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Tulane’s COVID-19 Dashboard, which is updated daily, includes the total coronavirus tests administered to faculty, staff and students, the number of cumulative positive tests vs. active cases, daily testing results and comparisons to state and local positivity rates. It’s been receiving good reviews, including an “A+” rating from the Twitter account “We Rate COVID Dashboards,” as it helps the university diligently monitor COVID-19.

To assist faculty with the new enhanced learning technology implemented this fall, the Student Support Squad was created to provide on-campus and online support. The squad provides opportunities for student employment while helping faculty deal with Zoom classes and other technological educational challenges.

“At the Tulane School of Medicine, applications for admission to the class of 2025 are up more than 35% compared to the same time last year.”

The Newcomb Art Museum will commemorate the life of the late Kim Boutte, a member of the Fi Yi Yi Mardi Gras Indian tribe and a longtime Sodexo employee at Tulane, through a portrait by New Orleans–based artist Brandan “BMike” Odums. The portrait, still being created, is in response to calls from the Tulane community to honor Boutte’s contribution to the cultural landscape of New Orleans and the connections she made with students.

Researchers from the School of Architecture will assist in designing new uses for Louisiana mid-20th-century African American schools that were abandoned in the wake of school desegregation. Laura Blokker, interim director of the Preservation Studies program at Tulane, along with Andrew Liles, assistant professor of architecture, received the biennial Richard L. Blinder Award for this work.

For the 12th year, architecture students built a sukkah on the uptown campus. Constructed by Oct. 1, the temporary structure for Sukkot, a Jewish fall harvest festival, had to go up quickly because of COVID-19 restrictions. Made of pine and measuring 10.5 feet by 12 feet, it had two walls to facilitate safe passage, instead of the traditional three, and built-in seats that allowed four people to sit socially distanced.

“By shining a light on gene editing, the Nobel committee is bringing a needed awareness of the wonders of nature — and of the technology that will increasingly determine how nature works.”

Dr. Joshua Denson, assistant professor of medicine and pulmonary and critical care medicine physician, led a study that found that COVID-19 patients who have metabolic syndrome are three times more likely to die from the virus. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of at least three of five conditions: hypertension, high blood sugar, obesity, high triglycerides and abnormal cholesterol levels.

Microbiologist Lisa Morici and immunologist James McLachlan at the School of Medicine were awarded a $150,000 Fast Grant for a project to make next-generation COVID-19 vaccines more effective. The team will test whether they can produce a better immune response in tissues most vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection by adding bacteria-based adjuvants to vaccines in development. Fast Grants are awarded within 48 hours of researchers applying.