Research News

A National Institutes of Health-funded study has found that people with food allergies are less likely to become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, than people without them. In addition, while previous research identified obesity as a risk factor for severe COVID-19, the new study has identified obesity and high body mass index (BMI) as associated with increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection. In contrast, the study determined that asthma does not increase risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/ 

Full Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/06/220601092223.htm 

Children with high-risk neuroblastoma had worse outcomes if they were from certain racial/ethnic groups or were on public rather than private insurance, despite being treated in clinical trials with standardized protocols, according to a study led by investigators from Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.

The study shows that young patients from historically marginalized populations or from lower-income backgrounds had poorer five-year survival rates even when they were assigned to receive uniform initial treatment after diagnosis with high-risk neuroblastoma.

"These findings recapitulate what we have known for decades at the population level-;children from historically marginalized groups are less likely to survive their cancer. They add an essential next layer to our understanding of racial and ethnic disparities in childhood cancer, and that is that enrollment on clinical trials is not enough to achieve racial and ethnic equity in survival."

Puja J. Umaretiya, MD, a clinical fellow in pediatric hematology/oncology at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's

In an interesting interview for Global Health Now (GHN), Carel IJsselmuiden and James Lavery share their view on "how the RFI speaks to the need for organizations to reflect and take stock of any shortcomings". The RFI isn’t a report card that brands institutions as good or bad. It’s intended, instead, to provide a pathway to self-improvement—which is the essence of decolonization.

(Ref: Joanne Silberner for Global Health NOW)

Find out if you're a Colonizer or Decolonizer

Free ethics training for students in health research ethics!

The 12-hour virtual training is very interactive and features more than 20 experts in bioethics from the APRU network. This year it will take place on April 14/15, April 28/29, and May 13/14.

Space is limited and the deadline to register is April 10, 2022.

REGISTER NOW!