The Buck Institute for Research on Aging today announced the launch of Healthspan Horizons, a new initiative designed to address one of the most urgent challenges in modern medicine: how to measure, understand, and extend healthspan—the years of life spent in good health.

A recent research study found that a combination of the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide and bimagrumab, an antibody that blocks activin signaling pathways, results in greater weight loss while also preserving lean mass, such as skeletal muscle and connective tissue. In the paper “Bimagrumab and semaglutide alone or in combination for the treatment of obesity: a phase 2 randomized clinical trial,” published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, Dr. Steven Heymsfield of Pennington Biomedical Research Center describes the results of the BELIEVE study, which showed that the therapy combination addressed lean mass loss associated with GLP-1-based therapies.  

Researchers at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, the University of Ottawa and McGill University have launched ARCHIMEDES (Advanced Research Collaboration for Health Integration, Medical Exploration, and Data Synthesis), a national platform designed to give Canadian health researchers secure access to diverse health data, enable responsible data sharing across institutions and health data types, and support the development of advanced analyses, including AI algorithms. 

A new Gerontological Society of America (GSA) report summarizes survey findings on the readiness of the primary care workforce to adopt digital cognitive assessments (DCAs) for use in the diagnostic process for cognitive impairment and dementia.

GLP-1 drugs have revolutionized the treatment of diabetes and obesity, but hurdles remain to their more widespread use. A study led by biochemist Henry Daniell of the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania investigates a new lettuce-based oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form. The results could lead to more affordable and better-tolerated oral medications for diabetes and obesity.

By analyzing Medicare billing records from providers practicing across the country, researchers from the Brown University School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital showed that greater use of telemedicine among mental health specialists did not substantially change whether they were seeing patients from rural or underserved areas.

Researchers have developed an experimental “living eye drop” that uses naturally occurring eye bacteria to support corneal wound healing.