Medicine & Health Sciences

New Diagnostic Tools, Treatments & Research Methods

Artificial intelligence is moving from experimental to clinically deployed in several areas — AI-assisted triage of radiology and pathology images, early sepsis detection algorithms, and risk-prediction models built on electronic health record (EHR) data. This is paired with a growing body of "real-world evidence" research, which uses routinely collected clinical data instead of (or alongside) trial data — powerful for studying rare outcomes and long-term effects, but requiring careful handling of confounding and data quality. On the treatment side, mRNA and other next-generation vaccine platforms are being extended well beyond COVID-19 into influenza, RSV, and even some cancer vaccines, while gene and cell therapies (including CRISPR-based approaches) are moving from rare monogenic diseases toward broader clinical trials. Antimicrobial resistance has become one of the most urgent research priorities globally, driving new stewardship trial designs and rapid diagnostic research. At the same time, digital therapeutics, wearable remote monitoring, and telemedicine are generating new categories of research questions about efficacy, adherence, and equitable access — particularly relevant given persistent health equity and social-determinants-of-health disparities in clinical outcomes.