Only 27 percent of Americans are aware of President Donald Trump’s plan to lower prescription drug prices and few believe that it will actually achieve its aim, according to a new POLITICO-Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll. The poll included responses from 1,001 adults. Among the respondents who said they had heard or…

The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative today announced the second class of 40 mayors from around the world who will participate in the yearlong education and professional development program designed exclusively for mayors. The 40 mayors joined Harvard faculty and renowned management experts in New York City this week for a three-day, immersive classroom experience and convening…

The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School announced the finalists for the 2018 Innovations in American Government Award. The following seven programs will compete for a $50,000 grand prize this fall in Cambridge: Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, State of Alaska Arches Transformative Mentoring, City of New York, New York Army Career Skills…

As of July 16, applications are being accepted for the Climate Change Solutions Fund. The deadline for applications is Oct. 15. The Harvard University Climate Change Solutions Fund supports research and policy initiatives intended to reduce the risks of climate change, hasten the transition from fossil fuel-based energy systems to those that rely on renewable…

Students who lived in dormitories without air conditioning during a heat wave performed worse on a series of cognitive tests compared with students who lived in air-conditioned dorms, according to new research led by Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health. The field study, the first to demonstrate the detrimental cognitive effects of indoor temperatures…

Available to faculty, administrative/professional staff, support staff, and postdoctoral fellows, the Child Care Scholarship application process is now open in PeopleSoft. All applications must be made online through PeopleSoft. This application is for the cycle from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019. The who are accepted will be able to claim eligible child care…

Few U.S. medical schools emphasize nutrition in their curricula, which is potentially undermining doctors’ abilities to effectively address chronic diseases, including heart disease and cancer,  according to nutrition experts. A July 8, 2018 Washington Post article noted that while some medical schools are establishing teaching kitchens and offering electives on nutrition, there remains a dearth…

For the first time, Harvard Museums of Science & Culture (HMSC) topped 300,000 visitors in a single year since its formation in 2012. Dayu Huang of Boston, a Research Fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, was greeted by HMSC Executive Director Jane Pickering on June 25.  Surrounded by family, museum staff, and balloons, Huang was…

Many of Harvard’s parking monitors are now using pedal power to patrol campus.  A new cycling program implemented by Transportation Services allows the monitors to ride bikes during their shifts as opposed to driving.  The benefits for the monitors, the community, and the environment are tremendous. The Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, also known as MassBike, recently…

Nearly three-and-a-half years after they created Forward Food plant-based culinary training at Harvard, Chef Wanda White and Ken Botts of the Humane Society of the United States returned to campus on June 4 and 5 to lead Harvard University Dining Services’ (HUDS) chefs and managers through a two-day intensive training and tasting on plant-based cuisine.…

Nine-year-old Star Velasquez pulled a slip of paper from a container of water, her eyes lighting up with excitement as the black paper caught a glint of mid-morning sunlight and reflected a rainbow of color. The experiment showcased the properties of super-thin films — nail polish dropped onto the top of the water spread into…

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers are working on a study that aims to shed light on how buildings affect the health, well-being, and productivity of office workers. But U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staffers may not be able to take into account the findings of the study — and the findings of…

Current experimental approaches in Medicaid programs — including requirements to pay premiums, contribute to health savings accounts, or to work — may lead to unintended consequences for patient coverage and access, such as confusing beneficiaries or dissuading some people from enrolling, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The…

In a study published in Nature in May, researchers shared new insights on the ancient history of humans. Through genome sequencing, they compared ancient DNA samples with modern counterparts to more accurately track human activity. The paper, “137 ancient human genomes from across the Eurasian steppes,” reports on the results of their genome mapping. The…

Harvard Initiative for Learning & Teaching (HILT) awarded five Spark Grants of up to $15,000 intended to “spark” promising teaching and learning projects. Awardees will: Examine podcasting as a learning tool. Natalie DuPre, E. Francis Cook, Myroslava Makuch, and Sejal Vashi (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health) will train students to effectively communicate through…

Higher blood concentrations of vitamin D are linked to a lower risk of colorectal cancer, especially in women, according to a large new study from researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and 20 other medical centers and organizations around the world. The research combined…

How much a medical procedure costs depends on where it is performed. Giving birth at a teaching hospital, for instance, costs about $2,000 more than doing so at a community hospital. Cataract surgery at a clinic affiliated with a hospital could cost double than what it would cost at independent surgery center. These are just…

The rapidly evolving field of digital phenotyping involves uncovering specific health-related information in the moment-to-moment data created when people use their smartphones. A recent $517,000 gift from Mindstrong Health is supporting the research of Jukka-Pekka “JP” Onnela, an associate professor of biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who is developing new…

With public trust in the government nearing historic lows, the Advanced Leadership Initiative’s (ALI) Education, Democracy and Human Rights Deep Dive examined how education could promote democratic values in the United States. ALI Faculty Co-Chair Fernando Reimers of the Harvard Graduate School of Education chaired the Deep Dive, convening faculty and nonprofit leaders from across Harvard and…

Nearly 400 Cambridge eighth-graders visited Harvard’s campus last week for the eighth annual Science and Engineering Showcase. The event highlights Cambridge students’ year-end science projects, and allows them to present their findings to classmates, teachers, parents, and even Harvard students and professors. One goal is to build interest in STEM education at an early age…

Since 2017, Margaret Kruk, M.P.H. ’00, associate professor of global health at the Harvard Chan School, has been chair of The Lancet Global Health Commission on High Quality Health Systems in the SDG [Sustainable Development Goals] Era. In that role, she has led an effort to review current knowledge, conduct new empirical studies, and offer…