Research
Massachusetts Awards Harvard-Backed Center $5 Million for Quantum Computer
The Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center, a facility run by Harvard and four other universities, was awarded $5 million to build the first state-funded quantum computing center, state leaders announced on Friday.
Harvard School of Public Health Study Finds That Deforestation May Increase Malaria Transmission
A Harvard School of Public Health study published Oct. 21 found that ecological changes in the Brazilian Amazon have led to a significant increase in the risk of malaria transmission.
Massive Meteor May Have Supercharged Early Microbial Life on Earth, Harvard Study Finds
A meteorite 200 times larger than the one that wiped out Earth’s dinosaurs may have been critical for the development of early microbial life on the planet three billion years ago, according to a Harvard study published last week.
Harvard Professor-Led Company Says It Reconstructed Genome of Extinct Tasmanian Tiger
Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences, a company co-founded by Harvard professor George M. Church, announced last week that it had reconstructed the genome of the extinct Tasmanian tiger with more than 99.9 percent accuracy — the most complete ancient genome of its kind.
Harvard Researchers Shed New Light on Extent of Chemical Pollution in Wildlife
In an October study, researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences discovered that fish can accumulate elevated levels of synthetic chemicals up to five miles away from the original source of pollution.
Harvard Dental School Dean Wins American Dental Association Award for Research
Harvard School of Dental Medicine Dean William V. Giannobile was presented with the American Dental Association’s 2024 Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Dental Research last Friday.
Harvard Researchers Classify Microorganism Species, Tardigrade
Harvard researchers recently identified a new fossilized species of tardigrade, a discovery that lends crucial insights into the microscopic organism’s evolutionary history and its unique resilience.
Decades-Long NHS Research Jeopardized by Funding Cuts
The Nurses’ Health Study – a 48-year long medical study run jointly by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Harvard Medical School – is at risk of shutting down due to a lack of funding, according to researchers involved with the project.
Cerebellum Only Necessary for Some Muscle Memory, Harvard Researchers Find
In an August study, researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences discovered a new distinction between long and short-term motor memories — a class of memories developed through repeated physical movements.
Kip Thorne, 2017 Nobel Laureate, Talks Black Holes During Inaugural Hawking Lecture
Hundreds packed Science Center Hall B to watch Kip S. Thorne, a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech and a 2017 Nobel Prize laureate, discuss black holes and wormholes during the inaugural Hawking Lecture on Friday.
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Lays Off 87 Workers in Restructuring Effort
The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard announced on Oct. 10 that it laid off 87 employees as part of a strategic restructuring.
Harvard-Led Researchers Are Creating an Air Quality Sensor Inspired By Dog Noses
Researchers led by Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences professor Joanna Aizenberg are developing a new air quality sensor inspired by a dog’s nose that promises more specificity than existing products.
Brigham and Women’s Research Examines Potential Causes of Long Covid-19
Researchers at the Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that the Covid-19 antigen is twice as likely to be present in patients suffering from long Covid-19 compared to their asymptomatic counterparts.
Harvard Researchers Suggest Green Hydrogen Will Remain Costlier Than Projected
Harvard researchers found in a recent study that prices for green hydrogen — hydrogen fuel created from sustainable energy sources — will remain high.
Harvard’s Wyss Institute Gives Startup License to Use Newly-Developed Biomaterials
Attivare Therapeutics, a startup founded by researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, received a license from the Wyss Institute to use biomaterials developed at Harvard to create treatments for tumors that do not respond to existing immunotherapies.
Generative AI Adopted Faster Than the Internet or Personal Computers, HKS Study Finds
A National Bureau of Economics Research study found that American adults have embraced generative artificial intelligence faster than they did the internet or personal computers.
Canadian Biotech Company to Supply MDMA for McLean Hospital Clinical Trial
Toronto-based MDMA manufacturer PharmAla Biotech signed a contract to supply researchers at McLean Hospital, an HMS-affiliated psychiatric teaching hospital, with the drug for a pending clinical trial, PharmAla announced in a Oct. 2 press release.
HMS Study Suggests One-Third of Former NFL Players Believe They Have CTE
A Harvard Medical School study of 2,000 former NFL players found that 34 percent of those surveyed believe they have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disorder caused by repeated head injuries.
HMS Researchers Introduce AI Tool for Drug Repurposing
Harvard Medical School associate professor Marinka Zitnik and her lab announced the development of TxGNN, an artificial intelligence model which is able to suggest new treatment applications of existing drugs using neural networks.
Harvard Professor Gary Ruvkun Wins 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine
Gary B. Ruvkun, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine, the Nobel Committee announced early Monday morning.
Brown-Nagin, Fellows Praise Radcliffe’s Interdisciplinary Work at Anniversary
Radcliffe Institute Dean Tomiko Brown-Nagin and former Radcliffe fellows lauded the Institute and its interdisciplinary research projects on Friday, the second day of an event commemorating the Institute’s 25th anniversary.
Former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky To Headline 2024-25 Belfer Center Senior Fellows Cohort
Rochelle P. Walensky — who led the Center for Disease Control and Prevention during the Covid-19 pandemic — will headline the 2024-25 cohort of senior fellows at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School.
HMS Professor Wins Prestigious Lasker-DeBakey Award for Work on GLP-1
Harvard Medical School professor Joel F. Habener won the 2024 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for his work on the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), the Lasker Foundation announced last Thursday.
New Federal Rules Give Harvard More Freedom in Research Misconduct Cases
Harvard may have more freedom to decide how to handle its research misconduct cases under new federal rules designed to make cases easier to bring forward and resolve.
Developers Press Pause on New Allston Labs
Real estate firms are hitting the breaks on laboratory development in Allston. A nearly billion-dollar project from National Development to redevelop a TV studio at 1170 Soldiers Field Rd. to build new offices, lab space, and housing is not moving forward, according to a person familiar with the process.