Amazon Care is expanding its health clinics nationwide

Amazon plans to open brick-and-mortar health clinics in 20 U.S. cities this year, including New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami, part of the expansion of Amazon Care, the tech giant’s effort to deliver more timely and effective medical care by combining virtual and in-person care options. The company announced plans last year for a nationwide expansion of its virtual offerings. The new clinics will add to its in-person care options currently available in eight other cities from Boston to Dallas. Amazon Care and the deal, first reported by Business Insider, reflect Amazon’s sprawling health care efforts, which also include a pharmacy arm launched in 2020 and a cloud business that targets health care providers. Read more.

In mice, ultrasound precisely and safely activated brain cells (and some kicks)

You may have heard of optogenetics, a technique that activates cells with light if they carry certain light-sensitive proteins. Scientists have even harnessed optogenetics to help a blind person see. But sonogenetics? A new study in Nature Communications suggests that in mice, ultrasound can stimulate neurons in ways that would be less invasive than methods using light or electricity or magnets to reach regions deep in the brain. When the researchers engineered mice to make a protein responsive to sound in neurons that control movement, ultrasound triggered spikes of electrical activity in the animals’ limbs — and a few small kicks, too. For now, researchers still have much to do before these tools can be used in people — from figuring out how to deliver genes encoding ultrasound-sensitive proteins to understanding how this all works. STAT’s Jonathan Wosen explains.

Opinion: Lander’s resignation over workplace bullying is the tip of the iceberg

When Eric Lander resigned as the White House’s top science adviser on Monday, he wrote to President Biden that he was “devastated” to realize how much his bullying behavior hurt his colleagues. News of a bully resigning is a rare outcome in the U.S., where workplace bullying is not illegal, journalist Pauline Chiou and Cherie Lynn Ramirez of Simmons University write in a STAT First Opinion. “Even so, the recovery has just begun for traumatized staffers.” Workplace bullying, a form of psychological violence, is a pervasive public health issue, they say, citing a 2021 study from the nonprofit Workplace Bullying Institute that showed 30% of American workers — about 50 million Americans — surveyed during the pandemic reported experiencing bullying at work. They call on employers, government agencies, and lawmakers to make it right. Read more.

Closer look: Shaped by tragedy, a mother strives to advance custom medicines

In her daughter's bedroom, Julia Vitarello holds stuffed toys Mila would sleep with. (RACHEL WOOLF FOR STAT)

For weeks, Julia Vitarello avoided the room in her home. The fairy curtains she sewed. The sheets. The quiet. But one day, she placed her desk by the window. There, she began spending long hours on a single-minded mission: advancing custom medicines — and sparing others the pain her family has endured. Four years ago, Vitarello’s daughter, Mila, was given a drug created just for her, the first time a medicine was specifically tailored to one patient’s genetic disease. The drug halted her rapidly progressing condition, but only for a while. Mila died Feb. 11, 2021, at 10 years old. Now, Vitarello is immersing herself in the business of personalized drugs. “Creating Mila’s drug was like climbing Everest without oxygen or guides,” said Vitarello. “But we need a clear path and to lower Everest.” STAT contributor Jared Whitlock has more.

Cancer patients and researchers endure pandemic disruptions

People with cancer confronted more challenges than others during the pandemic, risking more severe Covid-19 illness, enduring treatment disruptions and delays, gaining less protection from Covid vaccination, and receiving later diagnoses with uncertain impact. A new report from the American Association of Cancer Research sums up the burden on patients:

Nearly 10 million cancer screenings were missed from January to July 2020.
Patients diagnosed with inoperable or metastatic cancer from March through December 202o increased by 11% compared to those months in 2019.
Mental health of cancer patients has suffered from pandemic isolation, financial stress, and food insecurity, as well as concerns about timely access to cancer treatments and disease recurrence.

Cancer researchers said the pandemic has hurt their research, career, or patient care (99%), dented their productivity (87%), and delayed career advancement (61%).

No need to delay mammogram after Covid vaccination, study says

Since the pandemic’s earliest days, there have been concerns about delays in cancer screenings, with one exception: Because Covid vaccines can prompt swelling in the armpit’s lymph nodes known as lymphadenopathy — which sometimes signals breast cancer — patients have been advised to put off their regular mammograms to avoid false positive results and needless follow-ups. Now a new study in Radiology of more than 1,200 patients who received Covid vaccine and mammograms concludes that there’s no need to delay. Instead, doctors should interpret the swelling in light of the individual patient’s risk factors. Cancerous lymph nodes were found in only nine patients already known to have cancer or who had other signs of it in the breast or nodes under the other arm. “Reactive lymphadenopathy is common after Covid-19 vaccination – and benign,” co-author Stacey Wolfson said in a statement.

What to read around the web today

J&J pauses production of its Covid vaccine despite persistent need. New York Times
‘I have a right to change my mind’: A top FDA regulator is unapologetic over his about-face on Chinese cancer drugs. STAT+
The Biden administration will pay community groups to help boost trust in vaccines. NPR
Patients who accused UCLA doctor of sexual abuse to share $243.6-million settlement. Los Angeles Times
A San Diego biotech’s massive valuation turned heads. Now, mass layoffs raise questions. STAT+