This promises to be an important session at this meeting, and signifies the Consortium's increasing focus on health disparities.

Background work for non-pharmacologic interventions to address sleep disturbance during pregnancy from one of our great UCSF Osher Center faculty members Jennifer Felder, PhD journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21…

Been working on a manuscript with our Lancet Commission on vaccinating to prevent longCovid. I feel as though longCovid is still relegated to some dark corner of the public discourse. My opinion: we should do the opposite, provide an honest assessment of long Covid disabilities

Psychologists call for research into the link between the psychological distress brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and chronic disease risk, and eliminating the narrative that physical and mental health are separate entities. Read here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…

This is an excellent training experience for those interested in contemplative research.

IM4US | 2022 Annual Conference | Call for Proposals | May 9th Due Date - mailchi.mp/im4us.org/im4u…

Does a healthy lifestyle promote longer life? A 21-year prospective study of over 20,000 people with almost 9,000 deaths indicates a "dose-response" of 8 lifestyle factors, even in people age 80+ academic.oup.com/ageing/article…

I highly recommend this excellent and important piece. The Covid Capitulation, by Eric Topol erictopol.substack.com/p/the-covid-ca…

We are all tired of dealing with COVID. Unfortunately, we still need to deal with reality. BA.2.12.1 is an major threat, especially to the vulnerable. We are entering a potentially major surge with an immune evading variant. See SF data below. For more see yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/state-of-aff…

There is a lot more we need to know about how COVID affects the brain. This is a good overview of what we know. How can Covid-19 affect the human brain? ft.com/content/37b00a…

This NIH sponsored symposium covers whole person approaches to pain management. nccih.nih.gov/research/blog/…

While I’m not fully comfortable with individual recognition for what was often a team effort, I still feel deeply honored to be receiving this award.

Of course I understand why so many folks have made a different call. Being careful is taxing, & no longer a guarantee of remaining Covid-free. But the threat – mostly of long-term problems – seems too big to ignore. Watching Katie’s last 5 weeks only adds to my resolve. (25/End)

Dr. Maria Chao was awarded a grant from NIH/NIMHD to study group-based integrative pain management among diverse primary care safety net patients to address intersectional stigma and social isolation. Congratulations, Maria T Chao! Health Disparities Multiethnic Health Equity Research Center @ UCSF @ucsfcvp #NIH #healthdisparities

This is a great visual of how markets misvalue professionals and services. It’s not as simple as primary care being undervalued, it’s also true that many other services are overvalued. That’s the conversation no one wants to have.

Long-term effects of a prenatal mindfulness intervention on depressive symptoms in a diverse sample of women. psycnet.apa.org/record/2023-22…

A nicely done trial. Results may be disappointing but I suspect that improving episodic memory or exec function are difficult goals. Effects of Mindfulness Training and Exercise on Cognitive Function in Older Adults ja.ma/3FN8UMu via JAMA part of JAMA Network

Just read the Consumer Reports article Rob notes. As someone who loves dark chocolate I’m afraid it was pretty convincing there is a real concern. It sounds like steps are being taken already to reduce lead (from dust during drying) but reducing cadmium (from soil) is harder.

Study undercuts premise for excluding women from medical research— just saw this Washington Post article about one of the analyses from all the data we collected from the TemPredict study during COVID— this work developed by Ben Smarr’s group at UCSD. washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/…

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of modulating the gut microbiome is successful for symptom alleviation in #LongCovid thelancet.com/journals/lanin…