Every day, our bodies protect us from potential threats. Our skin keeps out pathogens. Mucus traps bacteria. These barriers are essential, but they can also prevent medicine from reaching the places it needs to go. At the University of Colorado Boulder, 2022 Packard Fellow Wyatt Shields and his team are working to address this challenge with microscopic robots that … Continued
The Packard Foundation is supporting organizations that help election officials prepare for and respond to physical, cyber, and operational threats while strengthening the shared infrastructure needed for safe, fair, and trusted elections. In the United States, elections are the main way for citizens to influence their country’s path. They allow people and communities to voice their preferences and provide a critical form of accountability between elected officials and … Continued
The deep ocean is notoriously difficult to study. Collecting data with underwater drones requires immense power, and reaching its depths means navigating crushing pressure and total darkness. Inspired by creatures like jellyfish, sharks, and rays that already navigate the ocean with ease, Nicole Xu, a 2025 Packard Fellow at the University of Colorado Boulder, and her team are building bio-inspired robots to monitor the ocean and track the effects of climate change. These … Continued
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the Packard Fellows Emergency Relief Fund, a $3.3 million rapid-response initiative created to support Packard Fellows affected by recent shifts in federal research funding. Administered by the Science Philanthropy Alliance, the fund was created to preserve the postdoctoral workforce by providing short-term … Continued
The weeks before a baby arrives can be filled with one long checklist of questions for mothers and caregivers. What doctors do I need to meet with? When do those appointments need to be scheduled? How do I find child care once the baby arrives? And how will I afford it? What will I do if my housing becomes an issue? Or if my baby … Continued
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, leaders across local Planned Parenthood health clinics saw a crisis coming and needed a solution if they were to continue providing birth control to their patients. Contraceptives were getting more expensive every year, and they saw a future when Planned Parenthood clinics wouldn’t be able to afford to purchase them at a reasonable cost so they could provide them … Continued
MBARI scientists recently returned from a seven-day expedition in Antarctica exploring how groundwater and gases like methane are moving under the seafloor are impacted by a rapidly warming polar environment. Working aboard the Spanish polar research vessel Hespérides, the team focused on the Bransfield Basin in the northern Western Antarctic Peninsula, a region that is experiencing some of the fastest warming in the Southern Hemisphere. Their work was … Continued
When Dr. Ryan Kelly says he can see whales in a bottle of water, he means it. At least, he can tell which whales and other species have passed through that water sample by sequencing the DNA inside. All living things shed tiny traces of DNA in their environments. Water, soil, and even air hold clues about which species have been present. Over the past decade, Kelly and his colleagues have helped bring these genetic traces … Continued
Stable, affordable housing helps families put down roots in their communities. It also supports a strong local economy across Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties. To help California families find high-quality homes they can afford, the Packard Foundation is supporting the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) with a $450,000 grant to expand housing options … Continued
For a scratchy throat, feeling unwell is bad enough. The dreaded strep throat swab that follows is no fun either, especially for kids. Dr. Ashleigh Theberge’s lab at the University of Washington has invented a gentler alternative: a strawberry flavored lollipop with tiny spiral channels that siphon off saliva for testing. The idea is that … Continued