How safe is it to use period tracking and digital contraception apps? Who is your data being shared with? What regulation actually exists in this area to protect app users?

Femtech offers women digital tools for tracking reproductive health. Gavin and Jessamy are joined by Dr. Catriona McMillan, Senior Research Fellow in Medical Law and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh, to talk about how accurate these apps actually are, significant concerns about data privacy, and what regulatory oversight exists and can be applied.

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Richard, Jessamy, and Gavin reflect on developments at the 78th World Health Assembly, including the passage of the pandemic agreement and shifting dynamics in global health leadership. What's next for WHO without US engagement? How has WHA changed over the years?

We also address the importance of recommitting to adolescent health following our new Commission, and discuss a controversial recent study about the pace of scientific innovation.

You can read the second Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health & Wellbeing here:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00503-3/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_lancetadolescenthealth25_lancet

This is the paper on the pace of scientific innovation discussed on the podcast:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01548-4

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Read all of our content at https://www.thelancet.com/?dgcid=buzzsprout_tlv_podcast_generic_lancet

Check out all the podcasts from The Lancet Group:
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Gavin, Richard, and Jessamy return to the studio to discuss some publications that caught their eye this month, and in doing so set themselves the lofty goal of examining how meaning, purpose, optimism, and social context shape our understanding of health beyond traditional clinical measures. We also ponder the future of research and higher education in the face of funding challenges in both the US and the UK.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

The Global Flourishing Study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-025-00423-5

The second Lancet Commission on adolescent health and wellbeing: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00503-3/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_tlv_podcast_May_25_lancet

Standing up for gender justice: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00679-8/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_tlv_podcast_May_25_lancet

How the United States became a science superpower: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01146-4

Universities grip financial crisis – but at what cost to the nation?: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/creating-voice-our-members/media-releases/universities-grip-financial-crisis-what

Send us your feedback!

Read all of our content at https://www.thelancet.com/?dgcid=buzzsprout_tlv_podcast_generic_lancet

Check out all the podcasts from The Lancet Group:
https://www.thelancet.com/multimedia/podcasts?dgcid=buzzsprout_tlv_podcast_generic_lancet

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