EurekAlert! News by Subject: Medicine & Health

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 24-Jun-2026 08:15 ET (24-Jun-2026 12:15 GMT/UTC)

15-Apr-2026

Consumer understanding of skin concerns with an AI-powered informational tool

About The Study: In this study, AI applications were associated with increased accuracy and confidence of consumer understanding of skin concerns, with the degree of improvement in accuracy varying by the accuracy of presented conditions; benefits further improved when predictions were as accurate as possible. Imperfect guessing accuracy when predictions presented matched dermatologist differentials highlighted the need for further design improvements (such as the condition information presented) to help consumers better understand skin conditions.

Journal: JAMA Dermatology

15-Apr-2026

Massive ancient-DNA study reveals natural selection has accelerated in recent human evolution

Harvard Medical School
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Applying new analytic methods to nearly 16,000 ancient genomes reveals natural selection has acted on hundreds, not dozens, of genes in West Eurasia over the last 10,000 years. More than half of the genes have known links to disease risk and other traits today, although it’s not yet clear what made each gene advantageous in prehistoric contexts. The work demonstrates the power of ancient DNA to illuminate human biology and medicine in addition to history.

Journal: Nature

15-Apr-2026

Point-of-care hepatitis C testing in a tribal setting

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that a community-based point-of-care hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA testing program was feasible and was associated with a high percentage of same-day treatment for American Indian and Alaska Native participants. This study supports expanding point-of-care HCV RNA testing and integrated treatment to advance HCV elimination.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

15-Apr-2026

Mitochondria keep immune cells “ready to respond”

Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (F.S.P.)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) uncover a key metabolic mechanism governing immune cell readiness

Journal: Cell Metabolism
Funder: Agencia Estatal de Investigación, European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR programme, Comunidad de Madrid, Fundación Científica Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer, Worldwide Cancer Research, European Union (ImnovAth), Inmunotek S.L., Fundación CRIS contra el Cáncer, “la Caixa” Foundation, European Research Council, CIBERFES, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, CERCA Programme / Generalitat de Catalunya

15-Apr-2026

Academic expert: Is social media addictive?

Michigan State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A California jury awarded $6 million in a social media addiction case, a ruling Meta and Google plan to appeal, spotlighting growing legal and scientific debate. MSU researcher Dar Meshi says excessive use is linked to harm in some studies, but evidence is largely correlational and experts still disagree on whether it qualifies as a clinical addiction.

Journal: Nature

15-Apr-2026

Gene–phenotype catalogue provides new insights into premature aging disorders

Impact Journals LLC
Peer-Reviewed Publication

BUFFALO, NY — April 15, 2026 — A new research paper was published in Volume 18 of Aging-US on March 30, 2026, titled “A manually curated gene–phenotype catalogue for progeroid syndromes and premature aging.”

Journal: Aging-US

15-Apr-2026

RBL LLC launches Duracyte, advancing living pharmacy platform in Houston’s growing biotech hub

Rice University
Business Announcement

Duracyte is a biotechnology company developing implantable “living pharmacy” devices designed to continuously produce therapeutic proteins inside the body. The company plans to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial this year evaluating patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. Duracyte is the third company launched by RBL LLC, following Sentinel BioTherapeutics and SteerBio, reinforcing Houston’s growing role as a biotechnology innovation hub.

Funder: Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health

15-Apr-2026

JMIR report: Why mental health tech needs systems, not just tools

JMIR Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publication

JMIR Publications today released a compelling new analysis in its News and Perspectives section exploring the implementation gap that prevents digital mental health tools from reaching the masses.

Journal: Journal of Medical Internet Research

15-Apr-2026

How to quantify the impact of daily driving behavior on electric vehicle battery health?

Tsinghua University Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A joint research team led by Professor Shiqi (Shawn) Ou, Associate Professor Yahui Jia, and Associate Professor Yuan Lin from South China University of Technology, together with Associate Professor Zhixia Li from the University of Cincinnati, proposed a cross-temporal electric vehicle battery health assessment framework called D2B (Drive-to-Battery), aiming to establish a link between daily driving behavior and long-term battery health.

Journal: Communications in Transportation Research