Awards and Honors

The School of Molecular & Cellular Biology and its departments of Biochemistry, Cell & Developmental Biology, Microbiology, and Molecular & Integrative Physiology recognize outstanding undergraduate, graduate, faculty, staff, and alumni with several awards and fellowships. In addition to school and departmental honors, MCB is always thrilled to highlight awards from other campus units, and national/international organizations. Some of the most recent news stories spotlighting our community are listed below.

Growing Blood Vessels in the Lab

2016-12-31

With the goal of providing a ready supply of vessels, Laura Niklason created a prototype engineered blood vessel in 1997, and in 2012 an advanced version was used successfully in the first human patient. The FDA has fast-tracked the engineered blood vessel, moving it into Phase 3 human clinical...

James Spudich Receives a 2016 Alumni Achievement Award for his groundbreaking research on how we move

2016-12-31

Spudich has made his mark with pioneering discoveries on molecular motors—the tiny powerhouses responsible for movement at the cellular level. For this research, he has won a 2016 Alumni Achievement Award—one in a long line of honors. He also won the prestigious Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research...

Two Molecular and Integrative Physiology Graduate Students Make Final Round of Graduate College’s Research Live! Competition

2016-12-16

The competition draws entrants from across the College, and entrants are challenged to explain their graduate work in 3 minutes with only 2 slides. Presentations were scored on delivery, clarity, effectiveness of visual material, and accessibility of language.

High-Risk, High-Reward Research award goes to Illinois biomedical researchers

2016-10-04

University of Illinois professors Chad Rienstra (Chemistry), Emad Tajkhorshid, and James Morrissey (Biochemistry) have been awarded a Director’s Transformative Research Award from the National Institutes of Health for their highly creative approach to the study of cell membrane lipids.

MCB Faculty Named Directors of LAS Graduate Programs

2016-09-27

Professor Satish Nair of the Department of Biochemistry has been appointed Director of the Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology. Professor Nair has been serving as Interim Director since November 2015. Professor Martha Gillette of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology has been...

Dr. Kris Jenner endows professorship to honor his undergraduate mentor Professor Stephen G. Sligar; Susan A. Martinis is named to new School of Molecular and Cellular Biology professorship

2016-08-23

To recognize the importance of faculty contributions to science and education and to acknowledge Dr. Sligar’s mentorship, Dr. Jenner created the Stephen G. Sligar professorship in 2016. The Investiture was held on October 28, 2016 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

Professor Milan Bagchi named Deborah Paul Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology

2016-07-14

The School of Molecular and Cellular Biology is honored to announce that Professor Milan Bagchi, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, has been named the Deborah Paul Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. An official investiture ceremony was held in the fall semester of 2016.

MCB Faculty and Staff named Scientific Teaching Fellows and Mentors

2016-07-07

The Schools of MCB and IB recently hosted an NSF- and HHMI-sponsored Mobile Summer Institute (MoSI) for Undergraduate Biology Education.

Jennifer Brandyberry and David Rivier Win LAS Awards

2016-05-17

Ms. Brandyberry is the recipient of the College Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising; Professor Rivier is the recipient of the LAS Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellowships

2016-04-15

A number of current and recent graduate students and postdoctoral scholars have applied for and won prestigious awards and fellowships. The awardees reflect the breadth of outstanding research at UIUC and the quality of students and researchers attracted to the School of Molecular and Cellular...

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