Contributor

B. David Zarley

Senior Staff Writer

Contact

b.david@freethink.com

B. David Zarley is a senior staff writer for Freethink, where he covers health and medicine, including infectious disease, psychedelic research, mental health, and the brain. A graduate of SUNY Fredonia, his work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Verge, Jezebel, Frieze, Sports Illustrated, VICE, Paste Magazine, and numerous other publications. He lives in Chicago and can be reached via Signal by request. Send him story ideas!

Medicine

Natural killer cells fight cancer without collateral damage

Researchers at McMaster have developed a form of immunotherapy capable of working on solid tumors in the lab.

B. David Zarley

Brain

Scientists call Alzheimer’s amyloid theory into question

What if amyloid plaques are not the cause of Alzheimer’s, but instead a symptom? New research suggests restoring liquid amyloid may be key.

B. David Zarley

Public Health

Will we finally get another human Lyme disease vaccine?

Pfizer and French vaccine maker Valneva are one step closer to bringing a human Lyme disease vaccine to market.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

Sky-mapping system can predict whether cancer treatment will work

Johns Hopkins researchers are using image analysis developed for astronomy to study cancer immunotherapy.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

Pharma giant GSK embraces digital twins for vaccine development

Pharma leviathan GlaxoSmithKline is rolling out digital twins to help create “the vaccine factory of the future.”

B. David Zarley

Virology

“LEGO-like” vaccine protects mice from COVID, SARS, MERS, and variants

Using a “chimeric” spike protein, researchers have immunized mice against multiple types of coronaviruses with one shot.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

Diagnosing infections without the lab — or wait

Researchers have developed a device that can test for infections in under an hour, no lab needed.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

A new superbug strategy

Researchers at the University of Geneva have a new idea on how to stop superbugs: don’t kill them.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

There may be a way to reverse acetaminophen damage in the liver

New research out of Singapore suggests that a protein thought to help acetaminophen toxicity may do the opposite.

B. David Zarley

Brain

Treatment appears to stop Alzheimer's in monkeys

NYU researchers have modified monkey’s immune system to slow their equivalent of Alzheimer’s disease and improve their cognition.

B. David Zarley