ESPN selected the Tulane University Special Olympics (TUSO) program as one of the Top 5 Unified Special Olympics Sports groups in the nation and also named TUSO to its 2021 Honor Roll for intentionally promoting meaningful social inclusion by bringing together students with and without intellectual disabilities to create accepting environments.

A study co-led by Dr. Xiao-Ming Yin, chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the Dr. Donald R. and Donna G. Pulitzer Professor, found that cycle thresholds from PCR tests — an indicator of the amount of virus an infected person carries — aren’t a reliable gauge for identifying those most likely to transmit COVID-19.

Researchers at the Tulane National Primate Research Center found that an inhaled vaccine currently being developed induces a robust and long-lasting immune response against SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates, similar to the protection provided by the Moderna vaccine.

Tiong Aw, assistant professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, is developing more efficient ways to test and measure viruses in wastewater so engineers can evaluate how to best eradicate them.

The Africana Studies Program has launched its new Black Studies Book Club. “Our plans are to bring in a scholar (once per semester) whose recent publication has shifted the conversation in Africana Studies to deliver a public lecture and to facilitate a more intimate, book club–style conversation,” said Mia L. Bagneris, director of the Africana Studies Program.

Michael J. Moore, a professor of biomedical engineering at the School of Science and Engineering, is part of a national study that aims to provide solutions to the national opioid overdose crisis by creating a living bioengineered nerve circuit that mimics the pain transmission pathway in the spinal cord. The circuit of living cells is designed to help scientists test the effectiveness of non-addictive alternatives to opioid painkillers.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has selected Monica Embers, associate professor of microbiology and immunology and director of vector-borne disease research at the Tulane National Primate Research Center, to serve as one of 14 members of the 2021 Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. The primary function of the Working Group is to develop a report of findings and recommendations regarding the federal response to tick-borne disease prevention, treatment and research.

Machu Picchu, the most famous landmark of Inca civilization, was believed to be built around A.D. 1438. A new study, co-authored by Jason Nesbitt, associate professor of anthropology at the School of Liberal Arts, suggests the citadel may have been built some two decades earlier. Nesbitt, along with researchers from Yale and the University of California–Santa Cruz used accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) — an advanced form of radiocarbon dating — to determine the age of human remains recovered during the early 20th century at the site.

“Developing the building in a way that is true to the roots and spirit of the historic former Charity Hospital has been a guiding principle for Tulane University since this project’s inception.”

As part of its commitment to support income growth and greater equity and economic well-being in the community, Tulane has raised its minimum wage for all staff to $15 per hour. The change in minimum compensation, from the current rate of $10.82 per hour, puts the university’s minimum wage at more than double the federal and state minimum. The university has also standardized student wages by raising the minimum hourly rate to $10 per hour from $7.25 per hour.