• District of Columbia: Last month, Children's National Hospital appointed Donna Anthony as SVP and chief strategy officer and Catherine Bollard as SVP and chief research officer of the hospital's research institute. According to Becker's Hospital Review, Anthony is a veteran of Children's National and was instrumental in its integration of HSC Health Care System. Previously, Anthony served as VP and chief of staff. Like Anthony, Bollard is a longtime leader at Children's National, serving as director of the Children's National Center for Cancer and Immunology Research since 2017. Bollard is also a professor at George Washington University and the Dr. Robert J. and Florence T. Bosworth professor of cancer and transplantation biology research. (Gooch, Becker's Hospital Review, 2/20)
• District of Columbia: USDA will invest up to $1 billion to combat the bird flu, as well as increase imports of eggs to help drive down high prices. At a conference of state agriculture officials, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said that the agency will spend up to $500 million on free biosecurity audits for farms and $400 million to increase payments to farmers who need to cull their chickens due to bird flu. In addition, Rollins said the agency is exploring bird flu vaccines for chickens but is not authorizing their use yet. "It could be a solution, but to push that out now and require it, we're just not ready," Rollins said. According to USDA, the bird flu has killed 166 million chickens in the U.S. since 2022. The virus has also infected almost 1,000 dairy herds and almost 70 people, including one individual who died, since early 2024. (Douglas/Polansek, Reuters, 2/26)
• Massachusetts: Boston Scientific has agreed to acquire SoniVie, a medical device company. Currently, SoniVie is developing an investigational technology called the TIVUS Intravascular Ultrasound System to help treat hypertension through renal artery denervation. According to Becker's Hospital Review, the deal includes an upfront payment of approximately $360 million for the 90% of SoniVie that Boston Scientific does not already own. An additional payment of $180 million will also be made based on regulatory milestones. The acquisition is currently pending regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first half of the year. (Murphy, Becker's Hospital Review, 3/3)

The fight against COVID-19 has pushed healthcare to quickly adopt virtual tools at a rate much faster than normal. Some of the most promising pandemic-related health technologies go beyond just telehealth — for example, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). Read on to learn three ways AI can be used to help with future pandemics.