Health apps could be better tailored to the individual needs of patients. A new statistical technique from the field of machine learning is now making it possible to predict the success of smartphone-based interventions more accurately. These are the findings of an international research team led by the University of Basel and reported in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
On Friday, 29 November 2019, the University of Basel celebrated its Dies Academicus for the 559th time. The seven new honorary doctors include oboist and composer Heinz Holliger and Zurich AIDS physician Ruedi Lüthy. Other honorary doctorates went to pastor Martin Stingelin, entrepreneur Klaus Endress and three researchers from the US: lawyer Bryan A. Stevenson, cell biologist Randy W. Schekman and psychologist Jerome R. Busemeyer.
In a general benefit-cost analysis of medical treatments, priority should be given to measures for those who are at the end of their life and those who are seriously ill. These are the recommendations made in a study by health economist Professor Stefan Felder from the University of Basel, published in the Journal of Health Economics.
When pathogens invade the cells, our body combats them using various methods. Researchers at the University of Basel’s Biozentrum have now been able to show how a cellular pump keeps such invading pathogens in check. This pump causes a magnesium shortage, which in turn restricts bacterial growth.
Artidis, which is a spin off from the University of Basel, announces its successful integration in the international Medical Device Cohort 2019 at the Texas Medical Center’s Innovation Institute. Artidis is developing a medical device based on nanotechnology for clinical application in cancer diagnostics.
Noise is not the same as noise – and even a quiet environment does not have the same effect as white noise. With a background of continuous white noise, hearing pure sounds becomes even more precise, as researchers from the University of Basel have shown in a study in Cell Reports. Their findings could be applied to the further development of cochlear implants.
The Czech-Israeli mathematician Assaf Naor has been awarded the international Ostrowski Prize in Higher Mathematics 2019. The Ostrowski Prize is worth 100,000 Swiss Francs and named after Alexander M. Ostrowski, a professor of mathematics who taught at the University of Basel.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) mainly affects children, with the prognosis often being poor despite several decades of research into more effective treatments. A new study led by researchers from the University of Basel and from Gustave Roussy Institute, Paris, explains why some forms of leukemia develop only in infants. The study also reveals potential new therapeutic targets, as the researchers report in the journal Cancer Discovery.
Prof. Dr. Ivan Dokmanić, who recently joined the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, has received an ERC Starting Grant from the 2019 Call. For his groundbreaking research project in the field of machine learning, the computer scientist will be granted around two million euros over five years from the European Research Council.
