News

Biomedical engineer to use $2M NIH grant to improve human tissue repair

A team of Penn State researchers led by Wang was recently awarded a four-year, $2.02 million National Institutes of Health grant to explore how to safely add growth factors to collagen used by doctors for tissue repair.

Penn State researchers receive USDA-NIFA grant to study male cattle genetics

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded a grant to a team of researchers in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences to study the genetic mechanisms underlying the development of the testis, the male organ that produces reproductive cells, in cattle and its role in sperm production.

New high-resolution 3D maps show how the brain’s blood vessels changes with age

Healthy blood vessels matter for more than just heart health. Vascular well-being is critical for brain health and potentially in addressing age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disorders, like Alzheimer’s disease, according to new study led by Penn State researchers.

$1.7M grant continues support for graduate students studying gene regulation

Renewed support for a training program established at Penn State in 2018 ensures five additional years of funding for graduate students conducting cross-disciplinary studies of the mechanisms controlling where and when genes are used in cells.

J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Credit: Photo provided. All Rights Reserved.

Jeff and Ann Marie Fox name Graduate School with $20 million commitment

The Board of Trustees has unanimously approved the naming of the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School in recognition of the couple and the endowment they have created to provide support, in perpetuity, for graduate students and faculty and for initiatives that enhance the academic caliber of graduate education at the University.

Troy Sutton named Huck Early Career Chair in Virology

Troy Sutton, assistant professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, has been awarded a Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Virology.

Re-engineering cancerous tumors to self-destruct and kill drug-resistant cells

A team led by Penn State researchers has created a modular genetic circuit that turns cancer cells into a “Trojan horse,” causing them to self-destruct and kill nearby drug-resistant cancer cells. Tested in human cell lines and in mice as proof of concept, the circuit outsmarted a wide range of resistance.

Bisanz named Huck Early Career Chair in Host-Microbiome Interactions

Jordan Bisanz, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State, has been awarded a Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Host-Microbiome Interactions.

Three giraffes in Masai Mara National Park. Credit: Byrdyak/Wikimedia Commons. All Rights Reserved.

Food, not sex, drove the evolution of giraffes’ long neck, new study finds

Why do giraffes have such long necks? A study led by Penn State biologists explores how this trait might have evolved and lends new insight into this iconic question. The reigning hypothesis is that competition among males influenced neck length, but the research team found that female giraffes have proportionally longer necks than males — suggesting that high nutritional needs of females may have driven the evolution of this trait.

Denise Okafor named Huck Early Career Chair in Biophysics

Denise Okafor, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State, has been awarded a Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Biophysics.