Featured Stories
Penn State biochemist Denise Okafor awarded 2026 Sloan Research Fellowship
Denise Okafor, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and of chemistry and Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Biophysics at Penn State, has been honored with 2026 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship. Awarded annually since 1955, the fellowship honors extraordinary researchers whose creativity, innovation and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of scientific leaders.
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Skeleton ‘gatekeeper’ lining brain cells could guard against Alzheimer’s
Brain cells are constantly swallowing material from the fluid that surrounds them — signaling molecules, nutrients, even pieces of their own surfaces — in a process known as endocytosis that is essential for learning, memory and basic neural upkeep. New research by Penn State scientists has revealed this vital process may be governed by a previously unknown molecular gatekeeper: a lattice‑like structure just beneath the surface of neurons called the membrane‑associated periodic skeleton.
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Domestication has changed the chemicals squash flowers use to attract bees
In a new study published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology, a team led by researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences found that domesticated flowers have different scent chemical profiles than wild plants in several species of squash. Additionally, the specialized pollinators of these plants—squash bees—detect different compounds, called floral volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in wild plants that they co-evolved with than in domesticated plants.
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News
Apr 13, 2026
Communication, Science & Society Initiative awards four interdisciplinary grants
The Communication, Science & Society Initiative (CSSI), a research partnership between Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences in the College of the Liberal Arts, has announced the grant recipients from its 2025 request for proposals. The initiative has awarded $52,000 to four projects that bring together teams of life scientists, humanists and social scientists who aim to address multi-dimensional societal problems.
Apr 09, 2026
Huck Distinguished Lecture Series brings leaders in AI, biodiversity and cryo‑EM
This April, the Huck Distinguished Lecture Series will feature two experts who have established themselves as leaders in life sciences applications for artificial intelligence and cryo-electron imaging.
Apr 09, 2026
Simple vineyard growing practice impacts soil microbiome deep below surface
In an effort to produce more and better grapes at a lower cost and with less environmental impact, vineyard growers have increasingly planted grass between rows of vines. These "groundcovers" root shallowly, but can benefit vineyard soils and reduce the need for herbicide applications. Now, a team of plant scientists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has found that implementing this practice impacts far more than previously thought. It not only alters the biology and ecology at the surface, where the grasses are planted, but also alters the system far below the surface, the researchers reported in a new study published in Phytobiomes Journal.
News
Apr 13, 2026
Communication, Science & Society Initiative awards four interdisciplinary grants
The Communication, Science & Society Initiative (CSSI), a research partnership between Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences in the College of the Liberal Arts, has announced the grant recipients from its 2025 request for proposals. The initiative has awarded $52,000 to four projects that bring together teams of life scientists, humanists and social scientists who aim to address multi-dimensional societal problems.
Apr 09, 2026
Huck Distinguished Lecture Series brings leaders in AI, biodiversity and cryo‑EM
This April, the Huck Distinguished Lecture Series will feature two experts who have established themselves as leaders in life sciences applications for artificial intelligence and cryo-electron imaging.
Apr 09, 2026
Simple vineyard growing practice impacts soil microbiome deep below surface
In an effort to produce more and better grapes at a lower cost and with less environmental impact, vineyard growers have increasingly planted grass between rows of vines. These "groundcovers" root shallowly, but can benefit vineyard soils and reduce the need for herbicide applications. Now, a team of plant scientists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has found that implementing this practice impacts far more than previously thought. It not only alters the biology and ecology at the surface, where the grasses are planted, but also alters the system far below the surface, the researchers reported in a new study published in Phytobiomes Journal.
Apr 08, 2026
Martell receives Award for Administrative Excellence
Emily Martell, managing director for the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, has been honored with the 2026 Award for Administrative Excellence. The award, established in 1970, is given to a faculty or staff member whose performance, methods and achievements exemplify the highest standards of administrative excellence.
Events
Wednesday Apr
15
Pride in Every Field: A STEM Mixer with Rainbow Networks and Allies
Wednesday Apr
15
Unsupervised Deep Representation Learning and Foundation Models for Cryo-Electron Tomography Analysis
Center for Structural Biology Seminar
Center for Structural Biology
Wednesday Apr
15
A Modular Metagenomics Analysis Pipeline and Microbiome-in-a-Bottle
Weekly Wednesday Wartik Genomics Lecture Series
Genomics Core Facility
Events
Wednesday Apr
15
Pride in Every Field: A STEM Mixer with Rainbow Networks and Allies
Wednesday Apr
15
Unsupervised Deep Representation Learning and Foundation Models for Cryo-Electron Tomography Analysis
Center for Structural Biology Seminar
Center for Structural Biology
Wednesday Apr
15
A Modular Metagenomics Analysis Pipeline and Microbiome-in-a-Bottle
Weekly Wednesday Wartik Genomics Lecture Series
Genomics Core Facility
Wednesday Apr
15
RShiny for Beginners
INSECT NET Spring Workshops
Ecology , Ecology Institute