One year since pandemic hit New York, new strain emerges in upper Manhattan News | Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Biosciences

Feb 26, 2021

Elizabeth McGraw named head of Department of Biology

Elizabeth McGraw, professor and Huck Scholar in Entomology and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics (CIDD) at Penn State, has been named the new head of the Department of Biology.

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Feb 26, 2021

Study finds short window for donating convalescent plasma to COVID-19 patients

The optimal timeframe for donating convalescent plasma for use in COVID-19 immunotherapy, which was given emergency-use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration in August 2020, is within 60 days of the onset of symptoms, according to a new Penn State-led study.

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Feb 15, 2021

MCIBS Chair Melissa Rolls Wins Leadership Award

Melissa Rolls, who is also the Paul Berg Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Director of the Center for Cellular Dynamics, has been recognized for outstanding leadership of the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Biosciences graduate program.

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Feb 12, 2021

Researchers awarded $1.5M to create stem cell predictive model

Stem cells are the building blocks of the body, according to Penn State researchers. Though similar to one another at their origins, stem cells take on unique characteristics as they mature, becoming specialized cells throughout the body — such as bone, muscle, ligament, tissue or other organ cells.

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Feb 10, 2021

Andrew Patterson receives Society of Toxicology Achievement Award

The Society of Toxicology has named Tombros Early Career Professor Andrew Patterson of Penn State as the recipient of its 2021 Achievement Award, recognizing his significant contributions to the field of toxicology within 15 years of obtaining the highest earned degree.

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Feb 08, 2021

Unusual DNA folding increases the rates of mutations

DNA sequences that can fold into shapes other than the classic double helix tend to have higher mutation rates than other regions in the human genome. New research by a team of Penn State scientists shows that the elevated mutation rate in these sequences plays a major role in determining regional variation in mutation rates across the genome.

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Jan 22, 2021

Grozinger receives National Academy's Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences

Christina Grozinger, Publius Vergilius Maro Professor of Entomology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, will be honored by the National Academy of Sciences for helping the world understand how to address the crisis of global declines in pollinator populations.

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Jan 18, 2021

Increased blood flow during sleep tied to critical brain function

Our brains experience significant changes in blood flow and neural activity during sleep, according to Penn State researchers. Such changes may help to clean out metabolic brain waste that builds up during the day.

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Jan 18, 2021

Penn State researchers co-author book teaching 'Skills to Obstruct Pandemics'

A team led by Penn State faculty and students, along with expert collaborators, has co-authored a guide that teaches the essential knowledge and skills to help interrupt the transmission of COVID-19 and other infections.

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Jan 08, 2021

Engineering professor named Microscopy Society of America president-elect

Deborah Kelly, Huck Chair in Molecular Biophysics and professor of biomedical engineering at Penn State, was elected president of the Microscopy Society of America (MSA). Her three-year commitment as first president-elect, then president, then past president, began in January.

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