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Eileen White, professor of Molecular BiologyandBiochemistry and Deputy Director at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, is one of 120 scientists recognized for achievements in original research elected to the National Academy of Sciences. “I am proud to be elected as a member to the National Academy this year. It is humbling to be recognized in this way and to be a contributor to the international scientific community,” said White.

In the last year, a small vial that people fill to a line with saliva has become a widespread weapon in the fight to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.In April2020, when the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus thatcauses COVID-19 was spreading rapidly, partly because testing resources were scarce, Rutgers

Dr. Desheng Zhang from the Department of Computer Science in The School of Arts and Sciences in collaboration with Dr. Jing Jin from The School of Engineering and Drs. Suzanne Piotrowski and Gregory Porumbescu from The School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University–Newark have been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant entitled “Smart and Connected Communities.”

Dr. Kristin Dana from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in The School of Engineering in collaboration with Drs. Kostas Bekris from Computer Science and Jacob Feldman from Psychology in The School of Arts and Science, Clinton Andrews from The Bloustein School, and Jingang Yi from the Department of Mechanical Engineering have been awarded a National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) Program grant entitled “SOCRATES: Socially Cognizant Robotics for a Technology Enhanced Society.”

Rutgers computer scientists used artificial intelligence to control a robotic arm that provides a more efficient way to pack boxes, saving businesses time and money. “We can achieve low-cost, automated solutions that are easily deployable. The key is to make minimal but effective hardware choices and focus on robust algorithms and software,” said the study’s senior author Kostas Bekris, professor in the Department of Computer Science.

A Rutgers-led international team of scientists has verified that ferroelectric metals could conduct electricity despite not existing in nature. Jak Chakhalian, Claud Lovelace Endowed Chair in Experimental Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is a team leader of the study.

Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Charles and Mary Beard Professor in the Rutgers Department of History, helps celebrities learn about their ancestors through her work on the TLC series Who Do You Think You Are? An award-winning author, Dunbar also joined Michelle Obama in a roundtable discussion.

Rutgers researcher John McGann, Department of Psychology, debunks 19th-century myth that animals are better at sniffing out scents, saying "Humans can discriminate maybe one trillion different odors."

Julie Livingston, Department of History, presented her work exploring the treatment of chronically ill patients in Botswana at the Institute for Research on Women's Distinguished Lecture Series focused around the theme of Decolonizing Gender/Gendering Decolonization.

Rutgers University symposium organized by the Center for African Studies examines the legacies of Timbuktu, by examining the imagined connections of two communities in America with Africa and seeking out their connections to the freedom struggles of African Americans.

Rutgers scientists Jay Tischfield and Gary Heiman, Department of Genetics, identify four damaged genes that disrupt the normal development of the brain in those with Tourette syndrome – a neurological condition characterized by vocal and physical tics.

Nicole Fleetwood, a professor of American studies and art history, received a National Book Critics Circle award for her book, “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration.” The book explores the importance of people in prison creating art as a means to survive incarceration. “It means so much to have the artists featured in the book recognized for their incredible contributions to contemporary art and social justice,” Fleetwood told Rutgers Today.

WBUR, Boston’s NPR station, runs a story on research by Department of Economics Professor AmandaAganand her collaborators that finds that declining to prosecute some low-level offenses can lead to less crime."Our results imply that a prosecutor's decision to not charge a defendant with a nonviolent misdemeanor significantly reduces their probability of future criminal legal contact,"Agansaid.

TraceyShors, professor in the Department of Psychology, is quoted in an NBC New York report that looks at ways to improve mental health.Shorstells NBC that if people committed to keeping their physical brain in shape the way they do their bodies, they would see results.“I think it’s important to realize that our brain is basically who we are,”Shorssays. “It’s a physical being, and I think if you can kind of grasp that for what it is, you can be more determined to keep it healthy.”

AlexKontorovich, a professor in the Department of Mathematics, is the 2020–2021 Distinguished Professor for the Public Dissemination of Mathematics at the National Museum of Mathematics. In that capacity, he recently gave a public lecture on “How the Round Sphere Crisscrosses Mathematics, From Geometry to Arithmetic to Chaos.” The lecture is part of a free event series by Simons Foundation Presents that aims to engage a diverse public audience in a wide range of accessible, meaningfuland fun science and mathematics programming.

The Dean of Humanities Michelle Stephens, who submitted for The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant on behalf of the university, will serve as the founding director of the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice at Rutgers. The institute will be overseen by the university’s executive vice president for Academic Affairs, Prabhas Moghe.

Andrew Brooks, a professor in the Department of Genetics, talks about the FDA approval for the new saliva collection method, which RUCDR developed in partnership with Spectrum Solutions and Accurate Diagnostic Labs (ADL).

Carla Yanni, a professor in the Department of Art History, talks about how dorms are important for shaping students’ experience and why having a roommate can improve your social life in college. Hear from the author of Living on Campus: An Architectural History of the American Dormitory in this video produced for Rutgers Magazine.

Studying diverse, multi-ethnic populations can increase genetic discoveries and reduce health disparities, according to one of the largest genetic studies of Hispanics and Latinos, African-Americans, Asians and other minorities. "The promise of precision medicine that improves health will not be achieved with studies based solely on people of primarily European ancestry,” said Tara Matise, a senior author and professor who chairs the Department of Genetics.

Laura C. Schneider, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, coauthored a study on the increase of deforestation and tropical forest fires in areas previously controlled by FARC guerillas. The study revealed the unforeseen effects of guerilla group demobilization on deforestation rates.