An individual’s personality, especially how strongly they react to uncertainty, may help indicate how vulnerable they are to prolonged mental distress during a major crisis, according to a new USC-led study. An analysis of several years of nationally representative U.S. data found that people scoring higher in neuroticism experienced larger and more persistent increases in anxiety and depression symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic than people scoring lower in the trait.

Through long-standing research, which has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, investigators at Johns Hopkins Medicine have advanced insights into ways to better detect invasive aspergillosis (IA). Caused by mold, the infection is uncommon in the general population but can create significant health risks for people with underlying conditions that affect or weaken their immune system. Today, the researchers publish data in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases that led to the FDA clearance of what is believed to be the first rapid urine-based assay to aid in the diagnosis of the condition.