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Gene variation may elevate risk of liver tumor in patients with cirrhosis
A genetic variation appears to significantly increase the risk that individuals with cirrhosis of the liver will develop hepatocellular ...
Turning on cells with magnetic switches
Harvard scientists have figured out how to turn cells on and off using magnets, an advance with potentially broad applications as researchers around the ...
Harvard researchers achieve stem cell milestone
Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers have successfully turned back the clock on human skin cells, causing them to revert to an embryonic stem cell-like ...
Sulfur dioxide may have helped maintain a warm early Mars
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) may have played a key role in the climate and geochemistry of early Mars, geoscientists at Harvard University and the Massachusetts ...
Microchip-based device can detect rare tumor cells in bloodstream
A team of investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) BioMicroElectroMechanical Systems (BioMEMS) Resource ...
Living in disadvantaged neighborhood equivalent to missing a year of school
Childhood exposure to severely disadvantaged communities is linked to decreased verbal ability later in childhood, a lasting negative effect that continues ...
Discovery of a key molecular switch regulating cancer stem cells
The role of stem cells in tumor development has, unexpectedly, been one of the biggest stories in cancer research over the past few years. These ...
Cabaret lecture, satirical chansons
Robert Darnton describes the political power of street songs, the "newspapers" of 18th century France, while French mezzo-soprano Helene Delavault sings her heart out.
French history is taught, sung in ‘cabaret lecture’
In 18th century Paris, political gossip and courtly intrigue swirled through the city as smoothly and deliciously as well-aged wine. To stay current, most citizens turned not to newspapers but to street songs, popular tunes that were improvised and modified as affairs developed.
New survey of public attitudes on cold and cough medications for children
A new survey from NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health examines the public’s views of over-the-counter children’s ...
Researchers discover second light-sensing system in human eye
New research on blind subjects has bolstered evidence that the human eye has two separate light-sensing systems — one that perceives the familiar visual ...
Chimps in wild appear not to regularly experience menopause
A pioneering study of wild chimpanzees has found that these close human relatives do not routinely experience menopause, rebutting previous studies of ...
Beyond early admissions
Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia scout the Southeast in a joint recruitment trip, advertising affordability and economic diversity.
Brandt appointed dean of Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Allan M. Brandt, who holds appointments in Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and the Medical School, has been named dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) at Harvard, effective Jan. 1.
Female lower back has evolved to accommodate strain of pregnancy
According to a new study by researchers at Harvard and the University of Texas at Austin, women's lower spines evolved to be more flexible and supportive ...
Trafficked
Slight and soft-spoken, the dark-eyed girl called Gina looks into the camera and speaks of her ordeal in a flat, disembodied voice, chronicling a story ...
Harvard announces sweeping middle-income initiative
Harvard President Drew Faust and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith today announced a sweeping overhaul of financial aid policies designed to make Harvard College more affordable for families across the income spectrum through major enhancements to grant aid, the elimination of student loans, and the removal of home equity from financial aid calculations.
Transitivity, the orbitofrontal cortex, and neuroeconomics
You study the menu at a restaurant and decide to order the steak rather than the salmon. But when the waiter tells you about the lobster special, you ...
From neuroscience to childhood policy
The Center on the Developing Child, founded in July 2006 to promote healthy child development as “the foundation of community development, economic ...
Chute on graphic narratives — they’re not just comic books anymore
The title of Hillary Chute’s Nov. 29 lecture, “Out of the Gutter: Contemporary Graphic Novels by Women,” has a double meaning. It refers to the elevation of graphic narratives — comics — from the lowest, most disreputable level of artistic expression to a form worthy of New York Times best-sellerdom, literary prizes, and academic attention.
This month in Harvard history
Dec. 13, 1856 — A(bbott) Lawrence Lowell, Harvard’s future 22nd President, is born in Boston.
Police reports
Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending Dec. 3. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.
In Brief
PBH launches gift drive for area children The Phillips Brooks House (PBH) launched its annual holiday gift drive on Dec. 3 in an effort to collect hundreds of gifts for children in Boston and Cambridge. Running through Dec. 14, the drive will provide books, games, toys, art supplies, and sports equipment to children whose parents are impoverished, incarcerated, or homeless. Last year, PBH donated more than 1,000 gifts to a dozen agencies in neighborhoods throughout Greater Boston.
Newsmakers
Olupona to accept prestigious Nigerian National Order of Merit Professor of African and African American Studies Jacob Olupona has been awarded the Nigerian National Order of Merit prize for 2007. The president of Nigeria, Umaru Yar’Adua, will confer the award in the nation’s capital city of Abuja today (Dec. 6). The National Order of Merit is regarded as Nigeria’s highest prize for intellectual achievement and is given in recognition of unique and outstanding contributions to scholarship, research, and the field of humanities.
Emerald walks, Sox tickets up for bid at auction
A walking tour of Dublin and a pair of Red Sox tickets are just two of the items up for bid at the annual Summer Internship Fund auction scheduled for today (Dec. 6) at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG). The silent auction, featuring dozens of items, will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by a live auction.
Robert Dorwart
Robert Dorwart was an academic of the highest rank and a physician committed to understanding and improving the lives of those who could not access quality health care.
Classicist, Loeb Library trustee Stewart dies at 86
Distinguished American classicist Zeph Stewart, who was the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities Emeritus at Harvard University, passed away at his home in Watertown, Mass., on Dec. 1 at 86.
‘The diverse ways history can be written’
Relocating to a foreign city for a new job can be stressful in the most congenial circumstances. Trying to depart your home country in the middle of a Communist coup? As Serhii Plokhii, Hrushevs’kyi Professor of Ukrainian History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, can tell you — that’s downright complicated.
Donald Pfister chosen as new dean of Harvard Summer School
Donald Pfister, Asa Gray Professor of Systematic Botany at Harvard University and curator of the Farlow Herbarium, will become dean of the Harvard Summer School effective Jan. 1, 2008, announced Michael Shinagel, dean of Continuing Education and University Extension in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). He succeeds Robert Lue, professor of the practice of molecular and cellular biology and director of Life Sciences Education.
David Maybury-Lewis, eminent anthropologist and scholar, 78
David Maybury-Lewis, a Harvard anthropologist who served as a tireless advocate for indigenous cultures and peoples, died Dec. 2 at his home in Cambridge, Mass. He was 78.
Sports Briefs
Free tix for hoops, hockey University employees with a valid ID are eligible to receive a pair of free tickets to the following Harvard athletic events: women’s basketball vs. Holy Cross (Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.); men’s basketball vs. University of California, Irvine (Dec. 30 at 2 p.m.); men’s hockey vs. Clarkson (Jan. 12 at 7 p.m.); and women’s hockey vs. Union (Feb. 8 at 7 p.m.).
Flu vaccinations offered
Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) is offering free flu shots to members of the Harvard community.
Bonsai collection highlights age, beauty
The foliage is green and youthful, but the twisted, gnarled trunks show the trees’ age. But that’s the point, of course.
Seabed microbe study leads to low-cost power, light for the poor
A Harvard biology professor’s fascination with seafloor microbes has led to the development of a revolutionary, low-cost power system consuming garbage, compost, and other waste that could provide light for the developing world.
Newly discovered type of cell death may end up inhibiting tumor growth
Sometimes healthy cells commit suicide. In the 1970s, scientists showed that a type of programmed cell death called apoptosis plays a key role in development, and the 2002 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine recognized their work. As apoptotic cells degrade, they display standard characteristics, including irregular bulges in the membrane and nuclear fragmentation.
Slow reading in dyslexia is tied to disorganized brain tracts
Dyslexia marked by poor reading fluency — slow and choppy reading — may be caused by disorganized, meandering tracts of nerve fibers in the brain, according to researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). Their study, using the latest imaging methods, gives researchers a glimpse of what may go wrong in the structure of some dyslexic readers’ brains that makes it difficult to integrate the information needed for rapid, “automatic” reading.
Blood stem cell’s roles could help clarify pathogenesis
No other stem cell is more thoroughly understood than the blood, or hematopoietic, stem cell. These occasional and rare cells, scattered sparingly throughout the marrow and capable of replenishing an entire blood system, have been the driving force behind successful bone marrow transplants for decades. Scientists, for the most part, have seen this as the hematopoietic stem cell’s (HSC) singular role: to remain in the bone marrow indefinitely and to replenish blood and immune system cells only when called upon.
Brain systems less coordinated with age
Some brain systems become less coordinated with age even in the absence of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study from Harvard University. The results help to explain why advanced age is often accompanied by a loss of mental agility, even in an otherwise healthy individual.
Increasing growth hormone release reduces abdominal fat
Treatment with an investigational drug that induces the release of growth hormone significantly improved the symptoms of HIV lipodystrophy, a condition involving redistribution of fat and other metabolic changes in patients receiving combination drug therapy for HIV infection.
Phi Beta Kappa elects 48 seniors
The following seniors, listed below by their Houses, were nominated to Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) in the latest round of elections, held this past November.
CPL honors Yacoobi with 2007 Gleitsman Award
The Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at the Kennedy School of Government presented the 2007 Gleitsman International Activist Award to Sakena Yacoobi on Dec. 4. Yacoobi is the founder and executive director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), which she established in 1995 to provide teacher training to Afghan women, to support education for boys and girls, and to provide health education to women and children.
Gift to KSG to help advance social justice
Officials at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) recently announced that the late Alan L. Gleitsman has left a bequest of $20 million to the School in order to advance his longtime passion: the pursuit of social justice. The gift is to serve as an endowment at the Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at the School.
The importance of early education
Forty-six years ago, a working-class town in Michigan began a program that changed lives. “Mind-blowing,” one scholar called it at Harvard last week.
Scholar uses Singer sewing machine to parse cultural, economic development
Harvard historian Andrew D. Gordon ’74, Ph.D. ’81 specializes in modern Japan and has written or edited a handful of breakthrough books on big labor, big steel, and big management.
IOP national poll finds youth favor Giuliani, Obama
A new national poll by the Institute of Politics (IOP) at the Kennedy School of Government finds that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama remain the top choices for president among likely 18- to 24-year-old voters of both parties. Harris Interactive conducted the online survey of 2,526 U.S. citizens for the IOP between Oct. 28 and Nov. 9.
Young global leaders unite at Kennedy School in mini-United Nations
The group was diverse, talented, and cross-cultural: cabinet ministers, high-powered CEOs, and influential journalists sitting side by side addressing some of the most pressing issues facing the globe. A mini-United Nations.
Gorbachev calls for new move to eliminate nukes
Former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev called for a renewed commitment to eliminate the world’s nuclear weapons Tuesday (Dec. 4), saying the current generation of world leaders cannot coast on disarmament treaties of the past.
Galbreth ’08 named Marshall Scholar
Megan Galbreth, a senior in Lowell House, has been named a 2008 Marshall Scholar. The award entitles Galbreth to two years of study at Oxford University, where she will pursue an M.Phil. in English Language and Literature.
Talent scouts
Late one morning in mid-November, William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 looked for his seat on a jetliner at Boston’s Logan Airport. Moving down the aisle, magazine in hand and wheeling a carry-on, he had the weary certainty of a seasoned traveler.
Even in healthy elderly, brain systems become less coordinated
Some brain systems become less coordinated with age even in the absence of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study from Harvard University. The ...
