The University of Virginia Medical Center recently participated in a clinical study for a new way to screen for Down syndrome in unborn babies. The DNA prenatal blood test is non-invasive and is also more accurate than many other testing procedures previously used. Dr. Devereux Saller is the director of maternal-fetal medicine at UVA Medical Center. He says screening for Down syndrome in unborn babies has existed for some time but this new blood test is promising to be more accurate.
Because children in poverty face increased risk for poor language skills, that means kids with low skills are often clustered together, said Laura Justice, professor in the School of Teaching and Learning at Ohio State University and formerly on the faculty at U.Va.'s Curry School of Education. She conducted the study with Yaacov Petscher and Christopher Schatschneider of Florida State University and Andrew Mashburn of the University of Virginia Curry School. Their findings appear in the new issue of the journal Child Development.
Dr. Laura Horst Rosenberger, a research fellow in the department of surgery at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, said in an American College of Surgeons news release. The bacteria that cause the infections are opportunistic, Horst explained, targeting people who are already very ill and are less likely to survive because of other factors.
Kulwant Rai, research director of the Tayloe Murphy Center, studied several low-income communities in North Carolina and Virginia before and after credit unions targeting that population opened and found crime had indeed dropped as a result.
The Virginia Film Festival headquarters at the Main Street Arena on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall are now open. Sales have been so high that four screenings/events are already sold out.
The three-day YouthNex conference at U.Va.'s Alumni Hall is hosting top minds from around the country, there to present findings from studies on teen drinking, teen driving and bullying in school.
Lee Kirk, president and CEO of Culpeper Regional Health System, announced that the hospital in conjunction with the University of Virginia Medical Center will open a new satellite breast cancer clinic in January.
With Virginia's outgoing U.S. Senator [Jim Webb] giving a kick-off speech, the University of Virginia opened its 11th school last week in a building that got a spiffy renovation that recalls its earliest days as UVA's first major dining hall.
A program by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is looking to graduate 1,000 additional women with information technology-related degrees by next year. The project, called NCWIT Pacesetters, includes partnerships with higher education institutions and businesses to boost retention and recruitment of women in informational technology. Some businesses and universities that are signed up include University of Virginia; University of California, Santa Cruz; Google; and IBM.
The Princeton Review, which publishes in conjunction with USA Today, highlights 50 private and 50 public four-year institutions "that provide high-quality academics at a reasonable price, either by controlling costs or offsetting them with stellar financial packages." The University of Virginia ranks No. 1 among public institutions and William & Mary makes No. 7.
Last week, UVA announced that a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation would fund 10 faculty hires in interdisciplinary fields. Those hires will be part of the Institute of Humanities and Global Cultures, a new collaborative arts and sciences framework at UVA.However, those hires represent only 5 percent of the new faculty that the college expects to make in the next six to eight years. According to Meredith Woo, Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
A state agency is recommending that $363.5 million be spent over the next budget cycle to fund public colleges and universities as they phase in the Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia also said Tuesday that the state would need $164.1 million in non-general fund revenue over the 2012-14 biennium, in the form of tuition increases of 3 to 5 percent annually.
Over 300 individuals attended a private party at the University of Virginia's Darden School on Saturday night to celebrate UVa's 2011 NCAA title. Ten members of the squad were also honored with team awards for their accomplishments during the title campaign.
Anthony R. Picarello Jr.
Lawyer
As religious freedom becomes an issue for the Church in the U.S., the American conference of Catholic bishops has appointed Anthony R. Picarello Jr. as associate general secretary for policy and advocacy. He graduated in 1995 from the University of Virginia School of Law and received a master’s degree in religious studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Jonathan Coleman
Local author
Coleman, who graduated from the University of Virginia in 1973 and lives in Charlottesville, has enjoyed successful careers in publishing, journalism, and as a best-selling nonfiction author. His latest project, "West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life," is a collaboration with basketball legend Jerry West.
Robert Bruner
Dean of the Darden School
Q and A with Robert Bruner, dean of the Darden School
Financial Times of India / Oct. 22
Kyle Kondik
Political analyst at the Center for Politics
Underdog No More, Chris Murphy Builds Early Lead, War Chest In 2012 Race For U.S. Senate
Hartford Courant / Oct. 24
Eric Lott
Professor of American studies
The GOP’s Outsider Within
Truthdig / Oct. 24
Parke Muth
Senior assistant dean and director of international admission
Countdown to college: The safe, predictable essay will be DOA
Sacramento Bee / Oct. 24
Larry Sabato
Professor of politics and di...
Ronald T. Wilcox
Darden professor of business administration and author of "Whatever Happened to Thrift? Why Americans Don't Save and What to Do About It."
John White, a U.S. patent attorney, is an Adjunct Law Professor at the University of Virginia School of Law
Started in 2005, Knopp initially focused on developing a diagnostic test for ALS, but later licensed a molecule developed at the University of Virginia that showed promise as a treatment for the lethal neurological affliction.