Posts by Stephaine Peebles

Edinburgh-based startup, Data Innovation.AI Ltd have secured a Scottish enterprise SMART grant to test their pioneering bio-safety design tool with the EPCC. The WorkSafeAI tool enables buildings to be designed to prevent the spread of aerosolised infections such as the SARS-COV-2 virus and seasonal flu’s.    Founder and COO Craig Fenton said “Our workplaces play a critical role in infectious disease…

Leveraging existing work carried out by UNICEF to build a Climate Change Vulnerability Index , which uses past and current data to assess climate hazards and child wellbeing, this project aims to predict where children are going to be most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This novel approach will provide UNICEF’s global teams…

Banning in-car smoking when children are present can reduce their exposure to tobacco smoke by more than 30 per cent, research shows. The study team says their findings should pave the way for more countries to outlaw smoking in cars carrying child passengers. The practice, which is still permitted in the vast majority of countries,…

An international group of scientists have discovered 13 DNA sequences that are associated with people developing the most severe form of Covid-19. The identification of the sequences – known as genetic markers – could provide targets for future therapies using repurposed drugs, experts say. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh joined a global effort to…

The Delta variant of Covid-19 is associated with approximately double the risk of hospitalisation compared with the Alpha variant, according to a new nationwide study. Two vaccine doses still provide strong protection against the Delta variant – which was first identified in India – but it may be at a lower level compared with the…

A condition that affects the blood, known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), may be associated the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in rare cases, research suggests. The very small increased risk of the condition – which is characterised by low platelet counts – is estimated to be 11 per million doses, similar to figures seen in vaccines for…