2016-12-31
- A new era has dawned in understanding neuropathological disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, depression, and autism spectrum disorders. These disorders, traditionally classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by the American Psychiatric Society, are now being re-examined through the lens of molecular and cellular physiology. As a result of novel research...
2016-12-31 - In-Hyun Park gets at the genetic roots of Rett syndrome using iPS cells.
2016-12-31 - Anne Carpenter received her PhD in cell and developmental biology from Illinois in 2003 (under the name Anne Nye).
2016-12-31 - A mysterious ailment struck Deborah Paul’s younger brother, Tim, in 1982, when lymph glands all over his body suddenly became swollen. He recovered, but it took two years for doctors to finally figure out what had triggered the problem. In 1984, Paul’s brother developed pneumocystis pneumonia—a type of pneumonia that was beginning to affect many men in different parts of the country,...
2016-12-31 - “Klaus Schulten was a giant amongst giants, a true pioneer, As a physicist, he made significant advances in the core programming and hardware needed to advance computational modeling of biological systems... His passing is indeed a loss to the entire scientific community.”
2016-12-31 - Susan Lindquist, a molecular biologist whose conceptually daring work with yeast proteins opened new avenues to understanding gene functioning and degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, died on Thursday in Boston. She was 67.
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 trials. Meanwhile, she has also begun work on finding ways to grow new lungs for transplantation.
2016-12-31 - Frank continues to visit the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and to lend his support and expertise. “The Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology is a small, but strong department, that is central to the research and educational missions of the School of MCB and the College of LAS. As it continues to grow, it should continue to be viewed as a top physiology...
2016-12-31 - Over the years, Westcott has come back to Illinois to teach six-week courses in biochemistry and gives seminars on working in the pharmaceutical industry to incoming students. His donations have supported several fellowships for graduate students in biochemistry, and Westcott makes it a point when he visits campus to meet with those students.
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 Award in 2012, an impressive honor as evidenced by the fact that almost half the Lasker awardees...
2016-12-31 - At the first meeting of the MCBees in November, 2015, they picked the leadership, working to ensure that all the departments were represented. In January of 2016, once they became an officially registered GSA, they started recruiting MCB grad students via email. So far, around 150 of MCB’s 250 students have become members. Following are the MCBees' leadership team members, their roles/...
2016-12-31 - The Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology was established in 1996 and has always made its home in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology. The original idea of the center was proposed back in 1978 when Antony Crofts was recruited from the University of Bristol and appointed to lead the biophysics division in the Department of Physiology.
2016-12-31 - Wilson’s lab works, among other things, to elucidate the structure and function of bacterial toxins, to understand how they interact with host cells, and to develop post-exposure toxin therapeutics.-
2016-12-31 - The infinitely complex workings of the human brain have intrigued researchers for centuries. Our understanding of its workings have been limited, not by our curiosity, but by our tools. Now, with the growth of new molecular biology and genomics approaches, big data, and engineering advances that improve imaging, researchers are making advances they could only dream of even a few decades ago. “...
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.