Neuroscience

The Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology in the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology is pleased to welcome new faculty member Patrick Sweeney!

Researchers report that infantile spasms, a rare but serious seizure disorder in babies, appear to be the result of a molecular pathway gone awry. In their study of a mouse model of the disorder, the researchers discovered that genetic mutations associated with the disease impair a pathway that is...

A team of University of Illinois neuroscientists led by Baher Ibrahim and Daniel Llano recently published a study in eLife that furthers our understanding of how the brain perceives everyday sensory inputs.

Congratulations to Kai Zhang, professor of biochemistry, whose team was selected for a 2021 Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award. The project is entitled, “Engineering Enteric Neuron Activity to Enhance Antimicrobial Immunity in the Gut.”

A recent study characterized the physiological changes a common environmental chemical, polychlorinated biphenyls, induces on the developing brain and auditory systems. In contrast to the mechanisms that drive most hearing loss, PCBs are capable of restructuring parts of the central nervous system.

Seven graduate students, including one from the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, have been awarded 2021 Beckman Institute Graduate Fellowships. The program offers University of Illinois graduate students at the MA, MS, or PhD level the opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary research at...

Congratulations to Martha Gillette, who has been named the Beckman Institute’s 2021 winner of the Vision and Spirit Award. Gillette is director of the Neuroscience Program, Alumni Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, and a professor of molecular and integrative physiology.

Professor Yu was one of ten new faculty hires made in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the last three years. Yu is an assistant professor of molecular and integrative physiology and is an affiliate of the Beckman Institute.

Professor Auerbach was one of ten new faculty hires made in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the last three years. Auerbach is an assistant professor of molecular and integrative physiology, and is also an affiliate of the Beckman Institute.

Recent clinical trials involving Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), a genetic disorder that causes mild to severe intellectual disability, indicate that potential drug treatments are not as effective as researchers initially hoped. This lack of therapeutic potential suggests there are some gaps in our...