Q&A: Are there such things as ‘girl brains’ and ‘boy brains’?
The leader of UVA’s Baby Lab scrutinizes new research about newborns’ attention to faces.
New U.S. Data Center Ecosystem Tracker Brings AI Infrastructure Into View
UVA’s National Security Institute has launched a U.S. Data Center Ecosystem Tracker, mapping data centers alongside energy, water, land-use, and policy factors shaping AI infrastructure. Featuring three dashboards—national facility data, regional hexagon analysis, and a Virginia county explorer—the tool offers evidence-based insight into the constraints and opportunities influencing America’s competitive edge against China.
Edgar Allan Poe’s Legacy Inspires New Reading Initiative
UVA faculty Cristina Richieri Griffin and Kirsten Gelsdorf have secured a National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant for “Poe at UVA,” marking the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe’s time on Grounds. The cross-disciplinary initiative uses Poe’s legacy to spark reading culture through exhibitions, book clubs, lectures and community events across Charlottesville.
How Could AI and Emerging Technology Change Hip-Hop as We Know It?
UVA professor A.D. Carson’s new album “After the Fire” imagines a dystopian future where AI-generated avatars of dead rappers headline concerts, exploring themes of technology, race, and exploitation in hip-hop. Though addressing AI’s impact, the album uses no AI, instead drawing on real industry events and Hip-Hop’s tradition of technological innovation and critique.
Richard Mailman, PhD, and Team Contribute to Research on New Parkinson’s Drug
The FDA has approved Juvmo (tavapadon), a once-daily Parkinson’s pill developed from UVA Health research by Richard Mailman, PhD, and Xuemei Huang, MD, PhD. Unlike levodopa, Juvmo selectively activates D1 dopamine receptors, potentially offering longer-lasting symptom relief with fewer side effects. AbbVie will market the drug, available October.
Q&A: How are data and AI changing the future of policymaking?
Data analysis and artificial intelligence offer new ways to inform public policy, but using those tools effectively requires context and careful analysis.
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How treatable is postpartum depression?
The condition is the most common birth complication, but a UVA expert says treatments are available.
Decades of UVA Research Yields New Parkinson’s Drug
The FDA has approved Juvmo (tavapadon), a once-daily pill for Parkinson’s disease rooted in decades of UVA Health research by Richard Mailman and Xuemei Huang. Unlike levodopa, this first-in-class D1 agonist selectively activates dopamine receptors, potentially offering fewer side effects and longer-lasting symptom relief for the 11 million people worldwide living with Parkinson’s.
Jeanne Alhusen Receives $2.6M NIH Grant to Study Reproductive Health Among Women With Disabilities
UVA School of Nursing Interim Dean Jeanne Alhusen has received a $2.6 million, five-year NICHD grant to study reproductive health outcomes among women with disabilities. The research will examine access to care, socioeconomic factors, and structural inequities from pre-pregnancy through postpartum, aiming to inform more accessible, responsive care and better outcomes for women with disabilities.
Astronomers Catch Two Massive Stars Forming a Binary Pair
UVA astronomer Jonathan Tan and an international team used ALMA and JWST data spanning nearly eight years to observe two massive young stars forming a binary system. Contrary to disk-fragmentation theory, misaligned disks and elongated orbits reveal a rare core merger, offering new constraints for models of massive star formation and stellar evolution.
Focused Ultrasound to Transform Brain Disease Treatment
UVA Health researchers report focused ultrasound is nearing a breakthrough for treating brain tumors, Alzheimers and Parkinsons by delivering gene therapies across the blood-brain barrier. New non-viral nanoparticle approaches, led by Richard Price and colleagues, could enable precise, repeatable treatments targeting tumor cells while engaging the immune system, with findings published across three scientific papers.
Bryan Berger speaks at U Ask, UVA Answers
VideoUVA professor Bryan Berger continues the fall U Ask, UVA Answers series, speaking at the downtown Jefferson-Madison Regional Library on October 11 and the Crozet Library on October 21. Berger will discuss PFAS forever chemicals and biotechnology innovations improving food safety and quality, plus how science can reduce environmental health risks.