https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from University of Alberta A University of Alberta research team has found a genetic variant that can be used to identify which patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension need the most urgent care. "This could potentially save lives and health-care costs, and improve the well-being of both patients and their loved ones," says principal investigator Evangelos Michelakis, professor and associate chair of research for the Department of Medicine and director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-genetic-deadly-cardiovascular-disease.html Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:50:02 EDT news694774141 Each year, 1 in 5 Canadians will experience a mental health issue, and about 50% will have experienced a mental Illness by age 40. For many, their first and sometimes only point of contact for medical assistance is their family doctor. Now, University of Alberta psychiatrists are offering training, resources and ongoing support so family doctors in Alberta can deliver more timely and effective mental health care, especially to rural and Indigenous patients. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-psychiatric-family-doctors-aims-mental.html Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:20:02 EDT news694079446 Although heart rate and blood pressure readings from breath-holding tests are usually reliably accurate, another vital measurement could be missing a beat, a University of Alberta study shows. Looking at whether a person's heart and blood vessels react the same way every time they hold their breath while low on oxygen, researchers were surprised to discover that arrhythmias—irregular heartbeats—occurred only some of the time, which may make them harder to predict than previously assumed. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-irregular-heartbeats-hard.html Mon, 23 Mar 2026 19:30:01 EDT news693481943 In the face of climate change, permafrost peatland wildfires could play more of a role in the destructive cycle of global warming, University of Alberta research suggests. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-permafrost-peatlands-carbon-years-wildfires.html Earth Sciences Thu, 05 Mar 2026 09:40:04 EST news691924621 Children as young as seven begin to internalize stereotypes about who is more or less likely to pursue occupations related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)—beliefs that may influence career choices as they approach adulthood, according to a new child psychology study. The work is published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-stem-stereotypes-young.html Education Wed, 04 Mar 2026 11:40:03 EST news691846321 Canadian kids are spending more time on screens and far less time playing—throwing a ball or jumping around—and that's creating a big public health problem. Not only are they missing out on better health now, but inactive children often grow up to be inactive adults with chronic health issues. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-parents-physical-literacy-kids.html Pediatrics Thu, 26 Feb 2026 10:10:01 EST news691320818 A pair of disturbances common in Western Canada's boreal forests, when combined, may have an unexpected benefit of limiting the spread of non-native plant species, a University of Alberta study shows. The research gauged the interactive effect that natural wildfires and the presence of seismic lines—narrow clearings cut into forests for oil and gas exploration—had on the establishment and spread of non-native plants growing beside roads. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-combination-wildfires-seismic-lines-limit.html Plants & Animals Wed, 25 Feb 2026 13:20:04 EST news691239181 With the current U.S. federal administration abandoning its leadership role in the fight against climate change, international efforts by governments to mitigate global warming appear to have stalled, at least for now. But according to Adelina Barbalau, an expert on climate finance in the Alberta School of Business, hope may lie elsewhere—in the global marketplace and the opportunities for multinational companies to pick up the slack. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-multinational-companies-climate-action.html Environment Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:50:01 EST news691071984 A University of Alberta research team has identified a new drug target to treat harmful E. coli bacteria—which cause nearly 250,000 deaths a year from urinary tract infections (UTI) and are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. Their recently published research in Nature Communications shows how the protease known as GlpG, located in the cellular membrane, is central to the bacteria's ability to infect human cells and resist treatment. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-antibiotic-resistance-membrane-protease-coli.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 18 Feb 2026 12:02:48 EST news690638521 Farmers now have more reasons to consider rotating their crops, University of Alberta research shows. Widely used to restore soil health, the agricultural practice boosts the diversity of bacterial and fungal microbes that benefit soil function, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-crop-rotation-boosts-diversity-microbes.html Ecology Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:10:01 EST news689957230 Children in families who participate in a home visitation program in Maskwacîs, Alberta, are six times more likely to get their childhood vaccines than others in the First Nations community, according to new research from the University of Alberta published in the International Journal for Equity in Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-home-sixfold-early-childhood-vaccines.html Pediatrics Mon, 09 Feb 2026 10:50:28 EST news689856602 Parents often tell their children to sound out the words as they are learning to read. It makes sense: Since they already know how to speak, the sound of a word might serve as a clue to its meaning. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-numbing-mouth-silent.html Education Thu, 05 Feb 2026 13:40:07 EST news689518480 Dancers—like those we love to watch on TV—make competition look easy, but new University of Alberta research lifts the curtain on the stresses they face and how they cope. The findings are published in the journal Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-ways-competitive-dancers-cope-stress.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 04 Feb 2026 10:04:26 EST news689421841 University of Alberta researchers have, for the first time, captured a much better view of what may be contributing to failures in lodgepole pine seed orchards—a tree essential to Alberta's forest industry. The researchers used synchrotron microcomputed tomography, an advanced 3D imaging method usually used in medicine, in a pilot study to visually explore why some pollinated female pine cones, known as conelets, are healthy while others die long before they fully develop. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-high-tech-imaging-cultivation-trees.html Plants & Animals Tue, 03 Feb 2026 09:14:25 EST news689332441 Canadian parents face multiple barriers to providing their children with reliable and culturally appropriate sex education, according to research published in Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare from the University of Alberta. "My motivation is to deeply understand parents' experiences and what holds them back, and build a system to empower families rather than just leave them to navigate all these conversations by themselves," says principal investigator Neelam Punjani, who undertook the research as part of her postdoctoral fellowship and is now an assistant professor in the U of A's Faculty of Nursing. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-children-sexuality.html Health Mon, 02 Feb 2026 11:11:43 EST news689253062 Phosphorus is crucial for crop growth. But too little can lower crop yields, and too much can lead to pollution downstream. Studies show that some soils are losing phosphorus, while others are accumulating and leaking into waterways, says watershed researcher Monireh Faramarzi. "This creates confusion about what is actually happening in farm landscapes," she says, especially in areas with frequent freeze/thaw cycles. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-moisture-availability-fertilizer-affects-term.html Ecology Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:47:31 EST news688650422 Long-distance cyclists can preserve fat-free body mass while on a plant-based diet, according to new research involving a University of Alberta nutrition expert. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-based-diets-fuel-ultra-athletes.html Sports medicine & Kinesiology Thu, 22 Jan 2026 10:50:26 EST news688301401 No one ever thought the birth of the Rocky Mountains was a simple process, but we now know it was far more complex than even geophysicists had assumed. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-seismic-snapshot-reveals-insight-rocky.html Earth Sciences Tue, 20 Jan 2026 09:30:19 EST news688123802 Head coaches often take the blame—and the firing—when their teams flop, but it may not be a winning game plan, University of Alberta research suggests. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-blame-game.html Social Sciences Mon, 19 Jan 2026 09:24:16 EST news688037041 Rag rugs, the kind Grandma used to make from worn-out sheets and bits of cloth, may seem like relics from a bygone era, but they hold valuable modern-day lessons. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-handmade-students-sustainability-lessons-rag.html Social Sciences Wed, 14 Jan 2026 21:00:01 EST news687617527 Kids with broken or sprained limbs don't need oral opioids to treat their pain, according to newly published findings from a cross-Canada study by pediatric emergency researchers. The study is published in JAMA. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-kids-fractures-sprains-dont-oral.html Pediatrics Thu, 08 Jan 2026 12:20:04 EST news687096450 Economics could do with less mathematics and more story, says Canada's most-cited economist. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-economics-lost-narrative-thread-expert.html Economics & Business Wed, 07 Jan 2026 09:52:23 EST news687001922 As New Year's resolutions roll around again, the vow to lead a more active lifestyle often tops the list—but it doesn't have to be tough to do, says a University of Alberta physical activity expert. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-ways-healthy-life.html Health Mon, 05 Jan 2026 09:39:43 EST news686828282 University of Alberta-led research reports that new cases of syphilis dropped in Alberta following the introduction of rapid point-of-care testing and same-day treatment. The research team compared new syphilis positivity rates before the tests were introduced, when testing was made available in the Edmonton zone after 2020, and then once provincewide testing had started in 2022. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-cases-syphilis-alberta-introduction-rapid.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 22 Dec 2025 09:09:34 EST news685616942 University of Alberta geochemists have discovered a missing piece to one of the great mysteries of science—the origin of life on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-fertilizer-chemical-life-earth.html Earth Sciences Tue, 02 Dec 2025 10:50:39 EST news683895002 Recent research led by the University of Alberta challenges the belief that mad cow disease is caused only by misfolded proteins—a discovery that sheds new light on the devastating outbreak in the United Kingdom 40 years ago and provides new hope for prevention. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-mad-cow-disease-culprit-prions.html Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 01 Dec 2025 11:25:27 EST news683810701 A proactive new tool that can help preserve old forests in British Columbia has been developed by University of Alberta researchers. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-tool-centuries-forests-bc.html Ecology Wed, 26 Nov 2025 12:02:20 EST news683380877 AI may ace multiple-choice medical exams, but it still stumbles when faced with changing clinical information, according to research in the New England Journal of Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-doctors-outperform-ai-clinical.html Medical research Mon, 24 Nov 2025 11:34:04 EST news683206441 Several species of tiny fungi completely new to science—and all from Alberta—have been discovered through University of Alberta research. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-mini-pot-gold-tiny-fungi.html Ecology Thu, 20 Nov 2025 10:38:04 EST news682857482 A go-to software platform scientists use to do their work could become less glitchy, thanks to University of Alberta research. https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-bugs-popular-science-software.html Software Thu, 13 Nov 2025 09:27:05 EST news682248422