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Tri-state people in business: New hires, promotions, recognitions
Grant Sizemore joined Medical Associates Clinic of Dubuque’s surgery department as a general surgeon.
US scientists use Chinese humanoid robot to carry out keyhole surgery
The robot, nicknamed Surgie, was remotely controlled by human surgeons as it carried out the procedure on a pig.
The 1 Trendy Health Product a Colon Surgeon Would Never Buy
In TODAY.com’s Never Have I Ever series, a colorectal surgeon explains why this product is probably doing your intestines more harm than good.
Restoring dignity: Senegalese surgeon and Burundian foundation win reproductive health awards
A Senegalese surgeon who has dedicated his career to restoring the health and dignity of women living with obstetric fistula, and a Burundian foundation supporting vulnerable women and children, have been named the winners of the 2026 United Nations Population Award.
Bill Frist Wants to Take Politics Out of Climate Change
Bill Frist, a surgeon who also served as Senate majority leader, has emerged as an outspoken advocate for environmental health. “A healthier planet means healthier people,” he said.
PwC predicts: Providers, payers, pharma, medtech—all will have new to-do lists after the midterm elections. And that’s regardless of results.
With Election Day only four months away, healthcare is again emerging as a major source of idealistic campaign promises. Many of these are driven by widespread public angst. What sorts of changes can U.S. healthcare stakeholders realistically expect once the results are in?
IU Health's 3D printing studio helps surgeons prepare and educate patients
The health system received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January for the IU Health 3D Print Studio.
Top salaries at AANS 2024
The Rolling Meadows-based American Association of Neurological Surgeons, founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, represents the specialty of neurological surgery and has more than 9,000 members.
Top salaries at AANS 2024
The Rolling Meadows-based American Association of Neurological Surgeons, founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, represents the specialty of neurological surgery and has more than 9,000 members.
Making Our Own Luck
We are cross-posting a piece that former NIH official Kris Willis wrote for Macroscience. Kris is now the President and Founder of the Woodley Park Institute, for which I’m a board member. Picking winners or hedging bets? Federal science agencies have long wrestled with the question of how to ensure their billions of dollars of grants and contracts result in maximum benefits for Americans. On the surface, it might seem that a goal-oriented, interventionist style of management would be the best policy: prioritize our most pressing problems and distribute funding accordingly.This top-down strategy creates a unique hazard, though: bad choices can send resources in the wrong direction, resulting in slow progress that impedes the delivery of tangible benefits to citizens. Moreover, if decision makers pursue an applied advance when the underlying scientific principles remain poorly understood, they risk costly failures and a loss of support for the research enterprise at large. Examples include Nixon’s 1971 War on Cancer, undertaken on the premise that a cure could be achieved in less than a decade, the drive to build an operational commercial fusion plant by the mid-1990s, and the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which failed to produce the effective treatments and prevention strategies promised by 2025. The contrasting laissez-faire approach is to hedge your bets. If the path to an advance is impossible to predict, then the wisest choice might be to distribute funding to as widely as possible. The main risk of this strategy is that spreading funding thinly may limit the resources available to the most promising research, resulting in the same negative outcomes as the interventionist approach: limited support for the most promising topics, slow progress, and delayed returns. In reality, at science agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, program managers navigate between these two extremes, setting some funds aside to target high-priority areas and using the rest to cover the widest possible range of meritorious proposals. This middle path seems like the most rational way to proceed, but it still requires making choices. How much should be set aside for high priority topics? What should those topics be? How should we define merit? Expert opinion can provide a helpful guide, but leading experts can have remarkably different opinions about what matters and what should be prioritized. Moreover, experts and administrators alike can be risk averse, giving an edge to high-profile, well-established concepts. What’s really needed is a data-driven framework to help guide decision-making, one that doesn’t simply repackage prestige or incumbency. Recognizing breakthroughs years in advance Many breakthroughs fail to attract funding or recognition at the earliest stages of development. Katalin Karikó, for example, spent years struggling to win grants for work on mRNA that would eventually win her and Drew Weissman a Nobel Prize. Similar stories can be told about Jim Allison’s groundbreaking studies leading to the development of cancer immunotherapy, Stan Pruisner’s demonstration that prions can self-replicate without DNA, or Robin Warren and Barry Marshall’s proof that Helicobacter pylori, not stress, causes ulcers. Yet at some point, the scientific community recognizes and responds to transformative breakthroughs like these. How does that change happen? And what if science funders could identify the areas that are on the cusp of a breakthrough? Those questions led my collaborators and me to study how scientists responded to past breakthroughs. Based on patterns in that data, we developed a means of predicting future breakthroughs, using biomedicine as a proof of concept. It’s worth taking a moment to describe how our approach works. Briefly, our prediction process begins by grouping the 18 million or so peer-reviewed papers in PubMed, the authoritative database of biomedical research, into roughly 50,000 unique topics. A small subset of these topics are so widely acclaimed as breakthroughs that they have been recognized with a major prize like a Nobel or a Lasker Award. We theorized that studying the development of these outliers over time, especially before they gained acclaim, was the key to identifying future instances of them. After defining topics, we chose 21 representative breakthroughs and asked what they looked like before they won prestigious prizes. To answer that question, we re-ran our topic-mapping algorithm repeatedly, winding back the clock one year each time, stringing together the years to follow the progress of each field as it grew and advanced. We found that in each case, the years leading up to a discovery followed a pattern: a burst of papers on a new, rapidly evolving topic, many of which quickly became influential. These characteristics—the percent of papers that are new, the percentage of papers that are brought in from other topics, and the influence of each individual paper—can all be measured separately for any given topic. Together, they act as a predictive signal that is detectable an average of five years before a transformative discovery is made, and up to thirty years before the discovery receives a major prize. Scanning the current research landscape for topics that display this signal allows us to predict what work will likely produce a future breakthrough. Each year we analyzed includes four or five signals, a number that appears to have remained constant across a twenty year time frame. In their classic work on the sociology of science, Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar established that the desire to participate in a major discovery is an important motivator for scientists as they consider whether they should take up (or abandon) a research problem. Although further work is needed, the simplest explanation for our results is that this behavior is widespread enough to detect at scale. A foundational advance, or something like it, draws the attention of scientists and causes them to change the direction of their research. They vote with their feet, staking their own reputation and careers by publishing on and citing the new idea. That upswell of interest is the foundation of our breakthrough signal. What kind of research does our model identify as a breakthrough? After building a model based on the patterns in our 21 preselected breakthroughs, we tested it by identifying all early signals of discovery from 1994 through 1997. Of the 18 signals we found in that time period, 17 can be traced forward in time to a breakthrough. Examples include super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (see the image above), the directed evolution of proteins and enzymes (Chemistry Nobel, 2018), and sequencing the human genome (National Medal of Science, 2008). The discovery of the role of leptin signaling in obesity is a particularly interesting case study. Around 1950, scientists noticed the existence of a type of lab mouse that suffered from a unique inherited form of obesity. When given the freedom to choose their own diet, these mice ate more than normal and preferred food that was high in fat. Researchers had few clues as to why the animals overate; early experiments pointed to the existence of a soluble ob factor found circulating in the bloodstream that regulated appetite, but its identity was unknown. In 1994, Jeffrey Friedman and colleagues identified and sequenced the ob gene, noting that the protein it encoded appeared to fit the profile of a circulating factor. A year later, a trio of high-profile publications demonstrated that ob was a hormone that regulated body weight and fat deposition by regulating appetite. One of these was co-authored by Friedman, who christened it leptin from the ancient Greek word for thin. Using our model, the data from 1996 make it clear this advance would become a breakthrough. Scientists had flocked to study the biology of the new hormone, generating the flurry of new papers and citations required to produce a signal. One of these demonstrated that serum leptin concentrations reflected the amount of adipose tissue in the human body, providing clinical validation of the earlier mouse studies. Before the identification of leptin, scientists were unable to point to a specific molecule that controlled appetite and adiposity, so that it was impossible to rule out non-physiological causes of obesity; its characterization fundamentally changed our concept of weight gain. In 2010, Friedman and fellow pioneer Douglas Coleman were awarded a Lasker for the discovery. Our work also identifies breakthroughs in clinical practice and behavioral and social sciences, even though these areas are less likely to draw the attention of major prize committees. One example that falls into this category is the introduction of endovascular aneurysm repair, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm, a leading cause of death among Americans over the age of 65. Relative to the previous standard of care, it reduces in-hospital mortality by almost four-fold. In 2017, Timothy Chuter received the American College of Surgeons’ prestigious Jacobsen Innovation award for his multiple refinements to the technique. Another under-recognized breakthrough identified by our model is the development of standardized survey instruments to assess the quality of life for HIV+ patients. The antiretroviral cocktails introduced in the mid-1990s reduced AIDS mortality, but treatment came with serious side effects. The new evaluations showed that patients whose disease progressed had worse physical functioning than Americans with other chronic diseases, while those who were asymptomatic maintained a health-related quality of life on par with the overall US population. This evidence made it possible for patients and activists to argue that even in the absence of a total cure, and in spite of the side effects, alleviation of symptoms was a worthwhile priority for clinicians. My colleagues and I have failed to identify any significant recognition for the physicians and health policy experts who pioneered this advance, although in 2016, researchers called for the World Health Organization to set targets for good health-related quality of life as part of its framework to end the AIDS pandemic. From forecasting to funding How should science funders use our predictions? Any serious discussion of what we should do with this new capability needs to begin with an understanding of its limitations. We can’t (and shouldn’t) invest all of our resources in the small number of topics predicted to produce breakthroughs. Innovative new fields are born from existing ones; they rarely arise de novo. If funders don’t maintain a diverse portfolio, the breakthroughs of tomorrow will have no antecedents. Think of this as eating the seed corn, or killing the goose that lays the golden egg. There are also multiple goals of funding beyond basic scientific discovery, including translating discoveries into clinical practice, developing new technologies, supporting economic development, and training new scientists. The investments needed to accomplish these goals are likely different from those required to support emerging breakthroughs. Finally, we must be aware that we may not capture every instance of a breakthrough. The concept is fuzzy, and not every significant discovery is recognized with a major award. Further, breakthroughs are rare, meaning that our dataset is, by necessity, small. This makes formal estimates of accuracy challenging. Although our overall success rate appears to be high, any one signal may turn out to be a false positive. We found one apparent example: the development of the third generation COX-2 inhibitors, Vioxx and Celebrex, which were much celebrated in the early 2000s as effective but non-addictive pain relievers, meets all the algorithmic criteria of a breakthrough. Five years after it received FDA approval, researchers demonstrated that Vioxx was associated with serious cardiovascular complications, and the manufacturer voluntarily pulled the drug from the market. Celebrex remains available, although like other NSAIDs, it carries an FDA warning for increased cardiovascular risk. Decision makers who were overly focused on the breakthrough potential of this research might have wasted substantial resources nurturing an area that ultimately proved to be a failure—but so would those who relied on expert opinion at the time. That said, the potential benefits of funding the next mRNA vaccine or cancer immunotherapy years earlier than we might have are large. When we can’t assume the outcome of an action, it’s worth conducting an experiment. Can targeted support for areas that are poised to produce a breakthrough increase the return on scientific investment without cannibalizing future advances? With the necessary administrative infrastructure in place, conducting this experiment would be straightforward. First, identify all the breakthrough signals between 2018 and 2023, select half at random, and commit to a decade of investment. For biomedicine, a six year window should yield about 30 topics with the potential to produce a breakthrough. Providing strong support to half of these might be accomplished for $300 million a year. That’s roughly half of the recent annual budget of the NIH Common Fund or around 20% of the fiscal year 2025 budget for ARPA-H. After five years, then again at ten, compare to see which group — the one that was actively managed, or the control — produced more breakthroughs, and on what timescale. Although we used biomedicine as an example, the same experiment could just as well be run for physics, materials science, or any other discipline. Any attempt to undertake such an experiment should keep three points top of mind. First, we can predict the topic of future breakthroughs, but the people and vision for how to move the work forward are still important. In practice, this means success requires active program managers with the expertise to develop the science and the authority to do so, including by recruiting investigators. Second, we would be wise to learn from the failures of past attempts to fund transformative research. High among these are funding modestly repackaged work, confusing the genuinely novel with the merely unfamiliar, and relying too much on incumbent investigators. All of these risks can be mitigated by thoroughly and intelligently integrating high quality data into portfolio management. Finally, we need to have patience. Even with strong funding support, producing a breakthrough takes time. If supporting breakthroughs is the best way to nurture the birth of new fields, we also need to accurately describe and properly manage the other two stages, so that we invest wisely throughout the productive lifetime of ideas and divest once they reach the point of diminishing returns. We would benefit from more study of all of these phases, especially the transition from one to another. More research could answer questions like: When does a breakthrough become an established field? How do the availability of funding, the size and characteristics of the available workforce, and the accumulation of evidence that disagrees with prevailing models affect a field’s decline? Exactly how do old ideas give birth to new ones, and can we speed up the process? The more we understand about the dynamics of scientific progress, the better we can maximize the odds that our curiosity leads to results. I’d call that finding a way to make our own luck.
The ‘tech neck’ time bomb: why 43 million young Americans could cripple U.S. health care within a generation
A spine surgeon warns that smartphone addiction is quietly deforming the spines of Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
Zeiss Medical Technology Collaborates With Envision Health Technologies to Advance Glaucoma Care Using VR-Based Testing
JENA, Germany—Zeiss Medical Technology, a leader in medical optics and digital healthcare solutions, has announced a strategic collaboration with Envision Health Technologies, a digital eye health company founded by glaucoma surgeon Lama A. Al-Aswad, MD, MPH, CEO, to help advance glaucoma care through gamified virtual reality (VR) technology. The companies said this collaboration aims to firmly strengthen scientific and clinical credibility in VR-based visual function testing, supported by Zeiss’ long history of innovation in perimetry, and will bring together clinical expertise and software innovation to help advance clinically relevant, patient-centered technologies for modern glaucoma care.
The unwanted return of tetanus; why soccer makes people so happy; breast cancer in men; plus other stories with Vanderbilt Health sources
Women’s Health interviewed Kathryn Edwards, MD, Sarah H. Sell and Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Pediatrics, for a story about her JAMA Viewpoint article on tetanus making a comeback. Women’s Health interviewed Colin Armstrong, PhD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, for a story tied to the World Cup about why soccer makes people so happy. An NBC News story about the announcement by “X-Men” actor and former wrestler Tyler Mane that he has breast cancer quotes Ben Ho Park, MD, director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. The story focuses on how a prominent man with breast cancer may help remove some stigma from a cancer that is rare in males. Prevention magazine interviewed Caitlyn Mooney, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, for a story about a BMJ study that suggests 90 to 120 minutes per week of strength training may lower the risk of death. William Schaffner, MD, Professor of Preventive Medicine, was quoted by several news outlets about public health issues, including: Women’s Health (norovirus is more common this summer); SFGate (measles in San Francisco just before the World Cup crowds); Travel + Leisure (how to avoid getting sick on a cruise); and Fox News (mosquito-borne diseases). Reporter Liz DeSantis from WKRN News 2 aired a story on the rehab unit at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Kat Hedden, PT, DPT, PCS, CBIS, Acute Pediatric Physical Therapy Clinical Team Lead and Mary McLanahan, MD, Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation were interviewed, as well as the family of patient Will Terry. Reporter Nikki Hauser from WTVF News Channel 5 interviewed Graden Knapp, Gaming and Technology Specialist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt about his 3-D wheelchair project. Tennesseanreporter Sandy Mazza covered the announcement of the latest Leadership Nashville class, which includes Jane Freedman, MD, Deputy CEO, and Chief Health Systems Office for Vanderbilt Health; and also the announcement of the latest Leadership Tennessee cohort, which includes Jeff Upperman, MD, Surgeon in Chief at Monroe Carroll Jr Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Health Care Workforce
This issue brief provides data on immigrants’ role in the U.S. health care workforce, including within key industries such as direct long-term care and the hospital workforce.
UConn Health Minute: Smarter Spine Care
At UConn Health, spine surgery is getting a high-tech upgrade. Dr. Hardeep Singh explains how advanced imaging and an AI learning algorithm, surgeons can pl ...
Neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Conner Honored as 2026 CHA Healthcare Hero
Dr. Conner's innovative work has given new hope to patients who previously had limited options for recovery.
Orlando Health doctor recalls Pulse response and trauma response lessons
Dr. Chadwick Smith, a trauma surgeon at ORMC, recalls treating Pulse shooting victims and how the response impacted hospital preparedness.
Children’s doctor: Children with scoliosis can lead active, healthy and fulfilling lives
Dr. Taylor Jackson is a dual fellowship-trained pediatric orthopedic spine surgeon at Rady Children’s Health, formerly called CHOC, in Orange County.
OHSU told 13-year-old’s parents she was dying before Seattle doctors discovered massive mistake, $17M suit sa
A new lawsuit claims that an OHSU surgeon installed a heart valve upside down, leaving the girl reliant on life support for 18 days.
"Big public health concern:" Surgeon General's office warns of excessive screen time
The Office of the Surgeon General (OSG) has new warnings about the harm of screen use."Harmful screen use is a really a very big public health concern
"Big public health concern:" Surgeon General's office warns of excessive screen time
The Office of the Surgeon General (OSG) has new warnings about the harm of screen use."Harmful screen use is a really a very big public health concern
Opinion | The doctor who chose science over politics
I found new appreciation for a surgeon general who refused to bend science to political demands.
Opinion | The doctor who chose science over politics
I found new appreciation for a surgeon general who refused to bend science to political demands.
The Surgeon General's Screen Warning Is Not Science (opinion)
The screen time advisory reveals why we don’t need a surgeon general.
E-bike safety; lung cancer treatment and prevention; keeping CMA Festival attendees safe; plus other stories with Vanderbilt Health sources
WKRN News 2 interviewed Jeffrey Upperman, MD, FACS, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatric Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, about e-bike related injuries following the recent death of a Brentwood High student and a proposal to require safety training before students could ride a bike on a school campus in Williamson County. Fabien Maldonado, MD, MSc,Professor of Medicine and Thoracic Surgery, was on WTVF News Channel 5‘s live studio show, “Openline,” with host Ben Hall, to discuss lung cancer, treatment and prevention. WSMV’s “Today In Nashville” program hosted Vanderbilt LifeFlight paramedic/flight nurse practitioner Tony Smith to talk about safety for the CMA Festival. The New York Times reporter Carl Zimmer interviewed James Crowe, MD, Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Antibody Therapeutics, for a story about the race to find vaccines and treatments as Ebola spreads. The Vanderbilt Health News release about the pilot clinical trial conducted by Vanderbilt Health and Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc., that confirms the safety of ifetroban and supports the further development of the drug to prevent cancer metastasis, was picked up by Reuters, Stock Titan,and others. Women We Admire has named Lee Ann Liska, President and Chief Operating Officer, to its list of top women leaders of Nashville for 2026. Radiology Business, Aunt Minnie, Bioengineer, and Imaging Technology News covered the study from Consuelo Wilkins, MD, MSCI, the Mildred Thornton Stahlman Professor in Rural Health and professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine, that found Black and Hispanic people, while known to be far more apt to have dementia, are significantly less apt than other racial and ethnic groups to show Alzheimer’s pathology on brain scans. STAT News interviewed Deva Sharma, MD, Transfusion Medicine & Hematology-Oncology, for a story about more patients requesting unvaccinated blood and what it means for the medical system at large. Yahoo! Health reporter Korin Miller interviewed Gitanjali Srivastava, MD, Director of Obesity Medicine, for a story about how semaglutide and tirzepatide compare. William Schaffner, MD, Professor of Preventive Medicine, was quoted by several news outlets about public health issues, including: NBC News (new COVID vaccinations); Medscape (pneumonia and sepsis); and CNN (protection from contagious viruses). Shelbyville Times-Gazette is repurposing Jessica Pasley’s July 2025 Vanderbilt Health News story on tick-borne illnesses as a front-page story.
Analysis: Adam Hamawy and the Mainstreaming of Pro-Terror Extremism in US Politics
The following analysis was authored by journalist and CAM editorial advisor Lee Smith: After winning the Democratic primary to represent New Jersey’s 12th congressional district on Tuesday night, Egyptian-born Adam Hamawy offered a glimpse of the worldview that’s shaped his meteoric political rise heading into the November midterm elections. “Takbir,” the 56-year-old plastic surgeon enthusiastically […]
Marshall Health Network, Intermed Labs advance next-generation surgical visualization through spatial arthroscopy
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall Health Network, in collaboration with Intermed Labs (IL), has announced the development of spatial arthroscopy, an innovative technology designed to transform how surgeons visualize and interact with minimally invasive procedures. The project, currently in development, was conceptualized by Chad D. Lavender, M.D., and represents a new frontier in surgical ergonomics and digital […]
Former US Army doctor Adam Hamawy will win Democratic House primary in New Jersey, CNN projects
Adam Hamawy, a retired US Army combat surgeon and sharp Israel critic, will win the crowded Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, CNN’s Decision Desk projects.
Senator Cassidy’s Final Health Test: Confirmation Hearings For CDC, FDA, Surgeon General
Senator Cassidy's political future may be settled, but his role in confirmation hearings can influence the future of health, scientific integrity and trust in government.
Unnecessary care? OIG questions vascular procedures billed by surgeons, cardiologists and radiologists
The Trump administration believes Medicare paid up to $105 million for questionable vascular procedures in 2023 alone. No accusations have been made at this time, but the government believes 139 different physicians deserve "further scrutiny."
Beauty Comes From Within; Aesthetic Medicine Embraces Longevity Science
Plastic surgeons used to focus on what the eye sees. They are starting to focus on the biology beneath it
A baby died in this neurosurgeon’s arms. What happened next changed everything we know about inflammation
The young neurosurgeon in training couldn’t shake the sense of devastation. An 11-month-old girl died in his arms as he tried to resuscitate her.
Photo Gallery: French surgeon who pioneered vocal cord repair visits Vanderbilt Health, observes seventh procedure
Marie, a physician from France who has spent over two decades honing the selective laryngeal reinnervation, presented at the second annual Robert H. Ossoff Lecture and was a guest in the operating room for Vanderbilt Health’s seventh such surgery.
Let’s restore meritocracy to the office of the surgeon general
It has become increasingly common to appoint leaders from outside the career ranks of the Public Health Service.
'Get off your phones': Surgeon general advisory calls on kids to cut screen time
The advisory was released amid a growing debate over cellphone usage and its impact on youth.
HHS warns of children’s screen time use, citing impact on sleep, mental health
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) warned about children’s screen time in an advisory released Wednesday, citing impacts on sleep and mental health. The “Surgeon General’s Warn…
Who Gets to Shape Healthcare?
Howie and Harlan discuss how AI is transforming medical research and publishing, the growing role of consumer health platforms and wearables, new advances in stroke treatment, and the debate over rising hospital costs. They also examine the FDA’s approval of flavored vaping products and the nomination of a new surgeon general.
Screen time limits can protect children’s health, U.S. surgeon general advisory says
The Trump administration warned that too much screen time for children is linked to poor sleep, bad behavior and less physical and social activity
New surgeon general advisory suggests screentime limits for kids
An advisory from the surgeon general's office released May 20 outlines the harms for screentime among youth and offers ways to promote healthy use.
New surgeon general’s advisory raises alarm about screen time risks for kids and teens
Too much screen use among kids and teens – including endless social media scrolling, nonstop texting and hours of video games – can be harmful, and it has become a public health concern in the United States, according to a surgeon general’s advisory released Wednesday.
YOLO for GOP members? What unencumbered Republicans could mean for Trump's agenda
In a Republican-led Congress defined by deference to President Donald Trump, there's a small but steadily growing cohort who have found themselves more willing to break with the White House.
How Women Can Prioritize Health — and What to Check Annually
More than 6 in 10 women struggle prioritizing their health according to a survey, so Dr. Elisa Port, chief breast cancer surgeon at Mount Sinai and author of “Breast Advice,” joins TODAY with a closer look at the biggest issues and questions women face regarding their health. She breaks down the four Ws that help reduce risk of breast cancer, shares her recommendations for prioritizing screenings, and highlights the benefits and risks of hormone replacement therapy.
The 13 highest-paying jobs in the US
New data showed which US jobs pay well on average. Many healthcare jobs, such as those of various surgeons, are high-paying.
Opinion | No One Is Leading Our Health Agencies.
We have no F.D.A. director, no permanent C.D.C. director and no surgeon general.
Sports surgeon discusses Yankees’ Max Fried’s initial elbow diagnosis
Going into Wednesday, Fried had a 2.91 ERA over nine starts, but his walks were slightly up and his strikeouts were slightly down from 2025.
Matt Patricia Shares Major Health Update Following Neurosurgeon Visit During Ohio State Offseason Break
The offseason is usually when players get time to recover, but this time, Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia also needed some medical care of his own. Over the weekend, he shared a personal health update, giving fans a clear look at what he was dealing with during the break.
AATS helps heart surgeons diagnose and manage heparin-induced thrombocytopenia
Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia after heart surgery is a major concern, but prior guidelines were developed without much feedback from actual cardiac surgeons.
Opposition forming against radiologist nominee for surgeon general
“Dr. Saphier would be a catastrophic mistake on messaging and communicating with MAHA at a time where the coalition is very fragile,” one opponent says.
Trump’s new surgeon general pick deepens MAHA-MAGA rift
“I hate to say it, but I think they’re a little bit overrated,” said one Trump adviser. “To some extent, MAHA has always been a paper tiger.”
KFILE finds deleted tweets from Trump’s new Surgeon General pick knocking his policies
Exclusive: Deleted tweets reveal new surgeon general pick criticized Trump and RFK Jr. health policies
Just two months before she was selected as President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Nicole Saphier suggested the administration was hiding that measles was spreading widely enough in the United States for the country to lose its “elimination” status until after the midterm elections.
Exclusive: Deleted tweets reveal new surgeon general pick criticized Trump and RFK Jr. health policies
Just two months before she was selected as President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Nicole Saphier suggested the administration was hiding that measles was spreading widely enough in the United States for the country to lose its “elimination” status until after the midterm elections.
TAVR or SAVR? Cardiologists and heart surgeons highlight the care that goes into each decision
When heart patients require aortic valve replacement, would they be a better fit for TAVR or SAVR? Such decisions are not made lightly, clinicians emphasized in a new joint statement.
Nicole Saphier Is Trump’s New Pick For Surgeon General—What To Know About Her Healthcare Agenda
Saphier is broadly aligned with the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, but has split with the Trump administration in a few areas of healthcare policy.
Trump just replaced his surgeon general pick and it could change what you’re told about your health
After a year of delays, a new nominee is stepping in as fights over vaccines and public health intensify.
Trump pulls surgeon general pick, vexing MAHA
Trump’s latest pick will be his third attempt to get someone installed in the job
What Trump's new surgeon general nominee has said about vaccines, cancer
Dr. Nicole Saphier is President Donald Trump's new pick for U.S. surgeon general, so we're looking into what she's said on different health topics.
PFAS is still in some infant formula
Casey Means out as surgeon general nominee, America's renewed fertility anxiety, and more health news
Trump announces new pick for surgeon general nomination
President Trump announced a third nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Nicole B. Saphier, a regular Fox News contributor, after pulling his previous nomination for Dr. Casey Means.
American Public Health Association CEO on Trump's latest nominee for surgeon general
The president's new pick for surgeon general has been both supportive and critical of MAHA health policy. NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Dr. Georges Benjamin, CEO of the American Public Health Association.
The Trump Administration Casts Out the ‘Soul’ of MAHA
The withdrawal of Casey Means’s nomination for surgeon general is the latest blow to the movement.
Casey Means: Murkowski sunk my nomination
The surgeon general nominee is a close ally of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump pulls Casey Means' stalled surgeon general nomination, picks Nicole Saphier instead
President Donald Trump said Thursday he’s nominating former Fox News Channel contributor and radiologist Dr. Nicole Saphier for surgeon general after Dr. Casey Means’ path forward stalled in the Senate over questions about her experience and her stance on vaccines.
What Trump's new surgeon general nominee has said about vaccines, cancer
Dr. Nicole Saphier is President Donald Trump's new pick for U.S. surgeon general, so we're looking into what she's said on different health topics.
Trump pulls Casey Means' stalled surgeon general nomination, announces new pick
President Trump says he's nominating former Fox News Channel contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier for surgeon general after Dr. Casey Means' path forward stalled in the Senate over questions about her experience and her stance on vaccines.
Trump withdraws Casey Means for surgeon general after nomination stalls
Trump also named his third pick for the role. doctor and Fox News contributor Nicole Saphier.
Trump Pulls Casey Means’ Surgeon General Nomination
President Trump has pulled the plug on the wellness influencer’s stalled surgeon general nomination and has picked Dr. Nicole Saphier to replace her.
President Trump nominates radiologist to serve as surgeon general
He’s picking Nicole B. Saphier, MD, a board-certified breast specialist with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Fox News contributor, to fill the key role.
Trump accuses Cassidy of ‘political games’ after surgeon general nominee switch
President Trump on Thursday accused Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) of playing “political games” that ended his second surgeon general nominee’s confirmation in the Senate, comments tha…
White House drops embattled surgeon general pick Casey Means, announces new nominee
Means’s nomination stalled as some Republicans questioned her credentials. The new nominee, Trump’s third pick for the role, is Nicole Saphier a radiologist and Fox News contributor.
Trump pulls Dr. Casey Means' nomination for surgeon general, announces replacement
Trump's new nominee is Dr. Nicole Saphier, is a radiologist and Fox News contributor.
Trump says surgeon general nominee will continue to fight for MAHA health movement
U.S. President Donald Trump said his nominee to become surgeon general, Casey Means, will continue to fight for the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement despite opposition from Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana to the nomination.
This Neurosurgeon Studies the Brain Close to Death. He Believes the Soul Transcends the Body.
Does your brain really reveal the metaphysical? Here’s what brain science can—and cannot—tell us about immortality.
Apple Vision Pro Used in World-First Cataract Surgery
Apple's Vision Pro has hit another medical-use milestone, with a New York ophthalmologist becoming the first surgeon to perform cataract surgery using the spatial computing headset. Dr. Eric Rosenberg of SightMD completed the initial procedure in October 2025 and has since performed hundreds of additional cases using ScopeXR, a surgical platform he co-developed for Apple's mixed reality device.
A Supreme Court case over pesticides is bringing out the ‘MAHA moms’ — and threats of consequences for the midterms
When a group of mothers and wellness influencers, including surgeon general nominee Casey Means, was asked to go to the White House this month, some of them assumed a few staffers would hear their grievances about the health risks of weedkillers.
Vanderbilt Health’s Seth Karp To Join Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
After 15 years of distinguished leadership at Vanderbilt Health, Seth Karp, MD, the H. William Scott Jr. Professor of Surgery, will be stepping down as System Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences on Oct. 15.
Trump’s CDC chief pick a move towards ‘evidence-based science’
Optimism over president’s choice of former deputy surgeon-general as next director of troubled agency
Former Surgeon General Backs CDC Nominee, But Questions Remain on Vaccines
By HealthDay Staff HealthDay ReporterTUESDAY, April 21, 2026 (HealthDay News) — A former U.S. surgeon general is weighing in on the president’s pick to lead the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), calling Dr. Erica Schwartz highly qualified while warning of some potential ...
The Death of Public Health
During the recent measles outbreak, the largest in more than 30 years, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. refused to clearly recommend the measles vaccine, saying instead that it was a “personal decision,” and that parents should “do their own research.” Similarly, during her recent confirmation hearing for United States Surgeon General, Casey Means was questioned by Senator William Cassidy (R, La). “You’re the nation’s doctor,” said Cassidy. “Would you encourage [a mother] to have her child vaccinated!” “I’m not an individual’s doctor,” Means said. “And every individual needs to talk to their doctor before putting a medication in their body.” In June 2025, Marty Makary, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said that COVID vaccines for pregnant women should be a “personal choice”, even though every other country in the world recommended the COVID vaccine during pregnancy due to a higher risk for severe disease. It doesn’t end there. On January 5, 2026, RFK Jr. reduced the number of routinely recommended vaccines from 18 to 10. For vaccines that protected against influenza, COVID, and rotavirus, parents were urged to speak with their doctors—to make an individual choice. (On March 16, 2026, in a ruling by a federal court in Boston, RFK Jr.’s revised schedule was invalidated.) What’s happening? Why are public health officials moving away from making recommendations for the public? The origin of this change might be rooted in the first two years of the COVID pandemic. In 2020, during the first year on the pandemic, we didn’t have anything to stop a virus that was killing hundreds of people a day and could be spread asymptomatically. We didn’t have antivirals until October, monoclonal antibodies until November, and vaccines until December. All we could do was restrict travel, close businesses, shutter schools, and mask, isolate, quarantine, test, and social distance. During the second year of the pandemic, when we had vaccines to prevent COVID, people couldn’t go anywhere without their vaccine cards. They couldn’t go to their favorite bar or restaurant or sporting event or place of worship without proof of vaccination. Some people were fired from their jobs for refusing to get vaccinated. For many, this was seen as massive government overreach and energized what has been called the “medical freedom movement.” Indeed, a headline in the New York Times declared, “How Health Freedom Became a Winning Rally Cry.” As expressed in the comments of RFK Jr., Casey Means, and Marty Makary, the medical freedom movement focuses on the individual not the community—the opposite of public health. In an article titled “Ethics and Social Value Judgments in Public Health,” ethicists from Yale University distinguished public health from medical freedom. “Public health policies,” they wrote, “are population oriented. Because individual health affects the health of others, public health measures regulate individual behavior to achieve population health goals. All raise questions about how individual autonomy and freedom should be balanced against public health interests…which respects individuals’ sovereignty over their bodies and actions as long as their actions do not harm others.” The medical freedom movement fails to recognize that it often limits the freedom of others. For example, a parent who is afraid to send a child to school where many of the students are unvaccinated. Or immune compromised children who depend on those around them to for protection. The question then becomes “Freedom for whom?” Is it your right, in the name of medical freedom, to catch and transmit a potentially fatal infection—and in so doing, take away the freedom of others? In Four Essays on Liberty, Isaiah Berlin sums it up best. “Liberty for the wolves,” he wrote, “is death to the lambs.” Thanks for reading Beyond the Noise! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Subscribe
Recent HHS Leadership Changes Impacting Public Health
Get a rundown of recent HHS leadership changes that impact public health, including to CDC director, ACIP, and the U.S. Surgeon General.
Opinion: Systemic failures in New Mexico health care oversight extend beyond Mark Erasmus case
A local attorney says one disgraced surgeon is a symptom of deeper corporate and oversight failures in New Mexico health care.
ECU Health performs North Carolina’s first single port colorectal robotic surgeries using the da Vinci SP system
Dr. Warqaa Akram, colorectal surgeon with ECU Health Cancer Care, performs colorectal procedures using the da Vinci Single Port robotic platform.
Erica Schwartz, former deputy surgeon general, nominated to be next CDC director by Trump
The Atlanta-based CDC, which is charged with protecting Americans from preventable health threats, has been in turmoil since Trump returned to office more than a year ago, with a succession of mostly temporary leaders.
Former deputy surgeon general is recommended for CDC director, sources say
The agency has had a tumultuous run during Trump's second term and only had a permanent director for one month last summer.
White House favors Erica Schwartz, former deputy surgeon general, to lead CDC
Schwartz would be Trump’s third nominee to lead the CDC. She left government in 2021, after the Biden administration passed her over for acting U.S. surgeon general.
Warner Robins surgeon accused of knowingly buying stolen cars for rental business: prosecutors
Business notes: Providence St. Mary Medical Center welcomes new surgeon
A new surgeon joined St. Mary Medical Center, and the United Way's popular mini golf tournament returns to Walla Walla.
This trailblazing Atlanta surgeon broke barriers in sports medicine
Dr. Letha Griffin is now in the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Hall of Fame.
SGMC Health Enhances Hip Replacement Surgery with IntelliJoint® HIP Technology
SGMC Health is advancing orthopedic surgical care in South Georgia with the utilization of IntelliJoint® HIP, an advanced technology used during hip replacement surgery by orthopedic surgeon Anthony D’Abarno, DO. Hip […]
Selwyn Rogers: Bearing Witness to Violence
Howie and Harlan are joined by trauma surgeon Selwyn Rogers, who reflects on caring for victims of gun violence and speaking with families in their darkest moments—and explains why the problem must be understood as a shared societal responsibility. Harlan examines new evidence suggesting U.S. healthcare spending has grown more slowly than expected; Howie discusses a retracted Lancet article that highlights the risks of undisclosed conflicts of interest.
Memorial fund honors patient whose life was saved by Vanderbilt Health neurosurgeons
Charlotte Davis underwent groundbreaking brain mapping surgery at Vanderbilt Health in 1995 to treat a deep-seated brain tumor. The procedure preserved areas controlling speech and movement. She lived 30 more years after her surgery.
Casey Means’s Surgeon General Nomination Is Stalling Out
The wellness influencer has yet to advance in the Senate a month after her hearing as as Republicans are reportedly torn on her nomination.
White House pushes Senate to move quickly on Casey Means nomination
There is still no indication on when the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will vote on Means' nomination for surgeon general.
White House reaffirms support for surgeon general pick after Trump remarks
After President Trump said Sunday that “we have a lot of great candidates” when asked about Casey Means’s nomination, the White House reiterated its support for her.
Business: Coastal Orthopedics surgeon named to Blake Hospital post
IN BRIEF: New president at Syprett Meshad; business liaison named for Venice; Chamber's youth leadership program; Affinity Care Hospice promotion.
Trump’s first surgeon general tries to stop nominee from becoming his second
Jerome Adams, who served at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, says Casey Means is unqualified to hold the job. Means’s nomination is stalled in the Senate.
Casey Means' surgeon general nomination is stalled
The nomination has languished despite ongoing efforts from the White House and Make America Healthy Again activists, revealing how intractable rifts over health policy can be even when Congress has shown deference to President Donald Trump.
Casey Means' surgeon general nomination is stalled
The nomination has languished despite ongoing efforts from the White House and Make America Healthy Again activists, revealing how intractable rifts over health policy can be even when Congress has shown deference to President Donald Trump.
Means’ surgeon general nomination is stalled as senators question her experience and vaccine stance
Wellness influencer Dr. Casey Means’ nomination to be U.S. surgeon general is stalled a month after senators of both major political parties grilled her on vaccines and other health topics during a tense confirmation hearing, deepening doubts about her ability to secure the votes she needs for the role.