Press materials are now available for NUTRITION 2026, the annual flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN). Nutrition scientists and practitioners from around the world will gather to share the latest research findings on food and nutrition during the meeting, to be held July 25–28 in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C.

For more than two decades, scientists have uncovered remarkable links between the trillions of microbes living in our gut and the health of our brains. This research has transformed our understanding of stress, depression, anxiety and neurodevelopment, opening new possibilities for preventing and treating mental illness. What if much of this science is based on studying only a narrow slice of global diversity? 

Published today in Nature Mental Health, a new international perspective led by researchers at APC Microbiome Ireland in University College Cork (UCC) argues that one of the biggest obstacles facing microbiome and mental health research is not a lack of technology or data, but a lack of global diversity in the people being studied. The authors contend that the field has become overwhelmingly concentrated in wealthy, industrialised nations, limiting scientific discovery. 

A new position statement from the International Osteoporosis Foundation's (IOF) Committee of Scientific Advisors Fracture Working Group urges orthopaedic surgeons and bone health specialists to work together to assess and treat osteoporosis before and after joint replacement and spinal fusion surgery. The position paper presents a framework linking poor bone quality to complications across both types of procedures and provides evidence-informed recommendations to improve outcomes for the millions of patients undergoing these surgeries worldwide. It introduces the concept of implant fixation failure as a common endpoint, describing the progressive mechanical failure of bone–implant constructs resulting from compromised bone quality specifically that due to osteoporosis.