(Commentary by Kyle Kondik, political analyst at UVA’s Center for Politics and managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball) Here’s a hot take as we look ahead to the 2022 midterm: Democrats may have a better chance of winning a Senate majority than a House majority in the next national election. That is not to say Democrats have a great chance of winning a Senate majority — they don’t.
(Commentary by Dr. William Petri, professor of medicine) There are now two COVID-19 vaccines that, at least according to preliminary reports, appear to be 94.5% and 95% effective. Both were developed in a record-breaking 11 months or so.
The University of Virginia’s College at Wise and Appalachian School of Law are pleased to announce that they have recently entered into a collaborative initiative, known as a 3-plus-3 program, that provides UVA-Wise students with an efficient and structured pathway into a legal career. When enrolled in a 3-plus-3 program, students at UVA-Wise enter ASL after three years of undergraduate study and receive their baccalaureate degree upon completing the first year of law school. Two years later they graduate from ASL with a law degree.
The University of Virginia Kidney Center is the first partner site to distribute food bags from Blue Ridge Area Food Bank that are packed to offer proper nutrition to dialysis patients facing food insecurity.
The UVA Medical Center’s nursing practice recently received Magnet recognition for its work, earning the most prestigious award granted by the American Nurses Credentialing Center for the second time.
Before COVID-19 ever hit America’s radar, a professor at the University of Virginia discovered a way to treat it. It’s not a treatment in the sense that the drug prevents or stops the novel coronavirus. However, it lessens the symptoms if a person contracts the virus. Professor Alban Gaultier, of UVA’s Department of Neuroscience and its Center for Brain Immunology, partnered with former UVA graduate student Dorian Rosen, to discover a link between fluvoxamine, an antidepressant, and sepsis, when the immune system creates too many inflammatory molecules.
Other schools on the list included the University of Virginia School of Law, coming in 10th place.
Public and corporate interest in job skills will outlast Trump’s administration, experts say, continuing to pressure colleges to adapt. Traditional higher ed institutions will “step up in new ways or become irrelevant,” says Maria Flynn, CEO of Jobs for the Future. One promising example she points out is the new one-year “Edge” program from the University of Virginia. It offers 20 credits in courses that teach “digital and human skills,” including the programming language Python and persuasive writing. It’s designed to serve as a “stepping stone to a degree” for working adults.
The University of Virginia just opened a new office building to help the university with members of the Charlottesville community. The new Community Partnerships Office, located at the old Albemarle Hotel on West Main Street, will serve as a “front door” to UVA’s engagement and equity programs.
The University of Virginia released a pre-recorded version of its annual Lighting of the Lawn show on Thursday night.
The University of Virginia’s Lighting of the Lawn is usually a sign the holidays are just around the corner. But this year it’s also a sign of just how much has changed.
A new survey conducted by UVA’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture suggests that the nation is partisan and polarized to a dangerous degree – but that does not mean the effects are permanent.
A group of UVA researchers was building a robot for disaster response, as part of an international competition, when the pandemic shut down their lab. The team quickly repurposed its creation into a COVID-19 health tool – a 180-kilogram robotic unit on wheels, with an arm that decontaminates entire rooms, including hard-to-reach surfaces.
National security is a major reason smooth transitions are so crucial, says Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at UVA’s Miller Center. Perry notes that the 9/11 Commission pointed to the shortened transition period between Bill Clinton's administration and the Bush administration after the disputed 2000 results in Florida as playing a role in al-Qaida's attack in 2001.
The head of an obscure federal agency that is holding up the presidential transition knew well before Election Day that she might soon have a messy situation on her hands. Before Nov. 3, Emily Murphy, the head of the General Services Administration and a UVA Law alumnus, held a Zoom call with Dave Barram, the man who was in her shoes 20 years earlier.
The Canterbury Rams have persevered with promising Tall Blacks center Jack Salt, re-signing the London-born Aucklander in anticipation of a long-awaited debut for the NBL franchise.
“Trump and his tweets are already drifting into irrelevance,” Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, tweeted on Sunday.
Fifty-nine election and cybersecurity experts agreed in a public statement that claims of a “rigged” election “either have been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent.” David Evans, a professor of computer science at the University of Virginia, said he signed the joint statement because “there is no substance ... no credible specifics, and no evidence to support any of the claims” of a rigged election.
“It is now widely known that COVID-19 infections have disproportionately affected the Hispanic community – a cohort also affected by lower rates of insurance coverage – so this was likely top of mind and a motivating factor on Election Day,” agrees Cristina Lopez-Gottardi Chao, assistant professor and research director for public and policy programs at the Miller Center, a nonpartisan affiliate of the University of Virginia.
Dr. Ignacio “Iggy” Provencio, a professor of biology at the University of Virginia, tells us, “Circadian rhythms ensure that processes in the body are optimally coordinated with each other. … When the various circadian rhythms in our bodies become desynchronized from each other, sickness results, including gastrointestinal diseases, cancer, immune disorders, and metabolic syndrome, a condition that results in insulin resistance (a pre-diabetic condition), obesity, and a fatty liver.”