The National Academy of Sciences Biological Effects of Atomic Radiation (BEAR) Genetics Panel recommended no second-generation genetic damage study of the offspring of the atomic bombings in Japan.

ABSTRACT Background In efforts to improve replication rates across sciences, graduate student training can foster an understanding of best practices. One consideration is to identify the psychological underpinnings that motivate early-career researchers to avoid questionable research practices (QRPs) and engage in transparent research behaviors. Recent findings demonstrate efficacy by leveraging identificatory processes, or how researchers identify with ethical science. This study examined whether the extent to which individuals incorporate ethical scientific principles into their identities can motivate disinterest in QRPs. Method As part of a baseline data collection effort for a systemic ethics training program at a Carnegie R1 institute, graduate students provided initial measures assessing endorsement of scientific values as outlined by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and the extent to which those values are part of their identity. They also reported their perceptions of the defensibility of various QRPs, and their willingness to engage in them. Results Greater endorsement of NASEM values was associated with less endorsement of QRPs. This association was mediated by inclusion of these values in one’s own identity. Results provide initial evidence for how institutes can foster psychological profiles of an ethical researcher in developing training modules for graduate students.

Understanding how professional well-being has been conceived and studied in nursing: A critical literature review.

Radon-222 ingestion from drinking water is commonly treated as a minor exposure pathway relative to inhalation of radon released into indoor air. This interpretation derives largely from the modelling framework consolidated by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS), which estimated that ingestion contributes approximately 10% of the total radon-in-water dose. However, the NAS explicitly recognised that the ingestion risk partition is governed by a poorly constrained biological parameter - the fraction of radon absorbed across the gastric wall prior to exhalation - and noted that plausible values could span up to two orders of magnitude. Because this parameter directly determines the ingestion dose coefficient, the widely cited 10% contribution represents a central estimate within a broad admissible range rather than a quantitatively constrained value. Despite this, the 90/10 partition has been embedded in subsequent international guidance without empirical narrowing of the governing biokinetic parameter. In parallel, radon-222 is excluded from total indicative dose screening frameworks for drinking water, reinforcing its marginalisation within ingestion-based assessments. The ingestion coefficient is therefore operationally stabilised in regulatory practice, while its quantitative basis remains sensitive to unresolved biological assumptions. This technical note argues that radon ingestion should not be regarded as a quantitatively resolved exposure pathway from an environmental radioactivity perspective. We show that (i) earlier assessments assigning a larger ingestion contribution remain compatible with the uncertainty bounds acknowledged by the NAS; (ii) standard ingestion models treat in-vivo decay and downstream progeny production as negligible under the same biokinetic assumptions that govern radon absorption and clearance; and (iii) radon dissolved in water functions within the uranium-238 decay chain as a transfer mechanism linking short-lived and longer-lived contributors to ingestion dose. Together, these considerations indicate that the apparent stability of the inhalation-ingestion partition reflects modelling continuity and regulatory convention more than empirical constraint.

Advanced therapies require soft skills: insights from a National Academies Working Group.

Oncology is a data-rich environment reflecting the increasing incidence of cancer in the US aging population, transformation of cancer into a chronic disease due to advances in treatment, and the emergence of new data categories such as genomics. Concomitantly, healthcare systems are challenged to meet regulatory and voluntary reporting of cancer data to support government, quality certification, research and strategic partnership needs. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine organized a workshop entitled "Enabling 21st-century applications for cancer surveillance through enhanced registries and beyond" with representation from NCI Comprehensive Cancer Centers, oncology and medical informatics professional societies, industry, CDC, NCI, and patient advocacy groups. The proliferation of cancer registries has resulted in heterogeneity in data vocabularies and data transport standards. Federal policy is complementing private initiatives to modernize cancer data architecture that would support a Learning Health System. However, business models are needed to provide sustained investments in data infrastructure. A computational approach to cancer registries would set the stage for interoperability and data sharing within a learning health ecosystem. Healthcare systems need to invest in their data infrastructure to improve data quality and adaptation of new data sources such as genomics and wearables. The ecosystem must evolve business models to sustain these investments.

Cuban-born Pedro A. Sanchez (1940-2026) became the face of tropical soil science at Cornell University and the North Carolina State University. His combination of process-based understanding of soils, emphasis on farmer choices and conducive policy environments earned him the 2022 World Food prize. After leadership roles in international agroforestry research in Kenya, he returned to academia at Columbia University and the University of Florida, and as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Long COVID (LC) or Post-COVID condition (PCC) is a serious illness that can result in chronic conditions in all ages, including children. We used SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced data to find monthly seroprevalence in 6months to 11year olds in 2021-2022 to estimate the proportion experiencing PCC. A non-dynamic model using age-specific PCC rates, in accordance with the WHO definition of LC and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) definition of PCC, was applied to estimate the burden of LC in children during 2021-2023 and to evaluate the impact of vaccination under different coverage and vaccine effectiveness (VE) scenarios. By the end of 2022, seroprevalence was higher among children aged 5-11years (85.6%) than among those aged 6months-4years (77.9%). However, a higher proportion of the youngest age experienced LC (approximately 0.8%), compared with children aged 5-11year (approximately 0.3%). The low vaccination coverage achieved in the 5-11 age group (40%) averted approximately 9% of infections and reduced LC prevalence by 13% at the end of 2022 under the assumption of no waning VE. If children aged 6months-4years age group, who were ineligible for routine vaccination, had been vaccinated at the same uptake level, infections and LC prevalence could have been reduced by approximately 5% and 10%, respectively. Achieving coverage comparable to that of adults aged 70years and older (94%) would have resulted in substantially larger reductions in infections (∼ 32%-55%) and LC prevalence (∼34%) in both paediatric age groups. However, assuming VE waning 12% per month, the reduction in seroprevalence and LC prevalence are limited to 2-4%, depending on coverage. These findings suggest that vaccination can reduce LC burden in children, which should be considered in vaccine policy.

BackgroundPeople with traumatic brain injury (TBI) morbidity (impaired cognition and behavioral regulation) and polytrauma comorbidity (depression, posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], chronic pain, and sleep disorders) experience health care inequities. Among Veterans and Service Members (V/SMs), TBI morbidity or polytrauma comorbidity may impact access and meaningful engagement in the high-quality health care needed to reduce poor health care outcomes. The National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Report on Accelerating Progress in TBI highlights a dearth of implementation science research in TBI that may help overcome health care access challenges. Implementation science uses a mixed methods approach to understand, implement, and examine outcomes associated with using evidence-based care in practice.ObjectiveThe I-HEAL (Improving Health Care Access and Engagement for Veterans and Service Members with TBI Morbidity) protocol includes 4 synergistic projects with the goal of addressing key knowledge gaps that will improve access and engagement in high-quality, evidence-based health care services for V/SMs with TBI morbidity. Collectively, the 4 projects propose to: (1) adapt existing interventions to promote access and engagement in health care; (2) engage stakeholder communities to maximize uptake and translation; (3) promote research translation that informs policy and practice through knowledge translation products and deliverables targeting key partners (clinicians, V/SMs, caregivers, policymakers, and researchers); (4) facilitate research and implementation to enhance access to high-quality health care for V/SMs with TBI-related morbidity; and (5) foster the development of early/mid-career researchers in advancing implementation science research on access to care for V/SMs with TBI.MethodsProject 1 will involve the development of a nudge intervention (electronic health care reminder) for providers to engage health care proxies when interacting with cognitive disability at risk for poor health care engagement. Project 2 will involve the development of a provider toolkit of adaptations of guideline-endorsed behavioral health interventions for common polytrauma comorbidities to meet the needs of cognitively impaired individuals. Project 3 will involve the adaptation and dissemination of evidence-based team interventions for managing maladaptive behaviors after TBI. Project 4 will involve evaluation and recommendations for policy for virtual health modalities among persons with TBI and polytrauma comorbidity.ResultsI-HEAL has been funded as an implementation science Focused Program Award by Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, and start-up activities began in October 2023. All 4 projects are currently underway with funding through September 2027. Project 1 has enrolled 48 participants, and project 3 has enrolled 34 participants through September 2025.ConclusionsTBI is associated with increased health care utilization, comorbid health conditions, and premature mortality. This study has proposed to utilize strategies from the implementation science field to help overcome barriers to physical and psychological health care in order to reduce health care disparities associated with TBI disability.

In 2021, an ad hoc committee of the United States (U.S.) National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) affirmed that robust, relationship-centered primary care is the foundation of efficient, effective health care. Yet the ad hoc committee also noted primary care was "slowly dying," due to chronic under-investment, ill-suited payment models, and inadequate workforce planning and development. Encouragingly, efforts to revitalize primary care are underway. To accelerate this movement by generating expert consensus recommendations on the highest priority actions to take in repairing the frayed U.S. primary care base, clinical scientists at the University of California Davis (UCD) School of Medicine convened the Summit to Revitalize Primary Care (Rev PC). Summit recommendations were generated in four closed working sessions of a national Expert Committee. Committee members were selected to ensure a breadth of perspectives (e.g., health plans, purchasers of insurance, regulatory agencies, health systems, clinicians, educators, researchers, economists) from the public and private sectors. Seven high priority recommendations emerged: (1) Increase the proportion of spending on primary care, coupled with initiatives to slow the growth in total health care spending; (2) Pay for primary care using models that support high quality, team-based, relationship-centered, equitable care; (3) Assist practices in transformation to advanced primary care models and assess the impacts on clinical teams, patients, and communities; (4) Maximize primary care's potential to equitably advance health; (5) Advocate for training an appropriately large and diverse primary care physician workforce; (6) Expand research to address the most pressing issues in primary care; (7) Collaborate with a broad array of societal stakeholders in messaging the importance of robust primary care. These recommendations both overlap with and expand on those of the NASEM ad hoc committee and subsequent Standing Committee on Primary Care. Broad pursuit of the recommendations would catalyze sustained momentum toward appropriate primary care investment and workforce planning and development, enabling U.S. primary care to realize its yet-unfulfilled potential to improve population health and advance health equity while helping to control growth in total health care costs.

This article presents a research-focused structured framework for validating empirical methods in digital and multimedia forensic science. Grounded in foundational principles from traditional forensic disciplines, the framework bridges methodological gaps by adapting validation strategies used in trace evidence, toxicology, and DNA analysis. It emphasizes reproducibility, legal defensibility, and operational applicability, integrating scientific guidance and recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, alongside the Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and the Daubert criteria. The framework comprises 10 iterative steps, including custom dataset control, pilot phase calibration, formalized error mapping, and embedded community review. It supports both full empirical validation and interim litigation-focused adaptation, enabling forensic practitioners to meet evidentiary standards without compromising scientific integrity. By elevating statistical planning, transparency, and reproducibility, the framework advances the credibility and courtroom readiness of digital and multimedia forensic methods.

Calls to address fieldwork safety that began in the 1980s have been amplified and expanded in the past decade by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and US federal funding agencies. Now, research on fieldwork safety and resulting recommendations are largely siloed by scientific discipline, limiting the spread of data and discussion that could yield rapid change for field research. This review synthesizes literature on fieldwork safety across scientific disciplines, highlighting four facets of safety for leaders and researchers to address: physical, social, financial, and psychological. Literature and real-life events demonstrate that the four facets of safety are interconnected and should be considered together. The review concludes with a synthesis of recommendations for each facet of safety. This review provides principal investigators with accessible, data-driven resources and propose a framework for future research on field safety that will enable cross-disciplinary sharing.

In Brief The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine just published an important report on breastfeeding in the United States. Our breastfeeding expert, Dr. Spatz, was one of the committee members that authored the report and provides a synopsis of the content and main recommendations.

The 1956 recommendation by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Biological Effects of Atomic Radiation (BEAR) I Genetics Panel to transition from a threshold to a linear dose response model for hereditary effects had a profound impact on environmental/occupational risk assessment, affecting policies/practices of US regulatory agencies, having much influence on regulations worldwide to the present. The recommendation gained influence due to the authority of the NAS, the prestige of the Panel, and the claim of a striking degree of uniformity among six independent estimates of radiation-induced hereditary risk. This claim was orchestrated by panelist James Crow who removed conflicting findings from the nine panelists who submitted estimates, acting with the approval of the entire Panel. These misrepresentations were ensured by the US NAS President who refused to share the Panel's technical reports and related documents with the scientific community. Ironically, the mouse mutation rate data used by the panelists who calculated risk estimates for either mouse or Drosophila were incorrect due to falsification by panelist William Russell without their knowledge. This action led to greatly exaggerated mutation risks and enhanced their overall false impression of agreement/scientific convergence. The actions of Crow were such that the already grossly inflated and falsified risk estimates of the panelists were made to appear in reasonably good agreement. These massive and compounded errors and deceptions have significantly affected regulatory practices for cancer risk assessment in the US and globally to the present. The present paper provides for the first time in the scientific literature an assessment of the unpublished technical reports of each of the nine participating geneticists of the BEAR I Genetics Panel and provides the basis for the above critical conclusions.

Military personnel encounter a wide range of environmental and occupational exposures during their service such as burn pit smoke, chemical warfare agents, depleted uranium, jet fuel, radiation, and pesticides. The field of military exposures research seeks to better understand the nature of these exposures and their effects on Veteran and service member health. This state-of-the-art review assesses the breadth and depth of published military exposures research so that stakeholders can identify trends and gaps in this growing field. An evidence mapping approach was used to perform a literature review of military exposures research published from 1962 to 2024. The search strategy was developed around exposed cohorts: groups of military personnel with a shared potential for exposure to toxic agents. Publications were included if they directly addressed exposures or related health outcomes in military cohorts. Publications were then further categorized by the type of research, and the results were analyzed to build a map of the current military exposures research landscape. Thirty-six exposed cohorts were identified in the literature which were then grouped based on the nature of the exposure event: Wars and Operations (4 cohorts), Occupational Exposures (5), Combat and Combat Training (2), Across Military (2), Ship Exposures (2), Defense Testing (2), Base/Garrison Exposures (9), Toxic Substance Clean-Up and Disposal (5), and Isolated Exposure Events (5). The search identified 2,321 publications that fit the review inclusion criteria. The exposed cohort with the highest number of publications was Gulf War (940, 40.5% of all publications) followed by Vietnam War (277, 11.9%), Post-9/11 Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan (191, 8.2%), Aircraft Mechanics and Ground Support (176, 7.6%), and Munition Emissions and Embedded Fragments (164, 7.1%). Each remaining cohort individually represented < 4% of the literature. Six cohorts appeared only in non-peer-reviewed reports. The type of research best represented was Epidemiology (34.0%) followed by Animal and In Vitro Models (18.8%), Sequelae and Management (17.1%), Reviews and Meta-Analyses (11.7%), Exposure Assessment (9.5%), Toxic Agent Sampling and Analysis (4.3%), and publications from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (4.6%). The volume of military exposures research has increased steadily since the early public reports of Gulf War Illness in 1994, with 50% of articles being published after 2008. Military exposures research published since 1962 has focused on cohorts from large, high-profile deployments, particularly the Gulf War. Underrepresented cohorts with potential exposures on bases or from military occupations present opportunities for future research. The lack of meaningful exposure assessment data that has been published also points to further research opportunities to specifically improve collection and accessibility of exposure data. This work should be done with a focus on cohorts where research can directly impact Veterans access to benefits and exposure-informed care.

Karen Vousden is an internationally renowned scientist who has made seminal contributions to p53 biology and cancer metabolism. She is currently a group leader at the Francis Crick Institute in London, where she heads the 'Tumour and host metabolism' laboratory. Her group's work investigates how metabolic changes impact cancer development and progression. Karen has had an illustrious and dynamic career. After completing postdoctoral fellowships at the Institute of Cancer Research and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) with Chris Marshall and Douglas Lowy, working on Ras and papillomaviruses respectively, she established her own research group at the Ludwig Institute in London. In 1995, she returned to the NCI, where she held prestigious leadership roles including Chief of the Regulation of Cell Growth Laboratory, before moving to Glasgow to take up the role of Director of the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Beatson Institute in 2003. From 2016 to 2022, Karen also served as the Chief Scientist for CRUK. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010, Fellow of the Royal Society, and Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences in May 2018. Karen was awarded the Sir Hans Krebs medal at the 47th FEBS Congress in 2023 for her outstanding contributions to Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and delivered a lecture on 'Diet, metabolism and cancer progression'. You can read her follow-up Review discussing the complex relationship between obesity, adipose tissue dysfunction, and tumour growth here [Solsona-Vilarrasa E & Vousden KH (2025) FEBS J 292, 2189-2207]. In this interview, we discuss Karen's research and her views on how scientists can help combat misinformation in science. We also talk about the innovative nutrition-based therapy currently being trialled by Faeth Therapeutics, a company founded by Karen and her colleagues.

Epidemiological evidence of exposure to precursor and alternative, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and metabolic health outcomes is lacking. To quantify associations between concentrations of 31 PFAS and metabolic biomarkers of glucose homeostasis and beta cell function. We used data from a 2018-2021 follow-up of the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) study, which included measurements of serum concentrations of PFAS and metabolic biomarkers in samples provided by 274 adult female participants. Our primary outcomes were composite measures of pancreatic beta cell function (proinsulin to insulin [PI:INS] and proinsulin to C-peptide [PI:CP] ratios) and insulin resistance (homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance [HOMA-IR] and triglyceride-glucose [TyG] index). We used multivariable linear regression models to quantify the percent difference in outcome measures. PFAS with >50% detection [n=17] were log2-transformed; PFAS with 10-50% detection [n=14] were dichotomized at the limit of detection. We used quantile g-computation (qgcomp) and weighted quantile sum regression (WQS) to evaluate PFAS mixtures. We also modelled arithmetic sums of 17 PFAS detected in >50% of participants (Σ17PFAS) and 7 PFAS specified in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report (Σ7PFAS). Each doubling of Σ7PFAS, PFOS, and PFHxS was associated with a 5-9% increase in PI:INS ratio. Σ7PFAS, but not the Σ17PFAS, was also positively associated with the PI:INS ratio in qgcomp models. We observed inverse associations between Σ7PFAS and HOMA-IR and fasting insulin. Many results were of small magnitude or imprecise. In this cross-sectional analysis, exposure to certain legacy, alternative, and precursor PFAS were associated with beta cell dysfunction.

BackgroundTo compare the post-acute sequelae of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (PASC) index and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) criteria in identifying long coronavirus disease (COVID) among adults with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted from November 2022 to February 2025 at a single tertiary care hospital in Seoul, Korea. Adults aged 18 years or older with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled, yielding a total of 183 participants. Follow-up assessments took place at 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-months post-infection. The primary outcome was the prevalence of long COVID at 12 months, measured using the PASC index (≥ 12 points across specified symptoms) and the NASEM criteria (≥ 1 symptom persisting for at least 3 months).ResultsOf 183 participants, 26.2% (48/183) met the PASC index, whereas 47.5% (87/183) fulfilled the NASEM criteria. Of the 48 patients who met the PASC index, 44 (91.7%) also met the NASEM criteria.ConclusionThe NASEM criteria classified nearly half of participants with long COVID and covered those with PASC index, while the PASC index identified about one quarter. Although the NASEM criteria capture a broader range of persistent symptoms, the PASC index may offer a more stringent threshold, potentially informing targeted research and clinical decision-making.

The United States H5N1 outbreak which began in 2022 had widespread human health, animal health, and economic impacts. This outbreak led to the death or depopulation of over 175 million domestic birds and marked the first time that a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus was detected in cattle. Response to this emergency required coordination among various stakeholders in public health and agriculture sectors at federal, state, and local levels. Despite national and local efforts, a lack of trust between stakeholders diminished the efficiency of the response. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a webinar featuring four experts in different agriculture sectors to gain their perspectives from the field on building trust during the H5N1 response. Their discussion highlighted the importance of proactive trust-building, communication and transparency, and incentives as catalysts to building trust in advance of a public health crisis. These insights are key for improving responses to future HPAI outbreaks and other health emergencies.

Macaque genotype-phenotype resources: A prismatic portal into human biology and disease Non-human primates serve as indispensable models in biomedical research due to their high degree of genetic, physiological, and behavioral similarity to humans (Yao, 2022).Macaques are among the most widely used species in studies of drug efficacy, disease mechanisms, and neural function (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine et al., 2023).However, recent increases in global demand, compounded by public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have resulted in widespread shortages and escalating costs (Grimm, 2023).A more persistent constraint is the limited availability of macaques with well-documented genotypic and phenotypic profiles, which restricts experimental reproducibility and reduces the reliability of research results (Bimber et al., 2019).To address this dual quantitative and qualitative crisis, a macaque biobank integrating large-scale phenotypic and multi-omics datasets is imperative to support standardized, reproducible research (Figure 1).Such a resource enables precise stratification and selection of individuals based on defined traits or genotypes relevant to specific drug responses, disease susceptibility, or other experimental variables, thereby minimizing inter-individual variability and enhancing experimental reproducibility and translational relevance.It also facilitates the discovery of naturally occurring macaque models harboring clinically relevant variants or spontaneous pathological phenotypes, reducing reliance on labor-intensive, ethically constrained artificial engineering of disease models.Following the establishment of the Big Monkey Facility (Yao, 2022), the Macaque Biobank project was initiated to generate a comprehensive dataset from a large cohort of originally wild-caught and bred individuals.The first phase has yielded important findings regarding the genetic basis of phenotypic variation and enabled the identification of spontaneous models using a reverse-genomics approach (Zhang et al., 2025).However, phenotypic data collection in macaques presents distinct methodological challenges that differ fundamentally from those encountered in human biobanking.A key constraint arises from the inability of macaques to cooperate voluntarily with examination procedures, necessitating physical restraint or chemical sedation even for basic measurements.These interventions inevitably induce stress responses that significantly disrupt baseline physiological states, leading to alterations in heart rate, blood pressure, and