2026 Medicine and Science News

St. Jude researcher Hongbo Chi, PhD, elected to the National Academy of Sciences

Learn why the National Academy of Sciences elected St. Jude immunologist Hongbo Chi, PhD, a leader in immunology and immunometabolism, to their membership.

Blood stem cells evade immunity in aplastic anemia by similar genetic mutations arising independently

05/01/2026

Explore new research showing that blood stem cells use multiple, independent mutations to escape autoimmunity, but these clones don’t increase cancer risk.

AI-assisted approach identifies IRS4 as a promising drug target in multiple solid tumors

04/29/2026

Learn a new strategy scientists used to find a low-toxicity, cross-tumor dependency as a proof of principle to find safer targets for cancer drug discovery.

Antisense oligonucleotide strategy reverses HNRNPH2-related neurodevelopmental disorder

04/22/2026

See how an antisense oligonucleotide reverses ultrarare X-linked genetic condition HNRNPH2-related neurodevelopmental disorder in preclinical study

Enhancer provides a potential target for “undruggable” MYC in pediatric medulloblastoma

04/22/2026

Learn how St. Jude researchers identified a tumor-specific enhancer driving MYC in pediatric medulloblastoma, revealing a promising new therapeutic target.

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital award 2026 fellowships

04/21/2026

Early-career investigators studying pediatric cancers, including Ewing sarcoma, leukemia and kidney cancer, were selected this year.

‘Fingerprints’ of childhood cancer treatment provide clues that may help mitigate second cancers

04/19/2026

Learn how new research of the traces life-saving pediatric cancer treatments leave in DNA could help improve the detection and prevention of second neoplasms.

3D tumor organoids give brain tumor researchers new scientific opportunities

04/15/2026

Learn about brain tumor organoids developed by St. Jude scientists that preserve tumor diversity, enabling faster research and better access to research models

First continent-wide map of dominant avian influenza strain explains its spread

04/15/2026

Find out how mapping the spread of an avian influenza strain through birds across North America helped scientists understand its human-to-human spread risk.

AACR annual meeting highlights St. Jude research, honors Comprehensive Cancer Center director

04/14/2026

Several St. Jude researchers featured at AACR 2026 

Study identifies PHIP as a novel dependency in cancers driven by SWI/SNF mutations

04/07/2026

Discover research from St. Jude identifying PHIP as a novel dependency in cancers that have mutations in SWI/SNF

Data platform unifies blood cancer ‘omics’ and clinical data to accelerate discovery

04/06/2026

Take a first look at the American Society of Hematology HematOmics Program (ASHOP) platform & its promise to move hematological malignancy research forward.

Childhood cancer is a substantial contributor to global childhood mortality and global cancer burden

04/02/2026

Explore how global disparities in childhood cancer outcomes reveal urgent gaps in care, and what it will take to close the survival gap worldwide.

Reprogramming ‘gatekeeper’ immune cell may boost cancer immunotherapy

04/02/2026

Explore how the tumor microenvironment interrupts dendritic cells’ mitochondria, but restoring that function enhances anti-tumor immunity and immunotherapy.

Artificial intelligence learns to make sense of childhood cancer survivors’ health care needs

03/26/2026

Find out how using the right prompting styles improves large language models’ ability to find which survivors of childhood cancer could use extra support.

Honoring distinguished career, Robert Webster, PhD, elected fellow of AAAS

03/26/2026

St. Jude Emeritus faculty member, Robert Webster, PhD has been recognized as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Ependymoma fusion protein locks cells in developmental limbo

03/25/2026

See how ZFTA-RELA fusions hijack developmental programs by replicating PLAG/L to drive a type of pediatric brain cancer ependymoma

Protein atlas connects the biologic dots underlying neurodegenerative diseases

03/23/2026

See how a neurodegenerative disease proteome atlas including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia helps advance diagnosis tools and treatments.

Study shows breath test can confirm bacterial infection

03/18/2026

See how carbon-13 isotope testing allowed researchers to detect myositis, bacteremia, pneumonia and osteomyelitis on a person’s breath using NDIR.

First-of-its-kind analysis reveals the structural variant landscape driving pediatric cancer development

03/12/2026

Learn how a first-of-its-kind dataset was helped identify the mutational processes that drive genomic structural changes specific to childhood disease. 

Carsten Bönnemann, MD, joins St. Jude to expand research on pediatric catastrophic neurological disorders

03/12/2026

World-renowned clinician-scientist to chair, lead new department

Mapping 3D-super-enhancers with machine learning to pinpoint regulators of cell identity

03/09/2026

Discover how BOUQUET considers DNA’s 3D nature when identifying which enhancers, accompanying proteins and condensates are relevant to each gene’s expression.

Shared origins illuminate potential dependency across brain tumor types

03/05/2026

Explore new research findings showing how a set of rare brain tumors may arise from the same cell type, revealing a potential shared vulnerability to target.

Cell-free DNA offers early warning for bloodstream infections in kids with leukemia

03/02/2026

See how microbial cell-free DNA sequencing can predict bloodstream infections in children with leukemia days before symptoms appear

Differing immune responses in infants may explain increased severity of RSV over SARS-CoV-2

02/25/2026

Investigate research from St. Jude & The Jackson Labs explaining why infants get more severe disease from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) than SARS-CoV-2.

Hearing loss contributes to cognitive decline after childhood cancer treatment

02/20/2026

See how radiation therapy causes sensorineural hearing loss in patients with emepdymoma which contributes to cognitive decline separate from chemotherapy.

James R. Downing, MD, to step down as president and CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in late 2026

02/19/2026

Dr. Downing led St. Jude to unprecedented growth over the last 12 years. 

Classifying pediatric brain tumors by liquid biopsy using artificial intelligence

02/17/2026

See how M-PACT, an AI-powered algorithm can sift through ctDNA in cerebrospinal fluid and molecularly classify tumors based on their DNA methylation pattern

Studies show that less frequent, all-injectable treatment for HIV is safe and preferred by adolescents

01/15/2026

Dive into a St. Jude co-led clinical trial finding long-acting injectable HIV treatment is safe, effective & preferred by adolescents in multiple countries.

Retrotransposon drives cancer by altering 3D genome structure

01/05/2026

See how LINE-1 retrotransposon jumping gene loci modulate cancer gene expression by altering three-dimensional genome architecture at select sites called HILLs.

CHANGE-seq-BE finds off-target changes in the genome from base editors

01/02/2026

Find how Circularization for High-throughput Analysis of Nuclease Genome-wide Effects by Sequencing Base Editors (CHANGE-seq-BE) improves finding off-targets.