Tag: health

Facebook starts prompting US users to fill out a COVID-19 survey to help track the virus

Starting today, some U.S. Facebook users will see a new pop-up on the app asking them to fill-out a survey about COVID-19. The survey, from Carnegie Mellon University’s Delphi epidemiological research center, is one of many new symptom mapping projects that seek to anticipate where the next wave of the…

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As demand for mental health services soars, SonderMind raises $27 million to expand its services

“Our real focus is on democratizing mental healthcare,” says SonderMind co-founder chief executive, Mark Frank. His company, founded back in 2017, is having a moment. With the restrictions and economic stresses caused by the government’s efforts to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in the US, demand for mental…

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A second potential COVID-19 vaccine, backed by Bill and Melinda Gates, is entering human testing

A new COVID-19 vaccine candidate is entering Phase 1 clinical human testing today, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted an application from Inovio Pharmaceuticals under the regulator’s Investigational New Drug program. Inovio plans to inject its first volunteer test subject with the INO-4800 DNA vaccine candidate it…

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EU privacy experts push a decentralized approach to COVID-19 contacts tracing

A group of European privacy experts has proposed a decentralized system for Bluetooth-based COVID-19 contacts tracing which they argue offers greater protection against abuse and misuse of people’s data than apps which pull data into centralized pots. The protocol — which they’re calling Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (DP-PPT) — has…

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Creative Destruction Lab launches a new startup program dedicated to COVID-19 response

Global academic science and tech startup accelerator program Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is adding a dedicated stream to its existing areas of focus, which include AI, health sciences, space, quantum computing, blockchain, energy, and oceans. The new addition is a timely one: CDL Recovery, which is designed to help turn…

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Researchers develop emergency ventilator based on resuscitation bags used in ambulances

The need for innovative solutions to address shortages in crucial medical equipment is greater than ever, and a new initiative from a global team of biomedical engineering experts is a perfect example. The team developed a way for resuscitation bags – common pieces of equipment carried by ambulances and paramedics…

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