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 […]
Space Science for Bone Biologists
BU researchers send bone cells into space to learn about bone loss, osteoporosis, and how to reverse it By Elizabeth Dougherty The Osteo-4 Team: Paola Divieti Pajevic (front) and her team of space enthusiasts and skeletal biologists: (from left) research fellow Chao Shi, lab manager Forest Lai, research fellow Yuhei Uda, lab tech Chris Dedic, […]
University Launches Biological Design Center
Chen and Khalil lead synthetic bio team in quest to reengineer building blocks of life to solve societal problems Imagine the state-of-the-art 21st-century life sciences and engineering lab. It would bring together forward-thinking researchers from the hottest fields in bioengineering. These scientists would combine genomic technologies like DNA sequencing and synthesis, 3-D printers, and robots […]
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 […]
RNA Rising
Dental school scientist wins $2 million from NIH to study RNA in African sleeping sickness By: Barbara Moran Biologist Inna Afasizheva was recently awarded a $2 million grant from the NIH. Her decades of work have increased our understanding of a process called RNA editing. Photo by Michael D. Spencer. In 1953, James Watson […]
Big Data and Improving Health Care
Data scientist and physician team up to reduce preventable hospitalizations By: Suzanne Jacobs Big Data Meets Healthcare—Bill Adams, a physician and medical informatician, and Yannis Paschalidis, a data scientist and engineer, are working together to use data from electronic health records to reduce preventable hospitalizations and cut health care costs. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi. Yannis […]
Promotion to Full Professor for Four MED Faculty
Expertise in cancer treatment, PTSD, antibiotic resistance, blood transfusion Four faculty members of the School of Medicine have been promoted to full professor in recognition of their scholarship. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky. Their research runs the gamut from high-tech cancer-spotting to preventing domestic violence among veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. And their expertise has earned […]
Preventing an Antibiotic Apocalypse
The business model for drug innovation is broken — universities key to figuring out fixes, says health law prof By: Sara Rimer Kevin Outterson is a leading scholar on the economic and legal global framework needed to combat resistance and keep antibiotics available for future generations. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi. When Kevin Outterson, a professor […]
Beating the Binge
Alzheimer’s drug may reduce urge to eat compulsively BU professors Pietro Cottone and Valentina Sabino hope their research could eventually lead to new treatment for the disorder. Photo by Michael D. Spencer. Binge-eating disorder affects nearly 10 million American adults, by some estimates. It’s a vicious condition in which people repeatedly eat huge amounts of […]
Five BU Medical Campus Faculty Honored by Their Peers
Elected Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science Five faculty at the Boston University Medical Campus have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. David Michael Center, BU School of Medicine (MED) professor of medicine and biochemistry and associate provost […]