Social distancing and stay-at-home measures provided scientists with a natural experiment to study social phenomena that hinge precisely on human mobility and contact — including criminal activity. A study by Center for the U.S. and Mexico experts and co-authors explores the relationship between COVID-19 and criminal activity in Mexico.
Sean Fiorella, Tony Payan, Daniel Potter, Rodrigo Montes de OcaJuly 23, 2023
Gun shows are public gatherings where licensed gun dealers and private gun owners use formal and informal venues to exchange information or sell and buy firearms, accessories, and ammunition. A major challenge is that gun shows, unlike established business locations, can be considered gray zones where regulatory loopholes facilitate the movement of legal firearms to illegal domains both domestically and internationally.
The author proposes a model that explains how stressors such as constant uncertainty and legal vulnerability can affect the mental health of undocumented immigrants — and how, paradoxically, they can also make migrant communities more resilient. Learn more in Current Opinion in Psychology.
The authors examine a proposal for new human embryo and embryoid guidelines, writing that before conducting any research beyond day 14, scientists must develop clear, thoughtful and culturally sensitive guidelines that include limitations and oversight procedures to ensure that science responds to societal needs and values.
Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Ana S. Iltis, Sam LoweDecember 21, 2021
This study finds that Maryland's all-payer model for healthcare comparatively lowered the risk of complications from surgery, as well as reducing increases in associated costs.
Anaeze C. Offodile II, Oluseyi Aliu, Andrew W. P. Lee, Jonathan E. Efron, Robert S. D. Higgins, Charles ButlerSeptember 28, 2021
This journal article explores why the public and stakeholders should help develop guidelines and policies governing scientific practices for controversial biomedical research issues, such as genetically editing human embryos.
Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Ana S. Iltis, Sarah HooverSeptember 22, 2021
It now seems technically feasible to culture human embryos beyond the “fourteen‐day limit,” which has the potential to increase scientific understanding of human development and perhaps improve infertility treatments. Robust stakeholder engagement preceded adoption of the fourteen‐day limit and should arguably be part of efforts to reassess it, write the authors.
Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Ana S. Iltis, Daniel S. Wagner, Nuria Gallego Marquez, Jason Scott Robert, Inmaculada de Melo-Martín, Marieke Bigg, Sarah Franklin, Soren Holm, Ingrid Metzler, Matteo A. Molè, Jochen Taupitz, Giuseppe Testa, Jeremy SugarmanFebruary 26, 2021
Largely informal networks of binational cooperation between government actors are effective, but depend on the determination and ability of individuals to create and maintain them. As a result, this form of binational cooperation is vulnerable to variables in personality and changing political winds.