The US Department of Health and Human Services will award $590 million to Moderna to continue developing a vaccine to protect against bird flu, the pharmaceutical company announced Friday.

Washington, D.C., is being thrown into a moment of uncertainty as Biden administration officials begin to depart and make way for the new Trump 2.0 administration. As of Monday, FDA commissioner Robert Califf,

HHS Allocates $590 Million to Speed Up the Development of mRNA Vaccines for Pandemic Influenza, Including an H5N1 (Bird Flu) Vaccine

President-elect Donald Trump's transition team reportedly tapped a former senior health official from the president-elect's first term and a friend to top Trump loyalists to be Robert F. Kennedy Jr's chief of staff.

According to biographies posted to the department’s website Monday, Alicia Rouault is the department’s new associate deputy assistant secretary for technology policy and chief technology officer, Kristen Honey is the department’s chief data officer, and Meghan Dierks is the chief artificial intelligence officer.

Moderna has been awarded approximately $590 million from the federal government to help speed up the development of an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine, health officials said.

A federal judge has rejected a bid by 20 Republican state attorneys general to block enforcement of a new rule adopted by the outgoing Biden administration establishing minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra warned against the impact of a preemptive presidential pardon for people like Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The Department of Health and Human Services Jan. 17 announced 15 Medicare Part D drugs selected for the latest round of price negotiations.

AI is safe and trustworthy when deployed in healthcare. The plan emphasizes technical assistance for under-resourced organizations and workforce training initiatives.

The harmful effects of private equity in the healthcare delivery system "deserves ongoing scrutiny and greater research," HHS said in a Jan. 15 report .

Public engagement and collaborative partnerships with the private sector “throughout the innovation pipeline” can help ensure that AI tools are being equitably used and deployed, HHS said in its AI strategic plan.