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Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 28-Oct-2026 03:17 ET (28-Oct-2026 07:17 GMT/UTC)

Largest study to date will measure effect of wildfire smoke and extreme heat on pregnancy

University of Maryland
Grant and Award Announcement

Wildfire smoke and extreme heat – increasingly the new norm – each have their own harmful effects on pregnant people and babies, including preterm birth and low birthweight. Now University of Maryland School of Public Health (UMD SPH) researchers will lead a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to examine how the combined experience of these hazards affects maternal health in the United States.

University of Toronto research finds AI scribes save doctors’ time and may ease administrative burden

University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Artificial intelligence (AI) scribes can reduce the time physicians spend documenting patient visits by 69.1% during simulated primary care appointments, according to research led by University of Toronto PhD student LaShawn Murray.

The study — published in the journal JAMIA Open, and co-authored with University of Toronto professor Enid Montague and Dr. Onil Bhattacharyya of Women’s College Hospital — involved nine physicians completing simulated patient encounters both with and without the use of AI scribes. These digital tools are capable of recording audio and using it to generate structured, regulatory-compliant clinical notes for a patient’s medical chart — the record physicians use to document their care.

The researchers used video recordings of each appointment to analyze how physicians spent their time. They found that when the scribes were in use, the doctors spent significantly less time documenting.

Journal: JAMIA Open

New study shows nationwide increase in metastatic and aggressive prostate cancer

Dartmouth Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study from the Dartmouth Cancer Center, led by James B. Yu, MD, MHS, reveals that more men in the U.S. are being diagnosed with advanced and aggressive forms of prostate cancer. Analyzing nearly two decades of data, the study highlights trends such as rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, an increase in high-grade tumors from 2008 to 2015, a steady rise in cases of metastatic prostate cancer since 2007, and growth in higher-risk genetic features of tumors.

Journal: American Journal of Clinical Oncology
Meeting: American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting

As wildfire smoke exposure grows, UC Davis researchers seek answers

University of California - Davis Health
Grant and Award Announcement

UC Davis researchers received a $14 million NIH grant to uncover how wildfire smoke affects heart and lung health and identify new prevention strategies.

Chen adapting the family and group conferencing model to care families of persons living with dementia

George Mason University
Grant and Award Announcement

Li-Mei Chen, Gerontologist, Department of Social Work, College of Public Health, received $75,000 from Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Center on Aging for “Circles of care: Adapting the Family and Group Conferencing Model to care families of persons living with dementia.”

Funder: Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Center on Aging

Global sexual and reproductive health and rights under threat, warn CUNY SPH experts and collaborators

CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
Peer-Reviewed Publication

As world leaders gather at the 81^st Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 81) this month, experts in a special collection of articles published by The BMJ warn that the proposed merger of UN Women and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)—two vital institutions for protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)—will weaken global commitments to gender equality.

Journal: The BMJ

National Institute on Aging awards $21.1 million to renew support for Cleveland Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

Cleveland Clinic
Grant and Award Announcement

The National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a grant expected to total $21.1 million over the next five years to continue funding the Cleveland Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (CADRC). The new award will support the multi-institution collaborative, which aims to accelerate research for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

The CADRC, led by Jagan Pillai, M.D., Ph.D., of Cleveland Clinic, was established in 2019. The multi-institutional center – the only NIH-funded Alzheimer’s research center in Ohio – brings together physicians and scientists from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland Clinic, Veterans Affairs Northeast Ohio Health Care System (VANEOHS), MetroHealth System and University Hospitals (UH).

UCLA researchers receive NIH grant to launch trial for immunotherapy-related diabetes

University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Grant and Award Announcement

The multicenter phase 1/2 trial will be conducted across the U.S. over the next five years and will be the first prospective human study to test a treatment specifically aimed at the condition.

Study reveals the work & health insurance roller coaster millions of Americans ride

Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study of low- and middle-income working American adults under 65 finds that those with volatile working hours, incomes and employment are much less likely to have access to employer-sponsored insurance, and that most of those with volatile hours have some weeks below the 20 hours of work that Medicaid work requirements will require in 2027.

Journal: JAMA Network Open