Education (Colleges & Universities)
Here's a look at documents from public, private and community colleges in the U.S.
Education (Colleges & Universities)
Featured Stories
Virginia Tech: Research Presentations Span Infant Sleep to Cancer Therapy
BLACKSBURG, Virginia, Sept. 4 -- Virginia Tech issued the following news:
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Research presentations span infant sleep to cancer therapy
The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's 2026-27 Pioneers in Biomedical Research lecture series brings top scientists to Roanoke and Washington, D.C., for talks on neuroscience, cancer, cardiovascular health, metabolism, addiction policy, and more.
By Leigh Anne Kelley
How does sleep shape the infant brain? How can research inform addiction-related public policy? What makes us who we are?
These and other topics are part of the Fralin Biomedical Research ... Show Full Article BLACKSBURG, Virginia, Sept. 4 -- Virginia Tech issued the following news: * * * Research presentations span infant sleep to cancer therapy The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's 2026-27 Pioneers in Biomedical Research lecture series brings top scientists to Roanoke and Washington, D.C., for talks on neuroscience, cancer, cardiovascular health, metabolism, addiction policy, and more. By Leigh Anne Kelley How does sleep shape the infant brain? How can research inform addiction-related public policy? What makes us who we are? These and other topics are part of the Fralin Biomedical ResearchInstitute at VTC's 2026-27 Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series. Eighteen leading scientists will share the latest discoveries on topics spanning neuroscience, cardiovascular science, cancer biology, exercise medicine, metabolism, and health policy.
The series reflects the institute's scientific reach and aligns with its focus on disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment and increased healthspan.
The series begins Sept. 18 with Kristin I. Stanford, professor of surgery and the William D. and Jacquelyn L. Wells Chair of the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Stanford specializes in diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism. The lecture will focus on brown adipose tissue -- a type of fat that regulates body temperature, burns calories, and stores energy -- and its role in cardiovascular health.
Also this fall, Keith N. Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, will draw from his experience at the White House, Congress, Canadian and U.K. parliaments, and state legislatures to share what scientists can do to better inform legislative policy related to addiction.
Other highlights include artificial intelligence and cancer immunity, therapeutic peptides, and alcohol's impact on smell and taste.
The lectures are at 4 Riverside Circle on the Health Sciences and Technology campus in Roanoke, Virginia, and the institute's Cancer Research Center in Washington, D.C., on the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus. All lectures begin at 11 a.m. on Fridays.
Hosted by the institute's specialized research centers, the talks highlight collaborations across disciplines:
* Sept. 18: Brown Adipose Tissue as a Mediator of Cardiovascular Health, Kristin I. Stanford, Fellow of the American Heart Association, William D. and Jacquelyn L. Wells Chair at the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Professor, Department of Surgery, General and Gastrointestinal Surgery and Internal Medicine, Endocrinology Associate Director, Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute
* Sept. 25: mTor Signaling in Pulmonary Vascular Disease: Bench to Bedside and Back, Elena Goncharova, Fellow of the American Heart Association, Fellow of the American Thoracic Society, professor and director of the Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program, University of California Davis School of Medicine
* Oct. 2: How Can Research Inform Better Public Policy Toward Addiction?, Keith N. Humphreys, Esther Ting Memorial Professor of Psychiatry Standford University
* Oct. 16, Washington, D.C.: Data-Driven Discovery of Secreted Proteins as Cancer Immunotherapies, Peng Jiang, senior investigator, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
* Oct. 30: Mapping Different Excitatory and Inhibitory Input Types onto Single Cortical Pyramidal Neurons, Elly Nedivi, William R. & Linda R. Young Professor of Neuroscience, Picower Institute for Learning & Memory, Departments of Brain & Cognitive Sciences and Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
* Nov. 13: Presenting Therapeutic Peptides Using Synthetic Polymers, Rachel A. Letteri, associate professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia
* Dec. 11: The Bitter Truth: Alcohol Use and Its Effects on Chemosensory Function, Paule V. Joseph, Lasker Clinical Research Scholar, NIH Distinguished Scholar Acting Chief, Section of Sensory Science and Metabolism Unit (SenSMet), Co-Director of the National Smell and Taste Center, NIDCD
* Jan. 15, 2027: Understanding How Gut Microbiota Amplify Crosstalk Between Distant Tissues and Tumors to Instigate Tumor Metastasis, Melanie Rutkowski, associate professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia Health Science Center
* Jan. 29, 2027: Learning and Memory in the Infant Brain, Nick B. Turk-Browne, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema Professor of Psychology Director, Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University
* Feb. 12, 2027: How Sleep Shapes the Infant Brain, Mark Blumberg, Distinguished Chair, Department Chair, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa
* Feb. 26, 2027: The Science of Individuality: What Makes Us Who We Are?, Terry Jernigan, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science, Psychiatry, and Radiology, UC San Diego
* March 12, 2027: Latent Cause Inference and Mental Health, Yael Niv, professor of psychology and neuroscience, Princeton University
* March 26, 2027: Molecular, Anatomic, and Functional Diversity of Midbrain Dopamine Neurons, Raj Awatramani, Sir John Eccles Professor of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
* April 9, 2027: Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B Inhibition Rescues Metabolic Dysfunction-Induced Cardiomyopathy and HFpEF, Maria Kontaridis, Gordon K. Moe Professor and Chair of Biomedical Research and Translational Medicine, executive director, director of research, Masonic Medical Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
* April 23, 2027: AMPK, Ancient Energy Sensing Kinase That Restores Metabolic Homeostasis During Bad Times, Reuben Shaw, professor, Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory and Director, National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
* May 7, 2027: Exploring Cell-cell Interactions in the Tumor Ecosystem: Insights from Computational Modeling, Stacey Finley, Nicole A. and Thuan Q. Pham Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California
* May 21, 2027: The Role of Catecholamine Systems in Cognitive Aging, Anne S. Berry, associate professor of psychology, Volen National Center for Complex Systems Neuroscience Program, Brandeis University
* June 4, 2027: Lysine Acetylation as a Critical Regulator of GLUT4-Mediated Glucose Uptake in Skeletal Muscle, Simon Schenk, professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, UC San Diego School of Medicine
All seminars are free and open to the public and may be attended in person or via livestream. The year-long series can be viewed in full at this link (https://fbri.vtc.vt.edu/events/pioneers-in-biomedical-research.html).
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Original text here: https://news.vt.edu/articles/2026/09/research_fralinbiomed_pbr26-27.html
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Research presentations span infant sleep to cancer therapy
The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's 2026-27 Pioneers in Biomedical Research lecture series brings top scientists to Roanoke and Washington, D.C., for talks on neuroscience, cancer, cardiovascular health, metabolism, addiction policy, and more.
By Leigh Anne Kelley
How does sleep shape the infant brain? How can research inform addiction-related public policy? What makes us who we are?
These and other topics are part of the Fralin Biomedical Research ... Show Full Article BLACKSBURG, Virginia, Sept. 4 -- Virginia Tech issued the following news: * * * Research presentations span infant sleep to cancer therapy The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's 2026-27 Pioneers in Biomedical Research lecture series brings top scientists to Roanoke and Washington, D.C., for talks on neuroscience, cancer, cardiovascular health, metabolism, addiction policy, and more. By Leigh Anne Kelley How does sleep shape the infant brain? How can research inform addiction-related public policy? What makes us who we are? These and other topics are part of the Fralin Biomedical ResearchInstitute at VTC's 2026-27 Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series. Eighteen leading scientists will share the latest discoveries on topics spanning neuroscience, cardiovascular science, cancer biology, exercise medicine, metabolism, and health policy.
The series reflects the institute's scientific reach and aligns with its focus on disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment and increased healthspan.
The series begins Sept. 18 with Kristin I. Stanford, professor of surgery and the William D. and Jacquelyn L. Wells Chair of the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Stanford specializes in diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism. The lecture will focus on brown adipose tissue -- a type of fat that regulates body temperature, burns calories, and stores energy -- and its role in cardiovascular health.
Also this fall, Keith N. Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, will draw from his experience at the White House, Congress, Canadian and U.K. parliaments, and state legislatures to share what scientists can do to better inform legislative policy related to addiction.
Other highlights include artificial intelligence and cancer immunity, therapeutic peptides, and alcohol's impact on smell and taste.
The lectures are at 4 Riverside Circle on the Health Sciences and Technology campus in Roanoke, Virginia, and the institute's Cancer Research Center in Washington, D.C., on the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus. All lectures begin at 11 a.m. on Fridays.
Hosted by the institute's specialized research centers, the talks highlight collaborations across disciplines:
* Sept. 18: Brown Adipose Tissue as a Mediator of Cardiovascular Health, Kristin I. Stanford, Fellow of the American Heart Association, William D. and Jacquelyn L. Wells Chair at the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Professor, Department of Surgery, General and Gastrointestinal Surgery and Internal Medicine, Endocrinology Associate Director, Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute
* Sept. 25: mTor Signaling in Pulmonary Vascular Disease: Bench to Bedside and Back, Elena Goncharova, Fellow of the American Heart Association, Fellow of the American Thoracic Society, professor and director of the Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program, University of California Davis School of Medicine
* Oct. 2: How Can Research Inform Better Public Policy Toward Addiction?, Keith N. Humphreys, Esther Ting Memorial Professor of Psychiatry Standford University
* Oct. 16, Washington, D.C.: Data-Driven Discovery of Secreted Proteins as Cancer Immunotherapies, Peng Jiang, senior investigator, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
* Oct. 30: Mapping Different Excitatory and Inhibitory Input Types onto Single Cortical Pyramidal Neurons, Elly Nedivi, William R. & Linda R. Young Professor of Neuroscience, Picower Institute for Learning & Memory, Departments of Brain & Cognitive Sciences and Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
* Nov. 13: Presenting Therapeutic Peptides Using Synthetic Polymers, Rachel A. Letteri, associate professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia
* Dec. 11: The Bitter Truth: Alcohol Use and Its Effects on Chemosensory Function, Paule V. Joseph, Lasker Clinical Research Scholar, NIH Distinguished Scholar Acting Chief, Section of Sensory Science and Metabolism Unit (SenSMet), Co-Director of the National Smell and Taste Center, NIDCD
* Jan. 15, 2027: Understanding How Gut Microbiota Amplify Crosstalk Between Distant Tissues and Tumors to Instigate Tumor Metastasis, Melanie Rutkowski, associate professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia Health Science Center
* Jan. 29, 2027: Learning and Memory in the Infant Brain, Nick B. Turk-Browne, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema Professor of Psychology Director, Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University
* Feb. 12, 2027: How Sleep Shapes the Infant Brain, Mark Blumberg, Distinguished Chair, Department Chair, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa
* Feb. 26, 2027: The Science of Individuality: What Makes Us Who We Are?, Terry Jernigan, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science, Psychiatry, and Radiology, UC San Diego
* March 12, 2027: Latent Cause Inference and Mental Health, Yael Niv, professor of psychology and neuroscience, Princeton University
* March 26, 2027: Molecular, Anatomic, and Functional Diversity of Midbrain Dopamine Neurons, Raj Awatramani, Sir John Eccles Professor of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
* April 9, 2027: Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B Inhibition Rescues Metabolic Dysfunction-Induced Cardiomyopathy and HFpEF, Maria Kontaridis, Gordon K. Moe Professor and Chair of Biomedical Research and Translational Medicine, executive director, director of research, Masonic Medical Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
* April 23, 2027: AMPK, Ancient Energy Sensing Kinase That Restores Metabolic Homeostasis During Bad Times, Reuben Shaw, professor, Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory and Director, National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
* May 7, 2027: Exploring Cell-cell Interactions in the Tumor Ecosystem: Insights from Computational Modeling, Stacey Finley, Nicole A. and Thuan Q. Pham Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California
* May 21, 2027: The Role of Catecholamine Systems in Cognitive Aging, Anne S. Berry, associate professor of psychology, Volen National Center for Complex Systems Neuroscience Program, Brandeis University
* June 4, 2027: Lysine Acetylation as a Critical Regulator of GLUT4-Mediated Glucose Uptake in Skeletal Muscle, Simon Schenk, professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, UC San Diego School of Medicine
All seminars are free and open to the public and may be attended in person or via livestream. The year-long series can be viewed in full at this link (https://fbri.vtc.vt.edu/events/pioneers-in-biomedical-research.html).
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Original text here: https://news.vt.edu/articles/2026/09/research_fralinbiomed_pbr26-27.html
University of Southern California: Remembering the Human - Encouraging Unique Voices in the Age of AI
LOS ANGELES, California, Sept. 4 (TNSjou) -- The University of Southern California issued the following news:
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Remembering the human: Encouraging unique voices in the age of AI
As a USC study highlights the influence of AI tools on linguistic variety in writing, faculty share how they teach students to engage with artificial intelligence in ways that stimulate -- instead of stifle -- their creativity.
By Beth Newcomb
As students begin a new school year, USC experts are working to understand artificial intelligence's effects on the classroom, especially on creative work such as writing.
Faculty ... Show Full Article LOS ANGELES, California, Sept. 4 (TNSjou) -- The University of Southern California issued the following news: * * * Remembering the human: Encouraging unique voices in the age of AI As a USC study highlights the influence of AI tools on linguistic variety in writing, faculty share how they teach students to engage with artificial intelligence in ways that stimulate -- instead of stifle -- their creativity. By Beth Newcomb As students begin a new school year, USC experts are working to understand artificial intelligence's effects on the classroom, especially on creative work such as writing. Facultymembers are not only studying how AI tools such as ChatGPT have affected written language. They are also learning how educators at all levels can help students navigate the world of AI and leverage tools in ways that improve creativity instead of impairing it, said Stephen J. Aguilar, associate professor at the USC Rossier School of Education.
"Teachers have to have a policy even if schools don't," said Aguilar, who leads USC's Center for Generative AI and Society and researches how educational technologies influence teaching, learning and motivation. "How do you want students to use it? Understand its usage; for instance, know how your assignments work when put into popular chatbots and become familiar with AI output. Develop assignments that have students think critically about AI, engage with the tool and interrogate the output together. When you have that engagement, students think about AI in a much more sophisticated way."
Study: Increased conformity in papers, posts and more
As more people let AI tools do the writing for them, a new USC study suggests that it may lead to more uniformity -- and loss of individual voice -- in written language.
The research, published in Nature Human Behaviour, argues that large language models (LLMs) -- the type of artificial intelligence system powering tools such as ChatGPT -- have narrowed the range of complexity and personalization found in writing, leading to increased homogenization of writing styles.
"Language isn't just a communication tool; it actively complements and shapes our inner reasoning," said senior author Morteza Dehghani, professor of psychology and computer science and director of USC's Cognition, Alignment and Language in Machines (CALM) Lab. "When AI systems standardize human expression, they risk flattening the diverse cognitive landscapes that drive collective intelligence. Shrinking our linguistic variation doesn't merely change how we write; it threatens to narrow the very ways we justify and reason through ideas."
Researchers in the CALM Lab analyzed more than 880,000 pieces of publicly available text, ranging from academic papers and articles in local news outlets to posts on the popular social discussion platform Reddit.
The team quickly noticed that the range of text complexity narrowed over time, and this trend was first noticeable in November 2022 -- coinciding with the launch of ChatGPT.
"The finding isn't that writing got simpler; what was reduced was the diversity," said first author Zhivar Sourati, a USC doctoral candidate in computer science. "Some people naturally write in a short, direct way, while others use rarer words and more elaborate sentences. After LLM rewriting, those different styles moved closer together."
While the meaning behind each piece of text was largely preserved after being rewritten by the LLM, the narrowing of language diversity extended beyond complexity.
Writers' use of pronouns such as "I" and "we," conversational phrases such as "you know," agreement words and emotional language also became more uniform. Emotional expression was not erased -- in fact, rewritten texts contained slightly more emotional language on average -- but writers began expressing emotion in similar ways, Sourati said.
These changes made it harder to detect the subtle cues about personal attributes typically embedded in writing, Sourati said. Computer models designed to use clues in text to predict personal traits became about 6% less accurate, on average, at predicting authors' age range, political affiliation, personality, empathy and moral values after their writing was rewritten by an LLM.
Some known associations -- such as those between pronoun use and extraversion, friend-related words and loyalty, or complex words and openness -- grew weaker, while others remained. Rewritten texts consistently sounded more like they had been written by someone older, male, politically liberal, more morally concerned and less empathic, Sourati said.
The effect varied by setting, with creative writing on Reddit losing the most variation, followed by academic abstracts; news writing was more resistant, possibly because newsrooms already enforce consistent styles, he added.
AI literacy that strengthens student voices
USC Writing Program faculty members say these findings highlight why they're using new educational approaches to help students navigate AI tools in a more thoughtful way that promotes critical thought and creativity.
"Studies like this underscore what we have been telling our students in Writing 150 and 340 since ChatGPT burst onto the scene: High-level critical thinking and writing skills will be even more important in the future than ever before," said Daniel Pecchenino, associate director of the USC Writing Program and professor (teaching) of writing at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "I believe that the challenges presented by generative AI offer us tremendous opportunities to innovate pedagogically, both by designing and critically engaging with AI tools, and through purposeful disengagement from them. Writing faculty, who have always been leaders in teaching, are uniquely positioned to help lead campuses toward a future where AI doesn't make education less challenging and valuable, but actually more rigorous and meaningful."
Along with incorporating AI literacy information into core writing classes, the new USC Dornsife Intensives include a three-course "Writing and Responsible AI" credential that is open to USC undergraduates in any major. The end goal is for students to learn how to avoid the potential pitfalls of AI and leverage these tools to bolster their own skills and creativity in a changing world.
"In this first wave of generative AI, our students need 'resistance training': resistance both in the sense of pushing back against all the AI hype and in the sense of building intellectual strength through critical and creative exercises with AI," said Mark Marino, professor (teaching) of writing at USC Dornsife. "We are giving them that training through lessons in AI history, ethics and analytical thinking. Ironically, as these technological systems generate polished but hollow prose, students are rediscovering the value of traditional skills like close reading, the authority that comes from their lived experience and the richness of their own unique voices."
* * *
Original text here: https://today.usc.edu/remembering-the-human-encouraging-unique-voices-in-the-age-of-ai/
* * *
Remembering the human: Encouraging unique voices in the age of AI
As a USC study highlights the influence of AI tools on linguistic variety in writing, faculty share how they teach students to engage with artificial intelligence in ways that stimulate -- instead of stifle -- their creativity.
By Beth Newcomb
As students begin a new school year, USC experts are working to understand artificial intelligence's effects on the classroom, especially on creative work such as writing.
Faculty ... Show Full Article LOS ANGELES, California, Sept. 4 (TNSjou) -- The University of Southern California issued the following news: * * * Remembering the human: Encouraging unique voices in the age of AI As a USC study highlights the influence of AI tools on linguistic variety in writing, faculty share how they teach students to engage with artificial intelligence in ways that stimulate -- instead of stifle -- their creativity. By Beth Newcomb As students begin a new school year, USC experts are working to understand artificial intelligence's effects on the classroom, especially on creative work such as writing. Facultymembers are not only studying how AI tools such as ChatGPT have affected written language. They are also learning how educators at all levels can help students navigate the world of AI and leverage tools in ways that improve creativity instead of impairing it, said Stephen J. Aguilar, associate professor at the USC Rossier School of Education.
"Teachers have to have a policy even if schools don't," said Aguilar, who leads USC's Center for Generative AI and Society and researches how educational technologies influence teaching, learning and motivation. "How do you want students to use it? Understand its usage; for instance, know how your assignments work when put into popular chatbots and become familiar with AI output. Develop assignments that have students think critically about AI, engage with the tool and interrogate the output together. When you have that engagement, students think about AI in a much more sophisticated way."
Study: Increased conformity in papers, posts and more
As more people let AI tools do the writing for them, a new USC study suggests that it may lead to more uniformity -- and loss of individual voice -- in written language.
The research, published in Nature Human Behaviour, argues that large language models (LLMs) -- the type of artificial intelligence system powering tools such as ChatGPT -- have narrowed the range of complexity and personalization found in writing, leading to increased homogenization of writing styles.
"Language isn't just a communication tool; it actively complements and shapes our inner reasoning," said senior author Morteza Dehghani, professor of psychology and computer science and director of USC's Cognition, Alignment and Language in Machines (CALM) Lab. "When AI systems standardize human expression, they risk flattening the diverse cognitive landscapes that drive collective intelligence. Shrinking our linguistic variation doesn't merely change how we write; it threatens to narrow the very ways we justify and reason through ideas."
Researchers in the CALM Lab analyzed more than 880,000 pieces of publicly available text, ranging from academic papers and articles in local news outlets to posts on the popular social discussion platform Reddit.
The team quickly noticed that the range of text complexity narrowed over time, and this trend was first noticeable in November 2022 -- coinciding with the launch of ChatGPT.
"The finding isn't that writing got simpler; what was reduced was the diversity," said first author Zhivar Sourati, a USC doctoral candidate in computer science. "Some people naturally write in a short, direct way, while others use rarer words and more elaborate sentences. After LLM rewriting, those different styles moved closer together."
While the meaning behind each piece of text was largely preserved after being rewritten by the LLM, the narrowing of language diversity extended beyond complexity.
Writers' use of pronouns such as "I" and "we," conversational phrases such as "you know," agreement words and emotional language also became more uniform. Emotional expression was not erased -- in fact, rewritten texts contained slightly more emotional language on average -- but writers began expressing emotion in similar ways, Sourati said.
These changes made it harder to detect the subtle cues about personal attributes typically embedded in writing, Sourati said. Computer models designed to use clues in text to predict personal traits became about 6% less accurate, on average, at predicting authors' age range, political affiliation, personality, empathy and moral values after their writing was rewritten by an LLM.
Some known associations -- such as those between pronoun use and extraversion, friend-related words and loyalty, or complex words and openness -- grew weaker, while others remained. Rewritten texts consistently sounded more like they had been written by someone older, male, politically liberal, more morally concerned and less empathic, Sourati said.
The effect varied by setting, with creative writing on Reddit losing the most variation, followed by academic abstracts; news writing was more resistant, possibly because newsrooms already enforce consistent styles, he added.
AI literacy that strengthens student voices
USC Writing Program faculty members say these findings highlight why they're using new educational approaches to help students navigate AI tools in a more thoughtful way that promotes critical thought and creativity.
"Studies like this underscore what we have been telling our students in Writing 150 and 340 since ChatGPT burst onto the scene: High-level critical thinking and writing skills will be even more important in the future than ever before," said Daniel Pecchenino, associate director of the USC Writing Program and professor (teaching) of writing at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "I believe that the challenges presented by generative AI offer us tremendous opportunities to innovate pedagogically, both by designing and critically engaging with AI tools, and through purposeful disengagement from them. Writing faculty, who have always been leaders in teaching, are uniquely positioned to help lead campuses toward a future where AI doesn't make education less challenging and valuable, but actually more rigorous and meaningful."
Along with incorporating AI literacy information into core writing classes, the new USC Dornsife Intensives include a three-course "Writing and Responsible AI" credential that is open to USC undergraduates in any major. The end goal is for students to learn how to avoid the potential pitfalls of AI and leverage these tools to bolster their own skills and creativity in a changing world.
"In this first wave of generative AI, our students need 'resistance training': resistance both in the sense of pushing back against all the AI hype and in the sense of building intellectual strength through critical and creative exercises with AI," said Mark Marino, professor (teaching) of writing at USC Dornsife. "We are giving them that training through lessons in AI history, ethics and analytical thinking. Ironically, as these technological systems generate polished but hollow prose, students are rediscovering the value of traditional skills like close reading, the authority that comes from their lived experience and the richness of their own unique voices."
* * *
Original text here: https://today.usc.edu/remembering-the-human-encouraging-unique-voices-in-the-age-of-ai/
University of Mary Washington to Host Public Debate for Virginia's 7th Congressional District
FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia, Sept. 4 -- The University of Mary Washington issued the following news:
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UMW to Host Public Debate for Virginia's 7th Congressional District
By Lisa Chinn Marvashti
The University of Mary Washington will host a public political debate between challengers for Virginia's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. Independent candidate Alaha Ahrar, Libertarian candidate Taner Lopez and Republican candidate Doug Ollivant will meet in George Washington Hall's Dodd Auditorium.
The debate will be moderated by UMW ... Show Full Article FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia, Sept. 4 -- The University of Mary Washington issued the following news: * * * UMW to Host Public Debate for Virginia's 7th Congressional District By Lisa Chinn Marvashti The University of Mary Washington will host a public political debate between challengers for Virginia's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. Independent candidate Alaha Ahrar, Libertarian candidate Taner Lopez and Republican candidate Doug Ollivant will meet in George Washington Hall's Dodd Auditorium. The debate will be moderated by UMWProfessor of Political Science Rosalyn Cooperman. It is hosted by Mary Washington's Student Government Association, and co-sponsored by the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voters of the Fredericksburg Area and The Free Lance-Star. The event is free and no tickets are required. Viewing also is available via Zoom at https://go.umw.edu/2026debate.
WFVA Radio News Director Ted Schubel and a representative from The Free Lance-Star will ask questions of the candidates. Audience members will be able to submit questions for consideration before the start of the event, and Cooperman will pose a sampling of them to the candidates.
Virginia's 7th Congressional District is widely considered one of the nation's most competitive congressional districts. It's composed of all of Caroline, Culpeper, Greene, King George, Madison, Orange, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties, plus the City of Fredericksburg, as well as the southeastern half of Prince William County and a small sliver of Albemarle County.
Candidates accepting the debate invitation include:
Originally from Afghanistan, Alaha Ahrar lives in Dumfries. A recognized social justice and human rights expert, she is chief executive officer of International Kindness Sharing. Ahrar holds a bachelor's degree in political science and international affairs from the University of Mary Washington and a master's degree in social justice and human rights from George Mason University.
Taner Lopez lives in Locust Grove. A former college professor, he currently works as a cultural advisor for U.S. government agencies. Lopez earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish language and literature, a master's degree in religions and cultures, and a doctoral degree in theology from the University of Murcia in Spain.
A retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, Doug Ollivant lives in Culpeper. He is a managing partner at the global consulting firm Mantid International, LLC, and has served as a director on the National Security Council and taught politics at West Point. Ollivant holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Wheaton College, an MBA from James Madison University and a doctoral degree in political science from Indiana University Bloomington.
"Debates provide direct insight into candidates' priorities, demeanor and ability to handle pressure," said UMW Student Government Association President William Goodman. "It's crucial that students, and the broader VA-07 community, see how their potential representatives engage with the community they aim to serve."
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Original text here: https://www.umw.edu/news/2026/09/03/umw-to-host-public-debate-for-virginias-7th-congressional-district/
* * *
UMW to Host Public Debate for Virginia's 7th Congressional District
By Lisa Chinn Marvashti
The University of Mary Washington will host a public political debate between challengers for Virginia's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. Independent candidate Alaha Ahrar, Libertarian candidate Taner Lopez and Republican candidate Doug Ollivant will meet in George Washington Hall's Dodd Auditorium.
The debate will be moderated by UMW ... Show Full Article FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia, Sept. 4 -- The University of Mary Washington issued the following news: * * * UMW to Host Public Debate for Virginia's 7th Congressional District By Lisa Chinn Marvashti The University of Mary Washington will host a public political debate between challengers for Virginia's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. Independent candidate Alaha Ahrar, Libertarian candidate Taner Lopez and Republican candidate Doug Ollivant will meet in George Washington Hall's Dodd Auditorium. The debate will be moderated by UMWProfessor of Political Science Rosalyn Cooperman. It is hosted by Mary Washington's Student Government Association, and co-sponsored by the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voters of the Fredericksburg Area and The Free Lance-Star. The event is free and no tickets are required. Viewing also is available via Zoom at https://go.umw.edu/2026debate.
WFVA Radio News Director Ted Schubel and a representative from The Free Lance-Star will ask questions of the candidates. Audience members will be able to submit questions for consideration before the start of the event, and Cooperman will pose a sampling of them to the candidates.
Virginia's 7th Congressional District is widely considered one of the nation's most competitive congressional districts. It's composed of all of Caroline, Culpeper, Greene, King George, Madison, Orange, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties, plus the City of Fredericksburg, as well as the southeastern half of Prince William County and a small sliver of Albemarle County.
Candidates accepting the debate invitation include:
Originally from Afghanistan, Alaha Ahrar lives in Dumfries. A recognized social justice and human rights expert, she is chief executive officer of International Kindness Sharing. Ahrar holds a bachelor's degree in political science and international affairs from the University of Mary Washington and a master's degree in social justice and human rights from George Mason University.
Taner Lopez lives in Locust Grove. A former college professor, he currently works as a cultural advisor for U.S. government agencies. Lopez earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish language and literature, a master's degree in religions and cultures, and a doctoral degree in theology from the University of Murcia in Spain.
A retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, Doug Ollivant lives in Culpeper. He is a managing partner at the global consulting firm Mantid International, LLC, and has served as a director on the National Security Council and taught politics at West Point. Ollivant holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Wheaton College, an MBA from James Madison University and a doctoral degree in political science from Indiana University Bloomington.
"Debates provide direct insight into candidates' priorities, demeanor and ability to handle pressure," said UMW Student Government Association President William Goodman. "It's crucial that students, and the broader VA-07 community, see how their potential representatives engage with the community they aim to serve."
* * *
Original text here: https://www.umw.edu/news/2026/09/03/umw-to-host-public-debate-for-virginias-7th-congressional-district/
University of California Davis School of Law: King Hall Alumni Board Welcomes New Members
DAVIS, California, Sept. 4 -- The University of California Davis School of Law issued the following news:
* * *
King Hall Alumni Board Welcomes New Members
Eric Toscano '09 continues as president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors for the coming year. Joining him in a new leadership role is Alexandria Goff '12, who was named president-elect.
The board also welcomes eight new members from the classes of 1985 to 2012. Their backgrounds include employment law, immigration, intellectual property, commercial litigation and the judiciary. As alumni board members they will help to build ... Show Full Article DAVIS, California, Sept. 4 -- The University of California Davis School of Law issued the following news: * * * King Hall Alumni Board Welcomes New Members Eric Toscano '09 continues as president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors for the coming year. Joining him in a new leadership role is Alexandria Goff '12, who was named president-elect. The board also welcomes eight new members from the classes of 1985 to 2012. Their backgrounds include employment law, immigration, intellectual property, commercial litigation and the judiciary. As alumni board members they will help to buildalumni connections, support current students and serve as ambassadors for King Hall.
Navruz Avloni '11
Navruz Avloni is the founder and CEO of Avloni Law, where she is a trial attorney and social justice advocate. A skilled litigator focused on employment law, she assists clients with matters involving race discrimination and sexual harassment, among other issues. Avloni earned her bachelor's degree in rhetoric, political economy of industrial societies, and peace and conflict studies before graduating from King Hall in 2011 with her J.D. While at King Hall, she was involved in the Civil Rights Clinic, was a Sacramento County Bar Association (SCBA) Diversity Fellow, and was part of the Public Service Law Program. She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Honorable Jeffrey Edwards '09
The Honorable Jeffrey Edwards is currently a senior administrative law judge for the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). At PERB, Edwards began as board counsel before moving up to administrative law judge and then to his current position. He previously worked as a senior associate with Mastagni Holstedt. Edwards earned his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley before graduating from King Hall in 2009 with his J.D. He resides in Sacramento.
Roya Ladan '12
Roya Ladan is a partner at Cohen Williams LLP, where she primarily focuses on employment law while also assisting clients on complex criminal and civil matters. Ladan previously served as a trial attorney for California's Civil Rights Department and Labor Commissioner before transitioning to private practice. She earned her bachelor's degree in economics and philosophy from CSU Long Beach before earning her J.D. from King Hall in 2012. While at King Hall, she was part of the Moot Court Board and the Civil Rights Clinic, and was co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Juvenile Law & Policy. Ladan resides in Los Angeles.
Harold J. Light '85
Harold J. Light opened his own firm in the Los Angeles area, where he practices commercial litigation with prior experience in real estate, business, and entertainment litigation. Light previously served as president of the Santa Monica Bar Association during 2001-2002, and his litigation experience spans numerous federal district and superior courts as well as appeals before the Second District Court of Appeal in California. He earned his bachelor's degree from UC San Diego before graduating from King Hall in 1985 with his J.D. He resides in Los Angeles.
Richard Loew '90
Richard Loew is a partner at Aquino & Loew, a firm centered on immigrants and immigration issues. He is certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization as an Immigration & Nationality Law Specialist, and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Pasadena Bar Association, as well as a founding member of the Eagle Rock Bar Association. Loew earned his bachelor's degree in history from UCLA before graduating from King Hall with his J.D. in 1990. He resides in Los Angeles.
Irene Shin '90
Irene Shin currently serves as intellectual property counsel at Gladstone Institutes. She previously worked at UC San Francisco as an assistant director in industry contracts, where she gained experience structuring, launching, and supporting public-private biomedical research collaborations. Shin earned her bachelor's degree in philosophy from UC Santa Cruz before graduating from King Hall with her J.D. in 1990. While at King Hall, she was involved in the Public Interest Law Program (PILP) and the Asian Law Students Association (ALSA). She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Michael Williams '96
Michael Williams is counsel at Boutin Jones, where his practice focuses on litigation while also advising clients on real estate and business disputes. He earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Pepperdine University before attending King Hall and graduating in 1996 with his J.D. Williams is active in his community as a board member and former chair for the Safety Center Incorporated, as well as a volunteer youth sports coach. He resides in Sacramento.
Irene Yang '06
Irene Yang is a partner at Sidley Austin, where she specializes in technology and co-leads the firm's global IP litigation practice. Yang is a trial lawyer who assists clients in the high tech and life sciences industries. She earned her bachelor's degree in computer science from Stanford University before graduating from King Hall in 2006 with her J.D. She is a member of the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California and serves on the Board of Directors for the Federal Circuit Bar Association. She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Returning Board Members
Our new board members join a distinguished group that includes Stephen Abreu '07, The Honorable Jose Apolinar Olivera '11, Nabil Bisharat '09, Ted Cohen '90, Errol Dauis '11, The Honorable Keith Fong '90, Darcie Houck '98, Karen Johnson-McKewan '85 (Emeriti Member), Jennifer Novak '96, Roza Patterson '18, Prince Singh '20, and Irene Tresser '90.
Learn more about the King Hall Alumni Board (https://law.ucdavis.edu/alumni/alumni-organizations/board-of-directors).
* * *
Original text here: https://law.ucdavis.edu/news/king-hall-alumni-board-welcomes-new-members
* * *
King Hall Alumni Board Welcomes New Members
Eric Toscano '09 continues as president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors for the coming year. Joining him in a new leadership role is Alexandria Goff '12, who was named president-elect.
The board also welcomes eight new members from the classes of 1985 to 2012. Their backgrounds include employment law, immigration, intellectual property, commercial litigation and the judiciary. As alumni board members they will help to build ... Show Full Article DAVIS, California, Sept. 4 -- The University of California Davis School of Law issued the following news: * * * King Hall Alumni Board Welcomes New Members Eric Toscano '09 continues as president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors for the coming year. Joining him in a new leadership role is Alexandria Goff '12, who was named president-elect. The board also welcomes eight new members from the classes of 1985 to 2012. Their backgrounds include employment law, immigration, intellectual property, commercial litigation and the judiciary. As alumni board members they will help to buildalumni connections, support current students and serve as ambassadors for King Hall.
Navruz Avloni '11
Navruz Avloni is the founder and CEO of Avloni Law, where she is a trial attorney and social justice advocate. A skilled litigator focused on employment law, she assists clients with matters involving race discrimination and sexual harassment, among other issues. Avloni earned her bachelor's degree in rhetoric, political economy of industrial societies, and peace and conflict studies before graduating from King Hall in 2011 with her J.D. While at King Hall, she was involved in the Civil Rights Clinic, was a Sacramento County Bar Association (SCBA) Diversity Fellow, and was part of the Public Service Law Program. She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Honorable Jeffrey Edwards '09
The Honorable Jeffrey Edwards is currently a senior administrative law judge for the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). At PERB, Edwards began as board counsel before moving up to administrative law judge and then to his current position. He previously worked as a senior associate with Mastagni Holstedt. Edwards earned his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley before graduating from King Hall in 2009 with his J.D. He resides in Sacramento.
Roya Ladan '12
Roya Ladan is a partner at Cohen Williams LLP, where she primarily focuses on employment law while also assisting clients on complex criminal and civil matters. Ladan previously served as a trial attorney for California's Civil Rights Department and Labor Commissioner before transitioning to private practice. She earned her bachelor's degree in economics and philosophy from CSU Long Beach before earning her J.D. from King Hall in 2012. While at King Hall, she was part of the Moot Court Board and the Civil Rights Clinic, and was co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Juvenile Law & Policy. Ladan resides in Los Angeles.
Harold J. Light '85
Harold J. Light opened his own firm in the Los Angeles area, where he practices commercial litigation with prior experience in real estate, business, and entertainment litigation. Light previously served as president of the Santa Monica Bar Association during 2001-2002, and his litigation experience spans numerous federal district and superior courts as well as appeals before the Second District Court of Appeal in California. He earned his bachelor's degree from UC San Diego before graduating from King Hall in 1985 with his J.D. He resides in Los Angeles.
Richard Loew '90
Richard Loew is a partner at Aquino & Loew, a firm centered on immigrants and immigration issues. He is certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization as an Immigration & Nationality Law Specialist, and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Pasadena Bar Association, as well as a founding member of the Eagle Rock Bar Association. Loew earned his bachelor's degree in history from UCLA before graduating from King Hall with his J.D. in 1990. He resides in Los Angeles.
Irene Shin '90
Irene Shin currently serves as intellectual property counsel at Gladstone Institutes. She previously worked at UC San Francisco as an assistant director in industry contracts, where she gained experience structuring, launching, and supporting public-private biomedical research collaborations. Shin earned her bachelor's degree in philosophy from UC Santa Cruz before graduating from King Hall with her J.D. in 1990. While at King Hall, she was involved in the Public Interest Law Program (PILP) and the Asian Law Students Association (ALSA). She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Michael Williams '96
Michael Williams is counsel at Boutin Jones, where his practice focuses on litigation while also advising clients on real estate and business disputes. He earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Pepperdine University before attending King Hall and graduating in 1996 with his J.D. Williams is active in his community as a board member and former chair for the Safety Center Incorporated, as well as a volunteer youth sports coach. He resides in Sacramento.
Irene Yang '06
Irene Yang is a partner at Sidley Austin, where she specializes in technology and co-leads the firm's global IP litigation practice. Yang is a trial lawyer who assists clients in the high tech and life sciences industries. She earned her bachelor's degree in computer science from Stanford University before graduating from King Hall in 2006 with her J.D. She is a member of the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California and serves on the Board of Directors for the Federal Circuit Bar Association. She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Returning Board Members
Our new board members join a distinguished group that includes Stephen Abreu '07, The Honorable Jose Apolinar Olivera '11, Nabil Bisharat '09, Ted Cohen '90, Errol Dauis '11, The Honorable Keith Fong '90, Darcie Houck '98, Karen Johnson-McKewan '85 (Emeriti Member), Jennifer Novak '96, Roza Patterson '18, Prince Singh '20, and Irene Tresser '90.
Learn more about the King Hall Alumni Board (https://law.ucdavis.edu/alumni/alumni-organizations/board-of-directors).
* * *
Original text here: https://law.ucdavis.edu/news/king-hall-alumni-board-welcomes-new-members
Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies: Introducing Our 2026-27 Pre- & Postdoctoral Fellows
STANFORD, California, Sept. 4 -- Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies issued the following news:
* * *
Introducing Our 2026-27 Pre- & Postdoctoral Fellows
The Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is pleased to welcome four new pre- and postdoctoral fellows who will join us for the 2026-27 academic year. These scholars will spend the academic year focusing on the Center's four program areas of democracy, development, evaluating the efficacy of democracy promotion, and rule of law.
-
Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development ... Show Full Article STANFORD, California, Sept. 4 -- Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies issued the following news: * * * Introducing Our 2026-27 Pre- & Postdoctoral Fellows The Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is pleased to welcome four new pre- and postdoctoral fellows who will join us for the 2026-27 academic year. These scholars will spend the academic year focusing on the Center's four program areas of democracy, development, evaluating the efficacy of democracy promotion, and rule of law. - Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Developmentand the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is proud to announce the incoming fellows who will be joining us in the 2026-2027 academic year to develop their research, engage with faculty, and tap into our diverse scholarly community.
The pre- and postdoctoral program will provide fellows the time to focus on research and data analysis as they work to finalize and publish their dissertation research while connecting with resident faculty and research staff at CDDRL.
Fellows will present their research during our weekly research seminar series and an array of scholarly events and conferences, including the 2026 Global Development Postdoctoral Fellows Conference on Friday, September 18.
In addition to the four scholars listed below, CDDRL is also pleased to welcome Marcela Ibanez, who will join us for the Fall Quarter as a visiting postdoctoral fellow from Universitat Zurich, and Ivetta Sergeeva, who is returning this academic year as the 2026-27 SURF Postdoctoral Fellow.
Applications for the 2027-2028 academic year will open on Monday, September 21, and close on Monday, November 30.
Meet the Fellows
Frances Cayton
Einstein-Moos Postdoctoral Fellow, 2026-27
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Academic Institution: Cornell University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Government, August 2026
Research Interests: Comparative political behavior, civil society, and democratic resilience.
Dissertation Title: Coming To: How Civic Consciousness Shapes Democratic Resilience
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? The range of theoretical, regional, and methodological approaches that scholars at CDDRL bring to their work is a huge draw. CDDRL is a rich and dynamic academic community, and one that I know will provide a foundation for great conversations and research at such a pivotal time for democracy globally.
What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? I am looking forward to working on my book manuscript, which examines when and how civil society challenges autocratization. Disaggregating civil society along ranges of formality and missions, I show that much of civil society does not recognize its own social capital. I then consider the circumstances in which this latent civic capacity can be activated in support of democratic norms and institutions. Outside of my book project, I am also excited to get to know and work with those in the CDDRL community.
Fun fact: I used to DJ for my college radio station. Now, you'll find me at any concert I can make my way to: country, jazz, pop, or my recent favorite... a pairing of Holst's Planets and the Star Wars score!
* * *
Chris Dann
CDDRL Predoctoral Fellow, 2026-27
Hometown: London, United Kingdom
Academic Institution: Stanford University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Political Science, expected June 2027
Research Interests: Infrastructure, political economy, authoritarianism, and trust in government.
Dissertation Title: Building Dictatorships: Large-Scale Infrastructure and Intermediate Trade
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? Because I share several overlapping research interests with CDDRL faculty and researchers, it felt like a natural environment to further cultivate my research agenda on authoritarian resilience and democratic erosion vis-a-vis national development. CDDRL is also home to some of the world's leading scholars on democracy, who I am extremely excited to engage with in the pre-doctoral program.
What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? As a pre-doctoral fellow, I intend to complete my dissertation book project on authoritarian resilience and how specific strategies of economic growth have entrenched autocracies in the 21st century, despite the expectations of many Western observers and policymakers following the end of the Cold War. I also hope to continue learning from and collaborating with the wider CDDRL community.
Fun fact: When I was younger, I was part of the Wrexham AFC youth academy (the soccer team now co-owned by actor Ryan Reynolds and the subject of a Netflix documentary series). So I would have been a pro soccer player in another lifetime!
* * *
Emily Russell
Gerhard Casper Postdoctoral Fellow in Rule of Law, 2026-27
Hometown: St. Clair, Michigan
Academic Institution: Stanford University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Political Science, June 2026
Research Interests: Police repression, incarceration, labor control, land and natural resource extraction, colonialism and its legacies, inequality, and authoritarian practices in democracies.
Dissertation Title: How Police Enforce Economic Order: Evidence from Extraction in India
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? CDDRL's unique gathering of experts at the intersection of democracy and development drew me to the Center because my work sits precisely at that intersection. I ask how economic development and the inequalities it produces shape the coercive behavior of nominally democratic states. I am so excited to pursue these questions in the CDDRL community, where I can learn different approaches and contexts by which to make sense of these phenomena.
What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? At CDDRL, I hope to develop my book manuscript, building on my dissertation project.
Fun fact: The bluffs on the part of the Pacific coast nearest to me contain abundant natural clay, which I love to forage to use in sculpture!
* * *
Benjamin Yoel
Jan Koum Israel Studies Program Postdoctoral Fellow, 2026-27
Hometown: Tel Aviv, Israel
Academic Institution: Michigan State University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Political Science, May 2026
Research Interests: Democratic backsliding, nonviolent resistance, opposition politics, and international pressure.
Dissertation Title: "Standing for Democracy": Essays on Resistance to Democratic Backsliding
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? I was drawn to CDDRL's vibrant community of scholars working at the intersection of comparative politics and international relations, particularly its strengths in the study of democracy, democratic resilience, and democracy promotion. In an era when democracy is increasingly challenged, both domestically and internationally, I am especially excited to engage with and learn from leading researchers in democracy and international politics across different world regions.
What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? I am hoping to develop a book project that extends my dissertation work on the nexus of international pressure and opposition to democratic backsliding. I also hope to advance several related projects, including on public support for democratic backsliding, opposition success in backsliding settings, and support for retaliatory behavior against former autocrats, as well as launch new collaborations with scholars in the CDDRL community.
Fun fact: I was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, and happened to be living there when the military took power through a coup in September 2006, sparking much of my research interests.
* * *
Original text here: https://fsi.stanford.edu/news/introducing-our-2026-27-pre-postdoctoral-fellows
* * *
Introducing Our 2026-27 Pre- & Postdoctoral Fellows
The Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is pleased to welcome four new pre- and postdoctoral fellows who will join us for the 2026-27 academic year. These scholars will spend the academic year focusing on the Center's four program areas of democracy, development, evaluating the efficacy of democracy promotion, and rule of law.
-
Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development ... Show Full Article STANFORD, California, Sept. 4 -- Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies issued the following news: * * * Introducing Our 2026-27 Pre- & Postdoctoral Fellows The Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is pleased to welcome four new pre- and postdoctoral fellows who will join us for the 2026-27 academic year. These scholars will spend the academic year focusing on the Center's four program areas of democracy, development, evaluating the efficacy of democracy promotion, and rule of law. - Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Developmentand the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is proud to announce the incoming fellows who will be joining us in the 2026-2027 academic year to develop their research, engage with faculty, and tap into our diverse scholarly community.
The pre- and postdoctoral program will provide fellows the time to focus on research and data analysis as they work to finalize and publish their dissertation research while connecting with resident faculty and research staff at CDDRL.
Fellows will present their research during our weekly research seminar series and an array of scholarly events and conferences, including the 2026 Global Development Postdoctoral Fellows Conference on Friday, September 18.
In addition to the four scholars listed below, CDDRL is also pleased to welcome Marcela Ibanez, who will join us for the Fall Quarter as a visiting postdoctoral fellow from Universitat Zurich, and Ivetta Sergeeva, who is returning this academic year as the 2026-27 SURF Postdoctoral Fellow.
Applications for the 2027-2028 academic year will open on Monday, September 21, and close on Monday, November 30.
Meet the Fellows
Frances Cayton
Einstein-Moos Postdoctoral Fellow, 2026-27
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Academic Institution: Cornell University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Government, August 2026
Research Interests: Comparative political behavior, civil society, and democratic resilience.
Dissertation Title: Coming To: How Civic Consciousness Shapes Democratic Resilience
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? The range of theoretical, regional, and methodological approaches that scholars at CDDRL bring to their work is a huge draw. CDDRL is a rich and dynamic academic community, and one that I know will provide a foundation for great conversations and research at such a pivotal time for democracy globally.
What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? I am looking forward to working on my book manuscript, which examines when and how civil society challenges autocratization. Disaggregating civil society along ranges of formality and missions, I show that much of civil society does not recognize its own social capital. I then consider the circumstances in which this latent civic capacity can be activated in support of democratic norms and institutions. Outside of my book project, I am also excited to get to know and work with those in the CDDRL community.
Fun fact: I used to DJ for my college radio station. Now, you'll find me at any concert I can make my way to: country, jazz, pop, or my recent favorite... a pairing of Holst's Planets and the Star Wars score!
* * *
Chris Dann
CDDRL Predoctoral Fellow, 2026-27
Hometown: London, United Kingdom
Academic Institution: Stanford University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Political Science, expected June 2027
Research Interests: Infrastructure, political economy, authoritarianism, and trust in government.
Dissertation Title: Building Dictatorships: Large-Scale Infrastructure and Intermediate Trade
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? Because I share several overlapping research interests with CDDRL faculty and researchers, it felt like a natural environment to further cultivate my research agenda on authoritarian resilience and democratic erosion vis-a-vis national development. CDDRL is also home to some of the world's leading scholars on democracy, who I am extremely excited to engage with in the pre-doctoral program.
What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? As a pre-doctoral fellow, I intend to complete my dissertation book project on authoritarian resilience and how specific strategies of economic growth have entrenched autocracies in the 21st century, despite the expectations of many Western observers and policymakers following the end of the Cold War. I also hope to continue learning from and collaborating with the wider CDDRL community.
Fun fact: When I was younger, I was part of the Wrexham AFC youth academy (the soccer team now co-owned by actor Ryan Reynolds and the subject of a Netflix documentary series). So I would have been a pro soccer player in another lifetime!
* * *
Emily Russell
Gerhard Casper Postdoctoral Fellow in Rule of Law, 2026-27
Hometown: St. Clair, Michigan
Academic Institution: Stanford University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Political Science, June 2026
Research Interests: Police repression, incarceration, labor control, land and natural resource extraction, colonialism and its legacies, inequality, and authoritarian practices in democracies.
Dissertation Title: How Police Enforce Economic Order: Evidence from Extraction in India
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? CDDRL's unique gathering of experts at the intersection of democracy and development drew me to the Center because my work sits precisely at that intersection. I ask how economic development and the inequalities it produces shape the coercive behavior of nominally democratic states. I am so excited to pursue these questions in the CDDRL community, where I can learn different approaches and contexts by which to make sense of these phenomena.
What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? At CDDRL, I hope to develop my book manuscript, building on my dissertation project.
Fun fact: The bluffs on the part of the Pacific coast nearest to me contain abundant natural clay, which I love to forage to use in sculpture!
* * *
Benjamin Yoel
Jan Koum Israel Studies Program Postdoctoral Fellow, 2026-27
Hometown: Tel Aviv, Israel
Academic Institution: Michigan State University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Political Science, May 2026
Research Interests: Democratic backsliding, nonviolent resistance, opposition politics, and international pressure.
Dissertation Title: "Standing for Democracy": Essays on Resistance to Democratic Backsliding
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? I was drawn to CDDRL's vibrant community of scholars working at the intersection of comparative politics and international relations, particularly its strengths in the study of democracy, democratic resilience, and democracy promotion. In an era when democracy is increasingly challenged, both domestically and internationally, I am especially excited to engage with and learn from leading researchers in democracy and international politics across different world regions.
What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? I am hoping to develop a book project that extends my dissertation work on the nexus of international pressure and opposition to democratic backsliding. I also hope to advance several related projects, including on public support for democratic backsliding, opposition success in backsliding settings, and support for retaliatory behavior against former autocrats, as well as launch new collaborations with scholars in the CDDRL community.
Fun fact: I was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, and happened to be living there when the military took power through a coup in September 2006, sparking much of my research interests.
* * *
Original text here: https://fsi.stanford.edu/news/introducing-our-2026-27-pre-postdoctoral-fellows
NYU: Students With Lower Grades and Test Scores Earn Degrees More Often When They Belong to an Academic Major's Majority Group
NEW YORK, Sept. 4 (TNSjou) -- New York University issued the following news:
* * *
Students with Lower Grades and Test Scores Earn Degrees More Often When They Belong to an Academic Major's Majority Group
Researchers find that academic preparation and interest in a major do not fully explain representation and retention gaps
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Despite efforts to encourage broader participation, women earn about 25 percent of undergraduate engineering degrees and 18 percent of undergraduate computer science degrees--and men remain a small minority among nursing and education degree earners. Shedding new light ... Show Full Article NEW YORK, Sept. 4 (TNSjou) -- New York University issued the following news: * * * Students with Lower Grades and Test Scores Earn Degrees More Often When They Belong to an Academic Major's Majority Group Researchers find that academic preparation and interest in a major do not fully explain representation and retention gaps - Despite efforts to encourage broader participation, women earn about 25 percent of undergraduate engineering degrees and 18 percent of undergraduate computer science degrees--and men remain a small minority among nursing and education degree earners. Shedding new lighton these discrepancies, a study--published in Nature Human Behaviouropens in a new tab and examining two US Department of Education datasets--finds that these long-standing patterns tend to be most pronounced among students with lower pre-college grades and test scores, although prior academic performance alone does not explain who stays in a major and who leaves.
The researchers found that in male-majority majors such as physics, engineering, computer science, business, and economics, straight cisgender men with lower-than-average high-school grades and test scores were substantially overrepresented compared to straight cisgender women with similar levels of academic performance. That gap narrowed considerably among the highest-achieving students. LGBTQ+ men were also underrepresented in these fields.
In female-majority fields, evidence for a parallel pattern of overrepresentation for straight cisgender women was mixed. However, some models showed that LGBTQ+ women tend to be overrepresented in female-majority fields among students with the highest pre-college achievement--suggesting that LGBTQ+ women may need stronger academic credentials to gain a foothold even in seemingly welcoming fields.
For the study, the researchers used two large and nationally representative datasets collected by the US Department of Education to analyze patterns of high school performance and college major selection and persistence for straight cisgender men and women, and LGBTQ+ men and women. The High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 provided demographic information including sex and LGBTQ+ identity as well as academic preparation, interests, and outcomes for 6,340 students from their first year of high school in 2009-2010 through their junior year of college. The Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study of 2016 provided academic and demographic data for 12,950 students who obtained a bachelor's degree in 2016.
"Across both datasets, we found evidence that when there was a representation gap that varied across the achievement distribution, that gap tended to be more in favor of the major's historically dominant demographic group among the students with lower pre-college grades and test scores--and less so at other points in the distribution," says lead author Joseph Cimpianopens in a new tab, professor of economics and education policy at NYU Steinhardt and NYU Wagner. "Those gaps tend to narrow considerably among the students with the strongest pre-college performance, highlighting the importance of looking more closely at how these gaps differ by achievement level rather than just overall representation to better understand who is entering these different fields."
The researchers suggest these more pronounced gaps among students with lower pre-college grades and test scores may be due to social norms and institutional environments that subtly favor a field's historically dominant demographic group. Because the study is correlational, the authors are careful to note that it cannot establish that these norms directly cause these gaps--only that individual academic and demographic factors on their own do not fully account for the observed patterns.
The study is among the first to use nationally representative data to examine how LGBTQ+ students sort across the full range of college majors, not just STEM. LGBTQ+ students--regardless of sex--were underrepresented in male-majority fields like engineering, computer science, and business. LGBTQ+ males were also underrepresented in nursing and other health fields.
"These patterns suggest a kind of missed opportunity," Cimpian notes. "If talented students are leaving--or never entering--majors where they would do well and contribute, partly based on factors unrelated to their preparation or even interest in these fields, that's a loss for the students and for the fields themselves."
This study is co-authored by Zachary T. McDermott at Abt Global, Jo R. King at Boston University, Nathaniel Woznicki at the NYU Department of Psychology, and Taek H. Kim at the Korean Educational Development Institute.
This research was supported by grants from the Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education (R305B140037 and R305B200010).
* * *
Original text here: https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2026/september/students-with-lower-grades-and-test-scores-earn-degrees-more-oft.html?challenge=d06e90d7-4d8f-4b88-9d8c-10b73beb60f1
* * *
Students with Lower Grades and Test Scores Earn Degrees More Often When They Belong to an Academic Major's Majority Group
Researchers find that academic preparation and interest in a major do not fully explain representation and retention gaps
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Despite efforts to encourage broader participation, women earn about 25 percent of undergraduate engineering degrees and 18 percent of undergraduate computer science degrees--and men remain a small minority among nursing and education degree earners. Shedding new light ... Show Full Article NEW YORK, Sept. 4 (TNSjou) -- New York University issued the following news: * * * Students with Lower Grades and Test Scores Earn Degrees More Often When They Belong to an Academic Major's Majority Group Researchers find that academic preparation and interest in a major do not fully explain representation and retention gaps - Despite efforts to encourage broader participation, women earn about 25 percent of undergraduate engineering degrees and 18 percent of undergraduate computer science degrees--and men remain a small minority among nursing and education degree earners. Shedding new lighton these discrepancies, a study--published in Nature Human Behaviouropens in a new tab and examining two US Department of Education datasets--finds that these long-standing patterns tend to be most pronounced among students with lower pre-college grades and test scores, although prior academic performance alone does not explain who stays in a major and who leaves.
The researchers found that in male-majority majors such as physics, engineering, computer science, business, and economics, straight cisgender men with lower-than-average high-school grades and test scores were substantially overrepresented compared to straight cisgender women with similar levels of academic performance. That gap narrowed considerably among the highest-achieving students. LGBTQ+ men were also underrepresented in these fields.
In female-majority fields, evidence for a parallel pattern of overrepresentation for straight cisgender women was mixed. However, some models showed that LGBTQ+ women tend to be overrepresented in female-majority fields among students with the highest pre-college achievement--suggesting that LGBTQ+ women may need stronger academic credentials to gain a foothold even in seemingly welcoming fields.
For the study, the researchers used two large and nationally representative datasets collected by the US Department of Education to analyze patterns of high school performance and college major selection and persistence for straight cisgender men and women, and LGBTQ+ men and women. The High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 provided demographic information including sex and LGBTQ+ identity as well as academic preparation, interests, and outcomes for 6,340 students from their first year of high school in 2009-2010 through their junior year of college. The Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study of 2016 provided academic and demographic data for 12,950 students who obtained a bachelor's degree in 2016.
"Across both datasets, we found evidence that when there was a representation gap that varied across the achievement distribution, that gap tended to be more in favor of the major's historically dominant demographic group among the students with lower pre-college grades and test scores--and less so at other points in the distribution," says lead author Joseph Cimpianopens in a new tab, professor of economics and education policy at NYU Steinhardt and NYU Wagner. "Those gaps tend to narrow considerably among the students with the strongest pre-college performance, highlighting the importance of looking more closely at how these gaps differ by achievement level rather than just overall representation to better understand who is entering these different fields."
The researchers suggest these more pronounced gaps among students with lower pre-college grades and test scores may be due to social norms and institutional environments that subtly favor a field's historically dominant demographic group. Because the study is correlational, the authors are careful to note that it cannot establish that these norms directly cause these gaps--only that individual academic and demographic factors on their own do not fully account for the observed patterns.
The study is among the first to use nationally representative data to examine how LGBTQ+ students sort across the full range of college majors, not just STEM. LGBTQ+ students--regardless of sex--were underrepresented in male-majority fields like engineering, computer science, and business. LGBTQ+ males were also underrepresented in nursing and other health fields.
"These patterns suggest a kind of missed opportunity," Cimpian notes. "If talented students are leaving--or never entering--majors where they would do well and contribute, partly based on factors unrelated to their preparation or even interest in these fields, that's a loss for the students and for the fields themselves."
This study is co-authored by Zachary T. McDermott at Abt Global, Jo R. King at Boston University, Nathaniel Woznicki at the NYU Department of Psychology, and Taek H. Kim at the Korean Educational Development Institute.
This research was supported by grants from the Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education (R305B140037 and R305B200010).
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Original text here: https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2026/september/students-with-lower-grades-and-test-scores-earn-degrees-more-oft.html?challenge=d06e90d7-4d8f-4b88-9d8c-10b73beb60f1
King's College London: Researchers Identify Potential New Target to Delay Preterm Birth
LONDON, England, Sept. 4 (TNSjou) -- King's College London issued the following news:
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Researchers identify potential new target to delay preterm birth
Research has identified a potential new target for preventing preterm labour.
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Scientists have found that targeting a particular group of proteins in the uterus muscle (myometrium) can suppress human uterine contractions in laboratory studies and delay preterm birth in a preclinical model.
The findings, published today in Communications Medicine, highlight a potential future avenue for developing new drugs, or repurposing existing drugs, ... Show Full Article LONDON, England, Sept. 4 (TNSjou) -- King's College London issued the following news: * * * Researchers identify potential new target to delay preterm birth Research has identified a potential new target for preventing preterm labour. - Scientists have found that targeting a particular group of proteins in the uterus muscle (myometrium) can suppress human uterine contractions in laboratory studies and delay preterm birth in a preclinical model. The findings, published today in Communications Medicine, highlight a potential future avenue for developing new drugs, or repurposing existing drugs,that act on these proteins to delay early labour.
In the study led by King's College London, researchers looked at a group of proteins in the membranes of cells in the uterus wall called KV7 channels. Using a drug that activates these channels, they were able to reduce uterine contractions in human tissue and delay preterm birth in mice.
Preterm birth, defined as birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy, affects around 1 in 12 babies in the UK and is the leading cause of neonatal death worldwide. Babies born too early are at increased risk of serious health complications from birth and throughout their lives. Despite its substantial health burden, treatment options to prevent spontaneous preterm birth (when a mother goes into labour spontaneously) remain limited, partly because the biological pathways that trigger labour are not yet fully understood.
Rachel Tribe, Professor of Maternal and Perinatal Sciences at King's College London and senior author of the paper, said: "For many years, my research team has focused on understanding what drives preterm birth and looking for predictors of early labour. About 6-7% of all pregnancies in the UK are preterm, with about two thirds of these due to a mother going into spontaneous labour early, often without any warning or notable risk factors - these are the women we want to help treat."
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"We need new treatments to delay preterm birth and improve outcomes for babies, and our findings provide a proof-of-principle that specific types of Kv7 channels could offer a promising target for drug development."
-Rachel Tribe, Professor of Maternal and Perinatal Sciences at King's College London and senior author
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KV7 channels are present throughout the body, including in smooth muscle found in the uterus wall. Activation of these channels regulates the movement of potassium in and out of cells, helping to control the electrical activity and contraction of uterine muscle.
The researchers looked at samples of human myometrium (the muscular layer of the uterus wall) collected from women during active preterm and term labour, and during caesarean section at term and preterm. By analysing gene and protein expression, they identified several KV7 channel components that were present in the myometrium in both term and preterm pregnancies, at the end of pregnancy and after labour had started.
They identified the main type of active KV7 channel (called KV7.4) present in the uterus, providing important information for the future development or repurposing of drugs that selectively target these channels.
The team then simulated uterine contraction in the lab, using myometrium tissue from humans and mice. When human and mouse tissue samples were treated with retigabine, a drug that opens KV7 channels, contractions were reduced. In a mouse model of preterm birth, retigabine delayed preterm delivery.
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"Kv7 channels are key regulators of cellular physiology. Research into these important players is facilitated by the existence of many chemical modifiers of Kv7 channels spawned by the discovery that boosting Kv7 channel activity in neurones is an effective anti-epileptic mechanism. Repurposing some of these molecules may offer the potential of new treatments for labour issues sooner rather than later."
-Iain Greenwood, Professor of Vascular Pharmacology at City St George's University of London and co-author
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Women experiencing preterm labour, who do not have an underlying infection, can be given medicines to delay labour temporarily, but current treatments offer only modest benefits and can cause side effects.
Against a backdrop of limited options for preventing spontaneous preterm labour, identifying a new biological pathway involved in regulating uterine contractions could open new opportunities for treatment development. In the future, this may help provide valuable time for interventions that improve outcomes for babies born too soon.
* * *
"Prevention of preterm birth is a long-standing ideal for alleviation of the neonatal complications associated with prematurity. Neonatologists have developed many outstanding approaches to deal with the consequences of early birth, but postponement of delivery is obviously preferable. Current pharmacologic options are not only limited by maternal side-effects but by adverse effects on the fetus and newborn. Thus, development of new therapeutic strategies, like modulation of Kv7 channel activity, which have little effect on the fetus, are ideal candidates to reduce the burden of preterm birth."
-Jeff Reese, neonatologist and Professor of Paediatrics at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and co-author
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The authors say the next steps for this work include demonstrating the benefits to neonates in addition to delaying preterm birth. The researchers hope to translate these findings towards future clinical application by working in partnership with pharmaceutical companies and collaborators to investigate more targeted KV7 activators and innovative drug-delivery systems that target the uterus.
The research was supported by the UKRI Medical Research Council, The Borne Foundation and Action Medical Research.
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Original text here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/researchers-identify-potential-new-target-to-delay-preterm-birth
* * *
Researchers identify potential new target to delay preterm birth
Research has identified a potential new target for preventing preterm labour.
-
Scientists have found that targeting a particular group of proteins in the uterus muscle (myometrium) can suppress human uterine contractions in laboratory studies and delay preterm birth in a preclinical model.
The findings, published today in Communications Medicine, highlight a potential future avenue for developing new drugs, or repurposing existing drugs, ... Show Full Article LONDON, England, Sept. 4 (TNSjou) -- King's College London issued the following news: * * * Researchers identify potential new target to delay preterm birth Research has identified a potential new target for preventing preterm labour. - Scientists have found that targeting a particular group of proteins in the uterus muscle (myometrium) can suppress human uterine contractions in laboratory studies and delay preterm birth in a preclinical model. The findings, published today in Communications Medicine, highlight a potential future avenue for developing new drugs, or repurposing existing drugs,that act on these proteins to delay early labour.
In the study led by King's College London, researchers looked at a group of proteins in the membranes of cells in the uterus wall called KV7 channels. Using a drug that activates these channels, they were able to reduce uterine contractions in human tissue and delay preterm birth in mice.
Preterm birth, defined as birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy, affects around 1 in 12 babies in the UK and is the leading cause of neonatal death worldwide. Babies born too early are at increased risk of serious health complications from birth and throughout their lives. Despite its substantial health burden, treatment options to prevent spontaneous preterm birth (when a mother goes into labour spontaneously) remain limited, partly because the biological pathways that trigger labour are not yet fully understood.
Rachel Tribe, Professor of Maternal and Perinatal Sciences at King's College London and senior author of the paper, said: "For many years, my research team has focused on understanding what drives preterm birth and looking for predictors of early labour. About 6-7% of all pregnancies in the UK are preterm, with about two thirds of these due to a mother going into spontaneous labour early, often without any warning or notable risk factors - these are the women we want to help treat."
* * *
"We need new treatments to delay preterm birth and improve outcomes for babies, and our findings provide a proof-of-principle that specific types of Kv7 channels could offer a promising target for drug development."
-Rachel Tribe, Professor of Maternal and Perinatal Sciences at King's College London and senior author
* * *
KV7 channels are present throughout the body, including in smooth muscle found in the uterus wall. Activation of these channels regulates the movement of potassium in and out of cells, helping to control the electrical activity and contraction of uterine muscle.
The researchers looked at samples of human myometrium (the muscular layer of the uterus wall) collected from women during active preterm and term labour, and during caesarean section at term and preterm. By analysing gene and protein expression, they identified several KV7 channel components that were present in the myometrium in both term and preterm pregnancies, at the end of pregnancy and after labour had started.
They identified the main type of active KV7 channel (called KV7.4) present in the uterus, providing important information for the future development or repurposing of drugs that selectively target these channels.
The team then simulated uterine contraction in the lab, using myometrium tissue from humans and mice. When human and mouse tissue samples were treated with retigabine, a drug that opens KV7 channels, contractions were reduced. In a mouse model of preterm birth, retigabine delayed preterm delivery.
* * *
"Kv7 channels are key regulators of cellular physiology. Research into these important players is facilitated by the existence of many chemical modifiers of Kv7 channels spawned by the discovery that boosting Kv7 channel activity in neurones is an effective anti-epileptic mechanism. Repurposing some of these molecules may offer the potential of new treatments for labour issues sooner rather than later."
-Iain Greenwood, Professor of Vascular Pharmacology at City St George's University of London and co-author
* * *
Women experiencing preterm labour, who do not have an underlying infection, can be given medicines to delay labour temporarily, but current treatments offer only modest benefits and can cause side effects.
Against a backdrop of limited options for preventing spontaneous preterm labour, identifying a new biological pathway involved in regulating uterine contractions could open new opportunities for treatment development. In the future, this may help provide valuable time for interventions that improve outcomes for babies born too soon.
* * *
"Prevention of preterm birth is a long-standing ideal for alleviation of the neonatal complications associated with prematurity. Neonatologists have developed many outstanding approaches to deal with the consequences of early birth, but postponement of delivery is obviously preferable. Current pharmacologic options are not only limited by maternal side-effects but by adverse effects on the fetus and newborn. Thus, development of new therapeutic strategies, like modulation of Kv7 channel activity, which have little effect on the fetus, are ideal candidates to reduce the burden of preterm birth."
-Jeff Reese, neonatologist and Professor of Paediatrics at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and co-author
* * *
The authors say the next steps for this work include demonstrating the benefits to neonates in addition to delaying preterm birth. The researchers hope to translate these findings towards future clinical application by working in partnership with pharmaceutical companies and collaborators to investigate more targeted KV7 activators and innovative drug-delivery systems that target the uterus.
The research was supported by the UKRI Medical Research Council, The Borne Foundation and Action Medical Research.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/researchers-identify-potential-new-target-to-delay-preterm-birth