A large-scale metabolomics study of blood samples from 11,000 people has identified common biological links among a number of chronic non-communicable diseases, opening up the possibility of countering multiple diseases simultaneously.

COVID-19 continues to dramatically reconfigure medicine as an ever-broadening array of digital therapies rolls out and telemedicine tackles increasingly complex applications. Abbott Laboratories’ newly launched Neurosphere Virtual Clinic exploits both trends to make management of chronic pain and movement disorders easier for patients.

TORONTO – The University of Toronto (U of T) is collaborating with Kawasaki, Japan’s Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. to dramatically streamline radiation treatment plans for Gamma Knife brain tumor radiosurgery. Together, they are leveraging Fujitsu's Digital Annealer described as quantum-inspired computing technology to create treatment plans for complex surgical procedures in minutes, while maintaining accuracy and minimizing dosage to surrounding healthy tissue.

A U.S. Senate committee met March 18 to review the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which former FDA commissioner David Kessler said the Trump administration’s vaccine contracts were expensive, but effective in ensuring a robust supply. Nonetheless, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said one vaccine manufacturer had recently voiced an interest in charging more on a per-dose basis for its vaccine, and suggested that the cost of booster shots should perhaps be examined anew by the Biden administration.