Tracking researchers in Ukraine through war and armed conflict:

The limits of free scholarly mobility

Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBluesky
Email

image: 

The maps show the balance between researchers arriving and leaving, both within Ukraine and across national borders. Blue indicates net losses, while yellow indicates net gains. 

view more 

Credit: ax Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR)

Two days after Russian forces attacked Ukraine on multiple fronts in February 2022, the hashtag #ScienceForUkraine was already mobilizing international support for researchers affected by the war. Scholars are only one of the many groups whose lives and work are disrupted by armed conflict, but they are also commonly considered highly skilled migrants. Because their qualifications are sought after internationally, scholars are often assumed to have relatively good opportunities to decide whether and where to go.

In a new article published in Population and Development Review, Michael Zaslavsky (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Aliakbar Akbaritabar (MPIDR and University of Rostock) put this assumption to the test by asking what happens to scholarly mobility when war restricts those choices. “The full-scale invasion made the displacement of Ukrainian researchers particularly visible, but our study shows that they were already leaving affected regions for other parts of Ukraine and abroad after Russia illegally annexed Crimea and fighting began in the Donbas in 2014,” summarizes Akbaritabar.

Following scholarly mobility through publications

To reconstruct these movements, Akbaritabar and Zaslavsky turned to one of the richest digital trails scholars leave behind: their scientific publications. These publications record the institutional affiliations of their authors — the universities, research institutes or other organizations they are professionally connected to. By examining affiliation data for tens of thousands of researchers region by region and following changes from 2009 to 2022, the authors could estimate scholarly mobility over more than a decade at an unusually fine geographical level.

One conflict, different regional patterns

The results point to a redrawing of Ukraine’s scholarly map after 2014, but not to one uniform pattern. Between 2015 and 2017, Donetsk and Luhansk, the two main regions of the Donbas, were losing researchers on balance to other parts of Ukraine: for every 1,000 actively publishing scholars, there were about 54 more leaving than arriving in Donetsk and 46 more in Luhansk. Looking at mobility across national borders, Crimea stands out: international migration there produced a net loss of about 117 researchers per 1,000. Donetsk also recorded a substantial international loss of about 66 per 1,000.

Behind these losses, different dynamics were at work. While some regions saw more researchers leave for institutions abroad, others registered fewer arrivals from other countries. Even so, more scholars left than arrived in the east of the country. Changes were not confined to the areas directly affected by the conflict. War, in other words, was associated not only with researchers leaving Ukraine, but also with changes in how they were distributed within the country.

One result particularly surprised the authors. “We expected more developed regions to retain their own researchers and attract new ones. Instead, we found that they could also be places from which scholars were better able to relocate,” explains Zaslavsky. One possible explanation is that scholars in these regions have stronger links to other research institutions and therefore more opportunities to relocate when crisis hits.

Academic mobility is not simply a free choice and matters for recovery

Publication histories show that scholars’ institutional bases changed, but not why individuals moved. Still, the authors argue that wartime scholarly migration cannot simply be understood as scholars freely choosing the best career opportunity. Qualifications and international connections do not necessarily protect researchers from forced displacement — or guarantee that those who want to leave can do so. Because researchers carry knowledge, professional networks, and opportunities for collaboration with them, where they move matters for both the places they leave and those that receive them.

The Ukrainian case therefore cannot be reduced to a simple story of “brain drain”: scholars not only left the country, but also moved between regions within it. Publicly available bibliometric data can complement surveys, administrative data, and qualitative research, helping to track where research systems are losing scholars and where researchers are relocating during crises. Such knowledge matters especially when countries eventually face the task of rebuilding their research communities and institutions.

---

Journal

Population and Development Review

DOI

10.1111/padr.70088

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Internal and International Migration of Scholars in Times of Conflict: The Case of Ukraine, 2009-2022

 

New possibilities uncovered for efficiently converting sunlight into clean energy

Oregon State University

Facebook

WeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a new family of materials that use light to produce hydrogen from water, opening the door to new ways of converting the sun’s rays into clean energy.

A collaboration led by Kyriakos Stylianou of the OSU College of Science created a photocatalyst that enables the high-speed, high-efficiency production of hydrogen, used in fuel cells for cars as well as in the manufacture of many chemicals including ammonia, in the refining of metals and in making plastics.

A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change, Stylianou said. Photocatalysts are materials that absorb light to reach a higher energy level and can use that energy to speed up reactions.

The findings, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, introduce a potential new tool to use against greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, said Stylianou, whose research focuses on crystalline, porous materials known as metal organic frameworks, or MOFs.

Made up of positively charged metal ions surrounded by organic “linker” molecules, MOFs have nanosized pores and tunable structural properties. They can be designed with a variety of components that determine the MOF’s properties, and there are millions of possible MOFs, Stylianou said.

Almost 100,000 of them have been synthesized by chemistry researchers, and the properties of another half-million have been predicted.

In this study, researchers worked with a MOF, BVR-19, that has a distinctive structural feature: a sulfide-to-sulfide bond that undergoes transient cleavage upon exposure to light, resulting in reactive sulfur species.

“The organic component does the important work,” Stylianou said. “Instead of relying primarily on the metal atoms, our material uses its sulfur-containing organic building blocks to capture light energy and move electrons where they are needed to produce hydrogen. This represents a different way of thinking about how these materials should be designed.”

No additional expensive metal catalyst is required, he added, potentially simplifying the design of future light-driven hydrogen-production systems. Additionally, BVR-19 is synthesized in aqueous solutions at room temperature and spontaneously, which gives it a strong energy advantage.

Producing hydrogen by splitting water through a catalytic process is cleaner than the conventional method of deriving hydrogen from natural gas via a carbon-dioxide-producing process known as methane-steam reforming, Stylianou said.

Current catalytic processes for producing hydrogen from water involve electrocatalysis – running electricity through the catalyst. The sustainability of electrocatalysis depends on using renewable energy, and to be competitive in the market the energy has to be inexpensive.

Presently, methane-steam reforming produces hydrogen at a cost of about $1.50 per kilogram, compared to about $5 a kilogram for green hydrogen.

“Our work provides a blueprint for designing better materials that can bring down the cost of green hydrogen,” said Stylianou, who directs OSU’s Materials Discovery Laboratory, known as the MaD Lab. “By changing the metal while keeping the rest of the material essentially the same, we discovered why some versions of the MOF work much better than others. These findings provide new design rules for creating more effective materials for solar fuel production.”

MaD Lab members Emmanuel Musa, Dylan Pyle, Jacob Lessard, Andrzej Gladysiak, Ankit Yadav, Silas Blessed and Prayash Mohanty were joined in the research by Oregon State’s Logan Lancaster, Taylor Krueger, Min Soo Jung, Galen Fritz, Jacob Hirschi, Hongliang Huang, William Stickle, Xiulei “David” Ji, Chong Fang and Tim Zuehlsdorff.

The Murdock Charitable Trust, the National Science Foundation and the OSU College of Science supported the study.

---

Journal

Journal of the American Chemical Society

DOI

10.1021/jacs.6c13238

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Intraligand Charge Transfer in Metal-Organic Frameworks Facilitates Radical Anion-Mediated Hydrogen Evolution

 

Microplastics and the law explained: What California's new rule means for plastic policy

Stanford University

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

In brief
·  On October 1, California will add microplastics to its Candidate Chemicals List, an initial step in the state’s process for assessing chemicals for potential regulation.
·  The move is the most recent in a decade-old regulatory approach that began with a ban on plastic microbeads in cosmetics.
·  With a binding international plastics treaty stalled, a Stanford-led paper describes how California has managed to make progress on the plastic pollution problem, potentially serving as a model for other states and countries to follow.

While talks on an international plastics treaty remain deadlocked, California is kickstarting a process for potentially regulating microplastics. On October 1, the state will add microplastics to a list of substances that evidence suggests may be harmful to people or the environment and are candidates for increased regulation.

A recent Stanford University-led paper traces California's approach to microplastic regulation over the past decade, and draws lessons for other states and countries looking to regulate a synthetic material found in our water, food, and bodies. The paper, published in Frontiers in Environmental Science, was supported by the Stanford Center for Human and Planetary Health. Below, paper coauthors Amelia Meyer, Kara Meister, and Sarina Patel explain what can be learned from the state's decade-long regulatory experiment.

Meyer is an environmental scientist who co-leads Stanford’s Plastics and Health Working Group, which focuses on the health and policy dimensions of microplastic pollution. Meister is a pediatric otolaryngologist and head-and-neck surgeon whose lab at the Stanford School of Medicine has documented microplastics in children's tonsil tissue and is developing new methods to measure microplastic burden in the body. Patel is a policy program manager at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and a former California Legislature science fellow who works to connect Stanford research with state policymakers.

(Read more about how Stanford scholars are approaching the plastic problem from many angles: https://woods.stanford.edu/planet-versus-plastic-earth-day-2024)
 

1. The Oct. 1 change could provide a legal foothold.

Listing microplastics in the Candidate Chemicals List doesn't mean a product is restricted in any way. It's the procedural step California's Department of Toxic Substances Control takes before it can designate specific products for regulation. The process still requires public comment and formal review.

“While microplastics have been measured in the environment for a while, there hasn’t been a coherent way, legally, to treat them as pollution that needs to be mitigated,” Patel said. “Classing microplastics as a chemical of concern opens an important legal door.”

2. Regulating plastic pollution has become more complicated since California’s first efforts to do so.  

In 2015, California banned microbeads in wash-off cosmetics like facial scrubs because the tiny plastic pieces can slip through wastewater treatment systems and accumulate in waterways. It was a relatively straightforward law, according to Meyer, because microbeads "were intentionally manufactured, had a clear source, the same general shape and texture, and were largely non-essential."

Today's biggest microplastic sources, such as tire dust and clothing fibers, are harder to address; when particles shed continuously from millions of cars and washing machines, the interventions must go beyond manufacturing. California has slowly been chipping away at the issue with an expanding body of regulations.

3. Science shows plastic is in us. It’s potential for harm is less clear.

Microplastics have been found in human blood, organs, and other bodily fluids. Some published studies and ongoing research link their presence to significantly higher rates of heart attack, stroke, and death, but finding microplastics in the body doesn't prove they are the cause of that harm.

"Detecting microplastics in the body does not by itself tell us what level of exposure causes harm," Meyer said. "Uncertainty is a reason to continue research and reduce unnecessary exposure at the source, not a reason to wait until every question has been answered."

Meister is equally concerned about what travels with the plastic. "Microplastics are Trojan horses," she said. "There are potentially thousands of other chemicals and polymers conjugated to microplastics," including plasticizers like BPA with well-documented health effects. "We are just at the beginning of understanding the reach, scope, and impact of these exposures."

4. For the past decade, California regulators have slowly turned up the heat on microplastic pollution.

Since the 2015 microbead ban, California has created a statewide microplastics strategy, drinking-water standards, and a law, SB 54, that assigns producers responsibility for the full life cycle of their products, not just their creation. It includes plans for a $5 billion mitigation fund fed by manufacturer fees. "This is a public facing, tangible step to raise awareness and mitigate the impacts of plastics in our state," Meister said.
“By taking a variety of regulatory approaches, California gives itself tools to tackle microplastic pollution across the scope of the problem, from production to waste management to environmental cleanup,” Patel said.

5. Global plastic regulation is stuck. States and other governmental bodies can make progress in the meantime.

Despite years of effort, UN negotiators have failed to agree a binding plastics treaty, largely due to a deadlock over production caps. In that vacuum, states and other governmental bodies are charting their own course.

“There are some strident voices speaking up in support of the plastics industry, pushing back against regulation supposedly in the name of affordability,” Patel said. “While systemic change does cost money, the damage plastic has done to the environment, to wildlife, and potentially to human health also has a cost associated and right now there is no accountability for those costs.”

"Because plastics are rooted in the petroleum industry, there will be strong pushback to regulation,” Meister said. “That makes it necessary to have a concentrated, cohesive effort that is okay with baby steps. Otherwise, there is a risk of regrettable substitutions.” For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Agency and some states restricted the use of Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical once used in various food and drink packaging. Manufacturers replaced it with chemicals that pose similar health dangers, according to various studies.

In the meantime, California shows how other states and countries can make inroads on the issue. “It is experimenting with policies, generating evidence, and demonstrating what stronger regulation can look like in practice,” Meyer said.

 

Coauthors of the paper also include Desiree LaBeaud, a professor of pediatrics (infectious diseases) at the Stanford School of Medicine, a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, co-lead of the Plastics and Health Working Group hosted by the Stanford Center for Human and Planetary Health, and a professor, by courtesy, of epidemiology and population health and of environmental social sciences; and Chloe Smith, a policy officer at the London School of Economics Sustainability Regulation Observatory and Sustainability Law & Policy Clinic, and formerly a policy officer at the Sustainability Law and Policy Clinic & Regulation Observatory of the University of California, Berkeley.

 

Related:

https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2026/06/pregnant-women-chemicals-risk-research

https://med.stanford.edu/cancer/about/news/behind-the-research--a-conversation-with-tracey-woodruff0.html

---

Journal

Frontiers in Environmental Science

DOI

10.3389/fenvs.2026.1878679

Article Title

Microplastic pollution policy and one health: a critical perspective on California legislation as a case study

 

How much do Americans spend on GLP-1 medications? VCU medical students measure drug affordability

The study reveals trends in health spending, which soared to nearly $65 billion in 2023 for the popular weight-loss drugs. Among their findings: Nearly 1 in 5 of GLP-1 users spent at least 10% of their household income on the medications.

Virginia Commonwealth University

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChat
WhatsApp

The number of people using GLP-1 treatments like Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss or chronic conditions has increased rapidly, with more than 1 in 10 U.S. adults currently taking such medications. A new study led by medical students at Virginia Commonwealth University has shed light on how this rise in GLP-1 drug use is affecting Americans’ wallets.

By analyzing long-term healthcare spending data, the research team found that:

• Total health spending on GLP-1 drugs in the United States increased nearly 15-fold between 2013 and 2023, reaching almost $65 billion.
• Median out-of-pocket spending per GLP-1 user exceeded $1,500 annually, and nearly 1 in 5 users spent more than 10% of their annual household income on these medications. Uninsured and lower-income populations experienced the highest out-of-pocket burden.

The findings were published in July in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

“GLP-1 use has expanded dramatically in recent years, with many novel agents like semaglutide and tirzepatide now on the market, but a frequent concern is their affordability,” said David T. Zhu, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate in the VCU School of Medicine and School of Public Health and one of the study authors. “Our results show that more work is needed by clinicians, public health professionals, health systems and policymakers to help improve GLP-1 accessibility.”

What are GLP-1 drugs used for?

GLP-1 agonists are a type of medication that helps manage blood sugar levels, slow digestion and reduce appetite. While this class of drugs was initially approved to help manage Type 2 diabetes, subsequent clinical studies have shown that GLP-1 medications are also beneficial for other health conditions, including obesity, kidney disease, heart disease and liver disease.

With more GLP-1 options on the market to address a growing number of health conditions, there has been a rapid expansion of GLP-1 utilization. However, there is limited research on the financial toll of GLP-1 use for patients, and how this impacts accessibility.

“Surveys show that in 2024, about 6% of all adults in the United States were actively using GLP-1 medications. By 2026, that rate has increased to 12%, representing 30 million people. There are many more who could benefit from this treatment but can’t afford the out-of-pocket costs,” said Alan Lai, a medical student at the School of Medicine and one of the study authors.

How did the study authors measure GLP-1 spending?

To better understand the financial impact of GLP-1 use, the researchers analyzed data collected between 2013 and 2023 through the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a national data source that measures how Americans use and pay for healthcare. This includes all costs that are covered through insurance or paid for directly out of pocket by patients. The team assessed responses from nearly 2,800 participants and used this data to estimate trends among approximately 33 million U.S. adults. 

Their analysis revealed that:

• Total health spending on GLP-1 medications increased from $4.4 billion in 2013 to $64.9 billion in 2023. The largest spike occurred between 2021 and 2023, when cumulative spending on GLP-1 medications nearly doubled.
• On an individual level, median out-of-pocket spending per GLP-1 user was $1,528 annually, which is notably higher than previous spending estimates. The researchers believe this is because prior studies largely used data from claims filed by patients with insurance, whereas the new study captures spending from both insured and uninsured patients.

How affordable are GLP-1 drugs?

The team assessed trends in GLP-1 affordability by measuring the proportion of annual household income spent out of pocket on medications. On average, patients spent 7% of their household income on out-of-pocket costs for GLP-1 medications annually. Nearly 1 in 5 of GLP-1 users overall experienced high out-of-pocket burden, where they spent at least 10% of their household income on medications.

“This may reflect the novelty of these medications, since a lot of GLP-1 drugs are brand name only and don’t have generic equivalents available for a cheaper alternative,” Zhu said.

The data also showed notable socioeconomic differences in GLP-1 medication spending and affordability:

• On average, individuals who were privately insured, had a higher-income or were non-Hispanic White paid the most out of pocket for GLP-1 medications annually.
• In contrast, publicly insured, uninsured or lower-income individuals faced lower out-of-pocket costs for GLP-1 drugs, but these costs made up a larger proportion of their income, which is a more direct measure of these drugs’ affordability. Among this group, nearly 1 in 3 GLP-1 users spent at least 10% of their household income on medications.

“Our findings show that even modest out-of-pocket spending on GLP-1 medications can impose substantial financial strain when household financial resources are limited,” Zhu said.

The researchers say their findings emphasize the need for more solutions to make these medications more affordable, particularly among uninsured and lower-income populations. Such action could include policy efforts that prioritize reducing out-of-pocket spending and promote drug price negotiations. They added that expanding insurance coverage for GLP-1 drugs could also increase the accessibility and affordability of these medications.

For future studies, the researchers hope to focus on patient spending for other medications, including diabetes and cancer drugs.

“Understanding the financial side of healthcare allows for clinicians to determine who benefits most from improved access to treatments,” Lai said. “It also provides a launching pad for clinicians to advocate for future change.”

---

Journal

Journal of General Internal Medicine

DOI

10.1007/s11606-026-10658-2

Article Title

Spending and Affordability of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists and Other Incretin Mimetics in the United States, 2013–2023

DESANTISLAND

Study foresees heightened measles epidemic risk for Florida

UMD mathematicians predict the dramatic impact of a proposal to repeal Florida’s measles vaccine mandate

University of Maryland

Facebook

X
BlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

Measles is making a comeback. Once considered eliminated from the United States, the disease has been popping up around the country as vaccine coverage declines.

Now, as Florida considers dropping its measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine mandate for school attendance, a new University of Maryland study predicts that such a policy change could spark the largest measles epidemic in the United States in nearly 50 years. The study will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on September 28, 2026.

“Measles is one of the most contagious human pathogens, and we’ve seen a striking 650% increase in cases just between 2024 and 2025,” said paper co-author Abba Gumel, a Distinguished University Professor of Mathematics at UMD. “This is an extremely important case study with ramifications well beyond the southeastern United States.”

As vaccine hesitancy and exemptions grow, 3,471 measles cases have been confirmed nationally so far this year—reaching 45 states plus Washington, D.C., and New York City. Recent infection clusters in Texas, New Mexico and South Carolina arose as these states fell below their respective vaccine-induced herd immunity thresholds—the minimum percentage of a population that must be vaccinated to stop the person-to-person spread of a disease.

To assess potential outcomes of Florida’s proposed vaccine-mandate retraction, the UMD team built a transmission model based on a 2025 measles outbreak in Gaines County, Texas, and incorporated Florida-specific demographic structure, MMR vaccination coverage data, and realistic mixing patterns across ages and geographies.

The mathematical model showed that even without removal of the vaccine mandate, Florida’s vaccine-induced herd immunity threshold is already below the level needed to protect against sustained transmission. Simulated declines in MMR vaccination coverage following removal of school-entry requirements further increased large-outbreak potential in the model, with pediatric deaths in numbers not seen since pre-vaccine eras.

“Importantly, we also learned that vaccinating one child is three times more effective at reducing transmission than vaccinating one adult,” said the paper’s first author, Alice Oveson, a Ph.D. student in applied mathematics & statistics, and scientific computation at UMD.

She noted that the difference results mainly from how the age groups interact—with children spending more time face to face than adults.

“Small reductions in child vaccination rates can lead to disproportionately large increases in the scale of outbreaks,” she said.

Oveson compared the situation to wildfire risk.

“It’s like having a very dry forest with a lot of kindling,” she said. “Having a large unvaccinated population including children is the perfect set-up to spark a very big and potentially deadly outbreak.”

Gumel noted that school-entry vaccination mandates for various infectious diseases have long been a cornerstone of U.S. public health policy and an effective tool for preventing disease spread and disease-related mortality.

“What’s most troubling is that we know these mandates effectively prevent erosion of herd immunity,” said Gumel, who has joint appointments at the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology and holds the Michael and Eugenia Brin Endowed E-Nnovate Chair in Mathematics at UMD. “We also know that strengthening adult immunity through catch-up vaccination could help reduce the severity of outbreaks, and as-needed behavioral interventions like masking and isolating could slow transmission. But neither can compensate for declines in childhood MMR coverage.”

However, Florida has resisted behavioral measures in the past and offers exemptions for people who don’t want to vaccinate for religious, personal or medical reasons. Vaccine exemption requests in Florida are currently at 5.9%, well above the national average of 4.2%.

“Taking it a step further by eliminating the school mandate would suggest that vaccination is unnecessary, which is simply inaccurate and dangerous,” Oveson said, noting that the new paper provides quantitative evidence that such a policy change could make measles endemic in Florida and potentially reignite transmission across the United States.

Health officials would benefit from a better understanding of how people make decisions about vaccination, particularly parents for their children, Oveson said—especially considering recent national survey data showing that some 16% of parents are “not confident” that the MMR vaccine is safe for children, 17% believe that “the risks of the MMR vaccine outweigh its benefits,” and 18% fully oppose school-entry MMR vaccination mandates.

Gumel agrees, noting that targeted outreach is critical.

“Public health officials need to find ways to reach these parents if they are to prevent or contain future measles outbreaks, wherever they occur,” Gumel said. “And they will occur—the disease is out there, vaccination coverage is down, kids are going back to school and the data and science don’t lie.”

###

The paper, “Projected effects of removing school-entry vaccination requirements on measles transmission in Florida,” will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on September 28, 2026.

This work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Award No. DMS-2052363 transferred to DMS-2330801). This article does not necessarily reflect the views of this organization.

---

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2610455123

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Projected effects of removing school-entry vaccination requirements on measles transmission in Florida

Article Publication Date

28-Sep-2026