Linda Hyman to Serve One-Year Term as Director of NSF Division of Molecular & Cellular Biosciences
Beginning September 14, Linda Hyman, PhD, Associate Provost for Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS), will be ‘on loan’ to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to serve as Director of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences. The Division comprises the areas of molecular biophysics, cellular dynamics and functions, genetic mechanisms and systems, and synthetic biology. Her […]
A New Diagnostic for Kidney Disease
MED prof honored as BU Innovator of the Year David J. Salant, a MED professor of medicine and of pathology and laboratory medicine, is BU’s Innovator of the Year. Photos by Esther Ro (COM’15). Suggest to David Salant that his research must have taken a long time and you’ll hear a dry chuckle. “How about 30 […]
Molecule Makers
A unique chemical library offers new hope for hard-to-treat diseases By Kate Becker and photos by Dan Aguirre. Can a molecule be beautiful? As director of BU’s Center for Molecular Discovery (CMD), John Porco has helped to create some 7,000 new molecules. To a chemist’s eye, their ornate “architecture” makes them beautiful, says Porco. But […]
$1.6 NIH Grant for Pneumonia Research
Medical School professor will study how immunity to the disease develops and how it protects certain people “The goal of this study is to better define the immune mechanisms preventing pneumonia during late childhood and much of adulthood,” says Joseph Mizgerd. Photo by Cydney Scott. Joseph Mizgerd, a professor of medicine, microbiology, and biochemistry at […]
Following in a Legendary Humanitarian’s Footsteps
Two BU students named Albert Schweitzer Fellows Amanda Alon (CAS’12, MED’14, SDM’18) (left) will encourage better dental care among low-income children in Lawrence with her Schweitzer Fellowship. Aline Souza (MED’16) will use her fellowship to improve the heart health of homeless Bostonians. Photos courtesy of BU School of Medicine. Two BU students will honor the […]
Fighting a Deadly Virus
Hartwell Award to help MED prof explore new ways to tackle RSV Rachel Fearns, a MED associate professor of microbiology and winner of a 2014 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award, studies the molecular mechanisms within RSV, a common virus that is a major cause of pneumonia in infants and young children. Photo (to the left) […]
Could an Ebola Treatment Already Exist?
Research led by a NEIDL scientist finds hope in Zoloft, Vascor Immunologist Gene Olinger, in the attire of his profession, thinks existing drugs for depression and heart disease might be effective against Ebola. Photo courtesy Gene Olinger. What if Zoloft and Vascor—safe prescription drugs that you can pick up at your CVS for depression and […]
Catching Lung Cancer Early
New test may prevent invasive procedures and save lives Lung cancer is responsible for the most cancer deaths in the United States. According to the National Cancer Institute, it will kill an estimated 158,000 people in 2015, more than breast, prostate, and colon cancer combined. Because lung cancer grows and spreads so quickly, many healthy […]
In Defense of Wide Hips
MED prof: a wide pelvis doesn’t mean you can’t be an efficient runner By: Kate Becker Kristi Lewton, a MED assistant professor of anatomy and neurobiology, is looking to our primate relatives to understand the forces that have shaped the human pelvis over time. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi. What can you learn from a pelvis? […]
Untangling the Connectome
Narayanan “Bobby” Kasthuri on how our wiring makes us human By: Barbara Moran Bobby Kasthuri needs a map. Not your everyday, get-me-to-Kenmore-Square kind of map. He’s got something else in mind. What Kasthuri needs is a map of all the connections in the human brain—kind of a wiring diagram for neurons. Kasthuri, an assistant professor […]