public health
AgZen’s RealCoverage wants to keep pesticides only where they are needed
A 2021 study found that if farmers didn’t use pesticides, they would lose 78% of fruit production, 54% of vegetable production, and 32% of cereal production. At the same time,…
Veteran life sciences firm RA Capital spins up ‘planetary health’ team to ride climate tech wave
Partners at RA Capital realized that if they didn’t try to address climate change and its health effects, their life science investments wouldn’t be as impactful.
Could AI be the spark that ends the opioid epidemic?
Researchers have spent almost two decades trying to better understand the social and systemic factors behind opioid addiction.
The California Air Resources Board voted Thursday afternoon to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in the Golden State. The full effect of the binding decision will kick…
Disease-related risk management is now a thing, and this young startup is at the forefront
Charity Dean has been in the national spotlight lately because she was among a group of doctors, scientists and tech entrepreneurs who sounded the pandemic alarm early last year and…
TikTok funds first episodic public health series ‘VIRAL’ from NowThis
TikTok is taking another step toward directly funding publishers’ content with today’s announcement that it’s financially backing the production of media publisher NowThis’ new series, “VIRAL,” which will feature interviews…
The toilet paper startup backed by Marc Benioff, Dara Khosrowshahi and Robert Downey Jr. now sells paper towels
Cloud Paper, the startup whose bamboo toilet paper (and celebrity and billionaire backers, including Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Marc Benioff, Dara Khosrowshahi and Mark Cuban) made a splash last…
Twitter rolls out vaccine misinformation warning labels and a strike-based system for violations
Twitter announced Monday that it would begin injecting new labels into users’ timelines to push back against misinformation that could disrupt the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. The labels, which will…
Providing healthcare to lower-income communities values Cityblock Health at $1 billion
Cityblock Health, a company that provides healthcare services to low-income communities, is now commanding a high-priced valuation of over $1 billion after venture capitalists poured $160 million into the company.…
Twentyeight Health partners with Healthify to expand its reproductive and sexual health services
Targeting the population that’s most underserved with new treatment options has been part of the mission for Twentyeight Health since its launch. Now a new partnership with the venture-backed startup…
Hangar raises $15 million for its venture studio for government technology startups
Josh Mendelsohn, the Bloomberg digital campaign advisor and venture studio founder, thinks that cash-constrained government agencies from the local to the federal level aren’t using technology effectively enough to meet…
Pinewood Atlanta Studios outlines safety measures as it prepares to restart movie and TV production
Frank Patterson, president and CEO of Pinewood Atlanta Studios, said that in March, its 1 million-plus square feet of studio and office space were “utterly full” with two major films…
Join us June 17 for a live discussion on COVID-19 contact tracing and safe reopening strategies
Contact tracing is a practice almost as old as epidemiology itself, but today’s technology means the way that we go about tracking the spread of a contagious illness within and…
EU states agree a tech spec for national coronavirus apps to work across borders
European Union countries and the Commission have agreed on a technical framework to enable regional coronavirus contacts tracing apps to work across national borders. A number of European countries have…
Join us June 3 for a contact-tracing and exposure-notification app development and deployment forum [Update: Event postponed]
Update 6/2/20: We’ve decided to postpone tomorrow’s COVID-19 CT/EN forum to June 17th. In light of the very important conversations that need to happen around justice, police brutality and race in…
Stay-at-home order for 7 million Bay Area residents extended to end of May
A stay-at-home order for several San Francisco Bay Area counties will be extended through the end of May due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a decision that affects 7 million residents…
EU privacy body urges anonymization of location data for COVID-19 tracking
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has published guidance for the use of location data and contacts tracing tools intended to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Europe’s data…
FDA grants emergency authorization to system that decontaminates N95 respirator masks for re-use
The global coronavirus pandemic has meant that there’s a widespread effort to develop and advance creative solutions to new problems, like worldwide shortages of necessary front-line medical equipment. One piece…
Facebook releases a trio of maps to aid with fighting disease outbreaks
Facebook this morning announced a new initiative focused on using its data and technologies to help nonprofit organizations and universities working in public health better map the spread of infectious…
Twitter launches new search features to stop the spread of misinformation about vaccines
As measles outbreaks in the United States and other countries continue to get worse, Twitter is introducing new search tools meant to help users find credible resources about vaccines. It…
UK health minister leans on social media platforms to delete anti-vax content
Social media-fueled anti-vaxxer propaganda is the latest online harm the U.K. government is targeting. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today program this morning, health secretary Matt Hancock said he will…
Want to know where epidemics are flaring up around the world? Metabiota has the tool for you
In an effort to inform the public of the health risks breaking out all over the world (or just to scare the bejeezus out of already paranoid people), the startup…
Featured Article
Kencko wants to help you eat more fruit and vegetables
People don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables, that’s despite an embarrassment of options today that include fast grocery delivery and takeout services with a focus on health. A study from the U.S-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released last November found that just one in ten adults in America “meet the federal fruit…
RideAlong is helping police officers de-escalate 911 calls with data designed for the field
RideAlong keeps people in mind, and that’s a good thing. The company, founded by Meredith Hitchcock (COO) and Katherine Nammacher (CEO), aims to make streets safer, not with expansive surveillance…
