Gut bacteria help digest dietary fiber, release important antioxidant

Dietary fiber found in grains is a large component of many diets, but little is understood about how we digest the fiber, as humans lack enzymes to break down the complex molecules. Some species of gut bacteria break down the fiber in such a way that it not only becomes digestible, but releases...

Welcome to Professor Paola Mera

Professor Mera was one of ten new faculty hires made in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the last three years. Mera is an assistant professor of microbiology, and is also an affiliate of the Microbial Systems Initiative.

Welcome to Professor Pamela Martinez

Professor Martinez was one of ten new faculty hires made in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the last three years. Martinez is an assistant professor of microbiology and statistics and is an affiliate of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, as well as the Department of...

Welcome to Professor Collin Kieffer

Professor Kieffer was one of ten new faculty hires made in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the last three years. Kieffer is an assistant professor of microbiology, and is also an affiliate of Infection Genomics for One Health (IGOH) theme at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic...

Welcome to Professor Asma Hatoum

Professor Hatoum was one of ten new faculty hires made in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the last three years. Hatoum is an assistant professor of microbiology and is part of the Microbial Systems Initiative.

Accelerating biomedical research at UIUC: MCB accomplishes 10 new faculty hires in three years

The School of Molecular & Cellular Biology is proud to have accomplished ten new faculty hires over the last three years! These strategic hires have been made in areas of brain plasticity, virology and immunology, developmental biology, and microbiology. These outstanding new recruits,...

Microbial Systems Initiative positions Illinois as center for cutting-edge, collaborative research

With support and leadership from the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, the Microbial Systems Initiative (MSI) aims to harness the existing and emerging strengths of the microbial sciences community and establish the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a leading center that will...

Microbiology professor Rachel Whitaker named a University Scholar

Congratulations to Rachel Whitaker for being chosen as a University Scholar. Whitaker, a professor of microbiology...

Researchers study how biotin affects mycobacteria growth

Alumni Professor of MicrobiologyJohn E. Cronan at the University of Illinois recently published work on the biotin synthesis pathway and its role in mycobacterium and tuberculosis. Cronan’s lab primarily works on lipid metabolism and fatty acid synthesis. In his recent publication, Cronan takes a...

Microbiology grad leverages her Illinois research training into career at Abbott

On January 9, 2020, the World Health Organization announced the discovery of a mysterious string of pneumonia-like cases in Wuhan, China, which they believed could be caused by a novel coronavirus. At the same time in Illinois, executives at the medical device and healthcare company Abbott...