News
Aug 28, 2024
Research teams receive $1.1 million to study microbiomes in agriculture
Two Penn State-led research teams have received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture for projects investigating the ways microbiomes — the microorganisms in a particular environment, such as in soil or a living organism — can affect disease dynamics in agriculture.
Full Article
Aug 23, 2024
New CMIND director named
Janine Kwapis, the Paul Berg Early Career Professor in the Biological Sciences at Penn State, has been appointed director of the University's Center for Molecular Investigation of Neurological Disorders (CMIND), an interdisciplinary research unit within the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences
Full Article
Aug 22, 2024
Cancer drug could treat early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, study shows
A type of drug developed for treating cancer holds promise as a new treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, according to a recent study by researchers at Penn State, Stanford University and an international team of collaborators.
Full Article
Aug 22, 2024
Volunteers record bee biodiversity and discover new species in Pennsylvania
A new study, recently published in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America, evaluated the efficacy of a monitoring program, finding that 26 trained program volunteers were more than twice as effective at documenting bee diversity than thousands of users of the photo-based app iNaturalist.
Full Article
Aug 22, 2024
NSF grant to fund novel study of environmental DNA fate in streams
The U.S. National Science Foundation awarded Assistant Professor of Aquatic Ecology Daniel Allen and his team a grant to support a project focused on analyzing how environmental DNA moves and in streams across the continent.
Full Article
Aug 21, 2024
Honey bees may play role in spreading viruses to wild bumble bees
Honey bees may play a role in increasing virus levels in wild bumble bees each spring, according to researchers at Penn State who analyzed seasonal trends of parasite and virus transmission in bees.
Full Article
Aug 19, 2024
Penn State students awarded USDA pre-doctoral fellowships for research
A Plant Biology trainee was among the ten Penn State graduate students awarded predoctoral fellowships by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Full Article
Aug 15, 2024
Penn State awards five new seed grants to support inter-institutional research
Five new research collaborations between Penn State and minority-serving institutions selected to receive seed funding via the Inter-Institutional Partnerships for Diversifying Research program.
Full Article
Aug 14, 2024
Early life exposure to common chemical permanently disrupts gut microbiome
Early life exposure to "forever chemicals" in the environment permanently disrupts the gut microbiome in mice, contributing to the development of metabolic disease in later life, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers. The results suggest that human exposure to these chemicals during early childhood may be contributing to the recent epidemic of metabolic disorders, including obesity and Type 2 diabetes among adults.
Full Article
Aug 13, 2024
Less sleep and later bedtime in childhood linked to future substance use
A good night’s sleep is essential for children’s health and development, but childhood sleep patterns may also be linked to future substance use. A new study led by a team of Penn State researchers found that adolescents were more likely to have consumed alcohol or tried marijuana by age 15 if they went to bed later and slept fewer hours during childhood and adolescence.
Full Article