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Global health news briefs

July/August 2025 | Volume 24 Number 4

Gut microbiome study includes previously under-sampled populations

In 2007, the Human Microbiome Project set the goal of characterizing the human microbiome and measuring its contribution to disease. While large cohorts in high income countries have been well represented in studies, low- and middle-income countries, which account for nearly 84% of the world’s population, have been underrepresented. This reduces the generalizability of the studies’ conclusions. To help rectify this, Stanford’s Dr. Dylan G. Maghini conducted a cross-sectional gut microbiome study sampling 1,801 women from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa as part of her Fogarty project. Using shotgun metagenomic sequencing—a method that enables microbiologists to evaluate bacterial diversity and detect the abundance of microbes in an environment—Maghini’s team identified taxa (hierarchical groups of microbes) with geographic and lifestyle associations. The researchers also found an HIV infection signature defined by several taxa not previously linked to HIV. The study is published in Nature.

How do newly approved vaccines affect RSV hospitalizations?

Each year respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, leads to 1,500 to 2,800 hospitalizations per 100,000 infants in the U.S. A team of U.S. and Danish researchers, led by Fogarty’s Chelsea Hansen, used mathematical modeling to examine the impact of immunization strategies newly introduced in 2023 on RSV hospitalizations in King County, Washington. (In 2023, a monoclonal antibody or passive vaccine, nirsevimab, was recommended for routine use in infants, while a single dose of two approved active vaccines was advised for older adults.) RSV hospitalizations were cut by two-thirds in babies under 6 months old and by a full third in seniors over the age of 75 during the 2024-25 season due to vaccination (as compared to none), the team estimated. Fogarty’s Dr. Cécile Viboud is senior author of this paper published in JAMA Network Open.

Researchers identify a new diabetes subtype in sub-Saharan Africa

Type 1 diabetes results from autoimmune destruction of insulin-secreting cells—according to studies of mostly European populations. Now there is evidence that many young people in Africa, and some in the U.S., may have a non-autoimmune form of type 1 diabetes, according to a study published in Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology. Dr. Dana Dabelea, who is a University of Colorado professor funded in part by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, participated in this international project. The researchers enrolled 894 participants with young-onset diabetes from Cameroon, Uganda, and South Africa and assessed their blood levels of antibodies against insulin-producing cells and calculated their genetic risk of developing diabetes. Next, the authors compared their findings with similar studies performed in the U.S. This discovery of a form of type 1 diabetes not caused by immune system dysregulation could change how diabetes is diagnosed, treated and managed, while paving the way for more effective medicines and better outcomes.

Fogarty alumnus co-leads study of cardiovascular health in southeast U.S.

Each year, rural areas in the U.S. experience 60,000 more cardiovascular-disease related deaths than urban areas due, in part, to a lack of specialists and cardiac imaging machines that are required to detect, diagnose, and manage cardiovascular disease. The RURAL (Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal) Cohort Study aims to address critical gaps in awareness and knowledge related to heart and lung disorders in several southeastern states. RURAL mobile exam units, which are outfitted with a lab, private exam rooms, and cardiovascular assessment and imaging tools, travel to the rural counties where the study’s more than 3,000 enrolled participants live. Dr. Gerald Bloomfield, a former Fogarty fellow and associate professor at Duke University School of Medicine, is a co-lead of the study’s Imaging Core, which is responsible for obtaining CT scans as well as storing, processing, and accessing images.

Fogarty assesses national level research preparedness worldwide

The COVID 19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to assess national level research preparedness, productivity, and response worldwide. Fogarty’s Acting Director Dr. Peter Kilmarx and Scientific Policy Analyst Shirley Kyere demonstrated this by assessing pre-pandemic research output as a potential predictor of COVID 19 research productivity. National numbers of health science publications and clinical trials served as metrics of national research activity, while national numbers of COVID 19 related publications and clinical trials served as metrics of national pandemic response. Their analysis, published in Annals of Global Health, reveals that pre-pandemic health research activity strongly correlated with pandemic research response. Importantly, the authors note that many scientists pivoted away from their specialties to conduct COVID 19 studies, which suggests that common elements of clinical research across a range of disease areas can be brought to bear during health emergencies.

Would vaccines mitigate malaria control disruptions caused by weather?

Madagascar, an island-nation lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, experiences high rates of malaria, yet also faces a growing frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones, which may damage healthcare infrastructure. In the wake of two cyclones in 2022 and 2023, Dr. Benjamin Rice, a Princeton postdoctoral fellow and former National Institutes of Health’s postbaccalaureate scholar, examined their effects on 500 households. Malaria infection surged in the months following the cyclones, particularly in children; up to half of school-age children and over a third of younger children became infected. By modeling various control strategies, Rice and his team found that vaccines could reduce symptomatic infections and help sustain disease control during extreme weather-related healthcare gaps. Both shots have shown limited-duration efficacy in preventing hospitalizations due to malaria. Science published this study.

Updated August 22, 2025

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