Hot Cocoa
Farah “Cocoa” Brown (B.S.’95) has more than 100 film and TV credits, but the stand-up stage is where her soul shines
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The Magical Mystery Receptor
It’s a new era for psychedelic research. Long-banned drugs like LSD and psilocybin are being reevaluated for their therapeutic potential against depression and addiction. Biochemist Javier González-Maeso is separating the mystical from medical science.
The Delight Is in the Details
David Ashton (B.F.A.’62) founded two creative agencies, rescued a 19th-century farmhouse from ruin and helped make baseball parks timeless again. Here, he explains why simple is beautiful (though never easy) and the importance of trusting your first idea.
‘The Guardians of Process’
A now somewhat-forgotten president created America’s professional civil service in 1883 and, by extension, modern U.S. government. Since then, civil servants have flourished and grown more and more necessary, all in the face of never-ending aspersions.
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A city block of care
A peek inside the 16-story Children’s Tower at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU
Engine blocks
Engineering alum Noah Armistead (B.S.’22) chats about a replica Ferrari engine he’s building out of Lego bricks
A place to ‘learn and discover’
VCU photographers and videographers tour the university’s new 168,000-square-foot STEM building
Features
Interrupting cancer’s cascade
Priscilla Hwang is unwinding how breast cancer spreads — and trying to shut it down
A spoonful of history helps the willow bark go down
An annotated tour of artifacts and curiosities at the School of Pharmacy Heritage Trail
He knows where the bodies are buried
A new mystery from Howard Owen (M.A.’81), the critical writings of Oscar Wilde, and more from the world of books
Postmarks: Tell us what you like — or don’t — about our stories.
Features
A windowless room with colorful views
Self-taught artist Brent Fagg takes us on a tour of his work in a VCU Medical Center research lab
How can we be stylish?
Professional personal stylist and School of the Arts graduate Lauren Messiah (B.F.A.’03) helps us emerge from our long (sartorial) winter.
Meet the deans, greet the deans
A little Fact-O-Rama with some of the university’s newer academic leaders
News and notes: Submit a class note and update your contact information.
Features
Invest in Me finishes with a flourish
8,000-plus people donate nearly $79M to support VCU students
Music, medicine and a toolkit from Grandpa
Professor and dermatologist Aditi Annu Sharma (M.D.’17) chats about her inventive side
Letters from readers
The Monroe Park Campus’ first computer center, Terry Austin’s farewell concert, and a William Howard Taft reference
