Laboratory-modified, highly virulent strains of the H5N1 virus were recently developed in such a way that they can be passed from one mammal to another (ferrets), suggesting that the new and potentially dangerous strain might easily be transferrable between humans. A new commentary in the journal mBio by HSPH faculty members Marc Lipsitch and Barry…

Patients entering hospitals with heart attacks in states with mandatory public reporting are less likely to receive angioplasties to fix heart blockages than patients in states without public reporting, according to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health. The patients most affected were those considered “high-risk,” that is, those who were extremely sick…

Atmospheric chemists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have found that when it comes to secondary organic material in the atmosphere, there are two distinct breeds: liquids and jellies. Secondary organic materials (SOM) are airborne particles that have begun to react with gases in the atmosphere. In the past 20 years’…

It wasn’t inevitable that Harvard Law School graduate students Erum Khalid Sattar and Rebecca Zaman would meet so soon, or even at all. Sattar has been at the law school for three years, pursuing a doctorate in juridical science (S.J.D.); Zaman arrived in August to begin a year of study for a master’s in law…

Harvard Law School announced today that it will move to videoconferencing technology to conduct interviews of candidates for admission to its J.D. program. The school’s Admissions Office will also offer interview opportunities to more applicants than in the past, said Assistant Dean and Chief Admissions Officer Jessica Soban. The HLS Admissions Office has included telephone…

Is the International Criminal Court succeeding? According to Assistant Clinical Professor Alex Whiting, the answer is a tentative yes. Nevertheless, Whiting—who serves as the investigation coordinator in the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC—provided a candid portrait of the court’s strengths and weaknesses at a talk on Wednesday, Oct. 10, sponsored by the Harvard…

Radcliffe Gymnasium was filled on Monday afternoon when Lizabeth Cohen, dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies, delivered her inaugural dean’s lecture, “Place, People, and Power: City Building in Postwar America,” to a crowd of faculty, students, and friends of the institute. Harvard University President Drew…

In Harvard’s Pierce Hall, the surface of a small germanium-coated gold sheet shines vividly in crimson. A centimeter to the right, where the same metallic coating is literally only about 20 atoms thicker, the surface is a dark blue, almost black. The colors form the logo of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences…

It’s time for biostatistics and epidemiology class. The professor is discussing Scotsman James Lind, who, in the mid-1700s, conducted one of the first-ever clinical experiments. Lind studied the way different foods affected sailors sick with scurvy and found that only those who added citrus fruits to their regular diet recovered. It’s an interesting lecture. But…

With the November 2012 elections on the horizon, Americans surveyed in national polls consistently rank the economy as their number one concern. Public health professionals can have a big impact on this ballot-box issue. More than 17 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product is spent on health care—in many cases, for conditions that could…

How accepting or hostile a community is toward former child soldiers can help determine whether they will fare well or reoffend, according to Theresa Betancourt, associate professor of child health and human rights at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and director of the Research Program on Children and Global Adversity at the François-Xavier Bagnoud…

Robert H. Sitkoff, the John L. Gray Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, has been appointed to two new Uniform Law Commission committees—the study committee on trust protectors, and the drafting committee on Series of Unincorporated Business Entities. Established in 1892, the Uniform Law Commission provides states with models for non-partisan legislation that brings…

Raffles, kudos, and awards were on the agenda at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Postdoc Appreciation Day celebration to recognize postdocs and their mentors. The September 21, 2012 event, held in the Kresge cafeteria, coincided with the fourth annual National Postdoc Appreciation Week. HSPH Dean Julio Frenk highlighted the accomplishments of the School’s postdocs,…

Diébédo Francis Kéré describes the secondary school he has designed in his home country of Burkina Faso as “a project about architecture, people, and dealing with two different cultures.”  The project won the 2012 Global Holcim Gold Award. This school project, in one of the world’s poorest countries, aims to provide further education to the…

By slowing down our eating and being more mindful of where our food comes from, we can shed extra pounds without following a particular diet, Lilian Cheung, lecturer in nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), wrote September 25, 2012 in a Huffington Post blog. “It is possible to attain a healthy weight and…

A number of Harvard Law School graduates across the country are candidates for office in this year’s presidential and Congressional races. In a historic first, both candidates of the major parties in the U.S. presidential election are graduates of Harvard Law School. President Barack Obama is a member of the Class of  ’91 and his…

Today, Junot Díaz, Pulitzer–prize winning writer, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Radcliffe Institute fellow in 2003–2004, was named a 2012 MacArthur Fellow. Díaz — selected for his creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future — is one of 23 recipients of this year’s “genius grant,” which awards fellows $500,000 over five…

With jazz in the background and pizza and empanadas set out on the table, it was an inviting scene at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Office of Diversity open house on September 13, 2012. Throughout the day, a steady stream of students came to meet the staff and learn about the variety of programs…

The raffle winner of a helmet at the annual Longwood Bike Fair did not have a bike to use it with but says her new helmet provided the extra push she needed to buy the bicycle she’d been thinking about. It’s exactly what organizers of the fair, held on Tuesday September 25, hoped they’d hear.…

Katherine Burton Jones has been appointed assistant director and research adviser for the Harvard Extension School’s Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) program in Museum Studies. Jones has taught courses in the Museum Studies program for the last decade and has served as the program’s research adviser since 2004. Previously, she was the assistant dean for…

Viet D. Dinh ’93, founding partner of Bancroft and a professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, spoke at Harvard Law School on Sept. 18 at an event sponsored by Harvard Law School’s Program on the Legal Profession. Dinh, who served as U.S. assistant attorney general for legal policy from 2001 to 2003 and played a key…

Researchers have discovered in fruit flies a key metabolic hormone thought to be the exclusive property of vertebrates. The hormone, leptin, is a nutrient sensor, regulating energy intake and output and ultimately controlling appetite. As such, it is of keen interest to researchers investigating obesity and diabetes on the molecular level. But until now, complex…

On Sept. 5, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan ’86 joined Dean Martha Minow for a conversation on life as a Supreme Court justice. The former and current deans spoke before an overflow audience in the Wasserstein Hall, Caspersen Student Center, Clinical Wing building. During the event, their discussion touched on many topics ranging…

The Center for Primary Care, which was created in 2010 by Harvard Medical School to address the current crisis in primary care with innovative solutions, announced today two new programs, The Abundance Agents of Change program and the Crimson Care Collaborative. As it continues its dramatic growth, the center also announced the appointment of six…

The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) has announced its 2012 HAA Award winners. The award, which recognizes outstanding service to Harvard University through alumni activities, was established in 1990 and has been an annual tradition since. This year’s recipients have devoted countless hours of service and work on behalf of the University and include former HAA…

With 42 days to go before the 2012 presidential election, the Shorenstein Center welcomed Alex Castellanos, a Republican political media consultant, to share his perspective on the Obama and Romney campaigns. Castellanos described the map of this election as a bell curve: In contrast with other election seasons when “we always thought our children would…

According to new research from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), there’s a strong association between work-family conflict and the likelihood of smoking. Candace Nelson, research fellow in the Department of Environmental Health, Lisa Berkman, director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, and Glorian Sorensen, professor of society, human development, and health…

Through research, we discover new knowledge and identify solutions to complex problems. Spark the curiosity of your inner scientist at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University on Researchers’ Night 2012. Held annually on a single night in 300 cities across Europe, this mega-event comes to the Arboretum and Boston for the very first time on…

With NSF grant, researchers will enhance technologies and policies to protect personal data used in research studies. The real-time data of cyberspace, detailing every like, dislike, spur of the moment thought—and more—provide unprecedented opportunities for research by scientists from all areas. No longer limited to narrow focus groups, painstaking in-person surveys, or artificially controlled studies,…

Life expectancy among the least-educated white Americans has fallen markedly over the past two decades, according to recent research, including some studies by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) experts. A front-page article in the September 20, 2012 New York Times outlined these disturbing findings and included speculation by researchers as to possible causes—such as…