Aging is a complex process, and precisely measuring how the human body declines has long been a challenge. Two people of the same chronological age can have very different health trajectories. Scientists have also struggled to move beyond identifying aging markers to pinpointing what actually drives aging itself. Now researchers from China’s Aging Biomarker Consortium (ABC) have built a computational framework—the Digital Aging Twin—to study aging at the individual level in order to predict biological age and track the different aging rates of individual organs.

A new pilot study led by researchers at The City University of New York demonstrates the feasibility of combining wearable devices, smartphone location data, and real-time surveys to capture individuals’ environmental exposures and their immediate physical and emotional effects.

Digital twins in translational research and health care, human research protection during emergencies, early phase trials

The Hertz Foundation, the nation’s preeminent nonprofit organization committed to advancing American scientific and technological leadership, has announced 19 recipients of the 2026 Hertz Fellowship in the applied sciences, engineering and mathematics. Awarded through a rigorous selection process honed over eight decades, the Hertz Fellowship is the nation’s most competitive doctoral fellowship in science and technology. Hertz Fellows receive up to five years of financial support — a stipend and full tuition equivalent — offering the rare freedom to pursue bold ideas and a community of influential peers dedicated to their success.

Investigators at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center are part of a new multi-institution research effort aimed at improving care and outcomes for patients diagnosed with glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat cancers.

A new study reveals that many older adults start cannabis seeking more effective or non-pharmaceutical options to treat sleep, pain, or mental health conditions, and that many base their decisions on word of mouth rather than discussions with health care providers.

About The Study: In this repeated cross-sectional study of cross-national mortality, the U.S. had substantially higher death rates than other high-income countries between 1999 and 2022, despite having similar access to advanced medical technology. Many of these excess U.S. deaths could likely be avoided by adopting health and social policies that have benefited other high-income countries. These descriptive findings should be interpreted in light of uncertainty arising from differences in death coding, data completeness, and other aspects of data comparability across countries.

About The Study: In this qualitative study, older adults were motivated to use cannabis as an alternative approach to address health concerns. These findings highlight the importance of physician awareness of older adults’ motivations and concerns to support informed counseling and resources.