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Original research articles published in Nature Medicine range from basic findings that have clear implications for disease pathogenesis and therapy to the earliest phases of human investigation. Aiming to keep Ph.D. and M.D. readers informed of a wide range of biomedical research findings, the journal publishes the latest advances in cancer biology, vascular biology, neuroscience, inflammatory disease, infectious disease and metabolic disorders, among other fields. Reviews, Perspectives and other commissioned content clarify and give context to these biomedical research advances, and the News section reports on the latest developments in drug research and development.
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RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Aug 19, 2024

Thread Of Notes

Why large-scale randomized trials of live-attenuated shingles vaccination for dementia prevention are urgently needed

In my view, we have never had as robust a body of evidence from observational data on an intervention for dementia as we do for live-attenuated shingles vaccination. Both a recent US National Institutes of Health expert workshop and an international expert consensus on Alzheimer’s disease drug repurposing identified large-scale randomized trials of shingles vaccination for dementia prevention as the crucial next step for the field.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04474-8 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Yesterday

General-purpose chatbots outperform clinical AI tools on physicians’ real-world questions

Specialized clinical AI tools are entering medical practice with little independent testing. In a head-to-head evaluation across two public benchmarks and real questions from physicians, three general-purpose frontier large language models outperformed two leading clinical AI tools, which performed no better than Google search AI overview.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04457-9 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Yesterday

Engineered heart muscle passes early clinical milestone

Engineered heart muscle allografts derived from induced pluripotent stem cells show promising early outcomes in patients with treatment-refractory advanced heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, in support of further clinical investigation.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41591-026-00031-5 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 16

Adaptive deep brain stimulation for dynamic gait control in Parkinson’s disease: a randomized feasibility trial

A randomized crossover study shows that gait-phase-synchronized adaptive deep brain stimulation is feasible and safe, and reduces falls compared to continuous stimulation in Parkinson’s disease.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04434-2 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 15

Activity-dependent adaptive deep brain stimulation improves gait in Parkinson’s disease

Neural decoding algorithms that leverage physiological principles of locomotor encoding support activity-dependent deep brain stimulation therapies that improve locomotor deficits in people with Parkinson’s disease.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04432-4 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 15

Plasma proteomic signatures of cellular aging predict human disease

The biological age of individual cell types can be evaluated using plasma proteomics, revealing diverse aging profiles across more than 40 cell types and links between the accelerated aging of specific cell types and disease.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04446-y nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 15

Long-term independent use of an intracortical brain–computer interface for speech and cursor control

An automated intracortical brain–computer interface, used at home with no researcher intervention, provides long-term and accurate restoration of speech-based communication and cursor-based computer usage in a person with severe dysarthria due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04414-6 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 15

The Hong Kong Genome Project is a flagship initiative for precision medicine in Chinese populations

The Hong Kong Genome Project established a genome sequencing database that provides improved diagnoses for patients and more efficient, population-tailored carrier status screening. Actionable pharmacogenomic variants were identified in almost all participants, informing drug prescriptions. This work establishes a genomic resource and a transferable model for equitable precision medicine in underrepresented populations worldwide.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04421-7 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 12

General-purpose large language models outperform specialized clinical AI tools on medical benchmarks

In an independent evaluation, frontier large language models outperformed specialized clinical artificial intelligence tools on medical knowledge, clinician alignment and real-world clinical queries.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04431-5 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 12

Efficacy and target engagement of dopamine agonist pramipexole for anhedonic depression: a randomized placebo-controlled trial

Pramipexole, in patients with major depressive disorder, dysthymia or bipolar depression, reduced Snaith−Hamilton Pleasure Scale scores significantly compared to placebo.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04465-9 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 12

Microglia at a key inflection point in Alzheimer’s disease

We analyzed brains from octogenarians and cognitively resilient centenarians to understand why some individuals with substantial Alzheimer’s disease pathology develop dementia whereas others remain cognitively intact. Spatial transcriptomics revealed gene expression changes in discrete tissue domains surrounding amyloid plaques and tau pathology that distinguish early, clinically silent, disease from later stages associated with cognitive decline.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04409-3 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 11

Brain Health for Economic Resilience: a data-driven framework for the brain-positive economic transition

Announced in this Comment and in collaboration with Nature Medicine is the convening of the Brain Health for Economic Resilience Commission, a global, transdisciplinary effort to define, measure and operationalize brain health and cognitive capacity as foundational drivers of economic resilience.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04444-0 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 10

Dual-target gene therapy in Parkinson’s disease: a multicenter phase 1 trial

Phase 1 results reveal that BBM-P002, a dual-target gene therapy co-delivering TH and DDC, is safe and well tolerated in Parkinson’s disease, with 12-month motor improvements signaling therapeutic potential.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04436-0 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 10

Adjuvanted inactivated rabies virus-vectored Lassa virus vaccine in healthy adults: a phase 1 trial

An interim report of a first-in-human phase 1 trial found an adjuvanted, combination inactivated rabies-vectored, Lassa fever vaccine (LASSARAB + 3D-6-acyl PHAD-SE) to be safe and induced immunogenicity to both Lassa and rabies viruses in healthy participants.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04429-z nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 9

Electronic cigarette use after smoking cessation and lung cancer risk

A nationwide retrospective analysis of 4.5 million Korean adults found that electronic cigarette use after smoking cessation was associated with higher lung cancer incidence and mortality compared with complete smoking cessation.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04469-5 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 8

Post-adjuvant chemotherapy in ctDNA-positive patients with resected colorectal cancer: a randomized phase 3 trial

In the randomized, double-blind phase 3 ALTAIR trial, patients with resected colorectal cancer who became positive for circulating tumor DNA during post-adjuvant surveillance received trifluridine/tipiracil hydrochloride therapy, which did not significantly prolong disease-free survival compared with placebo.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04428-0 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 8

Effects of SGLT2 inhibition on incident heart failure in carriers of cardiomyopathy-associated genetic variants

In a whole-exome sequencing analysis, the beneficial effects of the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin in reducing the risk of future heart failure hospitalization in individuals with type 2 diabetes were markedly greater in individuals who carried a cardiomyopathy-associated genetic variant compared with noncarriers, suggesting a personalized preventative therapy based on genetic information.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04439-x nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 8

Apitegromab for lean mass preservation during tirzepatide-induced weight loss: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial

In the phase 2 EMBRAZE study, participants receiving tirzepatide and apitegromab lost less lean mass compared to participants receiving tirzepatide and placebo.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04440-4 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 8

Survodutide in adults with obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: SYNCHRONIZE-MASLD, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial

As presented at the American Diabetes Association Meeting, in this phase 3 trial, weekly subcutaneous injections of survodutide, a glucagon receptor/GLP-1R dual agonist, lowered liver fat content and body weight compared to placebo in adults with obesity and at-risk metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04479-3 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 7

Oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist aleniglipron in people with overweight or obesity: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2b trial

As presented at the American Diabetes Association Meeting: this randomized phase 2b trial in 230 adults with overweight or obesity shows that aleniglipron, an oral small-molecule GLP1-RA, led to up to 11.3% body-weight loss compared with placebo after 36 weeks of treatment.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04476-6 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 5

AAV gene therapy for homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: a phase 1 trial

After preclinical testing, a phase 1 trial involving three individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia demonstrated preliminary evidence for the safety and efficacy of AAV8-mediated LDL receptor gene therapy.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04441-3 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 4

A socially assistive robot to support mental wellbeing in LGBTQ+ young people at risk of self-harm: a randomized controlled trial

A randomized controlled trial integrating Purrble, a socially assistive tactile robot, into safety planning found that LGBTQ+ youth at risk of self-harm experienced improvements in Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and fewer depressive symptoms compared to safety planning alone.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04422-6 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 4

Spinal cord stimulation for upper limb motor function in people with chronic post-stroke hemiparesis: a feasibility trial

In this feasibility clinical trial, the authors show that epidural stimulation of the cervical spinal cord safely improved strength, function and spasticity in seven people with arm hemiparesis.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04435-1 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 4

Assessing quality of childbirth care provided by skilled health personnel in Exemplar countries

A study of Exemplar countries—Nepal, Senegal and Zambia—previously recognized for major gains in maternal and neonatal health found that, despite high coverage of childbirth care by skilled health personnel, the quality of care remains substandard.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04381-y nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 3

15-strain live biotherapeutic product or same donor fecal microbiota transplant for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection: a randomized phase 1b trial

A randomized, single-blind, parallel-group, phase 1b clinical trial compared fecal microbiota transplant or a 15-strain live biotherapeutic product (MTC01) derived from the same donor and found similar efficacy and engraftment between treatments.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04442-2 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 2

Medically tailored meals receipt and healthcare utilization and costs in Massachusetts’ Medicaid demonstration

Between 2020 and 2023, in Massachusetts, receiving medically tailored meals was associated with reductions in hospitalizations and emergency department visits and lower healthcare costs.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04407-5 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 2

Translating ‘food is medicine’ from concept to reality

An ancient concept gathers scientific evidence as medically tailored meals show potential to lower healthcare utilization and costs — but larger studies are needed alongside policies to scale and sustain evidence-based approaches.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04420-8 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 2

Tumor-targeted interferon-α gene therapy for glioblastoma: a phase 1 trial

In an interim analysis of a phase 1/2 trial in 24 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, a genetically engineered autologous stem cell transplant designed to deliver interferon-α to the tumor microenvironment was well tolerated, with stable engraftment and evidence for immune reprogramming.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04419-1 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 1

SEZ6-targeting antibody−drug conjugate ABBV-706 in advanced small cell lung cancer and solid tumors: a phase 1 trial

As presented at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting, in a phase 1 trial, treatment of patients with the seizure-related homolog protein 6 (SEZ6)-targeting antibody−drug conjugate ABBV-706 demonstrated a manageable safety profile and showed preliminary clinical efficacy in patients with resistant or refractory small cell lung cancer.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04452-0 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 1

Savolitinib in MET-amplified gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma: a phase 2 trial

As presented at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting, in a phase 2 trial that included an exploratory and a pivotal phase, treatment of patients with MET-amplified gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma with the selective MET tyrosine kinase inhibitor savolitinib showed promising clinical efficacy.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04459-7 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 1

MAGE-A4/MAGE-A8-targeted TCR-based bispecific T cell engager in recurrent and/or refractory solid tumors: a phase 1 trial

As presented at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting, in a prespecified interim analysis of a phase 1a trial of IMA401—a new bispecific TCR-based T cell engager that binds a MAGE-A4/MAGE-A8 peptide presented by HLA-A*02:01—encouraging safety and a preliminary efficacy signal were observed in patients with head and neck cancers and melanoma, including those treated with both the engager and anti-PD-1.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04455-x nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 31

Pathogenic germline variants identify elevated cancer risk in pediatric patients referred for genetic testing

Through large-scale genomic analysis, we show that pathogenic germline variants in pediatric cancer-predisposition genes are associated with increased subsequent tumor risk, highlighting their value for counseling and surveillance.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04451-1 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 29

From donor lungs to digital twins

Multimodal data from hundreds of lungs subjected to ex vivo perfusion — a process used to evaluated donor lungs for transplant suitability — enabled the development of ‘digital twins’ capable of modeling lung function and therapeutic efficacy.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41591-026-00029-z nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 29

Mapping the genetic diversity of Indigenous Americans

A comprehensive analysis of Indigenous American genomes charts an evolutionary history shaped by unique geographic and cultural environments, climate shifts, and colonization, and reveals natural selection of genes involved in immunity, metabolism and reproduction.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41591-026-00028-0 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 29

Gut microbiome screens could identify risk of Parkinson’s disease years before symptoms appear

Innovative microbiome analysis revealed a part of the gut microbiome that changes coherently from healthy individuals across those with genetic risk of Parkinson’s disease to patients who are symptomatic. A large range of microbiome alterations within each of the three groups enables identification of individuals at greater risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. A healthy diet was inversely associated with these alterations and might mitigate disease risk.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04458-8 nature.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 28

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