Featured Stories
Q&A: Tips to protect against ticks
May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and Pennsylvania consistently ranks as one of the top states in the nation for reported cases of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. However, there are ways to protect people, pets and livestock against ticks and the pathogens they carry, according to Erika Machtinger, associate professor of entomology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
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Dipanjan Pan named Huck director for innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems
Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences has named Dipanjan Pan, Dorothy Foehr Huck & J. Lloyd Huck Chair Professor in Nanomedicine and professor of materials science and engineering and of nuclear engineering, to serve as the Huck’s first director for innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems.
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Plant genes influence bacterial evolution in legume-bacteria partnership
In a recently published study, Penn State researchers described the complex relationship between plant host genes and rhizobial genes, and how plant genes strongly influence which rhizobial strains plants chose from a diverse mixture.
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Jun 16, 2026
Q&A: What does science say about plants as medicine?
Plants have always played an integral role in traditional medicine and healing practices, according to Kent Vrana, Elliot S. Vesell Professor of Pharmacology at Penn State College of Medicine, and they continue to shape health and medicine today. In this Q&A, Vrana discussed the relationship between plant science and human health and the growing role of plant-derived solutions in medicine.
Jun 16, 2026
Q&A: Can plants help reverse climate change?
Heatwaves are arriving sooner and becoming hotter, with the United Kingdom recording May 25 as its hottest day in May since tracking began more than a century ago, only for the record to break again the next day. While humans can turn to artificial means of cooling, such as air conditioning or swimming pools, plants are left to cope with heat and frequently co-occurring droughts on their own. Sarah M. Assmann, Waller Professor of Biology at Penn State, is working to better understand how plants respond to environmental signals — and is applying that understanding to develop crops more resilient to environmental stress.
Jun 16, 2026
Microbiome pioneer Jacques Ravel named 2026 Microbiome Medal Laureate
The One Health Microbiome Center has selected Jacques Ravel, professor of microbiology and immunology and director of the Center for Advanced Microbiome Research and Innovation, Institute for Genome Sciences, at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, as the second laureate of the Microbiome Medal. This annual, competitive award honors a scholar or group of scholars who nobly extend excellence, acumen and ingenuity in research, mentorship and service to the global field of microbiome science.
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Jun 16, 2026
Q&A: What does science say about plants as medicine?
Plants have always played an integral role in traditional medicine and healing practices, according to Kent Vrana, Elliot S. Vesell Professor of Pharmacology at Penn State College of Medicine, and they continue to shape health and medicine today. In this Q&A, Vrana discussed the relationship between plant science and human health and the growing role of plant-derived solutions in medicine.
Jun 16, 2026
Q&A: Can plants help reverse climate change?
Heatwaves are arriving sooner and becoming hotter, with the United Kingdom recording May 25 as its hottest day in May since tracking began more than a century ago, only for the record to break again the next day. While humans can turn to artificial means of cooling, such as air conditioning or swimming pools, plants are left to cope with heat and frequently co-occurring droughts on their own. Sarah M. Assmann, Waller Professor of Biology at Penn State, is working to better understand how plants respond to environmental signals — and is applying that understanding to develop crops more resilient to environmental stress.
Jun 16, 2026
Microbiome pioneer Jacques Ravel named 2026 Microbiome Medal Laureate
The One Health Microbiome Center has selected Jacques Ravel, professor of microbiology and immunology and director of the Center for Advanced Microbiome Research and Innovation, Institute for Genome Sciences, at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, as the second laureate of the Microbiome Medal. This annual, competitive award honors a scholar or group of scholars who nobly extend excellence, acumen and ingenuity in research, mentorship and service to the global field of microbiome science.
Jun 10, 2026
Huck names Leadership Fellows for 2026-27
The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences has selected three faculty members to serve as Huck Leadership Fellows for the 2026-27 academic year. The competitive program prepares faculty for future leadership roles while engaging them in strategic initiatives that advance interdisciplinary research at Penn State.