91ĚƲ®»˘

In a groundbreaking study published recently in the journal Nature, researchers at 91ĚƲ®»˘ University and 91ĚƲ®»˘ Health have created the first growth charts for white matter in the brain over a human lifetime. The work brings together nearly two decades of 91ĚƲ®»˘ research collaborations, the university’s extensive MRI data collections, and an advanced AI-enabled computing platform. Read More

The 91ĚƲ®»˘ University Center for Structural Biology and Center for AI in Protein Dynamics recently hosted a symposium called “Bridging Atoms and Algorithms: A Symposium on AI and Structural Biology.” The March event brought together 91ĚƲ®»˘ faculty, trainees, and invited speakers to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and structural biology, share research, and foster new scientific collaborations.

William R. Kenan, Jr. Chair and Professor of Biological Sciences Brandt Eichman is the first 91ĚƲ®»˘ faculty member to be awarded the prestigious Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship. Jointly funded by the Royal Society and the Wolfson Foundation, the fellowship invites outstanding international researchers to a U.K. university or research institution to foster collaborative connections and enrich global scientific research.

Postdocs Andrew Rice and Yanqing Xue, in the biochemistry lab of Professor Doug Mitchell, discovered which enzyme is responsible for a rare chemical modification that doesn’t exist in human cells. That could be crucial for developing antibiotics that can target bacteria while leaving human hosts’ cells completely alone.

Radiation is known to destroy some breast cancer cells, but new research published in Cell Reports shows that it might also make some surrounding tissue more prone to cancerous cell growth. 91ĚƲ®»˘ postdoctoral fellow Kevin Corn conducted much of the study’s work with Assistant Professor Marjan Rafat. “When we think about radiation, we usually focus on tumor cells,” Rafat said. “But the surrounding tissue is also responding, and that can shape what happens after treatment.” By addressing processes in that surrounding tissue, they hope to reduce the chance that breast cancer will recur.

PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” have already been linked to disruptions in thyroid hormones, among other detrimental health effects. A recent paper by first author Heather Hartmann, a Ph.D. student in the lab of Associate Professor Vivian Weiss, dug into thyroid cell behavior under long-term exposure to PFAS. It finds that the chemicals alter cellular function, including signaling pathways that are involved in cancer. “We hope [this] can help people who are already at risk for thyroid cancer … make better-informed choices, as consumers, to limit exposure to these chemicals,” Hartmann said.

Everything you touch was developed by basic science, says Ian Macara, chair of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. From food varieties and new crops, to your phone, your computer and the plastics we use every day, everything originally came out of a basic research lab. Macara's department, within the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, aims to train the next generation of scientists to advance basic biomedical research at the cellular, molecular and organismal levels.

91ĚƲ®»˘ researchers are hunting down ways to combat Alzheimer’s by developing compounds that affect the proteins that are linked to it. TAOK-1 is such a protein, but it has not been thoroughly studied because there wasn’t a “tool compound” to study it with. Former postdoctoral fellow Daniel Schultz and Ph.D. student Lauren Parr have developed two such compounds—one that inhibits TAOK-1, and another that activates the entire TAOK protein family—through work conducted in the WCNDD, led by Executive Director Craig Lindsley.

Think of cells as factories that hold sets of machines doing different things. How those machines are organized and used determines the efficiency of the factory. 91ĚƲ®»˘ researchers are looking into how cells reorganize those machines over time—and what that means for aging. They’re focused on a cell structure (machine) called the ER, which is known to be vital to cell processes but has not yet been thoroughly studied. “Changes in the ER occur relatively early in the aging process,” says Assistant Professor Kris Burkewitz. “One of the most exciting implications of this is that it may be one of the triggers for what comes later: dysfunction and disease.” And identifying the trigger could lead to being able to stop the firing.

For patients with advanced melanoma without BRAF mutation who no longer respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors, treatment options remain frustratingly limited. A new study from 91ĚƲ®»˘ researchers led by Professor Emerita of Pharmacology Ann Richmond outlines a promising therapeutic strategy that may re-sensitize these resistant tumors to immunotherapy.

Two staffers at the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation have received Live Long and Prosper Tribute Awards from the Nimoy-Knight Foundation. Director of Communications Jessica Schonhut-Stasik, founder of The Neuroverse Initiative, works to create pathways for neurodivergent people in the space sciences. Project manager and author Dave Thompson champions the unique perspectives and talents of the neurodivergent community. The LLAP award recognizes people who embody the values of Star Trek: exploration, diversity and the pursuit of a better future for all.

91ĚƲ®»˘ University has announced its fall 2025 recipients of the Seeding Success, Scaling Success and Rapid-Advancement MicroGrant Program awards, providing internal funding to help faculty launch new research directions, strengthen proposals and compete for major external grants. Read More

91ĚƲ®»˘ University announced seven recipients of the Innovation Catalyst Fund awards for the October 2025 cycle. The awards offer strategic pre-seed funding to help faculty across a wide range of disciplines turn promising research concepts into tangible solutions that address fundamental societal needs.  Read More

91ĚƲ®»˘ into combating cocaine addiction has been limited by the difficulty in structuring accurate animal models; standard practice relies on implanting IV catheters that the animals can use to self-dose. Now Assistant Professor Cody Siciliano's lab has devised a method that more closely mimics cocaine use in humans—effectively, a way for the animals to snort cocaine. This makes the animal model more analogous to human experience, and it reduces surgical and intravenous procedures for the animals. "This model provides a powerful framework for linking motivated drug use with real-time neural activity, offering new opportunities to study the circuitry underlying reinforcement and decision-making," Siciliano said.

New drug discovery institute brings together AI, genomics, systems biology and translational research to accelerate cures for major diseases. Read More

Cells lining crucial structures in the kidney are full of mitochondria—parts of the cell that help it do its job. The cost of doing that job, though, can be damage to the mitochondria, which then cripples the cells and leads to poor kidney function. 91ĚƲ®»˘ers at 91ĚƲ®»˘ University Medical Center have found that the protein Rac1 kicks cell repair into high gear to help the body remove and replace damaged mitochondria. Their work was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; Assistant Professor Fabian Bock is among the paper’s authors.

The 91ĚƲ®»˘ Kennedy Center has announced its latest Nicholas Hobbs Discovery Awards, which recognize innovative research to improve the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Colleen Niswender, Dr. Bill Nobis, Audrey Bowden and Laurie Cutting are the recipients for 2025–26, earning support for projects that address Rett syndrome, Dravet syndrome and other developmental epilepsies, and reading difficulties like dyslexia.

While using an ice pack to ease pain is nothing new, a 91ĚƲ®»˘ team has taken the concept high-tech. Associate Professor Leon Bellan leads the group that has developed a cold-triggered “depot”—an implantable device that releases medication from within the body on demand. This shows promise on two fronts: Patients can release the medication simply by putting an ice pack over the implant, and locally effective NSAID drugs can be used instead of more addictive opioids.

A new potential treatment for schizophrenia discovered through the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery has entered phase 1 clinical trials, marking the fifth WCNDD therapeutic to advance into human testing.

Schizophrenia has been proven to be heritable, but typical analyses so far haven’t been able to pinpoint what, genetically, is going wrong in the brain. A new paper by Professor Bingshan Li and research instructor Rui Chen outlines how to improve on existing genetic screening for schizophrenia risk by expanding the areas of the chromosome scanned for genetic signals. Their results point to a “tangible biological pathway—and potential treatment target—linking genetic risk to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia,” Chen said.