News

Apr 06, 2026

Seth Bordenstein named a Fellow of the AAAS

Seth Bordenstein, professor of biology and entomology, the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair of Microbiome Sciences, and director of the Penn State One Health Microbiome Center, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,

Full Article

Apr 06, 2026

Francesca Chiaromonte named a Fellow of the AAAS

Francesca Chiaromonte, Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Statistics for the Life Sciences at Penn State, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Full Article

Mar 17, 2026

Four Penn State researchers receive iDEA-TECH awards from Sanofi

Four Penn State researchers and their colleagues have been awarded Innovations in Data Exploration, Analytics & Technology (iDEA-TECH) Awards from Sanofi, a global R&D-driven, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered biopharma company. The awards provide $150,000 in research funding to advance cutting-edge discoveries through novel AI and digital tools and new technologies.

Full Article

Feb 26, 2026

Huck associate director elected fellow in American Academy of Microbiology

Andrew Patterson, John T. and Paige S. Smith Professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences, has been elected as a fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology. Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology, an honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology, are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology.

Full Article

Feb 12, 2026

Skeleton ‘gatekeeper’ lining brain cells could guard against Alzheimer’s

Brain cells are constantly swallowing material from the fluid that surrounds them — signaling molecules, nutrients, even pieces of their own surfaces — in a process known as endocytosis that is essential for learning, memory and basic neural upkeep. New research by Penn State scientists has revealed this vital process may be governed by a previously unknown molecular gatekeeper: a lattice‑like structure just beneath the surface of neurons called the membrane‑associated periodic skeleton.

Full Article

Feb 06, 2026

Top student teams awarded funding to move to next phase of Nittany AI Challenge

Fifteen student teams have been awarded a total of $4,500 in the "Prototype Phase" of the Nittany AI Challenge. Each team proposed an artificial intelligence (AI) solution to help make the world a better place.

Full Article

Feb 02, 2026

Liver metabolism of an essential amino acid may play a key role in gut health

Many biological processes exhibit daytime differences governed by rhythmic exposure to sunlight, termed circadian rhythms. Researchers at Penn State recently found, in mice, that a protein critical to intestinal barrier function — helping the gut absorb nutrients while blocking harmful pathogens — is rhythmically controlled by nighttime liver metabolism of the molecule tryptophan.

Full Article

Jan 22, 2026

Penn State students take top honors in video challenge on the value of research

A team of students working in Andrew Patterson's lab used their experience in research and storytelling to advocate for federally funded research and take top prizes in the Science Coalition’s 2025 Alyse Gray Parker Memorial Student Video Challenge

Full Article

Jan 16, 2026

Investigating the microbiome’s role in intestinal disorder in pregnancy

Jessica Grembi, an assistant professor of pharmacology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, has received a $500,000 grant from the Gates Foundation to investigate the role of the microbiome in environmental enteropathy — a condition characterized by inflammation of the small intestine that affects nutrient absorption.

Full Article

Dec 17, 2025

For certain life-essential proteins in E. coli, repair is more likely

Proteins need to fold into specific shapes to perform their functions in cells, but they occasionally misfold, which can prevent them from properly functioning and even lead to disease. A new study by researchers at Penn State found that, in E. coli, proteins containing a widespread structural 3D pattern, known as a motif, are more likely to misfold than proteins that lack it.

Full Article