The relationship between age and recovery after spinal cord injury: a longitudinal cohort study.
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Dr. Christie M. Ballantyne & Dr. Alexander Tal — Oral PCSK9 Therapy And The Future Of Heart Disease
Oral PCSK9 Therapy And The Future Of Heart Disease — Dr. Christie Ballantyne MD, Director, Center for Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, Baylor College of Medicine & Dr. Alexander Tal, MD.
Dr. Christie M. Ballantyne, MD is a Cardiologist and is one of the nation’s foremost experts on lipids, atherosclerosis and heart disease prevention. He holds many leadership positions at Baylor College of Medicine (https://www.bcm.edu/people-search/chr… including director of the Center for Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, co-director of the Lipid Metabolism and Atherosclerosis Clinic, and chief of the Section of Cardiology.
With over 1,000 publications in the area of atherosclerosis, lipids, and inflammation, Dr. Ballantyne’s research on heart disease prevention has led him to become an established investigator for the American Heart Association and the recipient of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health with a core focus on in basic research of leukocyte–endothelial interactions, translational research in biomarkers, and clinical trials.
Dr. Ballantyne’s many accomplishments have included being elected as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. In 2012, he received the American College of Cardiology Distinguished Scientist Award (Basic Domain).
In 2014 and 2015, Thomson Reuters recognized Dr. Ballantyne as one of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds.” Clarivate Analytics, Web of Science, named Dr. Ballantyne as a “Highly Cited Researcher” 2017–2022 in the top 1% of researchers most cited.
Astronomers discover a region of space that defies everything we thought we knew
Deep in the early Universe, scientists have identified an extraordinary stellar nursery—a place where stars are forming at a breathtaking rate. In this region, activity is up to 180 times greater than in our own galaxy, offering a rare glimpse into how matter behaves in an environment far denser than anything we experience today.
The Milky Way may feel relatively calm now, but the young Universe was anything but. According to a study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers have pinpointed an extremely hot and active zone dating back to the Universe’s earliest epochs, where conditions were far more intense than those around us today.
This area functions as a massive stellar nursery. Packed with dust and gas and flooded with radiation that generates heat, it creates the perfect conditions for particles to collide, stick together, and eventually form new stars.
Semaglutide in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
Semaglutide reduced HbA1c and body weight over 26 weeks in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and early glycemic abnormalities taking clozapine or olanzapine.
Question Can adjunctive semaglutide improve glycemic control and weight outcomes in individuals with early-stage prediabetes or diabetes and schizophrenia spectrum disorders who initiated clozapine or olanzapine within the past 5 years?
Findings In this randomized clinical trial including 73 participants, semaglutide was found to significantly reduce hemoglobin A1c level and body weight over a 26-week period. Approximately one-half of individuals treated with semaglutide achieved low-risk hemoglobin A1c levels, compared with the placebo group.
Meaning This study found that semaglutide can mitigate the early metabolic burden associated with second-generation antipsychotic use in schizophrenia and may support the prevention of long-term cardiometabolic complications when initiated during the early stages of metabolic dysregulation.
Researchers Discover Molecular Difference in Autistic Brains
A study co-led by Richard Carson and colleagues at the Yale School of Medicine has identified a measurable molecular difference in the brains of autistic adults – finding reduced availability of a key glutamate receptor involved in brain signaling balance.
Published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, the research offers new insight into the biological mechanisms of autism and could inform future diagnostic tools and targeted supports.
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Brains of autistic individuals have fewer of a specific kind of glutamate receptor, supporting an idea that autism is driven by a signaling imbalance.
2025: The year in LLMs
This is the third in my annual series reviewing everything that happened in the LLM space over the past 12 months. For previous years see Stuff we figured out about AI in 2023 and Things we learned about LLMs in 2024.
It’s been a year filled with a lot of different trends.
CRISPRi screening in cultured human astrocytes uncovers distal enhancers controlling genes dysregulated in Alzheimer’s disease
2026 (Nature Neuroscience)
• AstroREG, a resource of enhancer–gene interactions in human primary astrocytes, generated by combining CRISPR inhibition (CRISPRi), single-cell RNA-seq and machine learning.
This study reveals how distal DNA ‘switches’ control gene activity in human astrocytes. Using CRISPRi screens and single-cell RNA-seq, we map enhancer–gene links, highlight Alzheimer’s disease-related targets and introduce a model that predicts additional regulatory interactions.