‘Revoice’ device gives stroke patients their voice back
The device, whose development was led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, uses a combination of ultra-sensitive sensors and artificial intelligence to decode speech signals and emotional cues to allow people with post-stroke speech impairment to communicate naturally.
The Revoice device, worn as a soft and flexible choker, captures the wearer’s heart rate and tiny vibrations from throat muscles, and uses those signals to reconstruct intended words and sentences in real time.
The signals from the device are processed by two AI agents: one reconstructs words from fragments of silently mouthed speech, while the other interprets emotional state and contextual information, such as the time of day or weather conditions, to expand short phrases into complete, expressive sentences.
In a small trial with five patients with dysarthria, a common type of post-stroke speech impairment, the device achieved a word error rate of 4.2% and a sentence error rate of just 2.9%. Unlike existing assistive speech technologies, which often require slow letter-by-letter input, eye tracking or brain implants, the Revoice device provides seamless real-time communication, turning just a few mouthed words into full, fluent sentences.
Their results, reported in the journal Nature Communications, could not only have implications for stroke rehabilitation, but could also help support people with conditions such as Parkinson’s and motor neuron disease. The researchers are currently planning a clinical study in Cambridge for native English-speaking dysarthria patients to assess the viability of the system, which they are hoping to launch this year.
About half of people develop dysarthria, or dysarthria in combination with aphasia, following a stroke. Dysarthria is a physical condition that causes weakness in the muscles of the face, mouth and vocal cords. It affects people in different ways, but often causes an inability to speak clearly, slurred or slow speech, or speaking in short, disjointed bursts rather than full sentences.
“When people have dysarthria following a stroke, it can be extremely frustrating for them, because they know exactly what they want to say, but physically struggle to say it, because the signals between their brain and their throat have been scrambled by the stroke,” said Professor Luigi Occhipinti from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering, who led the research. “That frustration can be profound, not just for the patients, but for their caregivers and families as well.”
Most stroke patients with dysarthria work with a speech therapist to regain their ability to communicate, primarily through repetitive word drills, where patients repeat words or phrases back to the speech therapist. Typical recovery time varies from a few months to a year or more.
“Patients can generally perform the repetitive drills after some practice, but they often struggle with open-ended questions and everyday conversation,” said Occhipinti. “And as many patients do recover most or all of their speech eventually, there is not a need for invasive brain implants, but there is a strong need for speech solutions that are more intuitive and portable.”
Occhipinti and his colleagues developed the Revoice device as such a solution. The sensors in the device capture subtle vibrations from the throat to detect speech signals and decodes emotional states from pulse signals – a simplified but effective proxy. The device also uses an embedded lightweight large language model (LLM) to predict full sentences, so only uses minimal power.
Working with colleagues in China, the researchers carried out a small trial with five stroke patients with dysarthria, as well as ten healthy controls. In the study, participants wore the device and mouthed short phrases. By nodding twice, they could choose to expand those phrases into sentences using the embedded LLM.
In one example, “We go hospital” became “Even though it’s getting a bit late, I’m still feeling uncomfortable. Can we go to the hospital now?” The sensors in the Revoice device inferred that the wearer was feeling frustrated due to their elevated heart rate, and that it was getting late at night. The LLM was able to use this data to expand three mouthed words into a full sentence.
Participants in the study reported a 55% increase in satisfaction, showing that the device could be a promising development to help stroke patients regain their ability to communicate. Although extensive clinical trials will be required before the device can be made widely available, the researchers hope that future versions of the device will include multilingual capabilities, a broader range of emotional states and fully self-contained operation for everyday use.
“This is about giving people their independence back,” said Occhipinti. “Communication is fundamental to dignity and recovery.”
The research was supported in part by the British Council, Haleon, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Reference:
Chenyu Tang, Shuo Gao, Cong Li et al. ‘Wearable intelligent throat enables natural speech in stroke patients with dysarthria.’ Nature Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-68228-9
Researchers have developed a wearable, comfortable and washable device called Revoice that could help people regain the ability to communicate naturally and fluently following a stroke, without the need for invasive brain implants.
Occipinti GroupStudy participant wearing Revoice device
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Submissions open for BBC Short Story Awards 2026
The BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University (NSSA) and BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University (YWA) have opened for submissions.
Di Speirs, judge of the BBC National Short Story Award since its launch, is this year’s Chair of Judges. Joining her on the panel are 2022 NSSA winner Saba Sams, whose highly acclaimed debut novel Gunk was published last year, two former NSSA shortlistees, Tahmima Anam (2016) and Will Eaves (2017), and Costa Best First Novel Award winner, Andrew Micheal Hurley.
Since launching twenty-one years ago, the NSSA has enriched both the careers of writers and the wider literary landscape. Some of Britain’s most renowned writers have won or been shortlisted for the award including Hilary Mantel, Zadie Smith, William Trevor, Jon McGregor, Deborah Levy, Naomi Alderman, Kamila Shamsie, Tessa Hadley, Mark Haddon, Sarah Hall, Helen Oyeyemi, Lucy Caldwell and Rose Tremain.
The NSSA is one of the most prestigious awards for a single short story, with the winning author receiving £15,000, and four further shortlisted authors £600 each. The stories are broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and available to listen to on BBC Sounds and additionally published in an anthology by Comma Press. The 2025 winner of the BBC National Short Story Award was Colwill Brown for ‘You Cannot Thead a Moving Needle,’ a compelling and heartbreaking story exploring the long-term effects of trauma told in South Yorkshire dialect.
The writers shortlisted for the YWA have their stories narrated by an actor and recorded for BBC Sounds and published in an anthology. Previous winners include Lottie Mills, Tabitha Rubens, Elena Barham, Atlas Weyland Eden and Lulu Frisson, with 17-year-old Rebecca Smith from Sheffield winning the Award in 2025 for her story ‘Scouse’s Run.’
Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of University of Cambridge, said: "We are delighted to continue to support the BBC’s national short story awards, which do so much to encourage and nurture brilliant writing talent and creativity from across the country."
Key Award Dates- The deadline for receipt of entries for the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University is 9am (GMT) Monday 16th March 2026.
- The deadline for receipt of entries for the BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University is 9am (GMT) Monday 23rd March 2026.
- The shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University will be announced on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row at 7.15pm on Thursday 10th September 2026. The shortlist for the BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University will be announced on Radio 1’s Life Hacks from 4pm on Sunday 13th September 2026.
- The stories shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from Monday 14th to Friday 18th September 2026 from 3.30pm to 4pm.
- The announcement of the winners of the two awards will be broadcast live from the award ceremony at BBC Broadcasting House on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row from 7.15pm Tuesday 29th September 2026.
For more information, including how to enter, please visit www.bbc.co.uk/nssa for the National Short Story Award and www.bbc.co.uk/ywa for the Young Writers' Award.
The prestigious awards, supported by Cambridge University, are celebrating their 21st anniversary with judges including Saba Sams, David Almond & Lily Fontaine announced.
The National Short Story Awards do so much to encourage and nurture brilliant writing talent and creativity from across the country.Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge
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‘Death by a thousand cuts’: young galaxy ran out of fuel as black hole choked off supplies
The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, used data from the James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), to study a galaxy in the early universe – about three billion years after the Big Bang.
The galaxy, called GS-10578 but nicknamed ‘Pablo’s Galaxy’ after the astronomer who first observed it in detail, is massive for such an early period in the universe: about 200 billion times the mass of our Sun, and most of its stars formed between 12.5 and 11.5 billion years ago.
Pablo’s Galaxy appears to have ‘lived fast and died young’: it stopped forming new stars, despite its relatively young age, due to an almost total absence of the cold gas stars need to form.
The supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s centre appears to be the culprit. But instead of a single cataclysmic event, the galaxy suffered ‘death by a thousand cuts’ as the black hole repeatedly heated the gas in and around the galaxy, preventing it from resupplying the galaxy with fresh gas and slowly strangling star formation. The results are reported in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The researchers spent nearly seven hours observing the galaxy with ALMA, hoping to detect carbon monoxide – a tracer of cold hydrogen gas. Instead, they found nothing.
“What surprised us was how much you can learn by not seeing something,” said co-first author Dr Jan Scholtz from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and Kavli Institute for Cosmology. “Even with one of ALMA’s deepest observations of this kind of galaxy, there was essentially no cold gas left. It points to a slow starvation rather than a single dramatic death blow.”
Meanwhile, JWST spectroscopy revealed powerful winds of neutral gas streaming out of the galaxy’s supermassive black hole at 400 kilometres per second, removing 60 solar masses of gas every year. Those numbers suggest the galaxy’s remaining fuel was depleted in as little as 16 to 220 million years – far faster than the billion-year timescale typical for similar galaxies.
“The galaxy looks like a calm, rotating disc,” said co-first author Dr Francesco D’Eugenio, who is also affiliated with the Kavli Institute for Cosmology. “That tells us it didn’t suffer a major, disruptive merger with another galaxy. Yet it stopped forming stars 400 million years ago, while the black hole is yet again active. So the current black hole activity and the outburst of gas we observed didn’t cause the shutdown; instead, repeated episodes likely kept the fuel from coming back.”
By reconstructing the galaxy’s star-formation history, the researchers concluded that the galaxy evolved with net-zero inflow – meaning fresh gas never refilled its tank. Rather than blowing away all its gas in one go, the black hole seems to have heated or expelled incoming material over multiple cycles, preventing the galaxy from replenishing itself.
“You don’t need a single cataclysm to stop a galaxy forming stars, just keep the fresh fuel from coming in,” said Scholtz.
The findings help explain a growing population of massive, surprisingly old-looking galaxies seen by Webb in the early Universe. “Before Webb, these were unheard of,” said Scholtz. “Now we know they’re more common than we thought – and this starvation effect may be why they live fast and die young.”
The study shows the advantages of combining ALMA’s ultra-deep radio observations with JWST’s infrared spectra. Future work will target more galaxies like this one to see whether slow starvation, rather than violent blowouts, is the norm for galaxies in the early universe.
The Cambridge team was awarded additional 6.5 hours of JWST time using the MIRI instrument. These new observations targeting the warmer hydrogen gas will tell us more about the exact mechanisms that this supermassive black hole is using to stop the galaxy from forming stars.
The research was supported in part by the European Union, the European Research Council, the Royal Society and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA) and NINS (Japan), together with NRC (Canada), NSTC and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The James Webb Space Telescope is an international partnership between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Reference:
Jan Scholtz, Francesco D’Eugenio et al. ‘Measurement of the gas consumption history of a massive quiescent galaxy.’ Nature Astronomy (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02751-z
Astronomers have spotted one of the oldest ‘dead’ galaxies yet identified, and found that a growing supermassive black hole can slowly starve a galaxy rather than tear it apart.
JADES CollaborationPablo's Galaxy
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World’s vast plant knowledge not being fully exploited to tackle biodiversity and climate challenges, warn researchers
In a new report published today in the journal Nature Plants, researchers based at more than 50 botanic gardens and living plant collections warn that a patchwork of incompatible, or even absent, data systems is undermining global science and conservation at a critical moment.
They call for a unified and equitable global data system for living collections to transform how the world’s botanic gardens manage and share information. This would enable them to work together as a ‘meta-collection’ to strengthen scientific research and conservation efforts.
Climate change, invasive species, habitat loss and increased global movement of plant material all require rapid access to high-quality, trusted information about living plants. Achieving this depends on a shared culture of open, accurate, and affordable data - allowing living collections of all sizes, particularly in the Global South where much of the world’s biodiversity is located, to participate on equal terms.
Curator of Cambridge University Botanic Garden Professor Samuel Brockington, who led the work together with researchers at Botanic Gardens Conservation International, said: “The digital infrastructure needed to manage, share, and safeguard living plant diversity wasn’t designed to operate at a global scale.”
He added: “We’ve built an extraordinary global network of living plant collections, but we’re trying to run twenty-first-century conservation with data systems that are fragmented, fragile, and in many cases inaccessible to scientists and conservationists working where most biodiversity originates. We urgently need a shared data system so the people managing collections can work together as a coordinated whole.”
Thaís Hidalgo de Almeida, Curator of Living Collections, Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro and a co-author of the report, said: “Having an integrated and equitable global data ecosystem would greatly help us address urgent conservation needs in biodiversity-rich countries like Brazil, making our work faster, more collaborative, and more effective.”
Scientific research in many areas depends on accurate, well-documented living plant material. As climate change accelerates extinction risk, living plant collections are increasingly used to support species and ecosystem restoration, and climate-adapted urban planting.
Yet many collections remain undigitised, and those that are often rely on incompatible systems shaped by institutional or commercial priorities rather than shared standards. As a result, vital information on threatened species, climate resilience, provenance, and legal status cannot be shared efficiently between institutions or across borders.
“In healthcare, fragmented and proprietary data systems are recognised as a serious risk and the focus of major public investment,” said Brockington. “In plant conservation, we face the same problem, but without treating the data as critical public infrastructure.”
At least 105,634 plant species - representing around one third of all plant species in the world - are grown in the world’s 3,500 botanic gardens. As much as 40% of the world’s plant diversity is at elevated risk of extinction and these living collections form a critical safety net against that.
Organisations like Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) have already established the foundations of a better data system but the researchers say coordinated, considered investment is now needed to create a long-lasting and trusted resource.
Paul Smith, Secretary-General, BGCI and a co-author of the report, said: “In an era of accelerating biodiversity loss, harnessing the full conservation potential of living collections requires a step-change in how collections data are documented, standardised and connected through a global data ecosystem. This publication, supported by more than fifty gardens worldwide sets the stage for achieving that transformation.”
Last year, Brockington announced his previous report showing how living collections metadata could be used to give global insights into the acquisition and conservation of the world’s plant diversity.
References:
Brockington, S.F. et al: ‘High-performance living plant collections require a globally integrated data ecosystem to meet twenty-first-century challenges.’ Nature Plants, Jan 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-02192-6
Cano, A. et al: ‘Insights from a century of data reveal global trends in ex situ living plant collections.’ Nature Ecology and Evolution, Jan 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02633-z
An international group of researchers says that biodiversity conservation and scientific research are not benefiting from the vast knowledge about the world’s plants held by botanic gardens, because of fragmented data systems and a lack of standardisation.
The digital infrastructure needed to manage, share, and safeguard living plant diversity wasn’t designed to operate at a global scale.Samuel BrockingtonLiquidambar styraciflua at Cambridge University Botanic Garden in full autumn colours.
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Targeting the immune system could prevent future heart attacks, clinical trial suggests
Regulatory T cells, a unique type of white blood cell, are important gatekeepers of our immune system, and their discovery was recently awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
In the UK, someone is admitted to hospital every five minutes due to a heart attack. While seven out of ten people will survive a heart attack, many are left with damaged hearts, which can increase risk of further attacks.
People who have had a heart attack typically have high inflammation in major blood vessels and this is a strong indicator that they are at risk of further attacks. Currently there is no approved treatment targeting inflammation in people following heart attacks.
Results published today in Nature Medicine indicate that low-dose treatment with aldesleukin could prevent repeat heart attacks by reducing inflammation. The results arose from two related clinical trials known as IVORY and IVORY-FINALE, largely funded by the Medical Research Council.
Sixty patients who had recently had heart attacks took part in IVORY. Each was either given a low dose of aldesleukin or a placebo. Of these, 55 patients then participated in up to five years of follow-up health monitoring, known as IVORY-FINALE.
Participants had PET scans before and after treatment to assess inflammation in their blood vessels. On average, aldesleukin reduced inflammation by nearly 8%, with the greatest effect seen in blood vessels that initially had the highest levels of inflammation.
After two years follow-up, all patients treated with aldesleukin had no further heart attacks, while 11% of those treated with the placebo did. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings before aldesleukin can be safely approved for widespread treatment of heart attack patients.
Chief Investigator Dr Joseph Cheriyan, consultant clinical pharmacologist at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and an affiliated associate professor at the University of Cambridge, said: “We are delighted that our early phase trial, which tested the very mechanism thought to be a game changer by the Nobel Prize committee, has demonstrated encouraging results which we hope to conclusively answer in larger trials.”
Professor Ziad Mallat, BHF Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Cambridge, who conceived the study, said: “For decades, we have known that inflammation contributes to heart disease, but effective treatments have remained elusive. Harnessing the body’s natural immune regulators to protect the heart represents a paradigm shift in cardiovascular medicine.”
The trial was conducted primarily by Dr Rouchelle Sriranjan-Rothwell, Cardiology Specialist Registrar at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and NIHR clinical lecturer in cardiology, with a dedicated team of nurses.
Dr Stephen Hoole, consultant interventional cardiologist and the principal investigator for the study at Royal Papworth Hospital, as well as affiliated associate professor at the University of Cambridge, said: “Whilst advances in heart attack treatment have improved patient outcomes in recent decades, 1 in 10 patients still die within the first 12 months and new treatments are still needed. Targeting inflammation, that often drives plaque vulnerability, rupture and subsequent cardiovascular events, is an exciting proposition to address this residual risk.”
Professor James Rudd, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Cambridge, who led the imaging aspects of the trial, added: “It is very satisfying to see this type of advanced imaging test being used to identify a new treatment that could help reduce the risk of heart attacks in the future."
The IVORY and IVORY-FINALE trials were supported by the Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, the NIHR Cambridge Clinical Research Facility and the British Heart Foundation.
Reference
Sriranjan-Rothwell, RS et al. Anti-inflammatory therapy with low-dose IL-2 in acute coronary syndromes: a randomized phase 2 trial. Nat Med; 8 Jan 2026; DOI: 10.1038/s41591-025-04090-y
Adapted from a press release by Cambridge University Hospitals and Royal Papworth Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts
Cambridge researchers have discovered that an existing therapy which boosts protective immune cells in people who recently had heart attacks reduces blood vessel inflammation and may reduce the likelihood of future heart attacks.
For decades, we have known that inflammation contributes to heart disease, but effective treatments have remained elusiveZiad MallatAndy_Art (Pixabay)Man clutching his chest (stock image)Mark Andrews, 59One patient to have participated in the IVORY trial is Mark Andrews, 59, from Fulbourn, in Cambridgeshire.
In August 2022 he had a heart attack while cycling home from the gym. Despite being active, healthy and having no history of heart problems, tests at Addenbrooke’s Hospital confirmed that Mark was having a heart attack.
He was rapidly transferred to Royal Papworth Hospital where a stent was fitted to hold open a narrowed artery, restoring blood flow to his heart. While still in hospital, Mark was invited to participate in the IVORY trial.
He said: “I was keen to join the trial. It wasn’t just the possibility that the treatment could stop me from having another heart attack. It was knowing the team would be closely monitoring my health, so they would probably spot it early if anything started to go wrong.”
Three years on from joining the trial, Mark has had no further heart attacks or symptoms. He works an IT specialist and still stays active including regular gym sessions.
He added, “The teams at Royal Papworth and Addenbrooke’s were fantastic. It’s a slow road to recovery and the contact with the teams as well as the specialist cardio rehab really helped to keep me active and get back to normal.”
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The US capture of Venezuela’s Maduro: An international legal analysis
Prof Marc Weller, Professor of International Law in the University’s POLIS department, argues that the US operation removing Maduro constitutes an unlawful use of force, violates Venezuelan sovereignty, and lacks any credible legal justification under the UN Charter.
In a video interview published on the University’s YouTube channel, Weller, a former Director of Cambridge’s Lauterpacht Centre for International Law who has served as Counsel in the International Court of Justice, dismisses US claims that the intervention was a law-enforcement action or a pro-democratic measure.
He points out that the United States has been unusually explicit about its motivation – access to Venezuelan oil – marking a dangerous departure from even the pretence of legality, which risks returning the world to a “19th century” international order when powerful states use force to seize resources.
“The US argues that it can now take over the oil sector in Venezuela, the richest oil deposits in the world,” said Weller. “And rather than having some sort of subterfuge explanation, such as democracy or self-defence, they are saying quite clearly, yes, that's what we are hoping to do. And that is entirely unprecedented.”
Weller argues that such actions erode the international prohibition on the use of force, and warns that accepting US actions undermines Western opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and weakens constraints on nations such as China and India.
“The US operation in relation to Venezuela is clearly internationally unlawful, and it will be very important for the international community to identify it as an unlawful operation and to identify the US as a violator. Otherwise, the credibility of the international ecosystem will be severely undermined,” said Weller.
He describes the response from most European nations and the Security Council as disunited and “disappointing”, with condemnation from Denmark, which feels threatened over Greenland, and Spain, who are close to Latin America, but few others. The UK’s inability to condemn the US incursion as an unlawful act is a “failing”, says Weller.
“A state cannot use force to implement its national interest,” said Weller. “Be it its interest in capturing an alleged drug offender, be it its interest in recapturing oil that allegedly was stolen, or be its interest in wanting to see somebody else in government in a foreign state.
“That is a violation not only of the sovereignty of Venezuela, but it is an offense against international law as a whole.”
Weller outlines concern over Venezuela’s future, warning that leaving existing power structures intact while prioritising oil demands could fuel instability and internal conflict. The US has “only removed the head of the snake, but the snake still wiggles… That government is now taking steps to repress the population to stay in power”.
For Weller, the international prohibition of the use of force is the “greatest civilisational achievement of mankind over the last 100,000 years or so”.
“The discovery that we do not want to live in a world where violence determines the way we have to live, where violence determines who owns our property,” he said.
“But how can we oppose the use of force by the Russian Federation in Ukraine if, at the same time, we accept it once undertaken by the US in other places. The essence of international law is that the same legal rules apply to all.”
The US military operation against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was a fundamental breach of international law with far-reaching consequences for the global legal order, according to a University of Cambridge expert.
Is the U.S. Capture of Maduro Legal? International Legal Analysis Is the U.S. Capture of Maduro Legal? International Legal Analysis Video of Is the U.S. Capture of Maduro Legal? International Legal Analysis Jonny SettleProf Marc Weller
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After more than two years of war, Palestinian children are hungry, denied education and 'like the living dead' – report
More than two years of war in Gaza have left many Palestinian children too weak to learn or play and convinced they will be “killed for being Gazans”, a new report warns.
The Cambridge-led study also includes the first analysis of education in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 7 October, 2023.
The study says there is an urgent need for more international aid for education across Palestine, whether or not the present ceasefire in Gaza holds. In Gaza itself, it adds, conflict has come close to erasing children’s right to education, and with it, their very identity.
The report, which follows a similar study in 2024, provides a thorough analysis of how war in Gaza has devasted children’s lives. Alongside evidence of a shattered school system, it describes how violence, starvation and trauma have eradicated any sense of ‘normal’ childhood.
It describes children collapsing from exhaustion and being told not to play to conserve energy. Until the recent ceasefire, it suggests, many parents and teachers had to choose between maintaining children’s education and survival, with some living on as little as a bowl of lentils a day.
One of the most striking findings is that war has eroded young Palestinians’ hope for the future and belief in the international system. Eyewitnesses spoke of children’s mounting anger and collapsing faith in values such as peace and human rights. “Students are asking about the reality of those rights. They feel they are killed just for being Gazans,” one international organisation staff member told the research team.
Professor Pauline Rose, Director of the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre, University of Cambridge, said: “A year ago we said education was under attack – now children’s lives are on the brink of a complete breakdown.”
“Palestinians have shown extraordinary desire for education during this terrible war but the loss of faith and hope that young people are expressing should be a massive red flag for the international community. We must do more to support them. We cannot wait.”
The study was conducted by researchers at the REAL Centre and the Centre for Lebanese Studies, in partnership with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). It draws on data from UN agencies, charities and NGOs, alongside interviews with aid organisation staff, government officials, teachers and students.
It warns that there is a severe risk of a “lost” generation emerging in Gaza, through a combination of the war’s educational, physical and psychological impacts.
As of 1 October 2025, the UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported 18,069 school students and 780 education staff killed in Gaza and 26,391 students and 3,211 teachers injured. During the fighting, Save the Children estimates that 15 children suffered life-altering injuries every day.
The report found evidence of widespread despair. Teachers recounted parents asking: “Why should I care about education for my kids if I know they will die from famine?” One focus group discussion found that children were “afraid of everything”; another report, cited in the study, described Gazan children feeling “like the living dead”.
The study estimates that children in Gaza will have lost the equivalent of five years’ worth of education due to repeated school closures since 2020, first through COVID-19, and then war. Although temporary and distance learning measures have been implemented by UNRWA and the Palestinian Ministry of Education, these have been impeded by ongoing violence, damaged infrastructure and chronic resource shortages.
The learning loss calculation incorporates the compounding effects of trauma and starvation, using established studies of how these impede learning. As of October 2025, almost 13,000 children in Gaza had been treated for acute malnutrition, 147 of whom died.
Given these same compounding effects, the authors calculate that if schools remain closed until September 2027, many teenagers will be a full decade behind their expected educational level.
The situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was also found to be dire. Here, 891 students and 28 teachers have been killed or wounded by settlers or Israeli forces since October 2023 and hundreds more arrested, often on grounds that the UN Human Rights Office considers “arbitrary”. Schools have been sporadically closed, or in some cases shut down. The authors estimate that children in these areas have lost a minimum of 2.5 years of education.
Across Palestine, teachers described their profession as demoralised and in crisis. One international organisation staff member said teachers were “working day and night” to ensure children continued to receive some sort of education and that many had not had a day’s leave in two years.
The study calculates that the cost of educational recovery across the whole of Palestine could be US$1.38 billion. Yusuf Sayed, Professor of Education, University of Cambridge said: “Teachers and counsellors are displaying sumood (steadfastness) and commitment to preserving Palestinian identity through education, but the scale of need is immense. Thousands of new teachers will be needed to replace those who have been lost or to support a complete learning recovery. Investing in teachers is crucial to rebuilding and restoring education in Palestine.”
With Gaza experiencing near-total economic paralysis, education will depend on foreign aid for the foreseeable future. Despite this, the study found evidence of “donor fatigue”. Of the US$230.3 million requested by OCHA for education in 2025, only 5.7% had been provided by July, equating to about US$9 per child. An estimated US$1,155 per head is needed for full reconstruction.
Dr Maha Shuayb, Director of the Centre for Lebanese Studies, said, “Education and children’s services cannot be an afterthought. They are a vital source of stability and care.”
Amid the gloom, the report identifies some causes for hope. During the ceasefire at the start of 2025, schools reopened with remarkable speed. The Tawjihi exams for high school graduates have also resumed. One teacher described this as “a miracle”.
A University of Cambridge-led analysis of how war has affected education and children’s lives in Gaza calls for an urgent increase in international aid to address both severe learning losses and the conflict's psychological effects.
Children’s lives are on the brink of a complete breakdownProf Pauline RoseUNRWA Image taken by UNRWA in a temporary school in Gaza during 2025.
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Lack of support for people on weight loss drugs leaves them vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies, say experts
In research published today in Obesity Reviews, the team, led by Dr Marie Spreckley from the University of Cambridge, found a lack of robust evidence surrounding nutritional advice and support and the impact this has on factors such as calorie intake, body composition, protein adequacy, and patient experiences.
Weight loss drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide – available under brand names including Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro – mimic the naturally-occurring hormone glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1), released into the blood in response to eating. The drugs suppress appetite, increase a feeling of being full, and reduce food cravings.
These drugs can reduce calorie intake by between 16-39%, making them a powerful tool to help people living with obesity and overweight. However, there has been little research to examine their impact on diet quality, protein intake, or adequacy of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Evidence suggests that lean body mass – including muscle – can constitute up to 40% of total weight lost during treatment.
Dr Adrian Brown, an NIHR Advanced Fellow from the Centre of Obesity Research at UCL, the study’s corresponding author, said: “Obesity management medications work by suppressing appetite, increasing feelings of fullness, and altering eating behaviours, which often leads people to eat significantly less. This can be highly beneficial for individuals living with obesity, as it supports substantial weight loss and improves health outcomes.
“However, without appropriate nutritional guidance and support from healthcare professionals, there is a real risk that reduced food intake could compromise dietary quality, meaning people may not get enough protein, fibre, vitamins, and minerals essential for maintaining overall health.”
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommend semaglutide as an option for weight management for individuals who meet specific criteria, such as a body mass index (BMI) of at least 35.0 kg/m2 and comorbidity (that is, they also have other conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc). But the guidelines stress that when administered through the NHS, treatment is part of a programme alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity in adults.
Most people, however, access the drugs privately. There are currently around 1.5 million people in the UK using GLP-1 drugs, of whom the vast majority – 95% – are thought to access the medication privately, where they are not always provided with the additional nutritional advice and support.
Dr Marie Spreckley, from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, said: “Use of GLP-1 receptor agonist therapies has increased rapidly in a very short period of time, but the nutritional support available to people using these medications has not kept pace. Many people receive little or no structured guidance on diet quality, protein intake, or micronutrient adequacy while experiencing marked appetite suppression.
“If nutritional care is not integrated alongside treatment, there’s a risk of replacing one set of health problems with another, through preventable nutritional deficiencies and largely avoidable loss of muscle mass. This represents a missed opportunity to support long-term health alongside weight loss.”
Inadequate micronutrient intake can put people at risk of a range of conditions, from fatigue and an impaired immune response to hair loss and osteoporosis. Loss of lean mass – in most cases, muscle – increases the risk of weakness, injury and falls.
The researchers identified just 12 studies that looked at nutrition and diet alongside treatment with semaglutide or tirzepatide. Even then, as the trials varied widely in their approaches to dietary advice and nutritional assessment and lacked standardised protocols and reporting, it was difficult to reach robust conclusions to inform the optimal support for people taking weight loss drugs.
Given the widespread – and increasing – use of these medications and the urgency of providing advice to individuals using the drugs, as well as calling for more research the researchers argue that we can turn to what has been learnt from the guidance and support offered alongside weight loss surgery, such as gastric bands, which leads to similar outcomes to GLP-1 drugs.
Dr Cara Ruggiero, co-author from the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, said: “While GLP-1 receptor agonists are increasingly used, there remains a clear gap in structured nutritional guidance. In the interim, we can draw on well-established post-bariatric nutrition principles. Our previous work highlights the importance of prioritising nutrient-dense foods including high-quality protein intake, ideally distributed evenly across meals, to help preserve lean mass during periods of reduced appetite and rapid weight loss.”
While there was insufficient evidence from the studies to recommend strict low-fat diets to complement the weight loss drugs, some observational studies found that people on the treatments often consumed excessive levels of total and saturated fat. This suggests that there might be a need for individualised fat intake guidance, aligned with broad national recommendations, the team says.
Similarly, although meal frequency was not explicitly tested in most trials, they say that strategies such as small, frequent meals may help reduce common side effects such as nausea and improve tolerability, especially in the early stages of treatment.
In calling for more research in this area, the team says it is important that people who use the treatments are consulted to help identify the types of information and wrap-around support that are most meaningful and needed in real-world care. They have launched AMPLIFY (Amplifying Meaningful Perspectives and Lived experiences of Incretin therapy use From diverse communitY voices) to understand how people experience next-generation weight loss therapies when used for weight management.
Dr Spreckley, who is leading AMPLIFY, said: “These medications are transforming obesity care, but we know very little about how they shape people’s daily lives, including changes in appetite, eating patterns, wellbeing, and quality of life. That’s what we’ll explore, working in particular with people from communities historically under-represented in obesity research, to help shape the future of obesity treatment.”
The research was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with additional support from the Medical Research Council and the NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre.
Reference
Spreckly, M et al. Nutrition Strategies for Next-Generation Incretin Therapies: A Systematic Scoping Review of the Current Evidence. Obesity Reviews; 8 Jan 2026; DOI: 10.1111/obr.70079
People prescribed the new generation of weight loss drugs may not receive sufficient nutritional guidance to support safe and sustainable weight loss, leaving them vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies and muscle loss, say experts at UCL and the University of Cambridge.
If nutritional care is not integrated alongside treatment, there’s a risk of replacing one set of health problems with anotherMarie SpreckleyTatsiana Volkava (Getty Images)Close-up of a person administering semaglutide injection for weight loss
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Hot flush treatment has anti-breast cancer activity, study finds
A low dose of megestrol acetate (a synthetic version of progesterone) has already been proven as a treatment to help patients manage hot flushes associated with anti-oestrogen breast cancer therapies, and so could help them continue taking their treatment. The PIONEER trial has now shown that the addition of low dose megestrol to such treatment may also have a direct anti-cancer effect.
Around three-quarters of all breast cancers are ER-positive. This means the tumours are abundant in a molecule known as an oestrogen receptor, ‘feeding’ on the oestrogen circulating in the body. These women are usually offered anti-oestrogens, medication that reduces level of oestrogen and hence deprives the cancer of oestrogen and inhibits its growth. However, reducing oestrogen levels can bring on menopause-like symptoms, including hot flushes, joint and muscle pain, and potential bone loss.
In the PIONEER trial, post-menopausal women with ER-positive cancers were treated with an anti-oestrogen with or without the progesterone mimic, megestrol. After two weeks of treatment, those that received the combination saw a greater decrease in tumour growth rates compared to those treated with an anti-oestrogen only.
Although further work is required in larger patient cohorts and over a longer period of time to confirm the findings, researchers at the University of Cambridge say the trial suggests that megestrol could help improve the lives of thousands of women for whom anti-oestrogen medication causes uncomfortable side-effects and can lead to some women stopping taking the medication.
PIONEER was led by Dr Richard Baird from the Department of Oncology at the University of Cambridge and Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH). He said: “On the whole, anti-oestrogens are very good treatments compared to some chemotherapies. They're gentler and are well tolerated, so patients often take them for many years. But some patients experience side effects that affect their quality of life. If you’re taking something long term, even seemingly relatively minor side effects can have a big impact.”
Some ER-positive breast cancer patients also have high levels of another molecule, known as progesterone receptor (PR). This group of patients also respond better to the anti-oestrogen hormone therapy.
To explain why, Professor Jason Carroll and colleagues at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute used cell cultures and mouse models to show that the hormone progesterone stops ER-positive cancer cells from dividing by indirectly blocking ER. This results in slower growth of the tumour. When mice treated with anti-oestrogen hormone therapy were also given progesterone, the tumours grew even more slowly.
Professor Carroll, who co-leads the Precision Breast Cancer Institute and is a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, said: “These were very promising lab-based results, but we needed to show that this was also the case in patients. There’s been concern that taking hormone replacement therapy – which primarily consists of oestrogen and synthetic versions of progesterone (called progestins) – might encourage tumour growth. Although we no longer think this is the case, there’s still been residual concern around the use of progesterone and progestins in breast cancer.”
To see whether targeting the progesterone receptor in combination with an anti-oestrogen could slow tumour growth in patients, Dr Baird and Professor Carroll designed the PIONEER trial, which tested adding megestrol, a progestin, to the standard anti-oestrogen treatment letrozole.
A total of 198 patients were recruited at ten UK hospitals, including Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, and randomised into one of three groups: one group received only letrozole; one group received letrozole alongside 40mg of megestrol daily; and the third group received letrozole plus a much higher daily dose of megestrol, 160mg. In this ‘window of opportunity’ trial, treatment was given for two weeks prior to surgery to remove the tumour. The percentage of actively growing tumour cells was assessed at the start of the trial and then again before surgery.
In findings published today in Nature Cancer, the team showed that adding megestrol boosted the ability of letrozole to block tumour growth, with comparable effects at both the 40mg and 160mg doses.
Joint first author Dr Rebecca Burrell from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and CUH said: “In the two-week window that we looked at, adding a progestin made the anti-oestrogen treatment more effective at slowing tumour growth. What was particularly pleasing to see was that even the lower dose had the desired effect.
“Although the higher dose of progesterone is licenced as an anti-cancer treatment, over the long term it can have side effects including weight gain and high blood pressure. But just a quarter of the dose was as effective, and this would come with fewer side effects. We know from previous trials that a low dose of progesterone is effective at treating hot flushes for patients on anti-oestrogen therapy. This could reduce the likelihood of patients stopping their medication, and so help improve breast cancer outcomes. Megestrol – the drug we used – is off-patent, making it a cost-effective option.”
Because women in the trial were only given megestrol for a short period of time, follow-up studies will be needed to confirm whether the drug would have the same beneficial effects with reduced side-effects over a longer period of time.
The research was funded by Anticancer Fund, with additional support from Cancer Research UK, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and the National Institute for Health and Care Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre.
Personalised and precise cancer treatments underpin the focus of care at the future Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. The specialist facility planned for the Cambridge Biomedical Campus will bring together world-leading researchers from the University of Cambridge and its Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre and clinical excellence from Addenbrooke’s Hospital under one roof in a brand-new NHS hospital.
Reference
Burrell, RA & Kumar, S, et al. Evaluating progesterone receptor agonist megestrol plus letrozole for women with early-stage estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer: the window-of-opportunity, randomized, phase 2b, PIONEER trial. Nature Cancer; 5 Jan 2026: DOI: 10.1038/s43018-025-01087-x
A drug mimicking the hormone progesterone has anti-cancer activity when used together with conventional anti-oestrogen treatment for women with breast cancer, a new Cambridge-led trial has found.
In the two-week window that we looked at, adding a progestin made the anti-oestrogen treatment more effective at slowing tumour growth. What was particularly pleasing to see was that even the lower dose had the desired effectRebecca BurrellHighwaystarz-Photography (Getty Images)Menopausal woman experiencing a hot flush (stock image)
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New Year Honours 2026 recognise contributions of Cambridge academics and Fellows
Girton College Honorary Fellow Dr Suzy Lishman CBE, and Murray Edwards College Honorary Fellow Meera Syal CBE have been awarded damehoods.
Dr Lishman, a consultant cellular pathologist and medical examiner at Peterborough City Hospital, has been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the medical examiner system and patient safety. A Girton College alumna, she was instrumental in championing the need for a medical examiner service, and is a former President of The Royal College of Pathologists and The Association of Clinical Pathologists.
Actor, writer, and comedian Meera Syal has been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature, drama and charity. Recognised for her outstanding contributions to the arts and her advocacy for diversity and equality, she was admitted as an Honorary Fellow at Murray Edwards College earlier this year. During the ceremony she said: "Thank you for this huge honour and for inviting me into the Murray Edwards family. In an Indian family, any woman over a certain age is called an Auntie, whether you're related or not, and I think Auntie Fellow has a certain ring to it and will printed on my correspondence from now on."
Craig Bennett, Chief Executive Officer of The Wildlife Trusts, Associate Fellow of Homerton College, Senior Associate of The Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and a Policy Fellow of The Centre for Science and Policy, has been awarded an OBE for services to the environment. He is also a Commissioner on the UK Government’s Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission. In 2021 he was included in The Sunday Times Green Power List of the UK’s top 20 environmentalists.
He said: "I’m very grateful for this honour and would like to send sincere thanks to those who nominated me. My career has focused on trying to join the dots between the nature and climate crises and the need for social justice and system change, and how they are all inextricably linked."
Professor of Transplant Surgery, and St Catharine’s College Fellow and Director of Studies, Professor Michael Nicholson has been awarded an OBE for services to kidney transplantation. A Consultant Surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Professor Nicholson’s pioneering research to develop new and innovative approaches to kidney transplantation has had a positive impact on the lives of kidney patients in the UK.
Prof Nicholson is also Director at the NIHR Blood and Transplant Research Unit in Organ Donation and Transplantation, an NIHR Senior Investigator, and a former President of the Surgical Research Society.
He said: “I am delighted to receive an OBE in recognition of my work as a kidney transplant surgeon. Transplantation is very much a team effort, and this honour reflects the dedication and hard work of the many outstanding people that I am fortunate to work with in both academia and the NHS.”
Dr Ayla Humphrey, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and Course Director for the MPhil in Foundations of Clinical Psychology, has been awarded an MBE for services to young people with acquired brain injuries.
A practising clinical psychologist in NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT), Dr Humphrey’s work centres on the early identification of mental health and developmental needs in children and young people, and on improving services for families to meet these needs.
She is the co-founder of the Cambridge Centre for Paediatric Neuropsychological Rehabilitation (CCPNR), the founding director of Cambridge Family Social Enterprise, and an Associate at Clare Hall.
She said: “I am honoured to have been awarded this MBE on behalf of the entire team at the Cambridge Centre for Paediatric Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, CPFT and all the families who work tirelessly to support young people with acquired brain injury. Our work continues to ensure these children receive the support they need.”
Members of the collegiate University have been recognised for their outstanding contributions to society in science, education, medicine, the environment, and the arts.
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