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How monitoring wastewater from international flights can serve as an early warning system for the next pandemic

Monitoring wastewater from international flights for pathogens would be a useful way to get ahead of the next pandemic or even a biological threat from abroad, scientists say.

Researchers from Northeastern University show how such an early warning system could work in a paper published Feb. 12 in Nature Medicine.

The article on pandemic monitoring says networks of up to 20 “strategically placed” airport sentinel sites in locations including New York, London and Dubai would provide timely situational awareness of respiratory disease outbreaks and shorten the time of first detection of their international dissemination.

“The point is to set up a monitoring system that tells us about the potential introduction of pathogens at a very early stage of an outbreak in the rest of the world,” says Alessandro Vespignani, director of Northeastern’s Network Science Institute and Sternberg Family Distinguished Professor, one of the paper’s co-authors.

Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher via AP
February 12, 2025

Does diet outweigh genetics when it comes to Alzheimer’s risk? Northeastern research offers insight

Genes play a role in whether someone gets Alzheimer’s, but new research from Northeastern University psychology and bioengineering professor Craig Ferris found that diet may have a greater impact on if someone gets this disease.

Ferris was part of a study published in BMC Neuroscience that looked at male and female rats, some of which had genes that can increase the risk for Alzheimer’s. The animals were put on high-fat, high-sugar diets to see which ones had the worst cardiovascular function by the end.

Despite females being at a higher risk for Alzheimer’s, the researchers found that male rats without a genetic risk for the disease showed the most deficits when it came to cognitive performance.

Read more from Northeastern Global News.

Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

February 12, 2025

Could allergy-free peanuts be the future? This Northeastern researcher wants to find out

One in 10 adults and one in 13 children have food allergies, enough for the Food Allergy Research & Education association to declare an epidemic.

Among the most common and proliferating allergies are reactions to peanuts. The allergy association says data from insurance claims found the annual incidence of peanut allergy in 1-year-olds tripled between 2001 and 2017, and reactions are also increasing in adults.

As common as this potentially life-threatening allergy is, little is known what bodily mechanisms and food interactions are responsible for the allergic reactions, says Jing-Ke Weng, a Northeastern University expert in plant chemistry.

Weng and collaborator Dr. Seth Rakoff-Nahoum at Boston Children’s Hospital are looking to unlock this mystery with the help of a recently awarded Pew Innovation Fund grant they say could lay the foundation for therapies to fight food allergies.

Read more from Northeastern Global News.

Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

February 12, 2025

How a Northeastern co-op’s research is advancing early detection of psychosis

One in five people at high clinical risk will experience psychosis in their life. But that doesn’t mean it is inevitable or lifelong, according to Northeastern University student  TaKaya McFarland.

Early intervention can prevent repeat episodes and even stop psychosis before it begins, she says.

Understanding and addressing psychosis is at the heart of TaKaya McFarland’s research. A psychology major at Northeastern, McFarland is working in a clinical research position at Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a position that grew out of a co-op she completed in fall 2023.

“They give us a lot of opportunities to learn about research, participate in data collection and work on our own independent studies,” says McFarland, whose goals include providing mental health care in a community setting.

Read more from Northeastern Global News. 

Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

February 05, 2025

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