Harvard Leadership in the News

Harvard scientists are developing a coronavirus vaccine specifically for those most vulnerable: the elderly

by Holly Secon

24 May 2020
|
Business Insider

Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital are working to develop an age-specific coronavirus vaccine to protect those most vulnerable: the elderly.

‘If it’s not over on the disease … it’s not over on the balance sheet’

by Christina Pazzanese

20 May 2020
|
Harvard Gazette

Kennedy School’s Carmen Reinhart, just named chief economist at the World Bank, says the COVID-born financial crisis will last until the health crisis is solved.

A summer like no other

by Alvin Powell

19 May 2020
|
Harvard Gazette

You can have outdoor fun in the COVID era, a Chan School expert says, but keep your distance.

Harvard epidemiologist: More research needed on antibodies that might prevent coronavirus reinfection

By Marie Szaniszlo

16 May 2020
|
Mercury News

A Harvard epidemiologist is warning more research is needed to determine when people infected with the coronavirus produce antibodies that might protect them from reinfection.

Reopening research operations

by Nate Herpich

15 May 2020
|
Harvard Gazette

Vice Provost Rick McCullough discusses the decision to shut down labs and outlines the plans to ensure a safe return to normal operations when the time comes

$16.5 million awarded to projects to fight COVID

by Alvin Powell

13 May 2020
|
Harvard Gazette

A Harvard-led scientific consortium awards grants for dozens of research projects ranging from vaccines and treatments to explorations of immunity.

Harvard and MIT researchers are developing a face mask that lights up when it detects the coronavirus

by Aria Bendix

13 May 2020
|
Business Insider

For the past six years, bioengineers at MIT and Harvard have been developing sensors that can detect viruses including the ones that cause Zika and Ebola. They're adapting their technology to screen for the new coronavirus. The team hopes to embed the sensors inside face masks so that when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes, the sensors light up to signal the presence of the virus.

Most Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients Survive with Respiratory Failure Treatment Strategy, Research Finds

by Simon J. Levien

12 May 2020
|
Harvard Crimson

The majority of critically ill COVID-19 patients survive under current treatment guidelines for respiratory failure, clinicians at two Harvard teaching hospitals found.

A COVID-19 battle with many fronts

12 May 2020
|
Harvard Gazette

The stories of how the COVID-19 pandemic has upended work and life are as diverse as the new challenges and pressures the disease has created. The Gazette asked alumni who are engaged in the battle against the disease to share their experiences and how their work has radically changed.

Volunteers juice COVID testing at Beth Israel

by Alvin Powell

11 May 2020
|
Harvard Gazette

Hard work, new equipment, and some extra help lets the lab super-charge capacity

Harvard Medical School student creates COVID-19 resources in over 30 languages

by Grace Griffin

10 May 2020
|
Boston Globe

Compelled by the COVID-19 outbreak, Pooja Chandrashekar spoke to mobile health clinic workers across the city about their needs during the pandemic and then rallied a group of students from more than 30 universities to create fact sheets in languages not commonly represented in the American health care system.

Battling the ‘pandemic of misinformation’

by Christina Pazzanese

08 May 2020
|
Harvard Gazette

The uncertainty around coronavirus has unleashed a torrent of misinformation, ranging from bad advice to conspiracy theories, that makes the work of health leaders trying to get accurate data to the public more difficult.

Is it coronavirus or something else? Harvard Medical School study offers insight for clinicians evaluating symptoms

by Travis Andersen

07 May 2020
|
Boston Globe

A recent Harvard Medical School study offers insights on determining whether patients with coronavirus symptoms are infected with the contagion or with a different ailment.

How far are we from a vaccine? Depends on who ‘we’ is

by Alvin Powell

07 May 2020
|
Harvard Gazette

Former Chan School Dean Bloom assesses where efforts stand and the challenges ahead

Report: COVID-19 Will Likely Spread for Up to Two More Years

06 May 2020
|
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

A team of pandemic experts, including Harvard's Marc Lipsitch, has predicted that the new coronavirus is likely to keep spreading for another 18-24 months in the U.S.

We Shouldn’t Wait for a Breakthrough in the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Gary P. Pisano

06 May 2020
|
Harvard Business Review

While the U.S. policy approach to COVID-19 should continue to support big breakthrough initiatives like vaccine and drug development and building massive test and trace capacity, we should not ignore the potential cumulative impact of the many small things we already know how to do or might try that together could make a big dent in the current crisis.

Applying wisdom from the Himalayas to the ER’s COVID battle

by Alvin Powell

06 May 2020
|
Harvard Gazette

Using insights from his medical research in the "death zones" of the world's highest peaks, an MGH fellow tests a treatment designed to kill coronavirus directly in the lungs.

Outpatient COVID-19 Clues

by Ekaterina Pesheva

06 May 2020
|
Harvard Medical School

What can we learn from people with coronavirus who seek care at outpatient clinics?

Why Trump’s timeline for a coronavirus vaccine in 2020 is too optimistic: Harvard expert

by Zack Guzman

05 May 2020
|
Yahoo! Finance

Echoing the timeline from Dr. Fauci, the White House’s own lead medical professional on the coronavirus task force who has guided to a longer timeline of 12 to 18 months to develop a vaccine, Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Mark Poznansky warned that the scientific unknowns surrounding the new virus likely dictate that the process will probably extend into 2021.

A Coronavirus Vaccine Project Takes a Page From Gene Therapy

By Denise Grady

04 May 2020
|
New York Times

Researchers at two Harvard-affiliated hospitals are adapting a proven form of gene therapy to develop a coronavirus vaccine, which they expect to test in people later this year.

What is the right strategy to limit the spread of COVID-19?

By Leah Burrows

01 May 2020
|
Harvard John A. Paulson School and Engineering and Applied Sciences

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School and Engineering and Applied Sciences, in collaboration with Harvard Medical School and MIT, have developed a model to simulate the impact of different physical distancing strategies on the spread of SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Dr. Sarah Fortune on the U.S. Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

01 May 2020
|
C-SPAN | Washington Journal

Dr. Sarah Fortune, chair of the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, talked about the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic to C-SPAN.

Harvard Medical School Students Staff Coronavirus Telephone Triage

by Anaridis Rodriguez

30 Apr 2020
|
CBS Boston

Beyond the front line, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, nearly 200 Harvard medical students are taking on a new role and answering the call for help, staffing a telephone triage from home. With critical rotations on hold and college campuses closed, the students’ job is to follow up with patients who test positive for the coronavirus. They’ve been at it since March and so far have made thousands of calls.

Swabs designed by Harvard Wyss Institute enter human trials for COVID-19

28 Apr 2020
|
Yahoo! News

Researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, in collaboration with healthcare, research, and industrial partners, have designed a new, fully injection-molded nasopharyngeal swab that can be manufactured quickly and inexpensively at high volume to help address the nationwide and international shortage of swabs for COVID-19 testing and research.

Studying COVID-19 in real time

by Juan Siliezar

28 Apr 2020
|
Harvard Gazette

Across a range of disciplines, from medicine to history, biology to business, the crisis has become a living part of the curriculum at Harvard.

Can We Track COVID-19 and Protect Privacy at the Same Time?

by Sue Halpern

27 Apr 2020
|
The New Yorker

Researchers led by Harvard's Caroline Buckee are using cell phone data to study people’s mobility patterns, in order to help control COVID-19—without violating people’s privacy.

Covid-19 Dispatch: Edward Glaeser

22 Apr 2020
|
Managing The Future of Work

Harvard economist Edward Glaeser is an expert on how cities function as economic engines and centers of innovation. He notes that the advantages of density in spurring creativity and productivity are mirrored by the vulnerability it creates to threats like disease. Cities and their most vulnerable residents have borne the brunt of pandemics since antiquity. As Covid-19 tests the resources and resilience of urban centers and confronts leaders with difficult choices, Glaeser explains the policy options for protecting people and stabilizing the economy.

Reopening after coronavirus is a 'much bigger' job than most Americans realize, Harvard study finds

by David Knowles

22 Apr 2020
|
Yahoo! News

Despite President Trump’s assurances that the U.S. is “winning” its war against the coronavirus, and moves by some governors to end stay-at-home measures, a new Harvard University study paints a stark picture of what will be required for the country to emerge from the pandemic.

A Conversation with Larry Summers, Former U.S. Treasury Secretary A Conversation with Larry Summers, Former U.S. Treasury Secretary

20 Apr 2020
|
Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic

Professor Robin Greenwood and former Harvard president, Lawrence H. Summers, discuss the impacts of Covid-19 and what lies ahead for the US and global economy.

Easing the Economic Aftermath of a Global Pandemic

By Aysha Bagchi

20 Apr 2020
|
Harvard Law Today

HLS professors call for changes, including a more transparent COVID-19 bailout oversight plan.

Coronavirus ‘is the Big One… I hope never to see bigger’: Harvard epidemiologist

by USA TODAY Editorial Board

09 Apr 2020
|
USA TODAY

USA TODAY’s Editorial Board spoke with Dr. Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of Harvard’s Center of Communicable Disease Dynamics.

The Collective Effort

03 Apr 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

Harvard students, alumni, faculty, and staff from the nationwide ‘To Serve Better’ project reflect on how coronavirus is affecting their communities.

Harvard to Help Track the Virus

by Colleen Walsh

03 Apr 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

Hundreds of students from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will assist with phone calls and emails to identify anyone who may have had contact with the coronavirus.

Grim as It Is Now, Larry Summers Guesses Recovery Could Be Faster Than Anticipated

by William D. Cohan

02 Apr 2020
|
Vanity Fair

There are huge dangers of fraud and unfairness in the stimulus—but, the former Harvard president says, “It may be the end of the Reagan–Thatcher libertarian wave.”

Zooming through the Grad Schools

by Liz Mineo

02 Apr 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

Though they vary in their missions, Harvard faculty members report few serious problems and some pleasant surprises in the move to online learning at Harvard.

A Million N95 Masks Are Coming From China—on Board the New England Patriots’ Plane

by Victoria McGrane & John R. Ellement

02 Apr 2020
|
The Boston Globe

The Massachusetts governor struck a deal for supplies but needed a way to transport them. The result was a tense saga and a shipment on the NFL team’s 767 with the help of Jonathan (MBA 1990) and Robert Kraft (MBA 1965).

Organized to Fight the Pandemic

by Ekaterina Pesheva & Kevin Jiang

01 Apr 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

To stem the coronavirus crisis, Harvard Medical School scientists forge ahead on six key fronts.

Leadership on the Front Line: Mayors Get Crisis Response Lessons from Harvard Experts

by Nora Delaney

01 Apr 2020
|
Harvard Kennedy School

The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Coronavirus Local Response Initiative helps hundreds of city leaders tackle the pandemic.

University Community Rallies to Deal with COVID-19 Crisis

01 Apr 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

Administrators, professors detail many and varied ways Harvard is trying to help, including offering use of hotel by Cambridge first-responders, health care workers.

COVID-19 Changed How the World Does Science, Together

by Matt Apuzzo & David D. Kirkpatrick

01 Apr 2020
|
The New York Times

Internationally collaborative work on the coronavirus by a team of Harvard doctors is highlighted in the New York Times.

Harvard Postdoc Launches National COVID-19 Research Volunteer Database

by Ethan Lee

01 Apr 2020
|
The Harvard Crimson

Harvard postdoctoral fellow Michael F. Wells is developing a database of volunteer researchers across the country to help perform COVID-19 lab work, using a Google Form to collect information.

From the Lab to COVID Front Lines

by Alvin Powell

31 Mar 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

Technology developed at Harvard provides early boost to Mass. COVID testing.

These Places Could Run Out of Hospital Beds as Coronavirus Spreads

by Margot Sanger-Katz, Sarah Kliff & Alicia Parlapiano

30 Mar 2020
|
The New York Times

A new Harvard analysis in the New York Times shows that many parts of the United States will have far too few hospital beds if the new coronavirus continues to spread widely and if nothing is done to expand capacity.

Facing a Pandemic, Broad Does a Quick Pivot

by Leah Eisenstadt

30 Mar 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

How the institute converted a clinical processing lab into a large-scale COVID-19 testing facility in a matter of days.

How to Get America Working Again

by Robert S. Kaplan & Mickey D. Levy

30 Mar 2020
|
The Wall Street Journal

Any sustainable strategy against the coronavirus has to balance public health and economics, HBS professor emeritus Robert S. Kaplan and Mickey D. Levy tell the Wall Street Journal.

An Option to Serve in COVID-19 Fight

by M.R.F. Buckley

30 Mar 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

Graduating Harvard med students given early degree chance to help in hospitals.

Crowdsourcing COVID-19

by Nancy Fliesler

27 Mar 2020
|
Harvard Medical School

New website COVID Near You, developed by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, tracks user-reported symptoms in real time.

On-Again, Off-Again Looks to Be Best Social-Distancing Option

by Alvin Powell

27 Mar 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

Harvard School of Public Health coronavirus analysis finds strategy would prevent overwhelming hospitals while building immunity.

Harvard to Guarantee Workers’ Pay, Benefits Amid Coronavirus Disruptions

by Nate Herpich

27 Mar 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

Amid the upheavals to campus life brought by the coronavirus pandemic, Harvard announced today it would guarantee pay and benefits through May 28 to its employees and contract workers who have experienced job disruptions since the University announced the move to virtual classes.

Patent Protection Should Take a Backseat in a Crisis

by Scott Duke Kominers

26 Mar 2020
|
Bloomberg Opinion

Government could buy the rights to key medical products, letting lots of companies produce them to end shortages says HBS professor Scott Duke Kominers.

Don’t Panic about Shopping, Getting Delivery or Accepting Packages

by Joseph G. Allen

26 Mar 2020
|
The Washington Post

Harvard School of Public Health's Joseph G. Allen tell the Washington Post why the risk of getting sick from UPS packages, food delivery, and grocery stores is low.

HMS Experts to Advise Baker

by Mary Markos

25 Mar 2020
|
Boston Herald

HMS medical, infectious disease experts named to state advisory board.

Learning from Recovery

by Stephanie Dutchen

25 Mar 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

Researchers HMS and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital are adapting an antibody-detection tool to study the aftermath of infections by the novel coronavirus.

Managing Through Crisis: CIO Ron Chandler on HBS IT Readiness

25 Mar 2020
|
HBS Newsroom

HBS CIO Ron Chandler describes how the HBS IT department had to equipped and prepared faculty, students, and staff to go from a traditional in-person work and learning environment to all-digital—in 10 days.

Lessons from Italy’s Response to Coronavirus

by Eric J. McNulty & Leonard Marcus

25 Mar 2020
|
Harvard Business Review

US and European policymakers at all levels can learn from Italy’s mistakes.

Will Inequality Worsen the Toll of the Pandemic in the US?

by Alvin Powell

24 Mar 2020
|
The Harvard Gazette

The Harvard School of Public Health's Mary Bassett warns that responses must include steps to ease the health and economic impacts on the poor.

Tech Lenders Push for a Piece of the Coronavirus, Small-Business Bailout

by Kate Rooney

23 Mar 2020
|
CNBC

Karen Mills, a senior fellow at HBS, comments to CNBC on fintech companies' argument that they could get funds into the hands of small businesses faster than commercial banks.

The Crisis Could Last 18 Months. Be Prepared.

by Juliette Kayyem

21 Mar 2020
|
The Atlantic

The shutdowns happened remarkably quickly, but the process of resuming our lives will be far more muddled, Juliette Kayyem of the Harvard Kennedy School tells The Atlantic.

How Social Distancing Could Ultimately Teach Us How to Be Less Lonely

by Arthur C. Brooks

20 Mar 2020
|
The Washington Post

HKS professor and HBS senior fellow Arthur Brooks lays out tips in the Washington Post on how to successfully endure the necessary evil of social distancing.

How Grocery Stores Restock Shelves in the Age of Coronavirus

by Danielle Wiener-Bronner

20 Mar 2020
|
CNN

HBS professor Willy Shih, talks to CNN about the phenomenon called the "bullwhip effect."

This Is How We Can Beat the Coronavirus

by Aaron E. Carroll & Ashish Jha

19 Mar 2020
|
The Atlantic

Mitigation can buy us time, but only suppression can get us to where we need to be, Harvard Global Health professor Ashish Jha tells The Atlantic.

Near Real-Time Studies Look for Behavioral Measures Vital to Stopping Coronavirus

by Diana Kwon

19 Mar 2020
|
Scientific American

HBS professor Jon Jachimowicz talks about the global team trying to identify the most effective means of encouraging individuals to act in ways that will help fight the coronavirus in Scientific American.

Designing a Coronavirus Vaccine

by Alice McCarthy

11 Mar 2020
|
Harvard Medical School

In response to this public health crisis, researchers in the Precision Vaccines Program (PVP) at Boston Children's Hospital are on the frontlines of developing a vaccine specially targeted toward older populations.

Managing Through Crisis

Managing Through Crisis