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Campus & Community
Losick among Canada Gairdner International Award recipients
Richard Losick, the Maria Moors Cabot Professor of Biology, was recently named one of seven Canada Gairdner International Award winners by the Gairdner Foundation, and will receive a CA$100,000 as one of the world’s leading medical research scientists. The Gairdner award is among the most prestigious awards in biomedical science.
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Campus & Community
This month in Harvard history
April 29, 1636 — John Harvard marries Ann Sadler (sister of John Sadler, future Master of Cambridge University’s Magdalene College). Just over a year later, they emigrate to New England.
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Campus & Community
Police reports
Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending March 30. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.
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Science & Tech
Countway marks development of ‘the pill’
The birth control pill, which revolutionized contraception and sparked a cultural reassessment of the purpose of sex and the sanctity of life, was developed by a Harvard fertility doctor who…
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Health
Modification of mutant Huntington’s protein increases its clearance from brain cells
A new study has identified a potential strategy for removing the abnormal protein that causes Huntington’s disease (HD) from brain cells, which could slow the progression of the devastating neurological…
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Campus & Community
Report on Harvard House Renewal released
On Wednesday (April 1) Harvard College Dean Evelynn Hammonds announced the release of the “Report on Harvard House Renewal” in an e-mail to the Harvard residential community. The report is a synthesis of the findings of the House Program Planning Committee, a group charged by Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith with…
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Science & Tech
Narayanamurti named director of Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at Belfer Center
Venkatesh “Venky” Narayanamurti will be the new director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Belfer Center director…
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Health
Angiogenesis inhibitor improves brain tumor survival by reducing swelling
The beneficial effects of anti-angiogenesis drugs in the treatment of the deadly brain tumors called glioblastomas appear to result primarily from reduction of edema – the swelling of brain tissue…
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Health
Infant weight gain linked to childhood obesity
As childhood obesity continues its 30-year advance from occasional curiosity to cultural epidemic, health care providers are struggling to find out why — and the reasons are many. Increasingly sedentary…
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Health
Newly identified genetic variants found to increase breast cancer risk
A large-scale effort to identify genetic markers of breast cancer has uncovered two common genetic variants that increase risk of the disease in women of European ancestry. The paper, published…
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Science & Tech
Five at Harvard named HHMI Early Career Scientists;
Five Harvard scientists are among 50 young scientists nationwide who will have their work supported for the next six years by a new initiative from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute…
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Health
President Obama taps Howard Koh for Assistant Secretary for Health
President Barack Obama announced today his intent to nominate Howard Koh, the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), to…
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Health
Mechanism directing stem cells to their destination identified;
Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers have for the first time identified in mice a cellular mechanism that directs stem cells to their ultimate destination in the body. The finding…
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Science & Tech
Policies regarding IRB members’ industry contacts often lacking
At a time of heightened concern about conflicts of interest posed by relationships between academic medical researchers and commercial firms, a new study finds that a significant number of academic…
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Health
U.S. hospitals slow to adopt electronic health records, citing cost
There is broad consensus that electronic health records (EHR) have the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of health care providers. Yet, to date, there has been no reliable…
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Health
Blumenthal named national coordinator for health information technology
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today (March 20) the selection of David Blumenthal as the Obama administration’s choice for national coordinator for health information technology. …
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Health
Hearing could hold key to unlocking schizophrenia mystery
Measuring brain waves in response to hearing a variety of tones appears to be a useful way to begin understanding the underlying genetic abnormalities associated with schizophrenia, says a study…
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Arts & Culture
OfA, OCS name 2009 Artist Development Fellowships
The Office for the Arts at Harvard (OfA) and Office of Career Services (OCS) are pleased to announce the 2009 recipients of the Artist Development Fellowship (ADF). This program supports the artistic development of students demonstrating unusual accomplishment and/or evidence of significant artistic promise. The ADF program represents Harvard’s deep commitment to arts practice on…
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Arts & Culture
Peabody preserves rare daguerreotypes
Thirty-six rare daguerreotype portraits from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology have recently been stabilized and preserved for future generations, in collaboration with the Weissman Preservation Center at Harvard University Library and the Mellon Foundation. Until photo conservators got to work, some daguerreotypes were nearly obscured by the deterioration of glass and other components,…
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Arts & Culture
Playwright plumbs texts, ancient and modern
You know Noh, no? Chiori Miyagawa does. The Bard College playwright-in-residence, a Radcliffe Fellow this year, has steeped herself in Noh theater, a measured style of Japanese drama that dates back to the 14th century. It’s one of the many literary echoes — some old, some ancient — that she brings to her work. “I…
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Nation & World
Picture this, and you will begin to understand
It has been almost 20 years since photographer Felice Frankel started working with scientists by helping them illustrate the intricate geometries of physical worlds too tiny to see. From the beginning, she was struck by one thing: To explain their ideas, scientists always start by drawing them. That gave Frankel an idea — “Picturing to…
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Arts & Culture
Drawing from history
History and art are intricately linked in “Wiyohpiyata: Lakota Images of the Contested West,” a new exhibit at Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology based on a collection of drawings by Native American warriors. “It’s so rich. It’s such a complex, interesting document that has so many stories embedded in it,” said the show’s…
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Arts & Culture
Yu Hua reads work, participates in star-studded panel at Fairbank event
It’s strange to imagine your dentist as one of the most interesting and controversial novelists of the 21st century. But that’s just what Yu Hua is. Or was — the former dentist who admitted, more frighteningly, that he possessed little formal dental training, recently derided his former profession to a New York Times reporter, saying,…
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Campus & Community
Carroll Emory Wood Jr. passes away at the age of 88
Carroll Emory Wood Jr., a professor of biology and curator of the Arnold Arboretum, passed away at his South End (Boston) home on March 15 at the age of 88.
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Campus & Community
Crimson turn on offense vs. Hartford
There’s something special about the Harvard men’s lacrosse team. The signs are everywhere. There’s the Crimson’s 9-6 upset at Duke — against the country’s No. 5 team, in the season opener — followed by a 12-4 pounding of Stony Brook the next weekend. Then there is the crucial play of freshman attackman Jeff Cohen, who…
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Campus & Community
Friedrich named assistant dean for undergrad social planning
David R. Friedrich, the manager of the Student Organizations Center at Hilles (SOCH), has been appointed assistant dean of Harvard College and director of the Student Activities Office. He will be responsible for working with undergraduate students on developing and implementing extracurricular and social planning. His appointment is effective immediately.
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Campus & Community
Higher IQ power strips will save Holyoke energy
The key to saving electricity is right at your feet — and there’s no need to reach for it. In February, University Information Systems (UIS) technicians installed Smart Strip Power Strips at about 700 workstations in Harvard’s Holyoke Center. When workers there turn off their computers at the end of the day, these floor-level devices…
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Campus & Community
Lights will go out as University joins worldwide Earth Hour
For an hour on the evening of March 28, Harvard will turn the lights off on some of its iconic architectural features — part of Earth Hour 2009, a global event promoting individual action to reduce climate change. From 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., the University will shut off non-essential lights atop Memorial Hall and on…