Much of the health news this year was exhausting and discouraging, as the Trump administration weakened scientific agencies and called into question public health and science itself. Deadly outbreaks of measles, bird flu, foodborne illness and infant botulism highlighted the shortcomings of our surveillance systems. “Backsliding” is the word I used to describe the year’s developments in our podcast’s annual recap episode science quicklyBut it wasn’t all bad news – there were several exciting discoveries on everything from male birth control to GLP-1 weight loss drugs, As we close the door on 2025, here are some of the health developments we’ll see over the next year,
Trump’s war on public health
Health experts have this year warned of the systematic dismantling of federal health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, over the dismantling of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a longtime antivaccine activist who leads the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS pays special attention to life-saving vaccines: CDC changed universal birth recommendation for hepatitis B vaccine and is planning more sweeping changes to the vaccine schedule next year. Kennedy’s FDA could also add “black box” warning labels to COVID vaccines, which agency officials have linked, without evidence, to child deaths. Over the next year we will see developments on the vaccine and drug approval front, as well as other federal government policy changes that could impact the health of Americans.
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GLP-1 pills are here
Blockbuster weight loss drugs like Vegovy (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirazeptide) have been in the news a lot over the past few years, as study after study has shown their ability to cause profound weight loss and treat metabolic, heart and kidney disease. The companies that now make these popular injectable glucagonlike peptide 1 (GLP-1) drugs are Developing pills for weight lossWegovi maker Novo Nordisk’s pill, Ribelsus, was approved in 2019 for type 2 diabetes, A version of that pill received FDA approval on December 22 specifically for weight loss, But Eli Lilly, the maker of Zepbound, also has a pill, It remains to be seen how effective the pill formulation will be,
America’s measles-free status is at risk
If current infection trends continue, the US could lose its measles-free status by January 2026. Measles—a highly contagious but vaccine-preventable disease—was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. But the past year has seen several large outbreaks of the disease in states like Texas, Utah and South Carolina. Canada lost its measles-free status in November, and if measles continues to spread for a year in the US, the disease will again be considered endemic here.
personalized gene therapy
In May 2025 the world learned that a baby with a rare, life-threatening genetic disease had become the first person to receive A specific gene-editing treatmentThe gene-editing tool CRISPR has already been used to functionally cure people with sickle cell disease, but this was the first time it was used to develop a treatment for an individual with a specific mutation, These treatments may take years to develop, so they are unlikely to bring cure Cure other genetic diseases immediately. But in the coming year, we’ll be keeping an eye on other personalized gene-editing treatments.
more bird flu
The H5N1 strain of avian influenza or bird flu has been sickening wild birds and other animals for many years. It continues to infect US dairy cattle and poultry flocks; The outbreak in chickens was so deadly that egg prices soared earlier this year. After a summer lull, bird flu became dominant again this fall, as seasonal bird migration spread new infections.
Listen to more: Part one of our three-part podcast series on bird flu
We will continue to monitor the outbreak next year. H5N1 has already caused 71 human cases and two deaths In the US by 2024, according to the CDC. Although this virus does not yet appear to spread efficiently from person to person, the more opportunities it has to infect people and animals, the more likely it is that it could mutate and get into a more dangerous form that could potentially cause a pandemic or pandemic.
“Peacekeeper Cell” Treatment
This year was a big year for research on immune system cells, called T regulatory cells, which stop the body from attacking itself: the discovery of these “peacekeeping cells” won a Nobel Prize. And next year regulatory T cell therapy may finally become a reality. By spring 2026, the FDA may approve the first of these therapies: A Regulatory T cell therapy that could prevent graft-versus-host disease In bone marrow transplant recipients. This complication develops when the donor’s bone marrow attacks its new host. Similar therapies are also being developed for autoimmune diseases.
AI will see you now
Artificial intelligence—and especially generative AI—models are reshaping a lot of fields right now, and medicine and health care are no exception. models already exist Estimate a person’s risk of developing breast cancerAnd researchers are now using AI to predict a person’s risk of 1,000 different diseases. We will take a closer look at new uses of AI in health care in 2026. But don’t try to use it for your doctor just yet.
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