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OSCAR is marking its 10th anniversary this spring as part of its Spring Celebration of Student Scholarship, a virtual event, May 4-7.

Illegal goods can have deadly consequences. Whether it’s a counterfeit face mask that doesn’t provide a frontline worker adequate protection from COVID-19, or a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl (a synthetic painkiller 50-100 times more potent than morphine), millions of lives can be at risk.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers and students at ����AV is working to stop such criminal activity. Thanks to a nearly $650,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF)—and a $16,000 grant supplement awarded to two undergraduates on the team—they will be investigating how to disrupt illicit supply chains, influence policy, and ultimately save lives.

Last August, ����AV faculty and students participated in a series of virtual simulations of school shooter incidents as part of an effort to help the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and MITRE Corp. determine best practices for school safety.

Ceres Nanosciences, a Northern Virginia bioscience company spun out of ����AV that specializes in diagnostic products and workflows, has opened a 12,000-square-foot advanced particle manufacturing plant in Prince William County’s Innovation Park.

Thomas Lovejoy was among the roughly 100 scientists serving on a Scientific Advisory Group that helped craft the U.N.’s “Making Peace with Nature” report that envisions a sustainable economy driven by renewable energy and nature-based solutions that will create new jobs, cleaner infrastructure and a more resilient future.

Children and teens who are experiencing increased anxiety and anger during the coronavirus pandemic will need guidance and validation as their lives continue to change, said Robyn Mehlenbeck, director of ����AV’s Center for Psychological Services.

����AV and the Prince William County Department of Economic Development will lead the Northern Virginia BioHub, one of five clusters that will exist throughout the commonwealth by Virginia Bio-Connect.

“For some people, it will be tough to go back,” said Keith D. Renshaw, chair of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Psychology Department and director of the Military, Veterans and Families Initiative. “Many of us have spent the year with reduced human interactions. For people with anxiety, this has meant they’ve been able to turn off the technology when they needed to unplug.”

Allison Redlich, a professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and a colleague at Central Michigan University have received a collaborative National Science Foundation grant of $385,000 to study wrongful convictions within the U.S. criminal justice system.