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Commentary

Origin Story: How Did the Coronavirus Emerge?

Jun 2, 2021

President Joe Biden has called for the U.S. intelligence community to redouble efforts to determine the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. In conducting this investigation, it might be useful to avoid only focusing on a binary choice. That is, either the virus escaped from the laboratory or from a spillover from an infected animal to a human.
Article

The Internet of Bodies Will Change Everything, for Better or Worse

Oct 29, 2020

The rise of devices that connect the human body to the web is accelerating rapidly. This Internet of Bodies could revolutionize health care and improve our quality of life. But without appropriate guardrails, it could also jeopardize our most intimate personal information and introduce several ethical concerns.

Explore Biology and Life Sciences

Research Brief

Assessing the potential impact of developments in genetic testing on the British insurance industry

Predictive genetic testing provides individuals with information about their future risk of developing health conditions. Determining whether a genetic test could affect the insurance industry is complex and needs to be evaluated on a per-test basis.

Apr 8, 2022
Multimedia

The Economic Benefits of Investing in Women's Health Research

RAND senior sociologist Chloe Bird explains that the benefits of investing in women's health research aren't limited to women's health, but rather include the potential for enormous economic gains.

Mar 7, 2022
News Release

COG-UK Consortium's Pathogen Genomics Expertise Played Important Role in UK Response to COVID-19; Valuable Contribution to Public Health Genomics Should Not Be Lost

The COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium's efforts to sequence and understand the diverse variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, have been key to informing public health decisionmaking and efforts to control its spread.

Feb 15, 2022
Report

COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium: Final Report

RAND Europe evaluated how the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium contributed to the pandemic response in the United Kingdom and examined the role of pathogen genomics research and sequencing networks in pandemic response.

Feb 15, 2022
Commentary

Underfunding of Research in Women's Health Issues Is the Biggest Missed Opportunity in Health Care

For far too long, the medical sciences have treated men and women as interchangeable subjects, favoring men's health for funding and the male body for study. This approach creates a problem, not just for women but for everyone. Not only does it miss a large and critical slice of the population, it leaves an unknown amount of science unexplored.

Feb 11, 2022
Journal Article

Demonstrating Trustworthiness When Collecting and Sharing Genomic Data: Views Across 22 Countries

We examine how participants from 22 countries perceived the relative value of measures to demonstrate the trustworthiness of those using donated DNA and/or medical information.

Feb 10, 2022
Journal Article

Members of the Public in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia Expressing Genetic Exceptionalism Say They Are More Willing to Donate Genomic Data

This paper examines how acceptance of data sharing pertains to the perceived similarities and differences between DNA and other forms of personal data.

Feb 10, 2022
Journal Article

Return of Genomic Results Does Not Motivate Intent to Participate in Research for All: Perspectives Across 22 Countries

The aim of this study was to determine how attitudes toward the return of genomic research results vary internationally.

Feb 8, 2022
Report

Assessing the impact of developments in genetic testing on insurers' risk exposure

Predictive genetic testing provides individuals with information about their future risk of developing health conditions. Determining whether a genetic test could affect the insurance industry is complex and needs to be evaluated on a per-test basis.

Feb 3, 2022
Journal Article

Progress Report: AMR Industry Alliance 2021 Survey

An analysis of AMR Industry Alliance contributions to the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

Feb 1, 2022
Journal Article

Thinking Outside the Altruistic Box: Why We Need Other Evolutionary Theories to Explain Why Religion Is Religious

This article reviews and critiques prior explanations for the evolution of religious beliefs and suggests new hypotheses that might be more productive for understanding why religion involves beliefs in the gods and the supernatural.

Jan 11, 2022
Report

Technological Approaches to Human Performance Enhancement

Human performance enhancement (HPE) will have implications for military and intelligence operations. A variety of HPE could be of potential military and intelligence operational value. What are some approaches to HPE?

Nov 23, 2021
Commentary

Global Health Data Sharing: The Case of China and the Two Coronavirus Pandemics

Tensions over the coronavirus seem to be prompting China to isolate itself in terms of data sharing. But the first coronavirus pandemic in 2003 actually helped open China to health collaborations with other countries. World leaders may be doing their citizens a disservice when they allow toxic geopolitics to undercut trust and international collaborations that took decades to build.

Nov 22, 2021
Journal Article

Methods for Identifying Health Research Gaps, Needs, and Priorities: A Scoping Review

The purpose of this review is to characterize methods conducted or supported by research funding organizations to identify health research gaps, needs, or priorities.

Nov 10, 2021
Report

Methods for Identifying Health Research Gaps, Needs, and Priorities: A Scoping Review

This scoping review provides a roadmap of methods used for identifying health research gaps, establishing research needs, and determining research priorities.

Nov 8, 2021
Infographic

Understanding the work and health research landscape

This infographic accompanies a report which sets out the findings of a study funded by the Department of Health and Social Care to map the landscape of funding for research in work and health in the UK since 2015.

Oct 29, 2021
Report

Work and health research funding review (2015—2020)

This report sets out the findings of a study funded by the Department of Health and Social Care to map the landscape of funding for research in work and health in the UK since 2015.

Oct 29, 2021
Report

Translational Impacts of World Trade Center Health Program Research: A Mixed Methods Study

In this report, the authors describe the findings and recommendations of a four-year study of the World Trade Center Health Program's research portfolio and its translational impact. Recommendations are designed to help guide Program planning.

Oct 26, 2021
Report

Communicating research evidence to boards in health and care organisations: A scoping study

Boards in health and care organisations play a key role in the governance, strategy, direction and culture of an organisation. We conducted a scoping study on how health and care boards use research evidence and how this can be improved.

Sep 27, 2021
Journal Article

The Value of Consent for Biobanking

Biobanks facilitate large-scale tests of hypotheses that may advance health, but whether biobanking participants adequately comprehend the potential uses of their data should concern researchers and the public.

Sep 21, 2021

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RAND Topic:
Biology and Life Sciences

Topic Synonyms:
Human Biology;
Social Biology

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