News

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.

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Jun 10, 2026

$2M NIH grant to support study of how the brain and body acclimate to stress

Experiencing stress leads to a suite of rapid physiological changes, and over time, the body can acclimate to the stress, eventually changing an individual’s baseline brain state. To improve understanding of the changes in the brain and body during acclimation to stress using a mouse model, the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences has awarded a five-year, $2 million grant to Grayson Sipe, assistant professor of biology in the Penn State Eberly College of Science.

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May 20, 2026

$3M NIH grant to support research on memory and exaggerated fear responses

Experiencing a traumatic event sometimes produces long-lasting biological changes that can lead to an exaggerated fear response to future stressful events, such as what occurs in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder. To better understand the regulatory mechanisms in the brain that produce this biological memory and exaggerated fear response, a team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been awarded a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health.

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May 06, 2026

How can the same genetic mutation lead to different clinical outcomes?

Individuals that share the same deletion of a portion of chromosome 16 are at risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders, but some experience severe intellectual disability or developmental delay, while others may only exhibit milder psychiatric features like depression or anxiety. How can this be? To answer this, a team led by Penn State scientists has developed methods to evaluate how genetic variants elsewhere in an individual’s genome work with the deletion to help determine the features that the individual will manifest.

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Apr 27, 2026

Hydraulic brain: Body motion linked to fluid movement in the brain

The brain is more mechanically connected to the body than previously appreciated, scientists reported in Nature Neuroscience. Through a study using mice and simulations, the team found a potential biological mechanism underlying why exercise is thought to benefit brain health: abdominal contractions compress blood vessels connected to the spinal cord and the brain, enabling the organ to gently move within the skull. This swaying facilitates the surrounding cerebrospinal fluid to flow over the brain, potentially washing away neural waste that could cause problems for brain function.

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Apr 27, 2026

New clues for using common fungus to promote crop growth and health

Trichoderma species — a common fungus found in soils — have varying abilities to promote tomato plant growth and differentially affect the abundance of certain soil bacteria, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State. The work was the latest in a line of research evaluating the use of this common group of fungi as an alternative to pesticides for controlling soilborne pathogens, said Seogchan Kang, professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences and co-corresponding author of the study.

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Apr 20, 2026

Sun awarded Robert T. Simpson Graduate Student Award for Innovative Research.

The Graduate Program Core Committee announced that Jiawan Sun has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Robert T. Simpson Graduate Student Award for Innovative Research.

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Apr 17, 2026

Penn State biochemist Melanie McReynolds awarded Hypothesis Fund seed grant

Melanie McReynolds, Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has been selected to receive a seed grant from the Hypothesis Fund. The Hypothesis Fund aims to advance scientific knowledge by supporting early stage, innovative research — led by scientists at broad swath of universities — that increases adaptability against systemic risks to the health of people and the planet.

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Apr 17, 2026

3D-printed brain sensors may unlock personalized neural monitoring

Soft electrodes designed to perfectly match a person’s brain surface may help advance neural interfaces for neurodegenerative disease monitoring and treatment, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers. Neural interfaces are powered by tiny sensors capable of tracking biophysical signals, known as bioelectrodes.

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Apr 08, 2026

Medina, Paris receive 2026 Excellence in Advising Award

Scott Medina, the William and Wendy Korb Early Career Professor and Dorothy and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Nano Bioengineering; and Heather Paris, associate director of the advising center and career services at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, have been selected to receive the 2026 Penn State Excellence in Advising Award.

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