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Good morning. Today we have a report from STAT’s new AAAS media fellow Lauren Chan. She will be reporting with us this summer. Continue reading for her insights on a study about sugary soda.
Diabetes Leaders Express Regret Over Expulsions
Following the removal of five members from the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting less than a week ago, the organization’s CEO has issued an apology to those individuals and the wider diabetes community.
“I recognize the impact that experience had on each of you,” stated ADA executive Charles Henderson in a video. “I am deeply sorry for the hurt, frustration, and the pain that resulted.” Elizabeth Cooney provides further details on the group’s plans moving forward.
University of California, Davis Accused of Discrimination by DOJ
Yesterday, the Justice Department accused the University of California, Davis School of Medicine of discriminating against white and Asian applicants. This accusation follows similar claims against UCLA and Yale University. These letters are part of a broader effort to challenge initiatives aimed at diversifying the physician and biomedical research workforce. However, experts told STAT that these reports, which emphasize test scores, overlook the fact that medical schools have largely moved toward more holistic admissions practices. In a statement, UC Davis expressed strong disagreement with any characterization of its admissions practices as discriminatory or inconsistent with applicable law.
Additional information on responses to the initial two letters can be found here. You can also revisit a 2023 story by Usha Lee McFarling on how UC Davis became “remarkably” diverse without considering race. — Anil Oza
HHS Addresses Concerns Over Alcohol Risk Study
On Tuesday, researchers published a study cautioning against potential risks of even light drinking — a study commissioned by the Trump administration for new dietary guidelines but left unreleased. HHS officials have tried to distance themselves from the study, telling STAT that the paper was “NOT commissioned by, NOR reviewed, approved, or cleared by” the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. While the final study published this week was peer-reviewed and not approved by HHS, much of the research was taxpayer-funded and overseen by federal health officials. The paper shares many findings with a draft report made public in 2025.
Concurrently, the House Appropriations Committee passed an HHS spending bill prohibiting the SAMHSA panel responsible for the alcohol study from “studying, analyzing, considering or reporting” on adult alcohol consumption in its efforts to prevent underage drinking. — Isabella Cueto
Debate Over New NIH Grant Proposal
In the competitive landscape for NIH grant funding, researchers at top academic institutions have historically held an advantage. To address this disparity, a proposal has been suggested multiple times, including during the first Trump administration, to cap the number of grants a single researcher can receive from the agency.
This idea is gaining attention once more. The NIH issued a “Request for Information” this week, seeking input from the scientific community. STAT’s Anil Oza interviewed scientists about the proposal. While some see potential in the idea, there is skepticism about the Trump administration’s ability to implement it fairly. Read more about the varied reactions.
ACOG Introduces Its Own Vaccine Guidelines for Pregnancy
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has released its recommended vaccine schedule for pregnant individuals, diverging from CDC guidelines under the Trump administration.
The organization advises administering four vaccines routinely during pregnancy, with additional vaccines recommended under specific circumstances. The CDC’s current schedule includes only two vaccines: Tdap and RSV. Read more from Helen Branswell on ACOG’s recommendations and the federal disagreement that led to these separate guidelines.
Research Connects Sugary Drinks to Liver Cancer
In the debate over real versus artificial sweeteners in beverages, sugar appears to pose a greater risk. A new meta-analysis, published in JAMA Network Open, examined whether sugar and artificially sweetened beverage intake were linked to new liver cancer cases.
The analysis reviewed 11 studies involving 1.5 million participants, finding that consumption of one artificially sweetened beverage per day was not associated with an increased risk of liver cancer. However, a daily sugar-sweetened drink was linked to higher rates of two primary liver cancer subtypes: intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Ani Kardashian, a hepatologist with Keck Medicine of USC, indicated that these findings align with her clinical advice. She told STAT, “this just confirms my current practice, which is to advise patients to cut back on their sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”
There were varied outcomes across individual studies, which the authors attributed to confounding factors like diabetes and obesity rates. Most studies only recorded participants’ beverage consumption once, missing long-term patterns. While factors like hepatitis infections contribute to liver cancer, reducing sweetened beverage consumption may be a modifiable risk factor for liver health. — Lauren Chan
$12,850
That’s the amount a group of researchers paid Nature Medicine this spring to publish a study. Last year, publication was free. The fee covered the publisher’s open-access charges, a route many researchers must now take to comply with an NIH policy that mandates immediate, free access to papers from federally funded research. “The journals I used to recommend to my trainees are now unaffordable,” professor and epidemiologist Elizabeth Selvin writes in a new First Opinion essay. Read more on these challenges.
What We’re Reading
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Health experts monitor disease threats during the World Cup, AP
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U.S. Ebola unit causes unrest and political crisis in Kenya, New York Times
- Exclusive: Private Medicare plans create obstacles for rehab care to increase profits, federal investigators find, STAT
- Big tobacco influenced our consumption of ultra-processed foods. It could also guide us on reducing intake, NPR
- Opinion: How the scientific deadlock on long Covid has made it politically dismissible, STAT
