University researchers to design airborne virus detectors

An interdisciplinary team of university researchers is developing devices to rapidly screen for the virus that causes COVID-19 in the air. The hope is the device could reduce the likelihood of superspreader events.

How racial violence affects Black Americans’ well-being

Black Americans experience an increase in poor mental health days during weeks when at least two incidents of anti-Black violence occur and when national interest in the events is higher, according to a timely study involving sociologist Hedwig Lee in Arts & Sciences.

Andean forests have high potential to store carbon

The forests of the Andes Mountains are helping to protect the planet by acting as a carbon sink, absorbing carbon dioxide and keeping some of the gas out of circulation, according to biologists in Arts & Sciences and their partners in a Living Earth Collaborative working group.

Center builds pipeline of researchers

The International Center for Child Health and Development at the Brown School works to reduce poverty and improve health in low-resource settings. It also has another goal: working to encourage more students and early-career investigators from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in research.

Notables

Dolores B. Njoku, MD, a noted clinician, researcher and mentor, has been named director of pediatric anesthesiology at the School of Medicine and anesthesiologist-in-chief at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. She also will be the new Rudolph L. and Mary Frances Wise Endowed Chair in Pediatric Anesthesiology.

Research Wire

John E. McCarthy, the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Mathematics in Arts & Sciences, received a five-year $450,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop new tools to deal with complexity in the design of systems such as those used in automatic pilots and self-driving cars.

Announcements

Help celebrate 2021 graduates

Faculty, staff, friends and loved ones are invited to submit messages of support for the Class of 2021. Submit photo and video messages for the overall class or to specific students by Saturday, April 24.