Early in the morning on Jan. 22, it was 14 degrees Fahrenheit. But inside Shad Hall’s basketball court it was steamy, a DJ was blasting remixes, and three brothers were leading a huge group fitness class. These weren’t just any brothers, and this was not a standard Shad bootcamp class. This was Rob, Gordie, and…

Harvard University’s Richard A. & Susan F. Smith Campus Center was recently awarded the Boston Society of Architects’ Harleston Parker Medal. Established in 1921 in memory of Boston architect J. Harleston Parker, the medal is the highest honor awarded by the Boston Society of Architects (a chapter of the American Institute of Architects) and recognizes…

The 2020 election season is underway and the Harvard Votes Challenge — a nonpartisan, University-wide effort to encourage voter participation — is making sure the Harvard University community is ready. Today, the Challenge unveiled new, easy-to-use resources, including guides for students, faculty, and staff organizers across campus. Experts predict the November 2020 elections will result in…

Pills and powders claiming to boost weight loss, energy, or sexual performance — available to customers of all ages on drugstore shelves — face little government oversight of their safety and efficacy. Because of legislation passed in 1994, the Food and Drug Administration has been unable to demand testing before a dietary supplement is brought to…

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced today that Rejuvenate Bio has secured an exclusive worldwide license from the Harvard Office of Technology Development to commercialize a gene therapy technology developed at the Wyss Institute and Harvard Medical School (HMS) to prevent and treat several age-related diseases in dogs, extending their overall healthspan. The announcement…

The Harvard Center for the Environment (HUCE) tried something new this year: hosting a wintersession program. The three-day course, called Confronting Climate Change, was kicked off with a plenary session led by Professors Rebecca Henderson, Joe Aldy, and Dan Schrag, the director of HUCE. A wide range of topics was covered, from Ethics for a…

Lawrence F. Katz, the Elisabeth Allison Professor of Economics, has been awarded the 2020 IZA Prize in Labor Economics in an announcement lauding his 35 years of research documenting changes in income inequality and the role of educational opportunity in increasing living standards. Katz, also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research,…

Stepping expectantly into a museum gallery with a vast skylight overhead, the men and the Harvard student guide pause before a statue of an Assyrian king. Emily Axelsen ’23 is leading her first Touch Tour at the Harvard Semitic Museum, a beta-test of the new free program for adults with visual impairments. “We’re in a…

Sarah Laursen has been appointed as the new Alan J. Dworsky Associate Curator of Chinese Art at the Harvard Art Museums, effective June 15. Laursen is currently the Robert P. Youngman Curator of Asian Art at the Middlebury College Museum of Art, in Middlebury, Vt.; she is also assistant professor in the Department of History…

By the time Hyegi Chung, M.P.H. ’18, arrived at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to work on her master’s degree, she had years of experience analyzing health care companies. As an investment banker in Singapore and China, she regularly picked over the balance sheets and business models of biopharma and life sciences firms.…

When eating a low-carbohydrate or low-fat diet (LCD or LFD), choosing healthy foods is key to reducing the risk of premature death, according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. People who ate healthy versions of the diets — filling their plates with whole grains, non-starchy vegetables, whole fruits, and nuts — had…

Matt Segneri will become the Bruce and Bridgitt Evans Executive Director of the Harvard Innovation Labs (i-lab), a university-wide entity that fosters team-based and entrepreneurial activities and provides a forum for interactions among students, faculty, alumni, and the surrounding community. A first-generation college student and graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Business School (HBS),…

Two out of three Americans would be willing to use digital wearable devices to track health as part of health insurance wellness programs, according to new research co-authored by Eric Ding, visiting scientist in Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition and a health economist with General Dynamics Information Technology. The study surveyed 997 Americans across 46…

Camilo Vasconcelos, a freshman from Fortaleza, Brazil, had his first contact with Harvard while he was still in high school. In 2017, Vasconcelos was accepted as a mentee in the Mentoring and Language Acquisition in Brazil (MLAB) program — organized by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) — and was matched with a Harvard…

A variety of existing drugs for treating conditions such as diabetes, inflammation, alcohol abuse, and arthritis in dogs can also kill cancer cells in the lab, according to a study by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Some of the compounds might in due course be tested in…

Every year, Harvard invites local high school students to participate in several initiatives that aim to set them up for future success. These initiatives range from encouraging college readiness and educational goal setting, like the The Crimson Summer Academy and Project Teach, to providing opportunities to develop real-world skills like the Summer Youth Employment program.…

In today’s world, most workers are highly specialized, but this specialization can come at a cost — especially for those on the wrong team. New research by Harvard’s Growth Lab uncovers the importance of teams and coworkers when it comes to one’s productivity, earning potential, and stays of employment. The research was published last month…

According to a new NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll, while only 4 percent of the top 1 percent highest income adults say they would struggle to pay off an unexpected $1,000 expense, 34 percent of middle-income adults and 67 percent of lower-income adults say they would have problems paying this…

The global health care and life sciences industries are changing rapidly due to advances in research and technology, with worldwide spending projected to surpass $10 trillion in 2022. This rapid growth has major implications for established organizations and emerging startups alike, increasing the need for professionals who understand the science driving the future of health care. In…

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will establish the Riney Family Multiple Myeloma Initiative to help improve outcomes and accelerate understanding of the underlying biology for the most challenging types of myelomas, cancers that form in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell. The initiative is being established with a $16.5 million gift from Paula…

Levi Strauss & Co. has recognized the Harvard Chan SHINE program (Sustainability and Health Initiative for Netpositive Enterprise) for its role in advancing the health and well-being of the people who make Levi Strauss clothing around the world. The program, founded and led by Eileen McNeely, Instructor in the Department of Environmental Health, has been…

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will create the Chen-Huang Center for EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) Mutant Lung Cancers to stimulate research, promote clinical trials, and strengthen the Institute’s capabilities for studying and treating lung cancer. The Chen-Huang Center is being established with a $5 million gift from Winston Chen and his wife, Phyllis Huang, of Silicon Valley.…

E-cigarette products made by Juul Labs were contaminated with a microbial toxin that can cause long-term lung damage, according to an analysis conducted by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study, published online Dec. 9, 2019 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, was co-authored by David Christiani, Elkan Blout Professor of…

Amidst ongoing debate in the U.S. about what type of health system would be best for the nation, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Ashish Jha plans to spend half a year visiting eight other high-income countries to learn from patients and doctors what works — and what doesn’t — in their respective health systems. The goal of…

The Institute of Politics (IOP) at Harvard Kennedy School Wednesday announced the appointment of six Resident Fellows who will join the institute for the spring semester. The incoming fellows bring diverse experiences in public service and expertise on contemporary issues and challenges in domestic and international politics. “At this important time in civic life we…

Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) announced the selection of its 2020 cohort, including 53 fellows and 10 partners, who will take part in ALI’s intensive, multi-disciplinary program during the coming year. Meredith B. Rosenthal, ALI Faculty Chair and C. Boyden Gray Professor of Health Economics and Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of…

Hospitalizations for several common diseases—including septicemia (serious bloodstream infection), fluid and electrolyte disorders, renal failure, urinary tract infections, and skin and tissue infections—have been linked for the first time with short-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5), according to a comprehensive new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In addition, the study found that…

Certain minority groups, including bisexual women and people of color, are more likely to be exposed to vaping and tobacco ads than their heterosexual white peers, according to a study co-authored by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In the study, lead author Andy Tan and his colleagues analyzed data on 18- to 24-year-olds who participated in the U.S. Population Assessment…

Adults with mothers who had diabetes during pregnancy may have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those who did not, according to a new study from Denmark. It was published online Dec. 4, 2019 in The BMJ. Previous studies have shown that babies born to women with diabetes have a higher rate of congenital malformations and other complications, noted Jorge Chavarro,…