For a new medical resident, or even an experienced doctor, the emotional toll of the job can be overwhelming. Dominic Vachon ’80, ’85 M.Div., a practicing psychologist, experienced it firsthand—he found himself burnt out, stretched thin, and emotionally detached from his patients, so eight years ago he came to Notre Dame determined to understand the scientific implications of compassion from a biological, neuroscientific, and psychological perspective. Now, Vachon is Notre Dame’s John G. Sheedy, M.D., Director of the Ruth M. Hillebrand Center for Compassionate Care in Medicine and is training the next generation of doctors to root their practice in compassion. “Compassion is essential for patient care and it's essential for the well-being of the clinician. The two go hand in hand,” Vachon explains. He underscores that compassion isn’t sentimentality, but is instead an applied use of skills, knowledge, and communication to foster successful doctor-patient relationships. Sam Grewe ’21 has seen the impact of compassion from the other side of medicine. When he was 13 years old, Grewe developed osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, and was eventually required to amputate one of his legs. As a teenager undergoing treatments, surgeries, and therapies, he said his doctors, especially the ones who took the time to explain, who provided comfort, and who gave him a sense of agency, motivated him to work hard and do well. Now, he’s a Paralympic high jumper and is planning to attend medical school next fall.More: https://go.nd.edu/CompassionInMedicine

When Dot Teso, the president of St. Michael Indian School on the Navajo Nation, wanted to expand her campus, she turned to Notre Dame’s School of Architecture. After years of partnering with Notre Dame’s ACE program and American Indian Catholic Schools Network, she had witnessed Notre Dame’s commitment to Catholic education, and she was confident the architecture faculty and students would bring the same commitment to design.She, along with Deswood Etsitty ’93, invited a group of undergraduates to the campus in Arizona to learn about Navajo culture, to meet the community members, and to start designing the campus’ first new building, a gym where the community can congregate.The students are trained in Classicism and were eager to incorporate Navajo art, culture and values into their designs. Several of those designs will serve as the basis of the school’s upcoming construction.Read more: https://go.nd.edu/BuildOnTradition

In 1882, Notre Dame student Albert Zahm built a rudimentary wind tunnel to study wing and propeller shapes. He went on to launch glider experiments from the roof of LaFortune and to write influential aeronautics papers in the early days of human flight.In 2018, Notre Dame continued its commitment to aeronautics by building the country’s largest quiet Mach 6 wind tunnel. The tunnel, designed by engineering professor Thomas Juliano, will allow researchers to perform experiments on temperature distribution, aerodynamic designs and propulsion systems for hypersonic aircraft. Information gathered could influence everything from faster airplanes to outer space reconnaissance.Read more: https://go.nd.edu/FasterandFarther

On a dusty plain in Amboseli National Park in Kenya, Notre Dame professor Beth Archie stands watching baboons and taking notes. The data she collects is part of one of the world’s longest-running primate studies in existence.The study has followed the same community of baboons since 1971, and its data can reveal important information about human health. Because studies of this tenure are nearly impossible in humans, the baboons, who share a 94 percent genetic similarity with us, can tell us a lot about ourselves. These days, Archie’s lab seeks to answer questions about how being part of a community impacts health. The results point to improved immune responses, resilience to trauma, and longer lifespans.Read more:

When firefighters run into a burning building, they know the dangers associated with their job. But new research suggests firefighters are at risk before they ever leave the firehouse.Using a spectroscopic technique and the St. Andre particle accelerator, Notre Dame professor Graham Peaslee has found alarming amounts of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighter gear. These chemicals have been linked to elevated rates of cancer and have also been found in fast-food wrappers, cosmetics, drinking water, carpet and flame retardants. He is now working to test many years of new and used gear to better assess the risks for firefighters.Professor Peaslee’s work in this area has encouraged several companies to reduce or eliminate PFAS, and the EPA and state legislators have also made policy changes. He hopes this new study will make firefighters safer, so they can continue to keep all of us safe.

Marissa Koscielski ’17, ’18 M.S., was in eighth grade when she was told she wouldn’t walk again. A gymnastics accident and spinal mass had left her paralyzed on the left side from the waist down. But she was determined and decided to build her own device to facilitate her rehabilitation. With strings and tape and bits of therapy equipment, Marissa repurposed a walker to help her slowly walk, and then run, once more.The experience taught her there is a gap in the tools and technology available for those rehabilitating from severe injuries, illnesses, and amputations. After completing her undergraduate degree at Notre Dame, she entered the ESTEEM program—a one-year master of science program focused on entrepreneurship and commercialization—and launched Enlighten Mobility, a startup that designs specialized rehab technology. Today, all of the company’s employees are Notre Dame graduates. Enlighten Mobility has since created its first product, a gait trainer largely based on the one Marissa designed for herself. The walker and other upcoming inventions are enabling Marissa to help others walk again.Learn more: https://go.nd.edu/HelpOthersWalkAgain

At the St. Joseph County Cyber Crimes Unit, eight Notre Dame undergraduates raised their right hands to be sworn in as law enforcement officers. They’re the only students in the country with that designation, and with it comes a host of responsibilities.The students are key in researching online activity, creating suspect profiles, executing warrants, and gleaning digital forensics from all confiscated media. They’ve seen cases ranging from drug trafficking to homicides, and have helped local law enforcement lock up perpetrators and set innocent suspects free. While beat cops and detectives are experts on the streets, the students are experts in social media and the Internet. They’ve taken a months-long backlog and reduced it to a matter of hours.While the students have been immensely helpful to the police force in South Bend, they are getting beneficial experience as well. The skills they’re honing are attractive to law enforcement, the FBI, technology firms, and consulting groups, and the internship is helping them stand out to potential employers.Learn more: https://go.nd.edu/UncoverTheEvidence

In a given year, around 60,000 Americans experience advanced heart failure, and many of them need a heart transplant to survive. While 10,000 hearts are donated each year, nearly 7,000 of them are not used. About half are not healthy enough, and though the other half are fully functional, those hearts can’t get to the recipient within the four-hour window recommended for effective transplants.But thanks to a partnership between Notre Dame engineering professor Pinar Zorlutuna and the University of Florida, there may be a way to extend that window to eight hours, which would allow many more donated hearts to reach patients. Professor Zorlutuna has created a novel and ethical way of converting adult blood and skin cells to functioning, beating heart muscle. These heart cells are being used to test an improved preservative solution that lengthens a donated heart’s lifespan. This safe and inexpensive platform has allowed for treatments to be tested without using very precious donated hearts, and initial studies show promise for these solutions.Learn more: https://ntrda.me/FFHumanHeart Learn more about Professor Zorlatuna: https://go.nd.edu/WomenLeadZorlatuna

In the wake of 9/11, Professor Ebrahim Moosa was overcome with frustration at the acts of violence being committed in the name of Islam. A devout Muslim himself, he had also been the target of a terrorist attack for speaking out against extremists.One issue, he realized, was that the curriculum being taught in madrasas, traditional schools of Islam, hadn’t been updated for centuries. It failed to engage with modern science, history, politics, and new research in religion. He thought he could teach some of these subjects to madrasa graduates to illustrate how Islam and modern life could peacefully coexist based on his own experiences. Those lessons, he believed, would be useful for the graduates in their engagement and education of their own communities.Thus, the Madrasas Discourses project was born at Notre Dame with an inaugural group of 55 Indian and Pakistani madrasa leaders. These students take weekly online courses with Professor Moosa and his colleagues and also meet twice annually. Two years later, Moosa claims the project is the most rewarding accomplishment of his life. The participants, too, are highly enthusiastic. Plans to expand the program and welcome students from sub-Saharan Africa are underway.As the Keough School of Global Affairs welcomes people from all nationalities, religions, and traditions to help solve the world’s challenges, Professor Moosa serves as a powerful example of how working collaboratively can make dramatic change.

Professor Tim Weninger is searching for a way to make digital systems and social networks more secure. The engineering professor researches how humans behave in digital social networks, and how their interactions online can influence their decisions offline.The problem, he says, is that much of the information on the Internet is intentionally false with the hope of swaying readers and headline skimmers. But thanks to a partnership with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Weninger and his colleagues are hoping to make the Internet safer, stronger, and more resilient.