Science & Health

In an unprecedented collective scientific effort, researchers from Harvard and three other universities have launched a 10-year study of the Los Angeles fires.

The Harvard Move Lab has developed a wearable robotic device aimed at helping stroke survivors and people with other movement impairments regain mobility and independence. 

Harvard scientists developed a slug-inspired adhesive for dental care, which soon may be the answer to managing painful oral lesions associated with chronic inflammatory conditions and sealing wounds in the mouth. 

Inspired by a dog’s nose, researchers at Harvard have developed an affordable air quality sensor called Project Air that can detect and discern indoor pollutants with nearly 100 percent accuracy.

According to a study from Harvard, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester, and University College London, air pollution from burning fossil fuels was responsible for about one in five deaths worldwide in 2018—significantly higher than previous research suggested.

New faculty appointed to Harvard Chan School’s Department of Environmental Health are studying how a variety of environmental factors—including an individual’s total environmental exposures to toxins over the course of their life, the microbes in engineered water systems, and climate-related extreme weather events—can impact health.

Three Wyss Institute projects aim to reduce global pollution by developing a cheaper, more reliable test to detect toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); creating a non-toxic alternative to PFAS inspired by the surface of lotus leaves; and using an enzyme found in soil to break down PET plastic and turn it into a biodegradable material that can be used to make new, eco-friendly plastics.

The Climate and Sustainability Translational Fund—launched by Harvard’s Office of Technology Development and the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability—will fund four research projects focused on solutions to climate challenges.

Melissa Mai didn’t expect to work with plants when she came to Harvard. However, she was drawn to the Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences by the ability to rotate through different labs before choosing a final research topic. And once she started learning about the physical problems faced by plants and their relationship to the environment, she knew she had found her place at the intersection between biophysics and plant physiology.

Decades of scientific work at Harvard turned the tide on a fatal disease and yielded insights into immunity, vaccines, and more.