The January 2020 edition of North America Analysis boasts a wide array of content on policy issues from the region, including a special feature from Dr Suresh Kuppuswamy at Frost & Sullivan, who explores the future of medical imaging

We are honoured to include comment from Emily Y. Chew, M.D., from the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S., who examines why early detection is crucial to prevent blindness from diabetic retinopathy.

On the topic of medical cannabis and CBD, David Shurtleff, PhD at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, shares his thoughts on closing gaps in cannabinoid research to make progress in pain management.

Elsewhere, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research at NICHD, describe technology that helps children with disabilities. Besides this, I am delighted to include my interview with Dr Brian Berridge, Associate Director of the National Toxicology Program in the U.S., in our environmental focus.

I feel it is very apt that we include an agricultural piece from Greg Rosenthal, Communications Specialist at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, as the United Nations has declared 2020 to be the International Year of Plant Health. In Greg’s article, he details why 2020 is the year to protect plant health and argues that thriving plants mean thriving people.

As part of our Canada coverage, climate change is placed under the spotlight, with a look at the priorities of the recently appointed Minister of Environment and Climate Change in Canada, The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, who replaced Catherine McKenna.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for 2020 and hope that you enter this new decade with a sense of optimism.