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Remembering Theodore “Ted” Brown, the founding director of the Beckman Institute

Theodore “Ted” Brown, the founding director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and professor emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, died Tuesday, March 24, 2026. He was 97 years old.

Mar 27 • 8:59 AM EDT • Science • beckman.illinois.edu

Maryland Small Business Will Appeal After District Court Affirms Department of Labor Courts That Hand Down Ruinous Fines

WASHINGTON—The Institute for Justice (IJ) will appeal on behalf of C.S. Lawn & Landscaping, a Maryland small business owned by Chuck Saine, after a federal […]

Mar 27 • 8:16 AM EDT • Business • ij.org

How to Break America’s Great Scientific Stagnation

President Trump’s selection of Jim O’Neill to head the National Science Foundation could open the next great chapter of discovery.

Mar 27 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • city-journal.org

How NYU’s Quantum Institute Bridges Science and Application

Newly launched NYUQI seeks solutions in quantum computing, sensing, and communications

Mar 27 • 6:02 AM EDT • Science • spectrum.ieee.org

Social Science Research Institute awards AI seed grants

Penn State Center for Social Data Analytics and the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making, in collaboration with the Social Science Research Institute, has announced the recipients of their most recent seed grant awards.

Mar 27 • 2:09 AM EDT • Science • psu.edu

Two Salk scientists elected as 2025 AAAS Fellows - Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Highlights Salk scientists Gerald Shadel and Tatyana Sharpee elected as American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2025 Fellows AAAS Fellows are distinguished scientists, engineers, and innovators who have made significant contributions to their fields LA JOLLA—Salk molecular biologist Gerald Shadel, PhD, and neuroscientist Tatyana Sharpee, PhD, have been elected as American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2025 Fellows. The honor recognizes scientists with distinguished scientific and social accomplishments, and AAAS Fellows become national and global science spokespersons for the rest of their lives.

Mar 26 • 5:10 PM EDT • Science • salk.edu

Mike Pence To Speak At UChicago’s Institute Of Politics In April

Pence will participate in a student-moderated panel and is expected to speak about the role of the executive branch, populism and more.

Mar 26 • 8:10 AM EDT • Politics • blockclubchicago.org

Mark Nordenberg to step down from his leadership roles with the Institute of Politics and Dick Thornburgh Forum

The chancellor emeritus, who has long been a driving force behind the wide-ranging civic initiatives, will also serve as the University’s 2026 spring commencement speaker.

Mar 26 • 8:00 AM EDT • Politics • pittwire.pitt.edu

Two Northside leaders named 2026 Health Care Champions

Lynn Jackson, president and CEO of Northside Hospital Forsyth, was named Health Care Executive of the Year, and Christine Bree Becker, lead nurse practitioner for the Maternal Heart Health Clinic at the Northside Hospital Heart Institute, was named Innovator of the Year in Women’s Health at an awards ceremony on March 19.

Mar 26 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • northside.com

Can Artificial Intelligence Fix Social Science?

There’s a lot of optimism, but new research gives reason for caution.

Mar 26 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • city-journal.org

San Diego scientists discover gene in plants that could slow drought impacts

Research from San Diego's The Salk Institute for Biological Studies could soon protect crops from drought all around the world. A recently published study says drought directly impacts the rate at which plants age.

Mar 25 • 8:59 PM EDT • Science • nbcsandiego.com

The Institute for Underground Science at SURF Announces 2026 Davis-Bahcall Scholars

The Institute for Underground Science at Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) has announced the selected the 2026 cohort of Davis-Bahcall Scholars.

Mar 25 • 5:00 PM EDT • Science • kotatv.com

White House delays CDC pick as officials search for permanent director

The responsibilities of leading the agency will fall to Jay Bhattacharya, the head of the National Institutes of Health, who has been serving as acting CDC director since last month

Mar 25 • 3:51 PM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com

UT Health San Antonio launches clinical trial to study rapamycin and healthy aging - UT Health San Antonio

Contact: Eileen Teves, 210-450-7239, tevese@uthscsa.edu Content provided by Claire Kowalick SAN ANTONIO, March 25, 2026 – UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) is launching a multi-phase clinical study to better understand how the drug rapamycin may promote healthy aging. Funded by the National […]

Mar 25 • 1:05 PM EDT • Health • news.uthscsa.edu

Science happens here! Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology invites public to free Open House Saturday, May 2, 2026

Dive into the world of marine science and explore cool tech at this open house you won't want to miss! Have you ever wondered what happens in that unique

Mar 25 • 12:00 PM EDT • Science • baltimorefishbowl.com

Player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: Orlando Pride at Chicago Stars

Here is this week's player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, for Friday's home match at Chicago Stars

Mar 25 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • orlandocitysc.com

RPI Athletics Celebrates 50 Years of Women's Sports

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute proudly celebrates 50 years of women's varsity athletics—a milestone that reflects decades of progress, achievement, and opportunity for generations of student-athletes. What began as a commitment to expanding access in intercollegiate athletics has grown into a vibrant and competitive tradition that continues to shape the RPI community today.

Mar 25 • 8:00 AM EDT • Sports • rpiathletics.com

RIT launches hands-on Bachelor of Science degree in artificial intelligence

Rochester Institute of Technology is now offering a Bachelor of Science degree in artificial intelligence. The BS in AI program is tech heavy and hands on.

Mar 25 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • rit.edu

Growing Southern Nevada’s health care economy

Last week The Lincy Institute, the Vegas Chamber, the Vegas Chamber Leadership Foundation, and the Nevada Health and Bioscience Corporation hosted a symposium on the future of Southern Nevada’s health care economy. Today, health care is the fastest-growing sector in the regional economy having added more than 42,000 jobs since 2016. Yet, despite this growth […]

Mar 25 • 7:59 AM EDT • Health • nevadacurrent.com

McGrath Institute Gathers Bishops for Conference on Faith and Science

Notre Dame fosters dialogue between clerics and laity

Mar 25 • 7:55 AM EDT • Science • irishrover.net

Microsoft hires former Ai2 CEO Ali Farhadi and key researchers for Suleyman’s AI team

Microsoft is hiring former Ai2 CEO Ali Farhadi, along with Hanna Hajishirzi and Ranjay Krishna from the Allen Institute for AI to join Mustafa Suleyman's Superintelligence team, GeekWire has learned.

Mar 23 • 6:32 PM EDT • Technology • geekwire.com

Microsoft hires Ali Farhadi to work with Mustafa Suleyman on AI

Microsoft hired Ali Farhadi, former Allen Institute CEO, to join Mustafa Suleyman's AI team as corporate VP.

Mar 23 • 6:26 PM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

Shorebird science and conservation collective shows big data can protect birds

New research from the Shorebird Science and Conservation Collective at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI), published in the journal Conservation Biology, provides ...

Mar 23 • 4:40 PM EDT • Science • phys.org

Marquette Law School adds Aaron Hernandez to National Sports Law Institute leadership

Aaron Hernandez, currently at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, will be joining the faculty at Marquette University Law School as associate professor of practice and director of the National Sports Law Institute. Marquette is led in the area of sports law by Matt Mitten, professor of law, and Paul Anderson, associate…

Mar 23 • 9:00 AM EDT • Sports • today.marquette.edu

Your Thymus and Your Healthspan

Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.

Mar 22 • 2:18 PM EDT • Health • erictopol.substack.com

Building Brighter Tomorrows: Advancing Community Health in 2026 and Beyond

The Institute for the Advancement of Community Health, in partnership with the Institute for Child Success, is hosting the 2026 Building Brighter Tomorrows Conference on Thursday, April 16 at Furman […]

Mar 20 • 3:17 PM EDT • Health • furman.edu

Letai: “From this point forward, it really is much more like business as usual at the NCI.”

NCI Director Anthony Letai appeared before the National Cancer Advisory Board Committee March 17 to maneuver through thorny topics while reiterating his message of reassurance: Stability. Stability. Stability. NCI is sturdy and will weather the storms. “The mission hasn’t changed at the National Cancer Institute,” Letai said in his remarks to the committee. “The resources […]

Mar 20 • 10:52 AM EDT • Business • cancerletter.com

Player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: Orlando Pride vs Denver Summit

Here is this week's player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, for Friday's home match vs Denver Summit

Mar 20 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • orlandocitysc.com

Temple Health Appoints Robert A. Winn, MD, as Cancer Center Director for Fox Chase Cancer Center

Temple Health today announced the appointment of Robert A. Winn, MD, as the next Cancer Center Director for Fox Chase Cancer Center, marking a defining moment that will shape the future of one of the nation’s leading National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers.

Mar 19 • 4:22 PM EDT • Health • foxchase.org

German Health Minister Nina Warken and WHO Hub in Berlin highlight 2025 achievements

Germany’s Federal Minister of Health, Nina Warken, visited the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin today to review progress and launch its 2025 Annual Report. The report highlights advances in using artificial intelligence, data science and pathogen genomics to strengthen global preparedness for future pandemics.In 2025, the WHO Hub in Berlin worked with more than 160 Member States and over 190 partners to help countries and organizations develop new systems and tools to detect and understand new public health threats as quickly as possible, whenever and wherever they occur.BMG to confirm whether they wish to contribute a quote. “Detecting outbreaks early is one of the most effective ways to save lives and prevent epidemics from becoming global crises,” said Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken. “Germany is proud to host and support the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. Its work strengthens our safety at home and helps protect people worldwide.”Artificial intelligence is increasingly transforming the detection of outbreaks. In 2025, the Hub launched an upgraded version of the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) system, which uses enhanced AI functions to scan global online information in real time and help experts quickly identify unusual health events. The system is now used by 120 countries.To better anticipate health threats, countries need information beyond traditional health data. The Hub supports countries in implementing Collaborative Surveillance, which integrates data on climate, animals, travel, and population movement to provide a more comprehensive and real-time understanding of health threats.The Hub also expanded global access to pathogen genomics, which helps scientists detect new pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, understand how they spread and how dangerous they may become. Through the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN), the WHO Hub in Berlin worked with 309 partners in 101 countries to expand access to these technologies.“We are in a new era of global health threats, and we need new tools to face tomorrow’s challenges,” said Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme. “The WHO Hub in Berlin helps countries use data and technology more effectively so they can identify risks earlier and respond faster. No country can address these threats alone. Strong cooperation remains our best defence.”“Berlin offers an ideal environment for our work. We collaborate closely with world-leading institutions such as the Robert Koch Institute and the Charité Center for Global Health,” said Dr Oliver Morgan, Head of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. “Germany has supported the WHO Hub since its establishment, and we are pleased to welcome Federal Minister Nina Warken to the Hub today. This strong partnership helps us advance innovation in pandemic and epidemic intelligence and better support countries to prepare for future health threats.”The Hub is expanding the use of advanced analytics and mathematical modelling to forecast how outbreaks may develop and to assess which response measures are most effective. Through its Collaboratory, the Hub connects modelers and analysts with governments to ensure their work addresses real public health needs. In 2025, the community grew to 1300 members from 50 countries and 200 institutions. An AI-powered pandemic simulator, currently in the prototyping phase, will help decision-makers compare outbreak scenarios and help identify effective disease control measures.

Mar 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • who.int

Federal investment fuels new labs for coastal science and restoration

The two are part of the Institute of Environment’s efforts to expand research on the Everglades, Biscayne Bay and other South Florida’s coastal ecosystems. The project received $11.5 million in funds.

Mar 18 • 12:19 PM EDT • Science • news.fiu.edu

Scientists create a new state of matter at room temperature using light and nanostructures

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have created a new and unusual state of matter—known as a supersolid—by engineering how light and matter interact inside a nanoscale device. The ...

Mar 17 • 7:20 PM EDT • Science • phys.org

National Eye Institute director speaks during Vision Science Research Center retreat

National Eye Institute director speaks during Vision Science Research Center retreat

Mar 17 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • uab.edu

German infrastructure fund failed to spur extra investment, IW says

Germany's special fund for infrastructure has largely failed to generate additional investment one year ​after its approval, the German Economic Institute (IW) said ‌in a study seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Mar 17 • 2:40 AM EDT • Business • reuters.com

Iran’s attacks have collapsed, and the trend is ‘overwhelmingly positive,’ analysts say. But the military side is separate from politics and markets

Iranian drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates collapsed from 332 on the second day of the war to just six on Sunday, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Mar 16 • 12:09 PM EDT • Politics • fortune.com

Large rapamycin clinical trial launches at UT Health San Antonio - UT Health San Antonio

A drug once known almost exclusively for preventing organ transplant rejection is now at the center of a National Institute on Aging-funded clinical study at UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio), to determine how rapamycin should be used in older adults to […]

Mar 16 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • news.uthscsa.edu

Strengthening One Health Field Epidemiology Capacity in the WHO South-East Asia Region

Recent public health emergencies—including the COVID-19 pandemic, recurrent zoonotic disease outbreaks, and the high level of antimicrobial resistance—have underscored the urgent need for strong, multisectoral field epidemiology capacities. This reinforces the importance of a workforce equipped with One Health field epidemiology competencies. To address this need, WHO works with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), as part of Quadripartite Alliance for One Health, to strengthen field epidemiology training programmes using a One Health approach.These efforts are aligned with WHO SEARO’s Strategic Framework for Action for Strengthening Surveillance, Risk Assessment and Field Epidemiology and the Regional Roadmap to Advance Field Epidemiology Capacities 2025–2029 emphasize workforce development, multisectoral collaboration, and enhanced preparedness for health emergencies. With funding from the Pandemic Fund, The Competency for One Health Field Epidemiology (COHFE) integration within Field Epidemiology Training Programmes (FETPs) or similar initiatives has been initiated in Bangladesh and India and is planned in Sri Lanka.BangladeshIn Bangladesh, COHFE is being adapted to strengthen the Field Epidemiology Training Programme, Bangladesh (FETP-B) Advanced programme. Initiated in July 2025 and led by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), the process brought together stakeholders from human, animal, and environmental health sectors, academia, and laboratories.A Multisectoral Working Group (MWG) was established to guide implementation, conduct readiness assessments, and identify opportunities to institutionalize One Health collaboration. Through national multisectoral consultations and a competency prioritization workshop held in Dhaka in November 2025, stakeholders identified priority technical competencies for surveillance, outbreak investigation, data analysis, and risk assessment, alongside functional competencies related to leadership, coordination, and the laboratory–epidemiology interface. The process also surfaced systemic barriers—such as challenges in data sharing and limited joint investigations—enabling targeted recommendations. These outcomes are guiding curriculum revision, the introduction of One Health simulations and joint field exercises, and the development of a national multisectoral mentorship pool, with updated training materials expected to be implemented in the upcoming cohort.Figure 1. Competency prioritization involving multisectoral stakeholders“COHFE represents a significant step forward in operationalizing the One Health approach. The collaboration between national institutions and the Quadripartite partners is critical for building resilient systems to address complex health challenges in the region.”, Prof. (Dr) Tahmina Sirin, Director, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), Bangladesh.Aligning India’s One Health Training with COHFEIn India, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has strengthened One Health workforce development through its SectorConnect initiative. WHO supported a comprehensive competency mapping and curriculum review to align the Field Epidemiology Programme in One Health (FEP-OH) with all 14 COHFE domains. The review identified strong foundations while generating actionable recommendations to strengthen One Health learning outcomes, expand joint field-based learning, and enhance competency-based assessment. These improvements are informing programme refinement and phased scale-up across additional states.Figure 2. Strengthening learning outcomes for the SectorConnect FEP OH CurriculumThrough these efforts, WHO SEARO will continue to support countries to move from separate sector-based training toward an integrated, impact-driven One Health field epidemiology workforce capable of addressing complex health threats at human-animal-environment interface.ReferencesFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, World Health Organization, & World Organisation for Animal Health. (2024). Competencies for One Health field epidemiology (COHFE) framework. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240080058World Health Organization. (2023). Strategic framework for action for strengthening surveillance, risk assessment and field epidemiology for health security threats in the WHO South-East Asia Region. WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789290210030World Health Organization. (2024). Regional roadmap to advance field epidemiology capacities in the WHO South-East Asia Region 2025–2029. WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789290229544

Mar 15 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • who.int

Player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: Orlando Pride vs Seattle Reign

Here is this week's player availability report, presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, for Sunday's home match vs Seattle Reign

Mar 15 • 8:05 AM EDT • Health • orlandocitysc.com

The Art of Seeing More: a Fearless Science Forum - Morgridge Institute for Research

At "The Art of Seeing More" on March 10, a panel of experts came together for the Morgridge Institute’s Fearless Science Forum series to explore how scientists and artists challenge the limits of human perception.

Mar 12 • 11:04 AM EDT • Science • morgridge.org

Smart Plants in a Changing World Science

The Salk Institute is teaming up with the Del Mar Foundation for a three-part webinar series to highlight Salk's foundational research in brain health, cancer, and agriculture. Join us on Wednesday, March 11, at 10 a.m. to learn directly from Salk scientist Lucia Strader about how plants sense and respond to their environments, and how understanding these natural survival strategies can help us develop crops that thrive in a changing world. The Del Mar Foundation is offering a 1:1 Challenge Match through June. Gifts made during the webinar series will be matched dollar-for-dollar, doubling your impact on critical research. Donors who give $1,000 or more to an area of greatest need will also join the Discovery Society, with special access to Salk news and events. Salk Institute on Facebook / Instagram

Mar 10 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • kpbs.org

Mental health solutions for the digital age

Ask the digital natives of Gen Z about the source of their biggest mental health challenges, and most will say social media and AI.Several of the nearly 400 guests at the third annual Gen Z Wellness Summit, presented by the Friends of Semel Teen Advisory Council at UCLA on March 8, explicitly named the endless stream of content on their phones as serious stressors. “Everybody is addicted to (Tik Tok) as if they were addicted to substances,” said Jantin Asmar, 17, a senior at Virtual Academy in Antelope Valley. “We’re always chasing that dopamine. We’re expecting that dopamine rush and it’s really decaying our interactions with others.” High school student Jantin Asmar was among nearly 400 people who attended the third annual Gen Z Wellness Summit. (Photo by Sandy Cohen) Even young teens feel pressure to be on social media constantly, both to consume content and collect “likes,” said 13-year-olds Chloe and Sophia, both students at Brentwood School. “Everyone’s always on, and you miss stuff if you’re not on it,” Chloe said, adding that social media’s emphasis on appearances is leading to eating disorders: “That’s a big thing for our generation.”The incessant influx of images and updates creates expectations that “weigh teenagers down,” said Linda Kou, 16, a junior at San Gabriel High School.Even though digital spaces allow people to connect with others beyond their immediate surroundings, it doesn’t always translate to real-life community, said Kelah Morgan, 17, a senior at Animo South Los Angeles Charter High School. High school students Kelah Morgan, left, and Linda Kou, shared about the challenges presented by social media. (Photo by Sandy Cohen) “Even if you see people saying that they relate to you online, it might be hard to find people in your personal life who you see every day who you feel comfortable enough to say, ‘You see me online, but this is me in real life and what I’m actually going through,’” she said.Solutions for our digital timesThe Gen Z Wellness Summit was intentionally designed as a free, in-person gathering where young people interested in mental health from across the southland could meet in person. “Peer support is the most important element of maintaining our mental health in community,” said Helena Hansen, MD, PhD, director of UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.Keynote speakers at the summit addressed AI, social connection and self-empowerment, while breakout sessions included discussions about eating disorders, dating, substance use, phone detox and breathwork. Here are some of the day’s top takeaways:Beware of FOPO: Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD, a psychology professor at Columbia University, said that rather than FOMO, or fear of missing out, we ought to be more aware of FOPO: fear of people’s opinions. “Just think about how much your FOPO might be holding you back in your life,” Dr. Kaufman said. “And just that inner contemplation should be enough for you to change your life, because there’s so many things we don’t go after because we have debilitating FOPO.”We don’t need to feel like we’re the best – or what he called “narcissistic self-esteem” – but it’s helpful to acknowledge our own worth, recognize our good qualities and develop self-belief in the skills and talents we’ve cultivated. When we have that – dignity and self-respect, without needing everyone to like us – FOPO is less of a concern.Self-reflection is most effective in community: “When we try to self-reflect alone, we sometimes ruminate,” said Ira Bedzow, PhD, executive director of the Emory University Purpose Project. “But when we self-reflect with people that we trust … (it) allows us to hold ourselves accountable to different ways of seeing and different ways of hearing and different ways of being.”Opening up about our experiences and listening to others are skills we can develop, Dr. Bedzow said.He invited students to participate in what he called a “fishbowl exercise,” where four students sat in a small circle, surrounded by a dozen or so students forming a larger circle. Those in the inner circle answered such questions as: “What stops you from being you today?” and “What helps you feel most like you?”Within minutes, the group in the small circle (the fishbowl), were sharing intimately about their life challenges as those in the outer circle nodded in understanding.After the exercise, one participant said, “I felt like I wasn’t alone, that it wasn’t just me who feels that way.”Another remarked on how “personal” it felt to share face-to-face with others, even strangers.Don’t let AI crush your creativity: Theoretical neuroscientist Vivienne Ming, PhD, has been studying artificial intelligence for more than 20 years. And while she said “it’s reasonable to be concerned” about the fast-growing technology, it can also help humans become better problem-solvers when used strategically.“The smartest thing on the planet today are humans and machines working together creatively,” Dr. Ming said. “What gets more valuable in humans as machines get smarter? Our ability to explore the unknown.“Your unique voice is literally your value to the world … but most of us for most of our lives have been taught to not be unique,” she continued. “Be your own person. Celebrate being different. It is genuinely, measurably, truly valuable.”In a breakout session called “Phone Detox? IYKYK: Living Your Story IRL” led by Don Grant, PhD, students shared their frustrations with AI compromising academic work, art and creativity.“Art is a translation of human experience,” one participant said. “When people use AI, they diminish their own human experience.”Dr. Grant urged them, as “the last generation to remember a world before AI,” to remember the power of imagination and creativity – and to act on it.Remember that social media distorts perceptions: Stuart B. Murray, PhD, PsyD, who directs the Eating Disorders Program and Translational Research in Eating Disorders Program at UCLA, asked the students in his breakout session to take a spontaneous selfie and edit it to conform with society’s beauty standards. All 20 girls in the room immediately got to work, thickening their hair, slimming their faces, plumping their lips.“The pressure to look like what we present on social media can be crippling,” Dr. Murray said. “We now know that social media use is part of a causal pathway into an eating disorder.”Adolescents and young adults are most at risk of developing an eating disorder, he said, with one in three students on college campuses exhibiting clinically meaningful eating-disorder symptoms. More than 4 million people in California will have an eating disorder in their lifetime.Even for those who don’t develop anorexia or bulimia, the ubiquity of modified images online distorts what we consider normal, making us feel worse about ourselves. Remembering that, he and other speakers said, might inspire us to log off occasionally and spend time in the real world with people who love us as we are.

Mar 10 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • uclahealth.org

Poe Hall employees had higher rates of cancer, federal health report says

On Monday, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a division of the CDC, found that employees inside NC State's Poe Hall had heightened rates of melanoma and possibly breast cancer.

Mar 9 • 10:18 PM EDT • Health • wral.com

Scientists detect a sudden acceleration in global warming

Global warming has picked up speed in the past decade, according to a new analysis from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). By removing short term natural influences such as El Niño, volcanic eruptions, and solar cycles from temperature records, researchers uncovered a clear acceleration in the planet’s long term warming trend beginning around 2015.

Mar 9 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Leading Public Health Experts Urge Federal Court to Block HHS Policy Restricting Immigrants’ Access to Essential Health Programs | Milken Institute School of Public Health | The George Washington University

Amici curiae brief argues July 2025 HHS notice is unlawful, harmful to public health, and economically damaging nationwide

Mar 9 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • publichealth.gwu.edu

Henry Mebane: CHRISTUS Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute Athlete of the Week

TYLER, Texas (KETK) — Henry Mebane is our CHRISTUS Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute Athlete of the Week. He is a student-athlete from Bishop Gorman Catholic School. Watch the video above to see all that he has accomplished, and once again, congrats to Henry.

Mar 8 • 10:35 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

‘Rhythm & Booms’ will turn the Franklin Institute into a late-night science and cocktail party

The adults-only Science After Hours event on April 10 will mix live music, interactive experiments and rooftop stargazing.

Mar 6 • 10:07 AM EST • Science • phillyvoice.com

ACT Entertainment Reinforces Commitment to Theatrical Education and Innovation at USITT 2026

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 4, 2026 ― ACT Entertainment is deepening its investment in the future of live entertainment as a premier sponsor of the 2026 Annual Conference & Stage Expo hosted by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT). Taking place March 18-21 at the Long Beach Convention Center in California, the event […]

Mar 5 • 12:55 PM EST • Entertainment • mixonline.com

ACT Entertainment Reinforces Commitment To Theatrical Education And Innovation At USITT 2026

LONG BEACH, CA ― ACT Entertainment is deepening its investment in the future of live entertainment as | ACT Entertainment is a premier sponsor of the 2026 Annual Conference & Stage Expo hosted by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT).

Mar 5 • 12:52 PM EST • Entertainment • livedesignonline.com

Scholars application open to health professions students

The WVU Institute for Community and Rural Health and the West Virginia Area Health Education Centers are accepting applications for the WV AHEC Rural Community Health Scholars program. The deadline to apply for early admission is March 31.

Mar 5 • 8:03 AM EST • Health • enews.wvu.edu

Becker’s Hospital Review Names RWJBarnabas Health to 2025 “100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Heart Programs" List

RWJBarnabas Health has been named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s 100 hospitals and health systems with great heart programs for the third consecutive year in 2025. The hospitals, health systems and institutes recognized on this list are distinguished for their excellence in heart and vascular care.

Mar 4 • 2:41 PM EST • Health • rwjbh.org

John DesJardins named Director of the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute

Clemson University has appointed John DesJardins, Ph.D., as director of the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute (RHBSSI). The Institute supports Clemson faculty, staff and students in advancing research and innovation across the sport sciences.

Mar 4 • 1:54 PM EST • Science • news.clemson.edu

John DesJardins named Director of the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute

Clemson University has appointed John DesJardins, Ph.D., as director of the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute (RHBSSI). The Institute supports Clemson faculty, staff and students in advancing research and innovation across the sport sciences.

Mar 4 • 1:54 PM EST • Sports • news.clemson.edu

Five Global Teams Awarded $125 Million to Take on the Toughest Challenges at the Frontiers of Cancer Science

BOSTON, March 04, 2026--Cancer Grand Challenges, a global initiative co-founded by the National Cancer Institute in the US and Cancer Research UK, today announced a major $125m commitment to propel cancer research into uncharted territory. Five pioneering international teams will each receive up to $25m over approximately five years to tackle some of the most ambitious and unanswered questions in cancer.

Mar 4 • 6:30 AM EST • Science • finance.yahoo.com

Crypto billionaire pardoned by Trump gives £20m to science

The London Institute for Mathematical Sciences has secured funding from the British entrepreneur Ben Delo — a major gift for a non-Oxbridge body

Mar 3 • 2:45 PM EST • Science • thetimes.com

Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science & Technology receives $250k investment

CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry announced a $250k investment in the Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science & Technology Monday. The investment is part of...

Mar 3 • 10:34 AM EST • Science • yahoo.com

PPRI to host Space Policy, Science + Technology Symposium @ Purdue from March 23-25

The Purdue Policy Research Institute (PPRI) will convene leaders from government, industry, the military and academia for the second annual Space Policy, Science + Technology Symposium @

Mar 3 • 5:00 AM EST • Science • purdue.edu

Great Lakes Watershed Science in Action

Discover how Alma College’s Great Lakes Watershed Institute (GLWI) equips students with hands-on watershed science research and community partnerships.

Mar 2 • 1:53 PM EST • Science • alma.edu

Painless skin patch offers new way to monitor immune health

Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have developed the first bandage-like microneedle patch that can sample the body's immune ...

Mar 2 • 11:20 AM EST • Health • medicalxpress.com

Milken Institute School of Public Health, Social Mission Alliance Announce 2026 Awards for Excellence in Social Mission in Health Professions Education | Milken Institute School of Public Health | The George Washington University

The Social Mission Alliance announced the sixth cohort of Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Awards for Excellence in Social Mission in Health Professions Education.

Mar 2 • 7:00 AM EST • Health • publichealth.gwu.edu

SMU Spears Institute global ambassador Megha Tolia talks new role

Megha Tolia, former Shondaland president and COO, was recently appointed the global ambassador of SMU's Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Feb 28 • 7:00 AM EST • Business • dallasnews.com

AI, Ethics and Business Collide in Anthropic’s Standoff with the Pentagon

Marc Ruggiano, director of Darden’s LaCross Institute for Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Business and a navy veteran, shares his insights on the clash between Anthropic and the Pentagon and explains how Darden teaches students to navigate the often choppy waters of business, ethics and technology.

Feb 27 • 3:59 PM EST • Business • news.darden.virginia.edu

The great (small business) wealth transfer: McKinsey sees $5 trillion of baby boomer companies coming up for sale over the next decade

Move over, Great Wealth Transfer. The McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility sees the next decade as make or break for the Great Ownership Transfer.

Feb 26 • 10:50 AM EST • Business • fortune.com

SIU hosts spring events focused on public service, politics and philanthropy

The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute will host speakers in its spring program focusing on public service, politics and philanthropy.

Feb 25 • 5:15 PM EST • Politics • kfvs12.com

Frequently Distracted? Science Says, Blame It on Your Brain Rhythms

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester find that you may not be as focused as you think. A new study discovers our attention shifts multiple times each second.

Feb 25 • 3:16 PM EST • Science • urmc.rochester.edu

MSU’s Science Night at the Museums offers family-friendly displays of science

Families milled about in front of Hilbun Hall and the Cobb Institute of Archeology at 4 p.m. Saturday, officially beginning the Science Night at the Museums event at Mississippi State University. Various departments at MSU displayed their crafts and experiments, spread across the three floors of Hilbun Hall and across the street at the Cobb...

Feb 25 • 1:13 AM EST • Science • reflector-online.com

Rhodes Business Students Triumph in Investment Research Competition

Rhodes College students Cole McNair ’26, John Mori ’26, Jason Rubinstein ’27, Graham Allen ’26, and Ismail Malik ’26 secured first place at the Mid-South competition of the Chartered Financial Analysts Institute Research Challenge held Feb. 21 in Memphis.

Feb 24 • 7:00 PM EST • Business • news.rhodes.edu

Barshop Institute to receive up to $38 million from ARPA-H, anchoring UT San Antonio as a national leader in aging and healthy longevity science - UT Health San Antonio

Contact: Steven Lee, (210) 450-3823, lees22@uthscsa.edu SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 24, 2026 – Positioning The University of Texas at San Antonio as a national anchor for aging and longevity science, its Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies will receive up to $38 million in federal funding for the first nationwide clinical study […]

Feb 24 • 4:47 PM EST • Science • news.uthscsa.edu

Barshop Institute to receive up to $38 million from ARPA-H, anchoring UT San Antonio as a national leader in aging and healthy longevity science - UT Health San Antonio

Contact: Steven Lee, (210) 450-3823, lees22@uthscsa.edu SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 24, 2026 – Positioning The University of Texas at San Antonio as a national anchor for aging and longevity science, its Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies will receive up to $38 million in federal funding for the first nationwide clinical study […]

Feb 24 • 4:47 PM EST • Health • news.uthscsa.edu

Story Health by Innovaccer Partners with Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute To Launch Virtual Heart Failure Management Program

SAN FRANCISCO, February 24, 2026--Innovaccer Inc., a leading healthcare AI company, today announced a strategic partnership with Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute’s Center for Healthcare Delivery Innovation to expand access to guideline-directed heart failure management across Minnesota and western Wisconsin. By using Story Health, Innovaccer’s virtual specialty care and patient monitoring platform, Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute will extend continuous Guideline-Directed Medic

Feb 24 • 9:00 AM EST • Health • finance.yahoo.com

Could pro hockey anchor Phoenix's entertainment district?

At a panel discussion hosted by the Urban Land Institute, sports and real estate leaders discussed the future of downtown Phoenix.

Feb 24 • 7:01 AM EST • Entertainment • azcentral.com

New ranking highlights NIH’s impact on breakthrough science at Duke

Duke University School of Medicine received more than $514 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2025, ranking 9th nationally among medical schools, according to new data from the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research

Feb 24 • 7:00 AM EST • Science • medschool.duke.edu

Here’s who’s driving the sports betting boom in America

New Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll gauges attitudes about sport gambling

Feb 23 • 11:00 PM EST • Sports • deseret.com

Jim Moran Institute now accepting applications for South Florida Small Business Executive Program

The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship, housed in Florida State University’s Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, is accepting applications

Feb 23 • 12:44 PM EST • Business • news.fsu.edu

Bhattacharya’s growing power in Trump’s HHS worries health experts

Public health experts and former federal staffers are uneasy over National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya’s rising influence over U.S. health policy as he temporarily takes on…

Feb 22 • 12:00 PM EST • Health • thehill.com

Scientists discover why high altitude protects against diabetes

Living at high altitude appears to protect against diabetes, and scientists have finally discovered the reason. When oxygen levels drop, red blood cells switch into a new metabolic mode and absorb large amounts of glucose from the blood. This helps the body cope with thin air while also reducing blood sugar levels. A drug that recreates this effect reversed diabetes in mice, hinting at a powerful new treatment strategy.

Feb 21 • 7:00 AM EST • Science • sciencedaily.com

Alumnus builds career in biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health

Before leading national biomedical research projects, Jacob Davis ’17 was deployed overseas in the U.S. Army, taking night classes on base and searching for direction. Today, the Kennesaw State University graduate is a biomedical engineer and section chief at the National Institutes of Health, using data and collaboration to drive public-health impact.

Feb 20 • 7:00 AM EST • Health • kennesaw.edu

Leading US Research Lab Appears to Be Squeezing Out Foreign Scientists

House Democrats are demanding answers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and urging it to halt rumored changes they say could undermine its mission.

Feb 20 • 5:00 AM EST • Science • wired.com

The Advanced Leadership Institute and Carnegie Mellon University Continue Advancing the Future of Business with the Launch the 2026 National Executive Leadership Academy

The Advanced Leadership Institute (TALI), in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business (CMU), announces the launch of the 2026 National Executive Leadership Academy (NELA), TALI's flagship, cohort-based program designed to position Black senior leaders and their allies for executive advancement. The program convenes accomplished leaders from across the country and equips them with the tools, strategies, and insights needed to accelerate organizational impact.

Feb 19 • 2:14 PM EST • Business • finance.yahoo.com

WATCH: Trump says 'nobody occupied' U.S. Institute of Peace, he 'had nothing to do' with renaming the building after him

Feb 19 • 12:59 PM EST • Politics • pbs.org

Eighteen years of mobilizing marginalized students, making science more innovative

The Lamat Institute at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is a cohort-based research program designed to advance astronomy and planetary sciences by mobilizing the talents of students from marginalized ...

Feb 18 • 8:00 PM EST • Science • phys.org

NIH's Bhattacharya will also run the CDC while Trump administration looks for a permanent director

The director of the National Institutes of Health is also taking over as acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to an administration official.

Feb 18 • 5:08 PM EST • Health • pbs.org

Book Event: The History of Racism in Children's Music and Entertainment - Institute for Policy Studies

A Black History Month talk and book signing for adults that examines children’s music and entertainment that can help parents, educators, and caregivers better shape children’s environments.

Feb 18 • 4:08 PM EST • Entertainment • ips-dc.org

NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue Hosts Japan Institute for Health Security for Global Special Pathogen Preparedness Training Exchange - NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue welcomed three delegates from the Disease Control and Prevention Center (DCC), National Center for Global Health and

Feb 18 • 3:10 PM EST • Health • nychealthandhospitals.org

Business Restructuring Review

In This Issue: The Year in Bankruptcy: 2025 A brief chronicle of the year's notable developments in corporate bankruptcy and restructuring, including business bankruptcy filings, significant court rulings, and legislative developments. [read more …] U.S. Bankruptcy Court Denies Chapter 15 Recognition of Maltese Liquidation Absent Evidence of Meaningful Activities Supporting Finding of COMI or Establishment in Malta In In re Geden Holdings, Ltd., No. 25-90138, 2025 WL 2484883 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. Aug. 28, 2025), stay pending appeal denied, No. 25-90138, 2026 WL 97993 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. Jan. 13, 2026), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that, for purposes of recognition under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, although a foreign debtor may have had its center of main interests ("COMI") or an establishment in Malta when a liquidation proceeding was commenced for it in a Maltese court in 2017, the absence of any meaningful activity by the debtor's liquidator from that time until the liquidator filed a chapter 15 petition in the United States more than five years later meant that the debtor had neither a COMI nor an establishment in Malta on the chapter 15 petition date. The court accordingly denied the petition for recognition. [read more …] The Ninth Circuit's Expansive Reading of "Financial Accommodations" that Cannot Be Assumed or Assigned in Bankruptcy It is generally well understood that agreements to extend credit or provide financing to a debtor cannot be assumed or assigned in bankruptcy. Even so, the provision of the Bankruptcy Code that precludes assumption or assignment—section 365(c)(2)—also extends to "financial accommodations," a term that is not defined in the Bankruptcy Code and has been the subject of relatively few bankruptcy and appellate court rulings. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit examined the meaning of the term in In re Svenhard's Swedish Bakery, 154 F.4th 1100 (9th Cir. 2025). The court of appeals ruled that a deeply discounted settlement of pension plan withdrawal liability is a "financial accommodation" that cannot be assumed or assigned, thereby extending the reach of section 365(c)(2) well beyond conventional lending arrangements. [read more …] Pennsylvania District Court Applies "Hypothetical Test" in Determining that Patent License Agreement Is Assignable in Bankruptcy In Crivella Holdings Ltd. v. Mesearch Media Technologies Ltd., No. 2:25-cv-333, 2025 WL 2443400 (W.D. Pa. Aug. 25, 2025), the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania affirmed a bankruptcy court ruling denying a software licensor's motion for relief from the automatic stay to terminate the license agreement. The court found the license was assumable in bankruptcy under the Third Circuit's hypothetical test as a result of language in the agreement stating that it could be assigned to a "successor in interest" of the debtor without the licensor's further consent, thereby overriding federal patent law's general prohibition against the assignment of patents. [read more …] New York Bankruptcy Court Denies Motion to Terminate Chapter 15 Recognition and Dismiss Chapter 15 Case In In re Oi S.A., No. 23-10193 (LGB), 2025 WL 2806591 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Oct. 1, 2025), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York considered whether chapter 15 recognition of a debtor's Brazilian restructuring proceeding should be terminated and the case dismissed due to the debtors' financial deterioration and inability to satisfy its restructuring plan obligations after entry of the recognition order. The court denied the motion, concluding that recognition of the Brazilian proceeding and a court-approved restructuring plan for the debtors should not be terminated under section 1519(d) of the Bankruptcy Code—according to the court, the sole authority for revocation of chapter 15 recognition—because, among other things, the restructuring proceeding was still pending, the debtors might still need relief authorized under chapter 15, and the debtors' prospects for reorganizing under a hypothetical chapter 11 case were uncertain at best. It also found that no provision of the Bankruptcy Code authorizes the dismissal of a chapter 15 case. [read more …] Newsworthy Effective January 1, 2026, Jones Day welcomed Isel M. Perez (Miami), Andrew M. Butler (New York), Sid Pepels (Amsterdam), and Anna C. Bretting (Munich) to the partnership in the Business Restructuring & Reorganization Practice. Sid Pepels (Amsterdam) has been nominated for the Future Leader Award by the Global Restructuring Review, an organization that acknowledges and honors excellence within the global restructuring and insolvency sector. This award is designed to recognize exceptional contributions made by both individuals and firms in the field. The 2026 edition of Chambers UK recognized Ben Larkin (London) in the practice area Restructuring/Insolvency and Adam R. Brown (London) in the practice area Restructuring/Insolvency: Litigation. The 2026 edition of Chambers Asia-Pacific ranked Roger Dobson (Sydney) in the practice area Restructuring/Insolvency. An article written by Corinne Ball (New York) titled "Backstop Fees for Lenders in Chapter 11 Plans: Absent Market Test, Equality of Treatment Now Required in Fifth Circuit After 'ConvergeOne'" was published on November 12, 2025, in the New York Law Journal. An article written by Oliver S. Zeltner (Houston) titled "Delaware Bankruptcy Court: No Legal Authority for Chapter 11 Plan Gatekeeping Provision" was published on November 20, 2025, by Lexis Practical Guidance. An article written by Daniel J. Merrett (Atlanta) titled "First Impressions: Eleventh Circuit Rules that Annulment of Automatic Stay Does Not Violate U.S. Supreme Court's Prohibition of Nunc Pro Tunc Orders" was published on November 21, 2025, by Lexis Practical Guidance. An article written by Genna Ghaul (New York) titled "Iowa District Court: Avoidance Claims Cannot Be Encumbered by Pre-Bankruptcy Liens" was published on November 20, 2025, by Lexis Practical Guidance. An article written by Dan T. Moss (Washington/New York), Corinne Ball (New York), David S. Torborg (Washington), and Ben Rosenblum (New York) titled "New York Bankruptcy Court Rejects Challenge to Barnet Rule Permitting Foreign Debtors to Obtain Chapter 15 Recognition With Only Minimal U.S. Assets" was published on November 21, 2025, by Lexis Practical Guidance. The M&A Advisor has recognized the Silvergate Capital Corporation Bankruptcy case as the Chapter 11 Reorganization of the Year (over $5 billion) during its 20th Annual Turnaround Awards. Jones Day is listed among the professionals for the representation of Exploration Capital, which was led by Joshua M. Mester (Los Angeles). Lawyer Spotlight: Sid Pepels Sid Pepels, a partner in Jones Day's Amsterdam Office, litigates and advises clients on commercial and international insolvency matters, with a focus on complex restructurings and insolvencies. He has advised and litigated high-profile cases, including: the cross-border WHOA (Wet Homologatie Onderhands Akkoord) proceedings concerning Vroon Group and Diebold Nixdorf; proceedings on behalf of expropriated SNS Reaal bond holders against the Dutch State; the bankruptcy of Intertoys, the leading Dutch toys retailer; the restructuring of Oi, the Dutch finance vehicle of the Brazilian telecom giant; and Blokker, the leading Dutch home appliances retailer. Sid holds a Ph.D. in European insolvency law and regularly publishes in academic journals on topics of cross-border insolvency. He has been recognized in The Legal 500 Netherlands and was noted by his peers for being client-minded and a creative thinker with a "strong grasp of the law and strong interpersonal skills." Sid was also nominated for the "Future Leader" award at the Global Restructuring Review Awards 2025. He is a board member for the Netherlands Association for Comparative and International Insolvency Law and a NextGen member of the International Insolvency Institute.

Feb 18 • 7:00 AM EST • Business • jonesday.com

Global health leaders convene to advance innovation, equity, and collective action

The Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) has announced the full agenda and speaker lineup for its fourth annual Global Health Symposium, scheduled for April 16 at Harvard University and livestreamed via…

Feb 17 • 2:04 PM EST • Health • news.harvard.edu