A new model developed by Princeton and Carnegie Mellon researchers improves tracking of epidemics by accounting for mutations in diseases. Now, the researchers are working to apply their model to allow leaders to evaluate the effects of countermeasures to epidemics before they deploy them. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/25/new-mathematical-model-can-more-effectively-track-epidemics
Evan Garfein ’92, an NCAA men’s lacrosse champion is now a doctor in New York City working in an ER on the frontline of the COVID-19 fight. https://goprincetontigers.com/news/2020/3/25/mens-lacrosse-feature-story-harnessing-the-lessons-learned-from-princeton-lacrosse-on-the-covid-19-frontlines.aspx
Tanesha Brown, nurse manager in University Health Services, reflects on the work of the University coronavirus preparedness team, addressing the fear of the unknown, how she practices self-care, and the most important things to remember during this critical time. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/20/tellustigers-qa-tanesha-brown-nurse-manager-university-health-services
On March 23, the first day of Princeton’s transition to remote learning due to the coronovirus pandemic, John McPhee took his legendary course “Creative Nonfiction” virtual, with guest David Remnick, a Princeton alumnus and editor of The New Yorker. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/26/writing-time-coronavirus-john-mcphees-legendary-course-goes-virtual
Permanent magnets akin to those used on refrigerators could speed the development of fusion energy – the same energy produced by the sun and stars. In principle, such magnets can greatly simplify the design and production of twisty fusion facilities called stellarators, according to scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald, Germany. PPPL founder Lyman Spitzer Jr. invented the stellarator in the early 1950s. https://www.pppl.gov/news/2020/03/permanent-magnets-far-stronger-those-refrigerator-doors-could-be-solution-delivering
Employee retirements: March 2020 https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/10/employee-retirements-march-2020
Employee obituaries: March 2020 https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/10/employee-obituaries-march-2020
Researchers have found that injecting pellets of hydrogen ice rather than puffing hydrogen gas improves fusion performance at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, which General Atomics operates for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The studies by physicists based at DOE’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) compared the two methods, looking ahead to the fueling that will be used in ITER, the international fusion experiment under construction in France. https://www.pppl.gov/news/2020/03/feeding-fusion-hydrogen-ice-pellets-prove-effective-fueling-fusion-plasmas
The Department of Chemistry’s MacMillan Group developed a new technology called µMap that uses a photocatalyst — a molecule that, when activated by light, spurs a chemical reaction — to identify spatial relationships on cell surfaces. The catalyst generates a marker that tags proteins and their molecular neighbors, which in turn enables the precise mapping of their micro-environment. The technology could impact proteomics, genomics and neuroscience, to name a few of the more obvious fields. But the applications for fundamental biology are so wide-ranging that Princeton’s David MacMillan is hungry to get the technology “into everyone’s hands” to see what scientists in other fields can come up with. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/05/macmillan-illuminates-micro-environment-creating-new-path-cancer-drugs
Researchers at Princeton University have revealed the inner workings of a gene repression mechanism in fruit fly embryos, adding insight to the study of human diseases. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/05/geneticists-pump-brakes-dna-revealing-key-developmental-process
In response to the continued spread of COVID-19, the University is enacting new policies and practices based on the concept of social distancing. Earlier today, President Eisgruber issued a message to the community with updates on our continued efforts to ensure the health and safety of the community. The goal is to decrease the number of situations that require community members to gather in large groups and to minimize the time spent in close proximity with each other. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/09/updated-policies-and-guidance-covid-19
In order to help mitigate the growing risk of transmission of COVID-19, this week the University began instituting a series of policies and practices based on the concept of social distancing. This includes moving to virtual instruction following spring break and decreasing the number of gatherings on campus. University President Christopher Eisgruber outlines the University’s efforts in a letter to the Princeton community Monday. The letter can be read in full below.
Dear members of the Princeton community,
I’m writing to update you on a series of new policies that Princeton University will be implementing in the coming days in response to COVID-19, commonly known as coronavirus. Since I last wrote to you, the epidemic has progressed. Though we continue to believe the risk of transmission on our campus is currently low, we know that community spread is occurring in various parts of the United States, including in the state of New York, which has declared a state of emergency. University campuses in the Ivy League and elsewhere are adapting policies in response.
While much remains unknown about COVID-19’s epidemiology and impact, our medical advisers tell us that we should proceed on the assumption that the virus will spread more broadly and eventually reach our campus. They also tell us that the best time to put in place policies to slow the spread of the virus is now, before we begin to see cases on our campus, rather than later. Acting now will also give students who wish to do so the option to stay home after Spring Break and meet academic requirements remotely.
In order to help mitigate the growing risk of transmission, we will begin instituting a series of policies and practices this week based on the concept of social distancing. Our goal is to decrease the number of instances that require community members to gather in large groups or spend extended periods of time in close proximity with each other. To achieve this goal, we will virtualize any activities, such as lectures, seminars, and precepts, that can be put online. We will continue to support, where possible and subject to appropriate restrictions, research, educational, and campus life activities that require physical presence. These measures are being taken to help ensure the health and well-being of our students, faculty, and staff, and to decrease any potential impacts on the larger community.
Though we recognize that a personal, “high touch” educational environment is one of Princeton’s great strengths, we also recognize that these are extraordinary times that require exceptional measures to deal with a health risk that affects us all. For that reason, we are creating, supporting, and mandating alternative ways of meeting our academic and other programmatic requirements in ways consistent with social distancing. This will include a mandatory, temporary move for all lectures, seminars, and precepts to virtual instruction starting on Monday, March 23. We encourage students to consider staying home after Spring Break. If students choose to remain home after Spring Break, we will make sure that they are able to meet their academic requirements remotely.
To protect the health of our community, we will also need to limit the number and size of campus gatherings and meetings, and restrict University-sponsored travel. Detailed guidance will be available on the University’s website later today. Faculty will receive information later this morning about support for virtual instruction, and we will be sharing guidance throughout the week with staff about how these new policies will impact daily operations.
We understand that these and other measures will cause significant disruption and inconvenience to the campus community, but we strongly believe that actions taken now will have the greatest chance of decreasing risk, and that the potential consequences of not acting could far outweigh these short-term disruptions. These new policies will be in place through Sunday, April 5. We will reassess the policies as that date approaches and communicate any changes as early as circumstances permit.
I would again like to thank the members of our staff who have been working on these issues around the clock. The University is lucky to have a dedicated, knowledgeable, and committed team helping us navigate and respond to this complex, evolving situation. We will continue to work with our local, state, and federal partners to address the impacts of COVID-19 based on the best available public health expertise and recommendations.
I appreciate that these measures impose significant restrictions and costs on projects that matter tremendously to each of us. I also understand that people may have different views about how to respond to the risks and uncertainties that we face, but I ask all of you to join in supporting these policies, which address a threat affecting us all. Princeton University has always been a community that cares for one another, and we will need that spirit now more than ever. I thank you for your patience and assistance as we work through this evolving situation. I am confident that we will continue to pull together to meet the needs of our students, faculty, and staff.
With best wishes,
Chris Eisgruber https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/09/president-eisgruber-updates-university-next-steps-regarding-covid-19-ensure-health https://www.princeton.edu/content/covid-19-coronavirus-information
Princeton’s Nathalie de Leon recounts how her PCI-funded collaboration with chemist Robert Knowles cracked open a long-standing problem in diamond research.
https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/04/how-chemist-and-physicist-solved-50-year-old-puzzle-help-princeton-catalysis
Senior Kirsten Traudt has been awarded the Keasbey Scholarship, which provides the opportunity to study at selected British universities. Traudt, of Morristown, New Jersey, is a classics major and is also pursuing a certificate in humanistic studies. She will pursue an M.Phil. in Greek and Latin Languages and Literatures at the University of Oxford. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/28/senior-traudt-awarded-keasbey-scholarship-study-britain
Princeton seniors Danielle Stephenson and Riley Wagner have been awarded fellowships from ReachOut 56-81-06, an alumni-funded effort that supports year-long public service projects after graduation. Each student will receive a stipend of $30,000 to pay for living expenses during their fellowship year. Stephenson will use her fellowship to work with LA’s BEST Afterschool Enrichment program in Los Angeles. Wagner will spend his fellowship year in Argentina with Ingeniería Sin Fronteras (ISF, or Engineers Without Borders) planning and executing a water distribution system in the community of San Antonio de Copo. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/28/princeton-seniors-stephenson-wagner-awarded-reachout-fellowships-public-service
Katherine (Kate) Stanton has been named director of the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning and associate dean of the college, effective Feb. 24. She has filled this role on an interim basis since July 1, 2019. As the director of the McGraw Center, Stanton will lead the center’s multi-faceted work with faculty and students. This includes support for new teaching initiatives; educational and classroom technologies; learning programs and instructional design for both classroom and online environments; and graduate student pedagogy programs. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/27/stanton-named-director-mcgraw-center-teaching-and-learning-princeton
Princeton’s Yiyun Li has received the 2020 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for her novel “Where Reasons End.” The award is given to the author of a book-length work of any genre for its originality, merit and impact, and that has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and signaling strong potential for lasting influence. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/03/yiyun-li-receives-penjean-stein-book-award-originality-merit-and-impact
In the team-taught course “America Then and Now,” students explore the shaping of America through a range of approaches, including archival research at the Princeton University Library. The course, first taught in 2013, was designed with the overarching question: What should every Princeton student, upon graduating, know about America? Students gain a broad perspective on America by considering an array of historical and contemporary issues central to the development of this country. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/03/04/teaching-special-collections-america-then-and-now
Princeton faculty and student researchers make many discoveries that have the potential to address cancer, infectious disease, autism and other development disorders, and other medical, behavioral and health challenges. Now, a collaboration with Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology is making it easier and faster for Princeton’s medical and health-related research to reach patients and the community. The collaboration, known as the New Jersey Alliance for Clinical and Translational Science (NJ ACTS), began in 2019 and is funded by a $29 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to speed the translation of research into innovations that can lead to improvements in patient and public health. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/27/science-service-humanity-princeton-joins-rutgers-njit-advance-health-related
President Christopher L. Eisgruber wrote Tuesday, March 3 to the University community about preparing for and mitigating impacts of coronavirus.
Dear members of the Princeton community,
Princeton, like other universities and institutions across the country and around the world, is actively engaged in efforts to prepare for and mitigate the impacts from Covid-19, commonly referred to as coronavirus. I am writing to ask your assistance as we proceed. Our response to this challenge will be most successful if we support one another and work together to protect our community during this challenging time.
We are fortunate to have an excellent staff of experienced professionals across campus planning for, and responding to, the problems posed by Covid-19. Their job is not easy. Our team is working tirelessly seven days a week to support the health and safety of our community in response to rapidly evolving circumstances and incomplete information. We are fortunate to have such outstanding and dedicated people working on our behalf.
Despite their hard work, expertise, and commitment to this community, we are bound to face significant inconveniences and disruptions in the days and weeks ahead. Public health situations like the one presented by Covid-19 are, by their very nature, unpredictable and constantly changing. We will continue to work with our local, state, and federal partners to prepare for and deal with new challenges as they arise.
Given the risks posed by the virus and how little is known about it, we will likely have to make some difficult choices as situations arise. Our top priority must be to support the health and wellbeing of our community as we continue to advance our teaching and research mission. Though we will try our best to minimize resulting burdens, I do not expect that we can eliminate them. Indeed, the virus has already disrupted study abroad programs and required changes to international travel plans at Princeton and on campuses across the nation and around the globe. I want to express my appreciation to those who have accommodated these changes or helped to support the people affected by them; we will all need to be ready to adapt our behavior and make some sacrifices in the months ahead.
It will take the cooperation and good will of our entire community to help mitigate the impact of this virus. I encourage everyone to employ basic health best practices that can help decrease the spread of Covid-19, including washing your hands often and thoroughly. Here are three more concrete things you can do to help:
So far, the impacts of Covid-19 on Princeton have been limited, but even limited impacts can cause real disruptions and inconveniences. I’d like to thank all of you for your continued patience as we continue to address this evolving situation. I also want to reiterate my thanks to the team that is working diligently to ensure the health and wellbeing of every member of our community. Working together, I am confident that we will be able to navigate whatever lies ahead and support one another through this difficult and uncertain time.