News

Huck names new associate director for graduate education

Penn State Professor of Anthropology David Puts has been named the associate director for graduate education at the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

HGSAC co-chairs recognized for symposium success

The outgoing co-chairs of the Huck Graduate Student Advisory Committee, the body representing graduate students in the six Huck-run degree programs, were recognized for their service at a recent meeting of the Huck Executive Committee.

Donna Korzick is the director of graduate training initiatives at the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and a professor of physiology and kinesiology in the College of Health and Human Development. Credit. Penn State. Creative Commons.

Redefining graduate education through mentorship and innovation

Donna Korzick, director of graduate training initiatives at the Huck Institutes, helps develop — and secure funding for — programs designed to support the next generation of researchers.

Visitors browse the displays in the College of Agricultural Sciences Exhibits Building during Penn State's 2024 Ag Progress Days expo. Credit: Michael Houtz/Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. All Rights Reserved.

Ag Progress Days displays showcase advanced technology, animal health, invasives

A new initiative aimed at developing emerging and advanced technologies to enhance food production, agricultural ecosystems and natural resources will be one of the focal points of the College of Agricultural Sciences Exhibits Building at Penn State’s 2025 Ag Progress Days, Aug. 12-14.

H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak has caused mass die-offs in wild birds, farmed poultry and even wild mammals. New research suggests that widespread immunity to H1N1 seasonal influenza virus may explain why exposure to H5N1 bird flu causes only mild symptoms in humans. Credit: Opla/Getty Images. All Rights Reserved.

Seasonal flu immunity protects against severe illness from bird flu in ferrets

A study in ferrets — which have remarkably similar respiratory systems to humans — suggests that widespread immunity to H1N1 seasonal influenza virus may explain why exposure to H5N1 bird flu causes only mild symptoms in humans.

Jasna Kovac, left, and Seth Bordenstein, right, are the co-program directors and authors of the BIOMS grant. Credit: Huck Institutes for the Life Sciences and Eberly College of Science / Penn State. Creative Commons

$2.6M NIH grant to fund new microbiome sciences training program at Penn State

The internationally recognized One Health Microbiome Center (OHMC) in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State is the recipient of a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to train doctoral students in biotechnological innovation, industry advancements and interdisciplinary microbiome research.

Nanyin Zhang, the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Chair in Brain Imaging and professor of biomedical engineering, of electrical engineering and of engineering science and mechanics; Patrick Drew, professor of engineering science and mechanics, of biomedical engineering, of neurosurgery and of biology; and Nikki Crowley, associate professor of biology and of biomedical engineering, Huck Early Career Chair in Neurobiology and Neural Engineering and director of the Penn State Neuroscience Institute at University Park, received a three-year, $1.2 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to gain insight into the purpose of dreams. Credit: Keith Hickey/Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

When dreams turn dark: Neuroscientists to study nightmares and mental health

Dreams, and likely nightmares, are experienced universally across humans and animals, but neuroscientists still do not know why. Now, with a three-year, $1.2 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Penn State will study the underlying mechanisms of nightmares and their relationship with anxiety-related mental health disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Credit: Keith Hickey / Penn State. Creative Commons

Optical tweezers help elevate single-molecule research at Penn State

The instrument, supported by a new NIH infrastructure grant, uses laser light to ‘tweeze’ tiny objects like DNA molecules and proteins.

Graduate student Chad Smies and postdoctoral scholar Jiyeon “Joan” Baek manipulate a solution that will be used to visualize protein expression in the mouse brain. Credit: Michelle Bixby / Penn State. Creative Commons

The breadth of the brain

Researchers in the Penn State Neuroscience Institute study the brain’s many aspects in a variety of ways, with implications from mental health to aging and disease.

ARISE students in the genetics and microbiome module learn how to extract, amplify and assess DNA quality in the the Department of Anthropology's new laboratory in the Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building. Credit: Penn State Department of Anthropology. All Rights Reserved.

ARISE program provides hands-on training to aspiring anthropologists

A talented group of aspiring anthropologists recently traveled to Penn State to take part in the Department of Anthropology’s annual ARISE program.