Meet MCB: Jhewelle Fitz-Henley, PhD

Jhewelle Fitz-Henley stands outside Burrill Hall for headshot
Dr. Jhewelle Fitz-Henley joined the School of MCB in August 2023 as Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Outreach. She recently met with MCB PhD student Quang Nguyen to talk about her journey in science and...

In Memoriam: Microbiologist Dixie Whitt

Microbiologist Dixie Whitt writes on a chalkboard, "Wash your hands."
Dr. Dixie Whitt, a longtime University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign microbiologist who was beloved by her students and colleagues, passed away on Aug. 19, 2023, in Urbana. As a faculty member with the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana and the Department of Microbiology, she...

MCB faculty awarded named scholar appointments

Headshots of Llano, Hatoum-Aslan, Li
The College of LAS has awarded more than 25 professors, including three from the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, with named scholar positions for their contributions to education and research at the University of Illinois. 

Researchers make new insights into bacterial cell cycle

Three scientists in the Mera Lab, Stephanie Puentes-Rodriguez, Paola Mera, and Inoka Menikpurage, stand together smiling for the camera. They are in the doorway leading from one lab space to additional lab space. They are all smiling.
In a recent paper published in the Journal of Bacteriology, the Mera Lab focused on how the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus coordinates the replication and separation of the chromosome simultaneously. The researchers found that the regulators of those two crucial events communicate with each other...