Category health

According to research from Semmelweis University, problematic smartphone use is not caused by personality alone, but by weak self-control and a strong fear of missing out on social events (FoMO). The study published in Acta Psychologica also highlights that excessive phone use not only causes psychological difficulties, but can also lead to long-term physical consequences: Poor posture may impair balance, slow reaction time, and make it harder to concentrate.

Researchers at Semmelweis University investigated how smartphone use relates to mental and physical health, as well as cognitive functions, among students aged 18 to 35. In the online questionnaires, participants reported whether they had ever missed a planned task because of their phone use, and whether their phone was on their mind even when they weren’t using it. Participants were also asked about their daily active smartphone use and the types of activities they used their phones for.

The participants’ personality traits and mental state were also examined. One questionnaire measured neuroticism, meaning a tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, low mood, fear, and anger. Another assessed self-control, and a third measured FoMO, the fear of missing out on events and peers’ activities.

Based on usage patterns, the researchers identified three groups. “Purely social” users relied on their phones mainly to communicate with friends and acquaintances, build social connections, and for social purposes. “Moderately process-oriented” users spent less than four to five hours a day on their phones for social purposes, news, entertainment, and passive scrolling, but spent less than four to five hours a day on their devices. About one third of participants were classified as “strong process-oriented” users, spending four to five hours or more per day on their phones, mainly for content consumption rather than social communication.

“Our main finding is that personality alone—such as a high level of neuroticism—does not make someone addicted to their phone. People who are more prone to negative emotions like anxiety, depression, or stress do not automatically become addicted. What really matters is how well they can control their behavior, emotions, and impulses, and how strongly they fear missing out,” said Dr. Johanna Takács, senior research fellow at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Semmelweis University and lead researcher of the study.

The study shows that the main problem is not the amount of time spent on phones, but how they are used. Passive scrolling on social media—such as watching short videos or browsing feeds—constantly exposes the brain to fast stimuli. This overloads attention, reduces concentration, and can cause mental fatigue over time.

Cognitive tests showed that “strong process-oriented” users performed worse on attention and memory tasks than expected for their age. They also slept worse, felt a stronger need for constant new stimulation and had more difficulty controlling their impulses when they wanted to check or do something immediately.

The study found that the duration of phone use was mainly associated with physical effects.

“When people hold their phones at waist or chest level and look down at them, the head moves forward, creating a forward head posture, also known as ‘text neck.’ This puts extra strain on the neck and can cause pain or early wear of the neck joints.

The neck contains sensors that tell the brain how the head is positioned. If a forward head posture is maintained for long periods, these signals can change and lead to balance problems. These effects are not limited to phone use but can also influence everyday movements,” said Beáta Seregély, assistant lecturer and expert responsible for the physical measurements in the study.

The researchers stress that the goal is not to ban phones or punish young people for using them. Instead, the focus should be on helping them use their phones more consciously. Simple steps can help, such as limiting notifications—especially from social media and messaging apps—setting time limits for social media, avoiding phone use before bedtime, and promoting more physical activity and maintaining good posture.

For mental prevention, it is especially important to help young people develop better self-control and feel less afraid of missing out on social events. This can be supported through behavioral training and psychological help. When self-control increases and fear of missing out decreases, personality-related vulnerability is no longer a major risk, and even more sensitive, anxious, or stress-prone individuals are much less likely to become addicted to their phones. 

Expert tips for recognizing symptoms and reducing blood clot risk during extended sitting

GREENBELT, Md. — With spring travel ramping up, Center for Vein Restoration (CVR) is reminding the public that anyone traveling more than four hours by air, car, bus or train can be at risk for potentially deadly blood clots, particularly people with additional risk factors.

The CDC notes that venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes DVT and pulmonary embolism (PE), may affect as many as 900,000 people each year in the U.S. DVT is a serious medical condition where a blood clot (thrombus) forms in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs or pelvis. A PE occurs when a blood clot gets stuck in an artery in the lung, blocking blood flow to part of the lung.

“Sitting for extended periods of time slows the blood flow out of the legs,” said Laura Kelsey, MD, lead vein physician at CVR vein clinics in Grand Rapids and Muskegon, Michigan. “For patients with additional risk factors, travel can be the tipping point for a potentially dangerous blood clot. Talk to your clinician before your next trip, not after.” 

Who should be extra cautious?

CDC-identified risk factors include prior blood clots, family history, known clotting disorders, recent surgery or hospitalization, pregnancy, estrogen-containing birth control or hormone replacement therapy, cancer or cancer treatment, older age and obesity.

What to watch for after travel

Seek immediate medical care for any of the following:

• DVT symptoms can include leg swelling, pain or tenderness, warmth and redness or discoloration.
• PE symptoms can include difficulty breathing, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, coughing up blood, lightheadedness or fainting.

Simple movement reminders for long trips

The CDC encourages travelers to move their legs frequently and walk around every one to two hours when possible, know symptoms and discuss prevention with a clinician if at risk.

Inside each of your cells, there lies the nucleus, its master command center. Protected inside each nucleus are your chromosomes, containing all the genetic instructions for making proteins. To keep the body operating smoothly, proteins, RNA molecules, and molecular signals must constantly flow in and out of this cellular HQ, mediating which genetic instructions are used when.  

Nearly all of that two-way traffic passes through the same gateway: the nuclear pore complex.   

The nuclear pore complex, or NPC, is far more complex than a simple doorway. Hundreds of individual proteins come together to form the NPC, which acts as an active player in controlling how genetic information is used. When it doesn’t function right, some cellular messages don’t make it to their final destinations. The consequences can range from cancer to neurodegeneration to life-threatening viral infections. 

Michael Rout, the George and Ruby deStevens Professor and head of the Laboratory of Cellular and Structural Biology at Rockefeller University, has spent his career parsing the inner workings of the NPC. We spoke with him about what makes this molecular machine so remarkable and how this work could open a new frontier in medicine.

You’ve been studying the nuclear pore complex for several decades. How has the field’s thinking about the importance of the NPC changed in that time?

When I started, the prevailing view was that the NPC was like a Swiss watch—an enormously complex, precisely tuned machine where if you damaged any part of it, the whole thing would simply shut down. But when we actually started taking it apart, we found the opposite was true. You could delete the genes for many of its components and cells kept growing. It turned out to be tremendously redundant and resilient. That changed our thinking completely. We now know that the NPC can tolerate partial disruption and keep functioning. 

The downside of that resiliency is that diseases can exploit it. Hundreds of diseases—cancers, neurological disorders, viral infections—are now known to be associated with defects in nuclear transport or the NPC itself.  

At the same time, it has emerged that the NPC is really a nexus for a lot of crucial processes. It doesn’t just passively sit there and allow nuclear transport, but rather acts as an organizer for this whole assembly line that’s in place to keep our cells alive. This infinitesimal portal is what maintains communication between the genetic material in the nucleus and the entire rest of an organism.

How do you study something this small and complex?

It requires the ability to make sense of a staggering amount of data. The approach we’ve taken is to gather and combine as much information as possible about the NPC, using many different complementary methods,  and integrating all of that into a single, comprehensive picture. Early on, that meant isolating the NPC and using mass spectrometry to identify every protein it’s made of. From there, we could start asking where each piece sits within the structure. 

Over the years the technology available to do this work has become extraordinary. With cryo-electron microscopy, we can now flash-freeze the NPC and visualize it at near-atomic resolution, which was simply unthinkable when I started. More recently, we’ve been able to watch the NPC in action in real time, at millisecond resolution. When we get all this data, we put it together into computational models that let us simulate how the whole system behaves.

Your lab proposed a model called the “virtual gate” to explain how the NPC controls what passes through. What does that mean in plain terms?

For a long time, people assumed the NPC must work like a physical gate, either dilating and contracting like an iris, or using motor proteins to actively pull cargo through. When we identified all the NPC’s components and found no motor proteins, we had to fundamentally reevaluate the science—nature was making it made clear that our previous ideas were wrong. What we found instead was that the central channel is packed with flexible, constantly moving protein chains—so dense and so mobile that they create a barrier without being a physical wall. 

We called it a virtual gate because whether it’s open or closed depends entirely on whether you can bind to those protein chains. If you’re carrying the right molecular signal, you get through. If not, you’re excluded. It’s like a crowded dance floor where only those with the right partner can move.  

What we’ve discovered more recently is that transport factors don’t just pass through. They continuously reshape those protein chains, making the barrier even more dynamic than we first thought.

How is the NPC linked to disease?

Many diseases gain a foothold by disrupting the flow of molecular messages in and out of the nucleus. What’s really interesting is that different cancers and viruses keep targeting the same small subset of NPC components to do it. 

Pretty much every virus that’s been sufficiently studied seems to have evolved to target the NPC of human cells very early in infection. The viruses hijack the transport machinery so that the cell’s innate immune response can’t kick into action and produce new proteins to fight the viruses.  

With cancer, the picture is similar. Normally, cells produce proteins that can trigger the cells to self-destruct if they begin growing too quickly and aggressively. Often, cancer cells subvert this by ramping up nuclear export, hustling those protective proteins out of the nucleus before they can act. Selinexor, an FDA-approved drug for certain blood cancers, works by blocking that excess export through the NPC, keeping those protective proteins inside the nucleus where they can do their job. Because we now know that the NPC can be targeted therapeutically, this could represent a major untapped area for future medicine in multiple diseases.

You’ve been building increasingly detailed computational models of how the NPC works. For a while now, scientists have dreamed of creating a virtual model of an entire cell, which could dramatically accelerate all kinds of discoveries. Do you see your work contributing to that larger quest?

Because the NPC sits at the crossroads of so many cellular systems, a complete enough model of it could let us begin to simulate how all those systems work together. That’s the dream of the virtual cell: a computational model of a living cell detailed enough that you could test, for example, how a disease mutation changes the flow of molecules in and out of the nucleus, or screen potential drugs without ever stepping into a wet lab. We’re not there yet, but the NPC is a remarkable place to start because so much has to pass through it. Understanding this one machine in full detail gets you surprisingly far toward understanding the whole cell.

What’s the biggest open question you’re still trying to answer?

We still don’t fully understand the details of how the virtual gate actually works at the molecular level. The protein chains that fill the channel aren’t the same all over; there appear to be different zones with different behaviors, possibly even separate lanes for different types of cargo. Figuring out that internal organization is where a lot of our energy is focused right now. I think getting that worked out could be the key to being able to control the flow of traffic through the NPC for therapeutic purposes.  

I think this field is a perfect example of how studying the fundamental machinery that keeps our cells running yields discoveries that can offer powerful new insights into human disease.

The gentle and highly effective lice treatment is available at 6,000 Walgreens locations in the United States

DALLAS, TX (Mar16)- Cartwheel, a healthcare brand developed by moms for moms, is today announcing the availability of its inaugural consumer product, Nit Happens, at 6,000 Walgreens locations in the United States. The over-the-counter lice treatment uses only non-toxic, naturally-derived ingredients to eliminate lice and nits, avoiding the pesticides and synthetic ingredients found in many traditional treatments. 

“We’re thrilled to launch Nit Happens in Walgreens stores nationwide, making it easier for families across the country to access a safer lice treatment that takes some of the stress out of what can be a chaotic experience,” said Joanna Shu, CEO of Cartwheel. “As a mom of three kids who have all had lice at some point, I experienced firsthand how difficult lice are to treat and how many products rely on harsh pharmaceutical ingredients. Parents shouldn’t have to choose between safety and effectiveness. We’re giving them both, plus a splash of humor to lighten the load.”

Unlike harsh chemical formulas, Nit Happens works through physical disruption and dehydration. Its gel combines coconut oil, mild cosmetic abrasives, and limonene derived from orange peels to kill lice and nits when combined with gentle brushing. 

The results are clinically proven. A clinical study reported a 95.8% efficacy rate when the label instructions were followed. With treatment-resistant lice becoming more prevalent, these results point to a strong alternative for families who need reliable outcomes without harsh chemical exposure. 

An estimated 6 to 12 million children in the U.S. get head lice each year, and misdiagnosis is extremely common. Parents often confuse dandruff, sand, debris, and scalp conditions with lice, leading to unnecessary stress and unnecessary treatment. Cartwheel is positioning Nit Happens as part of a larger effort to improve education and awareness around lice. The company is currently developing a new smartphone application to help parents better determine if their child actually has lice using guided check steps.

The Nit Happens OTC Lice Treatment Kit includes: 

• 4 oz treatment gel (two full applications)

• 1 oz post-treatment shampoo

• Metal lice comb

• Applicator brush

• Gloves

Nit Happens will also soon be available for purchase on the TikTok Shop and Amazon.

Many people feel anxious about visiting the dentist, but experts say understanding and addressing that fear can make dental appointments far less stressful. According to a recent report published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, nearly 72% of American adults experience some level of dental anxiety, while about 27% report severe fear related to dental visits.

Dental specialists emphasize that anxiety surrounding dental procedures is common and manageable with proper communication and preparation. Christina Pastan, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Endodontics and director of mind-body wellness at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, notes that fear often stems from the vulnerability and sensitivity of the mouth.

“Fear is a real thing. The mouth is a very vulnerable and very sensitive part of our bodies, and people are afraid of the possibility of feeling pain,” Pastan explains.

Along with Edward Lahey, chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Pastan highlights several strategies that can help patients feel more comfortable during dental visits.

Open communication with your dentist
Experts stress the importance of discussing fears and concerns with dental professionals before treatment begins. Dentists can explain procedures step by step and discuss pain-management options, helping patients feel more confident and informed.

Prepare by noting concerns in advance
Patients who anticipate anxiety are encouraged to write down worries, past dental experiences, or medication concerns ahead of their appointment. This helps ensure important details are shared clearly with the dentist.

Share complete medical information
Providing a full medical history—including medications and existing conditions—is essential, particularly if anesthesia or sedatives are involved. This helps dentists avoid drug interactions and choose appropriate anxiety-management approaches.

Use simple relaxation techniques
Closing the eyes during procedures and practicing slow nasal breathing can reduce stress. Controlled breathing, especially exhaling longer than inhaling, activates the body’s calming response and may help patients relax during treatment.

Ask questions and discuss pain management
Experts emphasize that patients should never hesitate to ask questions—even during the procedure. Understanding what to expect, including post-treatment discomfort and medication options, can significantly reduce anxiety.

Both specialists stress that trust and communication are essential components of the dentist-patient relationship. When dentists acknowledge patients’ fears and adjust their approach accordingly, visits can become far less intimidating.

“Don’t feel that you’re the victim in the chair,” Pastan says. “The patient is the most important part of the interaction.”

Health professionals encourage individuals with dental anxiety to communicate openly with their providers and seek supportive dental care environments that prioritize comfort and reassurance.

Pic Credit: Pexel

Selecting the right health insurer is one of the most important decisions you can make for your family’s well-being. With healthcare costs rising and insurance options expanding, it’s crucial to choose a provider that offers reliable coverage, excellent support, and smooth access to medical care. In 2026, several real-world factors can help you assess which health insurer is truly trustworthy.

1. Check the Network of Hospitals

A good health insurer should have an extensive network of hospitals in your city and across the country. Verify whether your preferred hospitals, both for emergencies and routine treatments, are included. A wide network ensures you have access to quality care without hassle or delays.

2. Cashless Facility

Cashless hospitalization is one of the most sought-after benefits. Check if the insurer provides cashless treatment options at network hospitals. This feature allows you to receive care without upfront payments, easing financial stress during medical emergencies.

3. Customer Support

Reliable insurers offer responsive customer support to assist with claims, policy details, and emergency guidance. Look for companies that provide multiple communication channels, including phone, chat, and mobile apps, so help is available whenever needed.

4. Claim Settlement Record

Research the insurer’s claim settlement ratio and customer reviews. High settlement ratios indicate a smooth and transparent claims process, while low ratios may signal delays or frequent disputes.

5. Coverage and Inclusions

Compare policies for coverage details, including hospitalization, pre-existing conditions, day-care procedures, and critical illness benefits. A trustworthy insurer clearly outlines what is included and excludes hidden clauses.

6. Flexibility and Portability

Choose a health insurer that allows policy portability, enabling you to switch plans without losing benefits. Flexible policies that accommodate changing health needs over time provide long-term security.

7. Premium Transparency

Ensure that premiums are transparent and aligned with the coverage offered. Avoid insurers who offer low initial premiums but have high deductibles or hidden charges.

8. Reviews and Recommendations

Check online reviews and ask for recommendations from family, friends, or healthcare providers. Real-world experiences often reveal strengths and weaknesses of insurers that official brochures may not highlight.

9. Value-Added Services

Many insurers now offer additional services such as teleconsultations, health check-ups, wellness programs, and mental health support. These value-added services can improve your overall healthcare experience and support preventive care.

Top Health Insurers to Consider in 2026

Some trusted health insurers in India in 2026 include HDFC ERGO Health Insurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Max Bupa Health Insurance, Star Health and Allied Insurance, and Aditya Birla Health Insurance. These companies are known for extensive hospital networks, reliable cashless facilities, and high customer satisfaction.

Final Thoughts

Choosing a health insurer is not just about the cheapest premium—it’s about trust, reliability, and seamless support when you need it most. By evaluating hospital networks, cashless facilities, claim records, coverage, and real-world customer experiences, you can select a health insurer that gives you peace of mind and financial security in 2026 and beyond.

Pic Credit: Pexel

A new medical innovation called the “growing implant” is transforming the treatment of bone cancer in children. The technique allows surgeons to remove cancer-affected bone while preserving the limb and enabling it to grow normally, improving long-term mobility and quality of life.

Bone cancers such as osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma often affect children and adolescents. Traditional treatments sometimes required amputating the limb or resulted in permanent differences in leg length, creating long-term physical and emotional challenges. Growing implants now offer a more effective solution.

How the Growing Implant Works

The growing implant, also called an expandable prosthesis, is placed after the tumor is removed. Unlike standard implants, it can lengthen gradually as the child grows. Many modern implants use magnetic technology, allowing doctors to extend the device during routine hospital visits without additional surgery.

The gradual lengthening helps muscles, joints, and tissues adjust naturally, reducing pain and complications compared with older surgical methods.

Benefits for Patients

The implant offers several advantages:

• Preserves the limb and improves mobility

• Reduces the need for repeated surgeries

• Maintains balanced limb growth

• Supports long-term function and quality of life

Lengthening procedures usually take only 15–20 minutes, allowing children to return to normal activities quickly.

Future Developments

While implants can be costly and occasionally require revision surgeries, advances in 3D printing, imaging, and customized surgical planning are improving their precision and durability.

Growing implants are helping doctors focus on both curing cancer and ensuring children can lead active, independent lives after treatment. This innovation provides families facing bone cancer with renewed hope for survival and a better quality of life.

 Researchers break decades-old bottleneck in chemotherapy drug manufacturing 

An international team of researchers has achieved a breakthrough in the production of doxorubicin, a vital chemotherapy agent. The study identifies and resolves molecular “bottlenecks” that have limited the natural production of this drug for over 50 years. 
 
Doxorubicin is a chemotherapy drug that was first approved for medical use in the 1970s. It is a cornerstone in treating various cancers, including breast cancer, bladder cancer, lymphomas and carcinomas, with over one million patients receiving the treatment annually. However, bacteria naturally produce this important drug very inefficiently. Consequently, the pharmaceutical industry has relied on expensive, multi-step semi-synthetic processes.

“We have uncovered several independent factors that limit the formation of doxorubicin,” says Researcher, Keith Yamada, PhD, from the University of Turku in Finland, a lead scientist on the study. “By addressing these bottlenecks, we have harnessed rational strain engineering to pave the way for cost-effective manufacturing that can meet growing global demand”.

Researchers develop new strain of bacteria that enhances drug production
The study was the result of an extensive international collaboration involving a total of six research laboratories: the University of Turku in Finland, three laboratories in the United States, and two in Leiden, the Netherlands.

Together, the teams identified three primary constraints that prevent the high-yield production of doxorubicin.

Firstly, the team identified the specific natural “biological power supply” — redox partners named Fdx4 and FdR3 — that provide the necessary electron flow to power the drug-producing enzyme.

Secondly, they discovered that a protein called DnrV acts as a drug-binding “molecular sponge”. It sequesters (binds and holds) doxorubicin so the drug does not shut down the enzyme’s own production machinery.

Last, using X-ray crystallography, the team visualized the enzyme for the first time, revealing that the drug molecule sits in an unfavorable position within the enzyme, explaining the slow reaction rate.

By combining these discoveries, the researchers engineered a new strain of bacteria that produces 180% more doxorubicin than current industrial standards.

To bring these findings to the real world, the spin-out company Meta-Cells Oy was formed last year at the University of Turku. The company aims to commercialize these advanced technologies for the sustainable manufacturing of essential antibiotics and anti-cancer agents. This shift toward fully biosynthetic production promises a cleaner, more reliable supply of life-saving medicines.

The study was published in the renowned journal Nature Communications.

> Read the research article

Mar 13 – The Lurie Autism Institute, a joint initiative of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Penn Medicine created to drive discovery, develop new treatments, and improve the lives of individuals and families affected by autism, is proud to announce that geneticist Huda Y. Zoghbi, MD, has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the Nancy Lurie Marks Prize for Autism Research, the Institute’s highest honor recognizing transformative contributions to autism research.

 Zoghbi is a Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Molecular and Human Genetics, Pediatrics, Neuroscience, and Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, and Director of Texas Children’s Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI). She is also an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. A pioneering pediatric neurologist and physician–scientist, Zoghbi has fundamentally reshaped understanding of the genetic and molecular basis of neurological disease – including autism spectrum disorder – by integrating human genetics, animal models, and systems-level neuroscience to define how disruptions in gene regulation, neuronal maturation, and circuit function drive disease.

 “When thinking of an appropriate inaugural recipient of the Nancy Lurie Marks Prize for Autism Research, we wanted to consider the pre-eminent minds whose long history of incredible work in autism research continues to have a lasting effect,” said prize committee chair Frances E. Jensen, MD, Chair of the Department of Neurology and Professor of Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and co-director of the Penn Translational Neuroscience Center. “Dr. Zoghbi’s record speaks for itself, and we couldn’t think of a more deserving inaugural recipient who exemplifies the pioneering work in autism research that the Lurie Autism Institute wants to make possible.”

 The Prize Selection Committee recognized Zoghbi for her landmark discovery that mutations in the MECP2 gene cause Rett syndrome, an autism-related neurodevelopmental disorder. This breakthrough transformed Rett syndrome from an enigmatic clinical condition into a foundational model for understanding autism genetics and neurobiology. Her work established core principles that have guided modern autism research; these principles now underpin contemporary large-scale genomic studies of autism and have shaped how investigators conceptualize risk, penetrance, and phenotypic variability across neurodevelopmental disorders.

 “I am deeply honored to receive the inaugural Nancy Lurie Marks Prize for Autism Research,” said Zoghbi. “Nancy’s dedication to autism research and to the families she so passionately championed has left an indelible mark on our field. The Lurie Autism Institute’s continued commitment to advancing impactful autism research benefits us all.  I share this recognition with the patients and families who inspire our work every day, and with the remarkable trainees and collaborators whose insight, creativity, and dedication have advanced our understanding of how genetic disruptions alter brain function.” She continued, “I hope that continued progress in this field will lead to better insights and treatments, ultimately improving the lives of individuals with autism and their families. This honor serves as a powerful reminder of the promise rigorous science holds for truly transforming lives.”

 By demonstrating that de novo mutations underlie Rett syndrome, Dr. Zoghbi helped catalyze study designs that enrich for de novo variation. These studies served as an important basis for projects such as the Simons Simplex Collection, a core project and resource of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) that establishes a permanent repository of genetic samples of families of children with autism. This framework was then later adopted by the Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge (SPARK) and the Autism Sequencing Consortium. This paradigm led to the discovery of dozens of de novo variants and hundreds of autism-related genes, many of which encode chromatin regulators, firmly establishing epigenetic and chromatin-mediated mechanisms as central pathways in autism.

 “Dr. Zoghbi’s incredible discoveries of some key biological mechanisms underlying autism are important steps in the journey we’re on with the Lurie Autism Institute to provide patients with more answers,” said Daniel Rader, MD, Interim Director, Lurie Autism Institute and Chief of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, Penn Medicine and CHOP. “Her central role in advancing our understanding of neurobiology and translating that basic science into clinical progress makes her an extremely deserving recipient of the inaugural Nancy Lurie Marks Prize for Autism Research.”

 The Nancy Lurie Marks Prize for Autism Research honors the legacy of Nancy Lurie Marks, whose visionary philanthropy has played a pivotal role in advancing autism research and improving the lives of individuals with autism. The Prize includes a $100,000 award and recognizes a single individual whose work has made a profound and lasting impact on the field.

 “The Lurie Autism Institute was established to usher in a new era of scientific discovery in autism, and the work of extraordinary talents like Dr. Zoghbi exemplifies the kind of breakthrough discoveries we hope to make possible,” said Jeffrey Lurie, Chairman and CEO of the Philadelphia Eagles and founder of the Eagles Autism Foundation.

 Zoghbi will be formally honored at the 2026 Lurie Autism Institute Symposium, to be held on May 7, 2026, in Philadelphia, where she will deliver a featured lecture.

 The Lurie Autism Institute, which reflects the combined strength of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine, was made possible through the generosity of the Lurie Family Foundation and the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation. Launched in June, 2025, the Institute is dedicated to advancing autism science and care, while aiming to accelerate discovery, deepen understanding of autism’s complexities and improve outcomes for individuals and families.