VPI in the News

The Newcomb Institute at Tulane University will host a daylong symposium on February 7, 2020 on sexual violence which will feature presentations by leading researchers and experts, including historians, lawyers and psychologists from universities around the country. Sally Kenney, VPI faculty member and director of the Newcomb Institute says, "We'll cover everything from the history and politics of rape to gender and race discrimination in criminal law doctrine. We look forward to engaging the broader Tulane community in seeking solutions to this critical issue.”

A photograph of 15 African-American medical students from Tulane University standing in front of a former Louisiana slave plantation has gone viral. Labat, the student who organized the photograph said "We are descendants of those people. This is our land. We were called there."

Dr. Charles Zeanah comments on the conditions of Romanian orphanages in the early 2000's when the Bucharest Early Intervention Project began. Dr. Zeanah and researchers at Harvard and the University of Maryland are studying the outcomes of institutionalized children who were placed in foster homes by researchers early on in their lives to children who remained in institutional care. They are beginning the seventh round of follow-up as the children are turning 21.

Dr. Mary Margaret Gleason, a VPI faculty member in the Tulane School of Medicine, will be presenting on identifying children at risk of developing mental health problems and helping participants recognize the early warning symptoms. She says, "Early intervention is most accurate for children with early onset symptoms. 'The earlier the intervention the better, because of the rapid brain development,' she advises. 'However, intervention can also be effective later when many symptoms don’t develop until school age or adolescence.'”

According to Alicia Czachowski, director of public health initiatives and assessment, the MENtality project is focused on prevention methods as a sexual violence initiative rather than response. “We really wanted to develop something ... to help create an environment where people can talk about masculinity and how it can be used in a positive way to help prevent sexual violence from occurring.” Czachowski said.