Click here to read the Healio Exclusive, “Experience builds confidence when it comes to speaking at meetings.”
My journey as a speaker started shortly after finishing residency.
I went to my first American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting and was impressed by how great the lectures were. It made me realize that even though I had just finished training, there was still a lot to learn and that technology changes quickly.
I had just left residency with a vibrant, collegial environment and went to a small private practice with one other doctor. He was a wonderful physician and

Lunara, an FDA PMA-approved overnight orthokeratology lens for the temporary reduction of myopia, is now available, according to a press release from X-Cel Specialty Contacts and Essilor Custom Contacts.
The lens is indicated for temporary reduction of myopia of up to 6 D in eyes with astigmatism up to 1.75 D. It is made with Optimum Infinite (tisilfocon A, Contamac) material, with oxygen permeability of 180 Dk.
Optimum Infinite orthokeratology lenses received premarket approval from the FDA on Feb. 10. Orthokeratology lenses are sometimes used off label to slow the progression of myopia, but

There is no association between circumcision and autism or circumcision and acetaminophen prescription, according to findings from a study of more than 2,700 male children published in JAMA Pediatrics.
During a Cabinet meeting in October 2025, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said circumcision doubled the risk for autism and that it is likely because infants received acetaminophen for pain management.
The Trump administration last year drew a link between prenatal acetaminophen exposure and ADHD or autism, even though experts warn that studies — including a systematic review and

The FDA has approved a first-in-class therapy for the treatment of erythrocytosis for adults with polycythemia vera.
Rusfertide (Mimrylo; Protagonist Therapeutics, Takeda) received approval for adults who have been unable to achieve adequate control with other therapies.
The FDA said in a press release that it based its decision on the randomized, phase 3 VERIFY trial, which showed the proportion of patients who required no phlebotomies between weeks 20 and 32 of the study period was more than double among patients who received rusfertide compared with placebo.
“For patients living with

MUNICH — In patients with cardiac arrest but no ST elevation, immediate coronary angiography did not improve survival or neurological outcomes compared with deferred angiography, according to results of the DISCO study.
“Immediate coronary angiography of the cardiac arrest does not improve survival or neurological outcomes. The case is closed,” Sten Rubertsson, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesiology and intensive care medicine at Uppsala University in Sweden, said during a press conference at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.
The DISCO study was the largest to examine whether immediate

In this video from GlomCon Hawaii, Dana Rizk, MD, professor of medicine in the division of nephrology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, discusses her experience at the meeting.
“[The meeting had] a very collegial atmosphere where people felt very comfortable going up to the mic, asking questions, challenging the speakers ... in a positive environment,” Rizk said.
The sessions covered a wide variety of topics, including complement-driven diseases and genetic disorders, Rizk said.

In this video from GlomCon Hawaii, Dana Rizk, MD, discusses highlights from a presentation concerning the design and execution of phase 4 clinical trials in immunoglobulin A nephropathy.
“How do we move from the efficacy we’re seeing in clinical trials to effectiveness and implementation, essentially, of these clinical trial results in the patient population in [the] real world,” said Rizk, professor of medicine in the division of nephrology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The talk covered many different topics, including how to capture novel safety signals and

In this video from GlomCon Hawaii, Dana Rizk, MD, discusses the results of a phase 3 clinical trial concerning the safety and efficacy of sibeprenlimab-szsi in the treatment of immunoglobulin A nephropathy.
Rizk, professor of medicine in the division of nephrology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, explained the mechanism behind sibeprenlimab-szsi (Voyxact, Otsuka), a monoclonal antibody against a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), and outlined the trial process and emerging data.
“[Sibeprenlimab] is disease-modifying, it hits the heart of the disease pathogenesis, and it

Federal officials announced the release of a new “Treatment First” toolkit that they said is meant to change the government’s strategy for how to reduce homelessness in the U.S.
At a press conference, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., JD, LLM said the toolkit represents a broader shift by the Trump administration away from a housing first strategy that prioritizes putting people into housing and toward a strategy that requires them to enroll in behavioral health treatment as a prerequisite for temporary housing.
“Treatment First brings behavioral health, housing,

A high proportion of families were willing to participate in a larger trial that evaluated whether reduced infant bathing could help prevent eczema, according to a study published in the British Journal of Dermatology.
“The primary outcome, that 44% of eligible families were willing to be randomized, exceeded our a priori estimate of 38%,” Michael R. Perkin, MD, a consultant pediatric allergist at St. George’s Hospital, and colleagues wrote. “Overall, our findings suggest that we could feasibly conduct a larger trial to investigate whether reducing infant bathing can help prevent eczema.”