Publications from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provide objective and straightforward advice to decision makers and the public. This site includes Health and Medicine Division (HMD) publications released after 1998. A complete list of HMD’s publications from its establishment in 1970 to the present is available as a PDF.

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  Food Literacy: How Do Communications and Marketing ... Released: November 06, 2015

  On September 3–4, 2015, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Food and Nutrition Board convened a workshop in Washington, DC, to discuss how communications and marketing impact consumer knowledge, skills, and behavior around food, nutrition, and healthy eating.
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  Supporting Family and Community Investments for Young ... Released: November 03, 2015

  On July 27–29, 2015, the Forum on Investing in Young Children Globally, in partnership with the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences, held a workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to examine topics related to supporting family and community investments in young children globally. The workshop also included discussions on how systems can better support children, families, and communities through acute disruptions such as the Ebola outbreak.
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  Using Existing Platforms to Integrate and Coordinate ... Released: November 02, 2015

  The integration and coordination of health, education, nutrition, social protection, and other services have the potential to improve the lives of children and their caregivers around the world. However, integration and coordination of policies and programs affecting early childhood development can create both risks and benefits. In different localities, these services are more or less effective in achieving their objectives.
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  The Role of Clinical Studies for Pets with Naturally Occurring ... Released: October 30, 2015

  Recently, there has been renewed interest in comparative oncology— the study of naturally developing cancers in animals as models for human disease—as one way to improve cancer drug development and reduce attrition of investigational agents. Tumors that spontaneously develop in pet dogs and other companion animals as a result of normal aging share many characteristics with human cancers, such as histological appearance, tumor genetics, biological behavior, molecular targets, and therapeutic response.
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  Health Literacy and Consumer-Facing Technology: Workshop ... Released: October 28, 2015

  The proliferation of consumer-facing technology and personal health information technology has grown steadily over the past decade, and has certainly exploded over the past several years. The goal of this workshop was to explore health literate practices in health information technology and then provide and consider the ramifications of this rapidly growing field on the health literacy of users.
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  Rapid Medical Countermeasure Response to Infectious ... Released: October 12, 2015

  On March 26 and 27, 2015, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events; Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation; and Forum on Microbial Threats co-convened a workshop in Washington, DC, to discuss how to achieve rapid and nimble MCM capability for new and emerging threats.
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  Opportunities to Promote Children's Behavioral Health: Health ... Released: October 07, 2015

  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has several provisions that could greatly improve the behavioral health of children and adolescents in the United States. To explore how the ACA and other aspects of health care reform can support innovations to improve children’s behavioral health and sustain those innovations over time, the Forum on Promoting Children’s Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Health held a workshop in Washington, DC, on April 1–2, 2015, titled “Opportunities to Promote Children’s Behavioral Health: Health Care Reform and Beyond.”
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  Providing Sustainable Mental and Neurological Health Care ... Released: October 01, 2015

  Mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders are the leading cause of disability and the 10th leading cause of death worldwide. Despite this high burden, there is a significant shortage of resources available to prevent, diagnose, and treat these disorders. Approximately four out of five people with serious MNS disorders living in low- and middle-income countries do not receive needed health services, with Sub-Saharan Africa having one of the largest treatment gaps.
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  How Modeling Can Inform Strategies to Improve Population ... Released: September 30, 2015

  The health sector has a growing need to use modeling to inform policy decisions and for selecting and refining potential strategies (e.g., ranging from interventions to investments) to improve the health of communities and the nation. Modeling has been used across many disciplines to assist in the development of public policy decisions for decades. A growing interest in systems science approaches to population health has led public health researchers, regulators and others to turn to modeling more than ever, and many types of models have been used to forecast health effects associated with current and future risk behaviors. For example, tobacco control and infectious disease are two areas where modeling has been used to inform health policy decisions.
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  Assessing and Improving the Interpretation of Breast Images ... Released: September 24, 2015

  Since 2005, a substantial new body of research pertaining to mammography interpretation has been published. To explore this evidence and its policy implications, the IOM’s National Cancer Policy Forum, with support from the American Cancer Society (ACS), brought together experts and members of the public for the workshop, “Assessing and Improving the Interpretation of Breast Images,” which was held on May 12 and 13, 2015, in Washington, DC. At this workshop, clinicians and researchers, along with representatives from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Cancer Institute (NCI), and patient advocacy organizations, discussed potential options for action to improve the quality of mammography interpretation.