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3 Questions: Ram Sasisekharan on hastening vaccines and treatments
Covid-19 has brought much of the world to a halt this year. However, it is just one of the many infectious diseases without a vaccine that affect millions of people around the world. The development of therapeutics for these infectious diseases has mostly been overlooked by pharmaceutical companies in favor of higher-margin therapies for the […]
MIT deepens connections to the Middle East
Since MIT’s first major collaboration in the Middle East in the 1970s, the Institute has deepened its connection and commitment to the region, expanding to create the MIT-Arab World Program through the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI). This year, partnering with the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation (AHSF) in Jordan, the program is launching […]
J-PAL North America launches MIT Roybal Center for Translational Research to Improve Health Care for the Aging
With support from the National Institute on Aging, J-PAL North America, a research center in the MIT Department of Economics, recently launched the MIT Roybal Center for Translational Research to Improve Health Care for the Aging. The center will support randomized evaluations of low-cost, high-impact behavioral interventions to improve health-care delivery and health outcomes for […]
J-PAL North America launches research initiative to focus on Covid-19 recovery
The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in incalculable losses for millions of Americans, particularly among low-income communities and communities of color. As decision-makers work to address this unparalleled public health crisis, urgent questions remain on how the Covid-19 pandemic will impact the social and economic well-being of people in the United States once the immediate crisis […]
Diverse international cohort first to earn MIT master’s degrees in data, economics, and development policy
This past January, 22 students from across the world joined the MIT campus as the first cohort in the new MIT master’s program in Data, Economics, and Development Policy (DEDP). Developed by MIT’s Department of Economics and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), the program represents a new approach to higher education by […]
How tutoring programs can combat the “Covid-19 slide”
The current pandemic has led to unprecedented disruptions in student learning in the United States. Remote learning, decreased instruction time, and fewer opportunities for personalized interactions with teachers have set the stage for widespread learning loss, also referred to as the “Covid-19 slide.” These risks are greatest for low-income students, students of color, and students […]
Action learning in the virtual world
This year marked the third time that MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node hosted a fintech entrepreneurship program designed for students from MIT and from Hong Kong, but this summer marked the first time the experience was hosted online. Called MIT Entrepreneurship and Fintech Integrator (MEFTI), 33 students participated remotely across five different time zones due to […]
Digitizing supply chains to lift farmers out of poverty
Millions of cocoa farmers live in poverty across western Africa. Over the years, these farmers have been forced to contend with geopolitical instability, predatory loan practices, and a general lack of information that hampers their ability to maximize yields and sell crops at fair prices. Other problems, such as deforestation and child labor, also plague […]
Donald Blackmer, professor emeritus of political science and longtime leader at MIT, dies at 91
Donald L. M. Blackmer, professor emeritus of political science at MIT, died on Aug. 14. He was 91. A highly regarded scholar in international studies, he was also a longtime leader at MIT, serving variously as executive director of the Center for International Studies, head of the Department of Political Science, associate dean of the School of Humanities […]
3 Questions: Historian Emma Teng on face masks as 公德心
As The Washington Post has reported, “at the heart of the dismal U.S. coronavirus response” is a “fraught relationship with masks.” With its Meaning of Masks series, which explores the myriad historic, creative, and cultural meanings of masks, the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) aims to offer Americans more ways to […]