Comment

Preclinical and initial human studies suggest that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists may be promising treatments for alcohol use disorder, but existing approved treatments should be used until safety and efficacy is demonstrated in clinical trials.

Use of telepsychiatry increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in greater access and the potential for improved care, although barriers to wider adoption remain.

Physician–scientists who become parents during their long period of training need additional funding and support for lactation, childcare and healthcare, to ensure an equitable workforce.

External comparator arms should be used when investigating novel therapies for gastrointestinal stromal tumor and other rare tumors to facilitate drug testing and regulatory approvals.

Artificial intelligence tools usually aim to maximize predictive accuracy, but personalized measures of uncertainty, using new techniques such as conformal prediction, are needed for clinical artificial intelligence to realize its potential and improve human health.

The UN SDGs will only improve human health if they are accompanied by systemic change that addresses global power imbalances.

AstraZeneca has introduced digital health solutions into clinical trials, demonstrating improved patient experience, accelerated timelines and reduced costs.

The introduction of publicly funded not-for-profit institutional review boards would realign incentives to promote research participants’ interests and improve accountability.

A breakthrough in drug discovery for glioblastoma requires serial collection of tissue from the central nervous system via window of opportunity trials

Non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries can be tackled with integrated health systems interventions that consider multimorbidity, supported by patient involvement and new technologies.

Tailored community engagement led or co-led by the community can build trust with underserved communities to deliver health equity.

Scientific and medical publishers have a major role in developing guidelines and policies to combat misinformation and disinformation.

Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence used in patient care are regulated as medical devices, but their unreliability precludes approval as such.

Pandemic preparedness plans must include equitable access to diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics, as well as strategies to build trust and combat disinformation.

Women who are pregnant, lactating or of childbearing potential are commonly excluded from cardiovascular randomized controlled trials — this needs to change.

Enhanced informed consent procedures are needed for patients treated with psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDMA, due to effects that include an altered state of consciousness and vulnerability to suggestion.

Observational studies provide crucial information early during epidemics and pandemics, but they often suffer from methodological shortcomings, which can be resolved.

Research software engineering is central to data-driven biomedical research, but its role is often undervalued and poorly understood.

The application of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based screening tool for retinal disease in India and Thailand highlighted the myths and reality of introducing medical AI, which may form a framework for subsequent tools

Patients, physicians, and hospital administrators in the USA are often unaware of how legislation governs medical data—but agree that rights over such data should be expanded for patients and curtailed for health systems