In spite of conventional wisdom that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish can protect against depression, a large new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found no such benefit. Researchers examined the link between suicide and fatty acid intake among more than 205,000 participants in three long-term studies. Looking at data from biennial questionnaires administered to 42,290…

Don’t take your toilet and clean drinking water for granted. In many parts of the world, good sanitation systems don’t exist and the consequences—such as deadly outbreaks of waterborne infectious diseases—can be devastating, emergency medicine physician Miriam Aschkenasy, M.P.H. ’03, told a group of Boston and Cambridge high school students recently at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). About…

“There are 600,000 food items in America. Eighty percent of them have added sugar,” according to the new film Fed Up, which was screened at Harvard School of Public Health on April 23, 2014 in Kresge G3. The exclusive advanced screening event was co-hosted by Let’s Talk About Food, an organization dedicated to changing the way we eat,…

It’s not always a glamorous job, being the behind-the-scenes wrangler, the deal broker, the messenger. It’s often thankless and can sometimes feel like a constant uphill battle — yet day after day, year after year, Tom Lucey shows up to work with a smile and sets out doing what he does best — doing right by our…

The phone call from Ghana clinched Asare Christian’s career path. His grandmother was exhibiting sudden, puzzling symptoms including loss of balance, coordination, and bladder function. To Christian, who was learning about brain injury in his clinical rotation in rehabilitation medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, this sounded like a case of hydrocephalus, fluid accumulation…

A newly discovered molecule may play a role in controlling both asthma-induced airway muscle thickening and tumor growth—and manipulating it may lead to new asthma and cancer drugs, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). The researchers discovered the molecule, “microRNA-10a,” using state-of-the-art sequencing, and found that it regulates pathways…

In an interview with the blog Thought Economics, Harvard School of Public Health Dean Julio Frenk, together with several leading experts, reflected on the last century of accomplishments in the field of public health and the challenges and opportunities for the future. Sir Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians, Baron Peter Piot, director of the London…

For generations, the training of history Ph.D. candidates has remained relatively static. Graduate students are expected to research and publish book-length dissertations with the ultimate goal of obtaining a tenure-track position at a four-year college or university. But in practice, Ph.D.s are increasingly seeking alternative, non-academic careers, while advances in technology and the development of…

Young people who start taking antidepressants at higher-than-average doses may be twice as likely to commit suicide, especially in the first three months of treatment, as those who begin treatment with customary doses, according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Earlier studies found that taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants…

Heart attack survivors who eat more fiber may live longer, according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers. People who ate the most fiber after a heart attack had a 25% lower chance of dying in the following decade, compared with those who ate the least fiber, the study found. Additionally, researchers…

Harvard College sophomore Wilder Wohns grew up in Tacoma, Wash. with a globe in his bedroom — a hand-me-down from his brothers. To him, its most striking location was the country that stretched from Eastern Europe to the Pacific: the vast stretch of land labeled “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.” Wohns’ interest in Asia led…

Harvard’s Defeating Malaria initiative, spearheaded by Harvard School of Public Health, sponsored a student-led event called “Mob Malaria” in commemoration of World Malaria Day on April 25. Two hundred students gathered in the Science Center Plaza to participate in a synchronized flash mob designed to raise awareness of the need to eradicate malaria. Dyann Wirth, director of the…

Five Harvard doctoral students from across the University have been named 2014-15 recipients of the Julius B. Richmond Fellowships from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Daniel Busso is a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), and his research will explore how childhood adversity disrupts cognitive, emotional, and neurobiological…

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research has selected the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) to lead a multidisciplinary effort that will merge research in classical and quantum physics and accelerate the development of advanced optical technologies. Federico Capasso, Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow…

Dean James Ryan announced today that Colorado State Sen. Michael Johnston, Ed.M.’00, will address graduates and their families at the 2014 Convocation ceremony on May 28. “I am delighted that Mike Johnston will address our graduates and their families at Convocation this year. As a teacher, principal, and entrepreneur, Mike’s leadership has made a real difference…

 Barbara Burleigh, associate professor of immunology and infectious diseases, studies Chagas disease, a leading cause of infectious heart failure. The disease is a major health and economic burden in Latin America, where it’s endemic, with roughly 8 million people infected and another 100 million individuals at risk of infection, mostly in rural, resource-poor settings. How does Chagas disease cause…

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism has selected 24 journalists as members of the 77th class of Nieman Fellows. The group includes journalists who work around the globe as reporters, editors, columnists, bureau chiefs, digital leaders and news executives in print, broadcast and online media. They will study at Harvard University during the 2014-15 academic year.…

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) has awarded a three-year, $3.75-million contract to a team of Harvard researchers to further develop a promising grid-scale battery technology they demonstrated earlier this year. The innovative organic flow battery is designed to safely and inexpensively store solar and wind energy for use when the…

Planetary scientist and former Harvard Society of Fellows Junior Fellow Sarah Stewart Johnson’s “O-Rings,” originally published in issue 43 of Harvard Review, was recently selected for this year’s Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology. Covers for the Review’s issues 41 and 42, designed by Alex Camlin, were featured in Print Magazine’s 2013 Regional Design…

Moderately high-protein diets may have short-term weight loss benefits, and may lower heart disease risk, but the “package” the protein comes in matters, said Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. “If there’s too much protein and it comes from animal sources, it may have other health consequences,” Hu said in a Boston Globe interview published April…

Sylvester James Gates Jr., professor of theoretical physics at the University of Maryland, College Park, was named the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations 2014 Scientist of the Year. Gates was presented a special medal signed by President Drew Faust at the annual Harvard Foundation Albert Einstein Science Conference: “Advancing Minorities and Women in…

People who increased the amount of coffee they drank each day by more than one cup over a four-year period had a 11% lower risk for type 2 diabetes than those who made no changes to their coffee consumption, according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers. In addition, the study found that those…

If a single illuminated manuscript can give a glimpse of the art, literature, religion and history of Western culture during the Middle Ages, imagine what nearly 4,000 – the number of such manuscripts held in the Boston area – might do. Those 4,000 manuscripts are the focus of an exhibit being prepared by Kuno Francke…

Instead of its traditional April 22, Earth Day was Sunday on Harvard’s MAC Quad. But whether it lands on a Tuesday or a Sunday, Earth Day is an annual reminder that efforts to preserve the environment are ongoing and should remain a priority for everyone, everyday. The Environmental Action Committee (EAC), which organized the annual…

Harvard School of Public Health researchers and colleagues have compiled the first global data on dietary intakes of specific fats worldwide. The report compares the intake of saturated fat, cholesterol, trans fats, omega 3s, and other fats and oils among 187 countries. The report, written on behalf of the Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group, was published…

More than 100 children and families recently came together at the Gardner Pilot Academy for the first-ever Family Science Night. Co-sponsored by Harvard University, the event brought students from kindergarten through seventh grade and their parents together to explore the endless possibilities of science. Families gathered to listen to Heather Olins, a fifth-year doctoral student…

Ever since the Snowden leaks, the NSA revelations, and most recently the Heartbleed bug, Internet privacy and online surveillance have moved to the forefront of any conversation involving technology. In the midst of constant tracking and data mining from both the commercial and government spheres, is the whole idea of privacy dead? To find answers, Julia Angwin,…

Improving health outcomes in African nations requires not just boosting investment in health, but strengthening the capacity of national health care delivery systems, according to speakers at a gathering of African finance ministers at Harvard in early April. “It is not only about increasing the amount of money for health, but also increasing the health for the money,”…

Technology Review today announced its annual list of 10 Breakthrough Technologies that “mark true milestones” and “solve thorny problems or create powerful new ways of using technology.” Gracing the list is a sophisticated microscale 3D printing technique developed by Jennifer A. Lewis, Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at the Harvard School of Engineering…

As the nation celebrates the 45th Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22, 2014, researchers from Harvard and MIT are calling for an improved approach to studying the link between pollution and human health. In an article published April 18, 2014 in the journal Science, the researchers note that in recent years, one-third to a half of all benefits gained from major…