Paper medical records—the 19th century tools still used by most 21st century medical providers—are a big part of what’s ailing the United States’ health care system, Harvard School of Public Health Associate Professor Ashish Jha told an audience of representatives from academia, government, and industry gathered at the Harvard Club of Boston for the 3rd…

Adolescents and young adults of color are the least likely to have health insurance and have the least access to health care compared to other groups in the United States, Angela Diaz, M.P.H. ’02, told an HSPH audience during the Yerby Diversity Lecture in Public Health on April 5. Diaz directs the Mount Sinai Adolescents…

New findings suggest that HIV-infected patients may delay the onset of AIDS by starting drug therapy earlier while their immune systems are stronger. Researchers including Lauren Cain, a research fellow at HSPH, recommend that patients start treatment earlier than current U.S. guidelines in order to fully benefit. The optimal time to initiate combined antiretroviral therapy…

For the ninth time in the last decade, works first published in Harvard Review have been chosen for inclusion in the highly selective Best American series. The selections include two essays that appeared in issue 39 and a short story taken from issue 38. Meenakshi Gigi Venugopal’s essay “Grieving” is the true story of her…

More than 2,000 staff at Harvard have collaborated to help their offices adopt greener practices that reduce energy and conserve resources as part of the Office for Sustainability’s (OFS) Green Office Program. In just 18 months the number of offices participating in the program has grown from 17 to 118, an exciting milestone for the…

Harvard Law School Professor Yochai Benkler ‘94 has received a Ford Foundation Visionaries Award, it was announced April 29. The award was created in recognition of the 75th Anniversary of the Ford Foundation to celebrate social innovators from a variety of fields. “This recognition is superb because Yochai truly is a visionary,” said HLS Dean…

Over the last four decades the average height of women has declined in Africa, stalled in several South American countries, and varied considerably in other low- to middle-income countries, according to a new Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study. The declines or stagnation are most noticeable among disadvantaged women and are thought to reflect…

Sheila Burke was chief of staff to Sen. Bob Dole, from 1986 to 1996, when he was Senate minority and then the majority leader. In 1995, she was elected as secretary of the Senate, the chief administrative officer of the U.S. Senate. Starting as a member of the staff of the Senate Finance Committee in…

A new report by the Institute of Medicine’s committee on Nutrition, Trauma, and the Brain supports the potential role of nutrition in protecting against traumatic brain injury (TBI) and treating its effects. HSPH Research Scientist Xiang Gao, also of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, served on the committee. TBI accounts for up…

Roger W. Brockett, An Wang Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), has received the Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising. Brockett, a pioneer in control systems theory, founder of the Harvard Robotics Laboratory, and a 42-year member of the…

On behalf of the New York City Post of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), Harvard College senior Jared Dourdeville ’11 has been awarded the 2010 Colonel and Mrs. S.S. Dennis III Scholarship in recognition of his hard work and dedication to research. During the SEAS All Hands meeting held on April 29, Cherry…

Today the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, announced the top 25 programs in the Innovations in American Government Award competition. These programs represent the best in creative problem solving of local, state, and federal municipalities around the country and were selected from a…

The Agassiz Zoological Club is organizing the second annual Harvard University Campus BioBlitz on May 1. Trips will begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday (May 1) and continue through 2 a.m. on Monday (May 2). Already there are four trips planned: A walk through the Arnold Arboretum, a guided tour of the plants of Harvard…

In what is believed to be the largest gathering of uniformed students at the University since Winston Churchill spoke on campus in 1943, more than 170 Harvard veterans from all the service branches gathered at Cambridge’s Sheraton Commander Hotel Monday night (April 25) for a dinner honoring students who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq.…

A project to use dirt-powered batteries to charge cell phones in Africa won a $100,000 grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today. Led by Aviva Presser Aiden, Ph.D. ’09, an affiliate of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) who is now a student at Harvard Medical School, the aim is…

Timothy Johnson, one of the nation’s leading communicators of medical healthcare information, will deliver this year’s Lowell Lecture May 4, “The Truth About Getting Sick in America: The Real Problems with Healthcare and What We Can Do.” The lecture explores the thorny issue of health care in the United States, and is based on Johnson’s…

Planning and special projects officer for the Division of Continuing Education Wayne K. Ishikawa, Ph.D. ’78, is the recipient of the 2011 Walton S. Bittner Service Citation from the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA). The award recognizes a member for outstanding contributions to continuing education at his or her institution, and for service…

More than 30 members of the Harvard community rolled up their sleeves on Saturday April 2, to weatherize the Morton Prince House, home to the Freshman Dean’s Office (FDO). In a workday organized by the the student-run Environmental Action Committee, FDO, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Green Program, Green Building Services, the Harvard Office for…

Wondering what you can do to go green on Earth Day? Check out the Office for Sustainability’s April Green Tip of the Month for 10 tips from the Harvard community for how to help build a healthier, greener campus. From rethinking waste, powering down, and eating locally to asking the right questions and being creative,…

A new effort between researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard has been created to help improve teaching and learning through educational innovation and technology. Steven W. Leslie, executive vice president and provost at the University of Texas, Austin, said the endeavor brings together top educational researchers from the Mazur Group at…

The statistics laid out by the Honorable Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, South African Minister of Health, during the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture at Harvard School of Public Health on March 30, 2011, were stark: South Africa has less than 1 percent of the world’s population but 17 percent of the global HIV-positive population. Nearly one in three…

A new study co-authored by JoAnn Manson, professor in the department of epidemiology at HSPH and chief, division of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, found that for menopausal women who have had hysterectomies, the risks of stroke and other health problems associated with estrogen pills diminish after women stop taking them. The researchers also…

Prof. Walter Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition, joined Boston Mayor Thomas Menino at a City Hall press conference on April 7, 2011, announcing a new executive order requiring a phase out over the next six months of the sale and advertisement of sugar-sweetened beverages from city property. The move is intended to set…

“I’ve never seen a museum inside of a University,” said 10-year old Sabrina Ortiz from Boston Public School’s Elihu Greenwood Leadership Academy standing inside the Harvard Museum of Natural History, “Its amazing and inspiring me to learn.” She summed up the goal of the Harvard visit with those final words. Ortiz was part of a…

Each year since 1995, National Public Health Week has been celebrated during the first week in April. Organized by the American Public Health Association (APHA), the national campaign aims to raise awareness about public health topics among the general public, health care providers, and policymakers. National Public Health Week 2011, which takes place April 4 –…

Esteemed economist Lucas Papademos has been appointed the Minos A. Zombanakis Professor of the International Financial System at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the first faculty member to hold that title. The professorship was established last year with a $4 million endowment via contributions from friends and relatives of Zombanakis…

The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is pleased to announce the establishment of the James R. Schlesinger Professorship of Energy, National Security, and Foreign Policy, an endowed professorship honoring one of the most accomplished public servants of our time. The professorship, which was funded by Schlesinger friends and admirers from around…

Professors Gary King in Government, Joanna Nizynska in Slavic, Anne Pringle in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Christopher Winship in Sociology are the recipients of the 2011 Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Awards, given by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The awards were presented on April 12 in a Dudley House ceremony attended…

According to 9 year old Kiara “KiKi” Daughty of Roxbury, “It feels better when you’re in the water, because it’s too noisy out here.” It was true.  A happy, energetic noise filled the air at Blodgett Pool on Friday evening (April 8) when 225 young swimmers, ranging in age from 5 to 17, displayed their…

Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of Information Sharing in Humanitarian Emergencies, a new report written by a team of researchers from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI), outlines ways that aid workers can use technology to tap into information flows during a humanitarian emergency. The report was released on March 28 by the United Nations Office…