News
Oct 07, 2019
Mackenzie Named Inaugural Director of Plant Institute
Sally Mackenzie sees a unique opportunity for Penn State to address complex global challenges in an unprecedented way.
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Oct 07, 2019
Costs of natural disasters are increasing at the high end
While the economic cost of natural disasters has not increased much on average, averages can be deceptive. The costs of major disasters like hurricanes Katrina, Maria and Dorian or the massive tornado swarms in the Midwest have increased to a disproportionately larger extent than those of lesser events, and these major disasters have become far more expensive, according to an international team of researchers.
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Oct 04, 2019
Extremely dry, hot conditions this fall causing early, muted foliage display
With last year being the wettest year on record in Pennsylvania, and this year starting out wet again, 2019 was set up to be the mother of all fall foliage displays. Trees in most areas were in great condition going into late summer.
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Oct 03, 2019
Plant pathologist awarded grant to aid global study of seedborne pathogens
A nearly $4 million grant awarded to Penn State will support an interdisciplinary, multi-university team of researchers as they explore bacterial pathogens causing leaf spot diseases that are damaging valuable agricultural crops such as watermelon and pumpkin.
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Sep 30, 2019
Penn State research expenditures again reach record high, topping $968 million
Penn State’s research expenditures reached a record high for the third year in a row in fiscal year 2018-19, according to incoming Senior Vice President for Research Lora Weiss. The total figure of $968 million represents a $47 million increase over last year’s figure, and includes a record $593 million in federal funding, as well as $375 million from a combination of private funders, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and University sources.
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Sep 30, 2019
Penn State community grieves loss of biologist Victoria Braithwaite
Victoria Braithwaite, a highly regarded expert on animal behavior and cognition and a much-loved friend and colleague, died today (Sept. 30) at the age of 52 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. She is survived by her two sons, James, 24, of Boulder, Colorado, and Matthew, 22, of Berlin, Germany, as well as her two grandchildren, Jonas Sean, 2, and Isla Viktoria, 3 months.
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Sep 25, 2019
Melissa Rolls appointed Paul Berg Professor of Biochemistry
Melissa Rolls, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, has been named the Paul Berg Professor of Biochemistry. The professorship was created in 1995 by an anonymous donor in honor of Paul Berg, a 1948 Penn State graduate who was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1974 and earned the Nobel Prize in 1980 for developing a method to map the structure and function of DNA.
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Sep 24, 2019
Patrick Drew named associate director of Penn State’s Neuroscience Institute
Drew succeeds David Vandenbergh in an important role promoting Neuroscience research and education at University Park.
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Sep 23, 2019
Penn State researchers receive grant to explore novel method of anticoagulation
Two Penn State biomedical engineering faculty members have received a two-year, $200,000 grant from the American Heart Association (AHA) to explore potential solutions to thrombosis, or blood clot formation, a prevalent issue with blood-contacting medical devices such as heart valves, blood pumps and cardiac stents.
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Sep 23, 2019
Virus may jump species through 'rock-and-roll' motion with receptors
Like a janitor thumbing through a keychain to find just the right key to open a lock, the "rock-and-roll" motion of the canine parvovirus during the binding process may help explain how the virus can find the spot on a receptor to infect not just dogs, but multiple species, according to an international team of researchers.
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