Featured Stories
Q&A: Tips to protect against ticks
May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and Pennsylvania consistently ranks as one of the top states in the nation for reported cases of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. However, there are ways to protect people, pets and livestock against ticks and the pathogens they carry, according to Erika Machtinger, associate professor of entomology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
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Dipanjan Pan named Huck director for innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems
Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences has named Dipanjan Pan, Dorothy Foehr Huck & J. Lloyd Huck Chair Professor in Nanomedicine and professor of materials science and engineering and of nuclear engineering, to serve as the Huck’s first director for innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems.
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Plant genes influence bacterial evolution in legume-bacteria partnership
In a recently published study, Penn State researchers described the complex relationship between plant host genes and rhizobial genes, and how plant genes strongly influence which rhizobial strains plants chose from a diverse mixture.
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Jul 06, 2026
Postdoctoral fellow earns NIH award to study neurological effects of alcohol
Gwendolyn Burgess, a postdoctoral fellow in biology at Penn State, has been awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. This competitive honor is awarded to those who show promise as independent researchers and aims to enhance their training experience.
Jul 01, 2026
Fourteen interdisciplinary research teams receive 2026 IEE seed grants
Fourteen interdisciplinary research teams have received funding through the Institute of Energy and the Environment’s (IEE) 2026 Seed Grant Program. The program supports basic and applied research that lays the groundwork to pursue external funding and is guided by IEE’s five strategic research themes. This year, the program awarded seed funding to more than 40 researchers across 10 colleges and campuses and 21 departments and units.
Jun 25, 2026
Newly discovered corn trait may help improve crop drought tolerance
Some corn plants are genetically predisposed to develop longer, less constricted water-conducting tissues and deeper roots, which helps them deal with drought. That’s the conclusion of a team led by Penn State researchers that conducted a study of the plant’s xylem tissue that moves water upward from the roots out to the leaves. They found that corn plants with longer metaxylem vessel elements also tend to have rapidly elongating roots, deeper root systems, stronger water transport capacity, greater water capture and improved drought adaptation
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Jul 06, 2026
Postdoctoral fellow earns NIH award to study neurological effects of alcohol
Gwendolyn Burgess, a postdoctoral fellow in biology at Penn State, has been awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. This competitive honor is awarded to those who show promise as independent researchers and aims to enhance their training experience.
Jul 01, 2026
Fourteen interdisciplinary research teams receive 2026 IEE seed grants
Fourteen interdisciplinary research teams have received funding through the Institute of Energy and the Environment’s (IEE) 2026 Seed Grant Program. The program supports basic and applied research that lays the groundwork to pursue external funding and is guided by IEE’s five strategic research themes. This year, the program awarded seed funding to more than 40 researchers across 10 colleges and campuses and 21 departments and units.
Jun 25, 2026
Newly discovered corn trait may help improve crop drought tolerance
Some corn plants are genetically predisposed to develop longer, less constricted water-conducting tissues and deeper roots, which helps them deal with drought. That’s the conclusion of a team led by Penn State researchers that conducted a study of the plant’s xylem tissue that moves water upward from the roots out to the leaves. They found that corn plants with longer metaxylem vessel elements also tend to have rapidly elongating roots, deeper root systems, stronger water transport capacity, greater water capture and improved drought adaptation
Jun 25, 2026
Huck staffers recognized at annual awards
The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences recognized several staff members for outstanding work over the past year at the annual “Pulse of the Huck” meeting.