlyB, a tiny but mighty protein found in the outer membrane of certain bacteria. When bacteria face stress, SlyB acts as a crucial guardian to protect the bacterial cell from dying. This discovery not only deepens our understanding of bacterial survival mechanisms but also paves the way for potential applications in antimicrobial research.

A major discovery in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of leukemia. Research led by François Fuks - Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, ULB Faculty of Medicine, ULB Cancer Research Center and Institut Jules Bordet, H.U.B . In Belgium, around 1,300 new cases of leukemia are diagnosed every year, a type of blood cancer that affects the entire population.