(HealthDay)—Pfizer Inc. announced Tuesday that it has submitted initial data to federal regulators on the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine among younger children. The company is also expected to submit the same data on kids aged 5 to 11 to the European Medicines Agency and other regulatory authorities in the next few weeks, CNN reported. […]
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Genetic data privacy, the GDPR, and research needs: A delicate balance
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has created a great deal of uncertainty about how key requirements should be interpreted. This means that collaborators in international genetic research projects do not always agree on fundamental issues such as whether they are processing personal data, consent requirements under the GDPR and on what basis genetic […]
COVID immunity lasts at least eight months, new data reveals
Australian researchers have revealed—for the first time—that people who have been infected with the COVID-19 virus have immune memory to protect against reinfection for at least eight months. The research is the strongest evidence for the likelihood that vaccines against the virus, SARS-CoV-2, will work for long periods. Previously, many studies have shown that the […]
New LawAtlas data show widespread preemption efforts by US states in policy domains that could improve health
Across the US, states are increasingly using preemption to stymie local advancement of public health policy strategies, according to updated data released today to LawAtlas.org by the Center for Public Health Law Research and the National League of Cities with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The updated data capture state preemption of local […]
COVID-19 preprint data rapidly influenced critical care practice
In a new research letter published online in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, researchers examine whether preprint data on the use of the corticosteroid dexamethasone influenced clinical practice in treating COVID-19 critical care patients throughout Australia. Preprints are scientific papers that are posted online rapidly, before peer review. […]
Big data powers design of ‘smart’ cell therapies for cancer
Finding medicines that can kill cancer cells while leaving normal tissue unscathed is a Holy Grail of oncology research. In two new papers, scientists at UC San Francisco and Princeton University present complementary strategies to crack this problem with “smart” cell therapies—living medicines that remain inert unless triggered by combinations of proteins that only ever […]
Lack of awareness of the sensitivity of DNA data
In both ethical and scientific respects, Roma population groups are treated inappropriately in DNA databases and in genetic studies—potentially with consequences for investigations that draw on forensic genetic databases: this was the conclusion of Prof. Dr. Veronika Lipphardt and her colleague Dr. Mihai Surdu from the Chair of Science and Technology Studies at the University […]
What can smartphone location data tell us about the pandemic?
Kevin Williams, an associate professor of economics at Yale SOM, was in the middle of a study of consumer retail behavior using real-time cell phone location data when COVID-19 hit. Shelter-in-place orders rolled across the country. Foot traffic at stores froze. “If you thought the retail apocalypse looked bad a few years ago, that is […]
Crowd-sourcing optogenetics data to tackle neurological diseases
Around the world, some 50 million people have epilepsy, with more than 3 million in the United States alone. It’s one of the most common neurological diseases globally, characterized by recurrent seizures in part or all of the body. It’s also quite treatable with daily antiseizure medications. Yet like many prescription drugs, these have side […]
Coronavirus accelerates drive to share health data across borders
Allowing health data to flow more freely between countries in Europe could aid the fight against coronavirus while also help the region be better prepared for future pandemics, but privacy and technical considerations need to be tackled sooner rather than later, say experts. In the midst of a global pandemic, sharing information might seem like […]