pandemic

There’s a growing consensus among emergency response researchers that in communities where social ties are strong and there is a sense of connectedness, residents are more readily able to rebound after a disruptive event such as an earthquake, hurricane, tornado, wildfire, or illness. Illustration by Hannah Moore/Northeastern University

How to rebound from disasters? Resilience starts in the neighborhood

“Many times in emergency management we think about the physical activities that need to be done, expanding this, building that, shoring up this. But there’s a whole other side that we could easily do that can also enhance the recovery process,” says Ann Lesperance, director of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Northeastern University Seattle campus.

by Eva Botkin-Kowacki July 14, 2021

Northeastern announces COVID-19 testing requirements for Fall 2021

Students, faculty, staff and contract employees on Northeastern University campuses will be required to be tested for the coronavirus once a week as the Fall 2021 term begins. The testing requirement is part of Northeastern’s plan to maintain a safe campus environment as the normal fall semester kicks off.

by Eva Botkin-Kowacki July 13, 2021

He created his own global co-op during the pandemic

The coronavirus initially threw a wrench into Saul Blain’s dreams of a co-op abroad, so the electrical engineering major with a desire to work in a Spanish-speaking country cold-emailed 30 renewable energy companies in Latin America until he found one that said yes. “Throw a bunch of feelers out there until you find something,” he recommends.

by Peter Ramjug May 12, 2021

Visitors wear face masks while watching a presentation in a theater at the Aquarium of the Pacific on its first day of reopening to public in Long Beach, Calif. on March 16, 2021.

How soon will the COVID-19 pandemic end? It depends.

“It could be a matter of weeks,” says Alessandro Vespignani, whose team has created models projecting possible future outbreaks of COVID-19 in the U.S. for the CDC. But that depends on whether people’s real behavior continues to align with the Northeastern team’s scenarios.

by Eva Botkin-Kowacki May 5, 2021

Northeastern will ease mask mandates and other restrictions

On Friday, Northeastern will align with new state and CDC guidelines that allow people to forgo masks outdoors when the proper distancing can be maintained. And, starting Monday, fully vaccinated members of the Northeastern community will move to once-a-week testing.

by Peter Ramjug April 29, 2021

Developing new disease treatments can take years. That's why Northeastern researcher Deisy Morselli Gysi and her colleagues looked at existing drugs to treat COVID-19. And now they have four strong contenders. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Existing drugs may hold the key to curing COVID‑19

Developing new disease treatments can take years. That's why Northeastern researchers looked at existing drugs to treat COVID-19. And now they have four strong contenders.

by Eva Botkin-Kowacki April 28, 2021

1 million coronavirus tests

Running seven days a week, 24 hours a day, Northeastern’s Life Sciences Testing Center has crossed an important milestone by processing its millionth nasal swab test for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that cause COVID-19. “The most significant thing that testing has allowed us to do is operate safely,” said Jared Auclair, who leads the facility.

by Peter Ramjug April 28, 2021

Northeastern is sending surplus pandemic supplies to a Roxbury healthcare center

The university will donate more than $280,000 worth of face shields, examination gloves, and other personal protective equipment to the Whittier Street Health Center near the Boston campus. The products “couldn’t have come at a better time,” says the head of the clinic.

by Peter Ramjug April 26, 2021

Candles are lit to begin the Huntington 100 ceremony

The 2021 Huntington 100 class honors student leadership

Undergraduate and graduate students were celebrated for their intellectual curiosity, ambition, and interdisciplinary approach to learning at the annual ceremony. More than 800 were nominated for the honor, the most in the program’s 15-year history. “You are models for the rest of the students,” said Joseph E. Aoun, president of Northeastern.

by Peter Ramjug April 23, 2021

Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

A global co-op at Toyota taught him the value of ‘kaizen’

Jaime Bensadon, a third-year business student with a dive-right-in approach to work projects, learned to slow down and think ahead. A Belgium-based co-op at Toyota, the world’s top carmaker, introduced him to the Japanese continuous self-improvement philosophy of kaizen. “If I move too fast in the beginning, I’ll waste a lot of time later fixing the errors,” he says.

by Peter Ramjug April 9, 2021