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Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Oct-2026 04:17 ET (29-Oct-2026 08:17 GMT/UTC)

Jacqueline C.K. Lam, Ph.D., chief operating officer and co-founder of Elohax Ltd., to present at the 13th Aging Research & Drug Discovery (ARDD) Meeting in Boston

Nordic Aging Society
Meeting Announcement

ARDD 2026 has announced that Jacqueline C.K. Lam, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of ElohaX Ltd., will speak at the 13th Aging Research & Drug Discovery (ARDD) Meeting, taking place October 1–3, 2026, at the David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University. As the world's leading conference dedicated to longevity biotechnology, ARDD 2026 will convene top researchers, pharmaceutical executives, entrepreneurs, and investors to accelerate the translation of aging science into next-generation medicines.

Organized by Insilico Medicine and supported by industry leaders including Eli Lilly and the McKinsey Health Institute, the meeting reflects the growing momentum behind longevity as a major frontier in biomedical innovation. With speakers representing ten of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, ARDD 2026 aims to foster the collaborations needed to transform discoveries in aging biology into therapies that extend healthy lifespan and improve patient outcomes.

Meeting: Aging Research & Drug Discovery Annual Meeting

Ariel Feldstein of Pfizer to present at the 13th Aging Research & Drug Discovery (ARDD) Meeting in Boston

Nordic Aging Society
Meeting Announcement

ARDD 2026 has announced that Ariel Feldstein, CSO of Internal Medicine at Pfizer, will speak at the 13th Aging Research & Drug Discovery (ARDD) Meeting, taking place October 1–3, 2026, at the David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University. As the world's leading conference dedicated to longevity biotechnology, ARDD 2026 will convene top researchers, pharmaceutical executives, entrepreneurs, and investors to accelerate the translation of aging science into next-generation medicines.

Organized by Insilico Medicine and supported by industry leaders including Eli Lilly and the McKinsey Health Institute, the meeting reflects the growing momentum behind longevity as a major frontier in biomedical innovation. With speakers representing ten of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, ARDD 2026 aims to foster the collaborations needed to transform discoveries in aging biology into therapies that extend healthy lifespan and improve patient outcomes.

Meeting: Aging Research & Drug Discovery Annual Meeting

Drug that targets an inflammatory enzyme could help prevent lung cancer

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

MIT researchers showed that blocking caspase-1, an enzyme involved in lung inflammation, appears to reduce the risk of developing tumors. The enzyme-blocking drug might help prevent lung cancer in people at high risk for the disease.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: Johnson & Johnson, Upstage Lung Cancer through the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program, Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research, the Koch Institute’s Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, the Koch Institute Support (core) Grant from the National Cancer Institute, a core center grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Researchers find that waist size is a powerful indicator of health risks

Rutgers University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Measuring waist size may be one of the simplest and most effective ways to detect obesity-related health risks, according to a study by Rutgers Health researchers.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, found that combining body mass index (BMI) with waist circumference, or using waist circumference alone, performed as well as a newly proposed obesity definition that incorporates multiple body measurements.

Journal: JAMA Network Open
Funder: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

Experts lead European study into childhood survival inequalities

Swansea University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A major European study has investigated how socio-economic circumstances influence survival among children born with major congenital anomalies.

The research, part of the EUROlinkCAT collaboration, analysed data from more than 47,000 children with major congenital anomalies across ten congenital anomaly registers in seven European countries. The team found children with major congenital anomalies from poorer backgrounds were significantly more likely to die than those from the least deprived backgrounds.

Journal: PLOS One
Funder: Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme

Real-time prescription benefit tool availability and prescription medication fill rates

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About the Study: In this post hoc analysis of a cluster randomized clinical trial, there was no change in overall prescription fill rates, but among high-cost drugs, the RTPB tool increased fill rates, particularly among patients from low-income communities. However, RTPB recommendations were made for a small proportion of orders, limiting the applicability of the findings to a narrow segment of the randomized population.

Journal: JAMA Health Forum

State eviction moratoria and foster care entries

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About the Study: This cohort study assesses whether state eviction moratoria are associated with foster care entries across 60 US jurisdictions.

Journal: JAMA Health Forum

Body mass index at diagnosis, prediagnostic weight loss, and survival in colorectal cancer

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About the Study: In this case-control study with prospective follow-up of patients with CRC, the obesity paradox appeared to be largely attributable to prediagnostic cancer-associated weight loss. The apparent survival advantage associated with overweight and obesity at diagnosis should not be interpreted as evidence to encourage weight gain for patients with healthy weight or to revise existing survivorship recommendations.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Could beneficial bacteria help prevent the body from absorbing lead?

Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Grant and Award Announcement

Could beneficial bacteria help prevent the body from absorbing lead? With new funding from the National Institutes of Health, WPI researcher Natalie Farny is exploring that question by putting harmless bacteria to work in an unexpected place: the digestive tract of tiny C. elegans worms.