Oxford, United Kingdom - A new Drug Discovery Institute is launched today by Oxford University and Alzheimer’s Research UK to speed up the development of new treatments for Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

Los Angeles, California - Scientists know that Huntington’s disease is caused by an inherited gene mutation. But research has yet to identify the specific mechanisms that trigger the disease and cause it to advance - and there is currently no way to prevent the disease or slow its progression.

Los Angeles, California - For the first time, Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) cancer researchers at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center have traced the origins of colorectal cancer cells, finding important clues to why tumor cells become “good” or “bad,” with the potential of stopping them before they start.

Berkeley, California - With the recent outbreak of measles originating from Disneyland, there's been no shortage of speculation, accusation and recrimination concerning why some people won't vaccinate their children. There's also been some - but only some - more historically and psychologically informed discussion.

Davis, California - Children exposed to tobacco smoke from their parents while in the womb are predisposed to developing diabetes as adults, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, and the Berkeley nonprofit Public Health Institute.

Cambridge, Massachusetts - About 80 percent of studies of U.S. medical interventions use randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the gold standard of laboratory research. But only about 18 percent of studies of U.S. health care delivery use RCTs. That can and should change, suggests Amy Finkelstein, the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT, in a Science piece co-written with MIT researcher Sarah Taubman. If so, they assert, researchers who find new ways of applying RCTs to our medical system will be able to produce compelling answers to pressing questions.