Uncategorized
How ageism holds back women in medicine
Though women make up more than half of medical students, they remain underrepresented in health care leadership: Women comprise just 29% of full professors, 25% of department chairs, 27% of deans, and 25% of health care CEOs. Among the reasons for this imbalance are the systemic barriers that sideline women out of the workforce. In […]
Biohackers think you can program the body like a computer. They’re wrong
It’s easy to feel as though you’re doing something wrong these days if you don’t know your VO2-Max and how many hours of REM sleep you get each night, or if you’re not taking a dozen different supplements and scrutinizing every morsel of food that makes its way into your mouth. “Biohackers” and other longevity […]
What Baby KJ means for future of CRISPR gene editing industry
For the ailing gene editing industry, hope came earlier this month in the tiny, smiling, fuzzy-headed form of KJ Muldoon. At just 6 months old, KJ received a gene editing treatment custom-built to correct his unique mutation. He’s not cured, researchers explained at the annual American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy meeting in New […]
My dental patients lived with the consequences of fluoride-free water
Florida has just banned fluoride in public water, becoming the second state to do so. It’s part of decadeslong battle that has heated up in recent years. Local governments debate whether it belongs in the water supply. Parents question safety. Pseudoscience clouds public perception. Often, the conversation is framed as a domestic ideological battle between […]
National Academies prepares for ‘fairly radical downsizing’
Megan Molteni reports on discoveries from the frontiers of genomic medicine, neuroscience, and reproductive tech. She joined STAT in 2021 after covering health and science at WIRED. You can reach Megan on Signal at mmolteni.13. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is headed for a major reorganization as it tries to reduce its […]
Let physicians dispense some medications
Big pharmacies are in trouble. In March, Walgreens announced that it had reached a $10 billion buyout deal with private-equity firm Sycamore — a price that was just a tenth of its $100 billion value a decade ago. In recent years, the big three — Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid — have closed thousands of […]
Investor activism is on the rise in biotech
Adam Feuerstein is a senior writer and biotech columnist, reporting on the crossroads of drug development, business, Wall Street, and biotechnology. He is also a co-host of the weekly biotech podcast The Readout Loud and author of the newsletter Adam’s Biotech Scorecard. You can reach Adam on Signal at stataf.54. This story first appeared in […]
Study outlines combination method to predict heart attack risk
In what researchers hope could be a case of 1 + 1 = 3, new research suggests that combining a model to predict 10-year cardiovascular risk with an imaging test of coronary arteries could be better than either method alone at identifying people in danger of their first heart attack. The model is PREVENT, which […]
WHO members adopt pandemic treaty, as U.S. shuns meeting
GENEVA — World Health Organization members on Tuesday adopted a treaty aimed at preparing for and responding to future pandemics, what countries say is both a tangible example of how they’re learning the lessons of Covid-19 and a marker for the continued importance of international collaboration. Health officials hailed the treaty, a goal of which […]
Animal models in medical research are more important than ever
Imagine a world without lifesaving medicines, preventive care, or therapies — no insulin for diabetes, no vaccines for polio, and fewer (if any) options for treating cancer. What do these amazing medical achievements have in common? They all depended heavily on research using animals, the behind-the-scenes heroes of medical breakthroughs. Animal models play a starring […]