PLOS Medicine's longstanding efforts to bring research and commentary on urgent, grievous, and under-addressed health needs to an Open Access platform never felt more relevant than in 2017. At the same time, due to expansion of data sharing requirements across a wider swath of medical journals, we ended the year confident that globally important findings in health research, and the ability to further analyze these, are increasingly accessible to all.
With Open Science thriving, and valuable data on high-burden diseases accumulating, PLOS Medicine recently asked several prominent global health researchers: What unaddressed needs, and unanswered questions, must research and policy prioritize at this time? Seven experts from five continents shared their hopes, pleas and concerns for 2018. Our first Editorial of the year is a collection of these insights. Please visit for Soumya Swaminathan's expectations for translational research in tuberculosis, Graham Hillis' interpretation of changing paradigms in atherosclerosis, Zulfiqar Bhutta's view on opportunities for expanding the reach of recent gains in maternal and child health, and other expert perspectives.
Image Credit: Phil Dolby, Flickr
Editorial
What’s coming for health science and policy in 2018? Global experts look ahead in their field
PLOS Medicine: published January 30, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002498
Perspectives
What about drinking is associated with shorter life in poorer people?
PLOS Medicine: published January 2, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002477
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Sexually transmitted infections in the era of antiretroviral-based HIV prevention: Priorities for discovery research, implementation science, and community involvement
PLOS Medicine: published January 10, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002485
From macro- to microfactors in health: Social science approaches in research on sexually transmitted infections
PLOS Medicine: published January 10, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002490
Guidelines and Guidance
The WHO 2016 verbal autopsy instrument: An international standard suitable for automated analysis by InterVA, InSilicoVA, and Tariff 2.0
PLOS Medicine: published January 10, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002486
Research Articles
Life course socioeconomic position, alcohol drinking patterns in midlife, and cardiovascular mortality: Analysis of Norwegian population-based health surveys
PLOS Medicine: published January 2, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002476
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Pelvic inflammatory disease risk following negative results from chlamydia nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) versus non-NAATs in Denmark: A retrospective cohort
PLOS Medicine: published January 2, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002483
Association between intake of less-healthy foods defined by the United Kingdom's nutrient profile model and cardiovascular disease: A population-based cohort study
PLOS Medicine: published January 4, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002484
Immune-related genetic enrichment in frontotemporal dementia: An analysis of genome-wide association studies
PLOS Medicine: published January 9, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002487
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Estimated mortality on HIV treatment among active patients and patients lost to follow-up in 4 provinces of Zambia: Findings from a multistage sampling-based survey
PLOS Medicine: published January 12, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002489
Increased risk of ischemic heart disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes in women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus, a target group in general practice for preventive interventions: A population-based cohort study
PLOS Medicine: published January 16, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002488
Related Articles
Progression of the first stage of spontaneous labour: A prospective cohort study in two sub-Saharan African countries
PLOS Medicine: published January 16, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002492
Long-term risks and benefits associated with cesarean delivery for mother, baby, and subsequent pregnancies: Systematic review and meta-analysis
PLOS Medicine: published January 23, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002494
Safety and pharmacokinetics of the Fc-modified HIV-1 human monoclonal antibody VRC01LS: A Phase 1 open-label clinical trial in healthy adults
PLOS Medicine: published January 24, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002493
The cost-effectiveness of alternative vaccination strategies for polyvalent meningococcal vaccines in Burkina Faso: A transmission dynamic modeling study
PLOS Medicine: published January 24, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002495
Brain and blood metabolite signatures of pathology and progression in Alzheimer disease: A targeted metabolomics study
PLOS Medicine: published January 25, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002482
PD-L1 checkpoint inhibition and anti-CTLA-4 whole tumor cell vaccination counter adaptive immune resistance: A mouse neuroblastoma model that mimics human disease
PLOS Medicine: published January 29, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002497
Long-term trends in mortality and AIDS-defining events after combination ART initiation among children and adolescents with perinatal HIV infection in 17 middle- and high-income countries in Europe and Thailand: A cohort study
PLOS Medicine: published January 30, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002491
Traumatic brain injury and the risk of dementia diagnosis: A nationwide cohort study
PLOS Medicine: published January 30, 2018 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002496