News & Comment

Thirunavukkarasu et al. discuss how standard lifestyle interventions prove ineffective in preventing type 2 diabetes in individuals with isolated impaired fasting glucose, a highly prevalent prediabetes phenotype globally. They propose low-calorie diets as a promising strategy for diabetes prevention in this high-risk population.

Zhang et al. discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to optimize clinical trial design and potentially boost the success rate of clinical trials. AI has unparalleled potential to leverage real-world data and unlock valuable insights for innovative trial design.

Ivancovsky-Wajcman et al. outline the need for a holistic preventive hepatology approach, involving social nutrition and social prescribing, to address the public health threat of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). They argue that this will facilitate individuals’ engagement in behavioural modifications to treat MASLD.

Macharia et al. discuss a Communications Medicine article on global healthcare accessibility and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. They outline strengths in the comprehensive approach taken to studying revealed versus potential spatial accessibility, plus some limitations and wider context with which the results can be interpreted.

Pallett et al. discuss the impact of human conflict on development of antimicrobial resistance. They overview approaches to limit the spread of antimicrobial resistance, using the ongoing conflict in Ukraine as an example of the challenges and opportunities.

Dr. Kamilla Kamaruddin is a general practitioner in Transgender Health Care and Clinical Lead at the East of England Gender Service, Cambridge, UK. She is also a board member for sexual health and wellbeing organisation Spectra-London, trustee at LGBTQ+ cancer charity Live Through This, and health advisor for trans community organisation TransActual UK. In this Q&A, we ask Dr. Kamaruddin a series of questions on the difficulties transgender people face in accessing quality healthcare, with a particular focus on the UK.

Kooman outlines the findings of a Communications Medicine article on deep learning-based detection of chronic kidney disease using ECGs. The author interprets the study’s findings in light of its limitations and outlines key considerations in the clinical implementation of such an approach.

Today is Global Recycling Day. All medical practices and disciplines face sustainability issues and there is a huge focus in the UK on minimising the environmental effects of medicine. Here we speak to Dr Daniel Lake about ‘Project Greener Anaesthesia’, which aims to do just that for Anaesthetics.

Professor Bobby Gaspar is a distinguished physician-scientist who is a thought leader in translating basic research from bench-to-bedside and strategic work that facilitated bringing life-saving therapies to patients with rare diseases. He has over 30 years of experience in pediatric medicine working in the NHS and the biotechnology sector, and is the founding member of Orchard Therapeutics, where he serves as Chief Executive Officer. In this Q&A, Professor Gaspar provides insight into the regulatory approval and policy considerations for bringing novel therapies for rare diseases from discovery through to clinical application.

Annemieke Aartsma-Rus is a Professor of Translational Genetics at the Leiden University Medical Center. She was one of the pioneers of antisense oligonucleotide (ASO)-mediated exon skipping therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Her work focuses on the personalized approach to delivering exon skipping therapy for patients with rare genetic diseases within the setting of the Dutch Center for RNA Therapeutics, which she co-founded in 2020 and is on the Board of Directors. Currently, four exon skipping drugs have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for DMD, three of which are based on the IP generated by Aartsma-Rus’ institute. She is also involved in patient education in collaboration with the Duchenne Patient Academy and the European Organisation for Rare Diseases (Eurordis). In this Q&A, we ask Prof. Aartsma-Rus a series of questions on the latest developments in therapies for rare diseases and how best to overcome some of the existing challenges with this endeavour.

Megan O’Boyle is the parent of a 22-year-old daughter with a rare neurodevelopmental disease. She is currently the Patient Engagement Lead of the RARE-X Data Collection Program at Global Genes, a collaborative platform for global data sharing and analysis created to accelerate treatments for rare diseases. In this Q&A, we ask Megan a series of questions on patient engagement and involvement in rare disease research.

Dr. Stephen Kingsmore is the President and CEO of Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine. His career as a physician-scientist has covered the implementation of genomic medicine approaches for rare genetic disorders. This has furthered the field of genomic medicine, in which genomic information about an individual is used as part of their clinical care to facilitate diagnosis or improve treatment. In this Q&A, we ask Dr. Kingsmore a series of questions about the challenges in diagnosing rare diseases and how diagnosis could be improved in the future.

Schattenberg et al. outline discussions from a recent workshop on NAFLD care and advocate for a multidisciplinary approach to managing this complex and multifactorial disease. The authors highlight gaps in current models of care and make recommendations on optimising a multistakeholder approach in steatotic liver diseases.

Bayisenge et al. describe teaching One Health approaches to medical students at the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda. Wider implementation of this approach should enable a better response to the health challenges of our changing planet.

Dastidar et al. discuss how recent policy measures, and favourable technological and infrastructural landscapes are bolstering India’s ability to implement virtual care. These developments were accelerated by the need for an alternative model of care during the COVID-19 lockdowns and may provide a bridge to Universal Healthcare in India.

To highlight and support research in the important area of child health, the editors at Communications Medicine and Nature Communications invite submissions to a collection of papers on this subject.

We are celebrating a year since Communications Medicine published its first articles. Here, we reflect on how far the journal has come, and share the goals that we will work towards in coming years.

Dr. Daniel Demant is an Epidemiologist and Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Technology Sydney and a Visiting Fellow in the School of Public Health and Social Work at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. His research focuses on health in disadvantaged populations and he has a particular interest in sexual health and substance use in LGBTQ+ populations. In this Q&A, we ask Dr. Demant a series of questions on disparities in substance use in LGBTQ+ people, the potential reasons underlying such disparities and harms associated with them, and the direction of research in this area.

Dr. Jessica N. Fish is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Science, University of Maryland Prevention Research Center, University of Maryland, USA. Her research seeks to promote the positive development and health of LGBTQ+ people and their families. In this Q&A, Dr. Fish provides insight into the health disparities that affect LGBTQ+ populations, with a particular focus on mental health and the development of LGBTQ+ youth, and important research and policy considerations in this area.

Hu et al. describe their experiences running a training course for medical students about applying artificial intelligence to medical practice. They also provide recommendations for future training programs.