After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 represented a gradual return to normalcy—and The Daily’s most-read headlines of the year told the story. While research articles out of ÐÓ°ÉÊÓƵ illustrated ongoing concerns about the pandemic, other articles demonstrated how eager our faculty, staff and students were to take part in in-person activities.
To take a look back on the past year at ÐÓ°ÉÊÓƵ, we pulled together a list of our top news and research stories of 2022, presented in ascending order.*
15.
Three CWRU students were selected for prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants: Emily Belina, a fourth-year biology and art history major, who earned an Open Study/Research Award in Germany; Veronica Madell, a fourth-year English and education student, who earned an English Teaching Assistant Award in Thailand; and Yasaswini Iyer, a fourth-year Integrated Graduate Studies student in chemical biology and public health, who earned an Open Study/Research Award in India.
14.
Double-alumnus and Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb (Law ’18; MGT ’18) delivered the university’s commencement address in May.
13.
In August, we welcomed more than 1,550 first-year students and 65 transfer students to the CWRU campus under rainy skies.
12.
After two years of disrupted commencement celebrations due to COVID-19, ÐÓ°ÉÊÓƵ finally had the chance to return to in-person festivities in 2022.
11.
The university community came together to celebrate ÐÓ°ÉÊÓƵ’s history with a week of programming in April that concluded with the Hudson Relays.
10.
Our newest students came from varied backgrounds, including a total of 70 countries and 1,144 different high schools. We tagged along during Discover Week to see how they got acclimated to their new environment.
9.
Researcher Dustin Tyler, who is helping bring a sense of touch and pressure to those who have lost limbs, was invited to speak during a White House event for the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health program.
8.
School of Medicine researchers examined breakthrough rates of COVID-19 for two major vaccines—those offered by Moderna and Pfizer–BioNTech. Ultimately, they found those who had the Moderna vaccine were less likely to get COVID-19 (or be hospitalized for it) than those who had the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine.
7.
A year after their graduation, members of ÐÓ°ÉÊÓƵ’s Class of 2021 were already settling into their careers at top employers and getting started on advanced degrees at impressive institutions across the country.
6.
Commencement returned to a fully in-person format in 2022, allowing our graduates to celebrate their accomplishments with all of the traditional pomp and circumstance. To recognize their achievements, The Daily highlighted a graduating student from each school.
5.
As fears of COVID-19 continued in early 2022, researchers created a database that allowed members of the community to see how the virus was spreading in their neighborhoods. The interactive database offered a look at the daily reported COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths over the past month, tracked by zip code.
4.
Several CWRU programs had positive outcomes in the annual U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings released last spring. The School of Medicine and Case School of Engineering both made gains in the rankings, and the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences’ social work program maintained its spot at No. 9 in the country.
3.
The Case Quad got a refresh earlier this year with new improved security features, enhanced wi-fi capabilities, additional seating for pedestrians and more. The bulk of the construction occurred over summer break.
2.
A study by School of Medicine researchers may help lead to new treatment options for Crohn’s, an inflammatory bowel disease that has no cure. The research team uncovered the role the fungus Candida tropicalis has in causing inflammation in the gut’s microbiome.
1.
Nearly three years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, fears have started to wane. But many of the lingering effects of the virus are not yet known. To help shed light on some of the long-term effects, a team of ÐÓ°ÉÊÓƵ School of Medicine researchers explored an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in patients ages 65 and older in the year after a COVID-19 diagnosis.
*This list does not include who passed away during 2022.
