COVID-19

Health and Medicine

Brown experts discuss: What did the world learn from the COVID-19 pandemic?

March 11, 2025

Eight scholars from Brown University looked back at the pandemic with an eye toward how its lessons can help the United States and other nations prepare for the next global health crisis.

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Social Sciences

Entries from Brown anthropologist’s Pandemic Journaling Project now accessible to researchers

February 16, 2024

Accessible through a long-term home at Syracuse University, the vast repository co-founded by Brown’s Katherine A. Mason includes nearly 27,000 personal stories, photos and more from people living during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Health and Medicine

Washington hub for Brown’s Pandemic Center to enable new connections with policymakers

January 31, 2024

A newly opened Washington base for the Pandemic Center at Brown’s School of Public Health will expand impact and connect current and future public health leaders with national and global policymakers.

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Health and Medicine

After leading federal COVID-19 response, Dr. Ashish Jha to resume role as dean of Brown’s School of Public Health

June 8, 2023

Jha has served for 14 months as White House COVID-19 response coordinator and will resume leadership of the School of Public Health on July 1 with a focus on transforming public health education, research and practice.

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Health and Medicine

3 takeaways in 3 years: Pandemic Center analyzes the lessons of COVID-19

March 24, 2023

The leaders of the Pandemic Center at Brown's School of Public Health say the nation has a lot to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic — but they’re optimistic about the potential for progress.

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News and Events

Research teams at Brown to investigate solutions to nine pressing pandemic challenges

July 29, 2022

The projects, which address problems ranging from mental health to food security to the impact on K-12 education, will receive $643,029 in research support from a new Peter G. Peterson Foundation fund.

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Social Sciences

Study identifies barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake and the powerful influence of family and friends

July 20, 2022

Research led by staff from Brown’s Policy Lab found that perceptions of others’ behavior predict intentions to get vaccinated, raising implications and questions around public health policy and intervention strategies.

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Social Sciences

Program spearheaded by Brown’s Annenberg Institute translates research into results for educators

July 15, 2022

In partnership with the policy group Results for America, EdResearch for Recovery provides resources to effectively implement evidence-based strategies in schools nationwide to combat pandemic-related learning losses.

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Health and Medicine

Ashish Jha: Moving the needle on public health

July 15, 2022

Ashish K. Jha, dean of the School of Public Health, unravels the pandemic’s most teachable moments and how to apply them to the way public health research is conducted at Brown and beyond.

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Science and Technology

At home, on College Hill and off-campus, undergraduate research maintains momentum

July 15, 2022

From conducting fluid dynamics experiments in a home lab to spearheading a statewide COVID-19 relief plan, Brown undergraduate students pursued, developed and adapted research projects despite challenges posed by the pandemic.

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Social Sciences

For vaccine text-message campaigns, Brown researchers confirm success is all about timing

April 6, 2022

A new study from researchers at the Policy Lab offers important information on when text-message vaccination campaigns work and when they don’t.

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News and Events

Federal court dismisses claims seeking additional fee refunds in class action complaint

March 23, 2022

The court ruled that Brown continued to offer services for which it charged fees, even as they took on a different form than could have been anticipated before COVID-19 forced a transition to remote learning in March 2020.

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Health and Medicine

COVID-19 has taken heavy toll on health workers and systems, Brown physician-scientist tells Congress

March 2, 2022

Dr. Megan Ranney, a practicing emergency physician and academic dean of Brown’s School of Public Health, told a U.S. House committee that the nation can learn from the past to build stronger, more viable health care systems.

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News and Events

Rhode Island educators, students, parents gather to discuss pandemic’s impact on K-12 schools

January 19, 2022

A virtual event hosted by the Annenberg Institute convened experts to discuss how Providence and Rhode Island can build stronger, healthier K-12 schools, both amid and following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Health and Medicine

Study of vaccinated cancer patients with breakthrough COVID-19 shows 13% mortality rate

January 7, 2022

Brown University researchers are part of a consortium tracking the impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer.

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Health and Medicine

Researchers develop an RNA-based breath test to detect COVID-19

December 14, 2021

The Bubbler, a breathalyzer device that reverse-transcribes RNA from airborne SARS-CoV-2 in breath, predicts lower respiratory tract involvement and is less invasive than alternative testing approaches, researchers say.

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Science and Technology

Study shows how machine learning could improve COVID-19 predictive models

December 1, 2021

With the help of an advanced machine learning technique, researchers from Brown University suggest strategies for improving the performance of epidemiological models used to predict the course of pandemics.

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Health and Medicine

Study offers insights on why the elderly are more susceptible to COVID-19

November 8, 2021

New research reveals the cellular mechanism behind why the elderly, as well as those with certain overlapping diseases, are at risk of infection and death from the virus — and how this mechanism can potentially be used to protect them.

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Arts and Humanities

Conversations on COVID: Studying the pandemic through cartoons

October 28, 2021

A free lesson plan created by Brown Ph.D. student Michael Dorney uses political cartoons to teach high school students about American politics and society in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Health and Medicine

Brown researchers, local partners aim to reduce disparities in COVID-19 vaccination, testing

October 22, 2021

New federal grants totaling $1.4 million are supporting a partnership between Brown, Progreso Latino, the Rhode Island Quality Institute and others to address barriers to testing and vaccination among high-risk populations.

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Health and Medicine

Fewer patients sought treatment for kidney failure in early months of COVID-19 pandemic

October 13, 2021

Substantially fewer patients initiated treatment for kidney failure in the beginning of the pandemic, a new study found, with Black patients in particular initiating treatment at significantly worse levels of kidney function.

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Health and Medicine

Depression rates tripled and symptoms intensified during first year of COVID-19

October 5, 2021

A new study found that people with lower incomes and who experienced multiple COVID-related stressors were more likely to feel the toll of the pandemic, as socioeconomic inequities in mental health continue to widen.

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Health and Medicine

Men, jobless and people with mental health diagnoses most vulnerable in 2020 overdose spike

September 17, 2021

New findings about the causes and characteristics of overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic may be used to inform policies that could lower death rates even after COVID-19 is under control.

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Social Sciences

Database led by Brown economist reveals school-level look at COVID-19’s impact on K-12 education

September 15, 2021

The COVID-19 School Data Hub, the brainchild of Brown Professor of Economics Emily Oster, could help families, researchers and policymakers better understand the pandemic’s impact on learning.

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Health and Medicine

With $4.9M from the CDC, Brown researchers to study COVID vaccine effectiveness in seniors

September 8, 2021

The urgently needed research will be used to inform recommendations about vaccine booster shots for nursing home residents.

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News and Events

Brown updates COVID-19 testing and mask protocols, staggers remote employee returns

August 3, 2021

Attentive to the Delta variant with its on-campus population set to expand, the University will increase COVID-19 testing frequency, require masks indoors and phase in the return of employees who are working remotely.

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Arts and Humanities

What to expect from the Brown Arts Institute in 2021-22 and beyond

July 29, 2021

Leaders at the Brown Arts Institute, which transitioned from the Brown Arts Initiative in July, are planning for a return to in-person performances, exhibitions, film screenings and more.

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News and Events

Brown’s on-campus students, employees achieve 90% COVID-19 vaccination

July 8, 2021

Near-universal vaccination among community members on campus is enabling reduced mask requirements, removal of vaccinated individuals from routine COVID-19 testing and expanded in-person operations.

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Social Sciences

Partisanship guided Americans’ personal safety decisions early in the pandemic, study finds

June 22, 2021

Results from a new study show that many Americans remain fiercely loyal to their like-minded communities, even when their health is on the line — an important lesson for future pandemics.

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News and Events

Values should guide leadership, decision-making in crisis, Paxson says in Chronicle discussion

June 21, 2021

Brown President Christina H. Paxson discussed leadership and innovation in a virtual Chronicle of Higher Education event focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Black racism and threats to democracy in 2020-21.

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University Initiatives

For Health Services at Brown, pandemic has brought 15 months of COVID response and innovation

June 17, 2021

Working with departments across the University, Brown’s student-facing health care providers developed innovative ways to provide COVID-19 care while protecting the broader community from the infectious disease.

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Health and Medicine

Conversations on COVID: Brown emergency medicine fellow in Nepal is fighting COVID-19 on multiple fronts

June 17, 2021

Dr. Ramu Kharel, a global emergency medicine fellow affiliated with Brown’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies, went to Nepal to research emergency medicine and immediately immersed himself in the practice of it.

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Health and Medicine

Deaths of assisted living residents spiked during COVID-19 pandemic, study reveals

June 14, 2021

A new study led by Brown researchers shows the crucial need for specific attention to be paid to assisted living residences in response to pandemics and other emergencies.

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Science and Technology

New model accounts for the effect of behavior changes to predict COVID-19 cases

June 10, 2021

A new infectious disease model that accounts for people’s ‘level of caution’ or ‘sense of safety’ accurately captures surges and declines in COVID-19 cases since March 2020 — and could help predict how the pandemic will eventually end.

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News and Events

Brown outlines COVID-19 vaccination requirements for faculty, staff and students

May 20, 2021

In an effort to achieve near-universal vaccination and return to more traditional operations, Brown will require all faculty, staff and students to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

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Health and Medicine

Rare blood clots more likely after COVID-19 infection than from vaccine, report finds

May 14, 2021

An analysis led by Brown University neurologist Dr. Karen L. Furie in partnership with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, put the post-vaccine risk of CVST in perspective.

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Health and Medicine

Brown-based IMPACT Collaboratory expands massive effort to track COVID-19 vaccine effects

May 10, 2021

A $1.4 million federal grant will enable the research team to add customer data from Walgreens, doubling the scope of the largest monitoring system of safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccinations for elderly people.

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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

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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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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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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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

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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Arts and Humanities

Initiative aims to create high-impact tutoring programs at schools across the U.S.

March 4, 2021

In the face of the pandemic, the Brown University-based National Student Support Accelerator will work with schools and tutoring organizations to expand access to tutoring for socioeconomically disadvantaged students.

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University Initiatives

Brown to disburse $5.4 million in pandemic relief funding to eligible students

March 1, 2021

Provost Richard M. Locke outlined Brown’s distribution model for $4.8 million in federal COVID-19 economic relief funding and an additional $550,000 in University funding to ensure students are treated equitably.

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Health and Medicine

Quick pivots: For four researchers, COVID-19 provided immediate new possibilities

March 1, 2021

When the pandemic paused some lab-based work, Brown scholars quickly pivoted to COVID-19 research, generating new studies in respected journals, funding for new pursuits, and new collaborations with a wide range of partners.

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Science and Technology

Crisis and action: Brown researchers launch wide range of approaches to COVID-19 research

March 1, 2021

Called to action, students and faculty across disciplines worked to contribute to an expansive pool of COVID-19 research projects, from contact tracing apps to DIY ventilator designs.

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Health and Medicine

Health experts at Brown become national voices in battle against COVID-19

March 1, 2021

Throughout the chaos and confusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, Drs. Ashish Jha and Megan Ranney offered clear, concise commentary to households nationwide.

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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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News and Events

Alumni-led nonprofit donates monitors to Providence teachers in name of Brown professor

February 2, 2021

Two Screens for Teachers, cofounded by Class of 1998 graduate Matthew Lerner, donated monitors to more than 400 Providence teachers in the name of legendary Brown professor Andy van Dam.

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