Science & Research - The Brown Daily Herald

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Science & Research

FDA approval of new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, developed in part by Brown researchers, mired in controversy

By Kathleen Meininger | July 20

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug Aduhelm for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease June 7 through its accelerated approval pathway. While some patient advocacy groups and creators of the drug — including several University researchers — see the drug’s approval as a step forward, ...

Science & Research

Brown lifts restrictions on library seating, University-sponsored travel, will reduce quarantine housing, limitations on visitors

By Gabriella Vulakh | July 18

The University has further lifted restrictions on density requirements on campus and on international travel and will make additional changes in housing capacity and campus visitor policy by the fall semester, as the number of community members testing positive for COVID-19 each week remains at a minimum. There ...

Science & Research

Brown researchers find political partisanship greatest predictive factor of COVID-19 safe behaviors

By Jared Zhang | July 16

Neither perceived risk nor actual risk of COVID-19 infection predict rates of mask wearing and social distancing, according to a study published by researchers from the University’s Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences department in June. Instead, the study found that political partisanship, ...

Science & Research

Brown neuroscience lab devises novel guidelines to measure, study negative effects of mindfulness-based meditation

By Kathleen Meininger | July 8

Though mindfulness programs offer promising treatment paths for many, tools for researchers to examine their potential pitfalls have remained underdeveloped, according to Willoughby Britton, director of the University’s Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory. In order to better understand ...

Science & Research

OpenMind consortium accelerates creation of neurostimulation devices to sense, record brain activity

By Gabriella Vulakh | July 7

University researchers — along with teams at the University of California, San Francisco, Mayo Clinic and Oxford — have come together to establish the OpenMind neural communications consortium, a platform to share and disseminate data, protocols and regulatory requirements associated with implantable ...

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Science & Research

Brown researchers shine new light on solar cell design

By Akshay Amesur | June 24

In the bustling laboratories of the School of Engineering, a team of innovative material scientists work to create a brighter, more sustainably powered tomorrow. Their recently published advancements to improve the durability of perovskite solar cells promise to advance renewable energy and solar technology. The ...

Science & Research

Class of 2021 senior theses highlight important issues in Asian, Asian American communities

By Ishitaa Gupta | June 21

This spring, several Brown seniors focused their senior theses on exploring pertinent issues faced by Asian and Asian-American communities around the world. The Herald interviewed three recent graduates — Nicole Yow Wei ’21, Anchita Dasgupta ’21 and Jenny Lee ’21 — on centering their culminating ...

Science & Research

Pre-college students begin ‘highly structured’ first summer session, required to test twice a week regardless of vaccination status

By Gabriella Vulakh | June 20

High school students enrolled in Brown’s Pre-College summer programs began moving into their on-campus dorms this past weekend in preparation for the first day of classes June 21. Students in the program are required to partake in asymptomatic testing, and the University has worked to keep the program’s ...

Science & Research

BrainGate consortium develops new approach of brain-to-text communication through handwriting

By Jared Zhang | June 16

In a May study published in Nature, the BrainGate research consortium — which includes researchers from Brown, Stanford University and Case Western Reserve University — presented a new system of brain-to-text communication via attempted handwriting, which turns thought into text through brain implants. The ...

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Science & Research

Improved discussion between school boards, communities could help increase involvement at school board meetings, study finds

By Casey Chan | June 14

School board meetings with deliberation and discussion between the school board and community members are more likely to have higher community engagement, seen in a greater willingness to attend school board meetings in the future and result in an increased trust in school officials, a study published ...

Science & Research

Brown partnership with Broad Institute allows for new viral sequencing, studying of COVID-19 variants from testing program samples

By Gabriella Vulakh | June 13

Students in the COVID-19 testing program were asked to consent to new viral sequencing for variants through the Broad Institute, the University’s testing partner, in an email sent to on-campus students June 8. The Broad Institute is collaborating with state departments of health and universities ...

Science & Research

More than three-quarters of students on campus have documented their COVID-19 vaccinations with the University

By Gabriella Vulakh | June 6

The percentage of documented COVID-19 vaccinations increased to 76.8 percent and 69.3 percent, respectively, for students and employees on campus during the week of May 27 to June 2, according to the Healthy Brown COVID-19 Testing Update. Including students and employees not on campus, 50.6 percent ...

Science & Research

Brown ‘on a very good trajectory’: Vaccine documentation surpasses 60 percent for employees, students on campus as Brown begins lifting COVID-19 restrictions

By Gabriella Vulakh | May 31

The total percentage of students who have documented their COVID-19 vaccinations has increased to 40.6 percent, and the total number of employees has increased to 59.7 percent, according to the University’s May 28 COVID-19 Testing Update. Of the students and employees currently on campus, more than ...

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Science & Research

Brown research study finds decades-long decline in Black male, Native American, Alaskan Native medical students

By Kathleen Meininger | May 27

Despite efforts by medical schools to increase diversity in their student bodies, the percentage of students that make up medicine’s most underrepresented groups — Black men and Native American and Alaskan Native men and women — has decreased over the last four decades, according to a recent study ...

Science & Research

Nearly one third of all students, half of employees have documented COVID-19 vaccination with University

By Gabriella Vulakh | May 23

Almost a third of total students — 31.1 percent — and 44.7 percent of employees have documented their COVID-19 vaccinations with the University as of May 21, according to Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06. Of the students currently on campus, 44.6 percent ...

Science & Research

Brown’s new Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research to expand studies on prevention, treatment methods

By Gabriella Vulakh | May 19

The University is establishing a Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research with the support of two gifts totaling $30 million from anonymous donors. The center will combine clinical and laboratory-based research teams from the University and partner teams from Sweden to aid in the detection and treatment ...

Science & Research

The light at the end of the tunnel just got brighter

By Cate Ryan | April 28

In October 2020, The Herald launched a podcast with Ashish Jha, Dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University. At the end of our first call, Dr. Jha said: “If people stay focused, there’s a lot of good news coming in 2021.” Specifically, he added, “we’re going to have multiple vaccines ...

Science & Research

The COVID Pod with Dr. Ashish Jha: Approaching a More 'Normal' Fall 2021

By Cate Ryan | April 10

On the last episode of The COVID Pod, recorded on the morning of April 9, 2021, Dean of the School of Public Health Ashish Jha is back to comment on Brown’s plans toward a more traditional semester in fall of 2021. The COVID Pod team discusses advice for the incoming class of 2025, efforts to promote ...

Science & Research

Pandemic Journaling Project enables ordinary people to write their own history

By Anna Kim | April 9

In an effort to record the voices of ordinary people during the COVID-19 pandemic, Assistant Professor of Anthropology Katherine Mason and Sarah Willen, associate professor of anthropology at University of Connecticut, co-founded the Pandemic Journaling Project to predesign an archive of people’s ...

Science & Research

FDA-approved implant provides alternative ACL tear treatment

By Rahma Ibrahim | April 8

A newly approved medical implant — Bridge-Enhanced® ACL Repair — is providing an alternate treatment for Anterior Cruciate Ligament tears. The current standard of care for ACL tears, which are among the most common knee injuries, depends on the condition of the injured person, according to the ...