Andrew March - Böcker

This mirror for princes sheds light on the relationship between spiritual and political authority in early modern EgyptThis guide to political behavior and expediency offers advice to Sufi shaykhs, or spiritual guides, on how to interact and negotiate with powerful secular officials, judges, and treasurers, or emirs. Translated into English for the first time, it is a unique account of the relationship between spiritual and political authority in late medieval / early modern Islamic society.

Developing a new drug or biological agent to treat cancer is a long and painstaking process. Almost daily, advances are made in basic science that unmask the biological machinery of cancer and other diseases. Yet the speed at which new cancer treatments emerge has remained slow at best. This new book by the Institute of Medicine examines impediments to developing new agents to treat cancer. It then offers recommendations on how to eliminate or reduce barriers without compromising the scientific integrity of the research process or lowering the standards of evidence for approving new treatments. "Shortening the Time Line for New Cancer Treatments" carefully examines the steps involved in developing new treatments for cancer from the conception and testing of a new agent through to its final availability to patients. From a focused study of the history of public and private investment in cancer drug development to an assessment of recent changes in science that may alter the ways in which new cancer drugs will be developed, this important new book will be valuable to a variety of readers.The recommendations in the book are specifically offered to the National Cancer Institute, the Food and Drug Administration, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, academic research institutions, and the advocacy community, all of whom bear considerable responsibility and wield considerable influence in directing the tools for cancer drug development.

Approximately 4 million pregnant people in the United States give birth annually, and 70 percent of these individuals take at least one prescription medication during their pregnancy. Yet, due to a number of historical, ethical, legal, scientific, and societal issues, pregnant and lactating persons are often excluded from clinical trials. As a result, pregnant and lactating persons are often taking drugs based on limited information about the benefits and risks to themselves and their developing or newborn baby.The National Academies Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation convened a workshop in June 2022 for stakeholders to examine the current state of evidence generation for drug products used by pregnant and lactating persons and discuss barriers and opportunities for including these populations in clinical trials. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.

Congress called on the National Academies to convene a committee to examine the real and perceived risks of liability arising from research conducted with pregnant and lactating women. The resulting report, Clinical Research with Pregnant and Lactating Populations: Overcoming Real and Perceived Liability Risks, explores and finds limited evidence of legal liability for inclusion of pregnant and lactating women in clinical research, contradicting perceptions of heightened liability. The committee also makes recommendations that could lead to a more robust evidence base about the safety and efficacy of medications for pregnant and lactating women that would facilitate more informed decision making regarding care while mitigating liability.

Around 10-20% of people who contract Lyme disease, the most common tickborne disease in the U.S., develop persistent, often debilitating symptoms such as chronic pain, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction. Lyme infection-associated chronic illnesses (IACI) share symptoms common to other IACI such as Long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. Despite the chronic impact on the quality of life for many people, there are currently no validated interventions to treat Lyme IACI.In response to this unmet need, the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation asked the National Academies to convene a committee of experts to assess the evidence for disease mechanisms, diagnoses, and treatments of Lyme IACI and illuminate a pathway for the development of new treatments. The resulting report, Charting a Path Toward New Treatments for Lyme Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses, makes recommendations around developing treatments that improve function and quality of life based on currently available evidence, while continuing research to identify root causes and mechanisms of the disease.