Perspectives

The authors examine the vaccine landscape through two key areas of research and development—expanding target populations, and emerging vaccine technologies—and discuss cross-cutting issues, including the societal value of vaccines, funding and access, and regional manufacturing.

The authors propose five high-priority areas to close the current gaps in diagnostic testing, providing a path to self-reliance in health security and universal healthcare in Africa.

To accelerate therapeutic development and equip stakeholders with clear benchmarks, the authors outline target product profiles for therapies designed to delay or prevent the onset of clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Coral et al. outline five fundamental tenets to promote clinically meaningful, reproducible, scalable and equitable health outcomes through precision medicine.

The authors propose a framework for clinical AI evaluation within simulated digital hospital environments that capture the evolving constraints, and cascading effects, of clinical decisions.

To function safely and effectively, medical AI models must adapt automatically to differences in users, health systems, geographies, diseases and populations. This Perspective proposes context switching as the defining paradigm of medical AI, outlining early strategies and opportunities for development.

Cities are often at the forefront of creative thinking on policy opportunities; this Perspective outlines an agenda for urban health research that promotes a virtuous cycle by which population health and environmental sustainability support and reinforce each other.

Research does not always ‘speak for itself’; high-fidelity uptake of science into policy requires active engagement between researchers and policymakers. This Perspective offers tangible recommendations to help bridge the research-to-policy gap.

The authors present a 5-year action plan that prioritizes high-impact, practical interventions in brain health across six key areas—to safeguard the continent’s health and economic stability alongside projected demographic shifts.

Insights into TB heterogeneity are informing strategies for patient stratification and treatment shortening; this Perspective discusses the formidable challenge of treating this complex disease with strategies that can be implemented across global settings, for effective disease control.

The Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) group defines a standardized framework for amino acid PET imaging of brain metastases for use in clinical trials and eventually in clinical practice to facilitate development of novel therapies and improve patient care.

This Perspective explains how past migrations and environmental exposures have influenced genomic diversity, and how understanding and contextualizing this diversity is crucial to advancing precision medicine and equitable healthcare.

Parkinson’s diseases and other synucleinopathies are on the verge of a major paradigm shift toward being defined and staged by their biology, rather than symptoms; this Perspective offers context on progress, needs and opportunities toward this goal.

Citizen-science approaches can help challenge taboos around intimate health topics, amplify underrepresented voices and prioritize women’s involvement in health research; this Perspective considers the key challenges and ingredients for success.

Digitally enabled and decentralized clinical trials could enable large-scale recruitment of diverse participants—but careful consideration of the barriers faced by underserved groups will be crucial to their success.

Cardiology trials continue to under-represent certain population groups relative to disease distribution; this Perspective outlines strategies to foster representativeness and create a research enterprise that meets the needs of people living with cardiovascular disease.

This Perspective calls for inclusion of patients with MASLD and measurement of liver outcomes in cardio–kidney–metabolic trials, when data suggest mechanistically plausible benefits and clinical safety—and outlines considerations for trial design and regulatory approval.

To correct the market failure around pediatric cell and gene therapies, the authors propose a new model to lead late-stage development and commercialize these therapies outside traditional routes.

AI-enabled wellness apps exist in a regulatory gray area and may pose risks if used to manage mental health issues; this Perspective outlines the possible risks to users and the implications for app developers and regulators.

Causal machine learning methods could be used to predict treatment outcomes for subgroups and even individual patients; this Perspective outlines the potential benefits and limitations of the approach, offering practical guidance for appropriate clinical use.