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The Beauty Of Settled Science
Commenters convinced me I made a subtle mis-step in my framing of Psychology Research Is Mostly Fine. My framing emphasized that social priming studies had failed to replicate, but that many other subfields of psychology hadn’t. This naturally led commenters to point to failed replications in other subfields. Although none of these were as bad as social priming, few or none were entirely problem-free. Instead of emphasizing the difference between social priming and other subfields, I should have emphasized the difference between settled science and novel research. Here are some of my favorite psychology findings: The brain is sculpted by reinforcement learning, and a key driver of this learning is a prediction-error-based algorithm located in the nucleus accumbens and implemented through dopamine. Psychedelic drugs exert their effects through 5-HT2A receptors, pointing to a role for these receptors in some sort of construct like the balance between priors and new evidence. Certain cognitive functions are localized to certain brain areas (for example, impulse control to the frontal lobes; linguistic structure to Broca’s area, linguistic meaning to Wernicke’s area. But injure one of these areas, or render a certain function useless (eg a blind person having no more use for their visual cortex), and these mappings can gradually shift - suggesting that neurons are general-purpose compute whose specialization is a contingent fact about convenience and efficiency rather than a necessity. Most personality traits and general capabilities are about 50% genetic and 50% random, with little role for family environment or childhood history, with a few notable exceptions like partisan preference. Recent research complicates this story, but the further you go from this basic picture, the gnarlier the chains of indirect causation you require. Neurons fire together in “brain waves”, whose exact frequency corresponds with the character of consciousness; These divide neurons into natural subpopulations and linked graphs. The gamma rhythm corresponds surprisingly well to items in conscious awareness. GABA receptors seem to be involved in something like relaxation. By hitting different GABA receptors in different ways, you can modulate the exact type of relaxation you produce. Hitting GABA-A directly is too powerful and can cause dangerous levels of sedation, but allosteric modulation of GABA is an incredibly fruitful strategy that underlies drugs from benzos to barbituates to alcohol. If you know your GABA-A subunits, you can target specific subtypes of relaxation; for example, Ambien hits GABA-A1 and induces sleep. Memory divides somewhat fuzzily into bins of immediate-sensory, short-term, and long-term, with separate retrieval and storage functions, and separate systems for declarative vs. procedural learning. These can be harmed selectively, usually by hippocampal injury, so that some patients can remember their life stories but not form new long-term memories, or learn new skills like bike-riding but not new facts. The exact substrate of memory is unclear but seems to involve new synaptic connections between neurons in at least some way. The ability of modern psychology and psychiatry to treat mental illness is real but limited. SSRIs work for half or slightly fewer than half of patients; antipsychotics work with extreme side effects; benzodiazpines work but produce addiction and tolerance in many (not all) people. Most supplements are stuck in Poor Quality Study Replication Crisis Hell, but melatonin and l-theanine stand out as especially promising. Psychotherapy works with moderate effect size, but (with a few exceptions) seems to be more about the relationship with the provider than the details of the therapy itself. Mental hospitalization can sometimes defuse immediate crises but work less well than mental hospitals would like, with some studies showing overall negative effects. Schizophrenia is mostly genetic, but risk also increases with prenatal infection (especially rubella) and obstetric complications; there is suggestive evidence for roles of social stress and drug use (with psychedelics and marijuana making things worse, and nicotine if anything making things better). Bipolar and schizophrenia are so closely linked on a pathophysiological level that it seems like they might be the same disease; on the clinical level, they do seem to follow two separate courses/prognoses but can sometimes surprise clinicians by eg someone who seemed condemned to permanent schizophrenia unexpectedly recovering. The brain’s native reinforcement learning algorithms cash out in the phenomena of classical and operant conditioning; different reinforcement schedules reinforce at different levels, which can be exploited by bad actors to make especially compelling products (eg slot machines). None of these are immune to doubt. A few are speculative; one or two are genuinely unorthodox. But they’re all a step above one p = 0.049 paper that might not replicate. If they get overturned, they’ll be overturned by the same sort of genuine scientific shift that replaced Ptolemy with Copernicus or Lamarck with Darwin, not some sort of sordid discovery about someone entering random numbers into a spreadsheet. In 2008, Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote about The Beauty Of Settled Science: If you only care about scientific issues that are controversial, you will end up with a head stuffed full of garbage. The media thinks that only the cutting edge of science is worth reporting on. How often do you see headlines like “General Relativity still governing planetary orbits” or “Phlogiston theory remains false”? So, by the time anything is solid science, it is no longer a breaking headline. “Newsworthy” science is often based on the thinnest of evidence and wrong half the time—if it were not on the uttermost fringes of the scientific frontier, it would not be breaking news. Scientific controversies are problems so difficult that even people who’ve spent years mastering the field can still fool themselves. That’s what makes for the heated arguments that attract all the media attention. Worse, if you aren’t in the field and part of the game, controversies aren’t even fun. Don’t be embarrassed to read elementary science textbooks, either. If you want to pretend to be sophisticated, go find a play to sneer at. If you just want to have fun, remember that simplicity is at the core of scientific beauty [...] A steady diet of science news is bad for you: You are what you eat, and if you eat only science reporting on fluid situations, without a solid textbook now and then, your brain will turn to liquid. Psychology isn’t centrally the new paper in Annals Of Recently-Breaking News saying that an n=5 study showing that large portion sizes increase support for terrorism. Psychology is centrally ideas like brain waves, GABA receptors, reinforcement learning, twin studies, and connectionism. People who think differently are worrying too much about BREAKING NEWS!!!, and should stop. The key distinction isn’t “recent research in social psychology” vs. “recent research in cognitive/bio/behavioral psychology”, as my essay last week unfortunately implied. It’s recent research in general vs. the deposit of settled science, battle-tested hypotheses, and carefully-earmarked speculation. And part of the reason social priming in particular was such a disaster was that it defied that heuristic, building itself up over hundreds of studies until it approached or even entered the pantheon of settled science - before collapsing (5-HTTLPR was also sort of like this). This isn’t a claim that settled science is always right - Freud was “settled science” for a long time - just that there’s an intuitive distinction between the level of credence you should have in the existence of power posing vs. the existence of Broca’s Area. (I compounded this error by calling the last post “Psychology Research Is Mostly Fine”, which suggested I was talking about the new research rather than the settled science. I actually meant to distinguish between research-psychology-the-field vs. clinical-psychology-aka-therapy, but this framing unintentionally pushed against the point I wanted to make) Some commenters on the previous article understood this point, but challenged its weight. It’s very cool, they said, to know how many neurons are in which brain lobe, but the main way that Psychology affected their lives was through bad clickbait studies used to buttress dumb policies; some p = 0.049 study says that exposure to microaggressions makes minorities’ brains shrivel into raisins, and now their company has to implement punitive DEI or be sued for hazardous work conditions. I won’t dispute this as an accurate description of how the sausage gets made, but it’s worth examining the trains of thought that connect this observation to a campaign against psychology in general: The dumb woke psychology was wrong and bad, and I don’t have good heuristics for distinguishing dumb woke psychology from other psychology, so I’m going to assume it’s all wrong and bad. The dumb woke psychology was wrong and bad; it seems useful to punish/discredit psychology as a whole to assist my campaign against it, so for propaganda purposes I will try to discredit psychology as a whole. To people in the first camp, my response is: come on, your heuristics aren’t that bad. “Microaggressions makes minorities’ brains shrivel up like raisins” is in the woke category; “the hippocampal theta rhythm seems to be associated with both memory and pathfinding, suggesting an unexpected yet surprisingly compelling relationship between the two” is in the not-woke category, don’t play dumb here. To people in the second camp, my response is: deliberately exaggerated propaganda campaigns are bad and this is a confession, not an excuse. Inability to view science through anything but a political lens was what got us into this problem; doubling down on it is a temporary solution but a recipe for permanent disaster. If you pronounce entire fields of science to be acceptable collateral damage in your campaign against bad political actors, you will alienate not just scientists but patients, clinicians, and general lovers of truth. Instead, you can say the thing you mean - that woke partisans shouldn’t try to occupy and exploit the otherwise-noble science of psychology for their own political gain - and wage the same campaign with a halo rather than a comic-book-villain goatee. From the font of oracular wisdom that is Weird Sun Twitter: [ Vessel Of Spirit@VesselOfSpirit i love you all conditionally but i love the good part of you unconditionally. even if it becomes a very small part 2:11 AM · Jan 22, 2015 1 Reply · 5 Reposts · 29 Likes ](https://x.com/VesselOfSpirit/status/558084551772471298) This is how I feel about psychology1, too, but with a touch more optimism. The good part of psychology is enormous, a hoard of endless treasures. You just have to look past the headlines! 1 To play devil’s advocate - should one always be so magnamious? Astrology? Phrenology? These seem different in that their entire orientation was flawed from the start; they didn’t simply fail to find the correct constellation-personality connections, the whole project of searching for connections between constellations and personality was doomed from the start. More difficult might be asking the same question about education research, which is notoriously bad. I don’t know enough about education research to know if there’s some settled science of correct and enlightening results lurking in the background beyond the day-to-day froth of poorly-conducted and politically-motivated studies. I think if it’s 90% bad, 10% good, it’s correct to call it bad as a compact way of communicating a useful truth; I think psychology is better than that, but admit it’s a tough judgment call.
Hundreds rally to promote wellness, fight stigma at Mothers of Hope Walk for Recovery
Hundreds gathered in Kalamazoo on Saturday, showing their support for those impacted by addiction and mental health challenges.
Tim Steller’s column: Grant Road businesses fold as construction adds to woes
For Star subscribers: The reconstruction of Grant Road is helping kill off Tucson businesses already weakened by street drug addiction and the sumer doldrums.
Maine GOP candidate outlines plan to fight drug addiction
Following a tour of Phoenix House in Lewiston, Charles said he would put in place more services to help those struggling with addiction, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the administration of Narcan, which reverses overdoses.
Burlington business owners’ open letter renews debate over harm reduction
The open letter pleads for city officials to address the ongoing struggles with homelessness, addiction, and public safety.
Day in the Life with Andre Jordan and Jose Capo
In our newest installment of Day in the Life, this photo essay features Andre Jordan, Peer Counselor and Jose Capo, Addiction Counselor who deliver services from our S.H.O.W. mobile unit...
Community Spotlight: Charm City Care Connection | Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy
Charm City Care Connection built its East Baltimore drop-in center around health care, dignity, and belonging.
GLP-1s And Alcohol Addiction: Potential Benefits And What You Need To Know
GLP-1s And Alcohol Addiction: Potential Benefits And What You Need To Know
National healthcare groups join HHS effort to improve behavioral health, addiction care
The Health and Human Services Secretary today announced that dozens of insurers, medical societies, healthcare providers and behavioral health experts have pledged to strengthen the nation’s behavioral health system by advancing best practices aimed at improving mental health and addiction treatment.
CASPR Ends Tenagrity Contract as Agenda Turns to Gambling
Center for Addiction Science terminates Tenagrity Solutions lobbying contract focused on GLP-1 drug access. Read the latest policy update.
National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows promising trends for youth mental health and drug use
A key U.S. government report on mental health, substance use and addiction shows continued improvements in several metrics, especially among young people
Federal survey shows promising trends for youth mental health and drug use
A key U.S. government report on mental health, substance use and addiction shows continued improvements in several metrics, especially among young people.
Federal survey shows promising trends for youth mental health and drug use
A key U.S. government report on mental health, substance use and addiction shows continued improvements in several metrics, especially among young people
Federal survey shows promising trends for youth mental health and drug use
A key U.S. government report on mental health, substance use and addiction shows continued improvements in several metrics, especially among young people
Too much screen time may trigger lasting brain delays, top health official warns
Federal health officials unveil "the 5 Ds" framework to help parents combat screen addiction and protect children's attention, memory and language skills.
‘Causing havoc’ or high-tech convenience? Sports betting kiosks installed at 89 retail stores in Delaware
Merchants, lottery boss tout self-serve system, but gambling addiction counselors worry about underage users, more people going deep into debt.
Automated Neurofeedback: Rewiring the Future of Mental Health Care
Mental health and addiction disorders continue to rise across the United States, affecting veterans, adolescents, families, first responders, and entire communities. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly half of individuals with a substance use disorder also experience a co-occurring mental health condition. At the same time, healthcare systems are struggling with workforce ...
‘I was a functioning alcoholic’: Cliff Bleszinski opens up about addiction, recovery, and his hope to return to games
The Gears of War designer says his drinking led to a seizure and he’s now focused on his health…
Hunter Biden shares his painful road to recovery and fight against political scrutiny
NPR's Scott Simon asks Hunter Biden about his addiction, treatments, and political notoriety.
When Surveillance Becomes Science: The Data the FDA Should Not Trust - Petrie-Flom Center
In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) banned a data broker called X-Mode Social from selling sensitive location data, charging that the company sold precise phone location data that could be used to track visits to reproductive health clinics, addiction treatment centers, and other sensitive sites.
Good News About Health Care at Santa Barbara County Jails
Jails see dramatic increase in the number of inmates receiving Medically Assisted Treatment for addiction issues.
James Dorr to spend life in mental health facility after killing addiction sponsor and dog
James Dorr will spend the rest of his life in a secure mental health facility for killing his addiction sponsor and dog, after serving a 3 year prison sentence.
CT chief justice aims to pilot ‘behavioral health court’ in New Haven
The task force includes doctors, law enforcement, educators and addiction treatment specialists who will shape how the court works.
Parents’ Phone Addiction Affects Bond with Kids, New Study Finds
Parents’ attachment to screens and smartphones can have negative, long-lasting developmental and psychological effects on their children, according to new research.
Oregon Health Authority Irks Residential Treatment Centers
In recent years, Oregon health officials, desperate to get people with severe mental illness and addiction into scarce residential treatment, have been throwing their weight around.
Four states seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties in child social media addiction trial, Meta says
Four states are seeking $1.4 trillion from Meta over claims Facebook and Instagram were designed to be addictive to children without any warnings on the alleged harms of the apps.
Contributor: Mental health care isn't ready for psychedelic side effects
Accelerated FDA approval will invite recklessness. But don't block these important medications. Take steps to prepare.
Gambling disorder diagnoses spike after states legalized sports betting
Researchers analyzed millions of electronic health records and found a major difference between states that greenlit sports gambling and those that didn’t.
Gambling disorder diagnoses spike after states legalized sports betting
Researchers analyzed millions of electronic health records and found a major difference between states that greenlit sports gambling and those that didn’t.
The ‘tech neck’ time bomb: why 43 million young Americans could cripple U.S. health care within a generation
A spine surgeon warns that smartphone addiction is quietly deforming the spines of Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
Monthly BAT Days Initiative Connects Residents to Free Health, Recovery and Support Services
On the second Wednesday of each month, these organizations come together at the Centers for Addiction and Mental Health Programs (CAMP) on Orange Blossom Trail to provide HIV and Hepatitis-C testing, connections to affordable or free primary care providers, mental health resources and case management services.
Opinion: Michigan has policy options to help curb online betting addiction
More than five years into legal sports betting, it is time for a fresh look at how Michigan regulates the industry and addresses the ripple effects on public health.
Daveigh Chase's mother says late 'The Ring' star struggled with addiction after back injury: 'She was completely gone'
Daveigh Chase's mother said that 'drugs took hold of' the late 'Lilo & Stitch' actress after she was prescribed painkillers for a back injury she sustained in a motorcycle accident around 2016.
Should everyone be on GLP-1s? What science actually tells us (and doesn't) about the broader health benefits
The laundry list of possible health benefits from GLP-1 drugs seems to get longer by the day, from cancer prevention to combating addiction. But while there’s no question these medications show immense promise beyond their use for diabetes and weight loss, science is still catching up.
HHS announces over $700M in grants for mental health initiatives, addiction treatment and housing programs
The money includes $238.6 million to improve suicide crisis hotlines and $223.1 million to expand community behavioral health clinics. Dozens of programs all over the country are set to receive the funding.
Overdose by City Hall mirrors feared rise in Burlington addiction calls
Burlington officials report fewer overdoses but warn that rising heat may lead to a difficult summer ahead.
Addiction treatment hits the road in North Carolina
By Rachel Crumpler Key Takeaways: About a month ago, a young woman stopped by a bright green and blue bus parked outside the Alamance County Health Department, ready to start treatment for opioid use disorder. A mobile opioid treatment program — operating as a licensed extension of New Season Treatment Center’s Greensboro brick-and-mortar clinic — […]
Colorado’s gamble on sports betting
A Denver Post special report examining how the legalization of online sports betting impacted addiction, water funding and athletes.
How sports betting became Colorado’s ticket to funding $140 million in water conservation projects
Supporters say the gambling money is a godsend. Critics say legalized sports betting has come at a cost — fueling an addiction crisis that Colorado is unprepared for.
RFK Jr. presents $700 million in mental health funding, but experts say grants aren’t new
RFK Jr. presents funding intended to address mental illness and addiction, particularly among homeless people.
RFK Jr. announces $700M for mental health, addiction, homelessness
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the funds during a stop in Clinton Township in Macomb County.
US Health Department announces over $700 million to combat mental health, addiction, homelessness
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday announced more than $700 million in new funding opportunities aimed at tackling mental illness, addiction and homelessness.
HHS announces over $700 million to fund behavioral health, other initiatives
The Department of Health and Human Services June 17 announced it will provide more than $700 million in funding for initiatives on mental illness, addiction and homelessness.
Secretary Kennedy Announces Over $700 Million in New Funding to Address Mental Illness, Addiction, Homelessness
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced a funding opportunity for the STREETS program to support recovery and evidence-based treatment.
Constant digital input can lead to real brain rot
Doomscrolling can change your brain for the worse, says an addiction counselor at Sanford Health. Learn how to reverse or prevent the damage.
'Sopranos' star Joe Pantoliano shares his unconventional recipe for optimal mental health
Joe Pantoliano revealed his three secret weapons for mental and physical health while discussing addiction: masturbation, medication and meditation.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Optimizes Operations and Patient Care with Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications
/PRNewswire/ -- The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), a global leader in mental health research and care, is leveraging Oracle Fusion Cloud...
Texas Tech officials address sports betting controversy surrounding transfer QB Brendan Sorsby
Texas Tech University Athletics' top leadership released an unprecedented 21-minute video defending quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s court-ordered return to the field, framing his permanent NCAA gambling ban as a matter of recovering from a medical addiction.
Brendan Sorsby isn’t a victim. He’s the latest face of America’s public health crisis
Texas Tech QB's injunction may allow him to play, but the problem remains: Online betting and a growing gambling addiction among young men.
SAMHSA Announces $40 Million in Funding Opportunities to Prevent Addiction, and Address Child Trauma, Suicide, Mental Illness
SAMHSA, an HHS division, announced $40M for eight grant programs supporting President Trump’s Great American Recovery Initiative.
‘Big Ev’ breaks silence on Barstool absence, reveals gambling addiction
Evan “Big Ev” McDowell broke his silence Wednesday in a video posted to social media, confirming that he checked himself into a residential treatment center for a gambling addiction, in what amounted to his first public statement since disappearing from Barstool Sports content in early April amid allegations that he stiffed multiple illegal bookmakers out…
Are Republicans turning against medications for treating opioid addiction?
Federal actions and proposals have reignited debate over methadone and buprenorphine, worrying addiction experts and patient groups.
New sports betting law protects against addiction, exposure to kids in Colorado, according to lawmakers
A new law signed by Gov. Jared Polis adds restrictions to sports betting in Colorado, preventing ads that target children and young adults and limiting how often bettors can deposit money.
Weed removal business helps local find the right path
FAIRMONT – While the Curly Leaf Pondweed issue in Fairmont has affected many, removing it has helped one resident stay clean and keep the lakes clean. Dominic Hill of ClearShore Solutions said he was a troublemaker in his younger years and struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. That all changed four years ago when he […]
Eastern Kentucky addiction, behavior health center owner indicted on federal charges in fraud scheme
Timmy G. Robinson Jr. faces one count of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering in a scheme to allegedly defraud two potential buyers of a multi-million dollar Employee Retention Credit offered to certain employers by the Internal Revenue Service, who paid workers qualified wages during and were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eastern Kentucky addiction, behavior health center owner indicted on federal charges in fraud scheme
Timmy G. Robinson Jr. faces one count of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering in a scheme to allegedly defraud two potential buyers of a multi-million dollar Employee Retention Credit offered to certain employers by the Internal Revenue Service, who paid workers qualified wages during and were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs linked to lower risks of addiction and overdose
A massive study of more than 600,000 U.S. veterans suggests that popular GLP-1 drugs such as semaglutide may do far more than help with diabetes and weight loss—they could also fight addiction itself. Researchers found that people taking these medications were less likely to develop substance use disorders involving alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, cocaine, opioids, and other drugs, while those already struggling with addiction experienced fewer overdoses, hospitalizations, emergency visits, and drug-related deaths.
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic show promise for more than weight loss. But what’s science vs hype?
Ozempic-style drugs have been flagged as possible treatments for cancer, dementia, endo, addiction and more. An expert explains what the evidence really says.
Kratom drink Feel Free gains popularity despite growing concerns about addiction, health impact and death
Feel Free, a kratom drink, is easy to buy and increasingly popular, even as doctors and medical experts grow more concerned about its health impacts, addiction rates and deaths.
WCADAMHS approves funding for local mental health and addiction services agencies for FY 27
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Vinted wants to be America's next shopping addiction
Vinted has seen sales in Europe surge year-on-year, It's now trying to recreate that success in the US.
5 Notable Moments From Candace Owens’s Warm Interview With Hunter Biden
In a nearly two-hour conversation, Mr. Biden discussed his addiction to drugs and alcohol, and Ms. Owens apologized for her past remarks about him.
Springfield losing its detox beds as Behavioral Health Network moves toward transitional treatment
Springfield's Carlson Recovery Center is ending detox beds with 24/7 medical supervisor due to staffing, shifting to less-intensive residential addiction care.
Sports leagues have responsibility for the new wave of gambling addictions
Eight years ago this month, the U.S.
Addictive AI Could Become The Next Big Business Risk
AI is making digital products more engaging, but that also creates a growing risk around addiction, mental health and harmful customer behavior.
Secretary Kennedy Brings ‘Take Back Your Health’ Tour to California, Highlights Microbiome Research and Addiction Recovery
HHS Secretary Kennedy traveled to California for his “Take Back Your Health” tour where he visited the City of Hope cancer center and met with local officials.
What Your Brain Is Actually Doing While You Doomscroll, According to Science
If you find yourself endlessly scrolling as you maneuver through the various landmines intent on detonating your attention span, it could mean that you have some kind of digital addiction problem. But it could also mean your mental focus is so strong that you’ve quietly figured out how to treat social media like an external […]
WHO warns nicotine pouch brands targeting youth as sales surge
The World Health Organization (WHO) today issues a strong warning over the rapid global expansion of nicotine pouch products, which are being aggressively marketed to adolescents and young people. WHO notes that regulation in many countries is limited or absent, raising concerns about youth nicotine addiction and related health risks.
Drug counselor who gave Matthew Perry fatal ketamine gets 2 years in prison
A drug addiction counselor who delivered the fatal ketamine doses to Matthew Perry was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in the actor’s death.
When the Supreme Court Said Sports Betting Could Be Legalized, It Left the Issue to the States, Not the CFTC
Introduction Eight years ago today, the Supreme Court invalidated a federal ban on states legalizing sports gambling. This decision led some states to legalize betting on sports, which precipitated a nationwide epidemic of sports gambling addiction. Now, the rise of sports betting on prediction market platforms is poised to cause sports betting addiction in the
Gambling Addiction: Growing Mental Health Concern Fueled by Online Betting, Prediction Markets
As May’s National Mental Health Awareness Month shines a spotlight on emotional well-being, one issue is quietly gaining urgency: gambling addiction.
Daytime Performer of the Week: ‘Y&R’s’ Joshua Morrow is Riding High on Nick’s Drug Addiction Storyline
Morrow is flying to new heights in this story.
Can blockbuster GLP-1 weight-loss drugs also protect brain health?
UCSF experts share their research on medications’ potential to slow or reduce risk of dementia and to treat the triggers that drive addiction.
Helene frayed the safety net for people who use drugs. This community wove it back together.
Harm reduction groups and health care workers helped avert the worst. But what about the next emergency?
Global Health & WASH: May 2026 Funding Opportunities (14 new opportunities!)
The May update for Global Health & WASH brings new calls that cluster around three distinct shifts: LMIC research leadership moving from funder encouragement into a hard eligibility constraint, pharmaceutical and corporate-linked funders running structurally independent education and use-inspired research portfolios at substantial scale, and AI adoption shifting decisively from speculative tool to operational capability across health and WASH systems alike. In LMIC Research Leadership as Eligibility, Not Encouragement, Wellcome anchors the dominant signal of the month with three separate major calls that all require or strongly center LMIC leadership in their basic eligibility architecture. Wellcome’s ESIC Hubs (£1.5-£1.9M per hub over 3-5 years) explicitly requires an LMIC-based lead applicant, treating Global South leadership as a design constraint rather than a participation goal. Wellcome’s Infectious Disease Clinical Trial Development Award funds transdisciplinary teams whose lead must be a mid-career or established researcher based at an organization in Africa, South Asia, or Southeast Asia. Wellcome’s larger Infectious Disease Clinical Trial Award (£1M-£8M for optimizing licensed interventions) requires the administering organization to be in eligible LMIC regions and at least 50% of applicants based there. Around Wellcome, the same pattern shows up at smaller scale and across funders: CHINNOVA channels $1M into West and Central African research institutions for climate-health work; IBRO’s Neuroscience Training Grants explicitly tier ceilings by region of residence with Africa receiving the highest amount ($5,000); IHME’s GBD Emerging Researcher Award reserves at least one of its two annual awards for an LMIC researcher; Sidaction’s HIV Cure call funds research teams across France, the Netherlands, and eligible African countries with a minimum two-country collaboration requirement. Taken together, these calls signal a meaningful shift in how research equity is being operationalized — not as encouragement language at the bottom of a call, but as a structural feature of who can lead, where the work must be administered, and what proportion of the team must be regionally rooted. In Pharma-Funded Independent Medical Education and Use-Inspired Research, the lineup this month is unusually deep. Pfizer alone runs four parallel calls under independent education and quality improvement frameworks: a Migraine and Women’s Health RFP (200K x 2-year, $500K pool), Migraine IME ($200K, $1M pool), JAK Inhibitor evidence-based education ($100K), and Maternal Vaccination HCP Education in Saudi Arabia ($75K), plus a separate Pediatric Pneumococcal Surveillance research call in Saudi Arabia ($400K per project). Novo Nordisk Foundation runs four parallel calls of its own at substantial scale: Infectious Diseases Catalyst Grants (DKK 60M pool, up to DKK 7M collaborative), Non-Diabetic Endocrinology Collaborative Grants (DKK 53M pool, DKK 5-10M per project), Pioneer Innovator Grant Health (DKK 1.1M), and Distinguished Innovator Grant Health (DKK 6.8M). LEO Foundation deploys DKK 2-4M per project for dermatology research excellence. Pfizer’s framing across calls deliberately separates the funding from product promotion, emphasizing measurable practice-relevant change and structural distance between scientific outputs and commercial activity. Novo Nordisk’s “use-inspired” hard filter pushes researchers toward a credible translation pathway from mechanism to deployable tool. The pattern: industry-aligned funders are running structurally independent portfolios at meaningful $ that fund implementation evidence, not promotion. In AI as Operational Capability, Not Speculation, several calls this month explicitly treat AI adoption as a near-term operational question with real evidence and governance requirements, rather than a speculative trend to be watched. Wellcome’s ESIC Hubs frames AI as “the accelerator” for evidence synthesis, asking hubs to translate technical innovation into adoption-ready workflows that can match real-world policy timelines. UNICEF Venture Fund’s new Climate Tech for Children’s Health call funds for-profit startups deploying AI, machine learning, and blockchain in low-resource environments, with a strict requirement that solutions must already have a working prototype with promising pilot results. The Water Research Foundation has launched two simultaneous AI calls treating reproducibility, cybersecurity guardrails, and human-in-the-loop deployments as core design constraints rather than nice-to-haves: one on GenAI and Agentic AI in water utilities ($200K), one on alternatives to water shutoffs that explicitly screens for implementation economics evidence. Nordic Innovation’s quantum technology call (NOK 4.5M) extends the same logic into life science and healthcare, demanding consortium-stage projects mature enough to test with real users. TEF-Health offers €300K in subsidized testing infrastructure for European healthcare AI and robotics SMEs. The pattern: funders are converting AI pilots into playbooks, requiring transfer evidence and risk controls before AI can move from experimentation to sector-wide operational practice. For LMIC-based researchers in infectious disease or evidence synthesis, the three Wellcome calls together represent the deepest concentration of LMIC-led research capital in recent memory — pair the Infectious Disease Clinical Trial Development Award (£200K, deadline May 19) as a strategic pipeline feeder into the larger Infectious Disease Clinical Trial Award (£1-£8M, deadline June 2), since the development award functions explicitly as a track into the larger trial scheme. For Nordic researchers, the four Novo Nordisk Foundation calls plus LEO Foundation and Nordic Innovation Quantum represent ~$30M in regional research capital this cycle, all with deadlines clustered in May-August. For WASH practitioners, the three Water Research Foundation calls together (each up to $200K) are a cluster worth reading across — one on AI deployment, one on shutoff alternatives, one rewarding applied innovation — and the strongest applicants will articulate how their work bridges utility operations to policy-relevant evidence. For US-based clinical researchers and educators, the four Pfizer calls plus the APF Portfolio’s 80+ programs form an unusually accessible recurring pipeline; APF’s prohibition on indirect costs is a meaningful structural feature for early-career applicants whose institutions might otherwise absorb significant overhead. Snapshot of New Opportunities Total Estimated Funding Pool: $100 Million+ USD The grants are organized into three categories: Open Calls: Current grant and opportunities with a deadline. Grants are listed by closing date. 39 open opportunities- 14 new! Rolling Applications: current grant and opportunities with rolling applications (but it’s still best to submit as early as possible). 14 rolling opportunities- 1 new opportunity! Long term planning: Grants that have closed their current rounds, but are expected to open new windows. 4 long term opportunities! A quick tip for returning readers: if you want to jump straight to the newest additions, use CTRL F to search for “New!” and navigate quickly to the latest funding opportunities This post is for paid subscribers. This helps support the time and effort it takes to curate and organize these opportunities. Subscribe To keep this accessible to everyone who needs it, we’re happy to offer pay what you can rates. You can find more details here. Open Calls: Migraine Competitive Grant Program: Migraine and Women’s Health (Quality Improvement and/or Research RFP), Pfizer.*Closing soon!* Pfizer, in collaboration with the American Headache Society, is seeking independent quality improvement and research projects that close persistent gaps in migraine care for women across the United States. The funding logic centers on measurable, practice-relevant change: proposals should generate actionable evidence, tools, or system improvements that can be shared and used widely, not just within a single site. Priority areas span menstrual migraine and screening in women’s health settings, the role of hormonal fluctuations across the lifespan, sex-specific risk factors, comorbidities and quality-of-life burden, and disparities in outcomes by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The call is structured as a two-step competitive process with an initial Letter of Intent, with the strongest concepts expected to translate scientific insight into implementable improvements in diagnosis, management, and equity. Geographies: United States. Who can apply: U.S.-based organizations (not individuals), including professional schools, healthcare institutions, professional organizations, and other entities focused on healthcare improvement. Funding amount: Up to USD $200,000 total over 2 years; total pool USD $500,000. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Health; Focus areas: migraine, women’s health, quality improvement, clinical research, menstrual migraine, health disparities. Deadline: LOI: May 5, 2026; Full proposal (by invitation): August 28, 2026. Learn more and apply here. This RFP rewards “shareable impact”: the most competitive submissions will pair rigorous methods with a clear plan for system uptake and dissemination beyond the originating institution. ReSSARC: Strengthening the Health Sector and Food Security in the Central African Republic (AID 013381/01/0) Call for Proposals, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). *Closing soon!* AICS is seeking a limited set of high-capacity humanitarian partners to deliver an integrated package that stabilizes essential health services while reducing acute malnutrition and strengthening food security resilience in priority areas of the Central African Republic. The funder’s logic is explicitly nexus-based: proposals should meet urgent, life-saving needs while reinforcing local systems, coordination mechanisms, and community-level capacity so results persist beyond the emergency window. AICS emphasizes inclusion and protection outcomes, expecting gender-sensitive design and explicit measures for groups facing compounded vulnerability, including women, children under five, internally displaced people, and people with disabilities. The call also signals a localization pathway, encouraging stronger collaboration with national NGOs and balanced partnerships, alongside clear coordination with existing cluster and humanitarian actors to minimize duplication and improve coverage. Geographies: Central African Republic (Bangui, Ombella-Mpoko, Ouham, Ouham-Pende, Lim-Pende, Lobaye). Who can apply: Non-profit organizations registered with AICS, plus eligible non-profits without an office in Italy that have a pre-existing collaboration agreement with an AICS-listed organization. Funding amount: Total pool EUR €1,800,000; max EUR €800,000 (single applicant) or EUR €1,000,000 (ATS). Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Health; Focus areas: malnutrition prevention and treatment, maternal and child health, community health services, food security and resilience, localization partnerships Deadline: May 5, 2026. Learn more and apply here. This call is structured to reward partners who can link frontline service delivery to system durability and localization, not just short-term coverage gains. Contracts for Innovation in drug and alcohol addiction healthcare, Innovate UK. *Closing soon!* Innovate UK, on behalf of the Office for Life Sciences Addiction Healthcare Goals program, is procuring R&D to accelerate innovations that can improve treatment outcomes, strengthen recovery, and reduce harm and deaths linked to drug and alcohol addiction. The competition is positioned as a market-facing readiness push: selected projects are expected to advance solutions toward later-stage validation, generate evidence of user acceptability and UK market fit, and map credible routes through regulatory and certification requirements. Innovate UK signals a preference for innovations that can be field-tested in relevant UK settings and progressed to TRL 6 or 7, with practical plans for commercialization after contract completion. This structure favors applicants that can execute most work in-house, co-develop with service providers and people with lived experience, and translate technical progress into deployable tools for addiction healthcare delivery. Geographies: United Kingdom. Who can apply: Single organizations of any size (including EU, EEA, or international) leading delivery, with most work and key deliverables carried out in the UK; subcontractors for specialist skills only. Funding amount: GBP £200,000–1.5 million per project (inclusive of VAT); Total pool: GBP £20 million (across two strands). Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Health; Focus areas: Mental Health, Health Systems Strengthening, Research & Development, Technology Access. Deadline: May 6, 2026 (11:00am). Learn more and apply here. This call uses procurement to pull near-market addiction innovations toward operational proof and adoption pathways in UK services.
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In letter, Hassan raises concerns about methadone clinic's business practices and substandard care
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Colorado sports gambling bill aimed at preventing bets from leading to bankruptcies
Brendan Sorsby and college football's first major modern gambling scandal
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Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby to enter gambling addiction program, away from team indefinitely
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NEO health boards host second joint professional development training
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Health Dept. to present workshop with resources for problem gambling
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Mobile Health and Recovery Services Expand
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Critical Access Toolkit for Substance Use Disorder
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Opinion: Let's take closer look at sports gambling addictions in CT
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Don’t expand Colorado Lottery into online gaming
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Blockbuster GLP-1 Diabetes and Weight Loss Drugs Fails in Alzheimer’s Trial
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UF Health Florida Recovery Center director dies: ‘He truly brought FRC to life’
Dr. Scott Teitelbaum helped hundreds through addiction recovery
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How mental health and addiction services in Cuyahoga County could get funded – or cut
A Cuyahoga County agency will require mental health and addiction providers to compete for funding under a new proposal. Here's why.
The biggest takeaways from the new RFK Jr. tell-all, from addiction to affairs
An unauthorized biography on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is detailing the ups, downs and inner thoughts of the famed family member-turned-health secretary.
Portland Lawmaker Wants to Majorly Turn Up the Dial on Forced Mental Health and Addiction Treatment
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Online Sports Betting Is Fueling Financial Risk in Florida
Experts warn that permissive policies and app-based betting are accelerating addiction, especially among young men.
St. Augustine food festival raises money for mental health and addiction services
The Screen Time Maximalists Who Spend an Ungodly Amount of Time on Their Phones
As debates over social media addiction rage, people with extreme screen times tell WIRED they have no plans to cut back.