Tulane Releases

Four individuals who have made major contributions in fields ranging from sports and entertainment to national defense and artificial intelligence will receive honorary degrees at Tulane University’s 2022 Commencement.

Henry “Hank” Aaron, one of baseball’s greatest players; Gen. David H. Berger, a Tulane graduate and commandant of the United States Marine Corps; Ken Jeong, a medical doctor who became one of the country’s most sought-after comedic actors and Dr. Rosalind Picard, an inventor, engineer, scientist and pioneer in artificial intelligence, will receive honorary degrees at the May 21 ceremony. Aaron will receive Tulane’s first-ever posthumous honorary degree.

COVID-19 patients commonly report having headaches, confusion and other neurological symptoms, but doctors don’t fully understand how the disease targets the brain during infection. Now, researchers at Tulane University have shown in detail how COVID-19 affects the central nervous system, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. 

Tulane researcher Colin Jackson has won a National Science Foundation Early Career Award to further his research on the chemistry of planets.

Researchers from Tulane and University of Notre Dame will be working on a five-year research program with United WE to assess the efficacy of the Appointments Project®, which works to empower women and strengthen communities by increasing gender parity on civic boards and commissions. 

Ken Jeong, who honed his skills in New Orleans’ comedy clubs while completing his medical residency and a fellowship at Tulane’s School of Medicine in the 1990s, will be the keynote speaker at Tulane’s Commencement 2022.

Researchers at Tulane University will use a new $4.1 million NIH grant to investigate how a common virus may help HIV persist in viral reservoirs and out of reach of leading antiretroviral therapies. 

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $14.17 million grant to the Tulane University Brain Institute for a five-year study to understand why the brain-protecting benefits of estrogen don’t apply to all women, especially those with hypertension and Type 2 diabetes.

The Tulane School of Social Work has been awarded a $2.27 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to develop and implement a plan to address retention, burnout and overall wellbeing and resiliency of the health care workforce.