A University of Minnesota Medical School research team has been awarded a 4-year, $2.2 million grant from the National Eye Institute to better understand the underlying causes of retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and develop new treatments that could benefit patients. 

Some people might not mind spending time alone, but new research with data from 18 countries suggests that older people who struggle with loneliness — rather than strictly being alone — may experience a faster mental and physical decline.

The study, led by the University of California, Davis, used advanced statistical modeling to chart loneliness and social isolation as older adults move through stages of cognitive impairment and mortality. The results suggest that loneliness plays a much stronger role in cognitive impairment and shorter life spans than social isolation on its own.

The Pew Charitable Trusts today announced the 2026 class of the Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences.

The Pew Charitable Trusts today announced the 21 researchers joining the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences.

About The Study: In this cohort study of individuals with an initial obesity diagnosis, uptake of metabolic bariatric surgery was patterned by demographic, clinical, and health care factors. This finding suggests substantial opportunity to improve access to metabolic bariatric surgery through targeted policies and interventions.

JMIR Publications released two feature stories in its News and Perspectives section. Shalini Kathuria Narang’s “Can Humanlike Reasoning Be Replicated in Large Language Models for Clinical Decision-Making?” and Sara Novak’s “How Health Care Workers Can Manage Digital Fatigue” offer complementary looks into the capabilities of artificial intelligence in diagnostics, and the real-world exhaustion faced by medical professionals managing digital systems.