Today’s briefing features a saliva-based pregnancy test called the Lollipop and a healthcare-focused AI interpreter app.
Rolling out the FDP and AVT at scale
In this episode at Rewired 2026, Will Monaghan discusses rolling out the federated data platform and ambient voice technology at scale.
STAT+: Merck’s experimental HIV prevention pill could be made for less than $5 a year, researchers say
An experimental HIV prevention pill being developed by Merck could be mass produced for less than $5 per patient a year according to a new analysis. Advocates argue the low cost means the company should find it easier to license the drug so that low- and middle-income countries can gain easy access.
The pill, dubbed MK 8527, is currently undergoing a pair of late-stage clinical trials that are expected to determine whether the medicine can lower HIV transmission when given to people at high risk of infection. The results are due in the latter half of 2027, according to separate postings on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Already, the pill is generating considerable interest after Merck released mid-stage results last summer showing its drug holds promise. In addition to being safe and effective, the study found it could protect against infection, a form of prevention known as pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, within 24 hours after being taken. Merck noted the pill works in a novel way.
A star scientist showed that better genetics lessons could reduce racism. It was the death knell for his career
Every year, the Genetics Society of America bestows the Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education, recognizing someone who has helped the public better understand the science of DNA. It’s understood to be a lifetime achievement award; past recipients tend toward retirement age with decades of work behind them and stacks of textbooks to their names.
When this year’s winner, Brian Donovan, was announced at the end of February, many geneticists and science educators found it hard to celebrate the news. Not because he’s undeserving of the honor. Far from it. But because it seemed to confirm what many feared: that Donovan’s incandescent research career was over before it had barely begun.
STAT+: FDA backs proposals to entice pharma companies to test, make drugs domestically
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration used the president’s budget to propose policies aimed at encouraging domestic development and manufacturing of drugs.
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has said the agency needs “giant, big ideas” to counter China’s dominance in early-stage clinical development of drugs. Among the FDA’s ideas are proposals to make it easier to run early-stage trials in the U.S. and to hand an advantage to U.S.-based generics manufacturers.
The Trump administration has been using a variety of policy levers to try and bring drug manufacturing to the U.S. For example, many of the brand drugmakers that struck deals to lower U.S. prices also promised to increase domestic manufacturing, under the threat of tariffs.
STAT+: Research revealing how the brain flushes waste named STAT Madness Editors’ Pick
For her new research on the brain’s plumbing system, neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard had to hone many techniques. Among them — coaxing her lab mice into restful sleep, even as they lay on microscope beds with tiny fiberoptic wires threaded into their brains.
“It was really hard to get the mice to sleep naturally,” said Nedergaard, who spent weeks cuddling the animals in her hands, so they’d learn to feel safe. “But then we said, ‘we really want to not have them disturbed.’”
The reason for this care? Nedergaard studies the glymphatic system, which removes waste from the brain during sleep, so ensuring her test subjects achieve a restorative snooze is central to her work.
STAT+: University of Michigan wins 2026 STAT Madness for new insights into abdominal aortic aneurysms
An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a life-threatening vascular condition with limited treatment options.
Now, researchers from the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center have identified a driving force behind the condition, opening up a potential target for new therapies. Their paper uncovering the causal link between triglycerides and abdominal aortic aneurysms won the STAT Madness 2026 popular vote.
Triglycerides have long been considered a biomarker for vascular disease. But using three different mouse models, the Michigan team demonstrated that the common type of fat plays a direct role in aneurysm development, and that lowering triglyceride levels with certain drugs can stop them from forming and rupturing.
Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust deploys ophthalmology EPR
Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust has gone live with an ophthalmology electronic patient record (EPR) system from Medisoft.
Microplastics in Human Bile Drive Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Senescence
Microplastics have become a defining environmental signature of modern life, turning up in oceans, soil, food, drinking water, and even the air. But their biological fate inside the human body remains far less understood. A new study suggests that these particles may be doing more than simply passing through. Instead, they may be accumulating in one of the body’s most overlooked fluids—bile—and leaving behind measurable cellular damage that could shape future thinking about environmentally driven biliary injury and long‑term health effects. As the authors noted in their abstract, “the long-term accumulation patterns and chronic toxic effects of microplastics within the human biliary system are largely unknown,” underscoring the need for deeper investigation into how these particles behave in the enterohepatic circulation.
Researchers from the Tenth Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University (Dongguan People’s Hospital), Sun Yat-sen University, Guilin Medical University, and collaborating institutions reported the findings in Environmental Science and Ecotechnology. Their study, “Microplastics accumulate in human bile and drive cholangiocyte senescence,” provides the first direct evidence that microplastics are not only present in bile but may also contribute to mitochondrial dysfunction and premature aging in cholangiocytes, the epithelial cells that line the bile ducts.
The team collected bile from 14 surgical patients (five without gallstones and nine with gallstones) and used a multimodal analytical approach—pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, laser direct infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy—to characterize the particles. According to the paper, “we show the universal presence of microplastics in human bile,” identifying six polymer types dominated by polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene, with most particles measuring 20–50 μm. Patients with gallstones carried substantially higher microplastic burdens, raising questions about whether biliary stasis or altered bile composition may influence microplastic retention.
To probe biological effects, the researchers exposed cultured human cholangiocytes to low-dose polystyrene nanoplastics for seven days, simulating chronic exposure. The cells exhibited mitochondrial dysfunction, elevated reactive oxygen species, reduced ATP, Drp1‑mediated mitochondrial fission, and G1 cell‑cycle arrest—hallmarks of senescence. As the authors wrote, chronic exposure “induces mitochondrial dysfunction-associated senescence in cholangiocytes,” suggesting a mechanistic link between environmental microplastics and biliary aging.
One of the most intriguing findings is that melatonin, a widely used antioxidant, partially reversed the mitochondrial and inflammatory damage. While far from a therapeutic recommendation, the result hints at a potential intervention point and gives the study translational relevance.
The work reframes the biliary system as something far more active than a simple transit channel. The data indicate that bile can serve as a reservoir for microplastics and that prolonged exposure may age cholangiocytes by driving mitochondrial dysfunction. The partial rescue with melatonin adds a mechanistic foothold for future intervention, even as the authors caution that broader human studies are essential.
For biotech, the implications are broad. The work highlights bile as a clinically accessible matrix for exposure assessment, opening the door to new diagnostics for environmental toxicology. The mitochondrial stress signature aligns with pathways already being targeted by companies developing senolytics, mitoprotective agents, and anti‑inflammatory therapeutics. The authors wrote that the research provides “a mechanistic foundation for assessing the health risks of plastic pollution and developing therapeutic interventions for environmentally driven biliary disorders.”
The post Microplastics in Human Bile Drive Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Senescence appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
The Most Effective OCD Treatment Reaches Almost No One: Here’s What We Can Do About It
– Rebecca Deusser, MS, MBA and Sanjaya Saxena, MD
“It took me years to find out that what I was dealing with was OCD!”
This is a phrase all too often repeated by people living with obsessive compulsive disorder. Currently, individuals live with OCD for an average of 7 years (Dell’Osso et al, 2019) before they even receive a diagnosis, all while symptoms may intensify and daily life often becomes increasingly constrained.
Clinicians, researchers, and advocates have long raised this concern. What has been missing is clear data behind how many people with OCD in the U.S. are missed in clinical settings or are not receiving the most effective treatment.
When the International OCD Foundation undertook this analysis, the scale of the problem became unmistakable. Millions of people in America are currently struggling with OCD without the most effective treatment.
The challenges we detail in our new white paper, America’s OCD Care Crisis: National Findings on the Failure of Effective OCD Treatment to Reach Patients, are significant, but fixable. They are symptoms of structural oversights that can be changed. Effective, evidence-based treatment for OCD exists, and through intentional action, we can dramatically change these unacceptable outcomes for people with OCD.
Where People With OCD Fall Through the Cracks
Well established prevalence rates for OCD indicate that nearly 10 million people in America — roughly 3% (Ruscio et al, 2010; Stein et al,2025; Ringeisen et al, 2025) — will have OCD at some point in their lives. Yet our findings suggest that 75% of them are never even identified, and up to 95% aren’t receiving the most effective treatment for the disorder.
In our analysis, we discovered significant systemic breakdowns at several key points of a patient’s journey: screening, diagnosis, referral, and treatment.
- Screening and Diagnosis: Receiving a clinical diagnosis is an important step toward recovery as it promotes understanding and opens paths to effective treatment. Yet our findings suggest that this crucial initial step is missing for many millions of people. Of the 10.4 million patient records reviewed in our analysis, only 0.51% received a formal OCD diagnosis, far below the 3% expected prevalence rate.
- Referral to appropriate care: After a diagnosis is obtained, a handoff to appropriate care is needed to keep the patient from falling out of the treatment pathway. Here, too, we found an alarming gap within our sample: more than 72% of patients identified as having OCD did not receive a referral for cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), the most effective treatment for OCD.
- Effective Treatment: Decades of research has established Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, a specific form of CBT, as the most effective, first-line therapy for OCD. Yet, an astounding 95-98% of people with OCD had not received ERP treatment. Even when people seek help — and even when they are diagnosed — the vast majority never reach the treatment most likely to help them recover.
What We Can Do About It
The breakdowns seen in each step of the care pathway reinforce the focus of IOCDF’s Vision 2030, our five-year strategy to address the systemic barriers that keep effective OCD treatment out of reach.
While the findings are stark, they illuminate many opportunities for change:
- Identify symptoms earlier by implementing routine OCD screening in primary healthcare and mental health settings.
- Support clinicians in better understanding and treating OCD by expanding training in assessment, diagnosis, and evidence-based treatment modalities.
- Help people receive care that works by strengthening adherence to existing professional treatment guidelines.
- Increase the number of people with OCD who receive effective treatment by supporting affordable access to ERP and other evidence-based therapies.
- Let people know they’re not alone by raising accurate public awareness of what OCD really is — and that it is treatable.
Vision 2030 outlines how the IOCDF is committing its resources, partnerships, and expertise toward advancing these priorities — by increasing awareness and community, expanding access to effective treatment, and advancing research. Together, these efforts are designed to work in concert, improving clinical training, implementing screening for early identification, strengthening pathways from diagnosis to care, and increasing the likelihood that people receive evidence-based treatment.
At the same time, the scale of the problem revealed in this report makes clear that progress depends on collective action across the field. Clinicians, health systems, educators, researchers, policymakers, advocates, and people with lived experience all have a role to play. Together, these efforts can help ensure that people with OCD reach effective treatment sooner, reducing years of unnecessary confusion and distress.
How You Can Help
Join us in building better access to effective treatment for people with OCD:
- Become a member of our grassroots advocacy community.
- Share America’s OCD Care Crisis and other IOCDF resources with your clinicians and healthcare professionals.
- Donate to the IOCDF to support training programs, advance research, and raise awareness of OCD and related disorders.
The current state of treatment for OCD in the U.S. is sobering, but it is not the end of the story. OCD is treatable, recovery is possible, and change can happen as awareness grows and access expands. With continued effort, the gap between how many are struggling and how many receive effective care can begin to close. A brighter future is possible — and we can build it together.
References
- Dell’Osso, B., Benatti, B., Grancini, B., Vismara, M., De Carlo, V., Cirnigliaro, G., Albert, U., & Viganò, C. (2019). Investigating duration of illness and duration of untreated illness in obsessive compulsive disorder reveals patients remain at length pharmacologically untreated. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 23(4), 311–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/13651501.2019.1621348
- Ruscio, A. M., Stein, D. J., Chiu, W. T., & Kessler, R. C. (2010). The epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Molecular Psychiatry, 15(1), 53-63. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2008.94
- Stein, D. J., Ruscio, A. M., Altwaijri, Y., Chiu, W. T., Sampson, N. A., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Al-Hamzawi, A., Alonso, J., Chardoul, S., Gureje, O., Hu, C., Karam, E. G., McGrath, J. J., Navarro-Mateu, F., Scott, K. M., Stagnaro, J. C., Torres, Y., Vladescu, C., Wciórka, J., Xavier, M., … Kessler, R. C. (2025). Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys. Research Square, rs.3.rs-6090427. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6090427/v1
- Ringeisen, H., Edlund, M., Guyer, H., Dever, J., Carpenter, L., Olfson, M., First, M., Geiger, P., Liao, D., Peytchev, A., Carr, C., Chwastiak, L., Dixon, L. B., Monroe-Devita, M., Scott Stroup, T., Swanson, J., Swartz, M., Gibbons, R., Stambaugh, L., Bareis, N., … Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Prevalence Study Consortium (2025). Prevalence of past-year mental and substance use disorders, 2021-2022. Psychiatric Services (Washington, D.C.), 76(8), 720–728. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.20240329
IOCDF Training & Resources for Clinicians
When clinicians have easier access to best practices in OCD diagnosis and treatment, more people can receive effective care. The IOCDF’s Training Institute offers evidence-based programs for clinicians at every stage of practice, including:
- A robust, on-demand webinar catalog (CE-eligible!) covering fundamentals, modalities, related disorders, and comorbidities. The catalog includes access to the free webinar, OCD Basics.
- IOCDF’s Training Institute offers intensive workshops and events, consultation groups, and more for clinicians of every level.
- Professional Members at the IOCDF join a nationwide network of committed professionals, are eligible for listing on our Resource Directory, and have access to special pricing for Training Institute offerings.
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