Reflecting a commitment to confronting the challenge of climate change at the local level, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University has launched a $250,000 fundraising campaign to improve lighting systems and replace windows in the Dana Greenhouses. This initiative aims to boost energy efficiency and long-term energy savings for the Arboretum’s extensive propagation activities. “Each…

Exercising patience in the midst of a 24/7 news cycle is crucial in building and maintaining an audience, said Dafna Linzer, managing editor for MSNBC.com. She spoke to the Shorenstein Center on Tuesday about how difficult but crucial it is not to get swept up in the Twitter mindset of “instant gratification.” Instead, she argued, the focus…

The Harvard Graduate Council hosts its fourth annual Harvard Leadership Conference on Saturday (March 8). With interactive sessions and a focus on attendee involvement, conference planners hope that participants will not only learn, but take an active role in the seminars. After a keynote speech and expert panels scheduled for the morning, attendees will participate…

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has won the Nieman Foundation’s 2013 Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers for Deadly Delays. The comprehensive watchdog investigation reveals how delays in newborn screening programs at hospitals across the country have put babies at risk of disability and death from rare diseases often treatable when caught and treated early.…

Contrary to current popular wisdom, full-fat dairy products may actually be better than low-fat varieties for keeping off weight, says Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) nutrition expert Walter Willett. Willett was featured in a February 21, 2014 Q & A in NewScientist. According to Willett, who is Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and chair of the Department of…

About 50% of adolescents born HIV-positive may be at increased risk for heart disease, including stroke and heart attack, later in life, according to a National Institutes of Health study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers. While previous studies linked HIV infection severity and certain HIV drugs to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adults, this is the first…

The Amazon Basin in South America includes the most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest on the planet, covering 5.5 million square kilometers. Due to the sheer size of the Amazon rainforest, the area has a strong impact on the climate in the Southern Hemisphere and is a primary driver of global atmospheric circulation. Officials from…

Stephen Chong, associate professor of computer science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), has been named a 2014 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. He is among 126 fellows, including six others at Harvard, selected from the United States and Canada this year on the basis of their “independent research accomplishments, creativity, and…

Settling into a comfortable chair to “binge-watch” multiple episodes of your favorite TV show for hours may be hazardous to your health over the long term, according to Lilian Cheung, lecturer and director of health promotion and communication for the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). “There’s convincing evidence in adults that the more television people…

Zinc oxide nanoparticles are used in sunscreens to make them less opaque and more appealing to consumers. But the potential adverse health effects of using nanoparticles in these and other products have not been fully explored, according to Philip Demokritou, associate professor of aerosol physics at Harvard School of Public Health. There is mounting evidence that…

More than half of new cancer cases occur in low- and middle-income countries, as do nearly two-thirds of cancer deaths. Experts at a global oncology symposium held February 8, 2014 at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute discussed the substantial barriers to care faced by cancer patients in developing countries, such as the cost of care, limited access to treatment facilities, and…

The Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT) awarded five Spark Grants to projects that will be pursued over the year: Improving student statistics literacy. Abha Ahuja and Melanie Stefan (HMS) will study misconceptions about statistics in a high-enrollment life science course and develop a related computer-based module. New course on creativity. Michael Van Valkenburgh…

Lorelei Mucci, associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), studies the factors that influence prostate cancer risk and progression. She answers three questions about recent research findings in the field that have generated confusion for men trying to make the right choice for their health. Q: Two recent studies from the same research…

When people who have been cured of tuberculosis (TB) re-develop the disease, are they relapsing or fighting a new strain? How often should HIV/AIDS patients be tested to see if antiretroviral treatment is working? These questions are being explored by doctoral candidates Ellen “Ellie” Caniglia and Richa Gawande, who are conducting infectious disease studies at Harvard School of Public…

Following the release of a series of working papers based on 17 online courses from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offered on the edX platform, researchers have made available a suite of powerful open source interactive visualization tools. The technologies, dubbed Insights, draw upon near real-time, de-identified data of course registrants, dynamically updating…

Retired HGSE Professor Israel Scheffler, a philosopher of education, passed away on Sunday at the age of 90. He began his career at HGSE in 1952, where he worked for 40 years teaching courses and conducting research on the philosophy of education. “Israel Scheffler leaves behind a lasting legacy in the field of the philosophy of…

The cost of special education and medical services for a child with autism averages $17,000 annually, according to a new study by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues. Schools bear the brunt of the economic burden, according to the study. The researchers found that parents of children with autism faced no greater out-of-pocket medical…

Seven Harvard faculty members are among the 126 scholars being awarded Sloan Research Fellowships by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The fellowships go to early career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as the next generation of scientific leaders. This year’s Harvard recipients are Emily Balskus, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical…

Parents with guns in the house should assume their children are aware of the firearms – and possibly have even touched them, according to David Hemenway, professor of health policy and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). “Just like parents don’t think kids know where the Christmas presents are hidden, the same is…

In the United States, the average person is exposed to more than a hundred chemicals from cosmetics, soaps, and other personal care products before leaving the house in the morning. While people may assume these products are safe, their chemical ingredients are mostly untested and largely unregulated, with even known carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting chemicals…

The Harvard Graduate School of Education is pleased to announce its spring 2014 Askwith Forums, a series of public lectures dedicated to discussing challenges facing education, sharing new knowledge, and generating spirited conversation. Highlights this spring will include a discussion about how hip-hop culture can offer teaching and learning tools in science with Assistant Columbia…

The Shorenstein Center welcomed Andrea Mitchell, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” to discuss the challenges of reporting on global issues in an ever-changing media environment. Mitchell admitted that there is a “great appetite” for foreign coverage today, but she questions whether “we have the tools” to accurately report…

David Carr’s column on media and culture at The New York Times is “required reading” for anyone in the business, said Shorenstein Center Director Alex S. Jones at the first speaker event of the spring semester. Carr shared his thoughts on changing media models, and how old and new media “are marching toward each other.” With new…

Harvard Library is offering an environmental way to let your favorite people know you care on this Valentine’s Day. Simply click on the link provided, choose a card, write your greeting, and send it via email. The cards range from a 19th-century hand-drawn valentine card from Houghton Library to an image from Emily Dickinson’s herbarium…

The Fromm Players at Harvard presents its annual two-concert series of new music works February 28 and March 1 at 8 p.m. in John Knowles Paine Concert Hall. This year’s performances, titled “The natural | The artificial,” feature Dal Niente, a 20-member Chicago-based contemporary music collective, who will present two world premieres and two U.S.…

Can a TV show change the way people think about a health issue? Yes, it can—and it has. One of the most successful public health campaigns—the Designated Driver Campaign, spearheaded in the United States in the late 1980s by Harvard School of Public Health’s (HSPH) Center for Health Communication, led by Jay Winsten—got a major boost from being…

In the midst of a debate about Obamacare’s impact on the U.S. economy, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) faculty say that it’s important to focus not only on the potential economic drag of the health reform law but also on its much-needed emphasis on lower costs and greater efficiency in the health care system. Obamacare’s economic impact…

The Affordable Care Act is providing a cure for the phenomenon known as “job lock” — when a worker stays in a position solely for employer-sponsored health insurance. That’s according to Katherine Swartz, professor of health policy and economics at Harvard School of Public Health, and Theda Skocpol of Harvard University, authors of a February 6, 2014 USA Today editorial.…

For very young children, growing up in a chronically stressful situation can lead to difficulties in school and poor health later in life, new research suggests. To offset these by-products of “toxic stress” in the most at-risk children, Jack Shonkoff of Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) says it’s important to help build the capabilities of parents and…

A new report suggests that children who are overweight or obese by the time they enter kindergarten have a high likelihood of staying that way as they grow older. Looking at more than 7,700 children over a nine-year-period, the Emory University study found that children who started kindergarten overweight had about four times the risk of becoming…