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While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to present global challenges, sufficient time has passed to reflect on lessons learned and use those insights to inform policy and approaches to prepare for the next pandemic. In May 2022, the Duke Clinical Research Institute convened a think tank with thought leaders from academia, clinical practice, the pharmaceutical industry, patient advocacy, the National Institutes of Health, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to share, firsthand, expert knowledge of the insights gained from the COVID-19 pandemic and how this acquired knowledge can help inform the next pandemic response. The think tank focused on pandemic preparedness, therapeutics, vaccines, and challenges related to clinical trial design and scale-up during the early phase of a pandemic. Based on the multi-faceted discussions, we outline 10 key steps to an improved and equitable pandemic response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study, which investigated patient perception of the importance of negative effects of androgenetic alopecia (AGA) in women. Despite the prevalence of AGA and the acceptance of its associated psychological factors in women, few studies have directly queried women about which specific aspects of their lives are affected by hair thinning and the relative importance of such effects. Perceptions of such negative effects can influence patient satisfaction, health-related quality of life and the impetus to seek medical attention for hair loss. Most of the literature about the psychosocial impact of AGA has focused on men. The hair loss pattern in women typically differs from that found in men and is characterized by diffuse decrease in the density of the hair over the top of the scalp. In addition, the psychosocial impact of AGA may be more pronounced in women than in men, partially because of societal pressure for physical attractiveness, the greater psychological investment of women in their appearance, and the lower prevalence in women and, hence, the impression of deviating from normal.

The article discusses the authors' claim that additional physician engagement is required in order to manage conflicts of interest (COIs) involving industry-sponsored clinical research in America, and it mentions how real and perceived COIs can impact patient and physician trust in the research and development of drugs and medical devices. The U.S. Bayh-Dole Act and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) group's Principles on Conduct of Clinical Trials are assessed.

The article discusses the notion of a learning health system. Topics include the role of data acquisition and curation in health systems, impediments to the sharing of health data, and the selection of data-sharing tools and platforms that encourage the sharing of health information throughout a healthcare system.