(Commentary by John Rodden, retired professor) Have you already violated your New Year’s Resolutions? The time-honored tradition of making New Year’s resolutions is probably matched by the equally venerable tradition of breaking those very same resolutions — often within just a few days of our firm resolves. I’ve been guilty of this myself, in numerous Januarys. If you’re at all like me, you have a sorry record of Irresolute Resolutions. If so, then this is the time for: The Resolution Reset.  
(Commentary by Nicholas Sargen, lecturer at the Darden School) One year into the Biden presidency, a disappointing lack of progress on immigration reform has been a factor in Biden’s slipping approval ratings.  
(By Anne Trumbore, executive director of digital and open enrollment at the Darden School of Business) The “great resignation” has left a lot of people with time on their hands. And while this time may be a welcome respite from the daily grind, most folks will need to get back to work eventually. For many, this period is a time of reflection and a chance to pursue a new career.  
The University of Virginia Medical Center says it has 615 patients as of Friday, a little more than 100 of whom are being treated for COVID-19. “We are at our highest point of surge throughout the pandemic and the numbers bounce around, but this is the most COVID patients we’ve had in house,” Wendy Horton with UVA Health said.  
Fueled by the omicron variant, both the Blue Ridge Health District and the University of Virginia Medical Center set pandemic records this week for the number of new COVID cases and related hospitalizations.  
In their paper ‘Steering Economic Progress’ Anton Korinek, an economist at the University of Virginia and Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel economist at Columbia University, recommend steps including nudges for entrepreneurs and tax changes to pursue labour-friendly innovations.  
Scientists from the University of Virginia School of Medicine have developed a gene therapy to treat Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy, and potentially prolong survival for people with the condition.  
Researchers have found thousands of Americans aren’t aware that alcohol can increase their risks of cancer. Nearly 4,000 Americans took a survey conducted by the National Cancer Institute. Researchers at UVA Health studied those results and found 50% of people surveyed didn’t know alcohol affects cancer risks.  
A recent study by the University of Virginia Cancer Center suggests that less than half of Americans understand that drinking alcohol increases your risk for cancer.  
The surge is likely to peak statewide soon, experts with University of Virginia’s Biocomplexity Institute reported Friday. Pinpointing the high point of the surge isn’t an easy task, they conceded. One major complication is asymptomatic spread. “Usually, people with symptoms of a disease will avoid spreading it or isolate completely,” researchers wrote a report released Friday. “With COVID-19, many people spread the virus without ever knowing they had it.”  
The peak — a moving target compounded by underreported infections — may come in a few weeks, researchers said, also cautioning that moment would mean half of the surge’s infections were still to come. “Omicron is causing an unprecedented number of cases and placing severe strain on Virginia’s hospitals, doctors, and nurses,” UVA officials wrote in Friday’s report.  
An aging billionaire who heads a media empire is experiencing serious health problems. Is he legally bound to disclose that to his company’s shareholders? The scenario should sound familiar to viewers of “Succession,” the popular HBO series that follows fictional media baron Logan Roy and his four children as they vie to take over the family business. It’s also one of the plot points students dissected in a new class at the University of Virginia School of Law that uses the show to teach elements of corporate law.  
“Ten years ago, as a graduate student thinking I would spend my career on star formation, I looked at the data from Henize 2-10 and everything changed,” Amy Reines, a UVA researcher and one of the study’s authors, said. “From the beginning I knew something unusual and special was happening.”  
Over the next three years, UVA will receive more than $2.1 million to help address burnout and mental health among health care workers. U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine announced Virginia is getting more than $5.6 million in total from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration.  
A new exhibit has opened in the basement of UVA’s Pavilion X. “Untold Stories of Pavilion X” follows both the lives of those who built the pavilion and those who lived in it.  
Growing up in Davidson, Amanda Sambach picked up golf at 7 years old and didn’t compete in tournaments until she was “11 or 12.” As an eighth-grader she committed to the University of Virginia, which she now calls home as a freshman in Charlottesville. Sambach and UVA teammate Beth Lillie have qualified for this year’s playing of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. As opposed to practicing alone, having a teammate working toward the same goal in preparation for the same tournament this year is a positive for Sambach.  
(By Shawn Grain Carter, who earned undergraduate degrees in African American studies and women’s studies) A mother never wants to funeralize her beloved child. It’s simply not the natural order of things. But coping with my grief forced me to reckon with the constant emotional pain of supporting my daughter, who received a diagnosis of a rare sarcoma called malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor or MPNST. There is no cure for sarcomas, especially an MPNST sarcoma. However, it’s important to share our tragic stories of resilience and grief to empower other families to embrace the unknown and l...
Attorney Courtney Keehan didn’t grow up wanting to become an attorney. Passionate about building design, she spent her youth planning a future as an architect. Keehan’s aversion to the law dissolved during her third year at the University of Virginia as she participated in a design studio tasked with revamping the Yamuna riverfront in New Delhi, India. During this process, Keehan fell in love with environmental law.  
J. Miles Coleman, a political cartographer at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, described the 2010 election as a “generational year” for Republicans that the Democrats just haven’t been able to reverse. “You didn’t really get the same kind of flips in 2018 and 2020 for the Democrats,” Coleman said. “One of the under-reported stories of 2020 was the Democratic lack of success in state legislatures.”  
“The expectations have hurt Biden.” Dr. Larry Sabato is the director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. He said expectations that the pandemic would ebb and inflation abate ran up against reality, and voters may take that frustration to the ballot box. “Other problems can be dealt with. Inflation will certainly come down in time, but how fast? For Biden and the Democrats it had better be quickly. Otherwise they’ll pay the price in November.”