Henrietta Lacks’ estate settles with Novartis over the ‘stolen cells’ that advanced science By Associated PressFeb. 28, 2026

https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/28/henrietta-lacks-novartis-settlement-over-hela-cell-line/

From ALS to dental floss: Here are the teams competing in STAT Madness 2026 Voting begins Monday to pick the past year’s most important biomedical research

https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/27/stat-madness-2026-contestants-64-teams-from-50-labs/ By Amanda EricksonFeb. 27, 2026 News Editor

Kennedy announces new vaccine advisory committee members after meeting rescheduled The new appointments come during an unstable time for ACIP

https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/27/two-new-members-added-cdc-vaccine-advisory-committee-acip/ By Chelsea CirruzzoFeb. 27, 2026 Washington Correspondent

Trump most-favored nation drug pricing deals end after three years for some companies Two drugmakers reveal the length of their agreements in SEC filings

https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/27/trump-drug-prices-pharma-mfn-deals-3-year-terms/ By John WilkersonFeb. 27, 2026 Washington Correspondent

MLP-based explainable AI model for nurses’ career fulfilment prediction Dara Thomas [1,2] , Ying Li* [1] , Joel Dossa [3] , Chiagoziem C. Ukwuoma [4,5] , Temitope Ogunnupebi [6,7] , Oluwatoyosi Bamisile [8] , Gyarteng E. S. Addai [9]

https://www.academia.edu/academia-ai-and-applications/2/1/10.20935/AcadAI8163 Nurses’ career fulfilment in resource-constrained primary healthcare (PHC) systems of Western Africa significantly impacts workforce stability and healthcare delivery quality. This study introduces a novel, data-driven predictive modelling framework using a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) neural network, augmented with interpretability and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) techniques, such as quantile-quantile (Q-Q) plot, heatmap, feature importance, Williams plot, Shapley additive explanations (SHAP), and Local interpretable model-agnostic explanations (LIME), to accurately predict and interpret career fulfilment among PHC nurses from six Western African countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Sierra Leone). A comprehensive dataset comprising 5120 PHC nurses’ responses was collected through validated instruments aligned with Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory. Rigorous data preprocessing included normality checks, multicollinearity assessment, and robust statistical validations. The optimised MLP model demonstrated exceptional predictive accuracy with a Mean Squared Error (MSE) of 0.015, Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of 0.122, Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.035, and R2 score of 0.970, validated through 5-fold cross-validation. XAI methods, including SHAP and LIME analyses, provided granular insights into country-specific determinants of career fulfilment, highlighting the dual role of hygiene factors and motivators, especially workplace safety, autonomy, professional development, and performance-based promotions. This study’s methodological innovations and practical insights offer targeted, actionable strategies to enhance nursing career satisfaction, retention, and healthcare quality in resource-limited settings. https://www.academia.edu/journals/academia-ai-and-applications/articles?source=journal-top-nav

The Midterms Lurk Behind Every Health Policy Move Now Author: Drew Altman Published: Feb 26, 2026

https://www.kff.org/from-drew-altman/the-midterms-lurk-behind-every-health-policy-move-now/?utm_campaign=KFF-This-Week&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_IgIGaxVV3ZuSHWf1CjsDnhByxTYqBMRwzUg5cXK-J-0kjd82Q1Y2CPCXgegt1l6tTzLvK7ZHkgH3OeK206OOgELjRGA&_hsmi=406063538&utm_content=406063538&utm_source=hs_email Look for the midterms to play a role in every health policy decision until November, as both Republicans and Democrats maneuver for advantage with voters. That’s the case with two recent Trump administration moves to strengthen the hand of Republicans in the midterm elections. Democrats start out with a significant advantage on health in the midterms, but rather than cut and run to other issues, Trump wants Republicans to try to erode that advantage where they can.

Status of State Medicaid Expansion Decisions Published: Feb 27, 2026

https://www.kff.org/medicaid/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions/ The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion expanded Medicaid coverage to nearly all adults with incomes up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level ($21,597 for an individual in 2025) and provided states with an enhanced federal matching rate (FMAP) for their expansion populations.