News

College of Engineering awards six Multidisciplinary Research Seed Grants

The Penn State College of Engineering recently awarded six Multidisciplinary Research Seed Grants to faculty members, including one in partnership with the College of Health and Human Development and another with the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

Kuchipudi receives College of Ag Sciences award for research innovation

Suresh Kuchipudi, Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Emerging Infectious Diseases, is the 2022 recipient of the Research Innovator of the Year Award, given by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences to recognize faculty and staff who have made notable efforts to commercialize their Penn State research.

Microbiologists get grant to study biofilms guarding foodborne pathogen Listeria

Microbiologists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences have received a $605,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study how microbial biofilms protect Listeria monocytogenes, the bacterium that causes the deadly foodborne illness listeriosis.

Are egg cells in aging primates protected from mutations?

A new study shows that mutation frequencies in mitochondrial DNA are lower, and increase less with age, in the precursors of egg cells than in the cells of other tissues in a primate.

Inhalable aerogel triggers immunity to COVID-19 in mice, may block transmission

An inhalable "aerogel" loaded with DNA that encodes for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein successfully induces an immune response against COVID-19 in the lungs of mice, according to new research conducted at Penn State.

Huck Students Receive Alumni Awards

Two Huck IGDP students have been recognized as part of the 2021-22 Graduate School Alumni Association faculty and student awards in the Life & Health Sciences section.

Studying diseases with better delivery of gene-editing tools

Using gene-editing tools with stem cells can be challenging because their delivery into cells can be inefficient, time-consuming, or expensive. A Penn State-led team of interdisciplinary researchers has developed a method that improves the lifespan and efficiency of CRISPR gene-editing tools after delivery.

Researchers publish how-to guide for monitoring and analyzing brain activity

Penn State researchers have developed a set of tools and methods to better monitor and analyze sleep-related signals and fidgeting in rodent brain studies. Considered the bedrock of biomedical research, rodent studies often provide the first advanced understanding of brain activity and are the foundation on which human studies are eventually built.

Two graduate students in Penn State’s Department of Animal Science, Sophia Kenney, left, and Emily Van Syoc, center, have received recognition for their research. They are shown with Erika Ganda, assistant professor of food animal microbiomes. Credit: Contributed photo. All Rights Reserved.

Students in Department of Animal Science receive accolades for research

There are many opportunities to participate in undergraduate- and graduate-level research in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. Graduate students Emily Van Syoc and Sophia Kenney are among those reaping the numerous benefits.

Repurposing FDA-approved drugs may help combat COVID-19

Several FDA-approved drugs — including for type 2 diabetes, hepatitis C and HIV — significantly reduce the ability of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 to replicate in human cells, according to new research led by scientists at Penn State. Specifically, the team found that these drugs inhibit certain viral enzymes, called proteases, that are essential for SARS-CoV-2 replication in infected human cells.