Comprehensive safety testing of COVID-19 vaccines based on experience with prior vaccines

“The urgent need for COVID-19 vaccines must be balanced with the imperative of ensuring safety and public confidence in vaccines by following the established clinical safety testing protocols throughout vaccine development, including both pre- and post-deployment,” write David M. Knipe and colleagues in this Perspective. The authors highlight how historical experience with vaccine development has…

Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative launches, Critical Path for Alzheimer’s Disease to partner

TUCSON, Ariz., November 17, 2020 — The Critical Path Institute’s (C-Path) Critical Path for Alzheimer’s Disease (CPAD) Consortium today announced its participation as a Partner with the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative (ADDI), a 501(c)(3) medical research organization which launched today. ADDI is dedicated to advancing scientific breakthroughs in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and…

PCORI board approves $34 million in funding for maternal mental health, arthritis

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 17, 2020) — The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors today approved $34 million to fund seven comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies designed to improve care for health conditions that impose high burdens on patients, their families and the health care system. They also acknowledged its newest seven board…

‘Vanished’ or ‘hidden’ prostate cancer? Men with negative biopsies during active surveillance have good outcomes

November 17, 2020 – Can early-stage prostate cancer “vanish” during follow-up? More likely the cancer is just “hidden”–either way, negative biopsies during active surveillance for prostate cancer are associated with excellent long-term outcomes, reports a study in The Journal of Urology®, an Official Journal of the American Urological Association (AUA). The journal is published in…

Friends of BrainHealth support distinguished new scientists, surpass $3M funding milestone

DALLAS (November 17, 2020) – The Center for BrainHealth, part of The University of Texas at Dallas, recently hosted the first-ever virtual iteration of the annual Friends of BrainHealth Scientist Selection Luncheon, during which the following scientists were awarded funds for their independently designed research studies: Dema Abdelkarim, MS, received the Jennifer and Peter Roberts…

Just hours of training triples doctor confidence in use of handheld ultrasound devices

While ultrasound imaging technology has been available for more than 50 years, machine size and cost limited its reach to medical offices and hospitals. However, relatively recent advances in this technology has allowed for the development of ultra-portable handheld devices that appear more like the tricorder from Star Trek than a traditional ultrasound machine. These…

Operation Warp Speed: Is Moderna in it?

[Read more on Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine.] Very much so. The United States government provided $1 billion in support for the design and testing of the Moderna vaccine. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health oversaw much of the research, including the clinical trials. Moderna also received an additional $1.5 billion in exchange for 100 million…