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Rachel Ramoni is chief research and development officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she oversees 2,000 active projects at more than 100 sites.
From investigating the diversity of the vaginal microbiome to developing neuroprosthetics with sensory feedback for leg amputees, the work of the authors featured in our pages is fascinating. We asked them about their hopes for the future of medical research.
To celebrate the end of our 25th anniversary year, we asked thought leaders and experts in the field to answer one question: What will shape the next 25 years of medical research?
Julie Makani is an associate professor in the Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam, where she helped Tanzania establish one of the world’s largest single-center study cohorts for sickle cell disease. She received the 2011 Royal Society Africa Award on the translation of genomics to health benefits.
To promote effective translational medicine, academia must take the lead in creating a conducive environment for the first steps into translation, urge Roch Ogier and colleagues.
The recent report of an antisense oligonucleotide therapy designed for only one patient spotlights regulatory, economic and ethical issues that must be grappled with in an era of accelerated development of ‘ultra-personalized’ drugs.
With the growing number of efficient gene therapies on the market, now is the time to take actions to ensure reasonable pricing of gene therapy products. Among these, we propose to incentivize gene therapy companies to adopt a status that translates their corporate social responsibility into concrete commitments.
Sergiu Pașca is a faculty member at Stanford University, where he is also the Uytengsu Director of the Stanford Brain Organogenesis Program. He is a pioneer in developing 3D brain-region-specific organoids, assembloids and cellular models of neuropsychiatric disease from stem cells.
Cardiometabolic disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the world, driven in part by the rise in unhealthy diets, poor air quality and other byproducts of economic development. A new economic model is needed, one that places people rather than profits at its center.
The rise in cardiometabolic diseases is linked to the availability of unhealthy products from industry, such as ultraprocessed foods, and studying the efficacy of intervention strategies against these products must be high on the research agenda.
