The Plan for Pitt: Advance Educational Excellence

In a recent study, led by chair of psychology Julie Fiez, researchers taught adults “HouseFont” — a hieroglyphic-like language based on photos of homes — then scanned the language-learning areas of participants’ brains. What they found adds to a growing body of knowledge on how adults process written languages.

Research efforts in Graham Hatfull’s lab involving phages, or viruses that infect bacteria, saved a cystic fibrosis patient from a life-threatening infection. This therapeutic first couldn’t have happened without the help of undergraduate students.