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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly aggressive and lethal subtype of breast cancer. Many TNBC patients have significant risks of developing life-threatening metastases even after receiving successful neoadjuvant treatment. One reason for this high treatment failure rate is the presence of treatment-resisting disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow (BM). DTCs have an extremely low occurrence of 1 per 106−107 nucleated BM cells. Hence, one challenge in studying DTCs is to enrich for these rare cells while retaining their viability for further molecular analysis. Microfluidic technology has become a promising solution by offering high detection sensitivity, low reagent consumption, and simple operation. Our project demonstrates the use of the immunoaffinity-based geometrically enhanced mixing (GEM) microfluidic device to efficiently capture TNBC cells in BM aspirates and safely release them for future single-cell ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequencing. Using anti-EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) antibodies as the capture agent, the GEM offers a capture efficiency of ∼70%. By combining the cell-dissociation chemical trypsin with mechanical impulses, the release efficiency reaches ∼95% while maintaining viability and morphology similar to that of TNBC cells in culture. This work has the potential to contribute towards the future identification of TNBC therapeutic targets.

High-quality data on funding for mental health research are essential to mapping funding levels, identifying gaps in the funding landscape, and tracking the impact of research funding. To date, quantitative analyses of research funding in mental health have been restricted in scope. In this Health Policy paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of grant funding for mental health research as a starting point for discussion among stakeholders globally. We drew on a major international research database and used existing definitions and automated classification tools for mental health research. Our analysis shows a flat and stable trend over the years 2015-19 and highly unequal geographical distribution of funding, and reveals patterns of funding across different conditions and across the research spectrum. Improvements in data availability and quality, in the definitions delineating mental health research from other areas, and in automated classification tools are needed to ensure funders and policy makers can fully rely on the data and generate bespoke analyses as needed. We argue that collaborative reporting of funding for mental health research globally could help to inform and evaluate efforts to increase investments, to improve strategic dialogue, and to achieve the best possible allocation of finite resources.

One in four people in the world will be affected by a mental disorder at some point in their life, and mental health problems are currently the leading cause of global morbidity. Effectively addressing and understanding this vast unmet need requires research that spans basic research, all the way through to clinical/applied research. Research deepens our knowledge of mental ill-health and its underlying mechanisms and allows us to understand which interventions are effective and for whom. By setting funding levels and designing funding programs, policymakers and funders directly influence what kind of research is being conducted, where and by whom, and at what scale. But our understanding of the distribution of mental health research funding is limited, potentially undermining the effectiveness of such investments. This report attempts to fill that gap for the first time by mapping the global mental health research funding landscape.The International Alliance of Mental Health Research Funders (IAMHRF) has analyzed over 75,000 research grants awarded by nearly 350 funders from over 35 countries, revealing for the first time the extent and nature of mental health research funding.