Individuals with comorbid conditions have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Since regulatory clinical trials with COVID-19 vaccines excluded those with immunocompromising conditions, few patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases were enrolled. With limited vaccine safety data available, vulnerable populations may have conflicted vaccine attitudes. [By Richard Tsai, John Hervey, Kathleen D Hoffman, Jessica Wood, John Novack, Jennifer Johnson, Dana C. Deighton, Brian Loew, Stuart L Goldberg]
Read More

As both a caregiver and patient, I've had lots of on-the-job training. [by Dana Deighton]
Read More

On the podcast today, is Brian Loew, the founder and CEO of Inspire. Brian created Inspire 15 years ago with a goal of accelerating clinical trial recruitment, using safe, trusted online social networks, organized by medical condition for patients and their caregivers. Today Inspire has 110 health association partners and over 2 million members. I hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brian on “People Always, Patients Sometimes”. [By Spencer Health Solutions]
Read More

As part of our Patients Insights series, the founder and CEO of Motherhood Understood shares her experience of postpartum depression, talks about the power of peer support, and explains what the wider healthcare community could do to play their part. [by Amanda Barrell]
Read More

The pilot project of a new HealthJourney program being developed by healthcare social network Inspire is all-virtual recruitment for a clinical research study being conducted in partnership with Pfizer, the Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), and Citizen Genetics. The study is endeavoring to identify people in families with a history of autoimmune disease who carry “super-genes,” variants that make them resilient to lung cancer progression, according to Richard Tsai, Inspire’s senior vice president of marketing. [By Deborah Borfitz]
Read More

More than 82% of American doctors say they believe patients with significant disabilities have a worse quality of life than people who don't have disabilities, according to a new study. Those negative perceptions can have big impacts on the quality of care patients with disabilities receive. [By Lauren Kent]
Read More

Ella Balasa says she owes her life to the experimental phage therapy she was able access in no small part thanks to her scientific background. Her mission, she told pharmaphorum, is to ensure everyone has the knowledge and power they need to navigate their own healthcare journey, no matter where they are from or what they do. [by Amanda Barrell]
Read More

Special panel edition of the Amplifying Scientific Innovation Video Podcast that will focus on innovative approaches for optimizing clinical trial diversity during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, which is the largest and most informative healthcare investment symposium in the industry. [Moderated by Dr. Sophia Ononye-Onyia]
Read More

Inspire is an organization that has developed and provides an online community for health that connects patients and caregivers in a safe permission-based manner. The online network allows members to connect around the globe to serve as resources for one another, sharing health information, and providing support without regard to location, background or status. [The Journal of Precision Medicine]
Read More