Medicine and Dentistry

Professor Sir Mark Caulfield awarded medal from the Embassy of Kuwait to recognise contributions to UK-Kuwait relations

Professor Sir Mark Caulfield was today awarded one of 125 medals from the Kuwaiti Cultural Office, recognising his excellence in the fields of medical sciences and his key role in developing a partnership between Kuwait and Queen Mary University of London. 

Study shows dual use of cigarettes and vapes can reduce risks of smoking and help smokers quit

A new major study from Queen Mary University of London has found that smokers who use both cigarettes and e-cigarettes at the same time – known as dual use – are reducing their intake of harmful chemicals and are also more likely to eventually quit smoking than those who continue to smoke only. This challenges common fears about dual use. 

Human hair grows through ‘pulling’ not push – study

A new imaging study overturns long-held assumption about how hair grows and may open doors to future treatment for hair loss.

Advancing equity through inclusive HIV research

As we mark World AIDS Day, this year’s theme ‘Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response’ stresses the need to protect progress in HIV prevention and treatment amid global uncertainty. Service disruptions, widening health inequalities and shifting policy environments all threaten hard-won gains. Meeting these challenges require a commitment to equity at every stage of the HIV response. 

New study warns of alarming decline in high blood pressure control in England

A comprehensive new analysis by researchers at Queen Mary University of London warns that England has lost the substantial gains made in high blood pressure prevention, diagnosis and management during the 2000s.

Newham Councillor recruited to landmark study for people from Black backgrounds in UK

Councillor Odoi provided a saliva sample at Queen Mary University of London’s Whitechapel campus, one of many research sites across London. 

Family clues could help predict how we react to antidepressants

A new study from Queen Mary University of London shows that a family’s experience with certain medicines could help doctors predict how future generations will respond to the same drugs. 

Queen Mary collaborates to open new, world-class dental training clinic

Queen Mary University of London, in partnership with the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Council, has announced the opening of a new, cutting-edge academic dental centre in central Barking.

Queen Mary Institute of Dentistry welcomes Iraqi postgraduate students

On Wednesday 5 November 2025, Professor Christopher Tredwin, Dean and Director at the Institute of Dentistry, hosted the Cultural Attaché of the Republic of Iraq in the United Kingdom, Professor Dr. Qusay Kamal Al-Din Al-Ahmadi.  

Queen Mary grants exclusive patent license to Salt Hill to advance novel Treg activation technology

The technology opens the door to developing a wide range of new treatments for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases

Queen Mary University of London launches new spinout Procyon Diagnostics to provide early cancer tests

Procyon is a new cancer diagnostics spinout from Queen Mary University of London which has just completed an oversubscribed pre-seed round. The new company aims to become a leading provider of biomarker technologies for early cancer detection.

Apple-Tree intervention offers hope and support for people facing memory loss

Results from a six-year £5 million study led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, show that a new low intensity group therapy, “APPLE-Tree”, helps people living with memory loss to address dementia risk factors.¹

CtDNA-guided adjuvant therapy with atezolizumab improves survival outcomes in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer

New findings from researchers at Queen Mary University of London, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2025, could improve survival for people with bladder cancer.  

Queen Mary celebrates William Harvey Day

William Harvey Day 2025 saw over 300 attendees gather to celebrate the best of research within the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London alongside our partners, St Bartholomew's Hospital, the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and Barts Charity. 

Hormone replacement therapy may help restore immunity in menopausal women

A study led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London has found that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may help reverse changes in the immune system caused by menopause, potentially booting immune health. The research reveals new evidence that menopause significantly alters women’s immune system, increasing their vulnerability to infections. 

Research shows masks can prevent airborne pollutants from entering bloodstream

Researchers have found the first direct evidence that tiny particles of air pollution stick to our red blood cells, meaning they can travel freely around the body.

Early symptoms of MS same across ethnic and social groups – study

A major UK study has revealed that the early warning signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) - including pain, mood changes, and neurological symptoms such as numbness and tingling – may appear years before diagnosis and affect all communities in similar ways.

New personalised risk score could improve ovarian cancer detection

‘Ovatools’ combines blood test results and age to identify women at higher risk of ovarian cancer for further testing and referral, improving accuracy and patient outcomes cost-effectively.  

Queen Mary trials new approach to drug development for rare diseases

Queen Mary researchers led by Dr. Emanuel Rognoni and Dr. Matthew Caley, with backing from DEBRA Research, have begun a new initiative to accelerate drug development for Epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a rare skin disease with devastating impact. 

Queen Mary students claim top honours in the University of London Gold Medal Competition 2025

Queen Mary students won three of the four awards at the annual competition, which recognises outstanding medical and dental students from London-based universities.

Breakthrough life-extending treatment for advanced bladder cancer available on NHS

The new combination treatment offers hope to thousands of people living with advanced urothelial cancer. The clinical trials, led by Queen Mary University of London’s Professor Tom Powles, showed overall survival rates were almost twice as long with this new treatment compared to the current standard treatment.

KidneyGenAfrica: a pan-African partnership to deliver research and training excellence in genomics of kidney disease

Queen Mary's PHURI is a founder member of a new pan-African partnership which aims to deliver research and training excellence in genomics of kidney disease. In a comment published in Nature Genetics today, the team outlines the urgent need for such a consortium in Africa and the framework they have developed to make it a reality.

How immune cells communicate to fight disease and cancer 

An interdisciplinary team of scientists from the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), the Max Delbrück Center, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technology and Experimental Medicine (HI-STEM) and Queen Mary University of London has developed a technology to decode immune cell communication.  

Offering self-collection kits in routine GP appointments could prevent 1,000 women a year from developing cervical cancer

Home-testing kits for HPV will soon be offered to women in England who are overdue for cervical cancer screening, giving women the option to stay up to date with cervical screening without having to have an internal examination. 

When should preventive mastectomy be offered for women at higher risk of breast cancer

More women at higher risk of breast cancer should be offered a mastectomy, according to researchers at Queen Mary and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

A breath test could help us detect blood cancers

Molecules exhaled in the breath may help detect blood cancer, according to new research from Queen Mary University of London. The findings could enable the development of a blood cancer breathalyser, providing a rapid, low-cost way to detect disease. This tool may be particularly useful for areas with limited access to specialist equipment or expertise. 

Short-term digital mental health interventions reduces depression and anxiety in Ukrainian children and adolescents displaced by war

In a first of its kind randomised controlled trial, researchers found delivering a problem solving digital mental health intervention to young Ukrainian refugees significantly reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety. The findings show that a small, low-cost, scalable intervention delivered in schools through mobile devices may support the mental health of millions of displaced young people.

New drug offers hope of cure for hormone-driven high blood pressure

The commonest single cause of high blood pressure can be reversed with a new class of medicine, according to results from a clinical trial led by Queen Mary University of London.