News | The Huck Institutes (en-US)

Nine faculty members were named the 2024 IEE Fellows. In the front row, from left, are Heather Preisendanz, Nilanjan Ray Chaudhuri, Li Li and Miriam Freedman. In the back row, from left, are Adri van Duin, Charles Anderson, Armen Kemanian, Siela Maximova, Enrique Gomez (Not pictured: Karen Fisher-Vanden) Credit: Kevin Sliman. All Rights Reserved.

Sep 12, 2024

Nine researchers named Institute of Energy and the Environment Fellows

Nine Penn State researchers have been named fellows of the Institute of Energy and the Environment (IEE) for 2024. The program recognizes and assists the exceptional achievements and unparalleled research impacts of highly successful researchers in the areas of energy and the environment. Nominees for the fellowship were submitted by the University community.

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KJ Vinoy, Professor, and prior Chair of Electrical Communication Engineering (ECE) and an alumnus of Penn State, presented his research during Penn State – IISc joint research workshop in December 2023 at IISc in Bangaluru, India. Credit: Anna Marshall / Penn State.

Sep 12, 2024

Penn State, Indian Institute of Science award joint research seed grants

Penn State and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have announced the awardees for the 2024-25 cycle of their collaboration program. These awardees comprise four joint projects that connect Penn State and IISc researchers. The selected projects combine the unique expertise of each partnering institution to address global challenges or matters of bilateral importance to India and the United States.

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Sep 11, 2024

Three projects receive Huck Innovative and Transformational Seed Fund grants

Three potentially high-impact, high-risk research projects have been selected to receive seed funding for the latest round of the Huck Innovative and Transformational Seed (HITS) Fund initiative.

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New experimental technique developed by Penn State researchers helps uncover how certain proteins cooperate to bind to otherwise closed regions of the genome to facilitate cell differentiation and development. Illustration shows expanded view of chromosome from a cell at the upper left. The “pioneer factor” FOXA1 co-binds with AP-1, allowing FOXA1 to locate target sites in the genome with high specificity. Credit: Holly Godin/Bai Laboratory / Penn State.

Sep 10, 2024

Genomic pioneers collaborate to access the inaccessible

A new experimental method allows researchers to dissect how certain proteins, called pioneer factors, can bind to selective regions of the genome that are inaccessible to other DNA binding proteins.

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Vishal Singh, left, conducted this study in his lab, the Nutrition and Microbiome—Singh Lab, as part of a team that consisted of graduate research assistants, postdoctoral scholars, undergraduate students and collaborations with researchers from other departments in the University and outside of Penn State. Credit: Provided by Vishal Singh. All Rights Reserved.

Sep 09, 2024

Refined dietary fiber may increase risk for inflammatory bowel disease

New research in mice suggests that guar gum powder — a common dietary fiber additive used in processed foods — may negatively change gut microbiome and increase risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease.

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The Student Health Center on Penn State's University Park campus. Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn State. Creative Commons

Sep 09, 2024

Penn State community reminded to take COVID-19 precautions

With COVID-19 activity on the rise in Pennsylvania and nationally, Penn State is urging its community to continue to take health precautions and follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to keep themselves and others healthy.

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Sep 05, 2024

Woskob Gallery to host workshop for exhibit exploring storytelling, caregiving

From 5-7 p.m. on Sept. 6 in the Woskob Family Gallery, Aaron Knochel, associate professor of art education, will host an opening workshop for the show “Caretelling: Stories to Sustain Ourselves,” an interdisciplinary group exhibition on display through December that explores the intersection of storytelling and caregiving through collaborative art-making, video installations and graphic narratives.

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Study authors Olivia Leach, at the computer terminal, and Rachel Cottle, holding the breathing tube, pose in the environmental chamber used to study vulnerability to temperature and humidity. Credit: Provided by W. Larry Kenney . All Rights Reserved.

Sep 03, 2024

Older women more vulnerable to heat than their male peers, researchers find

A new study by researchers at Penn State has found that older women are physiologically more vulnerable to high heat and humidity than older men, and that women between the ages of 40 and 64 are as vulnerable as men 65 years of age or older.

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Aug 29, 2024

Call for Submissions: Faculty course buyouts for large grant writing

The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences (Huck), in partnership with the Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Office (SIRO) and Penn State Colleges, invites faculty to submit requests for course buyouts to facilitate the preparation of large grant proposals.

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Aug 28, 2024

Research teams receive $1.1 million to study microbiomes in agriculture

Two Penn State-led research teams have received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture for projects investigating the ways microbiomes — the microorganisms in a particular environment, such as in soil or a living organism — can affect disease dynamics in agriculture.

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