Nancy F. Cott, Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History, has assumed the presidency of the Organization of American Historians (OAH). Cott, who has taught at Harvard since 2002, lectures on gender, sexuality, and marriage in the 19th and 20th centuries. The author of “Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation” (200) and “The…

This past Saturday, nearly 500 students from more than 20 countries gathered on the Harvard Business School (HBS) campus to meet their classmates from HBX online programs and visit the Harvard Business School campus, most for the first time. The occasion was HBX ConneXt, a first-of-its-kind event hosted by HBX, Harvard Business School’s digital learning…

The online application for fall 2016 HILT Spark Grants will open on June 15, 2016. The deadline is July 13, 2016 at 5 p.m. Harvard University benefits-eligible faculty, students, staff, and postdoctoral researchers are eligible to apply for funding individually, or as groups. For more information, please visit our webpage. HILT is always willing to meet with…

Most Americans are opposed to a move under way in Congress to speed up the process for developing new drugs and medical devices, according to a new poll of U.S. adults by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and STAT. Those polled were told that new regulations under consideration—the 21st Century Cures Act in the…

Harvard is proud to be part of the Cambridge community and helps contribute to the city’s vibrant cultural, social, and civic communities by providing residents with access to a variety of offerings that promote access to learning and opportunity. “The relationship between Harvard University and the city of Cambridge is older than the nation itself.…

Black Americans are gaining in life expectancy, according to new federal data. In 1990, the gap between black and white life expectancy was seven years; by 2014, it was down to 3.4 years, with life expectancy at 75.6 years for blacks and 79 years for whites. The gains have come from declines in the suicide…

Guinea worm, a water-borne parasitic disease that can be excruciatingly painful, affected 3.5 million people in 1986. Now there are only 22 cases left, and Donald Hopkins, M.P.H. ’70 — who has doggedly fought Guinea worm over the past two decades — is hoping to see it eradicated in his lifetime. A May 6, 2016…

E-cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and hookah tobacco will soon be regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and their sale will be banned to anyone under age 18, it was announced May 5. Vaughan Rees, director of the Center for Global Tobacco Control at Harvard Chan School, discusses the impact of this new…

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences recently awarded the Hoopes Prize to 64 Harvard College seniors. Given in recognition of outstanding scholarly work or research, the prize is funded by the estate of Thomas T. Hoopes ’19, who established it to “promote excellence in the art of teaching.” Awards are given both to undergraduates and…

Sixty-six medical and veterinary students from 34 schools across the nation will spend a full year conducting mentored basic, translational and applied research as fellows in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Medical Research Fellows Program This year’s class includes 11 students who will begin conducting their research at Harvard Medical School this summer. Two students from the…

There are tons of records about guns—who sells them, who buys them, and, if they were used in crimes, when and where—but those records don’t necessarily make it into any database available to researchers. Although evidence suggests that fewer guns mean fewer suicides and homicides, there’s just not enough data to influence national policy, according…

On May 2, 2016, the Bureau of Study Counsel (BSC) presented the Joseph L. Barrett Award to Jasmine Fernandez ’16, Ana Barros ’16, and Ted White ’17. The award commemorates Joseph L. Barrett ’73, by honoring exceptional students who give their time to support their peers in developing more meaningful college experiences. Jasmine, Ana, and…

European pressed coffee has become more fashionable in the U.S. But it may have a negative impact on health if you drink too much, according to nutrition expert Eric Rimm of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Pressed coffee is made by mixing ground coffee beans with boiled water in a special glass pitcher…

Eleven faculty members have been awarded 2016 Walter Channing Cabot Fellowships for their outstanding publications. The 2016 honorees are: Suzanne Preston Blier, Allen Whitehill Clowes Professor of Fine Arts and of African and African American Studies, “Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba: Ife History, Power, and Identity c. 1300” (Cambridge University Press, 2015) Khaled El-Rouayheb, James Richard…

Although most states ban texting by drivers, the problem appears to be getting worse—and road fatalities are on the rise. To change people’s behavior, lawmakers and public health experts are devising new strategies, some of which mimic strategies to combat drunk driving that began nearly three decades ago. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health…

Two hundred years. Even in an institution as venerable as Harvard University, that’s a long time. Harvard Divinity School, the nation’s first nonsectarian theological school, will celebrate its bicentennial during the 2016-17 academic year with events and exhibits that highlight the School’s mission to illuminate, engage, and serve the world through the pursuit and practice…

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers occur more frequently, and sometimes with more deadly consequences, among Hispanics, blacks, and American Indian and Alaska Natives than among whites. A new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds that HPV vaccination is expected to reduce the cancer burden across all racial/ethnic groups. However, some disparities in…

James H. Ware, the Frederick Mosteller Professor of Biostatistics and associate dean for clinical and translational science at the Harvard Chan School, passed away April 26 after a long battle with cancer. Ware was a deeply respected and admired member of the Harvard Chan School community for nearly 40 years, having joined the faculty in 1979 after…

Reparations for historical injustices should extend to the Roma, who were slave laborers in parts of Romania for nearly 500 years, say two human rights researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Roma slavery has left a legacy of troubling consequences, including poverty, homelessness, limited access to fundamental social and economic rights, social…

How can we best enhance the well-being of people across generations on Harvard’s campus, in the region, and the globe? Today, in a message to the Harvard community, Office for Sustainability Director Heather Henriksen announced the release of Harvard’s 2015 University-wide Sustainability Report detailing just some of the ways we’re seeking to answer this question, and posing other important questions…

Do survivors of childhood cancer return to normal health as they grow up? According to new research from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, overall health-related quality of life in young adult survivors of childhood cancer resembles that of middle-aged adults. In a study published today in the…

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism, a leading global voice in professional journalism education and journalistic innovation for 79 years, has selected 24 journalists as members of the Nieman class of 2017. The group includes reporters, writers, correspondents, editors, producers, columnists, filmmakers, a photographer, a director, digital strategists, and news executives who work around the world.…

Projects led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health students—one that trains Indian girls as peer health educators and another that aims to use technology to allow patients and their loved ones to interact with their hospital care in real-time—are among the 10 finalist teams in this year’s President’s Challenge. Now in its fifth…

Friends of distressed individuals can have a role in helping to reduce the nation’s rising suicide rate by showing compassion, optimism, and coaxing the distraught person to hand over guns, pills, and poison that they might use to kill themselves, said Catherine Barber, director of the Means Matter Campaign at the Harvard Injury Control Research…

Parents and kids recently came to the Ed Portal for a vacation-week workshop on making “cardboard automata,” kinetic toys, led by Harvard Physics Artist-in-Residence Kim Bernard. Bernard explained how the cardboard frames worked — a handle moves a wheel, which spins a disk, making a top rotate — and everyone got to work building their…

Three Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) graduates will receive alumni awards May 14 during Reunion Weekend. The HKS Alumni Board of Directors will present the following individuals with awards: Amara Konneh, M.C./M.P.A. ’08, will receive the Alumni Public Service Award. Malik Ahmad Jalal, M.P.A./I.D. ’11, will receive the Emerging Global Leader Award. Rudy Brioché, M.P.P. ’00,…

When news media report — and consumers read —  stories about the latest scientific and medical discoveries, more emphasis should be placed on studies that summarize a large volume of research, Acting Dean David Hunter,  Vincent L. Gregory Professor in Cancer Prevention at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a April 21,…

Millennials hungry for deep connection are creating new spiritual communities even as they turn away from organized religion, the authors of two new studies said recently at Harvard Divinity School (HDS). As a result, secular groups are discovering the value of religious resources, and faith communities are innovating in new and unexpected ways. The remarks…

During the decade she spent as a physician assistant at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, Jill Roncarati saw, up close and personal, the ravages people suffered when they had no place to live. Cancers went undetected until they’d reached an advanced stage. Preventable complications from untreated diabetes emerged. Substance abuse problems dragged on…

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Jay Winsten is the Frank Stanton Director of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health Communication and associate dean for health communication, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. He talks about the Center’s newest initiative: a campaign to prevent injuries and fatalities caused by “distracted driving,”…