News

Self-repair system in the developing skeleton helps bone recovery from growth disorders

27 November 2025

A new study , just published in Nature Communications, led by researchers in the Roselló-Díez Lab has found a self-repair system inside the developing skeleton that helps bones recover from early growth disorders. The team discovered that when cartilage growth is interrupted, a small population of stromal cells surrounding...

Golden retriever and human behaviours driven by same genes

25 November 2025

Researchers have discovered that genes underlying specific behavioural traits in golden retrievers - from trainability to fear of strangers - also shape human personality and mental health. A study led by Dr Eleanor Raffan , and first author PDN PhD student Enoch Alex, provides a window into canine emotions, revealing why...

European Research Council Grants awarded to PDN scientists

6 November 2025

Two PDN scientists, along with colleagues in the School of Biological Sciences, and other European institutions, have been awarded Synergy Grants from the European Research Council (ERC). This major funding will support interdisciplinary projects in innovative areas of the biological sciences. ERC Synergy Grants foster...

PDN led researchers win Wellcome grant for extreme heat study

3 November 2025

Wellcome have awarded a £1.8 million grant to a Cambridge-led research consortium to study the life-long and intergenerational mental health effects of extreme heat on pregnant women and their children. An international team of researchers from Cambridge, University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia ( UNSW ) and...

Estrogen essential for the maturation of kisspeptin-releasing neurons at puberty

22 October 2025

In mammals, fertility is controlled by the brain via the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal (HPG) axis. Before puberty, HPG hormone secretion is suppressed or low. Just before puberty, sex steroid hormones released from the gonads increase and act on the hypothalamus and pituitary. What regulates the activation of the HPG axis...

'Good' gut bacteria boosts placenta for a healthy pregnancy

7 October 2025

When Bifidobacterium breve, widely available in probiotic drinks, is present in the gut of pregnant females it boosts the placenta’s production of pregnancy hormones to reduce the likelihood of complications like preeclampsia and miscarriage. Research led by PDN has found the first clear evidence that the ‘good’ gut...

Bob Edwards giving a talk at a Berlin symposium

Cambridge marks centenary of IVF pioneer Sir Robert Edwards birth

29 September 2025

Celebrations at the University of Cambridge honour the life, work and legacy of Sir Robert Edwards, whose work revolutionised fertility treatment through the invention of in vitro fertilisation. A Nobel prize-winner and one of the most influential scientists of the twentieth century, Edwards spent much of his career in the...

Seminar: Hippocampal enigmas: Memory, Alzheimer's and AI

24 September 2025

wednesday_1st_october_2025.png Professor Mayank Mehta (UCLA, California) will give a special seminar at 11am on Wednesday 1 st October 2025, in the Physiology Building's Hodgkin-Huxley seminar room. All are welcome. Seminar title: Hippocampal enigmas: Memory, Alzheimer's and AI Abstract: After a century of fantastic...

Distinct dorsolateral prefrontal pathways regulate motivation and anxiety

22 August 2025

New findings from the Roberts lab have identified a specific brain circuit in primates that, when disrupted, reduces motivation and increases anxiety — symptoms closely linked to depression. The findings, published in Science , offer new insights into how therapies like transcranial magnetic brain stimulation (TMS) and...

Congratulations to Team OccuSense

15 August 2025

Congratulations to Enoch Alex, a PhD student member of the Raffan Lab , who was a key member of a team that won the Market Matchmakers Award at the recent Crick x Cambridge Innovation Challenge, hosted at the Francis Crick Institute. The high-profile event challenges participants to transform scientific discoveries into...

Self-repair system in the developing skeleton helps bone recovery from growth disorders

Golden retriever and human behaviours driven by same genes

European Research Council Grants awarded to PDN scientists

PDN led researchers win Wellcome grant for extreme heat study

Estrogen essential for the maturation of kisspeptin-releasing neurons at puberty

'Good' gut bacteria boosts placenta for a healthy pregnancy

Cambridge marks centenary of IVF pioneer Sir Robert Edwards birth

Seminar: Hippocampal enigmas: Memory, Alzheimer's and AI

Distinct dorsolateral prefrontal pathways regulate motivation and anxiety

Congratulations to Team OccuSense

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