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Campus & Community
Harvard Heroes honored for exceptional work
President Drew Faust led Harvard University in honoring staff members who made outstanding contributions during the past year at the Harvard Heroes celebration in mid-June.
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Campus & Community
HKS hosts eco-friendly summer event
There was something conspicuously absent from Harvard Kennedy School’s (HKS) annual summer picnic last week (July 9): garbage. The “zero waste” event was one of the first of its kind held at Harvard and was organized by the HKS Green Team, a group of staff dedicated to the pursuit of campus sustainability.
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Campus & Community
Harvard Allston Education Portal opens doors to neighbors
The Harvard Allston Education Portal, a new resource center designed to be a bridge between North Allston/North Brighton residents and Harvard teaching and learning, opened its doors last week (July 14) with mentoring for area children and a science movie night for families.
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Campus & Community
BBQ celebrates PBHA program
Rolling thunderstorms dumped rain on Harvard Yard, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the student leaders and campers who gathered at the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) on Wednesday (July 23) for a barbeque that had one very special guest.
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Health
Science in brief
Researchers identify promising cancer drug target in prostate tumors; Scientists find how neural activity spurs blood flow in the brain: Newfound mechanisms could bolster understanding of brain imaging, aging’s effects; World Health Organization creates new surgical tool to make operations safer everywhere; Invasive treatment appears beneficial for men and high-risk women with certain type of…
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Health
When threatened, a few African frogs can morph toes into claws
Biologists at Harvard University have determined that some African frogs carry concealed weapons: When threatened, these species puncture their own skin with sharp bones in their toes, using the bones as claws capable of wounding predators.
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Health
Broad Institute earns grant to support pathbreaking diabetes study
Researchers at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT have received a grant to support novel, integrative research aimed at finding ways to encourage the human body to replenish the cells that are missing in type 1 diabetes.
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Health
Young smokers recruited with menthol, study finds
Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) explored tobacco industry manipulation of menthol levels in specific brands and found a deliberate strategy to recruit and addict young smokers by adjusting menthol to create a milder experience for the firsttime smoker.
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Health
Genetic mechanisms linked to Parkinson’s disease uncovered
A new genetic finding from a group of researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH), and the University of Ottawa may help pave the way for the discovery of therapies that could effectively treat Parkinson’s disease (PD).
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Science & Tech
A new era in search for ‘sister Earths’?
Research presented at a recent astronomical conference is being hailed as ushering in a new era in the search for Earth-like planets by showing that they are more numerous than previously thought and that scientists can now analyze their atmospheres for elements that might be conducive to life.
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Health
Across species, genes evolve to minimize protein production errors
Scientists at Harvard University and the University of Texas, Austin, have found that genetic evolution is strongly shaped by genes’ efforts to prevent or tolerate errors in protein production.
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Campus & Community
Harris named College’s dean of undergraduate education
Jay M. Harris, a longtime member of the Harvard faculty who has also served in a variety of administrative roles at the University, has been named Harvard College’s new dean of undergraduate education. His appointment, by Harvard College Dean Evelynn M. Hammonds, was effective July 1.
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Campus & Community
Former Nashville Mayor Purcell named director of IOP
Bill Purcell, the former mayor of Nashville, Tenn., has been named director of the Institute of Politics (IOP) at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). Purcell will assume the post Sept. 1. Purcell has spent more than 30 years in public service, law, and higher education. During his eight-year tenure as mayor of Nashville (1999-2007), the city…
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Campus & Community
Parkes named McKay Professor of Computer Science
David C. Parkes, a leader in research at the nexus of computer science and economics, has been appointed Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science in Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), The appointment was effective July 1.
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Campus & Community
Jordan appointed first Niebuhr Professor at HDS
Mark D. Jordan has been appointed the first Richard Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School. He will take up the new post in January 2009. Jordan has been Emory University’s Asa Griggs Candler Professor since 1999.
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Nation & World
Business School, China Fund open office in Shanghai
Harvard Business School (HBS) Dean Jay O. Light and William C. Kirby, T.M. Chang Professor of China Studies and chairman of the Harvard China Fund, announced the opening of a Harvard office in Shanghai on July 2.
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Campus & Community
Intellectual historian Fleming dies at 84
Donald Fleming, an intellectual historian who studied the impact of science on American thought and was a member of the Harvard faculty for more than 40 years, passed away at his Cambridge home on June 16. He was 84.
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Science & Tech
Creating semiconductor lasers
Lasers are often considered to be highly directional light sources: their beams are able to propagate over long distances without substantial spreading. This, however, is not always the case. Semiconductor…
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Health
GlaxoSmithKline and Harvard Stem Cell Institute announce major collaboration agreement
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) today announced that they have entered into a five-year, $25 million-plus collaborative agreement to build a unique alliance in stem cell…
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Science & Tech
Susan Carey receives David E. Rumelhart Prize
Susan Carey, a Harvard psychologist whose work has explored fundamental issues surrounding the nature of the human mind, has been awarded the 2009 David E. Rumelhart Prize, given annually since…
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Science & Tech
David Parkes named professor of computer science
David C. Parkes, a leader in research at the nexus of computer science and economics, has been appointed Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science in Harvard’s School of Engineering and…
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Campus & Community
Business School summer program offers world of possibilities
Twenty-five years ago, a group of Harvard Business School (HBS) professors started a program they hoped would change lives. Their wish has come true.
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Science & Tech
Peter Ashton: A legacy written in trunk, limb and leaf
They were in a bind, no doubt about it. Wearing little but cotton shorts, the four men huddled on a streambank deep in the Bornean rainforest. Water dripped from their…
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Health
BWH Asthma Research Center Awarded $2 Million Grant for Gene-based Clinical Trial; participants sought from Partners’ Network
The Brigham and Women’s Hospital Asthma Research Center (ARC) has received a $2 million Genetics Enters Medicine (GEM) grant from Partners to study the influence of one’s genetic profile on…
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Science & Tech
DARPA awards interdisciplinary research team $1.2 million grant to study surface enhanced Raman scattering
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a $1.2 million grant to an interdisciplinary team of Harvard researchers to study surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for the first…
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Health
Tobacco industry used cigarette menthol to recruit new adolescents and young adult smokers
Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found that tobacco companies have deliberately adjusted menthol levels in cigarettes to recruit and addict young smokers by creating a milder…
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Campus & Community
Christine Heenan named Harvard VP for Government, Community and Public Affairs
Christine Heenan, former director of community and government relations at Brown University and founder and president of the Clarendon Group, a communications and government relations consulting firm, has been appointed vice president for government, community and public affairs at Harvard University, President Drew Faust announced today (July 15).
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Health
Middle Eastern families yield intriguing clues to autism
Research involving large Middle Eastern families, sophisticated genetic analysis and groundbreaking neuroscience has implicated a half-dozen new genes in autism. More importantly, it strongly supports the emerging idea that autism…
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Health
Stem cells used to treat muscular dystrophy in mice
Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have for the first time demonstrated that transplanted muscle stem cells can both improve muscle function in mice with a…
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Health
Amy Wagers – focusing on stem cell biology
Twenty minutes after her weekly lab meeting is scheduled to begin, Amy Wagers rushes into a conference room on the fourth floor of the Joslin Diabetes Center, where her lab…