US support for waiving COVID-19 vaccine patent rights puts pressure on drugmakers – but what would a waiver actually look like?

The process will take months, if it's even approved. But just the threat of waiving intellectual property rights could spur faster action.

Dalindyebo Shabalala, Associate Professor, University of Dayton • conversation
May 10, 2021 ~9 min

How our dreams have adjusted to the pandemic

The data gathered by Deirdre Barrett shines a light on how our subconscious is grappling with a time like no other.

Colleen Walsh • harvard
May 7, 2021 ~7 min


Are graphene-coated face masks a COVID-19 miracle – or another health risk?

Some face masks now come with a coating of graphene, a substance that can kill microbes. Is it safe to breathe it in?

C. Michael White, Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut • conversation
May 4, 2021 ~7 min

Human organ chips enable rapid drug repurposing for COVID-19

A Wyss Institute-led collaboration has used the institute’s organ-on-a-chip technology to identify the antimalarial drug amodiaquine as a potent inhibitor of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Lindsay Brownell • harvard
May 3, 2021 ~18 min

Investigating the embattled brain

Combat veteran and PhD candidate Omar Rutledge drives research on post-traumatic stress disorder.

Laura Carter | School of Science • mit
April 28, 2021 ~7 min

Scarred by Zika and fearing new COVID-19 variants, Brazilian women say no to another pandemic pregnancy

Officials in Brazil recently asked women to avoid pregnancy, citing heightened risk to them and newborns. But births were already dropping; a new study attributes it to the trauma of Zika.

Letícia Marteleto, Professor of Sociology, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts • conversation
April 28, 2021 ~8 min

Scarred by Zika and fearful of COVID-19 variants, Brazilian women say no to another pandemic pregnancy

Officials in Brazil recently asked women to avoid pregnancy, citing heightened new risk to them and newborns. But births were already dropping; a new study attributes it to the trauma of Zika.

Letícia Marteleto, Professor of Sociology, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts • conversation
April 28, 2021 ~8 min

Fauci discusses uncertainty on COVID-19 variants, length of immunity

Though the so-far-successful U.S. vaccination drive is likely to deliver an approximation of normal life by year’s end, Anthony Fauci and a panel of heath care experts cautioned that the global battle against COVID-19 is far from won.

Alvin Powell • harvard
April 27, 2021 ~8 min


Study: Sex differences in Covid-19 mortality vary across racial groups

Black women are more vulnerable than white men, illustrating how race and gender intersect to shape health outcomes.

Peter Dizikes | MIT News Office • mit
April 21, 2021 ~6 min

Forget the debate over public health versus jobs – the same people suffer the most either way

Most pandemic policies have benefited those already best off in US society and ignored people for whom neither mass shutdowns nor reopening offer relief.

Kate Duchowny, Postdoctoral Scholar in Epidemiology, University of California, San Francisco • conversation
April 19, 2021 ~7 min

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