Current, Future, & Past Issues

Upcoming Issues

December 2025: Neglected Tropical Diseases and Parasites

March 2026: Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneration

June 2026: Gene Therapies and Rare Diseases (submission deadline: Feb 1, 2026)

September 2026: Mitochondria in Health and Disease (submission deadline: Jun 1, 2026)

YJBM History of Medicine

This issue's cover takes inspiration from Keith Haring, an activist-artist whose work dealt intimately with themes of community, othering, disease, and sexuality. These themes are especially significant to the history of medicine; societal structures have led to abuses of power and marginalization of vulnerable communities with regards to healthcare access and practices, while the power of community to enact change is proven and essential. In Keith Haring's richly symbolic style, the cover depicts themes of social justice and community activism, racial and colonial bias in healthcare, conversion therapy and the “queer gene,” psychiatric healthcare and reform, zootherapy, sexism and fertility issues in healthcare, and community-based healthcare services.

Cover and caption by Peter Harris.

Deputy Editors for September 2025: History of Medicine

Hayley Serpa, Program in the History of Science and Medicine, Yale University, and Shivesh Shourya, MPH ’25, Yale School of Public Health

Editor Picks

Unqueering the Double Helix: Conversion Therapists, the "Gay Gene," and Culture Wars in the United States
Chris Babits

Architecture of Neurology: Establishment of the Montreal Neurological Institute as a Transnational History
Uğurgül Tunç

Weaving MAPS: Historiographical Perspectives on Writing Postcolonial Histories of the Modern Hospital
Joseph Aaron S. Joe

“A Better Way”: The Evolution of Community-Based AIDS Health Services in Birmingham, Alabama, 1985-2000
Kendall T. Comish

Healing Histories and Breaking Barriers for Asian Women at the Yale School of Medicine
An Interview with Qi Yan and Xuezhu (Sunny) Wang
Hayley Serpa and Samuel Suh

2025 Issues

Cover and caption by Peter Harris.

History of Medicine - September 2025

At the core of epigenetics are mechanisms that selectively control genome accessibility and availability. Molecular marks and tags shift the genome architecture, dynamically yet precisely opening up or coiling DNA to modulate gene expression. This ethereal and surrealist-inspired cover art depicts a DNA strand in motion – sequentially coiling around histones and eventually transitioning into a chromosome. The context or environment driving these changes is left obscure, represented by a psychedelic background that blends from underwater to interstellar. The June 2025 issue covers epigenetic mechanisms with fundamental and translational perspectives, examining their impact at the level of cells to organisms and communities.

Caption by Deputy Editors Reem Abu-Shamma and Andriana Marijic Buljubasic.

Cover art by Peter Harris.

Epigenetics – June 2025

Kinase activities underpin dynamic signaling processes in cells that are essential for them to grow and respond to their environment. For example, the first reaction of glycolysis – a fundamental basis for energy generation across living things – is catalyzed by a kinase called hexokinase. Here, we have depicted a tree of life with hexokinase at its roots, which is converting glucose to glucose-6-phosphate. The overall cover is inspired by the art nouveau style of Alphonse Mucha; the tree itself is ringed by circular panels that show the cellular products arising from hexokinase and the glycolysis reaction; from ATP to nucleotides, mitochondria, cellular organisms, fungi, plants, animals, and humans. We hope readers are inspired by the ways in which the study of kinase signaling unites molecular, cellular, and organismal-level perspectives.

Caption by Peter Harris, Rahul Gupta, and Ingrid Heumann.

Cover art by Peter Harris.

Kinase Signaling – March 2025

2024 Issues

Stylized journal cover art featuring a human bust with exaggerated halftone dots, resembling an electron micrograph. A stream of antibodies winds through clusters of yellow-orange viruses, with the changing color reflecting the viruses’ influence. As the antibodies reach the human bust, they become red, which symbolizes the chaotic and dangerous autoimmune response.

Original cover design by Peter Harris.

Caption by Peter Harris, RuthMabel Boytz, and Evan Navori.

Viruses and Autoimmunity – December 2024

Just like a spectrum of light can be combined into white light, integrative medicine draws from a variety of traditions and practices to tackle mental and physical wellbeing in a way that addresses patients' needs from diagnosis through recovery. Depicted in this cover are just some of these practices; therapy and group support, herbal supplements, cellular biology research, Chinese medicinal traditions, genetic scenery, and wellness & mindfulness practices. Caption and original cover design by Peter Harris.

Integrative Medicine – September 2024

Individuals with a chronic disease face a challenging landscape on their journey to meet with healthcare providers and often face under-acknowledged internal and external obstacles on the route to seeking help. While these experiences may be clear to individual patients, the shared commonalities across different chronic diseases are less connected in the literature as the very nature of what constitutes a chronic disease continues to be debated. This issue features discussions and research findings relevant across the umbrella of chronic disease, uniting topics from patient perspectives to emerging therapeutics. Caption by Noah Yann Lee and Bassel Shanab. Original cover design by Peter Harris.

Chronic Disease – June 2024

Pregnancy is a time of radical and rapid change with acute implications for the health of expecting parents and child, from conception well into the postpartum period. The physiological changes brought about by pregnancy, education about healthcare options, and social support both before and after birth are just some of the factors that can have a drastic impact on the success of a pregnancy and the child's development. This issue explores how we can better understand pregnancy's impact on emotional and physical wellbeing, and how outcomes might be improved for the experience that began all our lives. Caption by Peter Harris. Original cover design by Peter Harris.

Pregnancy and Child Development - March 2024

2023 Issues

This cover depicts four outcomes of cellular decision-making—proliferation, differentiation, quiescence, and death—in a mandala-like pattern that suggests the complexity of interactions and outcomes that lead to a given cell fate. The mandala itself incorporates visuals that represent elements of the extracellular matrix; a key component of cellular decision-making and fate. These interactions and outcomes are hugely intricate, but understanding them paves the way for novel therapies and treatments for a variety of maladies, from paralysis to cancer. Caption by Peter Harris. Original cover design by Peter Harris.

Cell Fate – December 2023

From the ATCG sequences of our genetic code to the detailed chronicles of our healthcare encounters, the pulse of life is ever being captured in "Big Data." In this realm of boundless 1s and 0s, the world of medicine finds itself at the heart of the data revolution. We invite you into this issue as we explore the ever-evolving techniques researchers are deploying to grapple with big data and discern critical patterns that have the potential to revolutionize clinical decision-making and patient care. Caption by Conrad Safranek. Original cover design by Peter Harris.

Big Data – September 2023

Our world is evolving drastically from the effects of man-made climate change. As our environment changes, we continue to face new healthcare challenges; from physical ailments, to mental health issues, to climate and medical justice obligations. This cover draws inspiration from the extraordinary images that recently came out of the East coast of the United States, as wildfires in Canada brought an unprecedented level of atmospheric pollution to major population centers. Events like these serve as a stark reminder that our planet is changing, and that we must urgently work to address both the causes of climate change and the health issues arising from it. Caption by Peter Harris. Original cover design by Peter Harris.

Climate Change and Environmental Health – June 2023

From the water we drink to the blood in our veins, our lives depend on a complex and dynamic interplay of fluidic interactions. Understanding the ways in which our bodies create and employ these fluids is vitally important, so that we can better diagnose and treat the health issues that stem from them. Caption by Peter Harris. Original cover design by Peter Harris.

Fluids - March 2023

2022 Issues

The prevention and treatment of infection by bacteria, parasites, fungi, and viruses is one of modern medicine's greatest accomplishments. However, these microbes undergo constant evolution, and increasingly show signs of developed resistances that can overwhelm traditional medication. Understanding these adaptations and discovering new antimicrobial drugs is essential to stave off this threat to global health and development.

Antimicrobial Resistance - December 2022

The field of Bioethics rests on four pillars: patient autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and social justice. In this cover, a figure wielding a staff resembling the rod of Asclepius stands at a compass, which points towards architecture representing these four values. Caption and original cover design by Peter Harris.

Bioethics - September 2022

Various methods of inoculation, variolation, and immunization have been used for hundreds of years as a proven prevention of serious illness. Today, vaccination is one of our best tools in the suppression and eradication of many diseases; most notably and recently, illness caused by the COVID-19 virus. Caption and original cover design by Peter Harris.

Vaccines – June 2022

The Science of Stress - March 2022