129. How to Fix Medical Research

Monica Bertagnolli went from a childhood on a cattle ranch to a career as a surgeon to a top post in the Biden administration. As director of the National Institutes of Health, she’s working to improve the way we find new treatments — despite regulatory constraints and tight budgets. SOURCE:Monica Bertagnolli, director of the National Institutes of Health. RESOURCES:"Steven Levitt and John Donohue Defend a Finding Made Famous by 'Freakonomics'," by Steven Levitt and John Donohue (The Economist, 2024)."Why 'Freakonomics' Failed to Transform Economics," (The Economist, 2024)."Steven D. Levitt (Freakonomics Co-Author and U Chicago Econ Prof) on His Career and Decision to Retire From Academic Economics," by Jon Hartley (The Capitalism and Freedom in the Twenty-First Century Podcast, 2024)."Why Autoimmune Disease Is More Common in Women: X Chromosome Holds Clues," by Elie Dolgin (Nature, 2024)."Casgevy and Lyfgenia: Two Gene Therapies Approved for Sickle Cell Disease," by Carrie MacMillan (Yale Medicine News, 2023)."Fact Sheet: President Biden Reignites Cancer Moonshot to End Cancer as We Know It," (2022)."Mini-Antibodies Discovered in Sharks and Camels Could Lead to Drugs for Cancer and Other Diseases," by Mitch Leslie (Science, 2018). EXTRAS:"Who Pays for Multimillion-Dollar Miracle Cures?" by Freakonomics, M.D. (2023)."What’s Stopping Us From Curing Rare Diseases?" by Freakonomics, M.D. (2023)."Abortion and Crime, Revisited (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2022)."John Donohue: 'I’m Frequently Called a Treasonous Enemy of the Constitution,'" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).