Albemarle High senior helps make repurposing breakthrough

Local high school student Vidya Ambati has potentially saved pharmaceutical researchers several years and billions of dollars in the fight against arthritis, and the breakthrough comes with at least one major side effect: a $50,000 college scholarship. Ambati, along with 19 other gifted high school students nationwide, was named a 2024 Davidson Fellow in late […]

House call

Dee Dee Hallock moved to Charlottesville from Florida after her son Nicholas fell ill. He began having issues walking in the fall of 2019. Within six weeks, he was fully in a wheelchair. In January 2020, his oxygen levels dropped and he needed to be admitted to the ICU for two months. That’s when he […]

Head start?

Since Virginia legalized marijuana in 2021, laws surrounding the drug have been hazy. Though adults 21 and over can legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow up to four plants at home, it will not be legal to sell weed until January 1, 2024. State Democrats unsuccessfully tried to speed up that […]

Give it another shot

After two-and-a-half years of living with COVID-19, many of us carry a sense of dread when the temperatures drop. Will winter coronavirus, colds, flus, and other infections rise as we gather in smaller spaces for longer periods of time? In a word: Yes.  But fear not. Vaccinations work to keep infection rates lower for many […]

Not immune: Vaccine-preventable diseases are coming back

As measles make a comeback in pockets of the United States, a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in Charlottesville in recent years has some local health experts worried that messages about the importance of immunization are not sinking in. In just the first two months of 2019, the U.S. has seen five outbreaks of measles–a highly […]

Refresh: 25 ways to look, feel, and be your best

New Year’s resolutions losing steam? (Or maybe you didn’t make any to begin with?) As we come to the end of a long, cold January, it’s not too late to make a fresh start. From ways to be brave to where to find support, here are 25 simple, mostly-local tips to help you look, feel, and […]

Finding the helpers: Locals offer addiction support

Charlottesville resident Jordan McNeish knows the perils of opioid addiction first-hand. Three years ago, he was on an East Coast road trip with his ex-girlfriend, and the plan was to end up in Maine. But their first stop was Baltimore, to buy heroin. McNeish, 29, says he had gone from using heroin once or twice […]

Inside the opioid epidemic: Author Beth Macy tells the story of a crisis 

When the opioid crisis began to unfold, Virginia journalist Beth Macy was at its epicenter. As a beat reporter for the Roanoke Times, southwest Virginia’s largest newspaper, Macy focused on social and economic trends and how they affect ordinary people. The paper covered the stories of the addicted and their families, the corrupt doctors that […]