Patient recruitment is underway for a University of Queensland-led clinical trial to test the effectiveness of a diabetes drug to slow the progression of polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

31 August 2023
A woman stands in front of a blue background with graphic depiction of DNA

University of Queensland researchers have demonstrated a genetic link between endometriosis and ovarian cancer subtypes enabling them to identify potential drug targets for therapy and increasing the understanding of both diseases.

16 March 2022

People with higher genetic risk of clinical depression are more likely to have physical symptoms such as chronic pain, fatigue and migraine, University of Queensland researchers have found.

18 October 2021
A young girl digs in the dirt to fill a Soils for Science sample bag.

Queenslanders are being asked to “dig deep” in an Australian-first project, with the next “ground-breaking” medicine potentially hiding in their backyard.

25 March 2021
Archer while undergoing chemotherapy in 2019, with his dad. Image: Claire Bermingham.

A discovery by University of Queensland pain researchers may allow some future cancer patients, including children with leukaemia, to avoid their chemotherapy’s worst and most debilitating side effects.

15 March 2021
Gastrointestinal diseases like peptic ulcers affect between five and 10 per cent of people at some time in their lives. Getty.

University of Queensland researchers have confirmed a link between depression and stomach ulcers, in the world’s largest study of genetic factors in peptic ulcer disease.

25 February 2021
Spitting cobra with venom shooting out of its fangs.

Venom from spitting cobras has evolved to cause predators’ extreme pain as a form of self-defence, rather than for capturing prey, according to new research.

22 January 2021
A gloved hand holds a petri dish with the CBD molecular structure drawn on the lid.

Synthetic cannabidiol, better known as CBD, has been shown for the first time to kill the bacteria responsible for gonorrhoea, meningitis and legionnaires disease.

20 January 2021
Normal sea squirt muscle cells form a ring shape (left), but after “boss gene” intervention (right), the cells cluster quite differently. Images: Nathan Palpant.

The chain of command inside human cells is similar to the way a factory is run, two University of Queensland researchers say.

14 December 2020
Left, XY mouse lacking Sry-T, that developed as female. Right, XX mouse carrying Sry-T transgene, that developed as male.

Biology textbooks may need to be re-written, with scientists finding a new piece of DNA essential to forming male sex organs in mice.

2 October 2020
Scale with a blue tape measure on top.

A gene that helps to control inflammation increases the risk of obesity and could be turned off in mice to stop weight gain, a study from The University of Queensland has found.

29 September 2020

Molecules from the venom of one of the world’s largest spiders could help University of Queensland-led researchers tailor pain blockers for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

21 September 2020
Gympie tides trees in a forest.

The painful toxins wielded by a giant Australian stinging tree are surprisingly similar to the toxins found in spiders and cone snails, University of Queensland researchers have found.

17 September 2020

An affordable diabetes drug could save generations of Australian families who live with polycystic kidney disease from kidney failure.

30 July 2020
Dr Mark Blaskovich, Professor Matt Cooper and Dr Karl Hansford are joining forces with CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria) to develop new antibiotics to fight superbugs.

Antibiotics discovered at The University of Queensland will be fast-tracked under a $A16 million international research deal.

23 June 2020

A sample of estuarine mud taken 16 years ago has yielded a potential new class of painkiller as potent as opioids, but without their disadvantages.

16 October 2019

Environmental conditions influence our body mass index (BMI) by increasing or decreasing the effect of inherited genetic variations, University of Queensland researchers have discovered.

23 August 2019

A grant from the Children’s Hospital Foundation will help a working mother from The University of Queensland tackle childhood brain cancer treatments.

17 July 2019
Gram-negative bacteria

A crucial step in the way bacteria construct their defences has been revealed by an international team, including a University of Queensland researcher.

16 July 2019
Spider-venom-is-being-used-to-develop-venom-derived-pharmaceuticals.

A devastating form of childhood epilepsy that is resistant to traditional drugs may have met its match in spider venom.

6 August 2018