A conversation with Dr. William A. Petri Jr., chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases & International Health at the University of Virginia, led to the idea of applying an interesting cancer treatment technique to infectious disease. Along with Dr. Chelsea Marie, postdoctoral researcher in the Petri Laboratory at Virginia and first author of the paper, the researchers tried to silence genes in human cells to see if the loss of any one single gene would confer immunity to the parasite E. histolytica, which is responsible for 40,000-110,000 deaths worldwide via severe diarheaa.
Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced last week that he would take a pass on the 2017 governor’s race and run for reelection instead, opting to aim for four more years in a job that allows for gutsy legal maneuvers rather than one saddled with legislative gridlock. A. E. Dick Howard, a University of Virginia law professor and constitutional scholar, said partisan gridlock in Richmond means “the attorney general in some way is able to make more impact on the shape of Virginia law and policy than the governor. It makes perfect sense to me for an attorney general, who’s abl...
Scientists have developed a novel approach to protect humans from infections by adjusting the genes of the human cells to remove the mechanism that allows pathogens to cause diseases. "This amoeba is a cluster bomb - a voracious killer. In the back of my mind I was thinking the parasite was going to decimate the host cells no matter what we did with their genetics," said Chelsea Marie, postdoctoral researcher in the Petri Laboratory at University of Virginia.
The University of Virginia sends about 1,700 undergraduates and around 750 graduate students over seas every year, to gain international experience, make new friends and learn new things.
Medical facilities in Charlottesville will soon be seeing a new group of volunteers from the University of Virginia coming through to give their time. Students lined up outside of Madison House Sunday to sign up for the Medical Services Volunteer Program.
University of Virginia undergraduate students can now minor in entrepreneurship, no matter their major. Many schools at the university have had informal entrepreneurship programs, but now an interdisciplinary minor will allow for collaboration between the schools.
A "liberal-conservative divide" exists when it comes to whether people are happily married, according to a research brief just released by the Institute for Family Studies. "It suggests partisanship is one cultural factor linked to the prevalence, quality and stability of family life in America," wrote W. Bradford Wilcox and Nicholas H. Wolfinger. Wilcox directs the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and is a senior fellow at the institute, among other titles.
China Scherz is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Virginia, and the author of “Having People, Having Heart: Charity, Sustainable Development, and Problems of Dependence in Central Uganda,”University of Chicago Press, 2014, an analysis of nongovernmental organizations working with AIDS orphans and children with disabilities in Uganda. In it, she challenges current international development norms and standards, suggesting that Ugandans see those norms as suspect refusals to redistribute wealth. Scherz answers some questions about her book.
Republican frontrunner Donald Trump's taunt of "sad" rival Jeb Bush -- "he was supposed to win, and he just doesn't have the energy" -- speaks volumes about the billionaire's propensity to go for the jugular. One reason Bush may not be resonating like Trump, argued veteran political observer Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, is that Bush is among the status-quo politicians who are seen as "human tape recorders," who regurgitate consultant-approved soundbites.
A crucial number may lie at the heart of the escalating slap fight between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. That number is 40: the percentage of Florida’s Hispanic vote that the Republican presidential nominee may need to win the state in the general election. Behind that calculus lie cold political numbers. At the presidential level, the Democrats have a blue state base of 247 electoral votes, according to political scientist Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. The Republicans have 206 red state votes.
Gov. Bobby Jindal believes a Kentucky clerk who is headed to jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples would be legally protected in Louisiana. "State law, including Gov. Jindal's executive order, is no defense ... It is irrelevant," said Laycock, a law professor at the University of Virginia.
While college students have been touring Europe, saving rainforests, or interning at high-powered government offices, college faculty and administrators have been preparing for the upcoming school year and the biggest problem that afflicts our institutions of higher learning: microaggressions. A fellow University of Virginia sociologist, Donald Black, elaborates: moral cultures are products of social conditions, and “acts of social dominance — such as belittling someone with insults,” are “more offensive in places or relationships where people are relatively equal.
“Digital enticements are displacing the pleasures of driving,” says Matt Crawford, a political philosopher at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture who also fabricates components for custom motorcycles. “So that whole sense of getting in the car and finding out what’s beyond the next town is less powerful.” Maybe car culture is waning, he suggests, because “parents are less authoritarian and want to be your friend.” In other words, the need to rebel isn’t what it used to be.
Kylie Doniak recalled that some of those closest to her weren't sure how she would react to watching soccer again. A four-year starter in the midfield for the University of Texas, she would testify that one of her games was the last clear memory she had before the night of Feb. 3, 2012, when a drunk driver struck her as she walked and nearly killed her. But eight months after the accident, eight months into what would truthfully be years of recovery, she sat in the stands in Austin and looked out over the same field on which she had played so many times. It wasn't difficult to be remin...
(By William Guildford, associate professor of biomedical engineering and undergraduate program director, University of Virginia) The explosive growth of online education has ignited a long-overdue conversation about the virtues of brick-and-mortar colleges. All of us in higher education have been forced to confront fundamental questions of our purpose. What do our students really get out of college? Are lectures and grades all students really need? Are we more than just credentialing organizations?
(Coauthored by W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia) When it comes to understanding what’s happening with marriage in America, the “real issue that we need to be concerned about is economics,” not the contrasts between “Democrats versus Republicans, liberals versus conservatives, [in other words,] those quick to embrace new modes of life versus those who celebrate tradition.” Family scholars Naomi Cahn and June Carbone recently wrote these words in Time, responding to our research showing that Republicans tend...
For years focused ultrasound has been used to treat cancers, but for the first time in the U.S. it is being used it in a clinical trial to treat symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. A clinical trial is under weigh at the University of Virginia Medical center that may change the face of treatment options for patients of the disease.
Leaders in charge of patient care at the University of Virginia Medical Center say the quality of care is better than ever thanks to the new accreditation. On Thursday, a subcommittee from the UVA Board of Visitors discussed how the hospital should maintain staff and patient safety. The center was recently recertified for three more years as a level one trauma center mainly because of strict safety precautions, the board members say.
It's a question parents have long had to answer: Should they send their child to kindergarten at age 5, or wait a year until they believe their child is ready? "Greater variation in age and ability within a classroom may have important consequences for children's learning opportunities if it affects the pedagogical approach a teacher takes or the overall classroom climate," research from professors at Stanford and the University of Virginia warn. "We leave the investigation of how parental decisions and cohort composition shape instructional practices and collective outc...
The first few weeks at college can be filled with fun, like meeting new friends, late night parties, and football Saturdays. Of course, there's more to school than that. Tim Davis, director of Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of Virginia says the whole idea that the early part of college is fun-filled and stress-free is a complete misnomer.