These discoveries reflect progress across three major innovation efforts at Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic clinicians and scientists are working together to develop tools to predict and intercept biological processes before they evolve into disease or progress into complex, hard-to-treat conditions through the Precure initiative. They are advancing new cures for end-organ failure beyond traditional transplantation as part of the Genesis initiative. They are also uniting clinical insight with cutting-edge engineering to deliver novel neurological diagnostics and therapies through the Bioelectronics Neuromodulation Innovation to Cure (BIONIC) initiative. 
 

1. 'Virtual clinical trials' may predict success of heart failure drugs 

Mayo Clinic researchers have created "virtual clinical trials" that advance the discovery of therapies while reducing time, cost and the risk of failed studies by combining advanced computer modeling with real-world patient data as part of the Precure and Genesis initiatives. Through one virtual clinical trial, they have developed a new way to predict whether existing drugs could be repurposed to treat heart failure, one of the world's most pressing health challenges. 

"Clinical trials will always remain essential," says Cui Tao, Ph.D., the Nancy Peretsman and Robert Scully Chair of Artificial Intelligence and Informatics and vice president of Mayo Clinic Platform Informatics. "But this innovation demonstrates how AI can make research more efficient, affordable and broadly accessible. Integrating trial emulation, simulation, synthetic trials and biomedical knowledge modeling opens the door to a new paradigm in translational science." 

2. New discovery may unlock regenerative therapies for lung disease

Mayo Clinic researchers have uncovered the molecular "switch" that directs a small but powerful set of cells that choose whether to repair tissue or fight infection, a discovery that could inform regenerative therapies for chronic lung diseases, which is part of Mayo Clinic's Genesis initiative.
 
"We were surprised to find that these specialized cells cannot do both jobs at once," says Douglas Brownfield, Ph.D., senior author of the study. "Some commit to rebuilding, while others focus on defense. That division of labor is essential — and by uncovering the switch that controls it, we can start thinking about how to restore balance when it breaks down in disease." 

3. Stem cells may offer new hope for end-stage kidney disease treatment

Mayo Clinic researchers found that injecting patients' own stem cells from fat cells into the vein before hemodialysis, a treatment for end-stage kidney disease, often helped prevent inflammation and vein narrowing. This could help millions of people tolerate dialysis longer, extending the time before they require a kidney transplant as part of the Mayo Clinic Genesis initiative. 

"This approach has the potential to improve outcomes for millions of patients with kidney failure, reduce healthcare costs and inform new clinical guidelines for dialysis access management if validated in larger clinical trials," says Sanjay Misra, M.D., a Mayo Clinic interventional radiologist. 

4. Mayo Clinic physicians map patients' brain waves to personalize epilepsy treatment

Using detailed maps of each patient's unique brain wave patterns, Mayo Clinic physicians can now pinpoint where stimulation is most effective, moving beyond the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to epilepsy treatment. This research is part of the BIONIC initiative.

"The long-term goal is to quiet the seizure network, so it is eventually forgotten. Reorganizing the neuronal network could move us beyond controlling seizures to actually curing epilepsy," says Nick Gregg, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurologist. 

5. New genetic biomarker flags aggressive brain tumors

Mayo Clinic researchers found when meningiomas — the most common type of brain tumor — show activity in a gene called telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), it tends to recur more quickly, even if it looks low grade under the microscope. This is part of the Mayo Clinic Precure initiative. 

"High TERT expression is strongly linked to faster disease progression," says Gelareh Zadeh, M.D., Ph.D., a neurosurgeon at Mayo Clinic and senior author of the study. "This makes it a promising new biomarker for identifying patients who may be at greater risk of developing aggressive disease."

6. Mayo Clinic researchers discover the immune system's 'fountain of youth'

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that some older people maintain "immune youth" – a new term coined by Mayo researchers to explain a young immune system in someone over age 60.  
 
"We observed that these patients have very young immune systems despite being in their 60s and 70s. But the price they pay for that is autoimmunity," says Cornelia Weyand, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic rheumatologist and clinician-scientist. This is part of the Mayo Clinic Precure initiative.

7. Mayo Clinic tools predict, identify and diagnose Alzheimer's, dementia quicker

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed new tools to estimate a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease years before symptoms appear as part of the Precure initiative and to help clinicians identify brain activity patterns linked to nine types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, using one scan. They also confirmed the accuracy of an FDA-approved blood test that can be used at outpatient memory clinics to diagnose the disease in patients with a range of cognitive impairment. 

"Every patient who walks into my clinic carries a unique story shaped by the brain's complexity," says David T. Jones, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurologist. "That complexity drew me to neurology and continues to drive my commitment to clearer answers."

8. Mayo Clinic research improves dense breast cancer screening and early detection

Nearly half of all women in the U.S. have dense breast tissue, which can make detecting breast cancer difficult with a mammogram. Mayo Clinic researchers found that adding another test, called molecular breast imaging, or MBI, to a 3D mammogram, improved the ability to find cancer in dense tissue by more than double. 
 
"Our research focuses on detecting the most lethal cancers, which can include invasive tumors that grow quickly. If these are detected earlier, we likely can save more lives," says Carrie Hruska, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic professor of medical physics and lead author of the study. 

9. Mayo Clinic researchers find 'sugar coating' cells can protect those typically destroyed in type 1 diabetes

After identifying a sugar molecule that cancer cells use on their surfaces to hide from the immune system, Mayo Clinic researchers have found the same molecule may eventually help in the treatment of type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes. 

"A goal would be to provide transplantable cells without the need for immunosuppression," says Virginia Shapiro, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic immunology researcher. "Though we're still in the early stages, this study may be one step toward improving care."

10. New study calculates autoimmune disease prevalence

Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators have described — for the first time — the prevalence of autoimmune diseases in the U.S. Their research reports that about 15 million people are estimated to have one or more of 105 autoimmune diseases. The study also found that autoimmune diseases occur most often in women, and it identified the top autoimmune diseases by prevalence, sex and age. 
 
"Knowing the number of patients with an autoimmune disease in the U.S. is critical to assess whether these diseases are increasing or decreasing over time and with treatment," says DeLisa Fairweather, Ph.D., vice-chair of translational research for the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Florida and corresponding author of the study.

### 

About Mayo Clinic 
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news. 

Media contact: 

• Julie Ferris-Tillman, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post A Year of Discovery: 10 Mayo Clinic research breakthroughs moving medicine forward  appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Early in his medical training, Sarosh Irani, B.M., B.Ch., D.Phil., met a patient who would change the course of his career. The woman, in her mid-30s, arrived at the hospital confused, trembling and wracked by seizures. She was losing her memory and her ability to walk. Yet unlike many with such severe neurological decline, she recovered completely.

Her turnaround came after the clinical team discovered a particular antibody in her blood — proof that her immune system had attacked her brain. When they suppressed that immune response, her symptoms disappeared. The discovery not only changed that woman's life but also opened a window into a new, potentially reversible, facet of medicine — one in which the immune system itself could explain devastating brain diseases.

That revelation propelled Dr. Irani into a field that bridges neurology and immunology, one that continues to expand today from his laboratory at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

A burgeoning field

Dr. Irani's first passion was psychiatry. "I wanted to understand disorders of the mind," he recalls. But he found that the field lacked the molecular footholds that could make its mysteries scientifically tractable. “You couldn't put your hands on the biology,” he says. "There were too many inferences and not enough mechanisms."

He turned to neurology just as scientists were discovering that neurological conditions could, in fact, be autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Irani joined, and subsequently led, the University of Oxford's autoimmune neurology lab, where he helped identify several antibodies that define distinct syndromes — including the antibodies LGI1 and CASPR2, now standard diagnostic markers for treatable forms of various autoimmune neurological conditions.

"What was once a medical curiosity has become a thriving field," says Dr. Irani, who came to Mayo Clinic in 2023. "Twenty years ago, there were no known antibodies affecting the brain. Now we know 20 or 30 such antibodies, and each one represents a potential cure."

Toward Precure

For Irani, these discoveries connect directly to Mayo Clinic's Precure initiative, which aims to predict and prevent disease before symptoms appear. "There are very few examples in medicine where we have a tractable handle on what's causing the disease," he explains. "Here we know the antibodies cause the disease. So the question is simple: How and why are they made? If we can work out causation, we can get close to pre-cure."

His lab is tackling that question through two complementary approaches: exploring patients' genetic predispositions and studying their immune cells. One variant, for example — in an HLA gene involved in presenting proteins to the immune system — appears in more than 90 percent of patients with a particular autoimmune neurological condition.

But genes alone do not tell the whole story. Irani suspects that environmental triggers, such as infections or even medications, act as the final push. "It's likely a multi-hit process," he says. "You need the gene, a misbehaving immune cell and an environmental spark."

His lab is studying patients' own immune cells to trace where this autoimmune process begins. Evidence increasingly points to the periphery, not the brain, as the starting point. That idea is supported by emerging research on the brain's lymphatic drainage system, which helps clear waste and immune molecules.

Early clues to autoimmunity

Recently, Dr. Irani and colleagues showed that biomarkers of neurodegeneration can be detected in the lymph nodes of the neck. These lymph nodes drain byproducts and proteins resulting from brain activity via a network of tiny lymphatic vessels.

Using ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration — a quick sampling technique similar to drawing blood — the team measured several proteins including amyloid beta and tau, proteins that build up in Alzheimer's disease, as well as other markers of brain cell health. They found that almost all of these proteins were found in much higher quantities in the lymph nodes than in the blood, especially one called phosphorylated tau (pTau181), which was 266 times more concentrated.

Strikingly, pTau181 levels in lymph nodes decreased with age, suggesting that the brain's ability to clear toxic proteins through lymphatic drainage declines over time — potentially contributing to diseases like Alzheimer's. The discovery also challenges one of medicine's oldest assumptions: that the brain is "immune-privileged" and largely sealed off from the body's immune system.

"This is the first direct evidence that brain proteins accumulate in cervical lymph nodes in living people," says Dr. Irani. "It opens up a minimally invasive way to study how the brain clears waste — and how that process falters with age."

Lymph node aspiration is far less invasive than spinal taps, yet it could offer powerful insight into brain health, aging, and disease progression.

Brain on fire

Dr. Irani's research has come full circle with a new study in The Lancet Psychiatry. The research focuses on patients with autoimmune encephalitis — a condition popularized by the book and movie "Brain on Fire"— whose illnesses often first appear to be psychiatric. The work shows that these patients can be distinguished from others by a simple scoring system based on how rapidly symptoms appear and how they evolve.

"It's a mixture of symptoms — depression, anxiety, psychosis, sleep and eating disturbances — all unfolding over days," he says. "If clinicians recognize that pattern early, we can treat it before irreversible brain injury occurs."

Current therapies for autoimmune encephalitis rely on broad immunosuppression — powerful drugs that quiet the entire immune system and leave patients vulnerable to infection. Dr. Irani envisions a more refined approach that involves the selective silencing of only the harmful immune cells while preserving the rest.

"We want to pick off just the bits causing trouble," he says. "If we can identify exactly what the immune system is attacking, we can teach it tolerance only to that target."

That vision, he believes, could extend to other conditions where the immune system plays a role, potentially informing treatments for dementia, cancer and even common psychiatric disorders. "We're trying to translate these observations to more widespread diseases," he says. "There's enormous potential."

The post Mayo Clinic researcher redefines the brain’s immune connection appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — At Mayo Clinic, cardiologists Peter Noseworthy, M.D., and John Giudicessi, M.D., Ph.D., are uncovering the earliest signs of a genetic heart condition that often strikes without warning. Their work shows that early detection, and even prevention, may be possible long before symptoms appear. 

The condition, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, weakens the molecules that hold heart cells together. As those bonds deteriorate, healthy muscle is replaced with scar tissue and fat, leaving the heart weaker.  

The disease often advances silently. Sometimes the first sign is when a person suddenly collapses during exercise. For many, a diagnosis comes only after the heart is already damaged. Detecting it earlier could spare patients from heart failure, the need for a transplant or sudden death. 

"We spend so much time managing the consequences of this disease — ablations, transplants, repeated hospitalizations. It's a much better paradigm to ask: What can we do to prevent this in the first place?" 

"We spend so much time managing the consequences of this disease — ablations, transplants, repeated hospitalizations," Dr. Noseworthy says. "It's a much better paradigm to ask: What can we do to prevent this in the first place?" 

Leading a new era of heart care 

Dr. Noseworthy leads Mayo Clinic's Division of Heart Rhythm Services, where he cares for patients with heart rhythm disorders and helps guide innovation strategies across the institution. Much of his research centers on using digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect problems earlier and improve patient care. 

Dr. Giudicessi, a genetic cardiologist, focuses on inherited heart rhythm conditions and how genetic changes influence who develops disease. His work bridges patient care and laboratory research, including first-in-human clinical trials that explore the potential of gene therapy. 

Together, they turned to two powerful data sources: the genetic code that shapes the heart and the electrical signals that guide its rhythm. 

"So much of medicine is reactionary — we wait for something bad to happen. This work is ushering in the tools to push against disease and to identify it early." 

Pinpointing risk in genes and rhythm  

Their search for answers started in Mayo Clinic's new Research Data Atlas, which unites decades of genetic, clinical and biospecimen data. Within it, they identified people carrying disease-causing mutations in PKP2, the gene most often linked to this disease.  

About 1 in 2,000 people carry a mutation in the PKP2 gene, but many never develop the disease. The challenge is knowing who will — and stepping in early enough to change the outcome. That question drives Dr. Giudicessi's work. 

"So much of medicine is reactionary — we wait for something bad to happen," Dr. Giudicessi says. "This work is ushering in the tools to push against disease and to identify it early." 

To spot those early rhythm changes, the team drew on an AI model developed by Mayo Clinic cardiologist Ammar Killu, M.B.B.S., and his team.  

Analyzing electrocardiograms from patients with a PKP2 mutation, the AI helped the researchers identify faint patterns that marked the first signs of disease.  

"This research shows how AI can help us identify really subtle changes that may facilitate earlier diagnosis and then allow us to move beyond individual cases to understand patterns across populations."

"This research shows how AI can help us identify really subtle changes that may facilitate earlier diagnosis and then allow us to move beyond individual cases to understand patterns across populations," Dr. Killu says. "It's a powerful example of how we can scale early detection to reach more patients before disease takes hold." 

Those insights led to a next step. Guided by the AI findings, Dr. Noseworthy and Dr. Giudicessi provided smartwatches to people who were showing early signs of disease. The devices help track daily activity levels — important data, since strenuous exercise can accelerate the disease, while even small adjustments may help slow it. 

The researchers are also exploring gene therapy for PKP2. Still in early testing, the approach may one day restore the missing gene and keep the disease from advancing. 

Building medicine's next chapter 

Their work is part of a larger shift at Mayo Clinic: predicting and preventing disease before it takes hold. That vision drives Precure, an initiative to intercept serious conditions early enough to alter their course. With tools like the Research Data Atlas, investigators can study health patterns across large populations, detect risk sooner and potentially guide people to care before disease advances. 

For Dr. Noseworthy, Dr. Giudicessi and Dr. Killu, the vision is bigger than a single study. They are helping build the infrastructure to move medicine earlier in the course of disease, where illness can be intercepted at scale. 

###

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.  

Media contact:

• Terri Malloy, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Mayo Clinic researchers use AI and genetics to identify early signs of a rare, life-threatening heart condition appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

At the first U.S. 'Undiagnosed Hackathon,' scientists from around the world will team up at Mayo Clinic to solve unsolved medical mysteries. 

Young Julian Limon clutches his blanket wherever he goes, a source of comfort during hospital stays, procedures and tests. At 17 months, he has not yet reached walking or talking milestones. His brittle hair and unexplained neurological symptoms compound his challenges. He has endured pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses, and his weak immune system leaves him vulnerable. Despite extensive evaluations and genetic testing, Julian's condition remains a mystery.

This September, Julian's family will travel to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to take part in the Undiagnosed Hackathon, a global effort to solve rare diseases that have long gone unexplained. 

The Hackathon was inspired by Helene and Mikk Cederroth, founders of the Wilhelm Foundation, who lost two young sons and a daughter to an undiagnosed condition. Their grief became a call to action. Over the past two decades, they've built a global network of scientists, clinicians and advocates committed to finding answers. 

An unprecedented collaboration

Over three days at Mayo Clinic, more than 125 scientists, clinicians and AI experts will gather for the first U.S.-based Undiagnosed Hackathon. They will come from 30 countries across six continents. Their goal: to uncover answers for Julian and 28 others whose conditions have eluded diagnosis. 

Having families in person at the Hackathon allows researchers to observe traits and ask questions that data alone can't capture. 

"If you put a molecular biologist next to a bioinformatician next to a clinician who have come from different parts of the world, each will bring a unique lens to the same investigation shaped by their training and lived experience," Dr. Klee says. "That's how breakthroughs happen." 

Unlocking hidden clues with advanced tools 

Among the international team are Mayo Clinic's Dr. Cherisse Marcou, assistant professor and co-director of the Clinical Genomics laboratory, and Dr. Eric Klee, the Everett J. and Jane M. Hauck Midwest Associate Director of Research and Innovation. After participating in last year’s Undiagnosed Hackathon in the Netherlands, they return with momentum to co-lead this year’s event. 

Working with global colleagues, they’ll explore DNA, RNA and other signals using tools that reveal what standard tests can miss. This includes examining long DNA stretches, studying RNA to see which genes are active and identifying chemical changes that turn genes on or off — a process called methylation.

This complex approach, known as omics, combines layers of biological information to better understand how the body works and why disease occurs. Bringing multiple omics together is more like a moving picture than a still photo, where hidden patterns emerge. Artificial intelligence will help scientists integrate these layers and interpret the results.

Breaking silos to spark breakthroughs 

"I come from a place where many families are not afforded the access to the latest and greatest diagnostic testing options in their diagnostic journey," Dr. Marcou says. "To be part of something that brings hope worldwide is deeply personal."

The idea behind the Hackathon is bringing people together who might not otherwise work side by side. 

"If you put a molecular biologist next to a bioinformatician next to a clinician who have come from different parts of the world, each will bring a unique lens to the same investigation shaped by their training and lived experience," Dr. Klee says. "That's how breakthroughs happen." 

Fueled by passion, and personal connection 

Now in its third year, the Hackathon has become a global engine for rare disease discovery. The Cederroths have co-led every one. 

"They've poured their lives into this mission," Dr. Marcou says. "Their energy is transformative. You leave the Hackathon changed." 

For Dr. Marcou, the work is personal. She grew up in the Bahamas, where access to advanced diagnostics is limited. 

"I come from a place where many families are not afforded the access to the latest and greatest diagnostic testing options in their diagnostic journey," she says. "To be part of something that brings hope worldwide is deeply personal." 

Dr. Marcou clinically interprets and decodes genomic data to deliver real-time insights for patients every day and has been involved in the development of AI tools at Mayo Clinic to advance this work. Dr. Klee, a leader in rare disease research, is building the Research Data Atlas to accelerate discoveries by unifying Mayo Clinic's extensive research data. 

Hope for families, and ripple effects worldwide

The Hackathon's goal is ambitious: solve as many cases as possible. Last year, 10 of 26 participants received diagnoses, with promising leads for nine more. One person's diagnosis can also unlock recognition, testing and potential treatment options for others with the same condition. 

"Our ultimate goal is to find answers for all our participants. That said, if we can find an answer for even one person, that would be amazing. If we find answers for 10 or 12 participants, that would be incredible," Dr. Klee says. "And for the participants where a clear answer eludes us, we hope to find strong leads that guide future research and testing for others." 

The Hackathon doesn't end when the event does. The findings must be clinically confirmed before they become diagnoses. For those who receive answers, the next goal is treatment, if one exists. For cases that remain unsolved, the work continues. 

It's also a powerful exchange of knowledge. Collaborators from places with fewer resources gain exposure to advanced techniques, while all experts have the opportunity to learn new approaches from those working alongside them. 

"It's peer-to-peer learning at its best," Dr. Marcou says. "We're all better for it." 

Julian's diagnostic journey

Even after long days of doctor visits and tests, Julian still breaks into bright smiles. He is working with physical therapists to build strength as his family continues to hope for a diagnosis. 

"I feel incredibly grateful that we'll have so many experts looking closely at Julian," says his mother, Jasmine Limon. "I just want to know what we're facing so we can give him the best possible care." 

At its heart, the Hackathon is where some of the world's brightest minds gather around families like Julian's, determined to give all they can and to open new doors in medicine. 

The post When diagnosis hits a wall, this global hackathon opens new doors  appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that helps clinicians identify brain activity patterns linked to nine types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, using a single, widely available scan — a transformative advance in early, accurate diagnosis. 

The tool, StateViewer, helped researchers identify the dementia type in 88% of cases, according to research published online on June 27, 2025, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. It also enabled clinicians to interpret brain scans nearly twice as fast and with up to three times greater accuracy than standard workflows. Researchers trained and tested the AI on more than 3,600 scans, including images from patients with dementia and people without cognitive impairment. 

This innovation addresses a core challenge in dementia care: identifying the disease early and precisely, even when multiple conditions are present. As new treatments emerge, timely diagnosis helps match patients with the most appropriate care when it can have the greatest impact. The tool could bring advanced diagnostic support to clinics that lack neurology expertise. 

The rising toll of dementia 

Dementia affects more than 55 million people worldwide, with nearly 10 million new cases each year. Alzheimer's disease, the most common form, is now the fifth-leading cause of death globally. Diagnosing dementia typically requires cognitive tests, blood draws, imaging, clinical interviews and specialist referrals. Even with extensive testing, distinguishing conditions such as Alzheimer's, Lewy body dementia and frontotemporal dementia remains challenging, including for highly experienced specialists. 

StateViewer was developed under the direction of David Jones, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurologist and director of the Mayo Clinic Neurology Artificial Intelligence Program.  

"Every patient who walks into my clinic carries a unique story shaped by the brain's complexity," Dr. Jones says. "That complexity drew me to neurology and continues to drive my commitment to clearer answers. StateViewer reflects that commitment — a step toward earlier understanding, more precise treatment and, one day, changing the course of these diseases." 

To bring that vision to life, Dr. Jones worked alongside Leland Barnard, Ph.D., a data scientist who leads the AI engineering behind StateViewer. 

"As we were designing StateViewer, we never lost sight of the fact that behind every data point and brain scan was a person facing a difficult diagnosis and urgent questions," Dr. Barnard says. "Seeing how this tool could assist physicians with real-time, precise insights and guidance highlights the potential of machine learning for clinical medicine." 

Turning brain patterns into clinical insight 

The tool analyzes a fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan, which shows how the brain uses glucose for energy. It then compares the scan to a large database of scans from people with confirmed dementia diagnoses and identifies patterns that match specific types, or combinations, of dementia. 

Alzheimer's typically affects memory and processing regions, Lewy body dementia involves areas tied to attention and movement, and frontotemporal dementia alters regions responsible for language and behavior. StateViewer displays these patterns through color-coded brain maps that highlight key areas of brain activity, giving all clinicians, even those without neurology training, a visual explanation of what the AI sees and how it supports the diagnosis. 

Mayo Clinic researchers plan to expand the tool's use and will continue evaluating its performance in a variety of clinical settings. 

For a complete list of authors, disclosures and funding, review the study.

### 

About Mayo Clinic 
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news. 

Media contact:  

• Tia Ford, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu 

The post Mayo Clinic’s AI tool identifies 9 dementia types, including Alzheimer’s, with one scan  appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Editor's note: May is National Cancer Research Month, and May 20 is Clinical Trials Day.

A cancer diagnosis is an emotional experience. Learning that you have cancer can create feelings of hopelessness, fear and sadness. This is especially true if your cancer is advanced or available treatments are unable to stop or slow its growth.

"Often, when patients are diagnosed with cancer, they feel hopeless and scared. Clinical trials are one way patients can be proactive. They can make a choice in how their care is going to be," says Matthew Block, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic medical oncologist.

Cancer clinical trials help physician-scientists test new and better ways to control and treat cancer. During a clinical trial, participants receive specific interventions, and researchers determine if those interventions are safe and effective. Interventions studied in clinical trials might be new cancer drugs or new combinations of drugs, new medical procedures, new surgical techniques or devices, new ways to use existing treatments, and lifestyle or behavior changes.

Clinical trials provide access to potential treatments under investigation, giving options to people who otherwise may face limited choices. "Clinical trials open the door to a new hope that maybe we can fight their cancer back and give them a better quality of life," says Geoffrey Johnson, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic radiologist, nuclear medicine specialist and co-chair of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center Experimental and Novel Therapeutics Disease Group.

You will receive cancer treatment if you participate in a clinical trial. "I think one common misperception about clinical trials is that if you enter a clinical trial, you may not get treatment (receive a placebo). And that's actually very much not true. Most clinical trials are looking at one treatment compared to another treatment," says Judy C. Boughey, M.D., a Mayo Clinic surgical oncologist, chair of Breast and Melanoma Surgical Oncology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and chair of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center Breast Cancer Disease Group.

"I think one common misperception about clinical trials is that if you enter a clinical trial, you may not get treatment (receive a placebo). And that's actually very much not true. Most clinical trials are looking at one treatment compared to another treatment."Judy C. Boughey, M.D.

Watch this video to hear the experiences of people who have participated in cancer clinical trials and to hear Drs. Block, Johnson and Boughey discuss the importance of clinical trials in cancer care:

Clinical trials are a significant part of cancer care at Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. Cancer care teams work together across specialties to make sure the right clinical trials are available to serve the needs of people with cancer who come to Mayo Clinic.

"We are very particular in how we select the clinical trials that we have available for patients," says Dr. Boughey. "We want to have the best trials available for our patients. Some of the clinical trials are evaluating drugs — we are so excited about those drugs, but we can't prescribe those drugs for patients without having that trial. And so we will actually fight to try to get that trial open here to have it available as an opportunity for our patients."

If you choose to participate in a clinical trial, you will continue to receive cancer care. "For most patients that we evaluate, there's always the standard of care treatment option for those patients. And then, in many situations, there's also a clinical trial that the patient can participate in," says Dr. Boughey.

People who participate in clinical trials help make new and better cancer care available for future patients. The treatments available for cancer patients today exist because of the clinical trial participants of yesterday. "We couldn't advance medicine if it wasn't for people volunteering for trials. And the promise from our side is to say we're not going to put patients on trials or offer trials for them to consider unless we think there's a good chance that they'll get a benefit or that society at large will get a benefit," says Dr. Johnson.

"We couldn't advance medicine if it wasn't for people volunteering for trials. And the promise from our side is to say we're not going to put patients on trials or offer trials for them to consider unless we think there's a good chance that they'll get a benefit or that society at large will get a benefit."Geoffrey Johnson, M.D., Ph.D.

Participating in a clinical trial may give you access to cutting-edge treatment, improve your quality of life and extend your time with loved ones.

"It's definitely worth reaching out to your healthcare provider and asking, 'What clinical trials could I be a potential candidate for?'" says Dr. Boughey. "And remember, you can ask this of your surgical oncologist, your medical oncologist, your radiation oncologist, or any of the physicians you're seeing because there are trials in all disciplines. There are also ongoing trials that require the collection of tissue or the donation of blood. They can also be important in trying to help future generations as we continue to work to end cancer."

Participating in a clinical trial is an important decision with potential risks and benefits. Explore these FAQ about cancer clinical trials, and ask your care team if a clinical trial might be right for you.

This article first published on the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center blog.

The post Clinical trials: A significant part of cancer care appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Regenerative Medicine Minnesota has awarded funding to three projects aimed at strengthening Minnesota's capabilities for developing and delivering therapies that replace, restore, rejuvenate or regenerate damaged cells, tissues or organs.

Co-led by the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic, Regenerative Medicine Minnesota brings together the state's leading research institutions to accelerate breakthroughs and bring new therapies to patients across the state.

The funded projects were selected for their potential to overcome challenges that slow the development and delivery of new therapies. Each project aims to build sustainable, widely accessible resources to help move regenerative treatments from the lab to patients more quickly.

The projects are:

Derivation of Induced Pluripotent (Adult) Stem Cell Lines in Minnesota with Superior HLA Compatibility for Manufacturing Clinical Cell Therapy Products

James Dutton, Ph.D., University of Minnesota

This initiative tackles a key challenge in regenerative medicine: access to clinical-grade starting materials. The project will generate high-quality, regulatory-compliant induced pluripotent (adult) stem cell (iPSC) lines with less risk of the immune system rejecting the cells. These lines will be made available to researchers across Minnesota, enabling the development of versatile, cost-effective cell therapies that can benefit a broad range of patients. By building a local supply of standardized starting materials, the project provides a long-term advantage to Minnesota's research community.

The Genome Engineering for Regenerative Medicine (GERM) Consortium

David Largaespada, Ph.D., University of Minnesota

Addressing the critical need for quality and safety standards in gene-edited therapies, this new consortium will bring together academic and industry experts to establish best practices for gene delivery, editing and evaluation. The GERM Consortium will provide essential guidance and resources to ensure that genetically engineered therapies are developed with precision and safety. Through this collaborative effort, Minnesota will become a hub for innovation and regulatory compliance in cell and gene therapy.

Minnesota BRIDGE — Boosting Regenerative Medicine Innovation through Development, Growth, and Engagement

Melanie Graham, Ph.D., University of Minnesota

This project focuses on a major translational bottleneck: the lack of robust preclinical models. Minnesota BRIDGE will create a state-of-the-art translational research infrastructure that enables more predictive preclinical testing of regenerative therapies. By establishing this capability, Minnesota will become one of the few places in the nation equipped to accelerate therapy development with cutting-edge preclinical models — streamlining the path to clinical trials and patient care.

Together, these projects advance Regenerative Medicine Minnesota's goal of bringing new therapies to patients in Minnesota and beyond while establishing the state as a leader in regenerative medicine.

###

About Regenerative Medicine Minnesota

Regenerative Medicine Minnesota was established in 2014 by the Minnesota State Legislature to improve the health of Minnesotans by advancing regenerative medicine. This state-wide initiative opens new economic opportunities through commercialization of technologies and leverages the strengths of Minnesota institutions to position the state at the forefront of regenerative medicine. The initiative distributes approximately $4 million in funding statewide every year for research, commercialization, and clinical translation initiatives that improve or increase access to scientifically proven regenerative medicine throughout the state. Learn more at www.regenmedmn.org.

###

The post New awards aim to make Minnesota a leader in regenerative medicine appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Billie, who has smoked most of his life, understands how using tobacco can negatively affect many aspects of a person's health. He is also a member of the Navajo Nation and has witnessed the challenges that family, friends and other members of his tribe have faced quitting tobacco. In recent years, he has watched the rising use of vaping among Navajo youth with concern. He wants to discourage young people from using tobacco except for ceremonial purposes.

"Science seeking to cure disease and transform the way we deliver healthcare requires a direct connection to the people we serve."

Annie Rusk, M.D.

Billie's experiences made him an ideal candidate to advise Dr. Rusk on her research through a Mayo Clinic program called Community Engagement (CE) Studios.

CE Studios is a consultation service that connects researchers to a group of "community experts" who represent the researcher's population of interest. These experts meet with the researcher, usually during a study's planning phase, to learn how the study is being designed, ask questions and provide feedback.

Since Mayo Clinic introduced CE Studios in 2021, Dr. Rusk has used it numerous times. She believes community input is essential for all research projects, regardless of their focus. 

"By involving people with lived experiences, we can gain valuable insights and ensure our research is relevant and impactful," says Dr. Rusk. "Even discovery science projects taking place in a lab can benefit from community perspectives."

Lived experiences provide key insights

For the CE Studios session with Dr. Rusk, Billie joined three other community experts from tribes in the Midwest, Alaska and Canada in a virtual meeting. The four community experts were there to advise Dr. Rusk on a new clinical trial.

Kory Billie, a member of the Navajo Nation from Phoenix, wants to discourage youth in his community from using tobacco, except for ceremonial purposes.

Dr. Rusk's research focuses on understanding barriers to smoking cessation among Native Americans. She felt it was important to consult with people from a variety of Indigenous communities to ensure her research aligned with their community health needs and priorities.

Billie says he enjoyed this opportunity to connect with like-minded people from similar backgrounds, and to speak with Dr. Rusk about how tobacco use was affecting communities like his. He shared his experiences with homelessness and addiction, as well as the difficulty of accessing smoking cessation resources in Indian Country.

What Dr. Rusk learned from Billie and the other community experts during the CE Studios session motivated her to make an important change to her study design.

The elements of the study that resonated best with the community experts were those geared toward developing practical behavioral health interventions. Billie and the other experts emphasized that understanding the social and cultural drivers of smoking would be key to achieving meaningful outcomes.  "You have to understand a person's environment and the way they're brought up," says Billie.

The community experts were less keen on a genetic analysis component Dr. Rusk had planned to include. They felt this aspect did not align meaningfully with community health priorities. Based on this feedback, Dr. Rusk eliminated this component from her study. 

While incorporating this kind of feedback can be challenging, Dr. Rusk says the long-term benefits are worth it for all.

"Science seeking to cure disease and transform the way we deliver healthcare requires a direct connection to the people we serve," she says.

Health is a blessing

Billie says he appreciated this chance to participate in CE Studios. He hopes that the knowledge he and the other experts shared will give Dr. Rusk the context she needs to develop a tobacco intervention that will have a lasting impact. Upon completion of the study, he looks forward to hearing from her to see the results.

Billie encourages other people to consider participating in CE Studios to help advance research to improve the health of their communities. He connects his motivation for this work to a Navajo proverb that reminds his people to live their lives with purpose: "Remember to walk in beauty. Beauty before you and beauty behind you."

If the community can improve the health of its people today, Billie says, they will pass that blessing on to future generations.

Get involved in CE Studios

A CE Studios community expert can be a person with any type of lived experience. Experts receive a small honorarium in exchange for their time. People interested in joining Mayo Clinic’s database of community experts should complete a Community Expert Enrollment Form.  

Mayo Clinic Community Engaged Research

Learn more about community outreach and engagement and community-engaged research at Mayo Clinic.

This work is supported by Mayo Clinic Center for Clinical and Translational Science and by Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The post Native community experts guide tobacco cessation research appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed organoid models to study uveal melanoma, one of the most common types of eye cancer in adults. Their goal is to use these models to better understand how this disease works and develop treatments for unmet patient needs.

Organoids are 3D models grown from patient tissue that accurately reflect a patient's unique genetic and biological characteristics, also known as "avatars." When derived from a patient's cancer tumor, an organoid will behave and respond to treatments outside the body in a lab (in vitro) just like the original tumor would inside the body (in vivo).

In 50% of patients, uveal melanoma metastasizes, spreading to other parts of the body, leading to a poor prognosis and average survival of less than two years.  Unfortunately, current treatments for this condition often have limited effectiveness, leaving patients and their doctors with few options.

"The hope is that these patient-derived organoid models better represent human cancer in the laboratory," says Lauren Dalvin, M.D., a Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center ocular oncologist and surgeon-scientist who is one of the lead researchers. "Using these models as a foundation for drug testing will facilitate new treatment discoveries with higher success rates in clinical trials, ultimately translating to improved outcomes for patients with uveal melanoma."

Growing an eye cancer biobank

In the past, the lack of human disease models representing the entire spectrum of uveal melanoma has created a bottleneck, limiting the ability of scientists to identify effective targets for treatment and prevention. Most laboratory studies have drawn from the same set of commercially available cell lines, which are not representative of the disease and often differ in important ways from the original tumors.

To blast through this bottleneck, a study team led by Dr. Dalvin, in collaboration with Martin Fernandez-Zapico, M.D., a cancer biologist with Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, decided to develop a new, uveal melanoma patient-derived organoid biobank. Their goal is to create a research resource representing the real-world variability of this cancer.

In a paper published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, they described the initial development of this biobank. The researchers successfully created organoids derived from Mayo Clinic ocular oncology patients who enrolled in a prospective study involving the collection of tumor tissue for research from July 1, 2019, through July 1, 2024. Their study determined that these organoid models:

• Could be generated, retained their stability through many uses and were a renewable living resource capable of being regenerated at need.
• Retained the clinically relevant features of the original tumors, clustered into appropriate molecular groups based on validated prognostic markers and resembled human disease when compared to in vivo animal models.
• Served as suitable human models for drug screening.

Recognizing the immense value of this organoid biobank, the investigators have already begun expanding it to include other research centers. Their goal is to create a resource capable of representing the global epigenomic variability of uveal melanoma. In the future, they hope this biobank will serve as a comprehensive platform for drug screening and other types of lab research on uveal melanoma. This collaborative effort will accelerate research and pave the way for improved treatments and outcomes for patients with this disease.

Read the paper to learn more about the study, including funding and disclosures.

Mayo Clinic organoid research across the spectrum of disease

Organoids are transforming the landscape of biomedical research. Scientists are using this innovative approach to model diseases, track their progression and identify and characterize potential treatments. Mayo Clinic is at the forefront of organoid research, applying this approach to study a wide range of health conditions including:

• Neurodegenerative and neurological disorders, such as Lewy body dementia, Alzheimer's disease, autism, opioid addiction and alcohol use disorder.
• Measles and other infectious diseases.
• Many types of cancer including breast cancer.
• Inflammatory bowel disease.

The goals of this research extend far beyond its current applications. Mayo Clinic researchers aim to develop organoids representing organs throughout the human body to track disease, screen drugs and regenerate tissues. This approach holds the promise of accelerating research in precision medicine and the search for cures in other areas of biomedical research.

The post 3D models of uveal melanoma offer hope for improved treatments appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

A new study has revealed a significant link between a common pregnancy complication and early heart disease in women.

Researchers found that women with a history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) were at higher risk of developing coronary artery disease at an earlier age. In addition, they found that women with these disorders were at higher risk of myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA) — heart attacks that occur when the coronary arteries appear normal. 

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) — such as gestational hypertension, chronic hypertension and preeclampsia — affect 15% of women during their reproductive years. Marked by high blood pressure, the effects of these disorders continue to impact the health of mothers and babies well after pregnancy.

Compared to women with a history of normotensive (normal blood pressure) pregnancies, women in this study with a history of HDP were at greater risk for:

• Early onset of coronary artery disease: Occurring on average seven years earlier among women with a history of HDP.
• More severe atherosclerotic coronary artery disease: Twice as likely among women with a history of HDP.
• Increased risk of MINOCA: Twice as likely among women with a history of HDP.

"This research highlights the need for earlier screening for heart disease among women with a history of high blood pressure in pregnancy, particularly for MINOCA, which is up to five times more common in women than in men," says Vesna Garovic, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic nephrologist and senior author of the study.

To improve patient care and outcomes for women, the researchers say clinicians should not only screen for traditional coronary artery disease risk factors, but they should also screen for non-traditional risk factors associated with MINOCA and other non-obstructive types of coronary artery disease, such as stress, autoimmune diseases — and now, HDP.

How does high blood pressure in pregnancy lead to coronary artery disease?

According to the researchers, there are two related types of small vessel heart disease that may make it more likely for women to develop HDP and coronary artery disease:

1. Microvascular dysfunction: Women with a history of HDP often have this underlying problem, which occurs when the small blood vessels that feed the heart stop working as they should, decreasing blood flow to the heart.
2. Endothelial dysfunction: This is a problem common to both HDP and coronary artery disease. It occurs when the cells that line the inside of blood vessels malfunction, narrowing instead of dilating.

Together, these dysfunctions clog or narrow the arteries and small blood vessels that supply blood to the heart, which can lead to coronary artery disease without any physical blockage (non-obstructive). The researchers think it's possible that these processes may feed on one another, creating an environment where coronary artery disease is more likely to occur.

Further research, including large prospective studies, are needed to understand the mechanisms linking HDP to coronary artery disease, such as specific biomarkers and genetic factors that contribute to increased risk.

Read the paper to learn more about the study, including funding and disclosures.

A growing body of research on high blood pressure in pregnancy

Research led by Dr. Garovic, a Mayo Clinic nephrologist, has shown links between HDP and a greater risk for a wide range of health concerns including:

• Atherosclerosis and stroke
• Renal disease
• Brain cell damage and inflammation
• Accelerated aging and the markers of cellular senescence
• Early-onset hypertension in children

The overall goal of Dr. Garovic's research is to increase understanding of the causes and mechanisms that play a role in the process that leads to HDP. The potential to identify targeted therapies that address the underlying causes of disease may improve treatment options for diseases, such as preeclampsia, that have seen few therapeutic advances in recent decades.

Related:
Mothers with history of pre-eclampsia may encounter cardiovascular challenges later in life

The post High blood pressure in pregnancy a risk factor for early heart disease appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.