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Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Oct-2026 03:17 ET (29-Oct-2026 07:17 GMT/UTC)

Healthcare preferences vary by age and sex in adults over 50, study finds

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Preferences about healthcare—including risk aversion, openness to experimental treatments, and whether to leave treatment decisions to a doctor—vary substantially by age and sex in adults over 50. That’s the conclusion of a new study published July 29, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Nicholas Steel of the University of East Anglia, UK, and colleagues.

Journal: PLOS One

Support from animals may feel stronger for women and those spending more time with them

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a study of Swiss adults, women and people who spent more time with a pet or another animal they might feel close to reported feeling more attached to the animal and receiving more socio-emotional support from it. However, the study found little evidence for links between pet ownership and participants’ overall wellbeing. Rahel Marti of the University of Basel, Switzerland, and colleagues present these findings in the open access journal PLOS One on July 29, 2026.

Journal: PLOS One

UMBC researcher to build on HIV drug side effect research with new NIAID grant to improve HIV prevention drugs

University of Maryland Baltimore County
Grant and Award Announcement

A new high-risk, high-reward NIAID grant to UMBC chemist Herana Kamal Seneviratne aims to strengthen HIV prevention by explaining why PrEP protects some people more effectively than others. Building on his group’s prior research into the negative side effects of HIV drugs—especially on the brain—the project will examine how the key PrEP medications tenofovir and emtricitabine are activated in colon tissue, a critical site for transmission. The findings could support better dosing and more consistent protection.

UH receives $2.8 million NIH grant to test remote parenting program’s impact on premature infant mental health

University of Houston
Grant and Award Announcement

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development awards $2.8 million to the University of Houston to lead the first clinical trial evaluating the remotely delivered PALS parenting program to support healthy brain development in infants born preterm.

Suicide deaths in South Korea could shift toward older, never-married, tertiary-educated men

Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Barcelona
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Anew study involving Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), based on administrative data from South Korea, projects that as higher education and lifelong singlehood become more common, the composition of older-age suicide deaths may shift toward never-married men with tertiary education. This does not mean that tertiary-educated individuals face higher suicide risks: their suicide rates remain lower than those of less educated groups. Rather, the projected shift is driven by population composition. As tertiary education becomes the norm among younger generations, the growing size of this group could lead to a higher absolute number of suicide deaths among tertiary-educated, never-married men.

Journal: BMJ Public Health
Funder: British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants, Beatriu de PInós, European Research Council

Research study investigates how maternal viral infections shape lifelong immune health in offspring

Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research
Grant and Award Announcement

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health has awarded a new, five-year $2.4 million R01 grant to Dr. Jiahui Ding, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine’s C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development, to support research that aims to uncover how viral infections during pregnancy reprogram the developing immune system of the fetus, influencing susceptibility to infectious diseases throughout life.

LA wildfires had lasting mental health impacts for the most vulnerable residents

University of Southern California
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Almost one year after the fires, elevated levels of anxiety and depression were concentrated among Angelenos who already faced social and economic hardship.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Like a molecular shrink ray: AI tool redesigns proteins without sacrificing function

Duke University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Duke University School of Medicine have developed an artificial intelligence framework that can redesign proteins on a scale previously seen only in natural evolution. The tool can create shorter, longer, and highly modified versions of proteins while preserving their structure and function.

Journal: Nature

Finding order in the inner chaos of our cells

WashU Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

WashU Medicine researchers have developed a system to synthesize proteins that have a constantly shifting shape. The innovation creates new opportunities to understand the basis of disease and design potential medical interventions.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Human Frontier Science Program, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Syracuse University