New Approach Successfully Traces Genomic Variants Back to Genetic Disorders

NIH study shows genotype-first approach uncovers new links to genetic conditions.

National Institutes of Health researchers have published an assessment of 13 studies that took a genotype-first approach to patient care. This approach contrasts with the typical phenotype-first approach to clinical research, which starts with clinical findings.Read full story

New 3-D Model Offers Insights Into the Role of Glucose in a Deadly Kidney Disease

A research team supported by the National Institutes of Health has developed a new approach to better understand the biology of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), an often-life-threatening genetic disorder that affects millions worldwide. Scientists combined two ways to model the disorder — organ-in-a-dish and organ-on-a-chip technologies — to show the role of glucose, a sugar commonly found in blood, in forming PKD cysts.Read full story

HHS Offers States Flexibility to Better Address Medicaid Enrollees’ Needs

 

As part of Biden-Harris Administration efforts to strengthen Medicaid, new guidance will help states expand access to health care services and tackle unmet social needs

Today, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is releasing guidance on an innovative opportunity for states to address health-related social needs for people with Medicaid coverage through the use of “in lieu of services and settings” in Medicaid managed care.

Read full story

NIH Study Links Specific Outdoor Air Pollutants to Asthma Attacks in Urban Children

Moderate levels of two outdoor air pollutants, ozone and fine particulate matter, are associated with non-viral asthma attacks in children and adolescents who live in low-income urban areas, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health has found. The study also identifies associations between exposure to the two pollutants and molecular changes in the children’s airways during non-viral asthma attacks, suggesting potential mechanisms for those attacks.Read full story