Pardis Sabeti (Florida & New College 1999) featured in TIME's 100 Most Influential People

Pardis Sabeti (Florida & New College 1999) has been selected as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. Sabeti, a professor at the Center for Systems Biology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, was chosen for her work in sequencing the Ebola virus. 

J. Craig Venter, who wrote Sabeti's entry, said:

Pardis and her team were able to work out clearly that the virus was spreading human to human—not from mosquito bites or some pig vector or something else. There were so many theories out there, but her work proves that there’s nothing like real data to get rid of myths and guesses and get down to the facts. Many of her scientific collaborators died during this outbreak. This is high-risk research, but it ended up saving a lot of lives too. There is no excuse not to do this kind of work with every outbreak that ever occurs in the future.

In 2013, we published a profile interview with Pardis Sabeti, in which she spoke about her experience of Oxford, why she was attracted to medical research, and the challenges of working with infectious diseases. 

Michelle Gavin (Arizona & Lincoln 1996) Appointed as Managing Director of the Africa Center

Rhodes Scholar Michelle Gavin (Arizona & Lincoln 1996) has been appointed as Managing Director of The Africa Center, a multidisciplinary civic institution that aims to provide a gateway for American engagement with the African continent. The Africa Center, once known as the Museum for African Art, is based in New York City and its Board of Trustees is led by Hadeel Ibrahim and Chelsea Clinton. 

Before joining The Africa Center, she served as the US Ambassador to Botswana between 2011 and 2013. Prior to her appointment as Ambassador, she served as Special Assistant to the President and the Senior Director for Africa at the National Security Council. 

As a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University she received an MPhil in International Relations. She also earned a BA from Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, where she was a Truman Scholar.  

Leana Wen (Missouri & Merton 2007) takes up post as Baltimore City Health Commissioner

Leana Wen (Missouri & Merton 2007) has taken up her post as Baltimore City Health Commissioner, having been appointed by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in December. Baltimore has the oldest continuously running Health Department in the United States, and Dr Wen will be in charge of a wide range of functions, including emergency preparedness, chronic disease prevention and the management of acute communicable diseases.

To see a ABC News feature on Dr Wen, follow this link. 

To read our profile interview with her, follow this link. 

Abigal Seldin (Pennsylvania & St Antony's 2009) Honoured in 2015 Forbes '30 Under 30' List

Abigail Seldin (Pennsylvania & St Antony's 2009) has been honoured in the 2015 Forbes 30 Under 30 List, in the Education category. The list showcases 30 talented people under the age of 30, across 15 different categories.  

Seldin, 26, is a VP at the Educational Credit Management Corporation and Founder of College Abacus, a web-based tool which helps prospective college students measure and compare the cost of programs at nearly 4,000 colleges. College Abacus was named as one of CNN's Best Money Ideas for 2014. 

Elizabeth M. Cousens (Washington & New 1987) Appointed as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the UN Foundation

Elizabeth M. Cousens has been appointed as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the United Nations Foundation. Cousens currently serves as the US Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and Alternate Representative to the United Nations.  '

“Ambassador Cousens will help bring our work at the Foundation to a new level of global reach and focus as we support the efforts of the UN on the defining issues of our time,” said Kathy Calvin, President and CEO of the UN Foundation. “The work of the UN is more important today than ever before, and with Ambassador Cousens as part of the Foundation leadership team, we can build that support in ways that rise to that challenge.”

Cousens studied for a D.Phil at Oxford University, and holds a BA from the University of Puget Sound. 

Gina Raimondo (Rhode Island & New 1993) Elected as Governor of Rhode Island

Rhodes Scholar Gina Raimondo was elected to be Governor of Rhode Island in the 2014 U.S. mid-term elections. She will be the first female governor in the state's history.

Ms Raimondo, the Democratic nominee, is a businesswoman who has been the state's general treasurer since 2010. She defeated Allen Fung, the Republican candidate, who is the mayor of Cranston, the state's third-largest city. Ms Raimondo gained 40 per cent of the vote, while Mr Fung won 37 per cent of the vote. Moderate party candidate Bob Healey won 22 per cent of the vote. 

To the crowd that gathered to celebrate her victory, Raimondo said: “I commit to you, the people of Rhode Island, to rebuild this economy, to rebuild the state, and to get Rhode Island back to work and in good middle class jobs.”

Maureen N. McLane (Massachusetts & Hertford 1989) Nominated for National Book Award

It was announced yesterday that Maureen N. McLane's third collection of poems, This Blue, was selected as a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award, Poetry. 

In his review of the collection in the New York Times Book Review, Jeff Gordinier said: "These are poems that keep you on your toes . . . McLane renders each phrase with the precise and steady hand of an ice sculptor. Her consummate finesse can be a source of delight." 

Maureen N. McLane is a Professor of English at New York University, a critic, and the author of two previous poetry collections, as well as the experimental hybrid of memoir and criticism, My Poets. 

Gina Raimondo (Rhode Island & New 1993) wins Democratic primary in Rhode Island gubernatorial race

Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo has won the state's Democratic nomination for the 2014 gubernatorial race. She earned 42 per cent of the vote, with her opponents, Angel Taveras and Clay Pell, earning 29 and 27 per cent respectively. Raimondo will run against the Republican Mayor of Cranston, Allan Fung, in the general election. If she prevails, it will be the first time a Democrat won an election for governor since 1992. She will also be the first woman elected to governor in the state's history.   

For more information about the election, click here for Politico's coverage. 

Lt. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson (Iowa & Brasenose 1981) recognised as Auxiliary Woman of the Year

Lt. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson, Superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy, recently received the 2014 American Legion Auxiliary Woman of the Year Award during the ALA National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Johnson is the 30th recipient of the award, and she was chosen for her positive impact on the lives of service members and their families. 

The ALA's National President, Nancy Brown-Park, said of the award: "General Johnson's work throughout her military career aligns perfectly with the mission and programs of the American Legion Auxiliary. She exemplifies the best of America's military and it is an honor to recognize her as the American Legion Auxiliary 2014 Woman of the Year."

Read more about the award on the U.S. Air Force Academy website.  

To read Michelle Johnson's profile interview with the Rhodes Project, click here. 

Dr Pardis Sabeti (Florida & New College 1999) leads team mapping ebola genome

Dr Pardis Sabeti, MD/Ph.D., Professor at Harvard University and MIT's Broad Institute, led a team that has sequenced the RNA of 99 ebola viruses collected during the first weeks of the virus' outbreak in Sierra Leone earlier this year. 

Dr Sabeti explained the sequence to the L.A. Times: 

"The genome sequence of a virus is the blueprint on which that virus is built. Diagnostics are built on knowing that sequence; vaccines are also built using genome sequences. And if you want to build those as best you can, you want to know what the virus looks like today." 

To find out more, read the LA Times' piece on the genome.  

Shalini Randeria (India & St Anne's 1977) Appointed Rector of the Institute for Human Sciences

Professor Shalini Randeria has been appointed as Rector of the Institute fur die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Institute for Human Sciences) in Vienna. She will take office in January 2015. 

She is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Social Anthropology and Sociology at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, and a Visiting Professor at the Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB). She has published widely on the anthropology of globalization, law, the state and social movements.

  For more information, read IWM's press release here.