Kai Sam Ng '14 reviews the ceaselessly entertaining and intelligently crafted new novel The Calypso Directive, written by Brian Andrews '03.

Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean emeritus of Weill Cornell Medical College, was awarded the 24th Annual Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Award in Cardiovascular Research last week.

For Jamie Roden '12, a childhood passion has develped into a dedication to research.

David P. Hajjar will work with biological science faculty at Qatar University and try to develop more research ties with Cornell.

Cornell’s Learning Initiative in Medicine and Bioengineering (CLIMB) is a five-year initiative funded through the National Science Foundation’s GK-12 program, which stands for Graduate STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Fellows in K-12 Education. Fellows partner with science teachers to create an inquiry-driven curriculum module based on their own original research, as well as give lectures and assist with labs. 

On Friday, Prof. Moonsoo Jin, biomedical engineering, lectured about his medical research.  He found evidence that inflammation may be used to diagnosis cancer at early stages, and he believes that removing inflammation in patients may prevent cancer progression.

From unlocking nature’s fundamental principles through elementary particle physics to unzipping DNA to understand the way living cells function, research at Cornell spans across every science department and almost every scientific topic. Scientific research requires equipment, raw materials and people. To obtain these, however, researchers need one thing: funding. According to an annual report put out by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, researchers at Cornell, not including Weill Medical College, spent about $470 million in the 2008 fiscal year.

Next Tuesday, America will elect the next president of the United States and new members of the 111th Congress. Perhaps more than ever scientific issues are at the forefront of the political battleground. The interaction of science and politics exists at all levels from the elementary classroom, to the university laboratory, to the halls of congress, to the oval office.

Cornell and its faculty have long made significant contributions to not only science but scientific policy as well. They have also seen their research affected by policy, and thus have a lot to say about this relationship — its past and present circumstances, and what the future may bring.