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Good morning. What’s your go-to karaoke song? I’ve always been partial to pop-punk, especially Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle.” But I’m open to suggestions! The newsroom’s annual karaoke outing is fast approaching. (STAT Summit tickets here.)

NIH is finally spending down its coffers — but awarding fewer grants

Win McNamee/Getty Images

After lagging by billions of dollars all year, the National Institutes of Health will likely spend all of its $47 billion budget before the Sept. 30 deadline. But a STAT analysis of NIH Reporter data reveals the agency will fund far fewer new projects this year, due to a change in how grants are awarded.

Starting in June, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget mandated that the NIH shift most of its remaining external research awards to a multi-year funding model, meaning that projects would be funded for multiple years up-front, not doled out annually over time. 

The spending changes are not reflected equally across the NIH, and some of the agency’s 27 institutes and centers have yet to fund even a quarter of what would be expected. The biggest stragglers are the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, the National Institute for General Medicine, and the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Lots of interesting nuggets in this story from my colleagues after a tumultuous spring and summer at NIH filled with pauses in grant proposal evaluations, agency-wide layoffs, and new layers of political review. Read the latest update here.

50 cancer types, one liquid biopsy test

As of yesterday, people can now buy a liquid biopsy early detection test called Cancerguard, which indicates whether they might have one of fifty different cancers included in the test’s analysis. It’s the latest in a line of controversial products that many oncologists and cancer researchers have been wary of recommending. They aren’t always convinced that the tests’ performance is up to snuff — or even that the performance is truly known. 

“I hope the research community will respond to this cautiously, because we understand how complex screening is as an intervention,” biostatistician Ruth Etzioni told STAT’s Angus Chen. Angus also spoke with Tom Beer, the chief medical officer of Exact Sciences, which makes Cancerguard. Beer defends the decision to release the test commercially. “I am feeling fantastic. This is what I came to Exact to do,” he said. Read more. 

The 2025 Lasker Award goes to …

…Three scientists who transformed cystic fibrosis from a death sentence into a manageable condition. The researchers received the Lasker Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in medicine, for playing key roles in developing a triple-drug combination therapy known as Trikafta.

The $250,000 prize will be shared by Vertex Pharmaceuticals researcher Paul Negulescu, former Vertex researcher Jesús (Tito) González, and University of Iowa professor Michael Welsh. Vertex developed Trikafta, which can increase the life expectancy of people diagnosed with the disease to about 83 years if the medicine is taken around the age of 12. 

Cystic fibrosis is caused by mutations in a gene that results in excessive buildup of mucus in the lungs, pancreas, and other organs. It affects about 40,000 children and adults in the United States, and an estimated 105,000 people worldwide. Read more here about this remarkable achievement.

FDA eyes tighter regulations for mental health products that use generative AI

Adobe

Mark your calendars — the Food and Drug Administration will soon convene experts to discuss challenges around regulating mental health products that use artificial intelligence. The announcement arrives as a growing number of companies release chatbots powered by large language models with unpredictable output.

Notice of the Nov. 6 meeting of the Digital Health Advisory Committee, published Thursday in the Federal Register, says newly released mental health products using AI pose “novel risks and, as mental health devices continue to evolve in complexity, regulatory approaches ideally will also evolve to accommodate these novel challenges.” 

The agency has yet to provide clear guidance on how it plans to regulate these devices or what developers must do to show they are safe and effective. But it’s clear the risks are real, as I detailed in my story last week about ChatGPT and other generative AI tools driving users into delusional spirals. Read more from STAT’s Mario Aguilar.

HIV infections could soon rise

Two studies published this week arrived at similar conclusions: changing U.S. health policies towards HIV medication and treatment clinics could lead to thousands of avoidable infections and billions of dollars of increases in health care costs.

A JAMA Network Open report found that a 3% decline in PrEP coverage could lead to 8,618 avoidable infections and a cumulative lifetime medical cost of $3.6 billion. The other study from Annals of Internal Medicine simulated severe cuts to the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which serves more than half of the people diagnosed with AIDS in the U.S. The authors’ most conservative analysis suggested 34,051 excess infections.

Promising HIV prevention drugs and the rise of PrEP have transformed the AIDS epidemic into a more manageable challenge, one that could someday end. But it’s been a rough year for those dreams, and for people with HIV and the providers who research and treat it. The Trump administration reduced federal funding for HIV prevention programs and the GOP’s tax bill slashes Medicaid, the most common avenue for receiving treatment. Meanwhile, Gilead Sciences, the largest maker of HIV medicines, is also trying to boost treatment prices. 

Should physicians go on strike?

In a new First Opinion essay, a physician and medical professor argues that it might be time. If health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. does not resign before Oct. 19, which marks the beginning of National Health Education Week, then doctors should consider a limited strike, writes Richard L. Kravitz. He believes that Kennedy’s upheaval at HHS — defunding research, canceling mRNA vaccine contracts, firing ACIP members, and more — is an “undisciplined assault on biomedical research and public health.”  

By a “limited” strike, Kravitz means only a few days at a time. “The goal would be to emphasize the gravity of the situation and mobilize the public, not to hold out indefinitely until Kennedy steps down,” he writes. Read more about how to decide if it’s the right time for a physician strike, and how such action usually plays out.

What we’re reading

  • Ebola cases in Congo rise as authorities race to contain spread of outbreak, health agency says, AP

  • TB is the #1 killer among infectious diseases. A new study says its toll could mount, NPR

  • Why former NFL all-pros are turning to psychedelics, Wired

  • Pregnant women are turning to cannabis to ease pain and anxiety, Wall Street Journal

  • ‘They are hunting us:’ Child care workers in D.C. go underground amid ICE crackdown, The 19th