Outlook in 2014

Paying attention to risk factors and warning signs could avert some cases of schizophrenia — or at least better prepare people for what's to come.

Unravelling the mystery of verbal dysfunction in schizophrenia could yield clues to the nature of the disease.

Schizophrenia patients in developing countries seem to fare better than their Western counterparts. Researchers are keen to find out why.

A massive research collaboration is revealing hundreds of genes underlying schizophrenia risk, and may point the way to targeted treatments.

People with schizophrenia show signs of accelerated ageing — a phenomenon that could lead researchers to a deeper understanding of the disease.

The more we study the genetics of schizophrenia, says Steven E. Hyman, the more daunting — and exciting — are the challenges we see ahead.

Researchers have made good progress with animal tests for cognition. The next step is to devise a rodent model for drug development.

Schizophrenia debilitates not just by psychosis but by depriving people of the ability to feel pleasure.

Failures in the development of schizophrenia treatments don't justify the dramatic overhaul now being proposed, says Stephen R. Marder.

The advent of routine childhood vaccination has led to dramatic declines in many contagious diseases in the United States. Maintaining these gains there and spreading these successes worldwide are major public-health challenges. By Tony Scully.

China is poised to become a major global vaccine maker, but first it must overcome serious problems with quality control.

Researchers are developing a strategy that could put an end to polio forever.

Extreme temperatures damage vaccines. Efforts are underway to find better ways to deliver the goods.

We must push harder to eliminate diseases, for everyone's benefit, say Andrew Artenstein and Gregory Poland.

Klaus Stöhr asks whether those responsible for public health will grasp new opportunities to ensure pandemic vaccine readiness.

Tapping into big data could inform better vaccine design.

Faced with outbreaks of preventable diseases, public-health experts need to win over parents who refuse vaccinations.

Malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis are humanity's deadliest foes, and have stymied vaccinologists for centuries. New technology and ideas could finally make a difference.