Dissecting Chinese trial strategy in wake of deaths

This newsletter from STAT's Morning Rounds leads with breaking news: Merck and Moderna announced that a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, when added to an existing treatment, slowed the return of melanoma and its spread to other parts of the body in a late-stage clinical trial. Early data from 2024 had already been a turning point for the field; if these latest results hold up—though detailed data were not immediately released—the approach could herald a powerful new direction in oncology.

The newsletter also covers a potential change in accreditation standards for public health schools. In 2019, the accrediting body had highlighted core requirements on structural bias, social inequities, and racism as directly relevant to national events. Now, amid the second Trump administration's targeting of DEI initiatives, the accreditor is considering removing the equity requirement. Public health experts are split: some see it as "anticipatory compliance" and are disappointed, while others view the move as reasonable.

A new study in the journal Addiction examined more than 800 Instagram posts from nine major brands selling cannabinoids like Delta-8 THC. Nearly half (49.6%) contained youth-oriented imagery and cues—movie or music references, cartoons, influencers, celebrities, memes—while only 2.5% included health and age warnings. The study comes after Congress delayed a national ban on high-inducing hemp products, with some lawmakers concerned about minors' access.

Finally, the newsletter profiles Liz Marnik, an immunologist who grew up in an anti-science household and never received vaccines until age 23, when she requested them herself. She pursued a graduate degree in science, and in 2020 her two worlds—science and her upbringing—collided as misinformation about Covid-19 spread among people like those she grew up with.