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, […]
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 […]
Math Neuroscience Prof Wins NSF CAREER Award
Mark Kramer explores brain mechanisms behind epileptic seizures By Sara Rimer Mark Kramer is the third member of BU’s mathematics and statistics department to win an NSF CAREER award in the past five years. Photo by Vernon Doucette. Mark Kramer, an associate professor of mathematical neuroscience in Boston University’s College of Arts & Sciences, has […]
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 […]
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? […]
A New Map for Greenhouse Gas
Novel tool can help cities meet climate change goals By: Barbara Moran Lucy Hutyra, Conor Gately, and Ian Sue Wing, from the GRS department of earth and environment, developed a new way to measure CO2 emissions from cars. The new system, called DARTE, could help cities combat climate change. Photo by Michael D. Spencer. The […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]