Background and Goal: Adopted individuals often have limited access to their family medical history, complicating  their health care. This study explored the approaches of primary care physicians when caring for adult adopted patients with limited family medical history. Study Approach: Researchers conducted in-depth interviews, including hypothetical clinical scenarios,  with 23 primary care physicians from Rhode Island and Minnesota to understand their experiences, practices, knowledge, and training gaps when addressing limited family medical history and adoption-related issues. Main Results:  Primary care physicians report ...

Background and Goal: Despite the removal of the X-waiver requirement, which once restricted clinicians from prescribing buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD), only a small percentage of primary care clinicians currently prescribe medication for OUD (MOUD). This study evaluated a structured support program to help small, rural primary care clinics improve their capacity to provide this treatment.  Study Approach: Researchers worked with 15 primary care practices in Colorado over a 12-month period from January 2022 through January 2023. The program provided clinics with monthly educational sessions, direct access to an addiction medicine specialist, and support from practice facilitators ...

Background and Goal: Transgender and gender-diverse individuals often experience additional difficulties navigating health care. This study examined the effectiveness of a peer health navigator pilot program in Saskatchewan, Canada that aimed to improve access to affirming health care for transgender and gender-diverse individuals. Study Approach: Two peer health navigators were recruited to pilot the program. The navigators were required to be transgender or gender diverse and have experience in health care or community-based organizations. Navigators supported clients by providing information on gender transition and ...

ackground and Goal: Integrated behavioral health (IBH), which combines behavioral health and primary care, improves patient outcomes and experience. This study evaluated whether a tailored, toolkit-based intervention could improve IBH and patient outcomes in primary care practices serving patients with multiple chronic medical and behavioral health conditions. Study Approach: The study used a cluster randomized controlled trial design. Practices were randomized into two groups. The intervention arm received ...

Background and Goal: Managing type 2 diabetes involves complex treatment, workload, and costs that impose a significant burden on individuals, impacting their physical and mental health. This study examines how general practitioners (GPs) in China identify and respond to these burdens during patient consultations. Study Approach: The study examined video recordings of 29 GP-patient consultations recorded between 2018 and 2019 in a primary care clinic in China. Researchers reviewed these consultations for discussions related to treatment burdens in managing type 2 diabetes and analyzed the interviews to identify specific burdens and the strategies GPs employed to address them. Main ...

Background and Goal: In 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) struck down race-conscious admissions in higher education, reshaping affirmative action policies. This special report examines the ruling’s wide-reaching effects, particularly on underrepresented minority (URM) students, and proposes strategies for preserving diversity in higher education and professional fields, including medicine. Key Insights: Institutions such as MIT and Amherst College have reported significant declines in Black and Latino student enrollment. In medical school admissions, the lack of standardized guidelines ...

Editorial Family Medicine Journal Editors Suggest Guiding Principles for AI Use in Publishing Background: This editorial by editors of family medicine journals provides a unified stance on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in family medicine research and publishing.  Editorial Stance: Family medicine journals must address the implications of AI, including ethical considerations, accuracy, and potential for bias. The authors recommend guiding principles for AI use in family medicine publishing, emphasizing: Full disclosure of AI tool use in research and manuscript preparation Accountability ...

Background and Goal: The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) system standardizes diagnostic codes globally, enabling accurate comparisons of health data. This study investigated regional differences in respiratory infection diagnoses in Poland to identify potential ambiguities in ICD coding and their implications for data comparability. Study Approach: Researchers analyzed over 292 million primary care visits for acute respiratory infections in Poland between 2010 and 2019, using ICD-10 codes (J00–J22). Diagnosis data were ...

Background and Goal: Research in family medicine is vital for improving patient care, health care systems, and population health. However, family medicine faces barriers to producing scholarly work, including high patient care demands and limited funding. This study examined whether financial incentives and department size influence the amount and type of scholarly activity produced by family medicine departments. Study Approach: Researchers surveyed family medicine department chairs across the U.S. and Canada using a Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) questionnaire. The survey gathered data ...

Background and Goal: Primary care clinicians face significant burnout, driven by excessive administrative tasks and time spent on electronic health records (EHRs). This report emphasizes that generative AI tools must focus on addressing specific, impactful problems. Key Insights: The Segway, once expected to revolutionize transportation, failed because it did not solve a real need. Conversely, rentable scooters succeeded by addressing a narrow, specific problem: the “last-mile” challenge in urban commutes. Similarly, AI in primary care must tackle clinicians' “last-mile” issue—time. With over half of ...

The AHRQ EvidenceNOW initiative, launched in 2019, implemented a comprehensive approach to help primary care practices reduce stigma and better serve patients who exhibit risky or harmful alcohol use.  The program engaged practice facilitators (PFs) to support primary care practices in integrating universal screening, brief interventions, and medication-assisted therapy/medication for alcohol use disorders. PFs trained clinicians to use person-centered communication, and modeled empathetic and nonjudgmental interactions, to normalize unhealthy alcohol use screenings. PFs also  taught clinicians ...

Experimental research is fundamental to criminology, but reaching consensus on rigorous evidence and using that evidence to determine what works remains an ongoing challenge to the field. In a new article, the former director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) within the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice programs, proposes a framework to situate both the role of rigorous evaluation and its results in a more robust understanding of the effectiveness of social programs. According to her new framework, the more deliberate the implementation of a social program, the more likely it will yield its intended impact. “Deliberate implementation can ...

January 27, 2025 New research shows a scientific approach can optimize bike lane planning. Toronto – When it comes to opinions about bike lanes, few of us are stuck in neutral. Love them or hate them though, new research says a dose of scientific rationality can help locate them in the best places. Congestion is minimized while more people ditch the car in favour of emissions-free, two-wheeled commuting. Working with two other academics, smart city researcher Sheng Liu pulled data and talked to city planners in Vancouver and Chicago to develop a model that can help ...

New Haven, Conn. — Yale physicists have discovered a sophisticated, previously unknown set of “modes” within the human ear that put important constraints on how the ear amplifies faint sounds, tolerates noisy blasts, and discerns a stunning range of sound frequencies in between. By applying existing mathematical models to a generic mock-up of a cochlea — a spiral-shaped organ in the inner ear — the researchers revealed a new layer of cochlear complexity. The findings offer fresh insight into the remarkable capacity and accuracy of human hearing. “We set out to understand how the ear can tune itself to detect faint sounds without becoming ...

Marilyn R. Gugliucci, MA, PhD, FAGHE, FGSA, AGSF, FNAOME, of the University of New England (UNE) College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) has been installed as the new president of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging. She was elected by GSA’s membership, which consists of 6,000 researchers, educators, practitioners, and other professionals. Gugliucci is the 81st person to hold the office since the Society was founded in 1945. As president, she will oversee matters of GSA’s governance and strategic planning, while also managing the program for GSA’s 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting. ...

Giant clams, some of the largest mollusks on Earth, have long fascinated scientists. These impressive creatures can grow up to 4.5 feet in length and weigh over 700 pounds, making them icons of tropical coral reefs. But these animals don’t bulk up on a high-protein diet. Instead, they rely largely on energy produced by algae living inside them. In a new study led by CU Boulder, scientists sequenced the genome of the most widespread species of giant clam, Tridacna maxima, to reveal how these creatures adapted their genome to coexist with algae. The findings, published Jan. 4 in the journal Communications Biology, offer ...

Men and women alike are drawn to younger partners, whether or not they realize it. The conclusion came from a University of California, Davis, study of 4,500 blind dates of people seeking a long-term partner. “After a blind date, participants were slightly more attracted to younger partners, and this trend was equally true for men and women,” said Paul Eastwick, UC Davis professor of psychology and lead author on the study, published  in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy ...

January 27, 2025   Scientists at UMass Amherst Engineer Plant-based method of Precious Mineral Mining Their research manipulates the superplant Camelina sativa to accumulate nickel, provide oil for biofuel and clean contaminated soil   AMHERST, Mass. — As unassuming plant—considered a noxious weed by some—may be the key to fueling a green economy in the U.S. University of Massachusetts Amherst scientists are working with Camelina sativa, a member of the mustard family, to enhance a trio of the plant’s superpowers: absorbing ...

The subject of when early hominins, closely related ancestors to humans, first left Africa to begin their slow dispersal across the globe is a matter of ongoing discussion among anthropologists. The general consensus has been that hominins were present in Eurasia at least 1.8 million years ago, but some ephemeral traces of hominins have hinted at an earlier presence. New evidence by an international team of researchers now pushes that date back to almost 2 million years ago.  This evidence for hominins in Eurasia earlier than ...

In an international effort, researchers at Western University, the University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD) and Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) uncovered how specific patterns in brain activity can predict an individual’s sensitivity to pain, expanding opportunities for improved pain management strategies.   The new study was published Jan. 27 in JAMA Neurology. It found the combination of two biomarkers in the brain – corticomotor excitability (CME), excitability in the region of the brain that controls movement, and peak alpha frequency (PAF), a neural marker associated with cognitive performance – can accurately and reliably distinguish high- ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – In the same way that terrestrial life evolved from ocean swimmers to land walkers, soft robots are progressing, too, thanks to recent Cornell University research in battery development and design. A modular worm robot and jellyfish demonstrate the benefits of “embodied energy” – an approach that incorporates power sources into the body of a machine, to reduce its weight and cost. The worm and jellyfish are direct descendants of an aqueous soft robot, inspired by a lionfish and unveiled in 2019, that could store energy and power its applications via a circulating hydraulic fluid – i.e., “robot blood.” Similar blood sustains ...

Hebrew SeniorLife, New England’s largest nonprofit provider of senior health care and living communities and the only senior care organization affiliated with Harvard Medical School, announces that its Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health has been recognized by the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) as an Age-Friendly Health System, level 2, Committed to Care Excellence. To qualify as an Age-Friendly Health System, level 2, the Wolk Center, which provides comprehensive outpatient care related to brain health, cognitive and behavioral problems, and memory loss, whether due to Alzheimer’s disease, other dementias, or other neurological or psychiatric ...

Absorbing layers have been fundamental to advancements in technologies like energy harvesting, stealth systems, and communication networks. These absorbers efficiently capture electromagnetic waves across broad frequency ranges, enabling the development of sustainable, self-powered devices such as remote sensors and internet of things (IoT) systems. In addition to energy applications, these layers are pivotal in stealth technology, where they minimize radar visibility and enhance the performance of aircraft and naval systems. They also play a crucial role in improving communication networks by reducing ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – While floating solar – the emerging practice of putting solar panels on bodies of water – is promising in its efficiency and its potential to spare agricultural and conservation lands, a new experiment finds environmental trade-offs. In the first manipulative field study examining the environmental impacts of floating solar, published in Environmental Science and Technology, researchers found that floating solar panels increased greenhouse gas emissions on small ponds by nearly 27%. “There ...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Jan. 27, 2025) — A person’s lifetime risk for cancer may begin before they are even born, reports a paradigm-shifting study by Van Andel Institute scientists.    The findings, published in Nature Cancer, identified two distinct epigenetic states that arise during development and are linked to cancer risk. One of these states is associated with a lower lifetime risk while the other is associated with a higher lifetime risk.   If cancer does develop in the lower risk state, it ...