Challenges and advice for MD/PhD applicants who are underrepresented in medicine

The importance of diversity is self-evident in medicine and medical research. Not only does diversity result in more impactful scientific work, but diverse teams of researchers and clinicians are necessary to address health disparities and improve the health of underserved communities. MD/PhD programs serve an important role in training physician-scientists, so it is critical to ensure that MD/PhD students represent diverse backgrounds and experiences. Groups who are underrepresented in medicine and the biomedical sciences include individuals from certain racial and ethnic backgrounds, individuals with disabilities, individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, and women. However, underrepresented students are routinely discouraged from applying to MD/PhD programs due to a range of factors. These factors include the significant cost of applying, which can be prohibitive for many students, the paucity of diverse mentors who share common experiences, as well as applicants’ perceptions that there is inadequate support and inclusion from within MD/PhD programs. By providing advice to students who are underrepresented in medicine and describing steps programs can take to recruit and support minority applicants, we hope to encourage more students to consider the MD/PhD career path that will yield a more productive and equitable scientific and medical community.     

Some fundamental aspects of epidemiology: a guide for laboratory scientists.

Epidemiologic methods used to study human diseases are often unfamiliar to the laboratory scientist. This paper outlines the standard method by which epidemiologic studies are classified, explains the methodologic strengths and weaknesses of different kinds of studies, and notes the kinds of inferences that can be drawn from each. Surveys on populations are treated first, followed by sample surveys. Prospective (follow-up) studies, in which groups of subjects are followed in time, are a basic epidemiologic method. Alternatives to these studies that do not require similar time commitments but may allow similar inferences are record studies. Retrospective, or case-control studies, are often the only feasible method for studying rare diseases. However, diseases with long latency periods and problems in control selection can make these studies difficult to analyze and interpret.     

A brief guide for the measurement and interpretation of microbial functional diversity

The importance of functional diversity for the functioning and behaviour of microbial communities is clear, yet the widespread incorporation of functional diversity measurements into environmental microbiology study designs remains surprisingly limited. This may, at least to some extent, be a consequence of the unique conceptual and methodological challenges to measuring functional diversity in microbial communities. To facilitate the increased incorporation of functional diversity measurements into environmental microbiology study designs, we review here the process and some key caveats for measuring functional diversity and provide specific examples. We highlight three main decision points and provide guidance to making these decisions based on the underlying mechanisms for how functional diversity relates to an ecosystem process or property of interest. We discuss the selection of an appropriate type of functional trait, selection of the specificity at which functional diversity will be measured, and selection of an appropriate metric for estimating functional diversity from quantitative measures of those traits. We further discuss decisions regarding the use of one- or multi-dimensional measures of functional diversity and how advances in the field of trait-based community ecology could be applied or adapted to address questions in environmental microbiology.     

Managing conflicts of interest: a survival guide for biotechs

Conflicts of interest in research can affect a company's ability to move a product through the approval processor attract investment. Avoid the pitfalls by taking pro-active steps to manage these risks.     

Estimating the proportion cured of cancer: Some practical advice for users

BackgroundCure models can provide improved possibilities for inference if used appropriately, but there is potential for misleading results if care is not taken. In this study, we compared five commonly used approaches for modelling cure in a relative survival framework and provide some practical advice on the use of these approaches.Patients and methodsData for colon, female breast, and ovarian cancers were used to illustrate these approaches. The proportion cured was estimated for each of these three cancers within each of three age groups. We then graphically assessed the assumption of cure and the model fit, by comparing the predicted relative survival from the cure models to empirical life table estimates.ResultsWhere both cure and distributional assumptions are appropriate (e.g., for colon or ovarian cancer patients aged <75 years), all five approaches led to similar estimates of the proportion cured. The estimates varied slightly when cure was a reasonable assumption but the distributional assumption was not (e.g., for colon cancer patients ≥75 years). Greater variability in the estimates was observed when the cure assumption was not supported by the data (breast cancer).ConclusionsIf the data suggest cure is not a reasonable assumption then we advise against fitting cure models. In the scenarios where cure was reasonable, we found that flexible parametric cure models performed at least as well, or better, than the other modelling approaches. We recommend that, regardless of the model used, the underlying assumptions for cure and model fit should always be graphically assessed.     

Computer programs for population genetics data analysis: a survival guide

The analysis of genetic diversity within species is vital for understanding evolutionary processes at the population level and at the genomic level. A large quantity of data can now be produced at an unprecedented rate, requiring the use of dedicated computer programs to extract all embedded information. Several statistical packages have been recently developed, which offer a panel of standard and more sophisticated analyses. We describe here the functionalities, special features and assumptions of more than 20 such programs, indicate how they can interoperate, and discuss new directions that could lead to improved software and analyses.     

关于新现病毒的简述(第一部分)

目前“emerging ” 一般翻译为“新现”,但本文中“emerging virus”实际包含两层含义：它是新出现的,并且会威胁人类健康。一种新现病毒,既可以是之前从未出现过的,也可以是之前出现过,而现在重新出现,或体现出新的特性而重现。2009年,数种新现病毒肆虐,全球出现大量感染和死亡病例,并蒙受巨大的经济损失。因此,新现病毒受到公众卫生部门和流行病专家的高度关注。自20世纪90年代初,新现一词常被滥用,以描述一些迄今尚不明确的感染,这些感染实际多是一种被控制后在另一地区或以新的活力出现,这两种情况也可同时出现。其中,除了被分离并报道的一部分病例,这些感染只有一些热带病专家和动物疾病专家去关注,而被大部分微生物学专家和临床医生忽略。近年来......