November 4 - Former NAS President Bruce Alberts, former NIH Director and IOM member Elias Zerhouni, and Nobel prize-winning chemist and NAS member Ahmed Zewail have been appointed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to serve as science envoys to Muslim majority countries. The envoys will travel to North Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia "to fulfill President Obama’s mandate to foster scientific and technological collaboration," Clinton said, speaking at a forum in Morocco.‪

November 3 - Earlier last week Bill and Melinda Gates launched a new project through their foundation in order to emphasize the importance of government contributions to global health. The couple highlighted the previous success of U.S. government initiatives in combating malaria, reducing child mortality rates through immunization, and preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. These successes underscore how critical maintaining global health care funding is, despite the recent economic downturn.

October 20 - The U.S. Census Bureau has released alternative estimates of poverty for the 2008 calendar year. The Bureau’s calculations are based on recommendations in the 1995 National Research Council report, “Measuring Poverty: A New Approach.” Using the report’s revised definitions, the Census Bureau calculated a higher rate of poverty (15.8 percent) than the Bureau’s official annual estimate (13.2 percent).

October 20 - Nine years after the publication of Healthy People 2010, not one state has met the report's recommended consumption of fruits and vegetables. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examining fruit and vegetable consumption within each state says that children and adults still do not choose enough fruits and vegetables for better health and reduced obesity.

October 14 - The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced this week that it will add Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease, and hairy-cell leukemia to its list of illnesses presumed to be service-connected, allowing veterans to receive disability compensation and health care. The VA's decision was reportedly influenced by the IOM's findings.