In The News

After being part of Team USA’s silver-medal run in 2016, Matt Simpson stepped away from goalball . . . temporarily. The Smyrna, Georgia, native returned as planned in time to help the U.S. secure a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Games, but not before he finished the side project he had been working on — graduating from law school at the University of Virginia.

Even if DeWine is vulnerable to a primary challenge, Republicans would need a candidate who can translate that anger into votes, said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “Maybe Renacci is that candidate,” he said. “He didn’t run really at all a strong Senate race in 2018 although I don’t know if his heart was ever in it because I think he always wanted to be governor.” 

In the 57th District, which covers Charlottesville and part of Albemarle County, Del. Sally Hudson, D-Charlottesville, is the Democratic nominee. Hudson, an economist and University of Virginia professor, is running for her second term. Challenging her is Philip Hamilton, who moved to Charlottesville this year and is the first Republican to run in the district in more than a decade.

Virginia was once a red-leaning state, but Republicans haven’t won a statewide election in a dozen years. Kyle Kondik, the managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan election forecaster based at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, noted that in past elections, it “was more common for Republicans to try and nationalize the race against Democrats. … This time it’s the opposite in that Democrats are trying to nationalize this race because Donald Trump is relatively unpopular in this state, where as the Republicans are trying to localize the race and paint Glenn Youngkin a...

McAuliffe, meanwhile, spent a good chunk of his election night celebration casting Youngkin as a Trump lackey who embraces election conspiracies and pals around with the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas firebrand blamed for the 2013 government shutdown that impacted the federal workforce in Virginia. “We are kind of in this stretch of the campaign where both candidates are trying to define each other,” said J. Miles Coleman, of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

J. Miles Coleman, with the University of Virginia Center for Politics, says that as people look toward the general election, usually more established politicians like McAuliffe are favored to win in Virginia. However, Youngkin has an interesting pattern going for him.

Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, tweeted Tuesday night that Democratic results were not what the Republicans had hoped for. “GOP wanted (1) @TerryMcAuliffe embarrassed with under 50%. In fact he’s topping 60%. (2) A low-turnout primary. No exact % yet but turnout is clearly NOT low,” he observed.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and a critic of Trump, was more decisive. “The turnout was solid and a good sign for Democrats,” he said.  

If you’re going inside, however briefly, wear the mask. Amita Sudhir, a professor of medicine at the University of Virginia, says at this point, she isn’t wearing a mask (purely) for safety purposes. Instead, “I’m doing it to make other people feel more comfortable. And I hope that soon, that won’t be necessary anymore.”

At first, Google’s founders saw its algorithm as an unbiased reflection of the internet itself. The philosophy was, “We never touch search – no way, no how. If we start touching search results, it’s a one-way ratchet to a curated internet and we’re no longer neutral,” said Danielle Citron, a law professor at the University of Virginia. A decade ago, Professor Citron pressured Google to block so-called revenge porn from coming up in a search of someone’s name. The company initially resisted.

Overall, fewer married people (29%) reported feeling that their marriage was in trouble in 2020 than the year before (40%). This is common in major crises, Brad Wilcox, a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia who served as an adviser on the survey, told the Deseret News. The Great Recession, for all its turmoil, had a similar impact on many couples.

“The more transmission, the more opportunity you have for variants to evolve,” says Dr. Steven Zeichner, an infectious disease expert and pediatrics professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. “From a U.S. perspective, getting everyone around the world vaccinated is not an altruistic thing. It protects us here in the U.S. The side effect is that it helps everyone else in the world.”

A mural project at the University of Virginia Health System’s Adult Inpatient Psychiatry Unit, also known as 5 East, has expanded outside of patient rooms. According to a release, the unit began a renovation project in 2018 in order to upgrade facilities and adhere to guidelines regarding patient safety, including removing all framed artwork.

Renowned astrophysicist and promoter of astronomy Neil deGrasse Tyson and University of Virginia professor of physics James Treville take us through the history of astronomical discoveries, write about observatories, recall the history of Galileo, and explain step by step what, for example, string theory, dark matter and energy, what happens in The Large Hadron Collider, they explain the types of elementary particles, but they also allocate a large area, for example, to natural selection and how life arose on Earth. In the following parts they write about the search for extraterrestrial life, ...

As researchers take a closer look at the long-term effects of COVID-19, two new studies funded by the National Institutes of Health found some people may develop diabetes after a COVID-19 infection. The studies found that the virus destroys cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, and that the decrease in insulin leads to high glucose. Dr. Ananda Basu, a professor of medicine at the University of Virginia, said the findings are early, but concerning. “It’s like a double-whammy,” said Basu.

There are still many unsolved mysteries about the human brain and its development. Now, a novel study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry sheds new light on the neurobiological origins of our individual traits. … The neural connections in our brains that determine human behavioral traits are already present from birth and are unique to each individual. “Our main findings show that soon after birth, greater connectivity between frontal and parietal brain regions is linked to improved behavioral regulation in human infants. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that connectiv...

Dr. Bill Petri has been working at the University of Virginia since he was 20 years old. His dedication to helping the community through the coronavirus pandemic is now being recognized by the University. Petri risked his own health to care for patients inside the COVID ward, and now UVA is honoring his sacrifice with the Thomas Jefferson Award for Excellence in Scholarship.

The University of Virginia School of Medicine will have a new leader. Dr. Melina Kibbe has been selected as the 17th dean of the school and the chief health officer for UVA Health. She will be starting at UVA in September.

The head of the University of North Carolina Department of Surgery has been named dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine and chief health affairs officer for the University of Virginia Health System. Dr. Melina R. Kibbe will serve as the 17th dean of the medical school, taking over for Dr. David S. Wilkes, who held the position for the last six years. Kibbe will take over Sept. 15.

The University of Virginia has named Dr. Melina R. Kibbe the next dean of its medical school and chief health affairs officer for UVA Health, the university announced in a news release Wednesday.