New $10M Endowment to Advance Big Data Research
Office of the Executive VP and Provost, Office of the VP for Research, Data Science Institute
A new $10 million gift establishes an endowment to support the new Data Science Institute. The institute advances the University’s aspiration to meet growing national needs in the complex and rapidly expanding field of data analytics, storage, security and ethics. The center was founded in 2013 and it represents one of 15 key strategies embodied in the pillars of the new strategic plan.  CONTINUE READING

Matching the Right Tumor with the Right Drug
School of Medicine
There are three common drugs for advanced ovarian cancer: paclitaxel, cyclophosphamide, and topotecan. Like a shell game, if you pick the right drug a patient is likely to respond. And, unfortunately, picking the wrong drug can lead to treatment failure. As reported in this month's issue of the journal PLoS ONE, a University of Colorado Cancer Center and U.Va. study used a sophisticated model of ovarian cancer genetics to match the right tumor with the right drug. Patients who were matched in this way lived an average 21 months longer than patients who were not matched. CONTINUE READING

New Understanding of a Mysterious Form of Leukemia
School of Medicine
Research has shed light on a mysterious form of leukemia that can appear and then disappear in children with Down syndrome. The findings may have important implications for other forms of leukemia and other diseases, possibly leading to new treatments, and could one day help people with problems related to platelet deficiencies as well. CONTINUE READING

Collaborating to Strengthen Virginia's Transportation Infrastructure
School of Engineering & Applied Science
It takes constant research to maintain a safe, efficient, sustainable transportation system in the face of ever-growing demands for mobility. That’s the rationale behind the Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research (VCTIR), a long-term partnership between the Engineering School and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).
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Marry or Move In Together? Brain Knows the Difference
College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
Marriage is linked with numerous health benefits that simply cohabiting doesn't seem to provide. Now, research suggests the reason why – the brain links "just" living together with a lack of commitment and can't relax. "We really pay close attention to when it's safe to let down our guard and to outsource our stress response to our social networks," said study researcher Jim Coan. CONTINUE READING

Paranormal Activity Lab
School of Medicine
The Division of Perceptual Studies is a fascinating place. Founded in 1967 by Dr. Ian Stevenson – originally as the Division of Personality Studies – its mission is “the scientific empirical investigation of phenomena that suggest that currently accepted scientific assumptions and theories about the nature of mind or consciousness, and its relation to matter, may be incomplete.” CONTINUE READING

Racial Bias in Pain Perception Appears Among Children as Young as 7
College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
“Our research shows that a potentially very harmful bias in adults emerges during middle childhood, and appears to develop across childhood,” said the study’s lead investigator, Rebecca Dore, a Ph.D. candidate in developmental psychology.  Dore noted that this finding is important because many kinds of explicit biases emerge in early childhood – such as children wanting to play with friends of their own race – but those types of biases often decline in later childhood. CONTINUE READING

From Ballet Shoes to Human Tissue, Printing Ideas Into 3-D Reality
Curry School of Education
With the push of a button – plus a lot of design work and hours of waiting – the emerging technology of 3-D printing can produce food, plastic phone accessories, even human tissue. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien explores how businesses and schools are creating everything from speakers to ballet shoes, as well as serious challenges and risks presented by ever-widening printing possibilities. The report includes an interview with Glen Bull of the Curry School of Education. CONTINUE READING

Immune System Has Dramatic Impact on Children’s Brain Development
School of Medicine
Researchers working in Bangladesh determined that the more days infants suffered fever, the worse they performed on developmental tests at 12 and 24 months. CONTINUE READING

Military Drones: Shaving Costs
School of Engineering & Applied Science
Razor, an experimental vehicle designed by the MITRE Corporation and the University, is turned out to order by 3D printers and is controlled by an Android smart phone loaded with freely available apps. It costs $2,000. CONTINUE READING

Hubbell Watches Stars' Clockwork Motion in Nearby Galaxy
College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
Using the sharp-eyed NASA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers (including Assistant Professor Nitya Kallivayalil) have for the first time precisely measured the rotation rate of a galaxy based on the clock-like movement of its stars. CONTINUE READING