In recent years, the quickly growing “femtech” industry has transformed how many women monitor and manage their health. This field of technology creates products including everything from period trackers to AI-assisted cancer diagnostics. While these innovations offer benefits, they also raise questions about privacy, bias, regulation, and the ethical implications of new technologies in healthcare.

Cancer Center at Illinois member Sara Gerke is working to navigate these issues. A health law scholar and bioethicist, Gerke focuses on AI and digital health safety. Her recent paper, “Effective regulation of technology in women’s health and healthcare,” published in The BMJ together with co-authors Sara Raza, Eric Bressman, and Carmel Shachar, addresses ethical and legal issues surrounding “femtech,” bringing light to the lack of data privacy protection regulation for health apps trusted with personal information.

Cancer Center at Illinois members Ratnakar Singh and Michael Spinella collaborated in new research that fills in critical gaps of understanding in the relationship between testicular cancer growth and the presence of PFAS.

From improving screening for younger adults to advancing immunotherapy and vaccine strategies, UCLA researchers are making strides to detect, treat and prevent colorectal cancer more effectively.

Researchers from the University of Kasnas analyzed social and health data for more than 1,000 counties across the United States. They found counties with high levels of civic engagement had better health outcomes for white commmunities located therein, but did not found equally improved outcomes for black communities. The results show that more research is needed to understand health disparities and to help design health interventions designed with and for all residents, not based on assumptions that what works for one demographic will work for all, researchers argue.

Weight-based teasing is linked to unhealthy behaviors and physiological responses in adults and youth according to new research from IU assistant professor of anthropology Jennifer Cullin.

A study conducted by the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) concludes that the effective adaptation in crisis and emergency situations requires team to accurately understand unfolding events and flexibly use different coordination processes. Paradoxically, the rigid enforcement of crisis protocols can constrain these processes of understanding and coordination, ultimately weakening teams’ adaptive capacity.

An Osaka Metropolitan University-led research team aimed to evaluate the diagnostic utility and safety of full-thickness biopsy performed during semi-rigid pleuroscopy under local anesthesia to differentiate between malignant pleural mesothelioma and non-specific pleurisy.