https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/leana-s-wen/

Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore, MD (2026)

04/21/2026

It’s easy to dismiss Utah’s latest artificial intelligence experiment as dangerous and dystopian. The state has partnered with a company called Doctronic to empower an “AI doctor,” rather than a human clinician, to refill medication prescriptions.

But the idea deserves serious consideration. Deployed carefully, this innovation could improve access to care and reduce costs, even as it raises legitimate ethical and regulatory concerns.

My latest Washington Post column is about Utah’s pilot. It features interviews with Doctronic's cofounders as well as experts who take a more guarded approach.

For instance, Daniel Aaron, a physician and associate law professor at the University of Utah, noted that the US has long required medical devices to demonstrate safety and effectiveness before widespread use.

“To have this incredibly novel use of a medical device without FDA saying a word is quite stunning and suggests that maybe we are going to see more untested products reach the market,” he said.

More: https://wapo.st/4vEuI4M

Utah’s experiment with AI-generated prescriptions won’t be the last. It raises urgent regulatory questions that needs answers.

03/12/2026

We know ultra-processed foods are bad for health, but how, exactly, do we define them?

My Washington Post column this week explored how researchers from the University of Pennsylvania are proposing a new definition. Instead of trying to identify what qualifies as ultra-processed based on specific chemicals like dyes, preservatives and additives, define what does NOT qualify.

Take yogurt. The traditional method would involve comparing its ingredients against a long list of additives that could pose health risks. Under the alternative framework, researchers would specify what a non-ultra-processed yogurt would look like. In addition to milk and live cultures, permissible ingredients might include fruit, nuts and nutritive sweeteners such as honey. Anything besides that, such as modified food starch, dextrose or dyes, would automatically render the product ultra-processed.

The same framework could be applied across the food supply. Foods would be grouped into categories based on how they are produced and consumed, and experts would specify, for each type of food, what qualifies as non-ultra-processed. Those definitions, updated periodically as manufacturing practices evolve, could then be used to set procurement rules and school-meal standards.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/03/10/utra-processed-foods-definition-health-diet/

Identifying unhealthy food is not as easy as one might think.

02/11/2026

For decades, breast cancer screening has been synonymous with the mammogram. Women’s preventive care has centered on the annual test, and for good reason: 1 in 8 women in the US are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetimes, and early detection is key to making sure it doesn’t spread.

Recent research challenges this long-standing approach, however. A major study published in JAMA suggests the most effective screening strategy is based not on the yearly mammogram, but genetic testing combined with an assessment of individual risk factors.

More in this week's Washington Post column:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/10/breast-cancer-screening-mammograms/

This test may be crucial for breast cancer screening. It’s not a mammogram.

01/07/2026

As 2026 gets underway, health policy is entering a period of consequential change that will affect who can access medical care, what it costs and how the nation approaches public health.

This week’s Washington Post column is in on the 10 issues I will be watching closely in the year ahead.

https://wapo.st/49tk1rv

The year ahead promises new health care innovations alongside major changes to public health policy.

11/13/2025

The class of medicines known as GLP-1s have transformed clinical practice and shifted public perception to view obesity as a chronic disease that merits medical management.

Growing research is demonstrating that the potential of GLP-1s extends far beyond obesity care. Some benefits are already well-established and represent extraordinary medical advances that deserve greater attention, while others remain speculative and at risk of being overly hyped. Clinicians and patients alike should focus on what is firmly supported by evidence while maintaining healthy skepticism toward uses that have not yet been proven.

More in this week’s Washington Post column: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/11/11/glp-1-weight-loss-drugs-obesity

The medications aren’t just for diabetes and obesity, but they also aren’t for every ailment.

10/14/2025

More than 1 in 3 Americans have already used chatbots to research medical concerns. While there are real risks associated with them, and they should not be used to replace care from medical professionals, AI can help patients manage their health more effectively.

My latest Washington Post column has guidance on how you can best use these tools to support your care — and when you should proceed with caution. (Featuring comments from Dsr. Eric Topol and Adam Rodman.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/14/ai-chatbots-health-care-diagnoses/

Chatbots can help patients with their health, when used with caution

08/15/2025

There is a sense of fear and futility among many American scientists. Billions of dollars in federal grants to universities have been frozen or slashed. Thousands of scientists across federal agencies have been terminated.

Against this backdrop, the Aix-Marseille University in France is welcoming America’s “scientific refugees” with open arms. The "Safe Place for Science" program is tasked with recruiting American researchers and providing them with three years of dedicated funding. In three weeks, the program received about 300 applications; in total, it has some 600 applicants, including scientists from universities such as Harvard, Columbia, Stanford and Johns Hopkins.

More in this Washington Post column:

As the Trump administration cuts science jobs and funding, this university is offering to a new home.

07/09/2025

During my residency training, when I worked shifts in the pediatric emergency department, I treated a boy whose mother kept on bringing him back because of asthma exacerbations. Each time, we gave him nebulizers to help him breathe. But we couldn’t address a key underlying issue: the mold in his apartment that was triggering his asthma.

Now, some health systems are increasingly trying to fix that limitation with an innovative tool: partnerships with nonprofit legal organizations that can address patients’ social challenges.

One such partnership is between the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati. This week's Washington Post column features the work of Dr. Robert Kahn, a pediatrician who co-founded the program nearly 20 years ago.

Clinicians can refer the patient to a child health lawyer, just as they would a pulmonologist or other medical specialist. If the problem is unhealthy living conditions, the lawyer could send a formal letter to the landlord citing breach of lease obligations and demand timely repairs. They could contact the city housing department and request inspections to document violations. If necessary, they could sue the landlord. Throughout the process, they make sure that the family is not retaliated against and evicted.

The investigations frequently identified other families struggling with the same issue. In large multiunit apartments, a dozen or more children could be suffering asthma exacerbations from the same environmental trigger. “The answer isn’t to give more medications to one kid,” Kahn said. “It’s to make sure that the property owner is addressing the fundamental issues of roof leakage and mold.”

More in link below:
https://wapo.st/4eL00iy

Legal aid organizations are helping doctors address social barriers to patients’ health.

06/13/2025

A recent Nature Medicine study estimates that 42% of Americans older than 55 will develop dementia during their lifetimes. My latest Washington Post column is on the 8 evidence-based strategies to reduce this risk:

#1. Manage chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes

#2. Exercise—even a little bit helps

#3. Reduce ultra-processed foods

#4. Avoid heavy drinking

#5. Beware of cannabis consumption

#6. Protect your head

#7. Wear hearing aids

#8. Keep your friends and family close

None of these eight interventions require expensive novel therapies. They also reduce dementia risk while promoting healthier aging overall.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/10/dementia-prevention-research-studies/

Key lifestyle changes can improve your brain’s health.

05/27/2025

If city officials and public health workers want to disrupt the generational cycle of poverty, trauma and hopelessness that afflicts so many communities, a good place to focus their efforts is children.

Recently, I met an incredible woman, Joni Holifield, who started an organization called HeartSmiles in Baltimore. HeartSmiles offers career and leadership development. Children as young as 8 go to the HeartSmiles center to participate in facilitated sessions on youth entrepreneurship, budgeting and conflict resolution.

The center is open every day and provides food and transportation to reduce barriers to access. Recognizing that many young people are responsible for contributing financially to their families, HeartSmiles pays participants $15 an hour, the minimum wage in Maryland, to invest in their development.

The second part of Holifield’s vision is youth-led mentorship, which involves pairing young people with those not much older than they are. The first alumnus to complete a four-year degree, Young Elder Elder, told me about a 10-year-old mentee who was struggling with truancy. It took time for her to get through to him, but eventually their relationship and the support of fellow participants helped persuade him to care about his education. Now 13, he is a mentor to younger kids himself.

“We have the cycle of trauma, but we also have the cycle of triumph,” she said.

More in this week’s Washington Post column:
https://wapo.st/43Pj3Ek

How one grassroots organization is teaching young people leadership skills and giving them hope.

05/08/2025

Last week, I had the privilege of visiting St. Elizabeth School in Baltimore, which serves children profoundly affected by autism and other conditions, including intellectual disabilities and traumatic brain injury.

In some ways, a typical day at St. Elizabeth is no different from other schools. Students start with homeroom. They have seven periods in which they go to classes for different subjects. In between, they have lunch in the cafeteria. At the end of the day, they head back to homeroom.

In other ways, the experience is very different. Class sizes are small and never exceed nine students. Most classrooms have three teaching staff to provide individualized and small-group instruction. Dozens of specialists also assist students throughout the day.

Starting from ninth grade, students and families work with a transition team to plan for life after St. Elizabeth. All high school students participate in a work-based learning program where they are assigned a job coach and perform weekly hands-on work such as preparing food, sorting mail and operating a forklift. Upon graduation, many enter the workforce. A few go to college. Those with more significant needs are placed in adult learning centers.

“We focus on what our students can do, not what they can’t,” the school’s executive director, Michael Thorne, told me.

It’s impossible to visit a school such as St. Elizabeth and not be moved by the remarkable people who work there. Their efforts are time- and resource-intensive, but they enable children with significant disabilities to learn, contribute and thrive. They deserve our thanks, and their students deserve the same respect and dignity afforded to every member of society.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/05/06/kennedy-autism-disabilities-st-elizabeth-school/

Yes, even kids profoundly affected by autism can thrive.

05/02/2025

This week, I dove deep into the research on autism, a condition about which Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made numerous inaccurate statements. I interviewed researchers, clinicians and advocates. I learned a lot, especially from speaking with autistic people and their families.

My Washington Post column addresses three questions: Do we know what causes autism? Is Kennedy right that the rising prevalence is a crisis? And will his proposed research really help people with autism?

Featuring comments from: Zoe Gross (Autistic Self-Advocacy Network), Christopher Banks (Autism Society) and Drs. Roma Vasa (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Maureen Durkin (University of Wisconsin), David Mandell (University of Pennsylvania), Eric Fombonne (Oregon Health & Science University) and Laurent Mottron (University of Montreal).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/04/29/kennedy-austism-causes-science-vaccines/

We already know a lot about the disorder and why its prevalence has increased.

Dr. Leana Wen

04/21/2026

03/12/2026

02/11/2026

01/07/2026

11/13/2025

10/14/2025

08/15/2025

07/09/2025

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