Education (Colleges & Universities)
Here's a look at documents from public, private and community colleges in the U.S.
Featured Stories
University of Phoenix Leaders Present at PACRAO Annual Conference Event Focused on Advancing Knowledge of Professionals Engaged in Enrollment and Academic Services
PHOENIX, Arizona, Nov. 25 -- The University of Phoenix issued the following news release on Nov. 24, 2025:
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Leaders at PACRAO Conference
University of Phoenix leaders present at PACRAO Annual Conference event focused on advancing knowledge of professionals engaged in enrollment and academic services
Administrative leaders shared best practices in student success, transfer pathways, and leadership strategies
By Sharla Hooper
Leaders with University of Phoenix joined the proceedings of the Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (PACRAO) Annual Conference,
... Show Full Article
PHOENIX, Arizona, Nov. 25 -- The University of Phoenix issued the following news release on Nov. 24, 2025:
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Leaders at PACRAO Conference
University of Phoenix leaders present at PACRAO Annual Conference event focused on advancing knowledge of professionals engaged in enrollment and academic services
Administrative leaders shared best practices in student success, transfer pathways, and leadership strategies
By Sharla Hooper
Leaders with University of Phoenix joined the proceedings of the Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (PACRAO) Annual Conference,November 9-12, 2025, in Spokane, WA, and contributed to sessions on a range of topics including academic policy, transfer evaluation, faculty engagement, leadership strategies, articulation processes, and holistic well-being.
"Having a group of University of Phoenix leaders share their insights at PACRAO reflects our commitment to advancing best practices across higher education," said Marc Booker, Ph.D., vice provost of strategy at University of Phoenix. "From building transfer pathways to enhancing leadership and communication strategies, these sessions provide actionable approaches that help peer institutions better serve today's learners and positions the higher education to thrive as we pursue our goals."
The annual event is intended for higher education professionals from a variety of disciplines and offers presentations, workshops, and panels featuring presenters from across the Pacific region. PACRAO is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association representing more than 350 institutionally accredited 2-year, 4-year, and graduate schools with an individual membership of 1,500 professional admissions officers and registrars.
Leadership from the University of Phoenix presented on numerous topics at the PACRAO Annual Conference, including the following:
* Dr. Marc Booker, vice provost of strategy, led the session "Strategies to Maximize Outcomes as an Influential Leader on Campus," offering insights on maximizing leadership impact when working with cross-functional teams.
* Deslie Ghiorzi, admissions and evaluation college articulation manager, presented "The Art of Articulation: Building Bridges for Student Mobility," providing a high-level look at articulation processes that support student mobility and strengthen transfer pathways. Ghiorzi also led "Why Healthy Habits Matter: Energy, Resilience, and Well-Being," focusing on nutrition, physical activity, sleep hygiene, and stress management, and offering practical strategies for sustainable self-care.
* Daja McCleve, product manager, and Audra McQuarie, vice president, registrar, co-presented "Faculty Accommodations Dashboard: Enhancing Awareness, Supporting Students," showcasing how the dashboard has increased faculty awareness and strengthened support for students with accommodations.
* Joe Tate, senior director, program and policy implementation, led the session, "Comparing & Evaluating Academic Policies to Promote Student Success," highlighting the registrar's role in promoting student success through academic policy and reviewing research into best practices and challenges across institutions.
* Kris Thrasher, manager, admissions and evaluation, presented "Enhancing Transfer Evaluation with OCR: Challenges and Successes in Admissions," exploring strategies to improve accuracy, reduce errors, and train staff in transcript evaluation using OCR technology.
University of Phoenix leaders also contributed to PACRAO's Leadership Development Institute (LDI), with McQuarie serving as faculty and Ghiorzi as associate faculty. The LDI provides professional growth opportunities for emerging leaders in admissions, records and registration. The program focuses on equipping higher education professionals with the skills to navigate evolving student demographics and advance student success.
Learn more here about the PACRAO Annual Conference (https://www.pacrao.org/2025_annual_conference.php).
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About University of Phoenix
University of Phoenix innovates to help working adults enhance their careers and develop skills in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, skills-mapped curriculum for our bachelor's and master's degree programs and a Career Services for Life(R) commitment help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit phoenix.edu/blog.html.
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Original text here: https://www.phoenix.edu/press-release/leaders-at-pacrao-conference.html
Scientists Get Detailed Look at Part of a Cellular 'Stress' Warning Protein
BALTIMORE, Maryland, Nov. 25 (TNSjou) -- Johns Hopkins Medicine issued the following news release:
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Scientists Get Detailed Look at Part of a Cellular 'Stress' Warning Protein
ZAK protein places the ribosome at the center of cell signaling and offers therapeutic potential
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In an effort to reveal the inner workings of a protein that serves as a cell's damage detection system, scientists at Johns Hopkins and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (LMU) have published what is believed to be the first 3D details of the ZAK protein's structure.
ZAK has long been known to play a role in
... Show Full Article
BALTIMORE, Maryland, Nov. 25 (TNSjou) -- Johns Hopkins Medicine issued the following news release:
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Scientists Get Detailed Look at Part of a Cellular 'Stress' Warning Protein
ZAK protein places the ribosome at the center of cell signaling and offers therapeutic potential
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In an effort to reveal the inner workings of a protein that serves as a cell's damage detection system, scientists at Johns Hopkins and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (LMU) have published what is believed to be the first 3D details of the ZAK protein's structure.
ZAK has long been known to play a role inregulating cellular stress responses to agents such as UV irradiation. The structure, scientists say, depicts molecular detail down to the atomic level of about a third of the protein, uncovering the mechanism of activation of this protein and setting scientists on a path to eventually develop specialized treatments that target this signaling network.
"In order to develop drugs to target these proteins, we need to understand how they work and how the proteins interact with other parts of the cell," says Rachel Green, Ph.D., a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics and the Daniel Nathans Director of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The findings, published Nov. 19 in Nature (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09772-8) and supported in part by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, are the result of more than two years of work between Johns Hopkins and LMU scientists to determine the shape, structure and action of the ZAK protein.
Green is an expert in studying the dynamics of cellular structures called ribosomes, a macromolecular machine that travels along genetic material called messenger RNA (mRNA) and decodes it to make proteins. When a cell is damaged from UV light or is exposed to various stresses including nutrient depletion or various toxins, actively translating ribosomes can stall, disrupting travel along the mRNA, causing collisions and stopping travel. The ribosome traffic jam causes cells to produce incomplete or abnormal proteins and activates the ribotoxic stress response pathway, mediated by ZAK.
"The way the cell knows there's a problem is through ribosomes," says Green, whose team found in 2020 that ribosome collisions activate the ZAK protein.
The new experiments were undertaken to better understand how ZAK proteins "interact directly with ribosomes to sense when something is wrong with protein translation and communicate this to downstream signaling factors," says Vienna Huso, a graduate student in Green's lab and first author of the current research.
For the new studies, the Johns Hopkins team used lab-cultured human cells to study ZAK signaling dynamics upon ribosome collisions. Typically, ZAK proteins are not abundant in these cells, so Huso engineered them to overproduce inactivated ZAK proteins. Then, she used a drug that causes ribosomes to pause on the mRNA during translation to induce ribosome collisions and activate ZAK. The ZAK protein had a molecular tag that enabled the scientists to grab an enriched sample of activated ZAK protein bound to ribosomes.
With the samples containing activated ZAK proteins, the Johns Hopkins scientists worked with collaborators at LMU to use cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to visualize the protein and to define a 3D structure.
It took two years of work and hundreds of samples the team reported before Huso received a text from LMU graduate student and co-first author Shuangshuang Niu saying she may have a promising result from the cryoEM that revealed about a third of the ZAK protein's structure. Later, the Munich lab's principal investigator, Roland Beckmann, confirmed the finding with Green.
Looking at the protein sequence and predicted structural elements, more than half of ZAK is predicted to be unstructured, "like spaghetti," says Green. The other portions looked more structured, the scientists say. The protein may float around the cell with the "spaghetti" end acting as a tentacle to hang onto and ultimately detect collided ribosomes. The two halves of ZAK appear to form a bridge that connects two collided ribosomes, they say.
Green and Huso's research revealed multiple specific interactions of the ZAK protein with the ribosome. They found that the so-called C terminus, or end, of ZAK binds to a ribosome regardless of its collision state, and makes collision-specific interactions with ribosomal rRNA known as expansion segments. They further found that an area near the middle of the ZAK protein, called the RIM, interacts with RACK1 on the ribosome to activate ZAK when ribosomes collide.
Green says the new findings about ZAK's inner workings may advance insights into other kinase proteins like ZAK. Kinases are proteins that add chemical groups to other proteins, acting like on-off switches. Most drugs that target kinases bind to a location that tends to induce side effects. "Now, we know more about the makeup of these specialized sites in the ZAK protein and can be more specific in developing drugs that target it," says Green.
The research team says it plans to capture more of ZAK's structure, to get a deeper understanding of how the protein activates, and to find out what ZAK is doing when it's not connected to a colliding ribosome.
Additional authors included Marco Catipovic, James Saba and Eugene Park from Johns Hopkins; Jingdong Cheng from Fudan University in China; and Timo Denk, Thomas Becker and Otto Berninghausen from LMU.
The research was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the European Research Council, the National Key R&D program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Institutes of Health (5T32GM007445, F30 CA260910, 5T32AR074920), National Science Foundation, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, The Johns Hopkins University Provost's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and the Dermatology Foundation's Dermatologist Investigator Research Fellowship.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09772-8
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Original text here: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2025/11/scientists-get-detailed-look-at-part-of-a-cellular-stress-warning-protein
RIT Partners With Gallaudet University to Launch Research Traineeship Program in Universal AI
ROCHESTER, New York, Nov. 25 -- Rochester Institute of Technology issued the following news release:
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RIT partners with Gallaudet University to launch research traineeship program in Universal AI
Universities receive $4.5 million NSF award to jumpstart next generation of AI professionals
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RIT is teaming up with Gallaudet University to prepare the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) researchers and practitioners who will develop AI for everyone.
The universities received a $4.5 million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to launch a Universal AI Graduate Research
... Show Full Article
ROCHESTER, New York, Nov. 25 -- Rochester Institute of Technology issued the following news release:
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RIT partners with Gallaudet University to launch research traineeship program in Universal AI
Universities receive $4.5 million NSF award to jumpstart next generation of AI professionals
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RIT is teaming up with Gallaudet University to prepare the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) researchers and practitioners who will develop AI for everyone.
The universities received a $4.5 million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to launch a Universal AI Graduate ResearchTraineeship Program. The team is creating new interdisciplinary training curricula that will address gaps in graduate training to ensure that future AI developers consider all users of AI systems and their full range of sensory abilities.
The five-year NSF Research Traineeship Institutional Partnership Pilot (NRT-IPP) grant comes at a time when the investment and development of AI is ramping up worldwide.
"This is a critical moment for cultivating the next generation of AI researchers," said RIT Professor Reynold Bailey, a co-principal investigator on the project. "As AI rapidly advances and reshapes nearly every field, there is an urgent need for graduate students who not only possess deep technical expertise across disciplines but also grasp the ethical and societal implications of the technologies they develop."
The program is modeled on the AWARE-AI NSF Research Traineeship program at RIT. AWARE AI provides training to cross-disciplinary future research leaders developing responsible, human-aware AI technologies. The program has already trained more than 60 Ph.D. and master's students through four cohorts at RIT.
"The goal of the Universal AI initiative is also to create pathways into the AI research workforce," said RIT Professor Cecilia Alm, co-principal investigator and RIT team lead who is also director of AWARE-AI.
The traineeship program will allow RIT and Gallaudet to partner in human-centered AI research and knowledge transfer, in addition to expanding collaborations with industry.
"The Universal AI program equips students with this broader perspective--preparing them to become leaders who collaborate effectively and design human-centered AI systems that deliver meaningful benefits to society," said Alm.
The grant will provide tuition, stipends, and health benefits for 25 graduate trainees studying in Gallaudet's accessible human-centered computing and policy (AHCP) master's degree program. In year three of the grant, the AHCP program will add a new AI and accessibility track. The grant will also help deliver training opportunities for an additional 75 Gallaudet graduate students between 2025 and 2030. The team launched a pilot trainee program this fall.
At RIT, Gallaudet master's and RIT doctoral students will interact in summer lab rotations. The rotations will help trainees broaden their research horizons, spark new collaborations and ideas, expand their professional networks, and experience how different lab teams approach research challenges. They will include fundamental and applied AI projects spanning AI software and algorithms, AI hardware and robotics, human-computer interaction for AI, and cognitive and brain-inspired modeling for AI.
Students will also benefit from AI hackathons, mentor cafes, workshops, seminar talks, seed grant opportunities, internship experiences with industry, and training in team science skills. Training components will be adapted from AWARE-AI.
The project is led by principal investigator Raja Kushalnagar, professor at Gallaudet's School of Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health (STAMP). Co-PIs include Christian Vogler, professor in Gallaudet's STAMP; Bailey, professor in RIT's Department of Computer Science; and Alm, affiliated with both RIT's Department of Psychology and School of Information and joint program director of RIT's master's in AI.
Other leaders on the project include Ferat Sahin, department head of RIT's electrical and microelectronic engineering programs; Jamison Heard, assistant professor of electrical and microelectronic engineering at RIT; Esa Rantanen, associate professor of psychology at RIT; Matthew Seita, research scientist at Gallaudet; Jonah Winninghoff, data analyst at Gallaudet; and Abraham Glasser, assistant professor at Gallaudet.
Glasser is also a 2018 computer science alumnus and 2022 computing and information sciences Ph.D. alumnus from RIT/NTID.
"It is very exciting for me to be able to work directly with RIT again, especially on such an important and impactful project like this," said Glasser. "Overall, there is a lot of advancement in AI, but its potential to be universal and accessible while remaining safe, accountable, fair, and ethical--SAFE--has not been realized. This grant will train future researchers and developers of AI to do so while advocating its safety."
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Original text here: https://www.rit.edu/news/rit-partners-gallaudet-university-launch-research-traineeship-program-universal-ai
Novel Liver Cancer Vaccine Achieves Responses in Rare Disease Affecting Children and Young Adults
BALTIMORE, Maryland, Nov. 25 -- Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center issued the following news release:
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Novel Liver Cancer Vaccine Achieves Responses in Rare Disease Affecting Children and Young Adults
Three patients who presented with advanced disease are now believed to be cancer-free
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An experimental cancer vaccine developed at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg - Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy has shown early promise in a phase I clinical trial for a rare form of liver cancer that primarily affects children and young adults. The trial, led by investigators
... Show Full Article
BALTIMORE, Maryland, Nov. 25 -- Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center issued the following news release:
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Novel Liver Cancer Vaccine Achieves Responses in Rare Disease Affecting Children and Young Adults
Three patients who presented with advanced disease are now believed to be cancer-free
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An experimental cancer vaccine developed at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg - Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy has shown early promise in a phase I clinical trial for a rare form of liver cancer that primarily affects children and young adults. The trial, led by investigatorsat Johns Hopkins and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, was supported by the National Cancer Institute and the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation.
In the study, 75% of participants (nine patients) with fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) experienced disease control, including stable disease or measurable immune responses. Three patients (25%) had deep responses and are now believed to be cancer-free, including a 13-year-old who achieved a nearly complete response and continued on immunotherapy for two years.
These findings were published on Nov. 24 in Nature Medicine.
Most of the patients had tried at least one prior chemotherapy treatment and failed to respond. In one patient, treatment with the vaccine and immunotherapy allowed for successful surgical removal of the tumor. Prior to the therapy, the patient had been in significant pain, and symptom-directed care had been considered. This study provided a much-needed treatment option for the patient, and resulted in a response within a few months of being enrolled in the trial.
"This was a remarkable outcome," says co-corresponding study author Mark Yarchoan, M.D., an associate professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "To see patients achieve such deep and lasting responses, and reach important life milestones, was incredibly encouraging."
FLC is a rare liver cancer that affects approximately 500 people each year in the United States, typically healthy adolescents and young adults, explains lead study author Marina Baretti, M.D., an assistant professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Jiasheng Chair in Hepato-Biliary Cancer Research.
"When most people think of liver cancer, they think of cirrhosis or hepatitis," Baretti says. "But for this pediatric and young adult cancer, most patients are otherwise healthy. Unfortunately, there are no FDA-approved standard treatments, and the prognosis is especially poor for those whose tumors cannot be surgically removed."
What makes FLC uniquely suited for vaccine therapy is the presence of a consistent cancer driver in all patients: a fusion of the DNAJB1 and PRKACA proteins. This fusion protein creates a target shared by all FLC tumors, allowing for a single, universal vaccine that can potentially be used to treat patients with this cancer, Yarchoan explains.
From April 2020 to September 2022, investigators enrolled 16 patients age 12 and up, all with FLC that could not be surgically removed. The median patient age was 23. Four discontinued treatment for different reasons, leaving 12 for full evaluation.
There were two phases of the study: a 10-week priming phase and a maintenance phase of up to two years. During priming, patients received injections of the vaccine once a week for the first month, and then once every three weeks. During maintenance, they received the vaccine every eight weeks for up to a year. Along with the vaccine, they received intravenous infusions of immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs that are used for other liver cancers, to stimulate the immune system. During priming, they received two different immune therapies once every three weeks for a total of four times, followed by once a month for up to two years.
Overall, the vaccine was well-tolerated. The most common adverse events were injection-site reactions, headaches and fatigue.
Investigators are now expanding the study to allow treatment of more patients while they plan a larger clinical trial.
Study co-authors were Brian H. Ladle, Kayla J. Bendinelli, Zeal Kamdar, Won Jin Ho, Hao Wang, Heng-Chung Kung, Jeric Hernandez, Hanfei Qi, Sarah M. Shin, Alexei Hernandez, Mari Nakazawa, Robert A. Anders, Chris Thoburn, Neeha Zaidi, Amanda L. Huff, Mark Furth, Julie Nauroth and Elizabeth Jaffee of Johns Hopkins. Additional authors were from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants #R01-CA265009 and P30 CA006973), the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation, an ASCO Career Development Award, BSM Rare Cancers, the TIRTL Blue Sky Initiative and ALSAC at St. Jude.
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Original text here: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2025/11/novel-liver-cancer-vaccine-achieves-responses-in-rare-disease-affecting-children-and-young-adults
Niagara University College of Nursing Receives $4.5 Million Grant to Create Nursing Pathways and Bolster WNY Workforce
NIAGARA FALLS, New York, Nov. 25 -- Niagara University issued the following news:
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Niagara University College of Nursing Receives $4.5 Million Grant to Create Nursing Pathways and Bolster WNY Workforce
By Lisa McMahon
Niagara University's College of Nursing received a $4.5 million funding award to further its work to enhance the local nursing workforce and support students aspiring to join the profession.
The HELP Nursing Pathways Program, which begins in January, will implement educational interventions, provide scholarships, and mentor learners pursuing a degree in nursing, initiatives
... Show Full Article
NIAGARA FALLS, New York, Nov. 25 -- Niagara University issued the following news:
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Niagara University College of Nursing Receives $4.5 Million Grant to Create Nursing Pathways and Bolster WNY Workforce
By Lisa McMahon
Niagara University's College of Nursing received a $4.5 million funding award to further its work to enhance the local nursing workforce and support students aspiring to join the profession.
The HELP Nursing Pathways Program, which begins in January, will implement educational interventions, provide scholarships, and mentor learners pursuing a degree in nursing, initiativesthat build on the college's current endeavors to create new opportunities and improve retention and completion for underserved students. It will also leverage the college's partnerships with local healthcare organizations to create clinical rotations and experiences that will increase students' awareness of the opportunities available.
Ten students will be accepted each year over the five-year program period. These students will receive individualized comprehensive engagement plans, including services, academic coaching, and monthly programming to facilitate their ability to successfully complete their degrees and enter the workforce. In addition, the college's resiliency and resource officer will provide ongoing counseling to foster students' personal health and well-being and help them adapt to the stressors they may experience in their roles as nurses.
The HELP program will also offer an introduction to nursing certification program for individuals from high-needs areas who are beginning their career in healthcare and want to advance into higher positions or pursue a degree in nursing.
"The Nursing Pathways Program addresses the growing nursing shortage by preparing underrepresented students for careers in healthcare," said Dr. Christine Verni, dean of the college. "Students will receive the support they need to complete the program, and clinical experiences will be intentionally offered at settings with high vacancy rates to help fill open positions and encourage students to work at these facilities after graduation."
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Original text here: https://news.niagara.edu/niagara-university-college-of-nursing-receives-4-5-million-grant-to-create-nursing-pathways-and-bolster-wny-workforce/
DrPH Concentrations Address Real-World Problems, Encourage Connection
ATLANTA, Georgia, Nov. 25 -- Emory University Rollins School of Public Health issued the following news release:
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DrPH Concentrations Address Real-World Problems, Encourage Connection
Public health is experiencing a paradigm shift. To help meet this need, the Rollins School of Public Health has introduced two new concentration areas to its fully online DrPH program: Applied AI and Data Translation and Leadership for Public Health Policy. These concentrations will begin enrolling students in fall 2026 and join the existing Implementation and Evaluation Science and Public Health Preparedness
... Show Full Article
ATLANTA, Georgia, Nov. 25 -- Emory University Rollins School of Public Health issued the following news release:
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DrPH Concentrations Address Real-World Problems, Encourage Connection
Public health is experiencing a paradigm shift. To help meet this need, the Rollins School of Public Health has introduced two new concentration areas to its fully online DrPH program: Applied AI and Data Translation and Leadership for Public Health Policy. These concentrations will begin enrolling students in fall 2026 and join the existing Implementation and Evaluation Science and Public Health Preparednessand Response tracks of the program, which began this fall.
Both new concentrations speak to current demands posed by this current moment in public health, specifically, equipping public health practitioners and leaders with the skills they need to advance in the workplace and to navigate the changing data environment and complicated policy landscape that characterize public health today. The Applied AI and Data Translation concentration equips students with the skills to analyze, interpret, and effectively communicate complex data to inform evidence-based strategies, policies, programs, and interventions. The Leadership for Public Health Policy concentration, meanwhile, serves to prepare mid- to senior-level professionals with advanced leadership and policy analysis skills, and to develop a deep understanding of the political, economic, and social forces that shape public health systems.
Introducing Sarah Blake and Ramesh Manyam as New Concentration Leads
On top of the rigorous training offered by the program, students benefit from forming connections with their peers, faculty, and program leads. In addition to Allison Chamberlain, PhD, director of the DrPH program and lead of the Public Health Preparedness and Response concentration; and Delia Lang, PhD, executive associate dean of educational affairs (Implementation and Evaluation Science); concentration leads now also include Ramesh Manyam, PhD, assistant research professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics (AI and Data Translation); and Sarah Blake, PhD, associate professor of health policy and management (Leadership for Public Health Policy).
"By virtue of coming to a university like Emory or a school of public health like Rollins, you'll be able to naturally start expanding your network, being part of our community, and interfacing with the faculty that are part of the program," says Chamberlain. "If you're looking to go in a slightly different direction with your career or be introduced to different types of jobs, there's nothing better than having an expanded network to increase the likelihood that you're able to see something that you might be a great candidate for or to discover your new path."
Ramesh Manyam
Manyam's research focuses on data science, big data analytics, and risk models with cutting-edge machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms and high-performance computing environments. Specific fields of interest include longitudinal electronic health records data analytics, time series analyses, and risk prediction using statistical and machine learning algorithms.
Manyam is a trained computer scientist with decades of experience in data-driven research projects, building custom databases, software applications, and data visualization portals. He has hands-on experience with large-scale health care data sources, such as EPIC electronic health record software system, Emory's clinical data warehouse, and national clinical and surgical databases. Manyam currently researches computationally efficient machine learning/AI approaches and their applications for better health.
"Public health data is one of the fastest-growing sets of data on the planet--in the form of biomarkers, epidemiological data, genome data, sensors data, surveillance data, medical images, x-rays, and electronic health records," says Manyam.
"The vast wealth of such raw data must be processed and refined by well-educated data analysts and AI scientists before it can become smart data for the data owners, researchers, and end users. To refine raw data and translate it into actionable smart insights, industries, academia, and research organizations are on the lookout for specialized skills in computationally efficient AI methods and interpretable data visualization techniques. Our Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Translation concentration is equipped to develop cutting-edge AI-powered analytical skills to produce smart AI scientists who are in high demand in emerging public health careers."
Sarah Blake
Blake is the director of the Emory University Maternal and Child Health Center of Excellence, which provides public health training opportunities for the next generation of maternal and child health leaders. Blake holds a master's degree and a PhD in public policy. She applies this expertise to address disparities in reproductive and maternal and child health. Blake leads several public health research projects that address access to health care for low-income, medically underserved women and their families.
Additionally, Blake works closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Georgia Department of Public Health to examine how social and community level factors influence maternal morbidity and mortality. Blake also collaborates with several community-based organizations to address the growing maternal health crisis in Georgia.
Blake is excited to serve as the concentration lead for the DrPH program in Leadership for Public Health Policy.
"Public health leadership is crucial for shaping policy, as it involves guiding complex systems, advocating for community health, and translating research into action to create solutions for population-level problems. Through our program, DrPH students will learn to become effective leaders for developing and implementing evidence-based policies to improve health care access, prevent disease, promote healthy environments, and ensure health equity for populations."
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The 60-credit-hour DrPH program is delivered fully online and can be completed on a part-time or full-time basis. Applications are open now. Learn more about the program (https://sph.emory.edu/degrees-programs/drph?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23101159363&gbraid=0AAAABBlBwGmCePP5Z2YSfw_9Res9TJA9z&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoZDJBhC0ARIsAERP-F-g6MySWExenUwsYxjOtkP2RHaiDLuSo5lddih4mPo7K-lfqURxYekaApFhEALw_wcB#chapter=overview).
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Original text here: https://sph.emory.edu/news/drph-concentrations-address-real-world-problems-encourage-connection
'Zap-and-Freeze' Technique Successfully Used to Watch Human Brain Cell Communication
BALTIMORE, Maryland, Nov. 25 (TNSjou) -- Johns Hopkins Medicine issued the following news release:
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'Zap-and-Freeze' Technique Successfully Used to Watch Human Brain Cell Communication
Findings could help scientists investigate root cause of some forms of Parkinson's disease
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Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have used a "zap-and-freeze" technology to watch hard-to-see brain cell communications in living brain tissue from mice and humans.
Findings from the new experiments, supported by the National Institutes of Health and published Nov. 24 in Neuron, could potentially
... Show Full Article
BALTIMORE, Maryland, Nov. 25 (TNSjou) -- Johns Hopkins Medicine issued the following news release:
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'Zap-and-Freeze' Technique Successfully Used to Watch Human Brain Cell Communication
Findings could help scientists investigate root cause of some forms of Parkinson's disease
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Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have used a "zap-and-freeze" technology to watch hard-to-see brain cell communications in living brain tissue from mice and humans.
Findings from the new experiments, supported by the National Institutes of Health and published Nov. 24 in Neuron, could potentiallyhelp scientists find the root causes of nonheritable forms of Parkinson's disease, the researchers say.
Sporadic cases of Parkinson's disease account for most cases of the neurodegenerative disorder, according to the Parkinson's Foundation. The condition is marked by disruptions to the signaling point between two brain cells. That connection point, known as a synapse, is notoriously difficult to study, says Shigeki Watanabe, Ph.D., associate professor of cell biology at Johns Hopkins Medicine, who led the research. "We hope this new technique of visualizing synaptic membrane dynamics in live brain tissue samples can help us understand similarities and differences in nonheritable and heritable forms of the condition," Watanabe says. Eventually, he says, this approach could help lead to the development of treatments for the neurodegenerative disorder.
Understanding root causes of Parkinson's disease
In healthy brains, synaptic vesicles, or message-carrying bubbles within brain cells, help transfer information from cell to cell in a process key to information processing, learning and forming memories. Understanding this process is critical for identifying where cellular communication breaks down in neurodegenerative conditions, Watanabe says.
Previously, Watanabe helped develop the zap-and-freeze technique to allow for a closer look at synaptic membrane movements (these results were published in 2020 in Nature Neuroscience). Essentially, the technique involves using an electrical pulse to stimulate living brain tissue and then freezing the tissues rapidly to capture cell movement for electron microscopy observation.
In a study published earlier this year in Nature Neuroscience (https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2025/07/scientists-say-protein-separates-message-bearing-bubbles-at-intersection-between-brain-cells-deepening-understanding-of-cognition), Watanabe used the approach in the brains of genetically engineered mice to understand how a key protein, intersectin, keeps synaptic vesicles in a particular location within a brain cell until they are ready to be released to activate a neighboring brain cell.
For the new study, the researchers used samples from the brains of normal mice as well as living cortical brain tissue sampled with permission from six individuals undergoing surgical treatment for epilepsy at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The surgical procedures were medically necessary to remove lesions from the brain's hippocampus.
Working with scientists Jens Eilers and Kristina Lippmann at Leipzig University in Germany, the researchers first validated the zap-and-freeze approach by observing calcium signaling, a process that triggers neurons to release neurotransmitters in living mouse brain tissues.
Next, the scientists stimulated neurons in mouse brain tissue with the zap-and-freeze approach and observed where synaptic vesicles fuse with brain cell membranes and then release chemicals called neurotransmitters that reach other brain cells. The scientists then observed how mouse brain cells recycle synaptic vesicles after they are used for neuronal communication, a process known as endocytosis that allows material to be taken up by neurons.
The researchers then applied the zap-and-freeze technique to brain tissue samples from people with epilepsy, and observed the same synaptic vesicle recycling pathway operating in human neurons.
In both mouse and human brain samples, the protein Dynamin1xA, which is essential for ultrafast synaptic membrane recycling, was present where endocytosis is thought to occur on the membrane of the synapse.
"Our findings indicate that the molecular mechanism of ultrafast endocytosis is conserved between mice and human brain tissues," Watanabe says, suggesting that the investigations in these models are valuable for understanding human biology.
In future experiments, Watanabe says he hopes to leverage the zap-and-freeze technique to study synaptic vesicle dynamics in brain tissue samples taken with permission from patients with Parkinson's disease undergoing deep brain tissue stimulation.
Funding support for this research was provided by the National Institutes of Health (U19 AG072643, 1DP2 NS111133-01, 1R01 NS105810-01A1, R35 NS132153, S10RR026445), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Kazato Foundation, American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, Marine Biological Laboratory, Leipzig University, Roland Ernst Stiftung, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Brain Research Foundation, Helis Foundation, Robert J Kleberg Jr and Helen C Kleberg Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Esther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund, and the Vallee Foundation.
In addition to Watanabe, other scientists who contributed to this work include Chelsy Eddings, Minghua Fan, Yuuta Imoto, Kie Itoh, Xiomara McDonald, William Anderson, Paul Worley and David Nauen from Johns Hopkins, and Jens Eilers and Kristina Lippmann from Leipzig University, Germany.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.10.030
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Original text here: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2025/11/zap-and-freeze-technique-successfully-used-to-watch-human-brain-cell-communication
