all Steven E. Hyman stories

Speeding new medicines and technologies to the developing world

404132862 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:16:00 -0500

A consortium of Harvard and five other leading research universities and the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) have endorsed a far-reaching “Statement of Principles and Strategies for the Equitable Dissemination of Medical Technologies” in the developing world.

Stimulus funds provide welcome research boost

705287540 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:15:58 -0400

In remarks last month at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., President Barack Obama said not only do we need stimulus money to create thousands of jobs in the sciences and technology, but also to get the progress of the nation’s research back on track.

NIH renews Harvard Center for AIDS Research grant for another five years

404132862 — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:22:18 -0400

The National Institutes of Health has renewed for five years - and $18.1 million - the funding for the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research (Harvard CFAR).

Harvard is one of only 20 NIH CFAR sites in the U.S. and first received the designation in 2004.

Lifestyle culprit in increase in cardiovascular disease

404132862 — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:43:45 -0400

Despite the perception that cardiovascular disease is a problem of industrialized countries, it is the leading cause of death everywhere except Africa, where it is eclipsed by the raging AIDS epidemic, experts gathered at Harvard Medical School (HMS) said Wednesday.

Scholars discuss ‘medicalization’ of formerly normal characteristics

404132862 — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:57:31 -0400

Not long ago, a majority of Americans described themselves as “shy,” a condition of reticence or caution that for ages just seemed natural.

In a discourse on blushing, Darwin thought of shyness — “self-attention” — as an adaptive trait. In a poem, Emily Dickinson described it as something that follows emotional pain: “a formal feeling comes — / The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs.”

Cherry A. Murray is named dean of SEAS

90581724 — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:56:42 -0400

Cherry A. Murray, who has led some of the nation’s most brilliant scientists and engineers at Bell Laboratories and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has been appointed dean of Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), effective July 1, 2009.

She will also become the John A. and Elizabeth S. Armstrong Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Taking a stride toward synthetic life

50443248 — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:29:28 -0500

Harvard scientists have cleared a key hurdle in the creation of synthetic life, assembling a cell’s critical protein-making machinery in an advance with both practical, industrial applications and that advances the basic understanding of life’s workings.

New web site aids Harvard faculty seeking funding

404132862 — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:38:51 -0500

With literally tens of billions of dollars in federal research funding suddenly available — and application deadlines for proposals extraordinarily short — Harvard’s Provost’s Office has established a new web site to aid faculty members seeking grants.

A new button on the left-hand side of the HarvardScience home page labeled “New Funding Available” brings up http://research.harvard.edu.

Science, engineering programs advancing

404132862 — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:16:21 -0500

Harvard President Drew Faust today renewed the University’s commitment to the vision of advancing interdisciplinary, collaborative science in general, and the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (SCRB), the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (WIBIE) in particular.

Hansjorg Wyss gives $125 million to create institute for biologically inspired engineering

404132862 — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:48:09 -0400

Engineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Hansjörg Wyss MBA ’65 has given Harvard University $125 million to create the Hansjörg Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

Investigators at the Wyss Institute (pronounced “Vees”) will strive to uncover the engineering principles that govern living things, and use this knowledge to develop technology solutions for the most pressing healthcare and environmental issues facing humanity. Wyss’ gift is the largest individual gift in the University’s history.

Middle Eastern families yield intriguing clues to autism

404132862 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:27:58 -0400

Research involving large Middle Eastern families, sophisticated genetic analysis and groundbreaking neuroscience has implicated a half-dozen new genes in autism. More importantly, it strongly supports the emerging idea that autism stems from disruptions in the brain’s ability to form new connections in response to experience – consistent with autism’s onset during the first year of life, when many of these connections are normally made.

"...An important experiment for Harvard."

404132862 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:49:06 -0400

When the Harvard University Science and Engineering Committee (HUSEC) gathered for its first meeting late last April, it was charged by not one, but two Harvard Presidents.

Then President-designate and now President Drew Faust told the 18 members of the new committee that theirs is both a unique and “historic” body, created to forge meaningful scientific collaborations across the individual disciplines and schools of a University long-known for the independence of its departments and schools.

Dean of Engineering and Applied Sciences to step down

404132862 — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:16:40 -0500

Venkatesh Narayanamurti, dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), who for 10 years has directed the renewal and expansion of the former division and its transition to a School, has announced today (Feb. 15) his intention to step down from his position in September 2008.

Berkman named to head Center for Population and Development Studies

404132862 — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:38:58 -0400

Social epidemiologist Lisa Berkman has been appointed director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard Provost Steven E. Hyman today announced.

“I am extremely pleased that Professor Berkman has accepted the position,” said Hyman. “She brings both expertise in population-based research and a long history of collaborative activities that will serve to reinvigorate the center, expand the breadth of its work, and involve faculty and students from across the University.”

Addiction illuminates concept of ‘free will’

50443248 — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:38:37 -0400

Whether humans possess free will or whether their actions are determined by something outside their conscious control is one of the most persistent problems in philosophy.

In a lecture May 9, Steven E. Hyman warned his audience that he would not attempt to resolve the issue of free will in an ultimate sense. He did, however, have some fascinating insights regarding a special instance of the free-will dilemma — namely, the neurochemical mechanisms that result in the loss of free will when a person becomes addicted to drugs.

“Drug addiction has been used as a yardstick for reward-based behavior,” said Hyman. “With addiction, there is a narrowing of life focus in that drug-seeking crowds out all other motivations and goals.”