May 7, 2021
The Pennsylvania House Health Committee held a hearing Tuesday on the University of Pittsburgh’s experimentation with aborted fetuses, including experiments grafting aborted baby scalps onto mice. Pitt denies that the aborted fetuses are supplied by a local Planned Parenthood, and that their research is funded by taxpayer dollars, but Tuesday’s hearing featured witnesses testifying otherwise.
In the fall of 2020, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh published a study titled, “Development of humanized mouse and rat models with full-thickness human skin and autologous immune cells.” In studying how organs reacted to pathogens or infections on human skin, researchers grafted “full-thickness human skin” as well as thymuses, livers, and spleens from fetuses onto rodent bodies, creating what they call “humanized rat models.”
Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
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A student-produced report and petition are circulating the University of Pittsburgh and surrounding communities to persuade university officials to create an LGBTQIA+ Center – a place that would offer information, resources and community for Pitt students and others.
Tyler Viljaste, a Pitt junior and vice president and chief of cabinet of the student government, came out as bisexual his freshman year. Without a centralized location for resources and tools to go to, he said he didn’t really know how to approach the subject with his family and friends. He was lucky to have friends who were understanding and supportive, he said, but looking back, he wishes he knew where to go to seek professional advice.
Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
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The University of Pittsburgh will host a vaccine clinic Wednesday at the Petersen Events Center from noon to 6 p.m., where clinicians will administer first doses of the Moderna covid-19 vaccine.
Kevin Zwick, a university spokesman, said Pitt received 500 doses from the state Department of Health.
There will be a second-dose clinic in four weeks, a message from Pitt’s Covid-19 Medical Response Office said Tuesday.
“The Department of Health encourages university students to get vaccinated before traveling home even if you won’t be able to return to the same location for your second dose,” the message reads. “Many clinics are offering second doses no matter where you received your first dose, and we expect these offerings to expand in the coming weeks.”
amollenauer@altoonamirror.com
Students walk to the Slep Student Center on the Penn State Altoona campus on Friday afternoon. Rutgers and Cornell universities have made the move to require their students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before returning to campus in the fall. While several area institutions are not requiring their students to follow suit, they are strongly encouraging students to get vaccinated. /
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Area colleges and universities are not requiring students to get vaccinated for COVID-19 as fall approaches.
Two weeks ago, officials at Rutgers University announced a vaccine mandate for students, and Cornell University soon did the same. So far in central and western Pennsylvania, however, schools are shying away from mandates, instead strongly encouraging students to get vaccinated.