Salk Assistant Professor Deepshika Ramanan has been named a Rita Allen Foundation Scholar. The award will help fund her research on how maternal immune cells support lactation and shape long-term health outcomes for both mother and child.

Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture Vol. 27 No. 2 explores the healing power of philosophy through diverse perspectives—ranging from ancient Stoic and Socratic traditions to modern reflections on public space and health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This issue includes articles on the philosophical roots of counseling, medieval Arab efforts to calculate Earth’s circumference, and the overlooked impact of architecture on mental well-being. It also features a call for dialogue between science and religion, a special lecture on Aristotle’s views on women and Greek tragedy, and a review of Florangel Rosario Braid’s inspiring autobiography. Together, these works illuminate how philosophy can expose and ease the sources of human suffering by expanding our capacity for reflection, dialogue, and ethical action.

Many people with mental health or substance use disorders experience stigma and perceived biases when seeking medical care—not directly related to their mental health—in a hospital Emergency Department (ED/ER), according to research by the University of Massachusetts Amherst.