A Lynchburg man needed a new liver before he could undergo what his doctors called a life-saving heart surgery. Benny Nash had been battling an aggressive liver disease, called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, for the past four years. His doctors then discovered an issue with his heart valve, which needed more immediate attention. In order to perform the surgery on his heart, Benny's doctors at the UVA Health’s Transplant Center said he needed to have a liver transplant.
That brings this story to September 2020: Child Cancer Awareness Month. It was a chance for Luke Post to do exactly what he’s always wanted to do: help others, even though he’s the one undergoing treatment. It all started with a shirt.
That brings this story to September 2020: Child Cancer Awareness Month. It was a chance for Luke Post to do exactly what he’s always wanted to do: help others, even though he’s the one undergoing treatment. It all started with a shirt.
Rehabilitation therapists at UVA Health are reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, staff gathered photos and wrote stories looking back at pivotal moments from the past year. They also took part in a walk through UVA Grounds to pause and reflect on the darker aspects of COVID-19. Now, the group is looking ahead and focusing on raising money for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, United Way of Greater Charlottesville and All Blessings Flow to help those affected by the coronavirus.
Dr. Taison Bell and Dr. Costi Sifri, both from UVA Health, spoke at a briefing Friday about COVID-19 vaccine efforts and the next steps needed to be taken in the community. One of the efforts is equitable distribution in the Blue Ridge Health District.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put inequity in health care under a microscope. The pandemic started with marginalized communities getting hit hardest by COVID-19. Now, those same groups are the ones getting left behind in the national vaccine rollout. “Distribution has been an issue nationwide. Every state that reports data on whose received a vaccinations has reported discrepancies between those who have received their vaccine. It tends to be white Americans, whereas under-represented minorities, who disproportionately over-represent cases and deaths, have received disproportionately low access to...
With new strains of the COVID-19 virus circulating and only about 15% of Virginians fully vaccinated against the original strain, University of Virginia medical experts say society should not rush a return to old routines.
Researchers from Cornell University, North Western University and UVA recently combined complementary imaging techniques to explore the atomic structure of human tooth enamel, and identify chemical weaknesses in its structure. Understanding these chemical weaknesses could provide the key to not only conquering tooth decay but also reversing the process.
One of the biggest hurdles to putting more circuits and power onto a smaller chip is managing the heat. As chips become smaller, heat increases exponentially. Not only are there more transistors in a given area, which generates more heat in a small space, they also are closer together, making it harder for heat to dissipate. Now a research team led by Northwestern University and the University of Virginia addresses this major hurdle. By exploring an emerging type of material with the potential to keep chips cool as they continue shrinking in size, the researchers have enabled others to continu...
New research out of the University of Virginia suggests that exercise during pregnancy may significantly reduce expectant mothers’ children’s chances of developing diabetes and other metabolic diseases later in life.
According to a new analysis published this week by the Edtech Evidence Exchange, a UVA-based nonprofit organization, the total figure is also in the billions – perhaps between $26 and $41 billion a year. But that range is merely an estimate – and a conservative one at that. The ambiguity around edtech spending is doing more harm than most people realize, says Bart Epstein, CEO of the Edtech Evidence Exchange and a research associate professor at the UVA School of Education and Human Development. “The real question isn’t, ‘How much are we spending?’” he says in an interview. “The real question ...
UVA is working to develop a new system to help first responders navigate challenges during emergencies. The researchers are looking to use artificial intelligence to offer helpful prompts and other support as rescue squads make split-second decisions.
The way policing is enforced could forever be changed, following a new casebook written by a law professor at the University of Virginia. UVA Law Professor and Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Rachel Harmon says often times, society is reactive to crimes committed by police officers, in her new book, “The Law of the Police,” she’s hoping to make people more proactive.
Birth data for 2020 will not be available until fall. Virginia reports monthly live births to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but those numbers are reported six months behind, according to Hamilton Lombard, a demographic researcher at UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center. Because Virginia’s birth data lags, Lombard has been monitoring other states with more robust reporting systems to project what could happen here. California and Florida reported over a 6% decrease in births since December 2019, which Lombard said could indicate “a decline for the total population in the number of birth...
Although number of local residents being vaccinated against COVID-19 rose steadily this past week, so too did the average number of daily COVID-19 cases reported across the region, according to the Virginia Department of Health. That was the message this week from UVA’s Biocomplexity Institute, which noted that cases are plateauing across Virginia at rates higher than they were during last summer's peak – the second wave of pandemic – despite rising vaccination rates.
Case rates nationally and statewide seem to have plateaued higher than the peaks experienced last summer, the University of Virginia’s COVID-19 Model reported in its regular Friday update.
What concerns epidemiologists is that the plateau is higher than the peak of last summer, which rose to about 13 per 100,000 residents. That could mean if Virginians slack off on hand washing, masks and social distancing of 6 feet from others, the summer could bring a longer peak almost as high as the one experienced at the beginning of this year, according to an analysis by the UVA Biocomplexity Institute.
UVA, VCU hospitals ranked in top 3 in VA: The UVA Medical Center ranked 51st in Newsweek's ranking of the best hospitals in the country and No. 1 in Virginia. Virginia Commonwealth University placed 83rd nationally and third in the state. UVA hires new student affairs chief: The University of Virginia named Robyn S. Hadley its vice president and chief student affairs officer. She comes from Washington University in St. Louis.
The UVA School of Engineering and Applied Science is now the new home of the nationally-renowned Online Ethics Center, a digital library of resources focusing on how to use technology for good.
The University of Virginia announced last month that it would confer degrees in an online ceremony and that an in-person celebration would be limited to graduating students only. But following Northam’s announcement that outdoor capacity could be up to 5,000 people or 30% of venue capacity, UVA President Jim Ryan tweeted that the school would reexamine its decision on commencement.