News Archive
Young Innovator Program Spotlight: Jason Wang
Ananya Sen, Shelby Lawson
Jason Wang, a graduate student in the Kong (GNDP/M-CELS) lab, won third place in the 2022 Young Innovator program and received $5000 to advance his proposal. He will develop a…
Researchers design AI method to predict metabolomic profiles of microbial communities
Shelby Lawson
Human bodies contain trillions of microbes, so much that the number of microbes rival the number of human cells in a body. These microbes help shape many of our biological…
AI predicts enzyme function better than leading tools
Liz Ahlberg Touchstone
A new artificial intelligence tool can predict the functions of enzymes based on their amino acid sequences, even when the enzymes are unstudied or poorly…
Young Innovator Program Spotlight: Skye Shepard
Ananya Sen, Shelby Lawson
Skye Shepherd is a graduate student in the Cunningham (CGD/MMG) group, where she develops new detection tools for proteins that can be used to identify diseases including…
Researchers reveal real-time glimpse into growth habits of nanoparticles
Lois Yoksoulian
For the first time, researchers have observed the process of nanoparticles self-assembling and crystalizing into solid materials. In new videos produced by the…
Young Innovator Program Spotlight: Alejandra Zeballos
Ananya Sen, Shelby Lawson
Alejandra Zeballos works on creating new therapies for neurological disorders. She is developing a platform that will select virus-based vectors that can deliver DNA-based…
Researchers discover new class of ribosomal peptide with hemolytic activity
Shelby Lawson
Living organisms produce a myriad of natural products which can be used in modern medicine and therapeutics. Bacteria and other microbes have become the main source for natural…
Team uses MRI to image epigenetics in the brain
Diana Yates
UPDATE: The Editorial Board of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has selected six papers published by PNAS in 2022 to receive the Cozzarelli Prize, an…
Shannon Sirk wins NIH Trailblazer Award
Bethan Owen
Professor Shannon Sirk (MME) received the NIH NIBIB R21 Trailblazer Award for her ongoing work in engineering both microbes and antibodies for human therapies. This three-…
Bacterial signaling across biofilm affected by surface structure
Shelby Lawson
Similar to how cells within human tissues communicate and function together as a whole, bacteria are also able to communicate with each other through chemical signals, a…
DOE Renews CABBI Five More Years
Tony Mancuso
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has committed another round of funding to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to lead the second phase of its Bioenergy Research…
Study models the causes of insomnia in menopausal women
Ananya Sen
One of the most common symptoms that women experience during menopause is sleep disruption. Although this change is thought to be associated with depression, hot flashes, and…
