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Science & Research

From within the Vatican walls: Brown professor unveils insights into the history of the pope during the Holocaust

By Claire Liu | October 22

On the morning of March 2, a group of researchers gathered outside of a gate in Vatican City. They were waiting to view the archives of Pope Pius XII — a collection of millions of documents, which had been sealed since the end of his pontificate in 1958 and have only now been opened to scholars under ...

Science & Research

New U. Cancer Center aims to expand research, serve broad patient community

By Cate Ryan | October 18

The creation of the Cancer Center at Brown University was announced last month and is aimed at promoting research into the biological foundations, community impact and clinical treatment of cancer. “This is the first time we have organized our cancer research effort within the structure of a Cancer ...

Science & Research

Cress Health provides mental wellness through mobile application

By Shilpa Sajja | October 13

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to fill hospitals with patients, healthcare workers battle the virus while trying to maintain their own mental health. Cress Health, a mental wellness company, seeks to help address burnout among healthcare workers. The company was co-founded by student entrepreneurs ...

Science & Research

Connecting through the screen during COVID-19

By Claire Liu | October 8

The college experience is an innately social one, drawing students, faculty and all community members to interact together. Now, with health and safety concerns at the forefront, physically communing on campus and forming relationships in person have been restricted. Social life has transitioned online, ...

Science & Research

From Brown to Broad and back again: the journey of the COVID-19 swab test samples

By Rahma Ibrahim | October 4

Each week, the University and its testing partners process over 10,000 samples, most of which are collected on campus, then shipped beyond the state to laboratories in Massachusetts. Despite the distance, results circle back to students in about a day. University administrators and organizations involved ...

Science & Research

‘We’re facing a tipping point:’ Cybersecurity in the age of COVID-19

By Claire Liu | October 1

In the rush to transition many aspects of our daily lives online — attending virtual lectures, working a full-time job from home and communicating over social media — one issue has risen to the forefront of local and global concerns: cybersecurity. “We’re facing a tipping point in terms of ...

Science & Research

COVID-19 blood-based treatment clinical trials come to Rhode Island

By Kathleen Meininger | October 1

Rhode Island Hospital has teamed up with researchers at Johns Hopkins University to test the effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy as a potential early treatment for COVID-19. These multicenter clinical trials have commenced in Rhode Island to investigate whether this therapy could help reduce ...

Science & Research

TeleHealth Access for Seniors provides senior citizens with smart devices to access health care, contact family

By Marlene Goetz | September 29

TeleHealth Access for Seniors, a nonprofit, provides smart devices to low-income and elderly patients across the country, helping them remain connected with health services, as well as family and friends. “We found a problem with a lot of seniors not having access to their doctors because they ...

Science & Research

Predicting outcomes of COVID-19: Brown professors describe the ‘art’ of drawing the curve in epidemiological modeling

By Emilija Sagaityte | September 28

Picture thousands of undergraduate students unpacking their bags at an isolated Brown University campus free from outside contact amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In this simplified scenario, a certain number of these students are carrying stowaway SARS-CoV-2 particles. Others have yet to be exposed to the ...

Science & Research

Brown and Rhode Island Department of Health use interviews, mobile app for contact tracing

By Claire Liu | September 22

From personal logs to phone applications and software, many methods of contact tracing are being put to use at the University, state and national levels to track COVID-19 infections. Contact tracing is a key strategy for preventing further spread of COVID-19 by individuals that have been exposed, according ...

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Science & Research

‘Everything moved so fast’: Ravaging wildfires burden Brown students studying out west

By Kathleen Meininger | September 21

Noah Hoffman ’22, a Resumed Undergraduate Education student, was relaxing at his home in Medford, Oregon Sept. 8, preparing for the first day of a new semester. Little did he know that less than 24 hours later, the southern Oregon Almeda fire would force him and his partner to pack their belongings ...

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Science & Research

Nonprofit organization founded by Brown professor receives nomination for 2020 Nobel Peace Prize

By Jared Zhang | September 21

Associate Professor of Surgery Ruhul Abid is one of 318 candidates in the world to receive a nomination for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for his nonprofit organization Health and Education for All. As part of HAEFA’s many efforts, the nonprofit has partnered with other organizations this year to combat ...

Science & Research

Comparing Brown’s COVID-19 positivity rate to other college campuses

By Rahma Ibrahim | September 17

Out of over 23,000 asymptomatic COVID-19 tests administered at the University since the beginning of its academic-year testing program Aug. 24, under 0.1 percent have come back positive. 14 total cases have arisen out of over 6,000 people enrolled in the testing program, yielding a prevalence rate of ...

Science & Research

Pulling narratives from pages of COVID-19 health data

By Emilija Sagaityte | September 14

The numbers, labels and descriptions pertaining to medical patients and COVID-19 cases that are housed in electronic health records may seem to be nothing more than a track record — a jumble of information a physician updates, typing away as their patient sits down for a visit. But to public health ...

Science & Research

Faculty reimagine their research, research-based courses during COVID-19

By Emilija Sagaityte | September 14

Laboratories and lab-based courses have gradually regained momentum, filling up University faculty’s schedules once again and prompting the redesign of their day-to-day operations and class syllabi. As researchers and professors settle into this abnormal normal, they have reimagined their research-based ...

STEM

Resuming Research Guidance details students’ return to the lab bench as Brown offers remote research opportunities

By Emilija Sagaityte | September 13

After most University labs slipped into a lull in March following the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, undergraduates are anxious to partake in hands-on research investigations once again. But with a pandemic still pushing onward, popping into a laboratory at one’s whim is no longer feasible. Resuming ...

Science & Research

Brown economist co-leads development of real-time COVID-19 Economic Tracker

By Claire Liu | September 10

Opportunity Insights, a research and policy organization co-directed by University Professor of Economics John Friedman, has led national efforts to study the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the United States economy through its Economic Tracker, which launched in May. The tool has helped inform ...

Science & Research

To examine the effects of COVID-19 on communities, Brown researchers turn to data

By Emilija Sagaityte | September 10

With the assistance of the University’s COVID-19 Research Seed Fund, some research groups have focused their microscopes on the viral particles behind the infection, while others have built technology to approach the pandemic’s challenges from various angles. Another set of University projects is ...

Science & Research

Now you see me, now you don’t: Using artificial intelligence to identify COVID-19, developing a PPE coating to stop it in its tracks

By Emilija Sagaityte | August 19

Instead of relying on only a physical barrier, what if scientists were to develop a substance capable of killing COVID-19’s viral particles when they come in contact with personal protective equipment? And in cases where the virus evades these protections, what if programming software could give radiologists ...

Science & Research

‘This is going to end:’ Anthony Fauci joins Ashish Jha to address COVID-19 pandemic in live-streamed Brown event

By Cate Ryan | August 8

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, spoke through screens to the Brown community and the public Friday afternoon, sharing practical public health advice and updates on the nation’s COVID-19 response. Fauci was interviewed by Ashish Jha, the incoming dean of the School ...

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