Research
From Chimpanzee Novels to Crowdsourced Astronomy: How the Radcliffe Institute’s 51 New Fellows Study the World
Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study welcomed its 26th cohort of fellows, who will undertake interdisciplinary research projects ranging from investigating the importance of human connection in an age of AI to studying indigenous birchbark bookmaking as a form of environmental protest.
Harvard Researchers Say More Than 60 Percent of American Children Will Use Medicaid or CHIP
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health estimated that 42 percent of American children will experience at least one gap in health insurance coverage before they turn 18 in a study published on Wednesday.
Harvard’s Public Health Dean Was Paid $150,000 to Testify Tylenol Causes Autism
Harvard School of Public Health Dean Andrea A. Baccarelli received at least $150,000 to testify against Tylenol’s manufacturer in 2023 — two years before he published research used by the Trump administration to link the drug to autism, even though experts say a causal connection remains tenuous at best.
MethaneSAT Went Dark in June. What’s Next for the Harvard Scientists Behind It?
In March 2024, a state-of-the-art methane-detecting satellite — the product of nearly a decade of work in Harvard labs — soared into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. But a year later, MethaneSAT lost power in space, and its stream of data on emissions of the potent greenhouse gas went dark.
Harvard Researchers Develop Novel Early-Detection Tool for HPV-Caused Cancer
Harvard Medical School affiliated researchers recently revealed a new technique to help doctors detect head and neck cancers caused by strains of human papillomavirus up to 10 years prior to diagnosis.
Trump Uses Harvard Public Health School Dean’s Research to Link Tylenol to Autism
Harvard School of Public Health Dean Andrea A. Baccarelli met in recent weeks with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ’76 and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya to discuss the dean’s study linking acetaminophen to autism, according to a statement by Baccarelli posted on an official White House X account.
Harvard Stands to Pay Millions in Visa Sponsorships Under New Trump Order
Harvard could soon be forced to pay a $100,000 fee for every new worker the University sponsors through the H-1B visa program, part of an executive proclamation signed by President Donald Trump on Friday.
Kennedy School Funds $20,000 Grants to Investigate Early Impacts of Trump Administration
Six Harvard Kennedy School projects received grants of up to $20,000 to research the effects of the second Trump administration on public opinion and democratic institutions.
Harvard Receives $46 Million in Federal Grants, Ending 4-Month Freeze
Millions of dollars in federal research grants from the National Institutes of Health began to flow to Harvard on Friday, the first grant money to return to the University since a judge struck down the Trump administration’s sweeping funding freeze on Sept. 3.
HDS Theologian Francis Schüssler Fiorenza Remembered for Intellect, Dedication to Social Justice
Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, a leading Roman Catholic theologian who taught at Harvard for nearly four decades, died in July at the age of 84.
Harvard Medical School to Cut 20 Percent of Research Spending, Dean Says in Annual Address
Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley ’82 said the University’s central administration had instructed him to cut spending on the Medical School’s research enterprise by at least 20 percent by the end of the fiscal year in his annual State of the School address Wednesday morning.
How a Harvard Initiative is Translating Archives for AI Models
Since Harvard’s Institutional Data Initiative launched last December, the team has formed partnerships with open-source artificial intelligence developers like OpenAI and Microsoft to train large language models on archival documents in institutional collections.
Two Weeks After Court Ruling, Harvard’s Researchers Are Still Waiting for Grants
Nearly two weeks after a federal judge ruled the Trump administration’s freeze on Harvard’s federal funding was unconstitutional, Harvard’s researchers are still waiting to get their money back.
Harvard Researchers Design Algorithm to Improve Wearable Robot for Stroke, ALS Patients
Harvard researchers created an algorithm that allows a wearable robot to adapt to and assist the arm movements of stroke and Lou Gehrig’s disease patients in real-time.
Beyond the Lab: Trump’s Funding Cuts Hit Humanities Research at Harvard
A database with pigment analysis of more than 300 Asian paintings. The authoritative dictionary of the Latin language, curated since the 1890s and spanning 1,200 years of inscriptions. A library of translated Ukrainian literature, launched just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Center for Latin American Studies To Close Chile, Mexico Offices
Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies will close its office in Santiago, Chile at the end of this year and allow its office lease in Mexico City to expire this month because of a strained budget.
Federal Agencies Begin Notifying Harvard Researchers of Reinstated Funds
Federal agencies have begun to inform Harvard researchers that they are reinstating portions of research funding frozen since the Trump administration’s pause on $2.7 billion in grants and contracts in the spring, according to a Harvard spokesperson on Wednesday evening.
Harvard Researchers Reveal New Insights Into Human Bipedalism
Harvard scientists have discovered new evolutionary changes in pelvic structure that allowed the first humans to walk upright on two legs.
Harvard Funding Cuts Endanger the Massive Fruit Fly Database That Powers Genetic Research
FlyBase lost a multimillion dollar grant when the Trump administration cut off Harvard’s federal funding in May. Now the repository is laying off staff — and researchers worldwide are worried.
Harvard Study Finds Gender Gap in Math Achievement Starts in Early Schooling
Gender disparities in math proficiency emerge only after children start school, according to a new study coauthored by Harvard Professor of Psychology Elizabeth S. Spelke ’71 and published in the science journal Nature in June.
Harvard Was Cleared To Get Some Federal Funds. Then DOGE Stepped In.
DOGE officials have used their control of a federal payment system to keep money away from Harvard — even after a judge’s ruling required the National Institutes of Health to let some grants start flowing in July.
After Court Restores Research Funding, Trump Still Has Paths to Target Harvard
Harvard won a milestone legal victory on Wednesday when a judge struck down the Trump administration’s freeze on $2.7 billion in federal funds — but government agencies still have options to keep federal dollars out of the University’s hands.
Trump Administration Vows to Appeal Ruling in Federal Funding Lawsuit
The Trump administration will appeal a federal court’s ruling issued earlier Wednesday that struck down its multibillion-dollar freeze on Harvard’s research funding, a White House spokesperson confirmed Wednesday evening.
Judge Hands Victory to Harvard in Funding Lawsuit, Ruling Trump Administration’s Freeze Unconstitutional
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration violated the Constitution when it froze more than $2.7 billion in research funding to Harvard, striking down the freeze in its entirety and delivering the University a major legal victory.