For the fifth time in two years, Peru has a new president. A chain reaction yesterday that began with beleaguered President Pedro Castillo attempting to dissolve Congress and rule by decree ended with Peruvian lawmakers overwhelmingly impeaching Castillo and elevating…
Tag: PERU

Research News Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins Medicine
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every other Wednesday.
Presidential ousting atypical even in turbulent, corruption-plagued Peru
CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE Nov. 16, 2020 Presidential ousting atypical even in turbulent, corruption-plagued Peru With the weekend’s resignation of its interim president, Peru plunged into a constitutional crisis that Kenneth Roberts, professor of comparative and Latin American…
Researchers identify most powerful gene variant for height known to date
• Newly discovered gene variant in Peruvian populations is powerfully linked with height
• Five percent of Peruvians carry the variant, which originates exclusively from Native American populations
• The variant occurs on a gene that, when mutated, causes Marfan syndrome, a condition marked by connective tissue abnormalities, including serious cardiovascular problems
• The newly discovered variant is not associated with disease and may confer adaptive evolutionary advantage to populations that carry it

Daron G. Ferris, MD, to Receive 2020 Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health
Daron G. Ferris, MD, the Founder of CerviCusco, will receive the 2020 Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health for his dedication to cervical cancer prevention among the indigenous women in Cusco, Peru. Ferris created CerviCusco, a non-profit organization that ensures all women, including those with limited economic resources, have access to high quality and affordable health education and care, including screening, diagnosis, and treatment of cervical cancer. Ferris will receive the award – which comes with a $100,000 cash prize – during an event at the University of Pennsylvania on April 23, 2020.
People in Peru are being exposed to potentially dangerous levels of mercury
People living in the southern Peruvian Amazon are being exposed to potentially dangerous levels of mercury due to a combination of their diet and artisanal and small-scale gold mining occurring in their communities.
When scientists face an angry community
A team of paleoclimatologists on a recent expedition to recover glacier ice in Peru encountered the anger of a local community, fueled by local politics that had nothing to do with science. Here’s what happened next.