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When voices rise together in song, dancers tango across the floor, or a painter takes to a canvas, they may be engaging in a hobby, a passion, or a career. Most likely, they aren’t thinking about their brain circuitry or the cascading biochemical responses being sparked by their artistic pursuits. But we now have imaging technology and wearable sensors that can capture tha...
Will AI bring in robot doctors? Chat GPT: “Yes, these robots can assist in various healthcare tasks, such as diagnosing illnesses, performing surgeries, or providing personalized care to patients.” How will AI be regulated? Chat GPT: “Regulatory approaches may vary between countries, but the overarching goal is to strike a balance between fostering innovation and safeguard...
Medicine is being disrupted from every angle, as the financing and organization of clinical care are overhauled and scientific knowledge grows increasingly sophisticated. Academic health centers are being asked to provide a more patient-centered approach, while meeting the challenges posed by the Affordable Care Act and the evolving demands of Medicaid and Medicare. They...
When it comes to biomedical research, Earth’s gravity can be an obstacle, making it harder to program stem cells into viable organs, obscuring the crystalline structure of proteins, and interfering with cellular communication channels. The possibility of using space to advance science is no longer an exercise in imagination as biotech start-ups begin sending experiments in...
Individual genetic makeup and the genetic signature of diseases vary tremendously, but the goal of matching them with custom-tailored treatment remains in its infancy. Precision medicine, which uses the powerful tools of molecular biology, genomics, and bioinformatics, promises great advances. Much of the early focus of the field is on cancer, where researchers are studyin...
The average annual cost of cancer drugs in the US now exceeds $100,000 and the price of more than 200 generic drugs doubled from 2013 to 2014. That puts them far out of reach for countess ailing people, including many with decent insurance. The industry argues that it needs the revenue for the complex and expensive research that leads to better treatments, but pharmaceutic...
Since 2014, Aspen Ideas: Health has welcomed over 700 inspiring women leaders to our stages to share their bold approaches to better health. In honor of Women's History Month, we're taking a look back at some of the many highlights. From medical researchers and clinicians to entrepreneurs and activists, meet 12 change makers who are breaking barriers to reimagine a healthi...
When Damon Tweedy begins medical school, he envisions a bright future where his segregated, working-class background will become largely irrelevant. Instead, he finds that he has joined a new world where race is front and center. In his New York Times bestselling debut effort, Tweedy – now a psychiatrist at Duke University – explores the challenges confronting black doctor...
Nanobiophysics draws together the mainstays of physics, such as mechanical forces and electromagnetic fields, with the biochemical and cellular processes at the foundation of medicine. Anita Goel, a pioneer in this emerging platform, helped rocket MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant superbug, to the International Space Station so that scientists can study the influence of micro...
Technology is transforming how we provide medical care, improve diagnostics, share information, and extend the reach of public health. From disposable syringes that deliver a calibrated dose of medicine before self-destructing to 3-D printers that recreate the facial structures of combat-injured veterans, seemingly intractable problems are being met with cutting-edge solut...
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the world to grapple with a long-standing truth: that poor diversity in early and late stage medical research remains a major threat to health equity. Overcoming barriers and challenges to fair representation in research and development will not happen overnight, nor can it be achieved by a single institution. In order to pioneer lasting and su...
Dip into a groundbreaking medical memoir by Kurt Newman, president and CEO of Children’s National Medical Center and one of the leading pediatric surgeons in the United States. Newman spotlights resilient children and the medical professionals dedicated to their care, describes innovative therapies on the horizon, and issues a heartfelt call to give greater priority to ped...
New insights into human biology and the ability to manipulate molecules both large and small are rapidly accelerating medical innovations. By employing genetic engineering to empower immune cells, scientist-physicians are bringing new treatment options to people with cancer. Mapping the neural circuitry involved in mood disorders points the way towards deep brain stimulati...
If we are lucky enough to reach age 85, we face a 25 percent chance of dementia, and the odds worsen with time. Some 50 million people worldwide were living with dementia in 2017, and that number is predicted to double every 20 years so that by 2050, the afflicted population will reach 132 million. The most common cause is Alzheimer’s disease, an invariably progressive con...
We often take biology for granted, rarely recognizing the incredible technological feats of an organism as it grows, heals, and self-assembles—sustainably. As our ability to read, write, and design DNA grows, this power of biology is enabling amazing new biotechnologies to impact numerous industries, from everyday products brewed by designed microbes to programmable materi...
The proliferation of infections that can not be treated is a nightmare scenario we have not done nearly enough to prevent. Half of all prescriptions written for antibiotics in the US are still inappropriate and new medicines are barely trickling through clinical development. And now comes the MCR-1 gene, which renders bacteria resistant to colistin, the final antibiotic li...
Many clinicians have first-hand knowledge of what happens when their patients are unable to obtain the medications they need, at an affordable price. Widespread drug shortages and skyrocketing prices have created a crisis that could be costing lives in the US. With Intermountain Healthcare in the lead, joined by Ascension Healthcare, SSM Health, and Trinity Health, one gro...
Genomic discoveries were supposed to transform medicine and move us to a new vision of preventive health care. But 15 years after the Human Genome Project was complete, that still hasn’t happened. Meanwhile, direct-to-consumer genetics companies are bypassing health care providers to market ancestry, disease risk, diet, exercise and even dating and wine applications direc...
When the University of Texas completes its new medical school campus, it will introduce an entirely different approach to the study of medicine. Self-directed projects, collaborative work spaces, and design thinking will replace memorization and lecture halls, and help to claim a leadership role for academic medicine in addressing the systemic issues that influence health....
The #MeToo movement has inspired a sister movement called #USToo, designed to expose and eliminate sexual harassment in the sciences. A sweeping new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine looks at the extent to which women in these fields are harassed on campuses, research labs, medical centers and other academic environments. The chillin...