Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
April 12, 2026 April 12, 2026 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

Science & Technology

COURTESY OF DEBORAH AUSTIN / CC BY 2.0 Though there is some research supporting President Trump’s claim linking Tylenol use to autism spectrum disorder, Dr. Joel Shulkin argues that these studies are insufficient to demonstrate any causative link. 

From correlation to confusion: Fact checking President Trump’s Tylenol-autism claim

By NISHAD OKUTOYI | October 30, 2025

On Sept. 22, 2025, President Donald Trump, alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be notifying physicians that the use of acetaminophen (Tylenol) by expectant mothers can be associated with a “very increased risk of autism.” This announcement has been met with widespread criticism from the scientific community.

TAKI STEVE / CC BY-SA 2.0 A recent paper brings new perspectives to drug discovery through a deep-learning model.

Science news in review: October 28

By ALEX PAN | October 28, 2025

As we push through the fall semester, take a minute to learn about some of the recent discoveries and developments in drug discovery, quantum computing and cancer treatment.

COURTESY OF ANDREW WU Alex Szalay, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Big Data and Director of IDIES, showcases the NVIDIA DGX Spark to demonstrate the incredible recent progress in computing technology.

The Human Side of Big Data: IDIES Symposium Highlights

By ANDREW WU | October 23, 2025

The Institute for Data-Intensive Engineering and Science (IDIES) hosted its annual symposium on Thursday, Oct. 16. The symposium opened with remarks from Alex Szalay – Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Big Data and Director of IDIES – on the rapid evolution of data science and its expanding applications.

SYDNOR DUFFY / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITORShah opened by addressing a persistent challenge in academic research: the effectiveness of peer review. 

Nihar Shah on LLMs, peer review and science integrity

By RHEA MAKKUNI | October 22, 2025

Nihar Shah, an accomplished artificial intelligence (AI) researcher and associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, delivered a seminar at the Center for Language and Speech Processing (CLSP) on October 10th titled “LLMs in Science, the good, the bad and the ugly.” The seminar purveyed the role of AI in scientific research and peer review.

COURTESY OF GERMAN MARSHALL FUND Mao discussed his experience as a Fulbright Scholar in Germany. 

Humans of Hopkins: Toby Mao

By RHEA MAKKUNI | October 7, 2025

Toby Mao is a first-year MD candidate at Stanford and a Fulbright recipient passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to medicine, integrating medical engineering, technology and preventative healthcare. In an interview with The News-Letter, Toby reflected on how his background and passion for global health inspired him to pursue the Fulbright Program, which has shaped his commitment to using artificial intelligence for healthcare innovation. 

COURTESY OF CHARM CITY STEM LEAGUE In an interview with The News-Letter, Center for Educational Outreach’s Charm City STEM League Program Administrator Amanda Valledor recounted the importance community engagement. 

How the Charm City STEM League redefines Educational Outreach

By KEERTHANA RAJESH | October 6, 2025

At Hopkins, the Charm City STEM League (CCSL) is run by the Center for Educational Outreach (CEO) to blend STEM education with community engagement. It aims to address systemic inequities by preparing Baltimore students for success at Science Olympiad, one of the nation’s most challenging STEM competitions.

COURTESY OF SHEA LITTLEPAGE Littlepage reflects on her experience as a Fulbright Scholar based in Addis Ababa. 

Humans of Hopkins: Shea Littlepage

By RHEA MAKKUNI | October 5, 2025

Shea Littlepage is a public health researcher and Fulbright-Fogarty Public Health Fellowship recipient. She is dedicated to advancing global health through qualitative research and providing valuable insights to public health agencies. In an interview with The News-Letter, Shea discussed how her experiences at Hopkins motivated her to study health decision-making among Ethiopian experts during the COVID-19 crisis.

ARGONNE NATIONAL LAB / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 The Fried lab works on understanding how misfolded proteins are formed and handled with the goal of treating neurodegenerative diseases.

Stephen Fried discusses protein misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases

By ALEX PAN | September 18, 2025

Stephen Fried is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry working on misfolded proteins, which are prevalent in many degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Huntington's Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and cystic fibrosis. He seeks to understand how proteins misfold to cause these pathologies and eventually develop treatments and cures for them.

ERIN SUTTON / HOPKINS APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY Erin Sutton speaks at the Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics on the the development of NASA's Dragonfly rotorcraft for exploration of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. 

Erin Sutton on the development of NASA's Dragonfly for Titan exploration

By RHEA MAKKUNI | September 17, 2025

Erin Sutton, flight dynamics model validation lead for NASA’s Dragonfly mission, visited to the Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics on Sept. 10 to share her work on the Dragonfly, a car-sized rotorcraft whose goal is to fly through the methane-rich atmosphere of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.

COURTESY OF AMANDA RAY On September 5th, Amanda Ray, a graduate student at the Hopkins’ Gordus Lab, presented her dissertation defense, titled “Understanding How Sensory and Motor Information are Processed in a Neuron of Caenorhabditis elegans.”

Neural information processing in C. elegans: worming our way forward in neuroscience

By THANSI GARIKIPATI | September 16, 2025

How do brains turn environmental inputs into motor outputs? This question, known as the “black box” problem, has left neuroscientists scratching their heads for decades. On Sept. 5, Amanda Ray, a graduate student in the Gordus Lab at Hopkins, presented her dissertation defense, titled “Understanding How Sensory and Motor Information are Processed in a Neuron of Caenorhabditis elegans.”

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