News Archive
2008
Metcalf Fights Malaria
October 28, 2008
Microbiology professor William Metcalf and his team have developed a way to mass-produce an antimalarial compound.
Read more at
Science Centric.
Kranz Stops Staph Toxin
September 15, 2008
Biochemistry professor David Kranz and his team have developed a treatment for antiobiotic resistant staph bacteria.
Read more at
LAS News.
Feng in Chicago Tribune
July 23, 2008
MIP professor Albert Feng and his team have discovered how a frog can selectively listen for its mate's calls.
Read more at
Chicago Tribune.
Fragile X Syndrome
July 15, 2008
Swanlund Professor William Greenough is featured here for his work on fragile X drug therapies.
ATP Binding
July 01, 2008
Biochemist Emad Tajkorshid has created the first-ever simulation of a molecule binding to a protein.
Read more at
the University News Bureau.
New Breast Cancer Inhibitor
June 17, 2008
Biochemistry professor David Shapiro led his team to discover compounds that inhibit estrogen-dependent breast cancer cells.
Read more at
the University News Bureau.
Schuler Solves DDT Insecticide Resistance
June 17, 2008
CDB professor Mary Schuler and her team discovered an enzyme that metabolizes DDT in malarial mosquitoes.
Read more at
the University News Bureau.
Novel Toxin Receptor Discovered
May 23, 2008
Associate Professor Steven Blanke and his team have identified the receptor for a toxin produced by ulcer-causing bacteria.
Read more at
the University News Bureau.
Cell Talk
May 21, 2008
Assistant Professor Claudio Grosman discusses neural communication in this LAS news article.
Salyers in the News
April 28, 2008
Microbiologist Abigail Salyers comments on probiotics and bacteria in cultured milk products.
Read more at
NBC 5 article....
Belmont Developes New Imaging Technique
April 17, 2008
Andrew Belmont and his team developed a live-cell labeling technique for imaging chromatin at high resolution.
Read more at
the University News Bureau.
Govindjee Receives Alumni Award
October 24, 2008
Govindjee, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Plant Biology, recently received the LAS Alumni Achievement Award for his lifetime contributions to photosynthesis research. The annual award is given by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Alumni Association to a select few alumni who have made outstanding contributions to their field or the community.
Professor Govindjee came to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1956, after receiving his masters from Allahabad University in India. He received his Ph.D. in biophysics in 1960, and joined the University of Illinois faculty as an assistant professor in 1961. Since then, Professor Govindjee has been on the forefront of photosynthesis research and education.
His current interests include the history and controversies of photosynthesis research and enhancing photosynthesis education through the use of websites. As the Series Editor for Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration, Professor Govindjee’s knowledge of the photosynthetic process is unparalleled.
The LAS Alumni Achievement Award was given to Professor Govindjee on October 10th, 2008. This is not first or the last of his many honors, however. Professor Govindjee was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rebeiz Foundation of Basic Research in 2007, and an International Symposium on Photosynthesis will be held in his honor later this month in Indore, India.
Read more at
Govindjee's personal website.
Announcing Two New Endowed Chairs
October 21, 2008
The School of Molecular and Cellular Biology has received a generous gift from George and Tamara Mitchell of Sidney, Illinois, to create two endowed chairs in the Department of Biochemistry.
The Gregorio Weber Endowed Chair in Biochemistry is named in honor of the late University of Illinois professor and researcher whose specialties included fluorescence, spectroscopy, and protein chemistry. Born in Argentina, Weber studied at the University of Buenos Aires and St. John’s College at Cambridge. He worked at Cambridge and Sheffield University before joining the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Illinois in 1962, becoming Professor Emeritus in 1986.
The J. Woodland Hastings Endowed Chair in Biochemistry honors the former University of Illinois educator who researched bioluminescence and circadian rhythms. J. Woodland “Woody” Hastings studied at Swarthmore College and Princeton. He served as director of the summer physiology course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachussetts. His illustrious teaching career included posts at the Collège Cevenol in southern France, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Harvard.