Blood loss is the leading cause of death in trauma patients between the ages of 1 and 46 years, largely because they cannot access safe blood sources quickly enough. A possible solution? Freeze-dried synthetic blood. A multi-institutional team led by Dipanjan Pan, the Dorothy Foehr Huck & J. Lloyd Chair Professor in Nanomedicine at Penn State, recently received a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to develop the next generation of synthetic blood.

About The Study: This national cross-sectional study found substantial rural-urban disparities in cardiometabolic risk factors and cardiovascular diseases, which were largest among younger adults and almost entirely explained by social risk factors. These findings suggest that efforts to improve socioeconomic conditions in rural communities may be critical to address the rural-urban gap in cardiovascular health.

A virulent strain of antibiotic-resistant ‘superbug’ that causes severe disease has been found circulating in a Malaysian hospital - posing significant challenges to global public health.

Up to $3 billion in pharmaceuticals currently used in the United States (U.S.) depend on Canadian manufacturing, according to new research findings from the University of Toronto. Applying 25 per cent trade tariffs to these pharmaceuticals could add $750 million in cost to the U.S. market and has the potential to significantly disrupt drug supply over the long term.

About The Study: Although Canada is not the largest supplier of medications to the U.S., tariffs could raise costs and strain supply chains. This study estimates that $3 billion in U.S. pharmaceuticals depend on Canadian manufacturing, with 25% tariffs adding $750 million in cost. Although the Inflation Reduction Act provisions limit cost pass-through to some payers (i.e., Medicare), manufacturers may still adjust production or alter distribution, increasing supply chain fragility.

Researchers from the GenX Exposure Study have detected PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) associated with a nearby fluorochemical plant in the household dust of homes located in Cumberland and Bladen counties, North Carolina. Homes closer to the plant had higher concentrations of those specific PFAS than homes located farther away.