Author Archives: Ambika Bhushan

For almost a week now, students on campus and commentators across the country have picked apart the supposed senior art project of Aliza Shvarts ’08 — whether it’s art, whether it’s immoral, whether the University erred in barring her display from going up as scheduled Tuesday. But some observers in the medical world have been »

When Michael Koelle, director of undergraduate studies in the Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry department, came to Yale 10 years ago, there were twice as many MB&B majors as there were last year. His initial reaction: it was simple coincidence. Biology-oriented students, he assumed, were probably just drifting to other biology-related majors. But a departmental analysis »

Yale’s Faculty of Engineering will be spun off into its own school, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the University announced Monday. In a move approved by the Yale Corporation over the weekend, Dean of Engineering T. Kyle Vanderlick will take the helm of the new school, whose faculty will be increased in size »

Yale School of Medicine will eliminate the required parental contribution for families making up to $100,000 annually beginning next year, Dean Robert Alpern announced Monday. The sweeping initiative aims to reduce student doctor debt for middle-income students and curb the attrition of medical-school graduates in lower-paying specialties. The policy — funded by a $1.1 million »

Kenneth Kidd, professor of genetics, psychiatry and ecology and evolutionary biology, chuckles softly as he explains that the “Asian flush” is actually rooted in science. “We all have East Asian friends who turn bright red with alcohol,” Kidd said. The reason for this “flushing reaction,” he explained, is that many Asians carry variants of genes »

A speaker whizzing around the lecture hall on a personal transporter, a robot bumping into audience members’ feet, free donuts — this scene may not be like a typical lecture on Science Hill. But at “Science Saturdays,” it is by no means out of place. A concept pioneered by mechanical engineering professor Ainissa Ramirez in »

Mary Tinetti and colleagues perform research on aging-related health conditions at the Claude Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, a foundation funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1992, Tinetti said, who is director of the Pepper Center and the Yale Program on Aging. But a few days ago, Tinetti said, they were informed that »

Complexity, so the saying goes, doesn’t necessarily equal perfection: There is always room to improve. Now Yale scientists are learning this adage holds true in evolutionary biology. According to recent research by Yale scientists, organisms do not become less evolvable — that is, less responsive to natural selection — as they become more complex, a »

Weight discrimination — unequal treatment or prejudice toward overweight or obese individuals — is as prevalent as racial discrimination, according to research published earlier this month by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. But despite its prevalence, weight discrimination continues to be socially acceptable and thus is not looked down on as severely »

The word “pre-med” may recall an image of the constantly frazzled student with dark under-eye bags and a coffee cup in hand — at least at Yale College. But this image is far from accurate for some students who actually manage to complete the pre-med requirements — those at the University’s medical school. With no »

When she worked to raise money for an AIDS advocacy organization, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, as a high school student, Lauren Taylor ’08 said a career involving health was only a faint possibility in the distant future. But all that changed when she came to Yale. When she arrived at Yale, courses like “AIDS and »

For decades, Yale students have schlepped to 17 Hillhouse Ave. in hopes of battling off the tiny germs that cause their colds and coughs. But a few years from now, the only thing tiny they will find there are the nanowires and quantum dots that have captured the intrigue of Yale engineers. Yale University Health »