An international research team led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and Lund University has provided new evidence that aortic valve disease may be preventable. Their findings show that so-called “bad” cholesterol or low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) is a cause of aortic valve disease – a serious heart condition that affects around five million people in North America and is the most common cause for valve replacement. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Vancouver, could have major implications in the prevention of heart valve disease, a condition that currently has no known medical therapy. 

Researchers at McGill University have succeeded in simultaneously observing the reorganizations of atomic positions and electron distribution during the transformation of the “smart material” vanadium dioxide (VO2) from a semiconductor into a metal – in a time frame a trillion times faster than the blink of an eye.

What if we could reduce rates of a wide range of devastating mental illnesses through early detection? Thanks to a significant gift of $2.9M from the Irving Ludmer Family Foundation to The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital of McGill University (The Neuro), hope is on the horizon through the expansion of a major collaboration to understand why some children are vulnerable to conditions like autism, attention deficit disorder and social anxiety, and what can be done to prevent these disorders before they take hold. This collaboration will also explore brain disorders in the aging population, such as dementia, in an unprecedented investigation of mental health across the lifespan.

Building on two years of consultation with over 1500 students, faculty and staff, McGill University today released Vision 2020, a sustainability strategy designed to guide the institution over the coming years. The Vision 2020 strategy embraces the university’s dual role in cultivating a commitment towards sustainability among community members, while at the same time creating the knowledge needed to make this future a reality.

McGill University alumnus John O'Keefe was named co-winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in medicine, for his contribution to the discovery of cells that constitute the brain’s ‘inner GPS,’ which makes it possible to orient ourselves in space.