Neuroscience

Researchers funded to develop ultrasound imaging tools to study Alzheimer's disease

2022-07-07

Wide exterior shot of the Beckman Institute on a summer day.

Interdisciplinary researchers at the Beckman Institute, including Molecular & Integrative Physiology Professor Dan Llano, received federal funding to develop ultrasound imaging methods for studying the neurovascular changes underlying Alzheimer's disease. Their low-cost, widely accessible...

Recent research from Christian-Hinman lab provides foundation for new experimental designs to study epilepsy

2022-06-07

Illustration of the hippocampus by Adobe Stock and SciePro.

Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, the most common form of focal epilepsy, often have seizures that start from one side of the hippocampus and not the other. Such patients may also experience complications such as cognitive impairment and reproductive endocrine disruption. Although it’s been...

New ultrasound tool measures blood flow, images microvasculature in the brain

2022-06-02

Standing: Pengfei Song (left); Dan Llano. Seated: Qi You.

Researchers at the Beckman Institute developed a technique for producing super-resolution ultrasound images of tissue microvasculature in just a fraction of the time previously needed. Their work could enable future research into the neurovascular mechanisms behind conditions like Alzheimer’s...

Decoding Life with MCB: Eating Disorders

2022-05-04

Decoding Life with MCB album artwork - orange-shaded picture of Alma, with caption Season 1, Episode 2: Eating Disorders.

Life is extraordinary. So is the work we do. In a brand new podcast series, Decoding Life with MCB, the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explores the impact of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni in each episode.

Research illuminates balancing act for protein linked to Fragile X Syndrome and Alzheimer's disease

2022-04-26

Researchers Simón Lizarazo and Dr. Nien-Pei Tsai stand shoulder to shoulder outside Burrill Hall at the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology.

A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests the overexpression of a particular gene could serve as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Their findings could also lead to better understandings of the links between Alzheimer’s disease, Fragile X Syndrome, and...

Decoding the molecular clock that controls neurogenesis in visual center of Drosophila

2022-04-01

The nervous system is made up of diverse cells that arise from progenitors in a specific time-dependent pattern. In a new study, published in Nature Communications, researchers have uncovered the molecular players involved and how the timing is controlled.

MCB team identifies compound with potent antiseizure effects

2022-03-22

Researchers Hee Jung Chung and Jennifer Walters stand together for photo in Chung Lab.

Researchers studying epileptic seizures of the temporal lobe – the most common type of epilepsy – discovered a compound that reduces seizures in the hippocampus, a brain region where many such seizures originate. The compound, known as TC-2153, lessened the severity of seizures in mice. The...

Carle Illinois research reveals new insight into links between Alzheimer's Disease and hearing loss

2022-02-24

Researchers at Carle Illinois College of Medicine have uncovered new evidence about hearing loss in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). It pinpoints unexpected areas of brain shrinkage in AD patients with hearing loss. The work could eventually lead to earlier intervention and new treatment...

Circadian rhythm and the blood-brain barrier

2022-02-22

Beckman faculty members Martha Gillette and Hyunjoon Kong received an NIH/DOD grant to study how circadian rhythm affects the blood-brain barrier’s permeability to small molecules and susceptibility to blood leakage. Their team will design a microfluidics-based chip from human stem cells to model...

Meet MCB: Temirlan Shilikbay, cell & developmental biology PhD student

2022-02-22

PhD student Temirlan Shilikbay, wearing a U of I mask, holds up a slide and observes it.

The School of MCB is proud to highlight our graduate students, including Temirlan Shilikbay, now in his third year at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is a PhD candidate in professor Stephanie Ceman's lab in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. The lab's goal is to study...

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