In 2020, surges of covid-19 patients challenged the ability of hospitals to manage the operation of their emergency rooms (ERs).

Organizers of the recent Nobel Prize Summit shared a statement titled “Our Planet, Our Future - An Urgent Call for Action” — issued by the summit’s steering committee and co-signed by 126 Nobel laureates — with leaders of the G-7 countries and the U.N. secretary general, as well as other groups.

The use of high-risk radioactive materials in medical, research, and commercial applications has increased by about 30 percent in the U.S. in the last 12 years, and the government should improve security, tracking, and accountability to reduce health and security risks — while also supporting the development of nonradioactive alternatives to replace them — says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Cato T. Laurencin — a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2021), National Academy of Engineering (2011), and National Academy of Medicine (2004) — is being awarded the Springarn Medal from the NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.

The COVID-19 pandemic and heightened racial trauma have caused unprecedented disruptions in the lives of young people — bringing increased stress, anxiety, and depression. A new rapid expert consultation offers strategies for schools to support youth mental health as students return to the classroom.

Two new companion reports from a World Health Organization expert panel provide recommendations to the scientific community on the use of human genome editing. The panel’s work was informed by a 2020 report written by an international commission under the auspices of NAS, NAM, and the U.K.’s Royal Society.

Scientific thinking and knowledge are essential to democracy and the workforce, but science education is not the national priority it needs to be. The White House, with leadership from OSTP, should encourage federal agencies, state and local governments, and others to focus resources on increasing the quality and accessibility of science education.

The U.S. surgeon general has released a public advisory calling misinformation a “serious threat to public health.” The National Academies have been addressing misinformation in health and science on multiple fronts and are taking steps to help cultivate a fact- and evidence-based information environment.

Although the number of women among new inventors is edging upward, women still make up only about 13 percent of inventors in the economy overall. What keeps more women from engaging in invention and entrepreneurship? A recent workshop explored that question and how to remove the obstacles.

By 2060, nearly 14 million people in the U.S. will be living with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. A new report charts a course for the next 10 years of research in the behavioral and social sciences that can point to possible pathways for slowing or preventing dementia and easing its social and economic impacts.

Congress should consider requiring all projects that are candidates for federal funding undergo resilience assessments to account for natural hazards and the changing risks stemming from climate change.

To improve global preparedness for future pandemics, the science academies of the G20 nations issued a statement urging their governments to promote the creation of a global surveillance network that could detect the harbingers of a potential new pandemic.

Since the start of the pandemic, 2.5 million women have departed from the job market. A new rapid expert consultation says direct financial support, greater access to male-dominated jobs, and investing in child care can encourage women to return to the post-COVID workforce.

After more than a year of isolation, remote school, and disrupted routines, how can schools support students’ mental health and development? Read what youth have to say about how they’re doing, and what they need as they return to the classroom.

Yesenia Aguilar Silvan, a Ford Fellow and a doctoral student in clinical psychology, studies the barriers that keep young people from getting mental health care and what can be done to overcome these obstacles.

Using data science and maps to visualize historical inequities and climate change, GRP Science Policy Fellow, Simone Chapman is working to make strides in environmental justice.

The presidents of the National Academies join the nation in commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

For people who use wheelchairs, air travel comes with many hardships. A new report assesses the feasibility of securing travelers’ personal motorized wheelchairs in the cabin of an airplane as well as the safety and other considerations that must be analyzed.

Monica Feit has been named executive director of the National Academies’ Health and Medicine Division, effective Nov. 1, 2021. She brings to the position a wealth of leadership experience in health policy, international health, and cross-Academies collaboration.

President Biden announced the members of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), 20 of which are also members of NAS, NAE, and NAM. PCAST is the sole body of external advisers that makes science, technology, and innovation policy recommendations to the president and the White House.

Social distancing, disrupted routines, and a lost sense of security and safety have made some kids and teens vulnerable to stress, anxiety, and depression during the pandemic. A new set of tools from the National Academies helps kids and adults build skills to cope with stress.

Eight scientists have been selected for the Gulf Research Program’s Environmental Protection and Stewardship track of the 2021 Early-Career Research Fellowship (ECRF), announced the Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today.

Read a new NAE Perspective by Christopher A. Hart, former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board and the founder of Hart Solutions LLC, on whether the time is right for driverless motor vehicles.

A recent discussion hosted by the National Academies examined the extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent as the climate changes, and how the nation can better prepare for them.

This Guidance Document is a product of the National Academies’ Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education, which presents information and identifies guidance based on existing research literature.

Some of NASA’s robotic missions to Mars could be subject to less stringent bioburden requirements, which are designed to prevent the unintentional transport of Earth-based microbes, without interfering with searches for indigenous life on the planet.

In advance of the National Academy of Medicine’s annual meeting on Oct. 17-18, NAM President Victor Dzau sat down to talk about the compounding crises of COVID-19, climate change, and systemic racism — and how health and medicine can help respond to these threats.

Safe, effective antimicrobial medicines are essential to modern medical procedures and pandemic preparedness. A new National Academies report recommends a range of policy, regulatory, and financial actions to tackle antimicrobial resistance, spanning human, animal, and environmental health.

A multidisciplinary committee representing 11 nations will plan the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, to be held in London March 7-9, 2022. The NAS and NAM join other international partners in organizing the summit, which will build upon previous events held in Washington, D.C. and Hong Kong.

Projects that bring engineering expertise to bear on the questions addressed by evolutionary medicine promise major advances. In a new NAE Perspective, Randolph M. Nesse discusses how applications of evolutionary biology to medicine are giving rise to new opportunities for engineering to enhance understanding of disease.

In many university departments, graduate students may be wholly dependent on their advisers for funding and academic support — a difference in power that raises the risk of sexual harassment. At a recent summit of the Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education, speakers explored how to diffuse those power differences.

Using lessons learned from COVID-19, a new report outlines recommendations to strengthen the U.S. Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE) to better protect the nation from future threats, and ensure it can deliver the vaccines, medicines, and personal protective equipment needed during a public health emergency.

A new decadal survey presents a visionary plan for the fields of astronomy and astrophysics, identifying scientific priorities and opportunities, and recommending an ambitious program of investment to strengthen the profession and achieve new capabilities.

In 2019 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty, a landmark consensus study report that analyzes various policy solutions to help address child poverty in the United States.

Eleven years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Gulf Research Program’s Offshore Situation Room event examined how to make sure another offshore oil spill doesn’t happen — and how we can be better prepared if it does.

Seasonal influenza and the next influenza pandemic could emerge at any time. Four new reports examine lessons learned from COVID-19 that can improve preparedness for an influenza pandemic, including vaccine R&D, supply chain resilience, and non-vaccine public health measures.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should make changes to its integrated risk information system (IRIS) assessments handbook to ensure it provides clear operational instructions for those conducting assessments, and transparency regarding the assessment process, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

On May 20, 2021, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a virtual convening of public health and communications practitioners to examine the challenges, opportunities, and lessons they saw while executing effective communications and community engagement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. should undertake a new research program to better understand the potential risks and benefits of ocean-based interventions to remove or sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and learn how these methods could be used to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

A range of organizations across the tech ecosystem — tech companies, colleges and universities, professional societies, and government agencies — should take steps to improve the representation of women of color in tech fields and careers.

The National Academy of Sciences is hosting celebrations for the winners of 2021 Nobel Prizes who are based in the United States, joining in ceremonies and events being held around the world this week to celebrate laureates unable to travel to Stockholm this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Coast Guard should issue a range of new guidelines and requirements to ensure the safety of passengers and crew on DUKWs or “duck boats”— those familiar amphibious vehicles often used for touring the streets and waters of many cities.

Industry leaders, policymakers, administrators, and researchers will gather in person from Jan. 9 to 13 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., for the 101st annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB).

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg addressed attendees of the Transportation Research Board’s 101st Annual Meeting, where he highlighted the importance of evidence-based science, along with economic strength, clean energy, road traffic safety, and infrastructure.

Equitable cancer care starts with prevention and reaching people well before they become patients. Panelists at a recent workshop discussed how cancer centers can weave health equity into everything they do, from creating jobs to helping survivors manage treatment side effects.

Following a national search, Carlotta M. Arthur will join the National Academies as the new executive director of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education on Feb. 14.

The National Academies are partnering with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to administer a new funding opportunity that aims to recognize and further the leadership and scientific accomplishments of excellent biomedical researchers who — through outreach, mentoring, and teaching — have a record of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in their fields.

COVID-19 has offered several lessons about improving diagnosis — from expanding testing availability, to making at-home testing easier, to empowering people with data. At a recent workshop, experts discussed how to apply these lessons to the diagnosis of other health conditions.

As the omicron variant of the coronavirus sweeps through the U.S. and other parts of the world — and with the possibility of emerging new variants looming — building confidence in vaccines has become even more important. How can knowledge from the social sciences inform effective communication around vaccines?

To maintain U.S. global leadership and meet societal challenges — including generating medical advances, furthering the energy transition, and making food and water safer and more sustainable — new investments, collaborations, and educational practices in the chemical engineering field are needed.