National Academies of Sciences Engineeri

The lack of a clear and consistent definition for Long COVID presents challenges for policymakers, researchers, public health professionals, clinicians, support services, and patients. As such, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health asked the...

A high-quality preschool education can foster critical development and learning that promotes joyful, affirming, and enriching learning opportunities that prepare children for success in school and life. While preschool programs generally provide emotionally supportive environments, their curricula often fall short in advancing learning in...

Women make up over half of the U.S. population, yet research on women's health conditions, including those that are female specific such as fibroids, more common among women such as anxiety, or affect women differently such cardiovascular disease, is severely lacking. Medical advances for...

Engaging the full breadth of talent in the United States is an important component of growing and sustaining dominance in research and development (R&D) and supporting national security into the future. By 2030, one-fifth of Americans will be above age 65 and at or...

The strengths and abilities children develop from infancy through adolescence are crucial for their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, which in turn help them to achieve success in school and to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and healthy adults. Capable, responsible, and healthy adults are...

The education landscape in the United States has been changing rapidly in recent decades: student populations have become more diverse; there has been an explosion of data sources; there is an intensified focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; educators and policy makers at...

Patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) studies consider the questions and outcomes that are meaningful to patients to compare the effectiveness of different prevention, diagnostic, and treatment options. PCOR also increases patient involvement in their care by providing them an opportunity to evaluate the quality, outcomes,...

Whole health is physical, behavioral, spiritual, and socioeconomic well-being as defined by individuals, families, and communities. Whole health care is an interprofessional, team-based approach anchored in trusted relationships to promote well-being, prevent disease, and restore health. It aligns with a person's life mission, aspiration,...

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic condition that affects approximately 100,000 people in the United States and millions more globally. Individuals with SCD endure the psychological and physiological toll of repetitive pain as well as side effects from the pain treatments they undergo....

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Roundtable on Obesity Solutions convened a three-part workshop series that explored how structural racism, weight bias and stigma, and health communication intersect with obesity, gaps in the evidence base, and challenges and opportunities for long-term, systems-wide...

Cancer treatment can lead to an array of significant short- and long-term physical, psychosocial, and socioeconomic consequences for patients and their families. To examine the opportunities to prevent and mitigate the adverse effects of cancer treatment, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine...

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the lives of children and their families, who have faced innumerable challenges such as illness and death; school closures; social isolation; financial hardship; food insecurity; deleterious mental health effects; and difficulties accessing health care. In...

The National Academies Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education hosted a Fall 2022 workshop series to explore the various needs of an aging population and an ideal health workforce with the numbers and skillset to match those needs. Discussions included the composition...

The U.S. Department of Defense is pursuing an improved ability to more closely integrate and operate jointly against agile adversaries through Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2). This framework will seamlessly integrate sensors, networks, platforms, commanders, operators, and weapon systems for rapid information collection,...

Individuals from minoritized racial and ethnic groups continue to face systemic barriers that impede their ability to access, persist, and thrive in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) higher education and workforce. Without actively dismantling policies and practices that disadvantage people from minoritized...

The United States faces an alarmingly high rate of maternal morbidity and mortality, distinguishing it from other high-income countries that have achieved decreases in these rates in recent years. U.S. maternal morbidity and mortality rates are disproportionate across racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic groups....

As part of its responsibilities under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for the air pollutants carbon monoxide, lead, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, ozone, and sulfur dioxide. EPA uses a "weight of evidence...

Although much research has been conducted on community-level factors related to the risk of dementia in general, less is known about the factors that affect the ability of older adults with dementia to age in place successfully. Additional research could lead to a better...

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other U.S. science research agencies operate a fleet of research aircraft and other airborne platforms that offer diverse capabilities. To inform NASA's future investments in airborne platforms, this study examines whether a large aircraft that would...

Valued for its ecological richness and economic value, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico is under substantial pressure from human activities. The Deepwater Horizon platform explosion and oil spill significantly damaged Gulf ecosystems and led to the largest ecological restoration investment in history. The unprecedented...

An accurate measure of poverty is necessary to fully understand how the economy is performing across all segments of the population and to assess the effects of government policies on communities and families. In addition, poverty statistics are essential in determining the size and...

This report reviews Federal Communications Commission order FCC 20-48, which authorized Ligado Networks LLC to operate a low-power terrestrial radio network adjacent to the Global Positioning System (GPS) frequency band. It considers how best to evaluate harmful interference to civilian and defense users of...

The sea ice surrounding Antarctica has increased in extent and concentration from the late 1970s, when satellite-based measurements began, until 2015. Although this increasing trend is modest, it is surprising given the overall warming of the global climate and the region. Indeed, climate models,...

The Intelligence Community Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a 2-day virtual workshop on December 17 and 21, 2021, to explore insights from world-class experts and technologists familiar with the extensive range of issues associated with anticipating rare...

Measuring and analyzing public opinion comes with tremendous challenges, as evidenced by recent struggles to predict election outcomes and to anticipate mass mobilizations. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine publication Measurement and Analysis of Public Opinion: An Analytic Framework presents in-depth information...

Headlines frequently appear that purport to highlight the differences among workers of different generations and explain how employers can manage the wants and needs of each generation. But is each new generation really that different from previous ones? Are there fundamental differences among generations...

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) promise to improve productivity significantly, but there are many questions about how AI could affect jobs and workers. Recent technical innovations have driven the rapid development of generative AI systems, which produce text, images, or other content based on...

Dietary assessment in older adults presents many unique problems due to the diversity of health states and capabilities that span the population group. Little is known about dietary intakes, body composition, and nutritional status among individuals 75 and older. The National Academies Food and...

Among the various segments of society affected by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year and a half, few were hit as hard as the aviation industry. At its worst point, in March 2020, passenger volumes for U.S. airlines had dropped more than 95...

Behavioral economics - a field based in collaborations among economists and psychologists - focuses on integrating a nuanced understanding of behavior into models of decision-making. Since the mid-20th century, this growing field has produced research in numerous domains and has influenced policymaking, research, and...

Biological collections are a critical part of the nation's science and innovation infrastructure and a fundamental resource for understanding the natural world. Biological collections underpin basic science discoveries as well as deepen our understanding of many challenges such as global change, biodiversity loss, sustainable...

Engineering education is emerging as an important component of US K-12 education. Across the country, students in classrooms and after- and out-of-school programs are participating in hands-on, problem-focused learning activities using the engineering design process. These experiences can be engaging; support learning in other...

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), in partnership with other agencies and divisions of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, coordinates a portfolio of projects that build data capacity for conducting patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR). PCOR...

Over the past several decades, supply chain disruptions have repeatedly plagued the U.S. health care system, costing health care systems millions of dollars per year, threatening the clinical research enterprise, and most importantly, imperiling the health and lives of patients. The Committee on Security...

Over the past several decades, more than half of all U.S. states have legalized cannabis for adult and/or medical use, but it remains illegal at the federal level. The public health consequences of cannabis policy changes have not been comprehensively evaluated. Therefore, the Centers...

Carbon materials pervade many aspects of modern life, from fuels and building materials to consumer goods and commodity chemicals. Reaching net-zero emissions will require replacing existing fossil-carbon-based systems with circular-carbon economies that transform wastes like CO2 into useful materials. This report evaluates market opportunities...

The Food Forum of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a virtual workshop, Challenges and Opportunities for Precision and Personalized Nutrition, on August 10-12, 2021. The workshop explored potential challenges and opportunities in the application of precision and personalized nutrition approaches...

Teachers play a critical role in the success of their students, both academically and in regard to long term outcomes such as higher education participation and economic attainment. Expectations for teachers are increasing due to changing learning standards and a rapidly diversifying student population....

There is increasing evidence that civic participation - from voting to volunteering - is a social driver of health. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Roundtable on Population Health Improvement convened a workshop to explore the links between civics and health; between...

Earth systems science aims to discover and integrate knowledge on the structure, nature, and scales of interactions among natural (e.g., physical, chemical, and biological) and social (e.g., cultural, socioeconomic, and geopolitical) processes. Climate-related migration can be temporary or permanent, can involve internal displacement within...

There are approximately 4,000 fatalities in crashes involving trucks and buses in the United States each year. Though estimates are wide-ranging, possibly 10 to 20 percent of these crashes might have involved fatigued drivers. The stresses associated with their particular jobs (irregular schedules, etc.)...

Science and technology are embedded in virtually every aspect of modern life. As a result, people face an increasing need to integrate information from science with their personal values and other considerations as they make important life decisions about medical care, the safety of...

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called...

To explore issues related to community-driven power-building efforts to improve population health, the Roundtable on Population Health Improvement of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a virtual public workshop, "Community Power in Population Health Improvement", on January 28 and 29, 2021....

Between 1980 and mid-2023, 232 billion-dollar disasters occurred in the U.S. Gulf Coast region, with the number of disasters doubling annually since 2018. The variety and frequency of storms have exacerbated historic inequalities and led to cycles of displacement and chronic stress for communities...

Experiencing a single disaster - a hurricane, tornado, flood, severe winter storm, or a global pandemic - can wreak havoc on the lives and livelihoods of individuals, families, communities and entire regions. For many people who live in communities in the U.S. Gulf of...

Despite calls to increase diversity throughout the engineering education enterprise and years of efforts by and collaborations between universities, K-12 schools, and professional societies and other education- or equity-related organizations, Black or African-American individuals, American Indian or Alaska Native individuals, and Hispanic or Latine...

Decades of research have shown that disadvantaged communities exist at the intersection of high levels of hazard exposure and poverty. Geospatial environmental justice (EJ) tools, such as the White House Council on Environmental Quality-developed Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), are designed to...

A convergent manufacturing platform is defined as a system that synergistically combines heterogeneous materials and processes (e.g., additive, subtractive, and transformative) in one platform. The platform is equipped with unprecedented modularity, flexibility, connectivity, reconfigurability, portability, and customization capabilities. The result is one manufacturing platform...

Steel is a common component of U.S. infrastructure, but that steel can corrode when buried in soil, rock, or fill. Steel corrosion is estimated to cost the United States 3-4 percent of its gross domestic product every year, and it can lead to infrastructure...