- Aug 8, 2024
- by Sheri Hall
- Holistic Human Health, Social Impact + Justice, Technology + Human Thriving
Course guides professionals working with people estranged from family members
Sociologist and gerontologist Karl Pillemer has launched an online training program– one of the first in the U.S. – on family estrangement and reconciliation. Pillemer is the founder of the Cornell Family Estrangement and Reconciliation Project which conducted the first national survey on estrangement. The project also conducted in-depth interviews with hundreds of estranged individuals and interviews with therapists.
“We know estrangement affects a lot of people and causes enormous amounts of psychological distress,” Pillemer
- Feb 9, 2024
- Holistic Human Health
Untangling the relationship between loneliness and isolation
During the early days of the pandemic, Anthony Ong, professor of psychology, made a curious observation: Some of his friends were thriving in isolation. Yet others have felt lonely even when surrounded by others.
Ong, who is also professor of gerontology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, knew that loneliness and isolation had negative health effects, including on cognition, and that older adults were especially at risk. Some studies had investigated whether loneliness or
- Nov 13, 2025
- Holistic Human Health, Technology + Human Thriving
Kaiser Permanente executive emphasizes patient-centered care benefits both health and business
Last week Yazdi Bagli, executive vice president of IT and business enterprise services at Kaiser Permanente, spoke to students in DEA 4500 Policy Meets Design: High-impact Facilities of the 21st century and met with students from the Health Design Innovation Lab, directed by Rana Zadeh. This marks Bagli’s third year returning to campus to speak with and mentor our students.
Bagli discussed the differences between systems thinking and design thinking, and the importance
- Feb 14, 2024
- by Emily Groff
- Holistic Human Health
New award from Journal of Nutrition recognizes Malden Nesheim, first director of DNS
The Journal of Nutrition (JN) has announced the creation of Malden Nesheim Nutrition Landscape Award, developed in partnership with Cornell Human Ecology in honor of nutrition researcher and academic leader Malden “Mal” Nesheim, Ph.D. ’59. The award will recognize authors who publish a critical review or perspective on an emerging or significant topic impacting the field.
“Mal is a globally recognized legend in nutrition science, and top-quality reviews are invaluable to JN readers, in
- May 9, 2023
- by Sheri Hall
- Holistic Human Health
Psychology Ph.D. grad receives national dissertation award
Mary Kate Koch Ph.D. ’22 won the 2023 Hershel D. Thornburg Dissertation Award, which recognizes outstanding scholastic promise in research on adolescence, from the Society for Research in Adolescence. She received it at the SRA’s annual meeting, April 13 to 15, in San Diego.
The award recognized Koch’s work studying individual, social and cultural aspects of the psychology of puberty and adolescence in American youth. Her dissertation, “In Whose Words? Experiences at Puberty
- Apr 28, 2023
- by Marisa LaFalce
- Social Impact + Justice, Student Life
Nixon distinguished speaker challenges students to find authenticity and meaning in work
Director, writer and designer Walé Oyéjidé, spoke, dined with students and premiered a film at the annual Nixon Distinguished Lecture Series on April 20. His talk, “Beauty is the Weapon of the Future,” highlighted the ways he uses his multi-faceted design work to raise awareness of the complex issues of migration and celebrate the perspectives of marginalized people.
Oyéjidé explained to the predominantly student audience that one’s life path is circuitous and that there
- Jan 19, 2024
- by Emily Groff
- Holistic Human Health
New molecular nutrition research helps explain how fat cells develop
New research from the Division of Nutritional Sciences helps explain how fat tissue develops in mammals and could one day contribute to biomedical treatments for obesity and related diseases.
Daniel Berry, assistant professor in the division, studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern the lineage of adipose cells, or how fat tissue develops from a fertilized embryo and how that path can change in response to diet and environmental conditions.
Mammals have two types