Brain health equity and the influence of social determinants across the life cycle.

Social determinants of health are social, economic and environmental factors known to influence health and development of infants, children and adults. Advancing equity in brain health relies upon interdisciplinary collaboration and recognition of the impact of social determinants on brain health through the lifespan and across generations. Critical periods of fetal, infant and early childhood development encompass intrinsic genetic and extrinsic environmental influences with complex gene-environment interactions.

"It's different than a doctor saying 'You're making the right choice'": A qualitative study of chaplains' experience caring for patients undergoing abortion in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

Objectives: Health care chaplains are faith providers with theological education, pastoral experience, and clinical training who provide spiritual care to patients, their families, and medical staff. This study sought to characterize chaplains' experiences providing spiritual care for patients experiencing abortion and pregnancy loss and to explore how chaplains gain competency and comfort in providing pastoral care for this patient population.

Study Design: Researchers conducted in-depth, semistructured, qualitative interviews with currently-practicing chaplains recruited via convenience sampling in the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia region.

Risk of Severe Maternal Morbidity in Birthing People With Opioid Use Disorder.

Introduction: We examined severe maternal morbidity (SMM) among birthing people with opioid use disorder (OUD) and evaluated the extent to which differences in SMM exist by race and ethnicity.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study using hospital discharge data for all Massachusetts births between 2016 and 2020. SMM rates for all SMM indicators, except transfusions, were computed for those diagnosed with and without OUD.

Characterizing altruistic motivation in potential volunteers for SARS-CoV-2 challenge trials.

In human challenge trials (HCTs), volunteers are deliberately infected with an infectious agent. Such trials can be used to accelerate vaccine development and answer important scientific questions. Starting early in the COVID-19 pandemic, ethical concerns were raised about using HCTs to accelerate development and approval of a vaccine.