🧪Cytisinicline reduces symptoms of nicotine craving and withdrawal. If approved in June 2026, it will be the first new approved pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in 20 years.

🧪Once a Death Sentence, This Heart Condition Is Finally Treatable A quiet revolution in care is helping patients with cardiac amyloidosis, a form of heart failure that long stumped doctors. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/w...

Some uplifting 🧪news from the latest Cure SMA annual report: The mortality rate of SMA in 2024 has dropped nearly 80% since 2014. Why? Newborn screening = earlier treatment & 3 FDA-approved therapies. ICER is currently reviewing a fourth therapy: icer.org/assessment/s...

So pleased to be able to join Mike DiStefano and Wija Oortwijn to discuss #HTA activities in the context of serious affordability challenges. You should join us too!

🧪This morning, ICER announces a new review of 4 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) therapies. With widespread US newborn screening & improved patient longevity, we're eager to assess progress in this rapidly advancing field since our 2019 report. #healthpolicy Draft scope below: icer.org/wp-content/u...

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has identified 5 drugs with price increases not supported by new clinical evidence: Biktarvy Darzalex Entresto Cabometyx Xeljanz www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/view/icer-id...

🧪 Less than a month after four towering dams on the Klamath River were demolished, hundreds of salmon made it into waters they have been cut off from for decades to spawn in cool creeks

🧪A second drug for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy just got approved a week early. At $225K/year, it's more accessible than Pfizer's $268K Vyndaqel but still far exceeds ICER's recommended $13.6K-$39K range. Big news for the 50,000+ patients in US, but pricing debate continues.

🧪A survey of 879 U.S. healthcare professionals found: Popular media (69.5%psilocybin, 61.8% MDMA) and academic literature (65.6%, 47.9%) were respondents’ main current sources of knowledge Only 5.5% answered all 3 knowledge check questions correctly for psilocybin compared to just 1.1% for MDMA.

🧪 People with MS often stop taking disease-modifying therapy as they transition from relapsing-remitting MS to secondary progressive MS. This study shows that people who stop stop therapy have higher hospitalization rates and more visits to the emergency room.

🧪Today is the 20 year anniversary of Google Scholar! To celebrate the occasion, its two founders put together some fun facts related to the tool. blog.google/outreach-ini...

🧪 Experts found the Texas DFW area to be the third most dangerous for migrating birds. To help, the Lights Out team convinced downtown businesses to dim their lights, reducing confusion for birds. By Oct. 31, bird deaths dropped to 42, down from 110 last fall.

🧪In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington, destroying everything nearby. Gophers helped restore the soil by spreading microbes. Their digging resulted in 40,000 new plants in six years, leading to a thriving forest today.

🧪 Washington state's voters upheld the Climate Commitment Act, a cap-and-trade law, by rejecting a repeal. This law has raised over $2 billion for clean transportation, clean energy, and climate adaptation efforts, with 62% voting to maintain it.

🧪 Breakthrough brings hope: 3 patients who were losing their sight can see again, thanks to innovative stem cell transplants. Vision improvements lasted over a year, with no severe side effects.

🧪Now that the Twitter exodus is in full force, I thought I'd create a curated list of researchers, journalists, and organizations working to strengthen scientific integrity and expose misconduct. Please reach out for any additions/removals from the pack! go.bsky.app/LC81roH

🧪 Rwanda contained Marburg outbreak with 22.7% fatality - far lower than typical 90%. Key: high-quality healthcare, rapid tracing/testing, experimental treatments, infection control. Rwanda also increased life expectancy by 20 years, from 47.5 in 2000 to 67.5 in 2021.

🧪 Millets are making a comeback in India after declining in the 1960s. They are drought-resistant, nutritious, and help reduce emissions and water use compared to other crops. The Indian gov is promoting cultivation/consumption to address climate change and food security.

🧪Female doctors had 2-3x higher survival rates for heart patients vs male docs. Up to 32K lives could be saved if male docs learned to treat women better. Cardiologist Marianne Legato and patient advocate Carolyn Thomas are working to fix this disparity. buff.ly/4g7FVm3

🧪Antonia, a cloned black-footed ferret at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, has produced two healthy offspring that will help build genetic diversity in their recovering population www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a...

The Eviction Lab at Princeton is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Assistant. Apply here: puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app... #AcademicSky🧪

🧪A new drug for schizophrenia was approved today! KarXT was reviewed by ICER earlier this year: icer.org/wp-content/u...

A new study adds to a growing body of evidence that Parkinson’s disease, long believed to have its origins in the brain, may begin in the gut.

🧪Congressional leaders unveil $275M bipartisan bill to boost menopause research, training & awareness. Led by Sen. Patty Murray & backed by Halle Berry, the bill funds NIH grants, public campaign, clinician training & diagnosis/treatment for midlife women's health issues.

🧪New dual-insecticide nets deployed through The Global Fund project prevented an estimated 13 million malaria cases and 24,600 deaths in sub-Saharan Africa by addressing growing mosquito resistance. 56 million next-gen nets reached people in 17 countries.

🧪Médecins Sans Frontières has released details of their spending on a major clinical trial for a drug-resistant TB treatment, and they are calling for greater transparency in clinical trial costs to expose the true costs of medical innovation.

🧪Indigenous territories tend to have lower deforestation rates and higher forest regrowth when indigenous peoples have secure land rights. Research shows forests are often healthier under indigenous stewardship.

🧪NIST researchers developed a technique using a smartphone compass to measure tiny concentrations of biomarkers like glucose, enabling potential at-home diagnosis of diseases and detection of environmental toxins through low-cost magnetized hydrogels.

🧪The Gates Foundation will require grant holders to publish research as preprints from 2024. It will also stop paying article-processing charges, moving away from the open access model where publishers charge fees to make articles freely available online.

🧪Amylyx Pharma to withdraw its only ALS drug Relyvrio from US/Canada markets after late-stage trial fails to confirm earlier reported benefit. Company also cutting 70% of workforce and advancing other pipeline programs. #ALS #biopharma

🧪Composting allows bodies to naturally decompose into soil, accelerating nutrient cycling by harnessing microbial heat to safely breakdown tissues in just 30-40 days, mitigating emissions from traditional funerary methods and saving more than a metric ton of carbon compared to alternatives.

🧪In 2023, the U.S. organ donation and transplant community continued a record-breaking trend that started eleven years ago. 10,660 liver transplants were performed last year, more than ever recorded in a single year, and more than 10,000 for the first time ever.

🧪One of the silver linings of the pandemic was that the restrictions eliminated the Yamagata lineage of type B influenza—a viral source of death and disease, especially among children. Scientists now say it might be possible to eliminate a second strain, leading to the end of influenza B worldwide.

🧪Breast cancer mortality rate in US women fell 58% from 1975-2019 per JAMA study, with nearly half the reduction from earlier treatment of Stage 1-3 cancer and about 25% from improved mammography screening and 29% from better treatment of metastatic breast cancer.

🧪A child born with Cystic fibrosis in the ’50s could expect to live until age 5. In the early 2000s, age 35. With Trikafta, those who begin taking the drug in early adolescence, a recent study projected, can expect to survive to age 82.5—an essentially normal life span.

🧪The U.S. is failing to curb the opioid epidemic by not adequately expanding access to effective addiction medications like methadone and buprenorphine. They cut overdose deaths by 50-80%, yet due to barriers like stigma, only a small percentage of opioid addicted individuals receive them

🧪 A Pew survey found that only 57 per cent of Americans think science has had a “mostly positive effect on society,” down from 73 per cent in 2019. Now, more than ever, we need trustworthy science that is grounded in rigorous methods, and science communication that is balanced and accurate.

🧪A new NIH study found reducing lead levels in American Indian adults lowered blood pressure by up to 7 mm Hg, equivalent to the effect of blood pressure drugs.

🧪The CDC reported a 69% increase in Lyme disease cases in the US in 2022 compared to previous years. However, this increase is likely due to a change in how Lyme disease surveillance is conducted, not an actual explosion in cases.

🧪Endometriosis affects around 1 in 10 women during their lifetime. It has been an overlooked disorder plagued by lack of awareness and research funding. A clinical trial of the first non-hormonal, non-surgical treatment for endometriosis, started in 2023 in Scotland, is showing promising results.

🧪The American Heart Association just released its new report showing that the country has cut heart disease death rates by 70% since 1950 and stroke death rates by nearly a third since 1998.

🧪Microbes that rapidly convert CO2 to rock could lock away the greenhouse gas in deep underground storage sites, such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs

🧪Scientists have developed a way to recycle single-use plastics using enzymes found in laundry detergents. The chemical recycling process can break down the plastic within 24 hours (84 times faster than industrial methods) and even allows for the production of high-quality reusable materials.

🧪The New Zealand Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will ban the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in cosmetic products starting in 2027. This will make the country one of the first in the world to take this step on PFAS to protect people and the environment.

🧪While ketamine clinics have proliferated as a rapid treatment for depression, dosing protocols & safety measures vary widely between the 500-750 US clinics as this off-label use faces little regulation. www.npr.org/sections/hea...

🧪The American Ornithological Society plans to change the names of all American birds named after people, affecting between 70 and 80 species predominantly found in the U.S. and Canada.

🧪Loyal has launched a large clinical trial of over 1,000 dogs to test if its daily pill drug LOY-002 can extend healthy aging by delaying diseases. The 4-year study involves 50+ vet clinics and aims to prove metabolism targeting improves quality of life for senior dogs aged 10+.

🧪Nicole Shanahan has donated $100M to fund research slowing ovarian aging. She established research centers to study topics like how genes, metabolism & the brain impact ovarian aging over time. The goal is to help women have more fertility & career control.

🧪600,000 people in the United States die suddenly each year. Genetic autopsies help uncover the mystery of sudden deaths in 30% of cases by detecting mutations that can cause hereditary heart conditions and arrhythmias, potentially preventing future deaths in at-risk families.

🧪 A new report from the WHO indicates that 150 countries are reducing tobacco use, around 1 in 5 adults worldwide now consume tobacco compared to 1 in 3 in 2000, and there are 19 million fewer smokers than there were just two years ago.