In the summer of 2017, Xiaorong Liu came to the University of Virginia as an assistant professor of biology and psychology, though it was not her first time on Grounds. In room 264 of Gilmer Hall, where she taught her first undergraduate psychobiology course, she recalls sticking labels on the same lab benches 20 years earlier as a graduate student. MORE >

The NCAA has released its annual Graduation Success Rate data for student-athletes who matriculated between 2011 and 2014, and the scores for University of Virginia student-athletes matches the highest since the NCAA began issuing the report. Cavalier student-athletes covered during the current report graduated at a 95% rate, the same rate from last year’s report that was the highest mark for UVA athletics since the NCAA launched the Graduation Success Rate program in 1998. The NCAA’s national average for this year’s reporting range is 88%. MORE >

There’s always been more to Bronco Mendenhall than football, and those who know him never expected him to coach into his late 60s or 70s. Even so, the news that broke Thursday afternoon was stunning. Mendenhall, who’s in his sixth season as the University of Virginia’s head coach, announced he’ll step down from that position after the team’s upcoming bowl game. He informed his staff of his decision at 4:45 p.m. and told his players at 5 p.m. MORE >

The next destination for the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s efforts to help people with autism learn to drive: virtual reality. Daniel J. Cox, a researcher with UVA’s Department of Psychiatry, has been using a room-sized driving simulator to assist people with autism-spectrum disorders in becoming comfortable behind the wheel. But now he is taking his simulator to the next level by turning it into a portable, “mixed-reality” experience. MORE >

If parents need any more evidence that being your teen’s best friend should not be the goal, we present more research from a distinguished psychologist at the University of Virginia. Joseph Allen, UVA’s Hugh Kelly Professor of Psychology, has turned out yet more groundbreaking research based on a longitudinal study of nearly 200 participants who were just 13 years old when the study began in 1998. MORE >

The University of Virginia’s Department of Chemistry and the wider community of organic chemistry researchers are mourning the recent death of retired professor Richard J. “Dick” Sundberg. An admired teacher and mentor to 38 Ph.D. and master’s candidates, Sundberg made important research contributions in several areas, including the development of antitumor compounds and anti-parasitic agents. Sundberg died Nov. 1 in Hickory, North Carolina, after a period of declining health. He was 83. MORE >

Already the winner of this year’s Edlich-Henderson Innovator of the Year Award at the University of Virginia, Dr. Amy Mathers isn’t stopping when it comes to the fight against COVID-19. MORE >

Plaintiffs in the Sines v. Kessler federal lawsuit, including lead plaintiff Elizabeth Sines, a 2019 University of Virginia School of Law alumna, have claimed a significant victory against white supremacists who organized the infamous 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. A jury convened by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia returned a verdict Tuesday of liability under Virginia law, for both civil conspiracy and racial, religious and ethnic harassment. The result was an award of more than $25 million for the nine plaintiffs. MORE >

It’s a sound that can make a parent’s chest clench with anxiety: a new cough coming from a toddler’s room in the middle of the night. One small cough can portend another round of COVID testing, and days, possibly weeks, spent at home helping the child recover from whatever virus it turns out to be. Routines once again disrupted, work distractions constant, anxieties compounded after nearly two years of living this way. MORE >

Last week, the world woke to the news that a new, highly transmissible coronavirus variant – dubbed “omicron” – had been identified by researchers in South Africa. The number of new infections has since risen from the hundreds to the thousands in the country, where residents are mostly unvaccinated. The news prompted many countries to close their borders or restrict travel from southern Africa, and the World Health Organization classified omicron a “variant of concern.” MORE >

Reports say holiday gift-buyers got an early jump on online ordering this year and plan to purchase most gifts online. While that may sound encouraging for the economy, senior citizens in the United States collectively lost $1 billion to scams in 2020, according to the FBI, and cyber criminality accounted for much of that loss. MORE >

When the company formerly known as Facebook announced plans in October to change its name to Meta, the company said the move would better reflect its intention to “bring the metaverse to life and help people connect, find communities and grow businesses.” Such a dramatic shift from one of the world’s most valuable companies prompted all manner of commentary and speculation, posing as many questions as answers. MORE >

A year ago, the University of Virginia Career Center was finding and creating ways to connect students with a shrinking base of employers who pulled back on hiring, cut down on recruiting visits and hunkered down to get through an economy shocked by the pandemic. It wasn’t pretty for many college graduates hunting for jobs or internships.And this year? Things are quite different. Employers are back in the game, hungry and hiring. MORE >

WISE – State legislators, college board members and administrators gathered here Friday to discuss strategies and ideas supporting the University of Virginia’s College at Wise as an economic development engine for Southwest Virginia.Virginia Dels. Terry Kilgore, Will Morefield and Will Wampler; UVA President Jim Ryan; UVA Rector Whittington Clement; UVA Wise Chancellor Donna P. Henry; and members of the UVA Board of Visitors attended the UVA Wise College Board meeting at the David J. Prior Convocation Center. MORE >

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have developed a noninvasive way to remove faulty brain circuit MORE >

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, the University of Virginia is gearing up to celebrate the end of the year with the community by offering a vast array of sparkling holiday programming. MORE >

From Civil War history to young adult novels, this selection of new books by University of Virginia faculty and alumni covers a range of topics and should appeal to a variety of readers.See below for 21 titles that have come out since the end of summer, including poetry and fiction, business advice and technology. They add to UVA Today’s earlier list in June that drew from books published mostly in the first half of the year. MORE >

Writing for The Conversation, Patrick Jackson, a University of Virginia assistant professor of infectious diseases, highlights the promise of new pills as an effective treatment for those infected by COVID-19.Nearly two years into the pandemic, it has become starkly clear that we need better treatments for COVID-19 for people in the earlier stages of disease.  MORE >

Graduate nursing student Mousumi Franks was on her way to an early morning class in the basement of the University of Virginia’s Claude Moore Nursing Education Building in late October when a set of eyes – green, almond-shaped, and, at that moment, focused on a mass of microbiology notes – stopped her in her tracks.Franks paused, backtracked, and slid down her mask, her heart starting to hammer in her chest. “She’s small and beautiful and has these eyes,” she reflected later. “I knew them right away.” MORE >

At this time last year, demand for holiday travel saw a steep decline, with train ticket sales down by 20% and the Transportation Security Administration reporting airport traffic as less than half of the numbers seen in 2019. MORE >