Effects of Testing and Disclosing Ancestry-Specific Genetic Risk for Kidney Failure on Patients and Health Care Professionals: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Risk variants in the apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1 [OMIM 603743]) gene on chromosome 22 are common in individuals of West African ancestry and confer increased risk of kidney failure for people with African ancestry and hypertension. Whether disclosing APOL1 genetic testing results to patients of African ancestry and their clinicians affects blood pressure, kidney disease screening, or patient behaviors is unknown.

Objective: To determine the effects of testing and disclosing APOL1 genetic results to patients of African ancestry with hypertension and their clinicians.

The role of tropical volcanic eruptions in exacerbating Indian droughts.

The Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) is vital for the livelihood of millions of people in the Indian region; droughts caused by monsoon failures often resulted in famines. Large volcanic eruptions have been linked with reductions in ISMR, but the responsible mechanisms remain unclear. Here, using 145-year (1871-2016) records of volcanic eruptions and ISMR, we show that ISMR deficits prevail for two years after moderate and large (VEI > 3) tropical volcanic eruptions; this is not the case for extra-tropical eruptions.

Elevated aerosol layer over South Asia worsens the Indian droughts.

Droughts have become more severe and recurrent over the Indian sub-continent during the second half of the twentieth century, leading to more severe hydro-climatic and socio-economic impacts over one of the most densely populated parts of the world. So far, droughts have mostly been connected to circulation changes concomitant with the abnormal warming over the Pacific Ocean, prevalently known as "El Niño". Here, exploiting observational data sets and a series of dedicated sensitivity experiments, we show that the severity of droughts during El Niño is amplified (17%) by changes in aerosols.

Successful recruitment and retention of diverse participants in a genomics clinical trial: a good invitation to a great party.

Purpose: African ancestry (AA) individuals are inadequately included in translational genomics research, limiting generalizability of findings and benefits of genomic discoveries for populations already facing disproportionately poor health outcomes. We aimed to determine the impact of stakeholder-engaged strategies on recruitment and retention of AA adult patients into a clinical trial testing them for renal risk variants nearly exclusive to AAs.

Methods: Our academic-clinical-community team developed ten key strategies that recognize AAs' barriers and facilitators for participation.