Why do so many people reject broadly accepted scientific findings? What are the psychological, behavioral and cultural threads that tie together the fear of vaccinations with denial of climate change? And how can we apply the answers to these questions to improve the communication and understanding of science? Leading experts…
Hao Wu was a medical student in Beijing when she first saw the images that would change the course of her career. At an international biochemistry meeting, Michael Rossmann of Purdue University presented the intricate three-dimensional structures of viruses that his group had elucidated…
Seamus Kraft, the cofounder and executive director of The OpenGov Foundation, is the 2016 recipient of the James Madison Award, given annually by the American Library Association to honor leaders who work to improve the public’s access to government. The OpenGov Foundation, established in 2013, is…
Gregory Hannon (Photo: CRUK Pioneer Award) Gregory Hannon grew up in western Pennsylvania, where his father worked as a quality inspector at a factory. Hannon had professional aspirations, and assumed he was “destined” to become a physician. “Growing up, I didn’t even know that the…
Gilbert Chu’s passion for biology stretches far back. By ninth grade, he was conducting brain surgery in rats and corresponding with researchers about implanting brain electrodes. But during his first week of college at Princeton, a run-in with a premed student who demanded to copy his lab report…
The Rita Allen Foundation’s support for innovation in media impact measurement is mentioned in an article published today on MediaShift, a website that covers the changing media landscape. The piece describes how news outlets, both nonprofit and commercial, are experimenting with a variety of audience metrics. It highlights…
Christopher Walsh (Photo: Katherine C. Cohen/Boston Children’s Hospital) Christopher Walsh, a 1993 Rita Allen Foundation Scholar, is the recipient of the 16th Perl-UNC Neuroscience Prize awarded by the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. “Dr. Walsh’s study of genetic mutations and gene functions associated…
Fund for Shared Insight today announced its inaugural cohort of Listen for Good grantees, which includes a diverse group of 19 nonprofits that directly serve people in communities across the U.S. Listen for Good, a collaborative effort among several funders, is dedicated to building the practice of listening to the…
Many animals, from birds to humans, learn complex behaviors by observing and mimicking their parents. Male zebra finches learn elaborate mating calls from their fathers, and this process has become a model system for exploring the mechanisms of learning and memory. Michael Long(Photo: NYU Langone Medical Center)…
The Fund for Shared Insight today announced it will award over $2.6M in 2016 to five existing grantees to continue their work improving philanthropy and to one new grantee for feedback research. The original round of grants was awarded to a group of 14 nonprofits in 2015 to strengthen feedback systems…