Professor of Immunology and Allergy at Imperial College London and 
European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Secretary General

PQ Grass Allergy Immunotherapy: Shared Decision-Making and What's Next, With Mohamed Shamji, PhD

View part 1 of our conversation with Shamji here.

With 6-injection PQ Grass 27,600 SU now backed by mechanistic and clinical data — including a 22.5% improvement in Combined Symptom Medication Score over placebo (

 <.00004) across pooled analyses of PQG309 and PQG306 (n = 75; PQ Grass, n = 40; placebo, n = 35), atop a placebo response commonly reaching 50% — the conversation around allergen immunotherapy is shifting from whether these treatments work to how clinicians and patients choose among an expanding set of options.

In the second part of our conversation with Mohamed Shamji, PhD, Professor of Immunology and Allergy at Imperial College London and Secretary General of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, at the 

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI)

 2026 Annual Meeting held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the focus turned to shared decision-making, the evidence gaps he most wants to see addressed, and the broader preventive potential of immunotherapy. 

Shamji was emphatic that treatment selection — among subcutaneous, sublingual, and accelerated pre-seasonal regimens like PQ Grass — must be driven by patient preference and lifestyle rather than physician default. Some patients find the structured clinic visit commitment of subcutaneous immunotherapy reassuring; others, particularly frequent travelers or those unable to keep regular appointments, are better served by home-based sublingual tablets. Adherence, he noted, is a persistent challenge across all AIT modalities — paradoxically, in part because immunotherapy works: patients who become symptom-free during treatment may stop taking it, just as they might stop a short course of antihistamines once symptoms resolve. The 6-injection model addresses this directly by compressing the entire pre-seasonal course into a small number of clinic visits, removing the daily compliance burden entirely. For pediatric patients, he added, needle aversion introduces an additional layer of complexity that makes route of administration a particularly important part of the shared decision.

On evidence gaps, Shamji identified objective predictive biomarkers as the priority he most wants to see developed alongside PQ Grass. The mechanistic data from PQG309 and PQG306 already demonstrate a clear tolerogenic immune signature — with statistically significant induction of sIgG, sIgG4, sIgA1, and sIgA2 (

 <.01), functional inhibition of allergen-IgE complex binding to B cells pre- and post-season (

 <.01 respectively), and suppression of Th2 and Th2A proliferation (

 <.05) — but translating those signals into validated, patient-facing biomarkers that can demonstrate treatment trajectory in real time remains an unmet need his group at Imperial is actively working toward. 

Finally, Shamji broadened the frame to immunotherapy's preventive dimension — its established ability to prevent new sensitizations and reduce progression to asthma — and previewed early data from his group on virus-like particles expressing the Fel d 1 molecule for cat allergy, which showed promising safety and efficacy in a first-in-human study, pointing toward a new generation of precision immunotherapy platforms he described as the genuinely exciting frontier of the field.

Shamji’s disclosure information was not available.

Layhadi J, Starchenka S, de Kam PJ, et al. PQ Grass 27600 SU effectively induces tolerogenic properties through modulation of humoral and cellular immune responses for the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis. Presented at: AAAAI 2026 Annual Meeting, February 27-March 2, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Abstract #L77

Videos

Shamji shared the factors influencing which treatments are best for each patient and further research he'd like to see.

News

news page, resources on the topics of disease- and specialty-specific medical news and expert insight can be found. Content includes articles, interviews, videos, podcasts, and breaking news on health care research, treatment, and drug development.

Conference

 conference coverage page features articles, videos, and expert-led live coverage from major medical meetings throughout the year.

Seasonal Allergy

Allergy

Allergy condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on allergic and inflammatory diseases. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for food and seasonal allergies, as well as allergic asthma and related conditions.

Balázs Szigeti, PhD, from the Translational Psychedelic Research Program at University of California San Francisco (UCSF)

Psychedelics vs Antidepressants: New Study Challenges the Hype

New findings suggest the perceived advantage of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) for 

 may reflect trial design rather than superior efficacy.

“Psychedelics have generated a lot of hype… When are trying to incorporate how to analyze this issue of functional unblinding into the trials, I would say there is enough good stuff left about psychedelics that is worth looking into, but maybe the efficacy and the promise have been oversold by those early research that did not pay attention to these methodological issues,” said investigator Balázs Szigeti, PhD, from the Translational Psychedelic Research Program at University of California San Francisco (UCSF), in an interview with 

In a recent meta-analysis, Szigeti and colleagues found no statistically significant difference in symptom improvement between PAT and open-label traditional antidepressants (TADs) when accounting for functional unblinding, a known challenge in psychedelic trials. The analysis included 24 studies and compared within-arm changes in depression severity.

, lead investigator Balázs Szigeti, PhD, emphasized that clinicians often focus on between-group differences, assessing how much better a treatment performs than placebo, rather than the total magnitude of symptom improvement experienced by patients.

“That is only half of the story. That just tells you how much better [the treatment] is than the placebo,” Szigeti said. “You really need to know where that baseline [is]... to really interpret this study.”

The analysis found that PAT and open-label antidepressants produced nearly identical reductions in depression scores, with an estimated difference of just 0.3 points on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) (95% confidence interval [CI], −1.39 to 1.98; 

 =.73). These results challenge earlier narratives suggesting psychedelics may offer substantially greater efficacy than standard pharmacotherapy.

A key factor underlying this discrepancy is functional unblinding. Due to the pronounced subjective effects of psychedelics, patients in these trials can often correctly guess their treatment assignment. Szigeti noted that correct guess rates reach approximately 90–95% in psychedelic studies, compared with about 60% in antidepressant trials.

This phenomenon, referred to as the “know-cebo” effect, may be particularly pronounced in psychedelic trials, where participants often enter with high expectations of a transformative experience. When those expectations are not met, outcomes in the control arm may fall well below typical placebo responses seen in antidepressant studies.

“Psychedelics are a very exciting new treatment option,” he said. “A lot of people would like to get it, and they sign up for these trials…it's a lot of paperwork and a lot of effort to participate in these trials. You have to fill out all of the questionnaires, go to the hospital several times, and you also have preparatory psychotherapy. In this psychotherapy, we are typically telling the patients that you know you're going to have this likely life, transformative, mind-expanding experience, a spiritual transformation…we're really building it up in these preparatory therapy sessions. And then, for the unlucky patients, they show up for dosing, they take the capsule, and then nothing happens. Of course, they are disappointed. I know I would be disappointed.”

Szigeti cautioned against interpreting these findings as evidence that psychedelics are ineffective.

“What we show is not that psychedelics are not effective. We are just showing that they are not more effective than open-label antidepressants,” he said. “What this means in practice is that it just seems that the magnitude of the improvement that can be achieved with these 2 treatment modalities [is] the same.”

Williams ZJ, Barnett H, Szigeti B. Psychedelic Therapy vs Antidepressants for the Treatment of Depression Under Equal Unblinding Conditions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. 

Meta-analysis shows psychedelic-assisted therapy offers similar symptom improvement to open-label antidepressants under equal unblinding conditions.


Clinical

clinical page is a resource for content on every specialty, disease, and topic available on our medical news site.

Psychiatry

Psychiatry condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on mental illnesses. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and more.

Major Depressive Disorder

Major Depressive Disorder condition center page, resources on the topics of medical news and expert insight into depression can be found. Content includes articles, interviews, videos, podcasts, and breaking news on MDD research, treatment, and drug development.

Psychedelic Therapy Matches Efficacy of Antidepressants in MDD, With Balázs Szigeti, PhD

Abigail Brooks is an assistant managing editor for 

She joined MJH Life Sciences in August 2023 shortly after graduating from Monmouth University where she earned her BA in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations/Journalism and later an MA in Interactive Digital Media. She enjoys traveling, running, and reading books. She can be reached at abrooks@mjhlifesciences.com.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new higher dose of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide (Wegovy; Wegovy HD) injection 7.2 mg to be used along with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity lose weight and keep it off, provided they have tolerated the 2.4 mg dosage for ≥ 4 weeks and additional weight reduction is clinically indicated.

As described in a March 19, 2026, press release from the Company, the approval is based on the results from the STEP UP trial program. Of note, the new update supplements the existing semaglutide label, which also has distinct indications for semaglutide not offered by any other GLP-1 medication for weight loss.

"Wegovy® HD represents an important new tool in obesity management, allowing clinicians to better tailor treatment strategies and help improve outcomes," W Timothy Garvey, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Diabetes Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in a statement. "The weight loss demonstrated with Wegovy® HD could reshape healthcare professionals' expectations about what outcomes are possible for their patients with Wegovy®."

The FDA initially approved semaglutide 2.4 mg in June 2021 for chronic weight management in adults with obesity or overweight, marking a landmark approval for the GLP-1 RA class. A label expansion in March 2024 added an indication for reduction of cardiovascular risk among adults with obesity or overweight, based on results from the SELECT trial.

Prior to the approval of Wegovy HD, the highest approved dose of semaglutide injectable for weight loss was 2.4 mg, which is also indicated, along with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity, to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack, or stroke in adults with known heart disease and with either obesity or overweight.

The newest approval is based on the results of the STEP UP trial program. STEP UP was a phase 3b 72-week randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled and active-controlled superiority trial designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of semaglutide injection 7.2 mg compared to semaglutide injection 2.4 mg and placebo as an adjunct to lifestyle intervention. A total of 1407 adults with BMI ≥30 kg/m2 without diabetes were included in the trial.

The primary objective was to demonstrate superiority of semaglutide 7.2 mg against placebo on weight loss after 72 weeks with respect to the percentage change in body weight and the proportion of participants achieving weight loss of ≥ 5%. Select confirmatory secondary endpoints included number of participants achieving ≥10%, 15%, 20% and 25% weight loss, with semaglutide 7.2 mg vs placebo (and for ≥ 20% and 25%, semaglutide 7.2 mg vs semaglutide 2.4 mg).

In total, 1407 participants were randomly assigned in a 5:1:1 ratio to receive once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 7.2 mg, 2.4 mg, or placebo, alongside lifestyle intervention, for 72 weeks.

Topline results from the trial were announced in January 2025 and showed statistically significant and superior weight loss at 72 weeks with semaglutide 7.2 mg, compared with placebo, irrespective of treatment adherence.

As described in the release from Novo Nordisk, for those taking Wegovy HD, 89% achieved ≥ 5% body weight loss versus 38% taking placebo (from a baseline body weight of 248 lbs).

The most common adverse reactions reported with Wegovy HD were nausea, vomiting, dysesthesia, constipation, abdominal pain, fatigue, headache, dizziness, hair loss and flatulence. In clinical trials, dysesthesia was reported at a higher rate with Wegovy HD compared to semaglutide 2.4 mg and placebo.

Events related to a clinical picture of altered skin sensation such as sensitive skin, hyperesthesia, dysesthesia and paresthesia were reported by a greater proportion of participants, and at a higher rate, in the Wegovy HD arm (22%), compared to treatment with semaglutide 2.4 mg (6%) and placebo (0.3%).

As described in the press release from Novo Nordisk, Wegovy HD will be available in April through all channels where patients can access semaglutide, including 70,000 plus pharmacies in the US like CVS and Costco, select telehealth providers, NovoCare Pharmacy, GoodRx, and others.

"We are excited to bring Wegovy® HD injection to adults with obesity who are looking for powerful weight loss, as no other weight loss medicine has been studied to show superiority to Wegovy® HD," said Jamey Millar, executive vice president, US Operations of Novo Nordisk. "In addition to significant weight loss, Wegovy® is the only GLP-1 for adults with obesity that is proven to reduce the risk of events such as stroke, heart attack, or cardiovascular death in those who also have known heart disease. Today's milestone expands the strong clinical profile of Wegovy® that includes multiple indications that no other GLP-1 for weight loss can claim."

Novo Nordisk. FDA approves Novo Nordisk's new Wegovy® HD injection, delivering the highest weight loss to date for a Wegovy® injection, adding to its already expansive clinical profile. March 19, 2026. Accessed March 19, 2026. 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fda-approves-novo-nordisks-new-wegovy-hd-injection-delivering-the-highest-weight-loss-to-date-for-a-wegovy-injection-adding-to-its-already-expansive-clinical-profile-302718982.html

Iapoce C. Semaglutide 7.2 mg Displays 20.7% Weight Loss in Phase 3b STEP UP Trial. HCPLive. January 17, 2025. Accessed March 19, 2026. 

https://www.hcplive.com/view/semaglutide-7-2-mg-displays-20-7-weight-loss-in-phase-3b-step-up-trial

Articles

FDA approval of semaglutide 7.2 mg (Wegovy HD) expands dosing options for chronic weight management in adults with obesity without diabetes who have tolerated 2.4 mg for at least four weeks and need further weight reduction. The decision is supported by STEP UP, a 72-week phase 3b randomized, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled superiority trial comparing 7.2 mg with 2.4 mg and placebo alongside lifestyle intervention. High-dose semaglutide increased clinically meaningful weight loss but showed higher rates of altered skin-sensation events.

The approval is based on results from the STEP UP trial program showing substantial weight loss in adults with obesity. 

FDA News

Obesity Management

Obesity Management condition center page, resources on the topics of medical news and expert insight into clinical weight management can be found. Content includes articles, interviews, videos, podcasts, and breaking news on obesity research, treatment, and drug development.

FDA Approves Higher Dose Semaglutide (Wegovy HD) Injection 7.2 mg for Obesity

Allergist-immunologist at Yale New Haven Hospital

Non-Narcotic Analgesic Allergy Labels in Pregnancy Drive Suboptimal Care and Adverse Outcomes, With Chang Su, MD

Unverified drug allergy labels are a well-documented driver of suboptimal prescribing — but a large population-based study presented at the 

 2026 Annual Meeting held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from February 27 to March 2, now extends that harm into the perinatal setting, showing that mothers carrying non-narcotic analgesic allergy labels face significantly elevated risks of eclampsia, preterm birth, and adverse neonatal outcomes compared to those without such labels.

To discuss the findings, we spoke with Chang Su, MD, allergist-immunologist at Yale New Haven Hospital, who conducted the research during her time at University of California San Francisco. The study drew on the Study of Outcomes in Mothers and Infants, a population-based cohort of all singleton livebirths in California between 2016 and 2021 (N = 2,244,210), of which 10,460 were born to mothers carrying non-narcotic analgesic allergy labels (NNAALs). After adjustment for maternal characteristics, NNAALs were significantly associated with increased rates of eclampsia (aRR, 1.5, 95% CI, 1.06-2.12), preterm birth (aRR, 1.21, 95% CI, 1.14-1.28), NICU admission (aRR, 1.17, 95% CI, 1.10-1.25), and neonatal withdrawal syndrome (aRR, 1.51, 95% CI, 1.24-1.84), as well as longer mean infant hospital stays (

 <.0001). A decreased rate of large-for-gestational-age infants was also observed (aRR, 0.92, 95% CI, 0.87-0.98). No significant associations were found with maternal preeclampsia, small-for-gestational-age infants, major structural birth defects, or 5-minute APGAR score below 7.

Su highlighted 2 primary mechanisms through which NNAALs appear to be shaping obstetric management — and outcomes — in ways that diverge from clinical guidelines. First, aspirin is recommended for preeclampsia prevention in up to 85% of pregnant patients with relevant risk factors, yet patients carrying an NSAID or aspirin allergy label are substantially less likely to receive it, even when indicated. The significantly elevated eclampsia risk in the NNAAL cohort — a condition that prophylactic aspirin is specifically intended to prevent — is consistent with that gap in guideline-concordant care, though Su was careful to note the association cannot establish causality with certainty. Second, non-narcotic analgesics are the recommended first-line treatment for postpartum pain, and prior studies have shown that patients with NNAALs receive opioids at higher rates and higher doses postpartum — a prescribing pattern with downstream implications in the context of the ongoing opioid epidemic. Together, Su argued, these findings make a strong case that proactive allergy de-labeling should be considered as part of routine prenatal care, not reserved for specialist referral after an adverse event has already occurred.

“People with NNAALs have a higher risk of eclampsia, whether that's because they're not started on aspirin when they need to or due to other reasons… but it does seem like when patients are less likely to receive the recommended preventative care, that that leads to the adverse outcome that it's aiming to prevent,” Su said.

Su has no relevant disclosures to report.

1. Su C, Baer R, Otani I, Schatz M, Chambers C. The relationship between maternal non-narcotic analgesics allergy labels and maternal and fetal outcomes: results from a large, administrative cohort. Presented at: AAAAI 2026 Annual Meeting, February 27-March 2, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Abstract #L24

2. Non-Narcotic Analgesics Allergy Labels Linked to Adverse Maternal and Fetal Outcomes. News release. AAAAI. February 26, 2026. 

https://www.aaaai.org/about/news/news/2026/narcotic

Su described how NNAALs drive management decisions in pregnancy and post partum care.

Eli Lilly and Company have announced positive topline results from the phase 3 TRANSCEND-T2D-1 trial assessing the efficacy and safety of retatrutide, an investigational first-in-class GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon triple hormone receptor agonist, as an adjunct to diet and exercise in people with type 2 diabetes and inadequate glycemic control.

As described in a March 19, 2026, release from the Company, in the study, retatrutide met the primary and all key secondary endpoints, delivering superior A1C reduction and weight loss at 40 weeks compared to placebo, using both the efficacy and treatment-regimen estimands.

"For many people with type 2 diabetes, it is a struggle to achieve both A1C control and weight loss, since obesity has historically been harder to treat for those with type 2 diabetes," Kenneth Custer, PhD, executive vice president and president, Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, said in a statement. "With triple agonist retatrutide, we set out to make a molecule that could help patients achieve substantial A1C reduction and weight loss. These results support the remarkable potential of this novel molecule for people living with type 2 diabetes, with up to 2% A1C improvement and nearly 17% weight loss in 40 weeks of treatment."

Retatrutide is an investigational once-weekly triple hormone receptor agonist that activates the body's receptors for GIP, GLP-1, and glucagon. Lilly is studying retatrutide in multiple phase 3 clinical trials to evaluate its potential efficacy and safety in obesity and overweight with ≥ 1 weight-related medical problem, type 2 diabetes, knee osteoarthritis, moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea, chronic low back pain, cardiovascular and renal outcomes, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

Lilly announced positive topline results from the phase 3 TRIUMPH-4 clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of retatrutide in adults with obesity or overweight and knee osteoarthritis, and without diabetes, as an adjunct to healthy diet and physical activity in December 2025. In the trial, participants taking retatrutide 12 mg lost an average of 28.7% of their body weight at 68 weeks.

Its use in people with type 2 diabetes and inadequate glycemic control is being assessed in TRANSCEND-T2D-1, a phase 3, 40-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study comparing the efficacy and safety of retatrutide with placebo. The study randomly assigned 537 participants in a 1:1:1:1 ratio to receive either retatrutide 4 mg, 9 mg or 12 mg, or placebo.

The objective of the study was to demonstrate that retatrutide is superior to placebo in A1C reduction from baseline after 40 weeks, in adults with type 2 diabetes who have not taken any anti-diabetes medications for ≥ 90 days prior to visit 1, and are naïve to insulin therapy except for gestational diabetes. Study participants had A1C between ≥7.0% and ≤9.5% and a BMI of ≥23 kg/m2 at visit 1.

Participants randomized to retatrutide initiated treatment with 2 mg once-weekly and increased the dose in a step-wise approach every four weeks until reaching the target dose of 4 mg (via one step at 2 mg), 9 mg (via steps at 2 mg, 4 mg and 6 mg) or 12 mg (via steps at 2 mg, 4 mg, 6 mg and 9 mg).

For the primary endpoint, results showed participants taking retatrutide achieved average A1C reductions of up to 2.0%, using the efficacy estimand. For a key secondary endpoint, participants taking retatrutide lost up to an average of 36.6 lbs (16.8%), using the efficacy estimand. Weight loss continued through the end of the treatment period.

Of note, retatrutide also showed clinically meaningful improvements from baseline across key cardiovascular risk factors, including non-HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and systolic blood pressure.

Consistent with the types of adverse events seen in clinical trials for other incretin-based therapies, the most common adverse events among participants treated with retatrutide (4 mg, 9 mg, 12 mg) were nausea (16.4%, 19.5%, 26.5%, respectively vs 3.7% with placebo), diarrhea (18.7%, 26.3%, 22.8%, respectively vs 4.5% with placebo) and vomiting (15.7%, 15.0%, 17.6%, respectively vs 2.2% with placebo), and occurred primarily during dose escalation.

Incidence of dysesthesia occurred in 4.5%, 2.3% and 4.4% (4 mg, 9 mg and 12 mg, respectively) of patients treated with retatrutide, compared to 0.0% with placebo. Discontinuation rates due to adverse events were 2.2%, 4.5% and 5.1% with retatrutide 4 mg, 9 mg and 12 mg, respectively, compared to 0.0% with placebo.

Lilly described plans to present detailed TRANSCEND-T2D-1 results at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions in June and publish them in a peer-reviewed journal. Additional results from the retatrutide clinical trial program are expected over the next year.

Lilly. Lilly's triple agonist, retatrutide, demonstrated significant reductions in A1C and weight in first Phase 3 trial for treatment of type 2 diabetes. March 19, 2026. Accessed March 19, 2026. 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lillys-triple-agonist-retatrutide-demonstrated-significant-reductions-in-a1c-and-weight-in-first-phase-3-trial-for-treatment-of-type-2-diabetes-302718589.html

Lilly. Lilly's triple agonist, retatrutide, delivered weight loss of up to an average of 71.2 lbs along with substantial relief from osteoarthritis pain in first successful Phase 3 trial. December 11, 2025. Accessed March 19, 2026. 

https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lillys-triple-agonist-retatrutide-delivered-weight-loss-average

Lilly reported positive topline phase 3 data for once-weekly retatrutide, a first-in-class GIP/GLP-1/glucagon triple receptor agonist, in adults with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on no recent antihyperglycemic therapy. In TRANSCEND-T2D-1 (n=537; 40 weeks), retatrutide met the primary and all key secondary endpoints, achieving up to 2.0% A1C reduction and up to 16.8% mean weight loss versus placebo, with continued weight loss through week 40. Safety was characterized mainly by dose-escalation gastrointestinal events and low discontinuation rates.

The first-in-class GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon triple hormone receptor agonist delivered superior A1C reduction and weight loss at 40 weeks in people with type 2 diabetes.

Endocrinology

The HCPLive endocrinology page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on endocrine system conditions. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for diabetes, hormonal disease, and more.

Type 2 Diabetes

Retatrutide Delivers A1C Reduction, Weight Loss in Phase 3 TRANSCEND-T2D-1 Trial

Maya Clark Cutaia, PhD, RN, is the inaugural Evelyn Lauder Associate Dean for Nurse Practitioner Programs and Professor at the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing at Hunter College.

An expert breaks down how poverty, limited healthcare access, and geographic barriers delay CKD diagnosis, reduce transplant access, and widen health disparities, and what clinicians can do about it.


Neighborhood Disadvantage and Its Downstream Effects on Equitable Kidney Care, With Maya Clark Cutaia, PhD, RN

Tim Smith joined the MJH Life Sciences team in 2022 and is currently an associate editor for HCPLive. He is also the executive producer of two podcasts: Skin of Color Savvy and The Medical Sisterhood. Previously, he was the producer of the Lungcast podcast. He graduated from UC Berkeley and worked in multimedia journalism as a staff writer prior to joining MJH. You can contact him at tsmith@mjhlifesciences.com.

This preview highlights key data to watch out for during the 2026 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) meeting in Denver, Colorado.

Plaque Psoriasis

The HCPLive plaque psoriasis page is a resource for medical news and expert insights on psoriasis. This page features expert-led coverage, articles, videos and research on the therapies and development of treatments for psoriatic disease, and more.

Dermatology

The HCPLive dermatology page is a resource for medical news and expert insights on skin disease. This page features expert-led coverage, articles, videos and research on the therapies and development of treatments for dermatologic conditions, and more.

AAD 2026 Preview: Late Breaking Data to Watch

Experts examine how the guidelines represent the evidence base for each step-up agent and address the limited role of laboratory testing in driving treatment decisions.

Interpreting the Treatment Algorithm: Evidence Levels, Diagnostic Workup, and the Stepwise Framework 

Accelerated 5×5 rTMS delivers comparable outcomes to standard protocols, offering faster treatment with key tradeoffs in cost, access, and response timing.

Accelerated rTMS Matches Conventional Protocol in TRD, With Andrew Leuchter, MD

Experts discuss how clinicians can use patient preferences, comorbidities, route of administration, and access considerations to guide decisions.

Individualized Therapy Selection: Shared Decision-Making Among Omalizumab, Dupilumab, and Remibrutinib

Neuen reflects on new FIND-CKD data suggesting finerenone’s benefit in nondiabetic chronic kidney disease and highlights urgency of early screening and combination therapy.

Nephrology

The HCPLive nephrology page is a resource for medical news and expert insights on kidney disease. This page features expert-led coverage, articles, videos and research on the therapies and development of treatments in nephrology, and more.

Chronic Kidney Disease

Expanding the Role of Finerenone in CKD Care, With Brendon Neuen, MBBS, PhD

Diana Isaacs, PharmD, is an endocrine clinical pharmacist, director of Education and Training in Diabetes Technology, and codirector of Endocrine Disorders in Pregnancy at the Cleveland Clinic.

Podcasts

ATTD 2026 reveals AI “digital twins,” next-gen closed-loop pumps, and sensors that boost time-in-range and ease diabetes management.

Type 1 Diabetes

Diabetes Dialogue

Diabetes Dialogue: Technology, Therapeutics, & Real-World Perspectives is a monthly podcast hosted by Diana Isaacs, PharmD, and Natalie Bellini, DNP, aimed at providing a regular roundup of the latest clinically applicable insights across diabetes and metabolic diseases, with a focus on leveraging technology to improve care.

podcasts page features a feed of medical news and interview podcast series, including DocTalk, Lungcast, Derm Discussions, and Heart Trials.

Diabetes Dialogue: ATTD 2026 Recap

This Q&A highlights Dr. Alexa B. Kimball's responses to questions on the FDA approval of secukinumab for pediatric patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).

Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Hidradenitis Suppurativa condition center page, audiences can find a variety of coverage mediums for medical news and updates, including articles, video interviews, podcasts, and breaking news on dermatology research, treatment, and drug development.

Reflecting on FDA Approval of Secukinumab for HS in Children, With Alexa Kimball, MD, MPH

Christine Limonte is an assistant professor at UW Medicine and a study investigator for the Kidney Precision Medicine Project.

Data from 39 kidney biopsies may challenge longterm beliefs about diabetic nephropathy in CKD.

Kidney Biopsies Challenge Diabetic Nephropathy Diagnoses in CKD, With Christine Limonte, MD

Corey Cavanaugh, DO, is an academic nephrologist at the Cleveland Clinic. 

In a rapidly evolving therapeutic landscape, how can clinicians make decisions to personalize IgAN care?

IgA Nephropathy

The HCPLive Berger disease page is a resource for medical news and expert insights on IgA nephropathy. This page features expert-led coverage, articles, videos and research on the therapies and development of treatments in Berger disease, and more.

Latest News

PQ Grass Allergy Immunotherapy: Shared Decision-Making and What's Next, With Mohamed Shamji, PhD

Psychedelic Therapy Matches Efficacy of Antidepressants in MDD, With Balázs Szigeti, PhD

FDA Approves Higher Dose Semaglutide (Wegovy HD) Injection 7.2 mg for Obesity

Non-Narcotic Analgesic Allergy Labels in Pregnancy Drive Suboptimal Care and Adverse Outcomes, With Chang Su, MD

Retatrutide Delivers A1C Reduction, Weight Loss in Phase 3 TRANSCEND-T2D-1 Trial