News
AI-Enhanced Smartphone Apps Could Cut Clinical Laboratories Out of the COVID-19 Diagnosis Process
Here’s new technology that could be a gamechanger in the fight against COVID-19 if further research allows it to be used in patient care. The goal of the researchers involved is to enable individuals to test for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus from home with the assistance of a smartphone app enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI).
Accelerated COVID-19 vaccine effort should not mean compromises, experts say
Public-private partnerships, collaboration among researchers and knowledge of existing coronaviruses have all contributed to the accelerated development of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, according to Infectious Disease News Editorial Board Member Kathleen M. Neuzil, MD, MPH, FIDSA.
All of Us Research Program launches COVID-19 research initiatives
The All of Us Research Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced that it is leveraging its significant and diverse participant base to seek new insights into COVID-19—through antibody testing, a survey on the pandemic’s impacts and collection of electronic health record information.
WHO halts malaria drug study, eyes steroid for COVID-19
Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) have announced that the large global treatment trial it is leading will drop the hydroxychloroquine arm and that it is taking steps to update its clinical guidance based on new promising treatment findings of the steroid dexamethasone in severely ill patients.
New Test Could Mean Better Ovarian Cancer Treatment
University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers have led an international team in developing a new test to better diagnose different types of ovarian cancer, a tool that could one day guide and improve treatment options for women diagnosed with the most common and deadliest form of the disease.
Rules for Safe Cannabis Extraction in the Lab
Cannabis is big business. More and more states are passing medical use laws and the recreation-al cannabis market is not far behind. Medical use is mainly focused on cannabidiol (CBD) extracts while extracts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) have led the recreational market’s development of everything from oils for vaping to edible candy.
Addressing the Gap in Precision Medicine
The age of precision medicine has officially entered its adolescent years. A decade ago, we were beginning to unlock the potential of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to inform treatment options for cancer patients that weren’t restricted by the origin of the tumor in the body, but rather informed by the unique genetic mutations responsible for driving tumor growth.
We need your help to grow this newsletter! Please pass along the subscription link to any colleague you think would benefit from hearing about med lab news.