When Science Finds a Way

Tranexamic acid (TXA) has enormous potential to prevent deaths from postpartum haemorrhage, but until very recently it's been overlooked. Professor Haleema Shakur Still tells Alisha Wainwright how she stumbled on TXA's untapped potential, and the drug's journey from being an undervalued discovery in post-war Japan to a groundbreaking treatment in modern-day Nigeria. Professor Nike Bellow and Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi share their efforts to make TXA more accessible to communities, while Haleema explains how drug trials have revealed a hidden side to postpartum haemorrhage – one that could prevent cases before treatment is even needed. 

Mentioned in this episode and further reading: 

WOMAN trials: looking at the effect of the drug tranexamic acid (TXA) on bleeding, and the best ways to give it (https://thebloodtrials.org/womens-health-trials/) 


The missing evidence: anaemia, postpartum bleeding and maternal death, Blood Trials, LSHTM (https://thebloodtrials.org/the-missing-evidence/) 


A word of thanks to all the WOMAN Trial collaborators, Professor Ian Roberts, who co-led the WOMAN Trials alongside Haleema, trial teams in London, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania and Zambia and the women and families who make this work possible.

It might sound like something out of TV shows like The Last of Us, but brain-invading fungi are a real-world problem.
Alisha Wainwright speaks to Drs. Rachael Dangarembizi and Rebecca Drummond, an immunologist and a neuroscientist collaborating across continents to tackle Cryptococcal Meningitis – the leading cause of fungal death worldwide.
Dr Kyla Murphy also talks about the new tests and treatments saving lives from the disease, and Alisha shares the story of her own mother's brush with a dangerous fungal infection. 
 

Mentioned in this episode and further reading: 

Will climate change lead to more fungal infections? An explainer by Wellcome (wellcome.org/insights/articles/will-climate-change-lead-more-fungal-infections) 


Wellcome Fungal Adaptation Call Awardees (wellcome.org/research-funding/funding-portfolio/funded-grants?f%5B0%5D=funding_scheme_grants_awarded%3ABiology%20of%20fungal%20adaptation 


Global incidence and mortality of severe fungal disease, David W Denning, The Lancet Infectious Diseases (thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(23)00692-8/fulltext) 


The WHO fungal priority pathogens list as a gamechanger, Matthew C. Fisher & David W. Denning, Nature Reviews Microbiology (nature.com/articles/s41579-023-00861-x#citeas) 


How fungi shape our world...and how the climate is shaping our fungi – The Naked Scientist Podcast in partnership with Wellcome (thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/naked-scientists-podcast/how-fungi-shape-our-world) 


When Science Finds a Way is brought to you by Wellcome, an independent global foundation that supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. For more information and podcast transcripts visit wellcome.org/podcast

AI chatbots and apps are increasingly being used for mental health support. But could these new tools carry hidden risks?
 
In the second part of this special episode, Alisha Wainwright unpicks her own experiments with AI therapy, takes tips from Dr John Torous on staying safe when seeking help digitally, and hears about the risks of unregulated tools. 
 
But there's hope with these tools too. Professor Miranda Wolpert reveals how AI could help scale mental health interventions in the globally and even inspire whole new forms of therapy. 
 
Mentioned in this episode and further reading:
AI and mental health: "it could help revolutionise treatments" - Miranda Wolpert, Director of Mental Health, Wellcome  (https://wellcome.org/insights/articles/ai-and-mental-health-help-revolutionise-treatments)
Generating evidence for AI in health (EVAH) (https://wellcome.org/insights/articles/evah-new-initiative-generate-evidence-ai-health)
 
When Science Finds a Way is brought to you by Wellcome, an independent global foundation that supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. For more information and podcast transcripts visit wellcome.org/podcast

Launching season 4 with a special two-part episode, Alisha Wainwright explores the potential revolution AI is sparking in mental healthcare, and how our phones could play a part. 

Digital psychiatry specialist Dr John Torous explains how AI trained on data from our devices could help us diagnose people with mental health conditions, but that's only the beginning. 

We hear from clinical psychiatrist Dr Andrea Cipriani about how AI could optimise patients' prescriptions. And digital mental health expert Dr Jana Alagarajah explains why innovation in the Global South could shape future care for the rest of the world.
Mentioned in this episode + further reading:
PETRUSHKA (Personalise anti depressant treatment for unipolar depression combining individual choices, risks and big data) - www.psych.ox.ac.uk/evidence-based-mental-health/petrushka-trial
Trial finds that AI tool could transform antidepressant prescribing -  National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre
When Science Finds a Way is brought to you by Wellcome, an independent global foundation that supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. For more information and podcast transcripts visit wellcome.org/podcast

Science is always adding to our knowledge of human health, but how do ideas become breakthroughs, and how can those breakthroughs bring about a better world? 

Join botanist-turned-Hollywood actor Alisha Wainwright for another season, as she meets the scientists, innovators, and communities searching for solutions to our biggest health challenges. 

A podcast by Wellcome: www.wellcome.org