Innovation & Research

Illustration of a human head with a headgear/eyewear device. Blue and dark blue colors with white dots and lines reminiscent of stars in the sky with constellation drawings
Imagine struggling to see, listen or make movements in half of your environment. For 29% of stroke survivors, rehabilitation means addressing a condition called unilateral spatial neglect. With a $1.18 million grant from the National Science Foundation, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Northeastern University are developing a brain-computer interface using augmented reality to better detect, assess and rehabilitate those patients.
Clark Chilson
Clark Chilson, an associate professor who studies Buddhism and self-reflection, is one of a handful of scholars outside Japan studying Naikan—a form of structured meditation for thinking about relationships.
Marci Lee Nilsen and Jonas Johnson
The human papillomavirus (HPV) epidemic has led to a sharp increase in HPV-related head and neck cancer. Many patients survive, but then face new obstacles related to the treatment of their condition.
Carrie Leana
In a series of studies of workers ranging from nursing aides to truck drivers, business professor Carrie Leana found that the more employees worried about money, the worse their work performance—even if they earned middle-class salaries.
Sophia Choukas-Bradley and Vanitha Swaminathan
Psychologist Sophia Choukas-Bradley and brand strategist Vanitha Swaminathan say Instagram’s move this week to hide the number of likes on some posts in the U.S. could change how young adults feel about themselves and their peers.
 Bennett Van Houten, professor of pharmacology and chemical biology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
Bennett Van Houten and a team of researchers at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center provide the first concrete evidence for the long-held belief that sick mitochondria pollute the cells they’re supposed to be supplying with power. It's a process Van Houten calls "the Chernobyl effect."
Pitt researchers Jennifer Silk and Bambang Parmantohave developed a tool that helps kids and adolescents better manage their anxiety. And now, they’re working with Pitt’s Innovation Institute, local pediatrics offices and schools to make it widely available to the public.
A healthcare professional using a tablet
It can take 100 clicks for a doctor to order the right test and check a patient’s health history using a typical electronic health record. Yalini Senathirajah has designed a program that could reduce that digital burden and improve patient care.
Jeffrey Newman, with a monitor displaying two dimensional stars and galaxies
A new 5,000-eyed instrument is searching the skies for dark energy, and a star survey recently unveiled the smallest known black hole. Two teams in the Department of Physics and Astronomy are working to unravel the universe’s mysteries.
This flu season, scientists want the public to see the virus through the lens of creativity—and hopefully learn something in the process. Seema Lakdawala, assistant professor in the School of Medicine, teamed up with a virus researcher and an artist in England to develop scientifically accurate worksheets, coloring book pages and games that explain new discoveries involving influenza.