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Publications (41)
Research on smoking behaviour has primarily focused on adolescents, with less attention given to middle-aged and older adults in rural settings. This study examines the influence of personal networks and sociodemographic factors on smoking behaviour in a rural Romanian community. We analysed data from 76 participants, collected through face-to-face...
This chapter provides a comprehensive examination of the evolution of genomic technologies and their profound impact on the understanding of health and disease. Initially, it outlines how these technologies have advanced, transitioning from basic genetic mapping to complex high-throughput technologies like next-generation sequencing and CRISPR, off...
In the narrative of modern healthcare, digital transformation plays a pivotal role, transcending mere digitization to profoundly impact health in various ways. This chapter delves into how this transformation goes beyond mere technological advancements representing a broader societal shift towards more personalized, patient-centered care.
Central t...
The book, “A Glimpse at Medicine in the Future” discussed on
hashtag#Innovations: Revolutionizing healthcare with groundbreaking medical technologies
hashtag#Personalization: hashtag#Personalizedtreatments to individual genetic profiles for optimal outcomes
hashtag#Prevention: Emphasizing proactive health strategies to prevent diseases before the...
Background
Most studies assessing the impact of online media and social media use on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy predominantly rely on survey data, which often fail to capture the clustering of health opinions and behaviors within real-world networks. In contrast, research using social network analysis aims to uncover the diverse communities and dis...
While research on adolescent smoking is extensive, little attention has been given to smoking behaviors among rural middle-aged and older adults. This study examines the role of personal networks and sociodemographic factors in predicting smoking status in a rural Romanian community. Using a link-tracing sampling method, we gathered data from 76 pa...
Background:
In recent years, the integration of large language models (LLMs) into healthcare has emerged as a revolutionary approach to enhancing doctor-patient communication, particularly in the management of diseases such as prostate cancer.
Methods:
Our paper evaluated the effectiveness of three prominent LLMs-ChatGPT (3.5), Gemini (Pro), and...
This study assesses the effectiveness of chatbots powered by Large Language Models (LLMs)—ChatGPT 3.5, CoPilot, and Gemini—in delivering prostate cancer information, compared to the official Patient’s Guide. Using 25 expert-validated questions, we conducted a comparative analysis to evaluate accuracy, timeliness, completeness, and understandability...
Consumption of tobacco products in Romania is higher than the EU average and imposes a significant financial burden on smoking households as well as negative externalities for society as a whole. This report analyzes the increase in cigarette prices due to excise tax increases and the associated impacts on cigarette consumption and household expend...
Background: Cancer is a major public health problem. Four million new cancer cases are diagnosed annually in Europe, of which around 40% could be prevented. The European Code Against Cancer (ECAC) is a health education tool to raise awareness about risk factors and evidence-based measures to prevent cancer. The ECAC 4th edition consists of 12 recom...
This analysis and commentary discuss Romania's landmark law, the first globally, acknowledging the right of citizens and patients to personalized medicine. Initiated following the EU Council's 2015 policy on personalized medicine, the law is a result of intersectoral collaborative efforts led by the Centre for Innovation in Medicine in Romania usin...
BACKGROUND
Most studies assessing the impact of online media and social media use on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy predominantly rely on survey data, which often fail to capture the clustering of health opinions and behaviors within real-world networks. In contrast, research using social network analysis aims to uncover the diverse communities and dis...
Background: Most studies assessing the impact of online and social media usage on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy predominantly rely on survey data, which often fails to capture the clustering of health opinions and behaviors within real-world networks. In contrast, research employing social network analysis aims to uncover the diverse communities and d...
Background
Romania bears a substantial cancer burden, as evidenced by the incidence of 98,886 new cases and an estimated 54,486 fatalities in the year 2020. This places the nation among the top 10 European countries with regard to cancer-related mortality rates. The exacerbation of cancer mortality in Romania can be attributed primarily to deficien...
Many countries worldwide had difficulties reaching a sufficiently high vaccination uptake during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given this context, we collected data from a panel of 30,000 individuals, which were representative of the population of Romania (a country in Eastern Europe with a low 42.6% vaccination rate) to determine whether people are more...
Coalescing evidence shows that food habits circulate through social relationships. However, seniors' social networks and unhealthy dietary choices remain underexplored, particularly within rural Eastern Europe's unique socioeconomic and cultural contexts. We investigate how social networks affect the consumption of processed foods high in salt amon...
COVID-19 is the first pandemic in the post-genomic era, showcasing how advancements in fundamental research can be translated for real-time, global monitoring of viral variants, identifying the viral origin, understanding the host responses and differences in outcomes, as well as for drug repurposing and drug discovery. Genomic epidemiology and pre...
Against the background of the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic has waned from public consciousness as the threat of the virus to health is outweighed by safety concerns during the war. Pandemic restrictions in the European region are being lifted despite low vaccination rates in Central and Eastern European countries and a lack of effective co...
Many countries worldwide had difficulties reaching a sufficiently high vaccination uptake during the COVID-9 pandemic. To understand this hesitancy better, we performed cross-sectional research on a panel of 30,000 individuals which were representative for the population of Romania -- a country in Eastern Europe with a low 42.6% vaccination rate --...
Tobacco use is recognized as the most preventable cause of death worldwide. A leading cause of death, disease and poverty, the tobacco epidemic is one of the greatest public health threats the world has faced, killing more than 8 million people a year. More than 7 million deaths are the direct result of tobacco use, while approximately 1.2 million...
Cancer research is a crucial pillar for countries to deliver more affordable, higher quality, and more equitable cancer care. Patients treated in research-active hospitals have better outcomes than patients who are not treated in these settings. However, cancer in Europe is at a crossroads. Cancer was already a leading cause of premature death befo...
Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand health information needed to make health decisions that best suits their interest. In time, the definition evolved to be more comprehensive. Although no official definition of personalized medicine literacy exists, we can define it by integrating...
The definition of precision medicine changed in the twenty-first century several times due to advances in molecular biology, genomics, biotechnology, and data science. Oncology is a model for other medical specialties for the early transition to precision medicine.The understanding of cancer has evolved over time: from macroscopic descriptions of l...
Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is the most common inherited metabolic disorder characterized by high cholesterol and if left untreated leads to premature cardiovascular disease, such as heart attacks. Treatment that begins early in life, particularly in childhood, is highly efficacious in preventing cardiovascular disease and cost-effective, t...
Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is under-recognized and under-treated in Europe leading to significantly higher risk for premature heart disease in those affected. As treatment beginning early in life is highly effective in preventing heart disease and cost-effective in these patients, screening for FH is crucial. It has therefore now been reco...
Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is under-recognized and under-treated in Europe leading to significantly higher risk for premature heart disease in those affected. As treatment beginning early in life is highly effective in preventing heart disease and cost-effective in these patients, screening for FH is crucial. It has therefore now been reco...
As Europe and the world continue to battle against COVID, the customary complacency of society over future threats is clearly on display. Just 30 months ago, such a massive disruption to global lives, livelihoods and quality of life seemed unimaginable. Some remedial European Union action is now emerging, and more is proposed, including in relation...
Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize modern society in all its aspects. Encouraged by the variety and vast amount of data that can be gathered from patients (e.g., medical images, text, and electronic health records), researchers have recently increased their interest in developing AI solutions for clinical care. Moreover, a d...
Background:
Although current efforts are made to diminish the incidence and burden of disease, cancer is still widely identified late at stage. This study aims to conduct a systematic review mapping the existent and emerging clinical research on artificial intelligence (AI) in the treatment of cancer and to underpin its integration challenges and...
The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated research and development not only in infectious diseases but also in digital technologies to improve monitoring, forecasting, and intervening on planetary and ecological risks. In the European Commission, the Destination Earth (DestinE) is a current major initiative to develop a digital model of the Earth (a "digit...
Background
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform our healthcare systems significantly. New AI technologies based on machine learning approaches should play a key role in clinical decision-making in the future. However, their implementation in health care settings remains limited, mostly due to a lack of robust validation proce...
In a digital society, shall we be the authors of our own experience, not only during our lifetime but also after we die? We ask this question because dying and bereavement have become even harder, and much less private, in the digital age. New big data-driven digital industries and technologies are on the rise, with promises of interactive 3D avata...
Evidence regarding the relation between SARS-CoV-2 mortality and the underlying medical condition is scarce. We conducted an observational, retrospective study based on Romanian official data about location, age, gender and comorbidities for COVID-19 fatalities. Our findings indicate that males, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and chronic kidney di...
Evidence regarding the relation between SARS-CoV-2 mortality and the underlying medical condition is scarce. We conducted an observational, retrospective study based on Romanian official data about location, age, sex and comorbidities for COVID-19 fatalities.
Our findings indicate that males, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and chronic kidney disea...
Evidence regarding the relation between SARS-CoV-2 mortality and the underlying medical condition is scarce. We conducted an observational, retrospective study based on Romanian official data about location, age, sex and comorbidities for COVID-19 fatalities.
Our findings indicate that males, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and chronic kidney disea...
Bladder cancer is one of the most common urologic malignancies, which is more frequent in men than in women. The early diagnosis for this type of cancer still remains a challenge, therefore, the development of a fast screening test for whole blood and tumor tissue samples may save lives. Four biomarkers, p53, E-cadherin, bladder tumor antigen (BTA)...
We are, understandably, forever hearing about the high cost of bringing innovative new drugs and treatments to the healthcare market, especially medicines for smaller subgroups, and the fact that member state health systems often baulk at the prices. This article will argue that such a bypassing and blocking of innovative medicines and treatments i...
On May 23, 2017, the FDA approved the first cancer treatment (pembrolizumab) for any solid tumor with a specific genetic biomarker: microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR). For the first time in history, a solid cancer treatment was approved based on the genetic makeup of tumor not on the location in the body whe...
Cancer is the second cause of death in Romania, following cardiovascular diseases, with lung and colorectal tumors leading in men, and breast cancer in women. Furthermore, the mortality rate for cervical cancer in Romania is the highest in Europe. Unfortunately, the majority of malignancies are diagnosed in an advanced stage of the disease. The lac...