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INNOVATOR Q&A

5 innovators to watch in R.I.’s life sciences industry

Rhode Island’s life sciences are already starting preclinical spinoffs, creating apps for specific patient populations, and conducting ground-breaking medical research. Here’s a look at a few we’ve featured recently.

As pandemic-era funding diminishes, community organizations face greater demands
“We built the infrastructure to help so many people over the last few years and, all of a sudden, many of the resources are gone,” said Dr. Geralde Gabeau, executive director of Immigrant Family Services Institute in Mattapan.

RI BUSINESS
Prospect Medical takes next step to unload R.I.-based hospitals
The parent company of Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital has submitted a proposal to state regulators strike a deal with The Centurion Foundation, an Atlanta-based nonprofit.

A multivitamin a day may keep your memory from fading, Boston researchers say
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Columbia University said that multivitamins improved the memory of older adults.

Boston Public Health Commission awards $1.4 million to community health centers
The grants will support efforts by the health centers to bring residents who experienced delays in care or lack of health services during the pandemic back into the health care system.

A daily multivitamin to boost memory? Here’s what to know
A new study shows a daily multivitamin may boost memory function in some people, although the results don’t change recommendations about use of the supplements.

Featured stories

How a Boston doctor diagnosed the first US case of monkeypox

After a few days, the doctor noticed a telling change. The patient’s rash consisted of fluid-filled blisters that had a dent in the center. His rash looked like smallpox.

Once the ‘it’ supplement, vitamin D is losing its sparkle

Vitamin D supplements, regularly consumed by millions of Americans, have not held up to the considerable hype of warding off many common, dreaded diseases.

Right-wing groups hit Boston Children’s with barrage of threats over trans health program

A hostile online campaign has prompted the hospital to seek help from law enforcement.

This startup aims to delay menopause and prolong fertility with a new contraceptive

Oviva Therapeutics just raised $11.5 million to develop drugs based on the work of Mass. General researchers.
Biotech

FDA delays decision on Sarepta’s controversial gene therapy for muscular dystrophy

The agency was scheduled to rule on the Cambridge company’s medicine by Monday, but will now wait until June 22.

Billionaire Tim Springer donates $210 million to protein research nonprofit

The early investor in Moderna has made one of the largest donations in local life sciences to the Boston-based Institute for Protein Innovation.

Blueprint Medicines says its newly approved drug for a rare life-threatening disorder could be a blockbuster

The Cambridge biotech’s treatment combats an immune and blood condition that causes severe allergic reactions to ordinary things, like a whiff of perfume or an elevated heart rate.
Lifestyle
INNOVATOR Q&A

5 innovators to watch in R.I.’s life sciences industry

Rhode Island’s life sciences are already starting preclinical spinoffs, creating apps for specific patient populations, and conducting ground-breaking medical research. Here’s a look at a few we’ve featured recently.

A daily multivitamin to boost memory? Here’s what to know

A new study shows a daily multivitamin may boost memory function in some people, although the results don’t change recommendations about use of the supplements.
NH HEALTH

Learning to treat long COVID could help those struggling with ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, too

Some experts say the current crisis of long COVID is related to our government’s neglect of similar post-acute infection chronic illnesses like ME/CFS in decades past.
Spotlight

How Brigham Health helped create a Chinese hospital for elites — and almost nobody came

In a deal worth millions with Chinese developer Evergrande, a Harvard teaching hospital risked its reputation on what would become a near-empty shell.

Boston’s hospital chiefs moonlight on corporate boards at rates far beyond the national level

Hospital chiefs and trustees defend this as boosting public-private partnerships, but critics say these board positions — some paying millions of dollars — raise troubling issues of conflict of interest and hospital priorities.

More biotech and health care stories

Cybercriminals stole your personal data from Harvard Pilgrim? Here’s what to do.

Officials from parent company Point32Health said information stolen from Harvard Pilgrim’s system could include everything from patients’ names and Social Security numbers to data on their medical histories and treatments.

HIV rates in the US are dropping. Here’s why.

Massachusetts has seen a recent 15.7 percent drop in new cases, though that progress has not been evenly spread across ethnic and racial groups.

RI POLITICS

Hospitals in R.I. have tenants that are not exempt from real estate taxes. Lawmakers say it’s time for them to pay.

Up for a vote in the House on Thursday, proposed legislation would require businesses that are not tax exempt – but are renting space in nonprofit buildings – to pay property taxes.

FDA delays decision on Sarepta’s controversial gene therapy for muscular dystrophy

The agency was scheduled to rule on the Cambridge company’s medicine by Monday, but will now wait until June 22.

Billionaire Tim Springer donates $210 million to protein research nonprofit

The early investor in Moderna has made one of the largest donations in local life sciences to the Boston-based Institute for Protein Innovation.

After ransomware attack, state’s second-largest health insurer says patient data stolen

The data taken may contain personal information and potential protected health information, including names, Social Security numbers, and provider taxpayer identification numbers.

Blueprint Medicines says its newly approved drug for a rare life-threatening disorder could be a blockbuster

The Cambridge biotech’s treatment combats an immune and blood condition that causes severe allergic reactions to ordinary things, like a whiff of perfume or an elevated heart rate.

Black children are more likely to have asthma than kids of any other race in America

Asthma is treatable. But Black children often struggle to get treatment, and are more likely than white kids to end up in the emergency room with asthma symptoms.