News

Guarding the genome: Researchers uncover full 3D structure of p53 protein

The tumor suppressor protein p53, known as "the guardian of the genome," protects the body’s DNA from daily stress or long-term damage by triggering the cells to make repairs or to self-destruct.

Antibody binding-site conserved across COVID-19 virus variants

A tiny protein of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that gives rise to COVID-19, may have big implications for future treatments, according to a team of Penn State researchers.

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.

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.

Deb Kelly named chair of NIH study section

Deborah Kelly, Penn State Lloyd & Dottie Foehr Huck Chair in Molecular Biophysics, director of the Penn State Center for Structural Oncology (CSO) and professor of biomedical engineering, has accepted an appointment as chair of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Macromolecular Structure and Function B (MSFB) Study Section, directed by the Center for Scientific Review.

Podcast features three women at the forefront of cryo-EM research

An all-female trio of Penn State research scientists explain how their work on cancer diagnostics and advanced materials science evolves along with improvements in cryo-electron microscopy.

Penn State cancer research center joins pandemic fight

The Penn State Center for Structural Oncology (CSO) is shifting some of its focus from fighting cancer to fighting COVID-19, with three projects. The CSO’s director, Deborah Kelly, believes that the same interdisciplinary research approach and collaborative spirit that drives the CSO’s cancer research can be applied to fighting pandemics.

Engineers model mutations causing drug resistance

Whether it is a drug-resistant strain of bacteria, or cancer cells that no longer react to the drugs intended to kill them, diverse mutations make cells resistant to chemicals, and "second generation" approaches are needed. Now, a team of Penn State engineers may have a way to predict which mutations will occur in people, creating an easier path to create effective pharmaceuticals.

Penn State Schreyer Scholar and biomedical engineering student Madison Evans has interned in neurosurgical clinical research at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as well as a biotech company and a medical device company.IMAGE: JEFF RICE

Aspiring neurosurgeon mapping cancer-suppressing protein

Madison Evans is a Penn State biomedical engineering major who would like to become a neurosurgeon. Before she heads off to medical school, though, the Schreyer Honors Scholar is part of a research project that could change the way her future patients receive treatment.

Professor of Biomedical Engineering Deb Kelly hopes to 'outsmart breast cancer'

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. One of the pioneering researchers in the fight against breast cancer is Deb Kelly, professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Center for Structural Oncology at Penn State.