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Health & Science

In the summer, you can find Elsa Godtfredsen in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado scouting for bees and other pollinators, testing soil moisture levels, gathering seeds and carefully monitoring the health of local alpine wildflowers. A doctoral student in Northwestern’s plant biology and conservation program, she’s been running a multiyear experiment to see how early snowmelt (one sign of a warming planet) will affect wildflowers — and, by extension, the broader ecosystems upon which we all rely.

Learn about her discovery

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Members of the Northwestern community share the technological advancements — from tissue engineering and stem cell therapies to machine learning and more — that could affect life as we know it.

Learn more about the technologies

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How has COVID-19 impacted the respiratory health of millennials for the long haul? A new study by Northwestern University and the American Lung Association will follow 4,000 adults over the next five years to find out.

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When Natalie Y. Moore ’99 MS started writing The Billboard, her new play about reproductive rights, in 2018, she never imagined that the script might hit the stage in a post-Roe world.

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The advance of science and technology has brought remarkable gains over the last two centuries. But how do we measure the importance of research and the return on R&D investment?

Read an essay from Jones

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The Northwestern community shares tips for tricky situations.

Hear tips from ’Cats

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In just a few months, Morton Schapiro will step down as president of Northwestern after 13 years at the helm. During President Schapiro’s tenure, the Evanston and Chicago campuses were transformed by more than 50 major construction projects and the creation of 17 new research institutes and centers.

Read about their generosity

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At just 22 years old, Casey Grage ’19 became CEO of Hubly Surgical, a startup set on revolutionizing neurosurgery. Hubly invented a lightweight neurosurgical drill that Grage says offers key advantages over conventional drills used to access to the brain in cases of stroke, aneurysm, trauma or other emergencies.

Learn about the technology

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After a treacherous 45-day climb, Chris Bombardier reached the 29,032-foot summit of Mount Everest in May 2017. It was numbingly cold, but Bombardier felt nothing but pride in what he had accomplished for the hemophilia community: He became the first person with the bleeding disorder to climb the world’s tallest mountain, knowing full well that an accident on the ascent could lead to a dire situation.

Learn about Bombardier’s mission

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In 13 years as Northwestern University president, Morty Schapiro transformed the campuses, expanded international opportunities and supported faculty research — all while diversifying the student population. The University also faced financial challenges and several controversies, as well as an unprecedented pandemic.

Get to know Northwestern’s first-name president

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