Seen & Heard
A selection of must reads about Dartmouth alumni making news around the world.
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Sirey Zhang ’20, Geisel ’24
New and Improved
Zhang is assisting with a clinical study at Dartmouth-Hitchcock to test a new and improved version of the oral polio vaccine. “The difference now is that they’ve altered it so it’s a little more genetically stable,” Zhang said, reducing the chance of viral shedding that could actually lead to new polio infections in vulnerable populations. Zhang and his colleagues will be collecting stool samples from their volunteer subjects, recruited from around the Upper Valley, to test the study's hypothesis.
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Aja DeCoteau ’02
Cultural Connection
DeCoteau is the new executive director for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, and the first woman to ever hold the role. “I am honored and excited to lead (the commission) and work together with our member tribes to bridge traditional knowledge, scientific expertise, and cultural connection to ensure that we have salmon and other natural resources for generations to come,” she said.
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Ben True '08
Marathon Man
True, who lives and trains in the Upper Valley and narrowly missed qualifying for the recent summer Olympics, took seventh place in this November's New York City Marathon.
In a lengthy profile, the Valley News takes a look at his "lone wolf" training, why he's stayed in New Hampshire rather than moving to a professional running mecca out West, and his efforts at community-building while tackling existential questions about his career.
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Matthew Heineman ’05
Front Row
Heineman, who received an Oscar nomination for his 2015 film Cartel Land, is the director of a new film that plunges viewers into New York City hospitals at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The First Wave is being lauded as “visceral and harrowing” with “staggering emotional power.”
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Beth Robinson '86
High Honor
Robinson, who has been a justice on Vermont's supreme court since 2011, was nominated and confirmed for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
According to VTDigger: “Robinson’s confirmation makes history. She will be the first openly LGBTQ+ woman to serve on a federal appellate court. She is well-known for her advocacy to legalize same-sex marriage in Vermont years before it was legal nationwide — a legacy that her supporters tout as evidence of her commitment to equal rights, but her detractors have used to question her capability as an impartial judge.”
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