Switching on an immune pathway in cancer cells with a new mRNA therapy reprograms the immune system in complex tumor environments to launch a broader attack
Cancer cells develop various strategies to paralyze immune cells to evade their attack in the complex tumor microenvironment (TME). Using one such strategy, they cripple their own production of a small signaling molecule known as cGAMP, which, if released into the TME, can be taken up by immune cells that then build up a first line of defense against cancer cells, commonly referred to as the “innate immune response.”
To accomplish this, cancer cells reduce or shut down the expression of the so-called cGAS enzyme that usually synthesizes cGAMP when it encounters double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) that is not supposed to be there, such as DNA from invading pathogens or cellular DNA that has been damaged.
Researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas recently developed biosensor technology that may be able to detect lung cancer. The research team incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) into the device with the goal to identify cancer earlier and more easily using breath analysis.
“We built a screening tool that could allow physicians to catch the disease in its early phases, which improves outcomes. This technology offers a potentially affordable, quick and noninvasive breath analysis tool for cancer screening,” said corresponding author Shalini Prasad, PhD, in a university news release. Dr. Prasad is professor and department head of bioengineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
Pamela K. Woodard, MD, director of WashU Medicine Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR), was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. One of the highest honors in medicine, membership in the Academy recognizes outstanding professional achievement.
Woodard is a renowned physician-scientist, having made significant advancements in translating cardiac imaging techniques into humans. These accomplishments include translating a technique that reduces motion artifact, which are image disturbances that can occur in MRI scans when the patient breathes. She also led a team that developed and translated a PET imaging radiotracer that may help physicians better identify stroke risk in patients.
Rebecca Richards-Kortum, the Malcolm Gillis University Professor and professor of bioengineering and electrical and computer engineering at Rice University, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), one of the nation’s highest honors in health and medicine.
Richards-Kortum was recognized “for major contributions to global health by creating low-cost, lifesaving technologies for underserved communities. Her innovations, from cervical cancer diagnostics to neonatal care technologies, have transformed health systems worldwide. She established educational programs, training future engineers to develop impactful, affordable health technologies globally.
Professor Molly Stevens has been elected to the US National Academy of Medicine in recognition of her work developing biomaterials-based technologies.
Professor Stevens FREng FRS is Professor of Biomedical Materials and Regenerative Medicine at Imperial College London’s Department of Materials and Bioengineering, with a joint appointment at the University of Oxford.
Professor Stevens was elected for her “exceptional contributions to biomaterials-based approaches to address critical healthcare challenges for tissue regeneration and biosensing, and for biomaterials that elicit specific biological and chemical responses, to investigate this frontier across scales, with significant contributions resulting in a wide range of innovations in regenerative medicine, advanced therapeutics, and disease diagnostics.”
Oral cancer remains a serious health concern, often diagnosed too late for effective treatment, even though the mouth is easily accessible for routine examination. Dentists and dental hygienists are frequently the first to spot suspicious lesions, but many lack the specialized training to distinguish between benign and potentially malignant conditions.
To address this gap, researchers led by Rebecca Richards-Kortum at Rice University have developed and tested a low-cost, smartphone-based imaging system called mDOC (mobile Detection of Oral Cancer). Their recent study, published in Biophotonics Discovery, evaluates how well this system can help dental professionals decide when to refer patients to oral cancer specialists.
Human lung alveolus chip infection model enables investigation of viral replication, inflammatory responses, and genetic off-target effects of a novel pan-influenza CRISPR therapy
The Influenza A virus (IAV) has been the cause of six major flu pandemics, responsible for 50 to 100 million deaths globally. In the U.S. alone, it is estimated that, despite seasonally updated vaccines, IAV infections still lead to 140,000 to 710,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 to 52,000 deaths annually.
The development of antiviral treatments against IAV – or more durable vaccination approaches for that matter – has been extremely challenging because IAV readily develops resistance against them by changing its genetic makeup. To date, its ability to “mutate,” rearrange its genetic information, or even recombine it with that of other IAV viruses infecting the same cell has been an insurmountable challenge for drug developers, and presents a constant risk for new pandemic strains to emerge.
Quantitative angiogenesis-based ultrasound biomarkers can differentiate between radial scar lesions and breast cancer, suggest findings published October 14 in The Breast.
A team led by Azra Alizad, MD, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, reported differences in microvessel structure between radial scars and invasive ductal carcinoma. They also identified several biomarkers tied to differences between these two imaging findings.
Jennifer Munson, a cancer researcher at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, describes a novel method for identifying where glioblastoma is likely to recur based on fluid moving through and near the tumor.
Glioblastoma is a devastatingly effective brain cancer. Doctors can cut it out or blast it with radiation, but that only buys time. The cancer has an insidious ability to hide enough tumor cells in tissue around the tumor to allow it to return as deadly as ever.
Patients diagnosed with glioblastoma survive for an average of 15 months.
What’s needed is a better way of identifying those hidden cancer cells and predicting where the tumor might grow next. Jennifer Munson believes she and her research team at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have developed a tool to do just that.
Researchers use novel technology to examine brown fat’s role in preserving heart health
Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are using novel non-viral gene therapy technology to gain insight into how to treat age-related heart disease. Researchers found that adding more brown fat or increasing the level of a fat molecule, or lipokine, released by energy-burning brown fat helps preserve heart health.
“One of the biggest things we see with aging is cardiovascular disease, which increases dramatically in patients who are over 65. Now we’re correlating it to a decrease in the lipokine 12,13-diHOME, and we’re showing directly that when we increase this lipokine that we can essentially rescue cardiac function,” said Kristin Stanford, PhD, professor in the Department of Surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and associate director of the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute.
A new approach can reveal the features AI models use to predict proteins that might make good drug or vaccine targets.
Within the past few years, models that can predict the structure or function of proteins have been widely used for a variety of biological applications, such as identifying drug targets and designing new therapeutic antibodies.
These models, which are based on large language models (LLMs), can make very accurate predictions of a protein’s suitability for a given application. However, there’s no way to determine how these models make their predictions or which protein features play the most important role in those decisions.
Columbia Engineering say they have developed a new cancer therapy which pairs an engineered bacteria and an oncolytic virus to deliver a viral load directly into tumors to destroy them, while simultaneously evading the body’s immune defenses. The new therapy, described in Nature Biomedical Engineering, pairs the bacterium Salmonella typhimurium, with Senecavirus A (SVA), a virus that is known to preferentially infect and destroy cancer cells.
“We aimed to enhance bacterial cancer therapy by enabling the bacteria to deliver and activate a therapeutic virus directly inside tumor cells, while engineering safeguards to limit viral spread outside the tumor,” said co-lead author Jonathan Pabón, an MD/PhD candidate at Columbia.
Fellows Program Recognizes Scientific Impact, Leadership, and Service
AAPS is pleased to announce that eight members have been selected for elevation to Fellow status in recognition of their professional excellence and sustained superior impact in fields relevant to AAPS’ mission: advancing the capacity of pharmaceutical scientists to develop products and therapies that improve global health.
The new Fellows will be formally inducted before the membership at PharmSci 360 on Sunday, November 9.
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Heidi M. Mansour, Ph.D., FAAPS
Heidi M. Mansour, Ph.D., of the Florida International University Center for Translational Science, is recognized for her work in pulmonary drug delivery and translational science. In addition to her research and teaching, Mansour holds several patents and is widely sought after as a collaborator with industry.
Longtime faculty member who served as dean ad interim for two years assumes permanent leadership role
The new dean of the Boston University College of Engineering is a familiar face: Elise Morgan, interim dean since July 2023 and a long-standing and deeply respected member of the ENG faculty, will take over the role permanently starting August 1, BU officials announced Thursday.
Her appointment comes after a national search process that included “several strong candidates for the role,” Gloria Waters, University provost and chief academic officer, said in a letter to the BU community. Waters described Morgan’s “exemplary leadership” as a key factor in the decision.
mRNA bundled in lipid nanoparticles trains T cells in mice to eliminate cancer. Coupled with noninvasive imaging, researchers tracked the in situ CAR-T cells to assess their effectiveness and safety.
CAR-T cell therapy has transformed the treatment of many blood cancers since it was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2017 for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
But chimeric antigen receptor therapy — in which a patient’s own T cells, a type of immune cell, are removed, genetically engineered and returned to the patient — is onerous and expensive. It requires a series of time- and labor-intensive steps over two to three weeks, and one treatment costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Patients must also undergo a procedure to deplete the numbers of remaining T cells, which helps the altered T cells expand after they are re-introduced into the body but leaves patients at risk for infection.
Now, a new study led by Stanford Medicine researchers has shown that it’s possible to generate CAR-T cells in laboratory mice with the same technique used for mRNA-based vaccines.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas have created a portable food safety device they hope will one day be used at every level of the food industry—from processing facilities to home kitchens.
Called READ FWDx, short for Rapid Electroanalytic Diagnostic Food Water Diagnosis, this proof-of-concept device is designed to detect unwanted food-borne bacteria such as E. coli, listeria and salmonella. It can also pick up on common herbicides, including paraquat dichloride and glyphosate and chemicals like antibiotics.
“We have so many gadgets that measure all our body parameters, like heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar,” said Shalini Prasad, a professor of bioengineering and biomedical engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas, who cofounded EnLiSense to commercialize the device and other sensor technologies her lab has developed.
The public, legislators, and media often group per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS or “forever chemicals,” which are found globally in countless products, into a single category. While certain PFAS are harmful for human and public health, new articles in Heart Rhythm, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society, the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society, and the Pediatric & Congenital Electrophysiology Society, published by Elsevier, emphasize that fluoropolymers, a specific class of PFAS, are not considered environmental contaminants and are indispensable for use in medical devices. Experts call for a balanced approach to protect both the environment and availability of essential medical technologies.
PFAS are found in a constellation of products across all sectors of commerce and all parts of the globe. These industries include textiles, aerospace, communications, electronics, pharmaceuticals, energy, and healthcare.
The public, legislators, and media often group per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS or “forever chemicals,” which are found globally in countless products, into a single category. While certain PFAS are harmful for human and public health, new articles in Heart Rhythm, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society, the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society, and the Pediatric & Congenital Electrophysiology Society, published by Elsevier, emphasize that fluoropolymers, a specific class of PFAS, are not considered environmental contaminants and are indispensable for use in medical devices. Experts call for a balanced approach to protect both the environment and availability of essential medical technologies.
PFAS are found in a constellation of products across all sectors of commerce and all parts of the globe. These industries include textiles, aerospace, communications, electronics, pharmaceuticals, energy, and healthcare.
Cleveland Clinic is first to use the device, known formerly as the UroMonitor
A novel, wireless ambulatory urodynamic system, engineered and tested by Cleveland Clinic researchers and physicians, is one step closer to commercialization. The device, now known as the Glean™ Urodynamics System, a product by Bright Uro, received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and was used for the first time in a Cleveland Clinic patient. These developments follow several years of clinical data demonstrating its safety and feasibility in women with overactive bladder (OAB).
The device was conceptualized by Cleveland Clinic biomedical engineer Margot Damaser, PhD, over 10 years ago to improve conventional urodynamics, the standard approach to bladder testing. The challenges of a catheter-based diagnostic approach are many, she explains.
Virginia Tech scientists with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute completed one element of an engineered tissue model that could advance medical and drug testing and provide a new tool for precision medicine
Scientists with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have created an engineered model of the supportive tissue found within a lymph node to study human health.
Working with scientists at the University of Virginia, the researchers are building a bioengineered model of a human lymph node, which performs essential roles in the immune system throughout the body.
The goal of the research, which published in April in APL Bioengineering, is to provide scientists with a model that accurately mirrors dynamic fluid flow — a natural part of how lymph nodes work.
A temporary electronic forehead tattoo that wirelessly measures brainwaves and eye movement may offer an accurate measurement of mental workload (MWL) and mental strain, new research suggested.
Using a lightweight battery and thin sensors, the e-tattoo was able to reliably collect electroencephalography (EEG) and electrooculography (EOG) data to estimate MWL in a small study of six participants as they completed increasingly difficult memory tests.
The technology is a less bulky and cheaper alternative to conventional brain activity monitors and may help track the mental workload of workers in safety-critical jobs like aviation, air traffic control, and healthcare. Researchers say it also has applications for neurological monitoring of patients with epilepsy or to monitor cognitive decline.
Omolola “Lola” Eniola-Adefeso, the UIC College of Engineering dean and Richard and Loan Hill Department of Biomedical Engineering professor, was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences on April 23.
Eniola-Adefeso joins nearly 250 electees from prestigious universities, museums, research institutions and news organizations, as well as independent artists. She was elected to the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Class in the Engineering and Technology subcategory.
“This is an incredible honor, made even more meaningful because the academy cuts across the arts and sciences,” she said. “It’s mind-blowing that this group of phenomenal leaders see my career as worthy of being included.
Research led by Stanford Medicine points to the first non-invasive imaging method to visualize senescent cells, which are alive but dormant and play a key role in many diseases.
Anyone who’s had a knee or other joint replacement surgery knows what an ordeal the procedure can be. But for many sufferers of osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, damage to the joints’ cartilage leaves them with few other options. Most medications for the condition focus on pain relief and don’t slow the progression of the disease.
An emerging class of therapies known as senolytics holds the promise to treat cells that contribute to arthritis, potentially delaying or even bypassing the need for invasive surgeries. Dormant cells, also known as senescent cells, can accelerate or trigger osteoarthritis.
The National Academy of Sciences announced today the election of 120 members and 30 international members in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 2,662 and the total number of international members to 556. International members are nonvoting members of the Academy, with citizenship outside the United States. Newly elected members and their affiliations at the time of election are:
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Nussinov, Ruth; Senior Investigator, Cancer Innovation Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, Md.
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The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and—with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine—provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.
Artificial intelligence algorithms have now been combined with traditional laboratory methods to uncover promising drug leads against human enterovirus 71 (EV71), the pathogen behind most cases of hand, foot and mouth disease.
The study, published in Cell Reports Physical Science by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, showed that reliable antiviral predictions can be made even when only a modest amount of experimental data are available.
Lydia Kavraki, a leading researcher in robotics, computational biomedicine and artificial intelligence (AI) at Rice University, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the world’s foremost professional societies dedicated to honoring achievement in science and outstanding original research.
At Rice, Kavraki is the Kenneth and Audrey Kennedy Professor of Computing and holds appointments in the departments of computer science, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering and bioengineering. Since 2019, Kavraki has served as director of the Ken Kennedy Institute, which brings together more than 250 researchers from across the university to collaborate on transformative projects in AI, machine learning, data science, high-performance computing and emerging interdisciplinary areas of research.
Professor Heather Maynard, UCLA’s Dr. Myung Ki Hong Endowed Chair in Polymer Science, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her groundbreaking contributions to the fields of polymer and materials chemistry, her exceptional scholarship, and her leadership within the department and broader scientific community.
“Heather’s election to the Academy not only highlights the national and international impact of her work, but also brings great distinction to our department and to UCLA,” said Department Chair Professor Alex Spokoyny. “We look forward to celebrating this well-deserved achievement.”
Laurencin of UConn is now a Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Lucia, an Order Established by Queen Elizabeth II
Pioneer in regenerative engineering Professor Cato T. Laurencin, is now Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin.
Laurencin is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to the field of regenerative engineering that he founded, along with groundbreaking work in orthopaedic surgery, polymer science chemistry and engineering, and musculoskeletal repair and regeneration.
Laurencin is the first surgeon in the world elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors. He earned his B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, his M.D. from the Harvard Medical School, Magna Cum Laude, and his Ph.D. in Biochemical engineering/Biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Stanford Medicine scientists are using artificial intelligence to better capture how healthy cells surrounding tumors influence cancer cell behavior and how those interactions can inform treatments.
Even cells experience peer pressure. Scientists have long studied the ins and outs of cancer cells to learn more about the disease, but they’re increasingly finding that noncancerous cells near the cancer cells exert a powerful influence over a tumor’s trajectory.
“Not all cells in a tumor are cancer cells — they’re not even always the most dominant cell type,” said Sylvia Plevritis, PhD, chair of Stanford Medicine’s department of biomedical data science. “There are many other cell types that support tumors.
Damage to arteries continued in adult-equivalent mice in disease model
Undergoing a bone marrow transplant during adolescence may reduce the risk of stroke in people with sickle cell disease (SCD), while waiting until adulthood is unlikely to mitigate this risk, a mouse study suggests.
“We saw that if you wait until after the vasculature is damaged to do this procedure, the tissue doesn’t bounce back,” Manu Platt, PhD, the study’s corresponding author at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), said in an institute news release. “Down the line, this could be another key piece of information that is a motivator for earlier interventions.”
Jennifer Cochran and Christopher Manning have earned one of engineering’s highest professional distinctions.
Stanford faculty members Jennifer Cochran and Christopher Manning have been newly elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). This honor is among the highest professional distinctions accorded engineers and recognizes accomplished experts from business, academia, and government.
“As a member of the National Academy of Engineering, these professionals belong to a select group of national and international peers who advance the welfare and prosperity of the nation by providing independent advice on matters involving engineering and technology, and by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and public appreciation of engineering,” said NAE President John L. Anderson.
Eight researchers, along with 13 additional alumni, are honored for significant contributions to engineering research, practice, and education.
Eight MIT researchers are among the 128 new members and 22 international members recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for 2025. Thirteen additional MIT alumni were also elected as new members.
One of the highest professional distinctions for engineers, membership in the NAE is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”
The eight MIT electees this year include:
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Kristala L. Prather ’94, the Arthur Dehon Little Professor and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, was honored for the development of innovative approaches to regulate metabolic flux in engineered microorganisms with applications to specialty chemicals production.
Congratulations to the recipient of the 2024 Dickson Prize in Science, Dr. Gilda A. Barabino.
Dr. Barabino is the president of Olin College of Engineering, as well as a professor of biomedical and chemical engineering with a broad interest in global health and interdisciplinary engineering education and research. Her seminal research in sickle cell disease and orthopedic tissue engineering informed current technologies and formed the basis for novel therapies. A thought leader on race, ethnicity and gender in science and engineering, her work has a particular focus on creating cultures and climates that support a sense of belonging.
Inaugural Chair of Biomedical Engineering, an international leader in the molecular imaging of cancer, becomes UTSW’s first NAE member
Samuel Achilefu, Ph.D., inaugural Chair of Biomedical Engineering at UT Southwestern Medical Center and an internationally recognized leader in the fields of molecular imaging of cancer and nanotherapeutics, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Dr. Achilefu, who joined UT Southwestern in February 2022, becomes UTSW’s first faculty member to achieve this prestigious honor, one of the highest professional distinctions bestowed on an engineer. He is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.
Northwestern Medicine investigators have developed a new avenue to reprogram compromised immune cells to act against tumors, according to a study published in Science Advances.
Shana Kelley, PhD, the Neena B. Schwartz Professor of Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, and of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, was senior author of the study.
Previous research in the Kelley lab revealed that in late-stage cancer, tumors’ treatment resistance is increased when they express more of the protein VISTA, which regulates immune cell activity. By increasing VISTA expression, tumors essentially “hijacked” macrophages – a type of white blood cell responsible for killing and removing dead cells – and recruited them to support the tumors’ growth.
Six people affiliated with Purdue Engineering have earned one of the highest professional distinctions available to an engineer: membership in the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Current faculty members Vladimir M. Shalaev and Yuehwern Yih, of ECE and IE, respectively, have been elected for induction into the NAE’s class of 2025. They represent the largest number of current Purdue faculty inducted into the NAE in nearly two decades.
Other members of the new class with Purdue Engineering ties include alumni Jón Atli Benediktsson, Lisa Brannon-Peppas and Patrick Chapman, and former Purdue ME professor Suresh Garimella.
Researcher recognized for advancements in robotics, AI and computational biomedicine
Rice University computer scientist Lydia Kavraki has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional honors accorded to an engineer, for her work on “developing randomized motion-planning algorithms for robotics and robotics-inspired methods in biomedicine.”
Kavraki is Rice’s Kenneth and Audrey Kennedy Professor of Computing, and a professor of computer science, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and bioengineering. She also serves as director of the Ken Kennedy Institute, whose mission is to solve global challenges by fostering collaborative research and innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) and computing.
An exciting collaboration between the Ragon Institute and the Jameel Clinic at MIT has achieved a significant milestone in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to aid the development of T cell vaccine candidates.
Ragon faculty member Gaurav Gaiha, MD, DPhil, and MIT Professor Regina Barzilay, PhD, AI lead of the Jameel Clinic for AI and Health, have published research in Nature Machine Intelligence introducing MUNIS-a deep learning tool designed to predict CD8+ T cell epitopes with unprecedented accuracy. This advancement has the potential to accelerate vaccine development against various infectious diseases.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a condition that disproportionally affects postmenopausal women, and the millions affected can attest to the pain, reduced mobility and diminished quality of life that comes from this disease. While the hormonal changes associated with menopause have long been known to accelerate the development and progression of OA, a deeper understanding of the biological mechanisms that underlie this correlation is crucial for developing effective treatments.
A new study led by researchers at Spaulding Rehabilitation, a member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, provides new insights into the reasons underlying this sex disparity. The study published January 16th in Nature Aging.
Often called “America’s Nobel Prize,” the National Medal of Science honors the country’s leading researchers. Stem cell biologist Helen Blau was recognized for her work on cellular plasticity and aging.
Helen Blau, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology and director of the Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology, had an exciting start to 2025. On Jan. 3, Blau was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Biden at the White House for her work on cellular plasticity — a term describing how specialized cells in the body aren’t fixed in their identity but instead can be coaxed to assume new roles — and her discoveries concerning the biological mechanisms of stem cells, tissue regeneration, aging and rejuvenation of weakened muscles.
“Dr. Blau’s role in advancing knowledge in the fields of regenerative medicine and aging is remarkable,” said Lloyd Minor, MD, the dean of the Stanford School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at Stanford University. “Beyond these achievements, she is well-known as an innovator and a dedicated mentor to younger scientists. Stanford Medicine is proud and happy that she has been recognized as one of the country’s most impactful scientists.
Teresa K. Woodruff joined an elite group of Americans who have received two national medals of honor when President Joe Biden announced the latest recipients of the National Medal of Science on Jan. 3.
Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, presented Woodruff with the medal at a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., on the same date.
Established in 1959 by the U.S. Congress and administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation, the National Medal of Science is the highest recognition the nation can bestow on scientists and engineers. A statement from the White House said that “those who earn these awards embody the promise of America by pushing the boundaries of what is possible. These trailblazers have harnessed the power of science and technology to tackle challenging problems and deliver innovative solutions for Americans and for communities around the world.
Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy bestows the nation’s highest scientific honor on Brown, fellow winners, at a White House ceremony.
Emery N. Brown, Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT, has won the National Medical of Science, the nation’s highest recognition for scientists and engineers, the White House announced today.
“This is an enormous pleasure to be recognized by the President with this high honor,” said Brown, who shares this year’s honor with three MIT colleagues and 23 colleagues around the country in total. Senior White House science officials including Arati Prabhakar, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Assistant to the President for Science & Technology, bestowed the medals on the winners.
Four MIT faculty members are among 23 world-class researchers who have been awarded the nation’s highest honors for scientists and innovators, the White House announced today.
Angela Belcher and Emery Brown were each presented with the National Medal of Science at a ceremony this afternoon, and Paula Hammond ’84, PhD ’93, and Feng Zhang were awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
Belcher, the James Mason Crafts Professor of Biological Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering and a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, was honored for her work designing novel materials for applications that include solar cells, batteries, and medical imaging.
Manish Ayushman, a PhD student in bioengineering, has watched more than a thousand hours of microscopic footage of stem cells in the lab. At first, the cells seemed like they weren’t doing much of anything. But when Ayushman looked a little more closely, he noticed they were moving ever so slightly – turning and pulsing to a languid tempo.
When he sped up the footage, the movements became clearer: Each stem cell appeared to be shimmying and shaking with purpose.
In a paper published Nov. 1 in Nature Materials, Ayushman and Stanford Medicine colleagues described this previously unknown type of cell movement, which they’ve named cell tumbling. Unlike known types of cell movement, such as spreading and migration, which take hours to days, cell tumbling is relatively quick, taking seconds to minutes.
Microgravity is known to alter the muscles, bones, the immune system and cognition, but little is known about its specific impact on the brain. To discover how brain cells respond to microgravity, Scripps Research scientists, in collaboration with the New York Stem Cell Foundation, sent tiny clumps of stem-cell derived brain cells called “organoids” to the International Space Station (ISS).
Surprisingly, the organoids were still healthy when they returned from orbit a month later, but the cells had matured faster compared to identical organoids grown on Earth — they were closer to becoming adult neurons and were beginning to show signs of specialization. The results, which could shed light on potential neurological effects of space travel, were published on October 23, 2024, in Stem Cells Translational Medicine.
The recent nationwide alert about E. coli-laced organic carrots is just the latest example that our food safety isn’t guaranteed. Now a research team at UT Dallas is exploring a way that people can do a final check for contaminants—right in their own homes.
From contaminated carrots to harmful hamburger, tainted food has caused sickness and even death for decades—with E. coli-laced organic carrots the latest item to alarm Americans nationwide. Now a research team at the University of Texas at Dallas is developing a tool for consumers to use right in their own homes to add an extra level of food safety.
The researchers—led by Dr. Shalini Prasad, department head of bioengineering at UTD’s Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science—is developing sensors that could make it possible for consumers to detect contaminants in food and water “within minutes,” the university said.
Researchers at the University of Texas and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) say they have created a liquid ink that can be directly printed onto a patient’s scalp to measure brain activity, offering an alternative to traditional electroencephalography (EEG). The new technology, detailed in the journal Cell Biomaterials, is part of ongoing research into electronic tattoos (e-tattoos) and their potential to improve both clinical diagnostics and brain-computer interface applications.
“Our innovations in sensor design, biocompatible ink, and high-speed printing pave the way for future on-body manufacturing of electronic tattoo sensors, with broad applications both within and beyond clinical settings,” said lead researcher Nanshu Lu, PhD, whose lab at the University of Texas at Austin focuses on the development of bio-integrated electronics.
A study from Johns Hopkins University, published in Biophotonics Discovery, examined how skin tone affects the accuracy of photoacoustic imaging (PAI), a technology gaining traction in breast cancer diagnostics, especially in situations where traditional mammography is insufficient. The study shows how image reconstruction methods and laser wavelengths influence the visibility of cancerous targets in patients with diverse skin tones and suggests practical solutions to improve equity in diagnostics.
Photoacoustic imaging is a hybrid imaging technique that combines light and sound. Light pulses are transmitted into the body and absorbed by structures like blood vessels, which then undergo thermal expansion and generate sound waves. Ultrasound detectors capture these waves to create detailed images.
An international team led by researchers at the University of Toronto and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has assembled the first large-scale, publicly available map to show the impact of mutations on where proteins end up in the cell.
The team developed a high-throughput imaging platform to assess the influence of nearly 3,500 mutations on protein location. They found that roughly one in six disease-causing mutations led to proteins ending up in the wrong location in the cell.
University of Florida Distinguished Professor Christine Schmidt has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. This prestigious honor follows her election earlier this year to the National Academy of Engineering, making her one of the few exceptional individuals to be recognized by both academies.
Election to the National Academy of Medicine recognizes outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service in the fields of health and medicine. The Academy announced the names of its 100 new members today during its annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Schmidt, the Pruitt Family Endowed Chair in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, was selected for her “outstanding leadership, pioneering research, and clinical translation in neural tissue engineering and wound healing.”
