JACR study explores discrepancies among paid family and medical leave policies across U.S. academic and radiation oncology departments

Findings show that the implementation, utilization and clarity of PFML policies within surveyed academic radiology and radiation oncology departments remain highly variable

American College of Radiology

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WASHINGTON (Oct. 15, 2026) – A recent study in the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR®) suggests that paid family and medical leave (PFML) policies offered by U.S. academic and radiation oncology programs, while widely available, are implemented inconsistently across programs.

Study authors, in collaboration with the Society of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments and the Society of Chairs of Academic Radiation Oncology Programs, conducted an anonymous survey of department chairs from academic radiology and radiation oncology programs across the United States from June to July 2025.

Study findings indicate that PFML policies are widely available within academic radiology and radiation oncology departments of all specialties, geographic regions and department sizes. However, author Kirti Magudia, MD, PhD, assistant professor of radiology at Duke University, says a significant number of programs surveyed require the use of vacation or sick time with variable allowance for noncontiguous leave or promotion clock extension.

Magudia and her colleagues also found substantial concerns remain regarding clinical coverage, and most respondents report that fewer than 10% of faculty utilized leave the previous year.

According to Magudia, the study findings highlight a gap between PFML policy and real-world implementation.

“Paid family and medical leave is an important workplace benefit that all radiologists and radiation oncologists can be expected to use during their career,” Magudia said. “While these results are promising, my hope is that these policies will continue to improve to support the wellness of our workforce.”

For a copy of the JACR article, or to arrange an interview with a JACR spokesperson, contact Abby Faulkner at afaulkner@acr.org or Nicole Racadag at nracadag@acr.org.

About the Journal of the American College of Radiology

The official journal of the American College of Radiology, JACR informs its readers of timely, pertinent, and important topics affecting the practice of diagnostic radiologists, interventional radiologists, medical physicists, and radiation oncologists. The goals of the journal are to improve patient care, support the practice of radiology and imaging, and move the science forward in health services research and policy, clinical practice management, data science, training and education, and leadership. www.jacr.org

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Journal

Journal of the American College of Radiology

DOI

10.1016/j.jacr.2026.05.007

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Paid Family and Medical Leave Policies in Academic Radiology and Radiation Oncology Departments: A SCARD and SCAROP Survey

 

Ultra-processed food intake linked to silent strokes in healthy middle-aged adults, study finds

McMaster University

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Researchers Sonia Anand and Russell de Souza pose for a photo in front of ultra processed foods. 

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Credit: Hamilton Health Sciences

HAMILTON, Ont. - Healthy adults who eat high amounts of ultra-processed food, like packaged snack foods, sugary breakfast cereals, soft drinks, instant noodles, and ready-to-eat frozen meals, are more likely to have signs of damage to the brain that may increase the chances of clinical stroke and future memory problems.

Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of nearly 9,000 people and detected tiny areas of damage more frequently in participants who ate the most ultra-processed food compared to those who ate the least. Participants with the highest intake were 40 per cent more likely to show these changes, which produce no obvious symptoms but are considered early warning signs that can appear years before a stroke or memory problems begins.

"I would not have expected this finding, frankly. We studied middle-aged Canadians who had no heart problems and reported no other health concerns,” said Russell J. de Souza, first author of the study and an associate scientist at the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, and associate professor in Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact and the Heersink School of Global Health and Social Medicine at McMaster University.

“Usually, this kind of damage is associated with conditions we hear about and treat at a much older age."

Published in JAMA Network Open on Oct. 15, 2026, the PHRI led study enrolled Canadians between the ages of 35 and 69 with no history of heart disease from communities across Canada.

Participants who ate the most ultra-processed food also carried more body fat and more deep belly fat than those who ate the least. This type of abdominal fat is linked to inflammation and blood vessel damage that can also reach the brain.

The association between ultra-processed food and brain damage appeared stronger among women. Those in the highest consumption group were nearly twice as likely to show signs of brain damage compared with those in the lowest group.

"Our findings suggest that the link between diet and brain health may be detectable before people experience noticeable problems with memory or thinking," said Sonia Anand, senior author of the study and senior scientist at PHRI. “This adds to the growing evidence that what Canadians eat in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s shapes their brain health later in life.”

Researchers classified foods according to the extent and purpose of industrial processing used in their production. Ultra-processed foods are often high in sodium, added sugars, and saturated fats, while providing relatively low amounts of fibre, vitamins, and minerals. Their convenience, widespread availability, and intensive marketing may contribute to higher consumption, particularly among time-constrained and lower-income households, potentially widening existing health inequalities.

"For many Canadians, ultra-processed food is often a convenient and affordable option. But our findings suggest that diets high in these foods may be linked to brain changes that may lead to memory loss and stroke as Canadians grow older," said Anand.

In this study, ultra-processed foods made up an average of about 25 per cent of participants' daily food servings. For the heaviest consumers, that increased to 45 per cent of everything on their plates, compared with just 16 per cent for those who ate the least.

Researchers found that as the consumption of ultra-processed food increased, that of whole food decreased. Fruits, vegetables, grains and other minimally processed foods made up 41 per cent of daily servings among participants with the highest consumption of ultra-processed food, compared with 68 per cent among those with the lowest consumption.

“People who ate more ultra-processed foods weren’t simply eating more on top of their usual diet. These foods appeared to crowd out healthier whole foods,” added de Souza.

Researchers analyzed data from participants enrolled in two PHRI studies: the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds and the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology-MIND study. They completed detailed dietary questionnaires and underwent MRI brain scans reviewed by neurologists who were unaware of the participants’ dietary patterns.

The findings suggest a link between ultra-processed food consumption and signs of brain changes. However, because participants were only assessed once and weren’t followed over time, researchers couldn’t determine whether ultra-processed foods directly caused these changes.

“We need longer-term studies that track people over time with repeated MRI scans to find out whether reducing ultra-processed food intake can slow or prevent these brain changes,” said de Souza. “Such follow-up is ongoing.”

The study was supported by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, with additional support from participating research institutions and partner organizations across Canada.

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Media Inquiries

As PHRI is a joint institute of Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University, media inquiries may be directed to either:

• Adam Ward, media relations officer with McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences (warda17@mcmaster.ca).

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Journal

JAMA Network Open

DOI

10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.39118

Article Title

Ultraprocessed Food Intake and Adiposity, Vascular Brain Injury, and Cognition in Middle-Aged Adults

Article Publication Date

15-Oct-2026

Total ultra-processed food intake not linked to colorectal cancer in large US cohort study

Associations varied by UPF type, with whole grain and dairy sources associated with lower CRC incidence and meat sources associated with higher incidence

PLOS

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Total ultra-processed food intake not linked to colorectal cancer.

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Credit: Anthony Lewis (www.anthony-lewis.com), PLOS, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Overall ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption was not associated with increased colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence in a cohort of more than 400,000 U.S. adults, according to a study published October 15th by Erikka Loftfield of the National Cancer Institute, U.S., and colleagues in the open access journal PLOS Medicine.

Ultra-processed foods account for more than half of energy intake among U.S. adults and have attracted growing attention due to potential links to chronic diseases, including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, UPFs represent a wide range of foods. Some, like whole grain and dairy products, are associated with a lower risk of CRC while others, like processed meats, are associated with a higher risk.

To better understand these relationships, researchers analyzed data from 461,682 adults aged 50 to 71 years enrolled in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study between 1995 and 1996. Participants recorded their eating habits using a food frequency questionnaire that researchers used to estimate UPF intake. Participants were then followed until 2018, a median of 18.8 years.

The study found no association between overall UPF intake and CRC incidence. However, findings differed by type of food. Higher intake of whole grains, fiber, dairy products, and calcium derived from UPF sources was associated with lower CRC incidence, whereas meat from UPF sources was associated with higher incidence. Researchers also found that replacing 10% of gram weight from UPF intake with minimally processed foods was associated with a 2% lower CRC incidence.

The researchers caution against generalizing these findings to younger, more diverse populations. The study cohort included primarily older, white Americans and only measured UPF intake once at baseline. As a result, the findings cannot account for changing eating habits or the increasing availability in UPFs, potentially leading to an underestimation of actual UPF intake.

The study suggests that UPFs should not be treated as a monolith and reinforce current dietary guidance emphasizing whole grains, fiber, dairy, and calcium while limiting processed meat intake to reduce the risk of CRC.

Loftfield adds, “In this large population of older US adults, we did not observe an association between total ultra-processed food (UPF) intake and colorectal cancer incidence; however, when we looked at food groups, like whole grains, dairy, and meat, by UPF or non-UPF source, we found that associations were in line with current dietary guidance for colorectal cancer prevention such that higher whole grain and dairy but lower meat intakes were associated with lower colorectal cancer incidence. ”

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Medicine: https://plos.io/3UImuuv 

Citation: Abar L, O’Connell CP, Hong HG, Herrick KA, Kahle L, Lerman JL, et al. (2026) Associations of food processing and dietary risk factors with colorectal cancer incidence in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study: A cohort study. PLoS Med 23(10): e1005251. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1005251

Author countries: United States, France, the Netherlands, Brazil, Australia

Funding: The research leading to these results received funding from the Intramural Research Program of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (EL): https://www.cancer.gov/research/nci-role/intramural. Authors LA, CPO, HGH, LML, SZ, RS, and EL are/were employees of the funder, the Intramural Research Program of the National Cancer Institute. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Journal

PLOS Medicine

DOI

10.1371/journal.pmed.1005251

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

COI Statement

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

 

Plants use a molecular measuring tape to tell friend from foe

Aarhus University researchers reveal how plants distinguish harmful fungi from beneficial partners

Aarhus University

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Kira Gysel at Aarhus University.

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Credit: Emma Steer

How plants read fungal warning signs

Chitin, a chain of repeating sugar molecules, is the main building block of fungal cell walls. When fungi grow or are broken down, fragments of chitin chains of different lengths end up in the soil, and plants detect them to monitor the microbes around them.

Long chitin fragments are commonly associated with fungal attack and trigger strong plant immune responses. But not all fungi are bad. Shorter chitin fragments, meanwhile, are associated with beneficial partnerships, including interactions with symbiotic fungi that exchange essential nutrients with their hosts. What remained unknown was how plants can tell these signals apart.

 

A receptor that measures molecular length

To find out, the team combined structural biology, which reveals the three-dimensional shape of proteins, with biochemistry and experiments in living plants to investigate the receptors that detect chitin at the surface of plant root cells.

They found that a receptor called CHIP13 binds long chitin chains much more strongly than short ones. A distinctive part of the receptor, which the team calls the "bridge domain," helps it grip the chain at several points, so that only chains long enough to span them are held tightly. This bridge domain is a hallmark of a whole class of related receptors.

"The central question was how plants tell long chitin chains from short ones. We learned that CHIP13, and specifically its bridge domain, works like a measuring tape," says Assistant Professor Kira Gysel, who together with Professor Kasper Røjkjær Andersen, led the work. "That allows the plant to recognize signals associated specifically with a potential fungal attack and not confuse them with signals from potentially helpful microbes."

 

A division of labor

Plants also depend on a second receptor, called CERK6, to respond to chitin. Gysel, together with Simon Boje Hansen and Henriette Rübsam, the study’s first authors, investigated how the two receptors work together. The scientists found that in the presence of chitin, CHIP13 recruits CERK6, and the two form a signaling complex that activates the plant's immune system, with a clear division of labor between the two proteins. Experiments in which either receptor was blocked confirmed that the plant needs both to mount a defense response.

"CHIP13 can recognize or 'see' the long chitin fragments associated with dangerous fungi in the soil. It then physically comes together with CERK6, and only CERK6 can sound the alarm for the rest of the plant," explains Gysel. "Both proteins have very specific jobs, and both are needed for this core pillar of the plant immune system.”

“We were facing a puzzle: how can CERK6 be essential for the plant's response to chitin, when it can barely hold on to it?” says Boje Hansen. "It turns out the two receptors split the work: one recognizes the signal, the other passes it on. Neither can do the job alone."

"We could see this directly in plants too," says Rübsam. "It was only when chitin was bound to CHIP13 that CHIP13 could call on CERK6. Importantly, we saw that this was also true in a second legume plant, showing that this mechanism is preserved across different species.”

 

A window into how plants perceive the world

This research is more than just discovering the structure and mechanism of these proteins. It provides valuable new insights into how plants perceive their environment and protect themselves from biological threats in the soil.

“This research is a window into the complex pattern recognition system that plants use to interpret the microbial world surrounding them,” reflects Gysel. “If we can better understand this, we can start to think about designing receptors that read new signals altogether, expanding what plants are capable of sensing and responding to."

Insights such as these help scientists understand how plants distinguish between different microbes and could help guide efforts to improve crop resilience while preserving beneficial interactions.

 

Publication: Gysel, Hansen, Rübsam et al., "Structural basis for size-selective perception of chitin in plants," Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.adz4600

Special notes to reporters

More information, including a copy of the paper, can be found online at the Science press package at https://www.eurekalert.org/press/scipak/.

Funding: This work was supported by funding from Novo Nordisk Foundation, Danish Council for Independent Research, Carlsberg Foundation, Danish National Research Foundation, and Gates Agricultural Innovations via Enabling Nutrient Symbioses in Agriculture (ENSA).

 

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adz4600

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Cells

Article Title

Structural basis for size-selective perception of chitin in plants

Article Publication Date

15-Oct-2026

COI Statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Related News Releases

• Plants use a molecular measuring tape to tell friend from foe
  (Aarhus University)

Rendering of CHIP13 structure (white) with chitin (yellow).

Rendering of CHIP13 structure (teal) with the bridge domain (orange), and long chitin fragments (yellow).

Light microscopy image of crystallised CHIP13 protein

Credit

Kira Gysel