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̽»¨Ö±²¥Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences (CATS), a new initiative that aims to establish a world-leading platform for collaboration between academia and industry in the development of therapeutics, will be launched today by the Vice-Chancellor of the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge.

Cambridge scientists have received two of the biggest funding grants ever awarded by Cancer Research UK, with the charity set to invest £40 million over the next five years in two ground-breaking research projects in the city.

Iron deficiency can be fatal. But in countries where patients are also likely to have other serious diseases, so too can the iron supplements used to treat it. Nearly 12 years ago, Dora Pereira – sometimes referred to as ‘ ̽»¨Ö±²¥Iron Lady’ – was part of the team who had an idea for a new supplement. She now leads its clinical trial in ̽»¨Ö±²¥Gambia.

DNA sequencing has defined a new genetic disorder that affects movement, enabling patients with dystonia — a disabling condition that affects voluntary movement — to be targeted for treatment that brings remarkable improvements, including restoring independent walking.

Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge have created sOPTiKO, a more efficient and enhanced inducible CRISPR genome editing platform. Today, in the journal Development, they describe how the freely available single-step system works in every cell in the body and at every stage of development. This new approach will aid researchers in developmental biology, tissue regeneration and cancer.

A weight loss condition that affects patients with cancer has provided clues as to why cancer immunotherapy – a new approach to treating cancer by boosting a patient’s immune system – may fail in a substantial number of patients. 

A new treatment that might one day help all patients with haemophilia, including those that become resistant to existing therapies, has been developed by researchers at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge.

Researchers have identified the cause of chronic, and currently untreatable, pain in those with amputations and severe nerve damage, as well as a potential treatment which relies on engineering instead of drugs.

A small molecule that can turn short-lived ‘killer T-cells’ into long-lived, renewable cells that can last in the body for a longer period of time, activating when necessary to destroy tumour cells, could help make cell-based immunotherapy a realistic prospect to treat cancer.

̽»¨Ö±²¥next generation of imaging technology, newly installed at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge, will give researchers an unprecedented view of the human body – in particular of the myriad connections within our brains and of tumours as they grow and respond to treatment – and could pave the way for development of treatments personalised for individual patients.