SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " Hera " 2,638 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Single-session therapy can help address gaps in mental health care
Can a single therapy session make a difference? Experts say yes, but only with the right mindset. Jessica Schleider is a Northwestern University psychology professor and founding director of the Lab for Scalable Mental Health.
Georgia football adds 2027 in-state offensive lineman to class
Georgia football picked up a third offensive line pledge for its 2027 class on Saturday. Here are details on the pick-up of an in-state prospect.
Medicines watchdog to investigate UK peptide clinics over health claims
Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds several clinics making potentially unlawful claims about benefits of unregulated therapies
LeAnn Rimes’ emotional reaction to jaw release therapy sparks widespread buzz
Singer LeAnn Rimes goes viral for her emotional jaw release therapy session. Experts explain how stress and muscle tension impact health and TMJ symptoms.
Cincinnati business grows with new restaurant at Factory 52’s Gatherall
Some of those menu items include sliders, build-your-own bowls, smoothies and tacos.
Report: Yakima Valley air quality sees improvements, but health concerns remain
The report highlights East Yakima and Lower Yakima Valley as communities disproportionately impacted by air pollution. Ellensburg and the Moxee area also are mentioned.
A gene mutation may trap the brain in the wrong reality in schizophrenia patients
A newly identified gene mutation may help explain why schizophrenia patients struggle to update their understanding of reality. The mutation disrupts a brain circuit involved in flexible decision-making, causing mice to stick with outdated choices even when conditions change. Researchers pinpointed the issue to a key thalamus–prefrontal cortex pathway. By reactivating this circuit, they were able to restore normal behavior—raising hope for future therapies.
Deafness reversed: One injection restores hearing in just weeks
A new gene therapy is giving people born deaf the chance to hear, often within just weeks. In a small but groundbreaking study, researchers delivered a working copy of a key hearing gene directly into the inner ear using a single injection. All ten patients, ranging from young children to adults, experienced improved hearing, with some showing rapid gains in just one month.
Iterative Health, US Heart & Vascular Partner to Advance Community-Based Cardiovascular Research
April 2, 2026 — Iterative Health and US Heart & Vascular (USHV) have announced a strategic partnership to advance research through community-based innovation in cardiovascular care. "Clinical research is one of the most powerful ways we expand access, improve patient outcomes, and shape the future of cardiovascular care," said Robbie Allen, chief executive officer of US Heart & Vascular. "By partnering with Iterative Health, we are strengthening our ability to bring innovative therapies directly into the communities we serve. This collaboration ensures our physicians and patients have access to leading-edge trials while allowing US Heart & Vascular to remain focused on delivering exceptional, physician-led care." Under the agreement, USHV research sites will join Iterative Health’s global site network, which now spans over 100 sites across three continents. The companies share a commitment to advancing clinical research as a driver of care innovation, and this collaboration represents a major milestone for both organizations, strengthening USHV's leadership in community-based cardiovascular research and expanding Iterative Health's multispecialty focus beyond GI, hepatology, and obesity into cardiology. USHV clinical research sites will gain access to Iterative Health's centralized operational backbone, providing end-to-end support across clinical research operations, services, business development, technology innovation, and corporate functions. The strategic partnership reduces operational complexity and unlocks growth potential for USHV research sites while enabling all USHV physicians to expand access to cutting-edge therapies to the thousands of patients they serve annually. "Innovation in cardiovascular medicine shouldn't be limited to a few academic centers," said Thomas Waggoner, DO, MD, RPVI, FACC, FSCAI, FSVM, RPVI, Structural Cardiologist and Medical Director for Clinical Research at Pima Heart & Vascular, and USHV Physician Champion for Clinical Research. "By expanding community-based research across USHV, we're ensuring more patients have access to clinical trials and breakthrough therapies close to home, where trusted relationships with their physicians already exist." This alliance reinforces Iterative Health's standing as the definitive research partner across specialized therapeutic areas, now spanning GI, hepatology, obesity, and cardiovascular care. Trusted by many of the nation's leading provider organizations and biopharma sponsors, Iterative Health's global site network delivers industry-leading trial performance, accelerating life-changing therapies to market at scale. "Entering cardiology through our strategic partnership with US Heart & Vascular is a defining moment for Iterative Health and reflects the strength of our site-serving model," said Jonathan Ng, founder and CEO of Iterative Health. "Together, we are ensuring that thousands of patients have access to the newest available therapies, and that sponsors have a credible, high-performing partner to accelerate cardiovascular trial success." For more information, visit www.iterative.health and https://usheartandvascular.com/.
14 things to do around the Seattle area this weekend
From shopping and eating along the 2 Line to joining the “West Coast’s largest book club,” here are the latest local things to do around the Seattle area.
Lutheran Health Network’s peanut butter drive doubles donation record
The community answered the need with the March donation drive.
Targeting βiii-Tubulin and the roots of science: An interview with Richard F. Ludueña
Professor Emeritus Richard F. Ludueña discusses his novel theoretical framework for cancer chemotherapy, utilising CRISPR-Cas9
Woodland Campus Open for Business
Erika Hoffman-Kiess, left, passes off a giant key to Lindsey Trombley, symbolizing a change in leadership as the campus goes from construction zone to child care center. (Herald / Isabel Dreher) Joyful smiles abounded Monday afternoon at the brand new Woodland campus outpost of the Orange County Parent Child Center. The new facility, located on
Inspectors warned about Miami senior homes. The state sent at-risk elders anyway
Even as one state agency was fining Miami ALFs for poor care, another was filling their beds with vulnerable people in state care.
Why are there so many empty stores on Miracle Mile? A Q&A with the Gables Chamber
What’s with all the banks on Miracle Mile? Do local businesses need to worry about property tax cuts? And other burning questions.
The Herald's weekly entertainment picks
Looking to be entertained from Thursday, April 2, through Wednesday, April 8? Check out the Skagit Valley Herald’s weekly recommendations.
Author George Saunders on moralism, humor and new novel ‘Vigil’
Saunders will be in town on Tuesday, April 7, for an event with Seattle Arts & Lectures.
Marathon review: Bungie’s extraction shooter is a brutal beauty
Marathon, the first non-Destiny game from Bungie in more than a decade, is equal parts frustration and elation, writes our reviewer.
Seattle playwright returns with compelling, wild new show
“Wife of Headless Man” is a compelling swerve from one of the city’s finest playwrights, pushing his gift for meticulously structured drama into weirder, wilder places.
Iowa Senate drops insurer, managed care limits from subacute mental health bill
Democrats argued the Senate's changes to the subacute mental health care bill would provide less assistance to Iowans than the House proposal.
MLB revives 'This Week in Baseball' as a digital series
Major League Baseball is bringing back “This Week in Baseball” by giving it a digital flair. The iconic series will be revived on Major League Baseball’s X account, as well
What is conversion therapy? What to know after Supreme Court decision
More than a dozen major mental health and medical organizations have renounced conversion therapy as ineffective and harmful.
Spring Leap at Teatown: Science, Rabbits and Family Learning
An educational program about lagomorphs will be held on April 12 in Ossining
RPI Announces DOE Under Secretary for Science and CEO of Melinta Therapeutics as Commencement Honorands
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) today announced that Darío Gil, Ph.D., Under Secretary for Science at the U.S.
Supreme Court rules against conversion therapy ban
Fact-checking Jay Bhattacharya, why PCOS might get a new name, and more health news from Morning Rounds
Cardinal Health expands Actinium-225 production capacity to support growing demand for novel cancer therapies
/PRNewswire/ -- Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) today announced a significant expansion of its Actinium-225 (Ac-225) production capabilities at the company's Center...
Wisconsin judicial panel dismisses Democratic attempt to redraw congressional maps
MADISON, Wis. — A three-judge panel in Wisconsin on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit brought by Democratic voters that sought to redraw the battleground state’s Republican-friendly congressional boundary lines ahead of
Suspension lifted for helicopter pilots who hovered near Kid Rock's home
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Army pilots who hovered two helicopters near Kid Rock’s Tennessee home during a training run while he clapped and saluted have had their
Deborah Glick: SCOTUS ruling on conversion therapy ban will harm LGBTQ+ kids
An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian counselor who argues the law banning talk therapy violates the First Amendment.
‘The Drama’ review: Fine performances can’t save uninteresting story
"The Drama," starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, fails to answers its central questions, writes Moira Macdonald.
Bumbershoot announces 2026 lineup; Death Cab for Cutie headlines
This band, Seattle rock royalty, will be the biggest hometown group to headline the festival in years.
Takeaways from the Supreme Court decision on Colorado law banning ‘conversion therapy’ for trans and gay minors
The Supreme Court on Tuesday endorsed a religious counselor’s challenge to Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” for gay and transgender minors, saying it likely violates the First Amendment, handing the LGBTQ community another setback in a decision that will reverberate in nearly half the country.
Supreme Court backs challenge to ‘conversion therapy’ ban
The Supreme Court endorsed a religious counselor’s challenge to Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” for gay and transgender minors, another legal setback for the LGBTQ community that will reverberate in nearly half the country. Follow for live updates.
Remember these old sports stadiums in South Florida? Take a look
Let’s take a step back in time to visit the places we once cheered.
Laura Dern signed on to play reporter in Jeffrey Epstein TV series
There's a Jeffrey Epstein series in the works and Laura Dern has signed on to play Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, who investigated the disgraced financier's crimes.
Miami-area hospital is changing patient meals. See what HHS Secretary Kennedy says
This health system near South Miami is leading the way on the “farm to hospital” initiative.
Arts-Entertainment Source: Fairfield Adult Recreation gears up for luncheon
To register for the spring luncheon, visit: anc.apm.activecommunities.com/fairfieldrec/activity/search/detail/6030?onlineSiteId=0&from_original_cui=true
April 2 Vallejo/Vacavile Arts-Entertainment Source: Activities
April 2: Familiar Strangers, 6:30 p.m., Empress Marquee Club, 324 Virginia St., Vallejo. April 4: Bunny Breakfast, 8:30 a.m., McBride Community Center, 91 Town Square Plaza, Vacaville. Learn more online…
Music therapy brightens chemo visits for 3-year-old at Corewell Health in Royal Oak
Three-year-old Carson Jamo, diagnosed with leukemia in June 2025, regularly visits Corewell Health in Royal Oak for chemotherapy, where music therapist Brandon Banas helps transform challenging appointments into positive experiences.
2 Seattle authors shine in April’s best paperback releases
From Moira Macdonald's debut novel to the first book in a cozy sci-fi mystery series from Olivia Waite, there's plenty of new paperbacks to add to your TBR list.
‘White Rooster’ needs more work
The world premiere of ensemble member Matthew C. Yee's “White Rooster” at Lookingglass Theatre should be riveting. It has all the elements of compelling drama: a multi-layered plot that mixes
Benson Boone announces another Seattle show with Wanted Man Tour
The Monroe-raised pop star is set to headline Climate Pledge Arena for the second time.
April’s Trading Post Positively Sprouts with Garden Delights
April’s Trading post arrives in full bloom, heralding in the rejuvenation of sun-dappled days and tending the garden. Take part in a variety of activities to earn this month’s reward— get the Ensemble: Forest Dweller's Butterfly Attire transmog set.
Trans sports referendum signatures are not valid, legal challenge argues
The lawsuit was filed last week in Cumberland County Superior Court.
Seattle Mariners, KING 5 announce TV plan to air 10 games
KING 5 will have exclusive rights to broadcast 10 Mariners games this season, starting April 10 vs. the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park.
How Kent tames floodwaters with art at earthworks park
The artfully carved landscape at Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks Park delights visitors as it changes with the seasons and controls the flow of stormwater.
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.
Support beyond the classroom: Little Rock’s community schools offer health care, therapy, a student bank and more
At first glance, Chicot Elementary is just like any other school. But walk past the bright hallways plastered with crayon drawings and "I can count to 100" worksheets and through a gym lined with balance bikes, and you'll find clinics that provide vaccines, lab work, eye tests, counseling and language interpretation for Little Rock School District students and their siblings.
Canadian Adults’ Functional Health Has Declined
Worsening emotional health and increased prevalence of pain are the main causes of the decline in Canadians’ functional health from 2015 to 2024, says Statistics Canada.
The Times' top 25 high school baseball rankings
Orange Lutheran is the new No. 1 high school baseball team in Southern California.
Psychedelic therapies are becoming mainstream. Deutsche Bank thinks this drug developer could triple
This biopharma play with two key drugs for treatment-resistant depression could see its stock rise by more than 230%, according to a Deutsche Bank analyst.
Pols & Politics: Massachusetts dentists fear Healey’s ‘shortsighted’ MassHealth cap proposal
Dentists across Massachusetts fear that Gov. Maura Healey’s proposal to place a $1,000 annual cap on MassHealth dental coverage would drastically reduce services for nearly 2 million Bay Staters.
Politics: Iowa governor signs tax hike on HMOs into law
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday signed into law House File 2739, which will increase taxes on health maintenance organizations — both those under the state’s Managed Care Organizations and
If college sports are broken, why is March Madness as popular as ever?
NIL and the transfer portal have divided college sports programs. Things can feel broken. There is just one, tiny thing — the country can't stop watching.
This week in politics: How Schuylkill County’s legislators voted
Between ongoing budget stalemates and severe partisan divides, it can be easy to feel like nothing is getting done in government. But every week is a busy week in politics, and important developments are happening at both the state and…
Manatee, Sarasota roundup: Venice reaches National Invitational final
A roundup of high school sports played in Sarasota and Manatee counties March 23-28, 2026, with all-star basketball, baseball, softball, lacrosse.
I tried HigherDose’s $1,400 PEMF mat to help me relax. I got weird dreams and disappointment
This pricey infrared therapy mat claims to help mood, sleep and muscle recovery. It felt more like a glorified heating pad
UW Huskies AD Pat Chun says state of college sports is ‘not sustainable’
UW athletics has generally performed well during Pat Chun's first two years in Seattle, but he has major concerns about the state of college athletics moving forward.
Seattle Art Museum considers influences of celebrated Northwest Mystics
The Seattle Art Museum exhibit "Beyond Mysticism" traces the pulsating throughline that connects artists from the midcentury to the city’s contemporary artists.
I always wanted to live in Europe, bought tiny home: why I'm leaving
A therapist from New York wanted to live in Europe for decades. At age 51, she moved into a Dutch tiny home, and learned the style of living suited her, but not the Netherlands.
UMaine’s Brian McGill earns one of science’s highest honors
UMaine ecologist Brian McGill has earned one of science’s highest honors for work that’s reshaping how the world understands biodiversity.
PHOTO GALLERY: Ultra Music Festival at Bayfront Park Miami
View images of Ultra Music Festival on Friday at Bayfront Park in Miami.
“Night and day”: Adventuring through childhood with newfound immune systems
This article discusses the significant impact of an accelerated FDA-approved gene therapy on children with severe leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I. Families share how their lives have transformed from chronic hospital visits to thriving, healthy lifestyles following the treatment at UCLA.
Seattle Public Theater’s ‘Hurricane Diane’ is a funny, pointed parody
Seattle Public Theater’s production of “Hurricane Diane” provides five of the best comic performances you are likely to see in Seattle.
12 things to do around the Seattle area this weekend
From exploring the Skagit Valley tulip fields to free art galleries, here are the latest local things to do around the Seattle area.
Opinion | ‘No Kings’: Politics as Bad Group Therapy
Participants in the rallies accomplish nothing practical but feel heard, validated and affirmed.
Movie Review: 'Two Prosecutors' is a perfect nightmare of state corruption
Sergei Loznitsa’s “Two Prosecutors” is a nightmare of government corruption so perfectly composed that, by the time it reaches its chilling conclusion, you feel nearly as entrapped as its young
Does red-light therapy work? What the research says
People are buying helmets, face masks, vests and beds that emit long-wavelength light. Beneath the hype, there is some interesting biology.
What to stream in April 2026: ‘The Testaments,’ ‘Big Mistakes’
Here's what's coming to Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Prime Video, Peacock, Paramount+ and other streaming services in April.
Menopause hormone therapy treatments would be covered by health insurance under Ohio bill
Ohio Democratic lawmakers want menopause hormone therapy treatments covered by health insurance and Medicaid.
Steve and Audrey Zahn team up for ‘She Dances’
“She Dances” is both serious and sad as the two bond during a bustling Miss Southeast Regional Dance Finals competition.
The Herald's weekly entertainment picks
Looking to be entertained from Thursday, March 26, through Wednesday, April 1? Check out the Skagit Valley Herald’s weekly recommendations.
Democratic lawmaker asks judge to take Trump's name off Kennedy Center
A Democratic lawmaker is asking a federal judge to force the Kennedy Center to block and reverse efforts to attach President Donald Trump’s name to the historic performing arts venue.
Lana Condor talks ‘Pretty Lethal,’ Pacific Northwest-set ‘Whodunnit’
Lana Condor gets to utilize her dance skills in the action thriller "Pretty Lethal," which is now streaming on Prime Video.
Taproot Theatre’s ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’’ is a Fats Waller celebration
The high-energy musical revue celebrates the work of jazz piano legend Fats Waller.
Author Stephen Graham Jones discusses his writing process
Jones, who has written more than 30 books, will visit Seattle on March 30 for an event with Seattle Arts & Lectures.
How to watch Mariners games: TV, streaming and channel info
Finally, just before opening day, an answer for fans looking to watch Mariners games on TV. Here's how to watch the M's through cable and satellite provider.
Some East Grand Forks businesses must register with city to sell low-potency hemp products
Changes in requirements from the state Office of Cannabis Management mean businesses selling these products must now be licensed with the OCM and registered with their local cities.
Biotech Company Tivic Health Aims to Advance Immunotherapy Research Programs
Tivic Health Systems is developing immune‑modulating therapies for conditions, such as radiation exposure, while expanding biologics development and manufacturing capabilities.
Sub Pop has signed its latest Seattle band, Telehealth
The Seattle synth-punks became fast favorites on the local scene with their 2023 debut.
Four from Greater Grand Forks on Top 25 Women in Business list
Prairie Business contest honors exceptional professionals in the region
‘NCIS’: Will [Spoiler] Be Back After Shocking Death in 500th Episode?
Plus, how the team will be doing moving forward.
Grace Lutheran in Oak Ridge offers a night of entertainment and coffee
Grace Lutheran Church of Oak Ridge presents Coffeehouse on March 27. It's a night to featuring music from three groups, coffee and snacks.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2 review: Balancing the scales of justice
Season 2, which premieres Tuesday on Disney+, is a greatly entertaining blend of crunchy action and compelling narrative, writes our reviewer.
Crystal Festival brings sparkle, science, and family fun to Mt. Pleasant
MT. PLEASANT — A weekend filled with discovery, creativity, and hands-on fun is coming to Sanpete County as the Crystal Festival returns this spring with an exciting lineup of activities for all ages. The Crystal Festival — A Rocks, Minerals, Gems, & Crystal Show — will take place April 4–5, 2026, at the Mt Pleasant […]
7 new children’s and young adult books by local authors
The Northwest is home to a vibrant community of children’s and young adult authors. Celebrate early reading with these recommendations.
‘The Price Is Right’ Nurse Speaks Out After Winning a Car
'My goal was just to enjoy the day and come what may.'
Tacoma Arts Live, longtime WA arts institution, files for receivership
Tacoma Arts Live, a longtime performing arts organization, has filed for receivership. The court process is similar to bankruptcy. Here's what we know.
Mobile sports betting may soon be legal across Wisconsin
Online sports betting could soon be legal in Wisconsin through a new bill passed by the state legislature, which awaits signature by Gov. Tony Evers. The bill passed with bipartisan support in the state Senate Wednesday, with 12 Democrats and nine Republicans voting in favor, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The bill revises the...
MDMA Therapy in Australia Shows Results for PTSD Patients, but the Cost Is Limiting Access
The country’s experiment with psychedelic medicine has led to positive outcomes, psychiatrists say, but also highlights the limitations of the nascent field.
We disagreed on politics. We agreed on wine. That was enough.
At the Virginia Governor’s Cup Gala in Richmond earlier this month, a very dapper gentleman approached me and introduced himself. In his light-colored suit and bowtie, he looked very Southern in a classical sense, the sort of Virginia Gentleman you used to see south of the Rappahannock as recently as my college days. “I’m a longtime reader and fan of your writing, if not your politics,” he said. His comment was the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove, simultaneously conveying praise and disapproval while establishing boundaries. Man, I wish we still discoursed like this instead of shouting bromides and insults to try and “own” our opponents with a funny meme and a furrowed brow. Subscribe “Well, we’ll always have wine to share together,” I said, and thanked him for his kind words. We clinked glasses, exchanged pleasantries about the delicious gold medal-winning wines being poured that evening, and went our separate ways. Our exchange reminded me that more unites us than divides us. Wine brings people together to share a meal and a few hours of joy despite our differences.1 That’s why I refer to the wine community — including readers and consumers — rather than the wine industry. Together, we are so much more than production, distribution and sales statistics. A few minutes later the evening’s awards ceremony began. Applause grew as the 12 winemakers who made the top-scoring wines for the Governor’s Case took the stage, including a loud cheer for Jonathan Wheeler of Trump Winery and his 2018 Blanc de Noir sparkling wine. All the winemakers on stage had reason to be proud, Wheeler perhaps more so. Trump Winery was the only winery to win six gold medals in the competition this year. (Wineries are limited to six entries.) Two of Wheeler’s ciders also won gold medals in a separate competition. When you cover the labels and take the sour taste of politics off your palate, the wines are pretty darn good.2 Then Gov. Abigail Spanberger, newly elected Democrat and Virginia’s first female governor, was introduced to great applause to announce which of the 12 wines had won the Governor’s Cup. She spoke for a few minutes about the importance of wine to Virginia’s economy and tourism and the international acclaim Virginia wine has received. Just two weeks earlier, she gave the Democrats’ response to Trump’s State of the Union speech, but this night wasn’t about politics. That didn’t stop several people in the crowd from speculating on the irony should she have to present the trophy to Trump Winery. In the end, Valley Road Vineyards was displayed on the screen behind Spanberger as the winning winery. Blue Bee Cidery in Richmond took top honors for that category. The crowd cheered a female governor presenting the state’s highest trophy to a female winemaker and then resumed the evening’s festivities, united by their mutual love of wine. A whiff of politics couldn’t dim the cheer of celebration and a community united by its love of wine. In Memoriam: Michel Rolland The global wine community lost a giant March 20, with the passing of Michel Rolland. He was 78. Rolland was the original “flying winemaker,” a globe-trotting consultant who helped Bordeaux regain its mojo in the 1970s and then shaped the rise of Napa Valley cult Cabernet as consultant to Simi, Harlan, Newton, Screaming Eagle, Araujo, Dalle Valle and other wineries. He was instrumental in Argentina’s rise to prominence and even had his own winery, Clos de los Siete, in a partnership with other wine families. Rolland’s career arc paralleled that of Robert Parker, the world’s most influential critic. Parker championed many of the wines Rolland consulted on, helping build his reputation and demand for his services. It also made him a target for Parker’s critics. As W. Blake Gray wrote on Wine-Searcher in his excellent tribute to Rolland: Rolland created the type of wines Parker loved: rich body, plenty of fruit, soft tannins. He sometimes faced the accusation of creating a generic international style of red wine, where the great wines he made in Argentina were indistinguishable from the great wines he made in France. Rolland chafed at that critique, as did many of his fans. He was credited with championing green harvesting and leaf pulling, as well as careful selection of grapes in the winery, practices we nearly universally think of today for high-quality winemaking. “Michel was an incredible innovator who changed how wine was made and how grapes were grown,” Napa Valley winemaker Aaron Pott wrote on Facebook. “His work has transformed the wine trade. He created new ways of looking at wine, tasting wine, evaluating ripeness and quality. … This was not just a man with a ‘style’ that he imposed on vineyards but a man that understood how to make great wine from great sites.” Rolland started his consulting company in 1973 in Libourne, in Bordeaux, with his wife, Dany. Both had graduated the year before from Bordeaux’s Institute d’Oenologie. The couple sold their majority share in the business in 2020, according to Wine Spectator. Over his career, Rolland reportedly worked with more than 100 wineries in 20 countries. He even made it to Virginia, where he consulted for Kluge Estate in the mid-2000s. (Kluge Estate is now Trump Winery.) Reader feedback, please! Last week, I did my first WineLine Live! with Dr. Laura Catena of Catena Zapata winery in Argentina. We enjoyed a fascinating discussion about her efforts to preserve the genetic heritage of old vineyards in Mendoza. I conceived of WineLine Live! for paid subscribers, as a thank you for your financial support. And while only a few people joined live, the video now has more views than I have paid subscribers, so I guess that’s pretty good. Even so, I’m considering opening future installments to anyone on Substack to reach a broader audience. So my questions to you: Should these be public? And what format do you prefer? Live gives a chat feature with the potential for viewers to interact with me and the guest, while a video post would just be that. Another alternative is a podcast, which would just be audio, without video of my chins. Please let me know in the comments. Leave a comment In the Glass A few wines I’ve enjoyed recently: Bonny Doon Vineyard Take Me to Your Liter, Le Cigare Volant, Red Wine of the Earth. 2023, Central Coast, CA. Blend of Grenache, Syrah Cinsaut and Petite Sirah. Delightful wine with expressive red fruit flavors, casual drinking. Doon lovers of a certain age will remember Randall Grahm’s Big House Red; this is more in that style than his original Le Cigare Volant, modeled after Chateauneuf du Pape. The liter bottle makes it an even better value. I see this online at about $15. Great value. Albert Bichot Bourgogne Pinot Noir Origines 2023. 13% - Textbook pinot noir and an excellent, affordable entry (regional) Burgundy. Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wines of 2025. $24 at Total Wine & More. Loma Larga Pinot Noir 2021 “Coastal Cool Climate Wine”, Valle de Casablanca, Chile. An older sample, showing beautifully. Spicy and fruit forward. I’m seeing widely varied pricing online, from $18-$32. At the lower end, it’s a terrific value. 13.5% Dr. Loosen Riesling Dry 2016, Mosel, Germany. Found this “in the stack.” And it stacked up well, shedding some of its youthful acidity for opulent Riesling character, including a hint of the mineral oil older Riesling often features. A great value, as I’m seeing it as low as $14 online. 12% abv. Red Tail Ridge Blau Franc Blend 2024, Sans Oak, Finger Lakes. 13.4% abv. The name is a neat portmanteau of Blaufrankisch and Cabernet Franc, thus Blau Franc. The blend is 50-50, no oak involved. The Blau dominates on the palate, with the spicy caraway seed (think New York deli rye bread). The Franc adds body. The result is juicy, energetic and joyful. Sokol Blosser Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir 2025, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon. This first rosé of 2025 was a welcome respite to our cold, snowy winter here in the Mid-Atlantic. Oh man, I needed this! Bright and energetic, exuberant even, it perks up the mood and goes down fast. 13%. Certified B Corp. Ingredient and nutrition labeling, and in a modest way that doesn’t occupy a lot of label space. (Since it’s not required, presumably there are no minimum font size requirements.) More wineries should follow this example. Dave McIntyre's WineLine is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Thanks for reading Dave McIntyre's WineLine! This post is public so feel free to share it. Share 1 Some restraint may be required. 2 Especially the bubblies.
March 26 Vallejo-Vacaville Arts-Entertainment Source: Activities
March 26: Dallis Craft with the Loralee Christensen Band, 6:30 p.m., Empress Marquee Club, 324 Virginia St., Vallejo. March 26: Poetry by the Bay, 7 p.m., Mira Theater, 51 Daniels Ave., Vallejo. March 27: Ultimate Fantasea Dinner and…
Stealth BioTherapeutics Announces MRC Business Engagement Fund Grant to Advance Mitochondrial Disease Research
/PRNewswire/ -- Stealth BioTherapeutics (the "Company"), a commercial-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization...
How AI therapies are changing health care
It may become harder to tell whether a compound or an algorithm is doing the healing.
Locally-based behavioral health group to open first Louisville office
The location will provide individual, couples and family therapy.
Your Thymus and Your Healthspan
Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.
Kennedy’s latest MAHA-approved plan could supercharge peptide boom
He indicated that the FDA will soon widen access to the small proteins, which biohackers tout as therapies for a range of ills