While performing with the South Dakota Symphony, a medical student waiting for months finally read an email that determined the next three years of his life. 

Mark Billingsley, a medical student at the University of Minnesota, learned he matched at the University as an anesthesiologist for his residency. 

“I waited in my car before going into the performance and then I finally got the email and was like, ‘Yes, today is going to be a good day,’” Billingsley said. 

More than 500 medical students and their families gathered at McNamara Alumni Center for Match Day on March 25 to learn where they will complete their residency. 

According to the National Resident Matching Program, when medical students near the end of their education, they apply for residency programs at hospitals across the country to hone their abilities in their preferred practice. The students go through an extensive application and interview process and rank their top program choices through the NRMP.

Students are then matched through a randomized algorithm that considers the students’ and program’s preferences, according to the NRMP.

Students wait three months to find out where and if they are matched, a process medical students often describe as stressful and uncertain. If a student does not match into a residency program, they can either defer another year and apply again or try to get an unfilled position through the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program.

Before Match Day

Hailey Baker, a University medical student, matched at the University as an obstetrics and gynecology resident. She said waiting for Match Day was stressful, not only because of the waiting but also because OB/GYN is a competitive practice. 

If she did not get a spot for OB/GYN at any residency program, Baker said she would have needed to apply for another obstetrics and gynecology spot.

“If you don’t match into OB/GYN, you have the opportunity to do the SOAP (Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program) application,” Baker said. “But there was only one OB/GYN spot for the entire training in the country.”

If Baker was not interested in applying to SOAP, she said another option was switching to a different kind of medicine. 

Billingsley said the preparation process for Match Day starts about a year prior to when medical students receive their match.

The interview process was stressful, Billingsley said, and started in October 2024 and went through January this year. Interviews can take hours to days, as students travel to the prospective programs.

“I got my first interview in mid-October and then (more interviews) just start(ed) flooding in,” Billingsley said about getting interviews for the anesthesiology programs. “You have to try and figure out when to schedule everything so that you’re not double-scheduling.”

Billingsley said before each interview, medical students get to meet the program’s residents to get an idea of what each program is like.

The University’s Medical School offers more than 140 residency and fellowship programs, according to its website.

After completing the interview process, prospective residents rank their top programs, Billingsley said.

Billingsley said he ranked Minnesota number one because of the positive experiences he had interacting with the residents there. He added that his partner works in the Twin Cities and would not be able to relocate with him if he matched elsewhere.

Sarah Rasmussen, a medical student at the University who accepted a spot at the school’s residency program for family medicine, said preparing for her residency application was difficult because she and her husband, also a medical student, wanted to make sure they were in the same city for their residencies in Minnesota.

Couples are able to link their match so they are accepted into programs in the same city, Rasmussen said. They submit a ranked list of programs together, but there is still uncertainty on whether the couple will match in the same program. 

“It’s just an added level of uncertainty,” Rasmussen said. “In order to stay in Minnesota, we both needed to find programs that wanted us to.”

Rasmussen said she and her husband matched at different programs in the Twin Cities.

Annika Ballantyne, a University medical student completing her residency at M Health Fairview’s Smiley’s Clinic, a family medicine clinic in Minneapolis, said she knew she wanted to work in the Twin Cities or a similar metropolitan area after working at the clinic through the Metropolitan Physicians Associate Program, or MetroPAP, which teaches medical students how to care for patients in an urban environment.

“I feel like the whole process for me started during my third year when I was doing that program and going to the clinic every day,” Ballantyne said. “I was spending so much time there and I had a really wonderful experience during my third year and just really felt like I could see myself calling Smiley’s home for residency.”

A lot of medical students also wanted to remain in Minnesota because they have family in the area.

Rasmussen said she and her husband recently had a baby, and having the support of family members would be helpful as they balance starting a family with their residency obligations.

“I think being near family and having grandparent support is going to be a huge relief,” Rasmussen said.

The week of Match Day

Baker said the NRMP sends emails informing students that they matched on the Monday before Match Day, but did not provide more information. Baker also applied as a couple with her partner, Mahtahn Jenkins, who matched at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.

“We wanted to stay in Minnesota, but there was no guarantee,” Baker said. “And so it was really exciting when we got the email that said we matched, but we weren’t fully relaxed until we saw where on Friday morning.”

Ballantyne said the week leading up to Match Day was nerve-wracking.

“Your mind starts to make up different scenarios,” Ballantyne said. “It is a really life-altering moment. I had high hopes for what I wanted to happen that day, but you know nothing’s guaranteed.”

Ballantyne said getting the email on Monday alleviated a lot of anxiety for her and probably others, as they learned they have a spot somewhere.

Match Day

On Match Day, the medical school puts on a celebration to honor the students with speakers and a breakfast, Baker said. At the end of the ceremony, students can open an envelope containing where their residency will be and what they will practice.

“It’s really hard to pay attention because you’re just thinking about it, and everybody knows where you matched before you,” Baker said. “The programs and the schools actually found out the day before.”

Billingsley said having guest speakers, including Medical School Dean Jakub Tolar, and two student emcees, helped to calm his nerves with their anecdotes about their experiences in medical school while waiting to open his envelope.

“I can’t imagine what they are going through because they’re going through the match process as well, but now they’re having to speak in front of everybody,” Billingsley said. “So that’s double the nerves there.”

Billingsley said they do a countdown from one minute at the ceremony to when the students can open their envelopes at the same time with friends and family who came to the event around them.

“When I finally got to open the envelope, it was just a big relief because I got my number one choice, which was the University of Minnesota,” Billingsley said. “Afterwards, I could feel my shoulders were so tight because of all the tension from the wait.”

Residency programs begin this summer after students graduate from medical school.

Billingsley said he is excited to complete his residency at the University because of the strong mentorship in anesthesiology he received during medical school.

“The mentorship that I received from anesthesiologists within the program was really inspiring,” Billingsley said. “Its definition pointed me in that direction.”

Rasmussen said she is confident that the University is the best place for her to complete her residency and is eager to learn.

“I’m incredibly grateful that we get to train her, and it’s going to be the best place for me, my future career and my family,” Rasmussen said. “I know I’m joining a great group of people.”

Ballantyne said she was excited to open her envelope and find she would complete her residency with Smiley’s.

“I had been at Smiley’s as a medical student, so it felt like an honor to receive that validation that I would get to continue my training at a place that I love so much,” Ballantyne said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci detailed his extensive career leading the U.S. through multiple health crises in his role as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and emphasized the importance of trust in science as part of the Distinguished Carlson Lecture Series. 

Fauci, the first physician to speak in the lecture series, was originally planned to speak in October. The lecture was canceled due to the occupation of Morrill Hall.

Fauci said that in a tumultuous political climate, the most important thing to do is trust scientific data and to understand that science is not political. Social media and the spread of disinformation have created a general lack of trust in science.

Three people died of measles this year, which is the most measles deaths the country has had in 25 years, Fauci said. This is a direct result of a lack of trust in vaccines, even though the measles vaccine is proven to be 97% effective after two doses. 

“At the time, the data clearly showed the shot was effective and people accepted it because there wasn’t a contrary feeling that is now spread by social media,” Fauci said. “So when someone comes in with a conspiracy theory that says measles causes autism when countless studies show it doesn’t, it falls in an echo chamber of people who believe it’s correct.”

Fauci said if Americans continue the trend of not vaccinating themselves or their children, diseases previously eradicated in the U.S., like tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS, could return.

“If we don’t control diseases outside of the United States, they will likely be affecting us here,” Fauci said. “We could have tuberculosis exacerbated or we could have drug-resistant bacteria. We will definitely have a resurgence of HIV if we cut ourselves off from the World Health Organization.”

Fauci said organizations like WHO help the U.S. to stay alert about the current state of diseases like HIV/AIDS.

“It’s for our own benefit to protect us against disease,” Fauci said.

Throughout the lecture, Fauci remained bipartisan and talked about his work with both liberal and conservative administrations. He said scientific data is not political.

“There is no place for politics in public health,” Fauci said. 

Fauci developed a foreign aid program in 2003 aiming to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa under George W. Bush’s administration called the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The program provides under-developed areas, including southern Africa, with antiviral drugs to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

PEPFAR has saved more than 26 million lives since its creation, according to the United Nations. 

During the lecture, Fauci said the main theme throughout his career is to expect the unexpected, as he advised seven presidents about infectious diseases ranging from HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and ‘90s to COVID-19 in 2020.

He also discussed the U.S.’ COVID-19 response and what could have been done to improve it.

Fauci said he and other scientists and government officials could have done a better job explaining how science evolves as new information and discoveries are presented. 

“At the time, recommendations were based on the knowledge as we knew it, and the thing we need to express better is that science is a process that gathers information, data and evidence to allow you at a given point to make a recommendation or guideline,” Fauci said. “If you’re dealing with a moving target and the information changes, the process of science is self-correcting.”

Though programs like USAID, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and PEPFAR are in danger of being defunded by the Trump administration, Fauci encouraged current university students interested in public health and public service to continue pursuing those careers. 

“It is still worth going into this extraordinary field of public health because the ending of your product is not a car or a computer,” Fauci said. “It’s a human life, and that’s the thing to me that is worth sticking it out through the difficult times because this will pass.”

A study from the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health said American Indian and Alaska Native women with access to Indian Health Services and insurance were more likely to receive higher-quality care before birth, reducing the risk of infection or serious complications after birth and maternal mortality rates in these communities. 

The study evaluated the care of pregnant native women with IHS and with private insurance, like Medicaid, before and after birth, according to the press release. 

The IHS is an organization within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides health care services to federally recognized tribes, according to the IHS website. 

Researchers from SPH used data of Native women across 44 states who gave birth between 2016 and 2020, collected by the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, or PRAMS, to evaluate the quality of care depending on the women’s access to IHS and insurance. 

Hailey Baker, a medical student at the University who worked on the study, said additional data from the CDC indicated Native people experience maternal mortality up to a year after childbirth because of factors like mental health issues.

Julia Interrante, the study’s lead author, said they defined high-quality care in the study by determining whether the pregnant women received at least 75% of the recommended screenings throughout the pregnancy process. 

According to the study, pregnant people who reported being uninsured before pregnancy with IHS access were found to be 16% more likely to receive high-quality care. Those who were uninsured during pregnancy with IHS access were 7% more likely to receive high-quality care.

Interrante said there are 12 recommended screenings before pregnancy, 11 during pregnancy and seven postpartum, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists.

The study found pregnant Indigenous people received about 47% of recommended screenings preconception, about 84% of screenings during pregnancy and about 70% of screenings postpartum. 

Interrante said the data did not include the tribal enrollment of pregnant people, so it is unclear whether certain tribes experience maternal mortality and morbidity at higher rates than others. 

Most IHS facilities are located in rural areas near tribal lands, and there are fewer facilities in urban areas, Interrante said. Urban IHS facilities get less funding from the government, making up 1% of the organization’s budget, which impacts pregnant people’s access to care at IHS facilities. 

The IHS also mainly serves federally recognized tribes, reducing access to care for members of tribes that are recognized on the state level but not federally, Interrante said. 

The IHS is underfunded and understaffed, leading to a lot of issues for people who need access to perinatal care, Baker said. 

“You see understaffed facilities, which sometimes leads to an inability to provide birthing care itself or inability to access prenatal or postpartum care,” Baker said. 

Baker said some maternity units in both rural and urban areas in IHS facilities have been closing down because of limited funding. Birthing and delivery units are generally one of the first departments to be cut because they are less profitable than other units. 

Preconception care is also important because receiving high-quality care even before pregnancy contributes to high-quality care during pregnancy and postpartum, Baker said. 

“If you can’t get access to high-quality care throughout the lifespan (of a person), then when you do get pregnant, you’re going to be at risk for more negative health outcomes,” Baker said. 

Baker said there is not much research out about health care for native people. 

“I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve looked at a graph and I know that it’s something that native people experience disproportionately high rates of and yet they’re not represented,” Baker said.

A study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health conducted in 2023 found that retailers selling THC products often failed to comply with age restrictions for selling those products. 

The study found that 56% of all stores failed to verify the age of a customer when they purchased a THC product. According to state law, you cannot purchase THC products if you are 21 or younger in Minnesota. 

Eileen Delehanty, a graduate student in the SPH, said the study was part of her doctoral research. 

The study focused on the sale of hemp-derived THC products, which are products with low THC levels and are not listed as a controlled substance by the U.S. government, Delehanty said. Examples of hemp-derived products include Delta 8 and Delta 9 strains of THC, commonly used in gummies and beverages. 

For the study, Delehanty used actors over the age of 21 who looked younger and were sent to purchase THC products at a variety of stores. If the customers were asked to show their ID, they were instructed to say they had left it in their car. 

A panel evaluated the actors based on their physical appearance and acted out an exchange with another actor playing a cashier, Delehanty said. If the panel found they convincingly passed as younger than 21, they were cast for the study. 

Delehanty said they conducted the study at stores in one city, which remained unnamed. They went to different kinds of stores, such as grocery stores or convenience stores, that sell non-age-restricted products in addition to stores that sell age-restricted products, like liquor stores, hemp-derived THC dispensaries and tobacco shops. 

Stores that sold age-restricted products sold THC products to pseudo-underaged customers 57% of the time, Delehanty said. Stores that sold non-age-restricted products sold THC products to 54% of pseudo-underaged customers.  

Delehanty said it is important that people under 21 do not have access to cannabis products because those products could potentially interfere with brain development, especially as the brain stops developing at 25. 

“It can also potentially increase the risk of developing a cannabis use disorder or psychosis and memory problems,” Delehanty said. “Those are pretty well established in literature and part of the reason that, here in Minnesota, we decided that you can’t sell cannabis to somebody under 21.”

Delehanty said that before this study, there was limited information on underage people accessing hemp-derived THC products, but similar studies have been conducted for alcohol sales.

Traci Toomey, a professor of epidemiology in the SPH and director of the Cannabis Research Center, said studies about selling products like alcohol and tobacco to underage customers informed policies and interventions to prevent illegal sales from happening. 

The studies on alcohol sales were structured similarly to Delehanty’s study about hemp-derived THC products, as of-age actors who looked younger than 21 went to stores selling alcohol and attempted to purchase alcohol without presenting an ID, Toomey said.

At the time of those studies, between 50% and 100% of the time, young people were able to purchase alcohol without an ID, Toomey said.

Implementing compliance checks from law enforcement for retailers selling hemp-derived THC products could be a way to prevent people under 21 from having access to these products, Delehanty said. 

Compliance checks are already beginning in Minnesota, as state law requires at least one compliance check from law enforcement a year. As the study was conducted in 2023, before the compliance checks requirement was put in place, it is still unclear whether those will make a difference in sales of hemp-derived THC products to underage people. 

Compliance checks consist of law enforcement sending in a real underage person under their supervision to attempt to purchase a product. If a legal sale is made, the seller or license holder is held accountable through penalties.

Toomey said compliance checks have decreased the likelihood of sales to underage people.

Studies in Colorado and California, where cannabis has been legal for some time, have been conducted on underage people’s access to non-hemp-derived products, Delehanty said. 

“In California, not a single buyer was even able to get into the dispensary, and in Colorado, only one buyer was able to get into the store,” Delehanty said. “So we see a big difference in what we saw here in Minnesota.”

Delehanty said the studies conducted in Colorado and California were for licensed cannabis dispensaries, which differ from the University’s study because Minnesota does not have licensed dispensaries as of April 2025.

“Licensed dispensaries have a lot more rules and regulations around sales, so they limit the type of stores that can sell cannabis,” Delehanty said. “Here in Minnesota, we don’t have that yet.”

Delehanty said when dispensaries start popping up in Minnesota, regulations will likely start to look different, but hemp products are still regulated differently because of their descheduling at the federal level.

A recent study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health traced the National Institutes of Health’s funding of research on LGBTQ+ health outcomes between 2012 and 2022. 

The report found that NIH research on LGBTQ+ communities tripled from 2012 to 2022, but most of the research focused on cisgender, white, gay men. The NIH took steps to improve research on sexual and gender minority populations, such as creating an SGM Research Office in 2015 and developing a strategic plan to advance SGM health research in the future in 2019.

Ben Weideman, the lead author of the report, who uses they/them pronouns, said that while research grew over the last 10 years, there are still inequities impacting LGBTQ+ communities. 

“We see various disparities and inequities impacting queer and trans and LGBTQ+ folks in lots of different health domains,” Weideman said. “Mental health, particularly suicidality, are really big areas where there’s a lot of need for research.”

Weideman said SGM populations tend to experience poorer health outcomes than their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts, particularly in areas including mental health issues, substance use and chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. 

Nic Rider, an associate professor in the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health who uses they/them pronouns, said NIH funding for research on these communities is imperative to understand the root causes of health disparities between the LGBTQ+ community and their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts. 

“We need to consider the nuanced needs and experiences of different populations so that we can understand what is at the root of the health disparities that they experience and we can start to address it with community voices centered,” Rider said. “Without this inclusion, results may not apply, be less effective or could even be harmful.”

The study found more than 65% of research on SGM populations was about HIV/AIDS prevention studies. The majority of those studies focused on cisgender gay and bisexual men, with less focus on lesbian or bisexual women, as well as transgender and nonbinary people. 

Weideman said research on HIV/AIDS prevention is still needed, but other needs within SGM populations need to be addressed in addition to this.

“One of the things we want to point out in our study is that there are additional and related needs oftentimes beyond HIV/AIDS, like mental health, substance use and chronic health conditions,” Weideman said. 

The focus on HIV/AIDS research in SGM communities is beginning to shift to include other health concerns as well, but there is still a long way to go, Weideman said. 

Weideman said the Trump administration is already beginning to impact research on the LGBTQ+ community. 

“I know personally that my research work has already been impacted,” Weideman said. “One of the grants that I worked on received a termination letter in the last week.”

According to the Associated Press, the Trump Administration terminated at least 68 grants totalling about $40 million for research on LGBTQ+ communities.

Rider said the termination of funding to study health concerns for SGM populations will have long-term impacts on these communities.

“There is an absolutely devastating impact of the abrupt and vague funding terminations. Not only are there more immediate effects, there are also long-term effects of funding cuts, including trainees not pursuing research and persistence of unaddressed health disparities,” Rider said. “Health, healthcare, and community and individual well-being benefit from these research studies.”

The University of Minnesota Horticulture Research Center (HRC) in Excelsior, Minn., breeds new varieties of wine and table grapes that can withstand cold Minnesota winters.

The HRC is renowned for developing new breeds of apples, such as the Honeycrisp apple, but its wine and table grape program is lesser-known, said HRC researcher Erin Treiber. 

The last table grape released by the University was in 1977, and the last wine grape created by the University was in 2022, according to the University Enology Department. 

The most important part of developing grapes in Minnesota is ensuring they are cold hardy, meaning they can withstand harsh Minnesota winters and extremely cold temperatures, Treiber said. Disease resistance and the grapes’ flavor are also important when it comes to developing new grapes.

Grapes are a perennial crop, meaning they continue to grow throughout the years without needing to replant, Treiber said. Small buds grow at the base of the grapevine, and the buds need to survive through the winter to produce fruit again in the spring and summer.

John Thull, a researcher at the HRC with expertise in grapes, said grapes are cross-pollinated based on qualities the breeders want replicated in a new variety of grapes. 

Cross-pollination happens through the plants’ flowers, Thull said. Grapes have a perfect flower, so they have both a stamen and a pistil — the male and female parts of the flower. 

The stamen holds the pollen and is removed with tweezers from a floret before it turns into a flower so it cannot self-pollinate before the researchers use it to create a new grape, Thull said. The stamen is then put in a plastic bag to seal it off from making contact with any other pollen. 

When the flowers bloom later in the season, the researchers collect pollen from the blooming flowers and replace it with the pollen from the previously collected stamen, Thull said. 

“There’s no genetic splicing, there’s no GMO stuff that we’re doing,” Thull said. “We’re just doing classical breeding and seeing what comes out.”

Most grapes are crossbred with Vitis riparia, a cold-hardy grape native to Minnesota, Thull said. 

Treiber said the problem with Vitis riparia is that it does not have an appealing flavor, with people saying it tastes more like a vegetable than a fruit. 

Vitis riparia is cross-pollinated with European varieties of grapes known for their good flavor, but they do not thrive in colder climates, Thull said. 

“If you cross those European varieties with the native grapes, some percentage of those should be cold hardy,” Thull said. “In the next generation, some of the seedlings from that crossing retain the hardiness of the native varieties and the characteristics of the European ones.”

When creating grapes for wine, the color of the grapes is also important, Jenny Thull, a researcher at the HRC, said. 

“Historically, the hybrids that we’ve made have been very dark, almost a dark purple, which isn’t a very pleasant color to look at,” Jenny Thull said. “So something that has a lighter color is better.”

Jenny Thull said the research team also prioritizes breeding flavorful grapes, so when winemakers produce wine, it does not have to be manipulated by using oak barrels to alter the flavors. 

John Thull said it takes at least five years before the grapes are ready for tasting, but it takes longer to know if a new variety of grapes is good for eating or wine production. By the seventh year of vine growing, the researchers usually have a better idea of what the grape is like because of how tall it is at that point, but it is still difficult to evaluate at that point because the vine is still establishing itself. 

“By the time you can make a batch of wine from it, that’s like year 10,” John Thull said. “It’s a long process, but in fresh, eating grapes it would be a little bit faster than 10 years.”

The HRC also produces wine from the grapes they grow in their winery, John Thull said.

One vine of grapes only produces between a half gallon to a gallon of wine, so when working with newer breeds of grapes, vineyards make at most five bottles of wine because only one vine of that grape breed exists in the world.

John and Jenny Thull, who are married, started working on grapes 20 years ago.  

“We would taste wines and our teeth would be black from the inky colors from the wild grapes,” Jenny Thull said. “We’ve gotten into more refined red wine colors, and it’s exciting for sure.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced in a press release Wednesday that the University of Minnesota, Fairview and Essentia Health will engage in renewed conversations about the future of academic medicine led by a yet-to-be-chosen strategic facilitator.

The three organizations have struggled to agree on how to continue developing the University’s new, statewide health care system. The proposed system was initially announced Jan. 24, 2025.

The new health care system would be a collaboration between the parties to solve challenges Minnesotans face, like structural inequities in the healthcare system, according to a press release from Jan. 24. 

“Given the current status of the talks, the time pressure, and the importance of the public interest in getting this right, my office is taking a more active role,” Ellison said in the press release. 

All parties will be involved in choosing the strategic facilitator who will guide conversations to develop the new system, according to the press release. The University and the health care organizations are financially responsible for the strategic facilitator. 

Brian Evans, the press secretary for the attorney general’s office, said the state is not paying for the facilitator because it is not directly involved in the negotiations. It is typical for the involved parties to pay for expenses related to the negotiation process. 

A press release from the University communications department on Wednesday said it supports Ellison’s involvement in the decision. 

“If we don’t achieve a solution, the future of Minnesota’s healthcare workforce, the University of Minnesota Medical School, and the innovation pipeline that is fueled by our medical research are all at risk,” the press release read. 

Essentia and Fairview both expressed support for Ellison’s engagement in the discussion in statements to the Minnesota Daily on Wednesday. 

“For nearly two years, Fairview has sought resolution with the University of Minnesota that prioritizes patients, providers, and the long-term strength of our healthcare system,” Fairview said in a statement to the Minnesota Daily. “We welcome the opportunity for a fresh start and to engage in a structured facilitation process in an effort to find a resolution that is fair, transparent, and in the best interests of those we serve.”

Evans said there is no timeline to find the facilitator, nor is there a specific place the parties are looking for them.

Opioid deaths rose nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17, according to a study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. 

The study examined opioid deaths across the country from 2019 to 2022, as overdoses in this age group quadrupled during this time. The majority of overdoses for opioids, cocaine and methamphetamines involved fentanyl. 

Use of illicit substances for adolescents, like alcohol, cannabis and tobacco is declining, Colin Planalp, a researcher at the Cannabis Research Center, said. The increase in overdoses is likely due to a change in the illicit drug market and making substances riskier to use.

Before the pandemic, most opioid deaths in the U.S. were among working-age adults, but this changed, Planalp said. 

Planalp said the crisis of teen opioid deaths escalated quickly, jumping to the third leading cause of death in adolescents after firearms and car accidents. 

Opioid deaths decreased overall in 2023 but did not decline in adolescents, according to the CDC. 

Federal and state law enforcement agencies reported an increase in seizures of counterfeit medications, like OxyContin or Adderall, that often include fentanyl or other synthetic opioids that can be fatal in small amounts, Planalp said. 

Teenagers historically get these medications from their friends and family, whether to use them recreationally or to treat a condition, Planalp said. 

“People should be suspicious, the people shouldn’t trust these medications if you are not getting it with a prescription from a pharmacy,” Planalp said. “If it’s coming to you secondhand and it’s not coming directly from a pharmacy, I would be very suspicious about the safety of it.”

To help prevent overdoses on campus, Boynton Health started providing free naloxone kits, a nasal medication that quickly reverses overdoses, in five locations across campus on March 3. 

The pickup locations are in Coffman Union, Appleby Hall, Boynton Health, the West Bank Skyway and the St. Paul Student Center, according to Boynton’s website.

The kits include naloxone, as well as instructions on how to administer the drug and information on how to recognize an overdose, Michelle Trumpy, Boynton’s Director of Public Health, said. 

Trumpy said Boynton started looking for ways to combat opioid overdoses in 2022. Initially, the University hosted free naloxone training on campus in collaboration with the Steve Rummler HOPE Network, an organization dedicated to educating communities on overdose prevention. 

More than 1,000 people attended the different training sessions, according to Trumpy. 

Meghan Walsh, an overdose prevention specialist at the Steve Rummler HOPE Network, said the organization provides training sessions for community members to know how to identify an overdose and how to administer naloxone. 

Naloxone should be administered through a small nozzle put inside the nose of a person experiencing an overdose, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

According to the CDC, signs of an overdose include shallow breathing or gurgling noises from an unconscious person who cannot be awakened, discolored lips and fingernails and small pupils that do not react to light. 

Boynton’s campus partners, such as University police officers and student workers providing 624-WALK and Gopher Chauffeur servicers, all carry naloxone, Trumpy said. 

Boynton partnered with the Health Emergency Response Office (HERO) at the University to provide naloxone to students on East and West Bank and St. Paul campus, Trumpy said. 

According to the 2024 College Student Health Survey Report, only 0.1% of students at the University reported using opioids, down from 0.2% in 2021. 

“Access to supplies of nasal Naloxone has improved, public awareness has increased, and we knew the time was right to expand that low barrier access to naloxone on campus because we know our students go off campus,” Trumpy said. “The research is pretty clear that the more naloxone in the community, the more chance we have at saving lives from opioid overdoses.”

Trumpy said while the program, providing naloxone to students, started about two weeks ago, it is already successful. They distributed 200 kits despite one of those weeks being the University’s spring break.

Opioid deaths rose nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17, according to a study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. 

The study examined opioid deaths across the country from 2019 to 2022, as overdoses in this age group quadrupled during this time. The majority of overdoses for opioids, cocaine and methamphetamines involved fentanyl. 

Use of illicit substances for adolescents, like alcohol, cannabis and tobacco is declining, Colin Planalp, a researcher at the Cannabis Research Center, said. The increase in overdoses is likely due to a change in the illicit drug market and making substances riskier to use.

Before the pandemic, most opioid deaths in the U.S. were among working-age adults, but this changed, Planalp said. 

Planalp said the crisis of teen opioid deaths escalated quickly, jumping to the third leading cause of death in adolescents after firearms and car accidents. 

Opioid deaths decreased overall in 2023 but did not decline in adolescents, according to the CDC. 

Federal and state law enforcement agencies reported an increase in seizures of counterfeit medications, like OxyContin or Adderall, that often include fentanyl or other synthetic opioids that can be fatal in small amounts, Planalp said. 

Teenagers historically get these medications from their friends and family, whether to use them recreationally or to treat a condition, Planalp said. 

“People should be suspicious, the people shouldn’t trust these medications if you are not getting it with a prescription from a pharmacy,” Planalp said. “If it’s coming to you secondhand and it’s not coming directly from a pharmacy, I would be very suspicious about the safety of it.”

To help prevent overdoses on campus, Boynton Health started providing free naloxone kits, a nasal medication that quickly reverses overdoses, in five locations across campus on March 3. 

The pickup locations are in Coffman Union, Appleby Hall, Boynton Health, the West Bank Skyway and the St. Paul Student Center, according to Boynton’s website.

The kits include naloxone, as well as instructions on how to administer the drug and information on how to recognize an overdose, Michelle Trumpy, Boynton’s Director of Public Health, said. 

Trumpy said Boynton started looking for ways to combat opioid overdoses in 2022. Initially, the University hosted free naloxone training on campus in collaboration with the Steve Rummler HOPE Network, an organization dedicated to educating communities on overdose prevention. 

More than 1,000 people attended the different training sessions, according to Trumpy. 

Meghan Walsh, an overdose prevention specialist at the Steve Rummler HOPE Network, said the organization provides training sessions for community members to know how to identify an overdose and how to administer naloxone. 

Naloxone should be administered through a small nozzle put inside the nose of a person experiencing an overdose, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

According to the CDC, signs of an overdose include shallow breathing or gurgling noises from an unconscious person who cannot be awakened, discolored lips and fingernails and small pupils that do not react to light. 

Boynton’s campus partners, such as University police officers and student workers providing 624-WALK and Gopher Chauffeur servicers, all carry naloxone, Trumpy said. 

Boynton partnered with the Health Emergency Response Office (HERO) at the University to provide naloxone to students on East and West Bank and St. Paul campus, Trumpy said. 

According to the 2024 College Student Health Survey Report, only 0.1% of students at the University reported using opioids, down from 0.2% in 2021. 

“Access to supplies of nasal Naloxone has improved, public awareness has increased, and we knew the time was right to expand that low barrier access to naloxone on campus because we know our students go off campus,” Trumpy said. “The research is pretty clear that the more naloxone in the community, the more chance we have at saving lives from opioid overdoses.”

Trumpy said while the program, providing naloxone to students, started about two weeks ago, it is already successful. They distributed 200 kits despite one of those weeks being the University’s spring break.

Women under 50 are more likely to get cancer than men the same age, according to a study from the American Cancer Society published January 2025. 

The cancer incidence rate in women under 50 was 81% higher than in men in 2021, an increase from 51% in 2002, according to the study. 

Much of it has to do with an increase in breast and thyroid cancer diagnoses, Heather Nelson, the associate director of cancer prevention and control at the Masonic Cancer Center, said. 

“There has been a well-documented increase over time in the overdiagnosis of thyroid cancer,” Nelson said. “We’re detecting cancers that do not increase cancer mortality, and that impacts young women more than young men because women are more likely to get treatment.”

Nelson said the increased risk in breast cancer is more concerning for young women and is likely caused by lifestyle and environmental exposures that scientists have yet to identify.

Scientists understand that increased obesity, decreased fertility and alcohol consumption all contribute to developing breast cancer under the age of 50, Nelson said.

“One of the protective factors for breast cancer is having a baby,” Nelson said. “We see decreasing fertility that could eventually lead to an increase in breast cancer in the population.” 

Nelson said that when women get pregnant and their breasts prepare to produce milk, the breast tissue fundamentally changes due to hormone cycle changes. Scientists think these changes in breast tissue decrease breast cancer risk in women as their body responds differently to the hormone cycles after the breast begins producing milk and changes the tissue. 

Obesity and alcohol consumption likely can lead to breast cancer because of inflammation of breast tissue, Nelson said. The inflammation burdens the body and puts stress on the breast cells, causing mutations and the growth of abnormal cells. 

Schelomo Marmor, an associate professor in the division of surgical oncology, said environmental exposures from things we have not identified yet also contribute to the rise in cancer rates. It is more common for women to work in jobs requiring manual labor, which leads to new environmental exposures.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women made up about 26% of the agriculture workforce, 15% in mining and 10% in construction as of 2019. 

“Women working in the iron ore industry, or other things that typically women were not doing or were not allowed to do a few decades ago,” Marmor said. “It’s now more common for them to be in those types of worksites so environmental exposures are more common.”

While cancer rates have gone up, mortality rates for most cancers have gone down, according to the study. Regular cancer screenings to catch the disease early and improvements in treatment contribute to an overall decrease in cancer-related deaths.

Cancer mortality rates among all age groups and genders in Black and Indigenous people in America increased, Nelson said.

Nelson said social inequalities like access to health care and persistent poverty in these groups impact cancer and mortality rates in these communities. They are also less likely to have access to screenings and treatment.

“We know people experiencing persistent poverty are more likely to have environmental exposures that lead to cancer,” Nelson said. “All three of those points, environmental exposure, screening and treatment are impacted by persistent poverty and social inequalities.”

The increased cancer mortality rate among Black and Indigenous communities in Minnesota is consistent nationally, Nelson said. 

“We see increased colorectal cancer and lung cancer in American Indians both for the number of cancer cases and cancer mortality,” Nelson said. 

Nelson said there are groups at the University investigating ways to help those communities stop smoking rates and increase early cancer screening rates. 

Black people have increased rates of prostate and breast cancer mortality, Nelson said. Similar initiatives at the University work to target the contributing factors like increased smoking and alcohol consumption to these higher mortality rates. 

Nelson said people should be aware of their drinking habits and have an active lifestyle to decrease their cancer risks. 

“We’ve been hearing a lot more about alcohol as a cancer-causing agent,” Nelson said. “I think that’s a place that young women should be aware of the risks that accompany heavy drinking. Also maintaining an active lifestyle to have a healthy weight can improve their chances of not getting cancer.”