News from Brown

Arts and Humanities

New center will expand research support, community outreach at Brown Library

April 14, 2021

The Brown University Library’s new Center for Library Exploration and Research promises to strengthen scholarly inquiry and support for high-impact research by scholars on campus and beyond.

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Featured Headlines

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News and Events

Three students win prestigious Goldwater scholarships for excellence in science

April 13, 2021

Joseph Cavanagh, Thomas Usherwood and Hossam Zaki each received Goldwater scholarships, which support students who plan to pursue research careers in the sciences, mathematics and engineering.

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Health and Medicine

Jack Elias to transition to senior health advisor at Brown, will leave role as medical school dean

April 8, 2021

After eight years leading biology and medicine at Brown, Elias will become the University’s senior health advisor, working to realize the vision of an integrated academic health system with Lifespan and Care New England.

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Student Life

Brown community celebrates Black student artists, performers at Black Arts Showcase

April 7, 2021

The annual Black Arts Showcase offered students an opportunity to celebrate art by members of the Black student community at Brown safely and in-person — and to enjoy traditional soul food to-go.

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News and Events

Letter from President Paxson: Plans for a more traditional Fall 2021

April 6, 2021

Brown is planning to return to a two-semester academic calendar, standard course enrollments, mostly in-person operations and normal student residence occupancy for 2021-22, President Christina H. Paxson wrote to campus.

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Recent Highlights

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News and Events

Brown admits 2,537 students to the undergraduate Class of 2025

April 6, 2021

The University offered admission on April 6 to prospective members of next year’s incoming class, who were chosen from Brown’s largest applicant pool to date in an admissions cycle impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Health and Medicine

Innovative virtual course helps leaders tackle pandemic challenges in real time

April 6, 2021

Brown physician-scholars Dr. Ashish Jha and Dr. Megan Ranney led a virtual course that featured national health and medicine experts and offered lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic while there’s still time to learn from them.

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News and Events

Nitin Padture to deliver Presidential Faculty Award Lecture

April 2, 2021

Padture, a professor of engineering, will discuss emerging solar technologies and their implementation in grid-scale renewable energy solutions.

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News and Events

Brown revises plans for new residence hall with input from Providence community

April 5, 2021

The revised plan will reduce building scale, create new green spaces and complement the character of the neighborhood, while strengthening the undergraduate residential experience and reducing student impact on local housing.

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Social Sciences

‘This is the country’s karmic moment of truth,’ says author Isabel Wilkerson

April 1, 2021

In a virtual conversation at Brown, Isabel Wilkerson, author of “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” called on Americans to “defend true democracy” by resisting the divisions of the nation’s centuries-old social hierarchy.

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Health and Medicine

National Public Health Week events at Brown will be truly national this year

April 1, 2021

In pivoting to an all-virtual event, Brown’s School of Public Health will offer opportunities for interaction on key public health issues, including a podcast series and topical discussions, to listeners everywhere.

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University Initiatives

Phase II of Brown’s Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan to focus on equity, inclusion

April 1, 2021

In launching Phase II of its ambitious action plan, Brown assessed progress to date, reaffirmed the essential role of diversity and inclusion to academic excellence, and outlined new actions toward a more fully equitable community.

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Science and Technology

Researchers demonstrate first human use of high-bandwidth wireless brain-computer interface

March 31, 2021

In an important step toward a fully implantable intracortical brain-computer interface system, BrainGate researchers demonstrated the first human use of a wireless transmitter capable of delivering high-bandwidth neural signals.

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News and Events

Brown student who co-founded Farmlink named National Medal of Honor Service Act winner

March 25, 2021

The founders of the Farmlink Project, including Brown senior Aidan Reilly, received the award for collecting surplus food from farmers and distributing it to food banks around the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Student Life

Feel Good Fridays, other student events create opportunities to socialize safely in-person

March 18, 2021

The spring event series, which invites students to engage in a different COVID-safe activity each week, is part of a University-wide push to create more in-person campus events for students.

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News and Events

Letter from President Paxson: Confronting anti-Asian bias and violence

March 18, 2021

As the nation confronts incidents of violence against Asian and Asian American community members, Brown's president conveyed the University's firm stance against discrimination, racism and hate.

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Arts and Humanities

Minecraft concerts on Brown’s virtual College Green offer a pandemic-induced music alternative

March 22, 2021

The Brown Arts Initiative teamed up with members of the student organization Brown Esports and a local artist-producer to create a virtual concert venue replete with whimsical details.

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Science and Technology

New AI technique could help doctors predict aneurysm rupture

March 25, 2021

A new study shows that an artificial intelligence system informed with the physical laws governing flowing fluids can infer pressures and stresses on capillaries just by analyzing images or videos of blood flow.

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Health and Medicine

Brown’s medical students find the silver lining in another virtual Match Day

March 19, 2021

Soon-to-graduate students from the Warren Alpert Medical School, about to be placed in medical residency programs across the country, celebrated in person with small groups of friends and family — and with many more loved ones online.

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Health and Medicine

Brown physician-scholar continues to play key role in the most significant Alzheimer’s research

March 19, 2021

Clinical trials show encouraging results for a second investigational Alzheimer’s drug — and Brown University, Butler Hospital and Rhode Island Hospital were again deeply involved.

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Arts and Humanities

Virtual festival celebrates 50 years of inclusive dance at Brown

March 17, 2021

A weeklong Festival of Dance from March 20 to 26 will commemorate the 50th anniversary of dance at the University with studio classes, engaging presentations and premiere performances.

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Health and Medicine

In front of Congress, Dr. Ashish Jha stresses a global approach to ending COVID-19 pandemic

March 18, 2021

The dean of Brown’s School of Public Health advised members of the U.S. Committee on Foreign Affairs on strategies to end this global health emergency and prepare for the next.

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Science and Technology

Brown researchers explore possibilities for an ultra-secure gun registry

March 11, 2021

Brown University computer scientists, working with a U.S. senator, have proposed a gun registry database that’s ultra-secure and decentralized, potentially easing concerns about privacy and federal overreach.

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Arts and Humanities

From portraits to pottery, ‘After Hours’ exhibit showcases artistic talents of Brown staff

March 9, 2021

The annual staff art exhibition, curated by the Brown Arts Initiative, is an eye-opening reminder that Brown’s employees are as innovative, thoughtful and bold in their free time as they are at work.

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Health and Medicine

As public health dominates public conversation, Brown receives record number of MPH applications

March 10, 2021

The number of applications for Brown’s master of public health program is more than double that of last year, with the largest increases coming from people of color.

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News and Events

Federal court dismisses claims seeking tuition refunds in class action complaint

March 4, 2021

The court ruled that COVID-19 “upended countless aspects of our society’s usual and customary practices” and that students are not entitled to any tuition refund based on Brown’s transition to remote learning in March 2020.

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Science and Technology

Virtual Brain Week will help schoolkids, home-bound attendees get out of their heads

March 12, 2021

This year’s cerebral celebration will bring a packed roster of researchers from Brown’s Carney Institute for Brain Science and beyond into classrooms and homes to expand knowledge about the brain.

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News and Events

Nationally recognized head of Penn athletics M. Grace Calhoun to lead athletics and recreation at Brown

March 5, 2021

A varsity student-athlete who graduated in Brown’s Class of 1992, Calhoun will serve in a newly elevated role of vice president of athletics and recreation, beginning April 19, 2021.

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News and Events

Brown launches sustainability strategic plan to confront urgent environmental challenges

March 5, 2021

A new strategic plan for sustainability outlines five key commitments to address Brown’s impact on the natural environment, while calling for an expansion of education and community engagement around sustainability issues.

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The University responds to COVID-19

In true testament to the University’s mission to serve the community, the nation and the world, Brown students, faculty and staff are addressing the COVID-19 pandemic on multiple fronts. Explore new research, community impact initiatives, expert perspectives and more.

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Research News

All News

Science and Technology

What a glacial river reveals about the Greenland ice sheet

April 5, 2021

New research shows that water pressure beneath a glacier influences how fast it flows, a finding that could help in predicting the pace at which glaciers slide into the ocean and drive sea level upward.

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News and Events

Research Achievement Awards honor early-career and accomplished Brown scholars

March 31, 2021

In recognition of high-impact research and fundamental discoveries, the University will celebrate the work of six researchers with achievement awards presented at this spring’s 2021 Celebration of Research.

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Science and Technology

Researchers discover new type of ancient crater lake on Mars

March 30, 2021

An ancient crater lake in the southern highlands of Mars appears to have been fed by glacial runoff, bolstering the idea that the Red Planet had a cold and icy past.

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Health and Medicine

Deaths from COVID-19 have progressively declined at nursing homes, researchers find

March 19, 2021

A study published in Health Affairs helps close the information gap between mortality rates in nursing homes and those in the U.S. population at large.

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Science and Technology

Brown researchers uncover the underlying genetics that make flies champion fliers

March 18, 2021

A complex network of wing, muscle and nervous system genes all contribute to flight performance, a new PLOS Genetics study shows.

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Science and Technology

Research finds surprising electron interaction in ‘magic-angle’ graphene

March 18, 2021

New research in the journal Science describes a technique that weakens the repulsive force between electrons in “magic-angle” graphene superconductors, providing physicists with exciting new details about this strange state of matter.

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Health and Medicine

Study asks: Why isn’t anyone talking about medical students with children?

March 8, 2021

A new paper by Brown University researchers is one of the first to call attention to the need for more support for medical students who are pregnant or parenting.

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Science and Technology

Humans control majority of freshwater ebb and flow on Earth, study finds

March 3, 2021

Satellite observations show that more than half of seasonal freshwater level changes on Earth happen in human-managed reservoirs, underscoring the profound impact humanity has on the global water cycle.

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Science and Technology

Math, applied math scholars at Brown earn prestigious Simons Foundation fellowships

March 1, 2021

With yearlong sabbaticals to focus on research projects, Dan Abramovich, Hongjie Dong and Benoit Pausader will use the fellowships to advance their scholarship on cutting-edge mathematics.

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Science and Technology

Apollo rock samples capture key moments in the Moon’s early history, study finds

February 24, 2021

A new analysis of samples brought back from the Moon to helps clear up questions about the isotopic composition of Moon’s interior.

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Health and Medicine

Brown-based IMPACT Collaboratory teams with CVS to monitor COVID-19 vaccine effects

February 8, 2021

A $2.5 million federal grant will enable the research team to track vaccine rates and safety for Medicare beneficiaries, who face increased risk of severe illness from the coronavirus.

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Science and Technology

Neurons from patient blood cells enable researchers to test treatments for genetic brain disease

February 10, 2021

A team led by Brown University researchers reprogrammed patient blood cells into stem cells to test treatments for Christianson syndrome, finding that treatment responses varied according to the mutations present.

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Science and Technology

Tiny sensor technique reveals cellular forces involved in tissue generation

February 4, 2021

A team of Brown University researchers developed a technique that uses tiny polymer spheres to sense the forces at play as body tissue forms and grows.

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Social Sciences

Reimbursing hospitals for postpartum contraception prevents unintended pregnancies, study finds

February 9, 2021

Researchers found that expanding access to long-acting reversible contraception methods, such as IUDs and implants, could give adolescents more agency in choosing whether and when to become pregnant again.

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Health and Medicine

Clinical trial to evaluate whether topical medication can prevent common skin cancer

January 25, 2021

A $34 million U.S. Veterans Affairs grant will enable Martin Weinstock, who directs dermatology research for the Providence V.A. and is a Brown professor, to evaluate the effectiveness of a common medication in preventing basal cell carcinoma.

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Science and Technology

New technique builds super-hard metals from nanoparticles

January 22, 2021

Brown University researchers have shown a way to make bulk metals by smashing tiny metal nanoparticles together, which allows for customized grain structures and improved mechanical and other properties.

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Science and Technology

As the brain plans movements, the middle frontal gyrus is listening

January 12, 2021

A brain-computer interface study reveals one brain region’s surprising role in planning movements exclusively in response to sounds.

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Science and Technology

Remote sensing data sheds light on when and how asteroid Ryugu lost its water

January 5, 2021

Rocks on Ryugu, a “rubble pile” near-Earth asteroid recently visited by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft, appear to have lost much of their water before they came together to form the asteroid, new research suggests.

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Science and Technology

Researchers discover a new tool for reconstructing ancient sea ice to study climate change

January 4, 2021

A previously problematic molecule turns out to be a reliable proxy for reconstructing sea ice, a new study by Brown University researchers shows.

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Health and Medicine

Researchers identify predictors of timely enrollment in treatment for opioid use disorder

December 16, 2020

Frequent doctor visits were associated with timely treatment, while prior overdose, alcohol use disorder and back problems predicted non-enrollment, study finds.

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Social Sciences

Infant health inequality has increased since 2010, study finds

December 8, 2020

After decades of narrowing gaps in health between infants born to the most and least advantaged American mothers, infant health inequality is increasing, portending a rise in health and social inequity that could last for decades.

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Brown in the News

The Boston Globe

An opioid treatment hotline has saved lives in R.I., doctors say. But a US Senate bill could put it out of business

April 7, 2021

Popular Science

We could live in caves on the moon. What would that be like?

April 5, 2021

WJAR

Brown University medical students launch vaccine survey

April 2, 2021

Rhode Island Inno

Pharma redistribution company wins Brown Venture Prize

April 1, 2021

Highlighting Brown’s Distinction

University Initiatives

Highlighting Brown’s distinction in entrepreneurship

July 18, 2019

Offering courses, programs and support to students at every stage of the entrepreneurial process, the Nelson Center has become a nexus for entrepreneurship at Brown in just three years since launch.

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Social Sciences

Highlighting Brown’s distinction in international and public affairs

July 18, 2019

Brown’s scholars in international and public affairs are addressing inequality, convening conversations that move the needle on tough issues and connecting students with practitioners on the ground.

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Science and Technology

Highlighting Brown’s distinction in energy and environmental engineering

July 18, 2019

Researchers in Brown’s School of Engineering are developing next-generation renewable energy technologies, advancing energy efficiency in computing and finding new ways to detect and clean contaminants in the environment.

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Arts and Humanities

Highlighting Brown’s distinction in the arts

July 18, 2019

The University is advancing its reputation for excellence in the arts by forming new partnerships with artists and scholars and making major new investments in programming and facilities.

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Health and Medicine

Highlighting Brown’s distinction in brain science

January 10, 2019

Brown researchers are building understanding of the brain, restoring movement for patients with paralysis, unlocking the secrets of devastating diseases and devising new treatments to address brain-related disorders.

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Social Sciences

Highlighting Brown’s distinction in economics

January 10, 2019

With an increased focus on unearthing novel data sources for analysis, Brown’s economics scholars are bringing new insights to complex problems and teaching the next generation of researchers and policymakers to do the same.

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News and Events

Highlighting Brown’s distinction in educational innovation

January 10, 2019

Learning at Brown is a collaborative, hands-on experience — one in which students often lead their own research projects or conduct research alongside their instructors.

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Arts and Humanities

Highlighting Brown’s distinction in the humanities

January 10, 2019

Humanities scholars at Brown are energizing comparative work that informs a deeper understanding of the most challenging questions of global common concern.

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