News

Isra'a Nour, a 2015 VCU graduate, serves as a program manager for Open Society Foundations. (Contributed photo)

Meet-a-Ram: Isra’a Nour’s humanitarian work is rooted in her VCU anthropology and biology courses

Aug. 19, 2026

The 2015 graduate, powered by her service in Sudan, now works in the U.S. to support human rights, equity and justice.

Melody Ngo with medical student Sarah Lewicki and Adolfo Mauro, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics. Ngo worked on a research project this summer with Lewicki and Mauro. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

VCU summer program propels undergraduate student's research

Aug. 18, 2026

Biology major Melody Ngo embraces how the Honors College and Wright Center offer ‘a crash run in what it is like to work in a lab day to day.’

Physics major Jazlyn Lopez Silva spent her summer learning how to manufacture and 3D print a new material for biomedical devices. (Jake Burns, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Undergraduate researcher Jazlyn Lopez Silva targets better medical implants

Aug. 14, 2026

The physics major is developing a 3D-printed, conductive polymer in the lab of VCU nanoscientist Daeha Joung.

Five questions with health, physical education, and exercise science major Maya Cureton

Aug. 13, 2026

Cureton wants to take a holistic approach to her health science career

Catching up with English M.F.A. graduate and novelist Rachel Beanland

Aug. 13, 2026

Rachel Beanland (M.F.A.’20) launched her third novel “The Half Life” in July 2026.

Five questions with health, physical education, and exercise science major Madelyn Strom

Aug. 13, 2026

The May 2026 graduate shared her experience in the HPEX program

A new minor in Native American and Indigenous studies reflects VCU’s growing spotlight on the centrality of Indigenous peoples, their contributions and their ongoing presence in America and Virginia. (File photo)

VCU offering new minor in Native American and Indigenous studies

Aug. 12, 2026

Debuting this fall in the College of Humanities and Sciences, the curriculum reflects growing ties to Virginia’s tribal nations.

Environmental studies major Cree Taylor (left) spent her summer flying in planes, working in the field and learning to code through NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program. (Contributed photo)

NASA summer program helped Cree Taylor soar – and land on her academic focus

Aug. 10, 2026

The agency’s Student Airborne Research Program encouraged the self-identified ‘dabbler’ to home in on research with a personal connection.

Students in the Field Experiences in Anthropology course helped research the ancient DNA of corn pollen. (Contributed photo)

VCU Rice Rivers Center offers its first coordinated summer session

Aug. 10, 2026

With hands-on learning and high-tech tools, the field station hosts five courses that explore the land, water and air along the James River.

Here’s how one VCU lab keeps watch over the James River

Aug. 6, 2026

For almost two decades – and with a new $1M grant to cover at least five more years – this research duo has braved the elements year-round to track the river’s health.