A new phase of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP)—which over the past five years identified the millions of microorganisms living on, and in, the human body—will focus on the roles played by these microbes both in health and disease. The new three-year “multi-omic” study at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT is being co-led…

The Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT) awarded seven Spark Grants for fall 2013 (about 10% of applicants): Repository of section plans. Kris-Stella Trump (FAS) will develop and pilot an open database of section plans for Teaching Fellows in the government department; Teaching genomics across Harvard schools. Winston Hide (SPH), William Gelbart (FAS), and…

The Woodberry Poetry Room’s rich collection contains rare and one-of-a-kind recordings of some of the 20th century’s most important poets. But because many of these rare recordings exist on fragile cassettes or on transcription discs made of lacquered metal or glass prone to separation and decay, these voices have essentially been silenced – until now.…

Traditional social science research tends to skew toward “WEIRD” subjects—that is, toward the Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic—according to four Harvard researchers who are trying to expand the reach of modern data collection and analysis. Pioneers in the field of crowdsourced, Web-based research, they offered a vision of large-scale citizen science experiments in a…

Epidemiologists at Harvard have a long legacy of groundbreaking findings, from a 19th-century study on the effectiveness of bloodletting as a treatment for pneumonia to recent work on the role various dietary factors play in chronic disease risk. Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) faculty, alumni, and students gathered to reflect on the past and future of…

New research led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) demonstrates a disease mechanism in type 1 diabetes (T1D) that can be targeted using simple, naturally occurring molecules to help prevent the disease. The work highlights a previously unrecognized molecular pathway that contributes to the malfunction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells in T1D in human…

Ana Navarro, Institute of Politics fellow and political contributor at CNN and CNN en Español, describes herself as a “Republican without labels,” which she explained meant that she is “inclusive, not obstructionist.” Navarro, who served as the National Hispanic Co-Chair for Gov. Jon Huntsman’s 2012 Campaign, spoke to the Shorenstein Center about how punditry has changed political debate, and how politicians might…

The founding director of the Shorenstein Center and Edward R. Murrow Professor of Press and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, Marvin Kalb spoke to the Shorenstein Center about the war powers of U.S. presidents and how the lack of congressional support has impacted military policy. Drawing on the example of Vietnam, Kalb argued that “the word ‘commitment,’…

When it comes to statistical analysis, “context matters,” according to Jesse Berlin. “Different people look at the same data and come to different conclusions.” This was one of the issues discussed by Berlin, ScD ’88, in a talk about challenges he’s encountered as a biostatistician on October 31, 2013 in FXB-G13 at Harvard School of…

A memorial gathering to celebrate the life and work of Professor Detlev Frederick Vagts ’51 will be held on Wednesday, November 13, at 3:30 p.m. in the Wasserstein Caspersen Clinical Building, 2019 Milstein West, Harvard Law School. A reception will follow. All are welcome. Vagts, a renowned scholar of international law at Harvard Law School and…

The rise of cardiovascular disease in two rapidly growing countries—Mexico and Brazil—was the focus of a symposium organized by Swiss Re and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) on October 15-16, 2013 at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Mass. Both institutions commemorated landmark birthdays at the event, as 2013 marks the…

Four Harvard College undergraduates who invented a chemotherapy patch have been named finalists in the national Collegiate Inventors Competition. Nikhil Mehandru ’15, Alydaar Rangwala ’15, Aaron Perez ’15, and Brandon Sim ’15, creators of the ChemoPatch, are one of six undergraduate teams selected to present their inventions to a panel of expert judges at the…

One hundred years from now what will people think of Post-it notes, wind-up toys, or the technological marvel of our generation, the smartphone? Future Harvard faculty, students, staff, and administrators will have the opportunity to examine these early 21st-century items. They are contained within a time capsule that was placed in the outside wall of…

CommuterChoice is pleased to announce that MBTA commuters can now pay for parking related expenses on a pre-tax basis. Here’s how it works: Commuters set aside up to $245 per month on a pre-tax basis and can then be reimbursed for work related, parking expenses incurred while commuting via the MBTA. Offered in conjunction with…

Women whose diet includes more foods that trigger inflammation—like sugar-sweetened or diet soft drinks, refined grains, red meat, and margarine—and fewer foods that restrain inflammation—like wine, coffee, olive oil, and green leafy and yellow vegetables—have up to a 41% greater risk of being diagnosed with depression than those who eat mostly the less inflammatory diet,…

The Harvard Business School African-American Alumni Association has launched a website featuring weekly profiles of accomplished black female graduates who represent the broad mosaic of the HBS community. The site was launched to complement the School’s celebration in 2012-13 of 50 years of women in the full-time MBA program. The new site focuses on black…

Elaborately dressed as elegant skeletons and wearing “sugar skull” makeup or just party clothes, guests filled the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology’s Latin American galleries on Saturday night. Once a year, the Peabody Museum partners with the Mexican Consulate in Boston to celebrate Day of the Dead with a fiesta. This year, guests were…

A new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and University of Perugia (UNIPG) researchers has shown that egg development in the mosquito species primarily responsible for spreading malaria depends on a switch in the female that is turned on by a male hormone delivered during sex. Blocking the activation of this switch…

A group of men in Harvard’s medical community are growing mustaches in November to raise awareness and money for men’s health, particularly prostate and testicular cancer, as part of an international effort called “Movember.” Harvard School of Public Health’s Meir Stampfer, professor of epidemiology and nutrition, took the opposite tack — he shaved his 40-year-old mustache…

Two Harvard physicists earlier this week were among several researchers to receive the Physics Frontier Prize from the Milner Foundation. Andrew Strominger, the Gwill E. York Professor of Physics and Cumrun Vafa, the Donner Professor of Science, were honored for their “numerous deep and groundbreaking contributions to quantum field theory, quantum gravity, string theory and…

Norm J. Jones, who has had a long and distinguished career in academic diversity, compliance and inclusion, has been appointed the Associate Chief Diversity Officer and Deputy Director in the Office of the Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity and Equity. Jones will begin his appointment on Nov. 5, 2013. In this newly created…

What’s the best way to approach difficult-to-achieve public health goals? Be flexible. Be comfortable with “good enough.” See the glass as half-full instead of half-empty. Those were some of the recommendations from five ministerial-level public health leaders who spoke to a packed house in Kresge G-1 at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) on Oct.…

Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) announced today the creation of the Sheila C. Johnson Fellowships, which are slated to bring to HKS each year ten emerging leaders dedicated to improving the lives of the underserved in the United States, including those in the African-American community. “We need to develop more leaders with a broad skill set…

Paul Bellenoit knows libraries. In 19 years since joining Harvard University he has worked on hundreds of projects, including a five-year renovation of Widener Library and the redesign of Lamont’s three reading rooms and café. He also led the 27% reduction of the libraries’ greenhouse gas emissions and has been involved in the packing, shipping,…

The Arnold Arboretum’s 281-acre landscape is a living museum, displaying plants sourced from all corners of the temperate world for conservation and study. To expand and refine these collections, staff participate in plant exchanges with sister botanical gardens and plant conservation partners, and whenever possible, collect seed directly from the wild. Recently, the Arboretum mounted…

More than two decades ago, Uche Amazigo came to the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) from Nigeria to spend a year as a fellow in the Takemi Program in International Health. A university lecturer and biologist with training in public health and parasitology, and with a specialty in tropical diseases, Amazigo had already conducted…

Chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, are the leading cause of death worldwide, with the burden falling heaviest in low- and middle-income countries. A new article by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers outlines the global burden of chronic, or noncommunicable, diseases and proposes ways in which national leaders and heads of…

Construction workers are frequently stressed about work-related injuries and pain and often fail to seek help, putting themselves at risk for more injuries and mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and even suicide, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). The study was published online October 1, 2013 in the Journal…

The Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) has named social entrepreneur Sasha Chanoff this year’s recipient of the Gleitsman International Activist Award for his tireless work as founder and executive director of RefugePoint, a nonprofit organization that protects and finds lasting solutions for refugees in extreme danger. The award and $125,000 prize, given biennially…

The thousands of trees, shrubs, and vines that visitors encounter at the Arnold Arboretum exemplify the abundant diversity of Earth’s woody plants as well as the many adaptive strategies they employ to ensure the success of their offspring. Autumn is a great time to explore this phenomena in the Arboretum landscape, as many plants produce…