Northwestern University

Ordinarily, pacemakers correct irregular heartbeats by delivering an electric shock to the entire heart – which can be painful. An experimental new one takes a different approach, and it does so by encompassing the heart with light-emitting "petals."

Scientists studying the brains of so-called “SuperAgers” have discovered a set of significantly enlarged neurons associated with memory that also appeared more resistant to characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease.

In a new study, chemists claim to have found an Achilles’ heel to the ultra-stable molecules of toxic PFAS "forever chemicals." Using a relatively simple chemical reaction, the team could “decapitate” some kinds of PFAS into benign end products.

A new study on fruit flies may help explain why siestas came to be such an important habit in many cultures, revealing a type of brain thermometer that kicks sleep-promoting cells into action as the mercury starts to climb.

Nobody wants to suffer physical pain if they don't have to, yet they also don't want to risk developing an addiction to pain-killing opioids. That's where a new drug-free implant comes in, as it reduces pain by cooling nerves.

Last year, scientists at Northwestern University announced a transient pacemaker that dissolves when no longer needed. They've now improved the device, and incorporated it into a linked suite of wearable sensors.

Researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois have demonstrated the world's smallest remote-controlled walking robot. These tiny machines can bend, twist, crawl, walk, turn and jump without hydraulics or electricity, using shape-memory alloys.

Scientists studying the mechanisms behind deafness have pinpointed a single gene they described as a type of master switch for cell differentiation, opening up exciting new possibilities around restoration of hearing.

Researchers have found sleeping in a moderately lit room can potentially harm a person’s cardiometabolic health. The study saw one night of sleep in a room with moderate light increased nighttime heart rates and spiked insulin resistance in the morning.

Researchers have uncovered a mechanism they say contributes to the age-related accumulation of iron in the brain. The study bolsters the hypothesis that reducing brain iron levels could combat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

A novel device developed at Northwestern can sort and multiply immune cells harvested from tumors with great efficiency, creating armies of personalized cancer-killing cells that have been deployed to induce dramatic tumor shrinkage in mice.

Researchers have developed a new nanotherapy to enhance the effectiveness of a type 1 diabetes treatment. The innovation packages immunosuppressive drugs into nanoparticles to reduce the likelihood of a body rejecting newly transplanted islet cells.