In the News
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May 22, 2026
U-M earned a gold rating for its environmental initiatives, according to an evaluation by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. “From academic programs and student engagement to campus energy transition projects and infrastructure improvements, our university community continues to demonstrate service to communities near and far,” said Michigan President Domenico Grasso. The award, said Drew Horning, interim director of the Graham Sustainability Institute, reflects a growing culture of sustainability at U-M and emphasizes the collaboration occurring across various departments.
MLive -
May 22, 2026
“I think that protective practices that are being put in place in Michigan are working for firefighters. On the other side of things, that shows that, yes, the general population does still have exposures to PFAS,” said Jackie Goodrich, research associate professor of environmental health sciences, after new state data revealed that PFAS blood levels in Michigan firefighters were comparable to the average American’s.
Bridge Michigan -
May 22, 2026
“Viewers quickly form a strong bond,” said Jan Boehmer, assistant professor of sport management, who conducted a study on the local socioeconomic impact of a Welsh TV documentary series about the Wrexham soccer club. “They might feel as if they knew the people of Wrexham personally, making them part of the community … It doesn’t feel like marketing. It feels like a good story.”
BBC -
May 21, 2026
The recent FDA decision to approve two fruit- and sweet-flavored nicotine vapes is a potentially significant expansion of the FDA’s approach to authorizing e-cigarettes. “Flavored vapes can attract youth, but they can also appeal to people who smoke,” co-wrote associate professor Holly Jarman and research fellow Claire Ma of the School of Public Health. “Switching to nicotine vapes can diminish their exposure to cancer-causing chemicals … However, researchers don’t yet know whether or how adding flavors to vapes might affect smoking and vaping.”
The Conversation -
May 21, 2026
In many cultures, grandparents, parents and grandchildren live under one roof. Now, many U.S. families are embracing this way of living. “You see … much higher rates of multigenerational households among divorced families than among married families,” said Natasha Pilkauskas, associate professor of public policy and research associate professor at the Institute for Social Research. “I still think people would desire the ‘Leave It to Beaver’ lifestyle. I think that this is coming from necessity, more than preference.”
Business Insider -
May 21, 2026
“It’s said that when the Buddha speaks to a crowd of thousands of people, every single person there imagines himself sitting alone, and they hear the Buddha speaking to them in their own language, giving a teaching specifically for them,” said Donald Lopez, professor of Buddhist and Tibetan studies. The Buddha, after all, was often described as the great physician, “and it’s only a quack who prescribes the same medicine to every patient,” he said.
The New York Times -
May 20, 2026
The U-M Health Weiser Center for Prostate Cancer has adopted an FDA-cleared, multimodal AI platform that combines patient-specific data to create a personalized 3-D cancer map. “Having access to Unfold AI adds a valuable tool to our evaluation and treatment of (prostate cancer), allowing for additional precision in tumor ablation procedures and a more personalized treatment paradigm tailored to each patient,” said Andrew Wood, clinical assistant professor of urology.
DBusiness -
May 20, 2026
“It was not a cure-all, but I think it really did improve student achievement. There’s evidence that school accountability does change behaviors of teachers and administrators and probably parents and students,” said Brian Jacob, professor of public policy, economics and education, about the deeply unpopular No Child Left Behind law passed in 2002 and replaced in 2015.
The New York Times -
May 20, 2026
“When you consider the amount of misinformation that exists online about how to manage emotion, the need to properly harness AI in support of emotion regulation becomes acute. To be clear, there is enormous potential for AI to be a source of tremendous good here. But also for the opposite. Ideally, we let science be our guide,” said Ethan Kross, professor of psychology and of management and organizations, on the use of AI models for life advice.
International Business Times -
May 19, 2026
Remarks by government officials saying the hantavirus outbreak is under control can be counterproductive if they’re not paired with clear explanations of what they know and don’t know and what they’re still trying to learn, said Anand Parekh, chief health policy officer at the School of Public Health: “There’s probably a portion of the public that appreciates just information as opposed to sort of telling people to worry or not to worry.”
The Washington Post
