Actress Viola Davis, a leading voice for women of color in an entertainment industry under fire for a lack of diversity, struck a decidedly personal tone in a Brown Lecture Board speech to a packed house of students at the Salomon Center on Feb. 29.

Brown and other universities argue in an amicus brief filed Feb. 29 that the National Labor Relations Board should preserve its prior ruling that precludes unionization by graduate assistants at private research universities.

In an earth-friendly competition campuswide, students will vie to see which dorms can save the most energy during the month of March. Prizes are on the line.

Knowing how cells move through different tissues in the body could be useful in treating conditions from cancer to autoimmune disorders. A new technique developed by Brown researchers can track cell movement in complex environments that mimic actual body tissues.

From perspectives both professional and personal, six speakers convened by the School of Public Health and the Graduate Student Council Feb. 25 discussed the societal and individual damage done by racial bias. But they also shared strategies for addressing some of the systemic challenges racism poses for health and research.

A new study finds a strong correlation between new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men in Rhode Island and their use of online hookup sites. Study authors at Brown University, The Miriam Hospital, and the Rhode Island Department of Health called for operators of hookup websites and apps to work with public health officials to include more prevention messaging.

Five Brown University faculty members were named among the world's most highly cited researchers for 2015 on a list compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Brown University’s Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy has released the results of two new public opinion surveys on the presidential primaries. The poll finds Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump leading the candidates in their respective parties.

With a public lecture series, including a talk Feb. 25 and proposed curriculum enhancements for students in all four years, the Alpert Medical School plans to provide students training in mindfulness. The practice can be an effective tool to remain psychologically resilient amid the uniquely difficult experiences of medical school and professional practice.

Two potential ways of stamping out serious disease by manipulating the genomes of human embryos are under intense public debate: mitochondrial replacement therapy and germline genome editing. The UK has already approved the former. Its process could guide the U.S. as it considers allowing either or both of the techniques.

Brown University will release the results today of two new public opinion surveys on the presidential primaries conducted by the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy. A news release summarizing survey results will be posted at 1 p.m.

A group of Brown students and faculty members traveled recently to Argentina to study the region's geology and to learn about the global tectonic processes that push and pull the continents around the globe.

Stefanie Tellex, assistant professor of computer science, was one of 126 new fellows for 2016, announced today by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Brown University researchers investigating how mindfulness may affect cardiovascular health have measured a significant association between a high degree of ‘everyday’ mindfulness and a higher likelihood of having normal, healthy glucose levels. Their analysis showed that a lower risk of obesity and greater sense of control among more mindful people may play mediating roles.

Brown University researchers may have discovered what’s responsible for discrepant findings between dozens of fundamental studies of the biology of aging. A drug commonly used in research with C. elegans worms, they report, has had unanticipated effects on lifespan.

Brown has completed the renovation of the home of 19th-century African-American artist Edward Mitchell Bannister at 93 Benevolent St. and has affixed a plaque in recognition of its historical significance. The home will become a family residence.

Brown University botanist Erika Edwards has earned a Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering. She’s invited to the White House this spring to accept the honor.

A large clinical trial for which Brown University neurology Chair Dr. Karen Furie served as principal neurologist, found that a drug that controls insulin resistance was helpful in preventing heart attacks and second strokes in patients.

Sydney Levin and Michael Villaseñor of the New York Times came to campus on Monday, Feb. 15 to discuss the paper's new foray into virtual reality.

A technique called plasmonic interferometry has the potential to enable compact, ultra-sensitive biosensors for a variety of applications. A fundamental advance made by Brown University engineers could help make such devices more practical.

Science trounced the Intelligent Design “alternative” to evolution in Kitzmiller v. Dover in 2005, but ideological or religious attempts to warp science education on issues like climate change and evolution continue. At the 2016 AAAS annual meeting in Washington, D.C., Brown University biologist Kenneth Miller and other veterans of the Dover case discussed how to stand up for science.

With bright futures of their own, dozens of Alpert Medical School students every fall mentor local teens from disadvantaged high schools to help them plan their paths. Each January, mentees present the health and medical research guided by their mentors, who introduce them to health care careers and encourage them to thrive in other ways, too.

Alan Usas, formerly the CIO at the Yale School of Management and assistant vice president for Computing and Information Services at Brown, will oversee Brown's Executive Master in Cybersecurity.

Students from all over the country and around the world gathered this weekend for Hack@Brown, a marathon of computer coding and app building. Student organizers aim for an event that's open and inviting to students from all backgrounds and skill levels.

The Zika virus, best known for its strongly suspected link to fetal birth defects, has become a major health crisis in Central and South America. On Weds. Feb. 10 at 12:30, Brown University experts will gather to “separate fact from fiction” concerning the emergency.

The Corporation of Brown University has approved a consolidated expenditure budget of $1.01 billion for fiscal 2017, a 5.2-percent increase. The total undergraduate charge will rise 4.1 percent, with a 7.1-percent increase in the financial aid budget to $120.5 million.

The Corporation of Brown University has elected Samuel M. Mencoff to be the University’s 21st chancellor. Alison S. Ressler, currently the Corporation’s treasurer, will serve as vice chancellor. Theresia Gouw will become treasurer, and Donald C. Hood will continue as secretary. The new officers of the Corporation will begin their terms July 1, 2016.

Cells reach a state called senescence when they stop dividing in response to DNA damage. This change can matter greatly to health, but scientists do not yet have a clear picture of how this change impacts the genome. A new Brown University study shows that a cell’s chromosomes become physically reconfigured at senescence, leading to significant differences in what genes are expressed.

Earthquakes that happen deep beneath the earth's surface have long been enigmatic to geologists. Now researchers from Brown University have shown strong evidence that water squeezed out of a mineral called lawsonite could trigger these mysterious quakes.

The faculty of Brown University has voted to designate the second Monday in October as Indigenous People’s Day. Modifications to the University’s academic calendar require a faculty vote. In April 2009, the faculty renamed Columbus Day as the Fall Weekend holiday.

Brown University epidemiologist Joseph Braun has shown that prenatal exposure to PFAS chemicals is associated with greater adiposity in children. With a new $2-million grant from the National Institutes of Health, he will examine how the chemicals may have that effect and when exposure is most crucial.

A completely made-over undergraduate teaching laboratory asks the question, “Will open-ended research and high-tech collaboration make biology more exciting and engaging for students?”

A newly published review article finds that use of infertility treatments in the United States, ranging from medicines to in vitro fertilization, is likely hindered by widespread gaps in insurance coverage of reproductive services and technology.

Brown has finalized a plan to create a more diverse and inclusive academic community that is sensitive and responsive to issues of discrimination, inequality and structural racism.

The creators of Bootstrap, a program developed by faculty at Brown University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, will support a new White House initiative to enhance access to computer science education. They will train 300 additional educators to teach computer science.

Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr., a senior fellow at the Watson Institute and a former U.S. diplomat, will deliver a three-part lecture series on American diplomacy, as part of the Watson Institute’s Chong Wook Lee and Vartan Gregorian Distinguished Lecture Series. Lectures will take place Feb. 4, 11, and 18, and are free and open to the public.

Boston Modern Orchestra Project will visit Brown twice this semester for a residency that will include a public performance featuring faculty works, a lecture by its conductor, Gil Rose, and reading and recording sessions with Brown composition students.

For more than an hour on stage in the Salomon Center Thursday evening, movie star Michael Douglas and Israeli leader and former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky traded thoughts about their Jewish identities and some of the challenges to Israel’s identity on the world stage. The event packed the house, but also drew demonstrators against Israeli policies and actions regarding the Palestinian people.

Noah Elbot, class of 2014, and Max Song, class of 2016, were among 111 candidates named as inaugural Schwarzman scholars. Schwarzman scholars receive a fully funded scholarship at Schwarzman College on the campus of Tsinghua University in Beijing.

One hundred and ten students, mostly sophomores and juniors, took their ceremonial walk through the Van Wickle Gates and will begin their Brown studies tomorrow.

With a $25-million gift, part of the University’s BrownTogether campaign, Brown will establish the Jonathan M. Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, combining real-world experience with academic expertise to equip students for lives of innovation and impact.

Film star Michael Douglas and Israeli public figure and former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky will speak at Brown University Jan. 28 about Judaism, Israel and anti-Semitism. Free registration is required to attend the event, which is open to the public.

Aaron Held’s research merges and draws on the expertise of two of the labs in Brown’s broad effort to combat ALS. That role has given him several opportunities to learn novel skills and new science during graduate school.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — ALS — can arise from aberrant genes. A group of five Brown University professors proposes that a cure may also come from aberrant genes — genetic mutations that suppress ALS. A new research grant supports their comprehensive investigation of ALS in flies, worms, mice and human cells.

For their accomplishments in biotechnology, professors Jeffrey Morgan and Anubhav Tripathi have been elected fellows of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.

Jonathan L. Walton, a noted social ethicist, scholar of American religions, and professor at Harvard University, will deliver the 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture on Tuesday, February 2, 2016. Walton will speak about "Love, Power and Empathy in an iLife Era." His presentation is free and open to the public and begins at 6 p.m. in Salomon Center for Teaching, De Ciccio Family Auditorium.

Brown University’s School of Professional Studies announces a new 16-month program leading to an Executive Master in Cybersecurity degree. Enrollment is underway for the fall session of the new degree program, created for individuals with five to 15 years of managerial experience and responsibility for information security.

A portrait of Ruth J. Simmons, Brown’s 18th president, has been completed and hung in Sayles Hall. The painting, by renowned portraitist Steven Polson, joins the University’s collection of 317 portraits of presidents, chancellors, deans, faculty, and benefactors commissioned throughout Brown's 250-year history. Thirty-five of those portraits currently hang in Sayles Hall.

The idea of legalizing physician assistance in the planned death of terminally ill patients is rapidly gaining political traction across the United States, write Eli Adashi and Ryan Clodfelter in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Eric S. Estes, currently vice president and dean of students at Oberlin College and Conservatory, has been named vice president for campus life and student services at Brown University. Estes will begin his work at Brown on July 1, 2016, succeeding Margaret Klawunn.