Category: Research
President: India mission far exceeded expectationsFeb. 17, 2012Exchanges of scholars, significant donations and possibilities for broadening Study Abroad opportunities are among results of the trip, which also included meetings with alumni, friends of the university and potential future Brandeisians.
Gates Foundation awards grant to tackle malariaFeb. 13, 2012Can an innovative wallpaper-like liner help reduce the number of cases of malaria, and if so, will it be cost effective? Professor Donald S. Shepard wants to know, and he has gotten the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help. A grant, totaling nearly $500,000 over the next three years, will allow Shepard and collaborators to pursue their research.
Lawrence's India trip advances partnership Feb. 8, 2012Faculty and administrators of Brandeis University and India’s National Center for Biological Sciences have agreed to work toward creating a formal institutional partnership that could involve graduate students, undergraduates and post-docs.
Closer to understanding, averting drug resistanceJan. 30, 2012Bacterial resistance against antibiotics is growing exponentially. One reason is because drug resistant proteins are transporting “good” antibiotics out of the cells leaving them to mutate. Professor Dorothee Kern and collaborators looked at how one of these drug transporters works.
Grants help research go from laboratory to marketJan. 28, 2012Seed money from last year’s Virtual Incubator landed one group additional funding for its smartphone study aid. Another group's ALS therapy is now under license for commercial development. Do you have a big idea? Preliminary proposals are due by Friday, Feb. 10, 2012.
Nurturing mothers rear physically healthier adultsJan. 22, 2012Nurturing mothers have garnered accolades for bolstering self-confidence. Now they’re gaining merit for their offspring’s physical health in middle age. A recent study in the journal Psychological Science, Margie Lachman and colleagues examine parental nurturance and the effects of childhood disadvantage.
A new twist on surface tensionJan. 9, 2012Researchers have engineered a new way of controlling surface tension, by creating reversible transitions of a flat two-dimensional membrane to a single dimension. It is part of an overall research mission to manipulate microscale structures of materials.
Faculty Focus: Michael Rosbash, biologistJan. 3, 2012Director of the Brandeis National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Rosbash was recently awarded the Louisa Gross Horowitz Prize from Columbia University for groundbreaking studies on the molecular basis of circadian rhythms.
Researchers explain granular material propertiesDec. 14, 2011What is it is that makes granular materials change from a flowing loose state to a “jammed,” or solid, state? In a study out this week in the Journal Nature, researchers at Brandeis explain how granular materials are transformed when force is applied at a particular angle, a process known as shearing.
- Physicists say they are near epic Higgs boson discoveryDec. 13, 2011
The Holy Grail of high-energy physics — the predicted but elusive Higgs boson — is almost within reach, and the Brandeis high-energy physics group, along with other particle physicists around the world collaborating on making the finding, is almost giddy with excitement.
Researchers discover drug-resistance mechanismDec. 9, 2011Antibiotics are used for everything from squelching strep throat to suppressing the immune system after an organ transplant. Understanding how some microbes resist high concentrations of antibiotics is important to designing new drugs and deciding how and when to prescribe existing drugs.
Addressing pain and disease on the flyDec. 6, 2011Studies of a protein that fruit flies use to sense heat and chemicals may someday provide solutions to human pain and the control of disease-spreading mosquitoes. Research from the Garrity lab was recently published in the journal Nature.
Nobelist MacKinnon '78 speaks at science retreatNov. 3, 2011The chemistry researcher's much anticipated talk was delivered on the subject of eukaryotic K+ channels, the molecules responsible for the movement of potassium ions into cells. More than 100 Brandeis scientists participated in the annual event.
Growing cohort of women in science calling Brandeis homeOct. 31, 2011Since its founding, the university has made a concerted effort to recruit and maintain female faculty in the sciences. 'It's a welcoming place,' says Division of Science Chair Eve Marder '68. 'Women feel comfortable when they come to interview.'
- Nahum Sonenberg to receive 41st Rosenstiel AwardOct. 26, 2011
Structure of Parkinson’s disease protein identifiedOct. 21, 2011The Petsko-Ringe, Pochapsky and Agar laboratories have produced and determined the structure of alpha-synuclein, a key protein associated with Parkinson’s disease. Information may someday be used to produce a new kind of treatment.
Report reveals economic, social costs of hunger Oct. 5, 2011New study by researchers at Brandeis and the Center for American Progress finds the social and economic cost of hunger and food insecurity in the United States in 2010 hit $167.5 billion in addition to federal expenditures to address hunger.
- Hoffmann, recipient of 2010 Rosenstiel Award, wins 2011 NobelOct. 4, 2011
This year's Nobel Laureates for physiology of medicine have revolutionized our understanding of the immune system by discovering key principles for its activation. One of the winners, Jules Hoffmann, was bestowed the 2010 Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Science.
- Bernice and Henry Tumen collection invaluable religious artifact resourceOct. 3, 2011
Retirement insecurity dramatically rises among seniors of color Sept. 28, 2011Four percent of Latino seniors and 8 percent of African-American seniors have the resources to maintain economic security for the duration of their lives. The report was compiled by the Heller School's Institute on Assets and Social Policy and the national policy center Demos.
Asian Food Network taps Prof. Hayes for documentarySept. 23, 2011China and India have joined overweight Americans in the obesity epidemic that’s sweeping across the world. This concern has prompted the folks at the Asian Food Channel to create a documentary investigating healthy diets.
Prof. Brooten to research early enslaved womenSept. 21, 2011'Slavery has been part of our lives for most of history,' says Professor Brooten. 'Christianity, Judaism and Islam tolerated slavery for most of its history and the habits of slavery are deeply entrenched in our thinking.' In order to overcome them, she says, we need to see how deep they are in our history and our habits of thought.
Failure of brain's clock could play role in causing neuropsychiatric disordersSept. 19, 2011People who battle neuropsychiatric disorders can also have poorly regulated biological rhythms, which leads to altered sleep/wake cycles and hormonal rhythms. New research shows evidence that these circadian system symptoms, which have long been considered a result from the pathology, may also be involved in the cause of psychiatric disorders.
How much sleep's enough? Navy wants to knowSept. 7, 2011Brandeis' Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory has long inquired into topics such as sensory motor adaptation and motion sickness, making the lab a hot spot as the Navy develops small combat ships with limited crew that must always be on top of their game.
- Special Collections puts spotlight on disability studies and advocacySept. 7, 2011
Prof. Turrigiano wins HFSP Nakasone AwardSept. 6, 2011The Nakasone Award honors scientists who have undertaken frontier-moving research in biology, encompassing conceptual, experimental or technological breakthroughs. Turrigiano’s work in synaptic scaling is allowing scientists to further understand how the brain self-regulates and maintains balance.
Researchers explain how railways in cells are builtSept. 1, 2011Every cell in the human body contains a complex system to transport critical material such as proteins and membrane vesicles from one point to another. Bruce Goode, professor of biology, and his team have come one step closer to understanding the elusive mechanics of this process.
Butterfly can't leaf it alone, so biologist lends a handAug. 15, 2011Field biologist Eric Olson has long been a crusader against invasive species. They can crowd out native species, and generally disrupt the natural order. But this summer Olson's been busy protecting a weed from Europe for the sake of a prized butterfly.
Marcus Long awarded new HHMI fellowshipAug. 4, 2011Research on a new strategy that aims to selectively tag and target proteins for destruction has won Marcus Long a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship for international graduate students. A member of the Hedstrom Lab, Long says that the ability to target disease-causing proteins, in principle, could save lives.
Artificial cilia spur new thinking in nanotechnologyJuly 26, 2011Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that perform feats such as clearing microscopic debris from the lungs and determining the correct location of organs during development, move in mysterious ways. Brandeis researchers have created artificial cilia-like structures that offers a new approach for cilia study.
Graybiel Lab poised for next round of space explorationJuly 21, 2011Companies are currently taking reservations for suborbital flights on their spaceships, and payload specialists - astronauts needed to carry out research and commercial work- must be be trained. The Graybiel Lab is one of a handful of facilities in the country that can do this.
New report shows seniors' economic security fallingJuly 19, 2011The ranks of seniors at risk of outliving their resources has increased by nearly 2 million households in the last four years, according to researchers at the Heller School and the public policy group Demos, and 75 percent of senior households have little or no buffer against traumatic events.
When it comes to eating, rats follow their nosesJuly 7, 2011Would your favorite dinner taste the same if you couldn’t smell it? Does a sense of smell require a sense of taste? Associate professor Don Katz set out to find some answers in his laboratory. The results reveal the complex connections between taste and smell.
Collaborative develops drug to help hemophiliacsJune 23, 2011Collaborative work by Brandeis researchers and doctors at Children's and Brigham and Women's hospitals may lead to development of long-acting clotting medications that free patients from frequent infusions and from worries that an internal bleed has gone unnoticed.
Scientists discover protein complex linked to memoryJune 22, 2011Forget where you put your keys or recalling names at a cocktail party? New research from the Lisman Laboratory points to a molecule that is central to the process by which memories are stored in the brain.
- Supreme Court rules against Stanford in patent disputeJune 7, 2011
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sided with a drug company over Stanford University in a patent dispute. Brandeis and 53 fellow members of the Association of American Universities (AAU) had urged the Supreme Court to reverse an appeals court decision granting rights to Roche Molecular Systems for federally-funded research conducted at Stanford.
Four recent graduates receive Fulbright grantsJune 7, 2011You get a plane ticket and living expenses for a year. Your side of the deal is to continue researching what you’re passionate about. Sound like you’ve hit the jackpot? For four Brandeis Fulbright Grant winners, the answer is “yes.”
Sprout Grant Program looks for the next big ideasJune 3, 2011Have the next innovation that could change the world? Fourteen Brandeis scientists think that they do, and recently pitched their work to a panel of industry experts to win part of a $50,000 grant created to grow their ideas which ranged from targeting mutated proteins in cancer to a mobile application for studying.
- Anthropology student awarded funding to research caves in the YucatanMay 5, 2011
Researchers make strides in understanding ALSApril 26, 2011The Petsko/Ringe laboratory reports success in blocking the lethal effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The biochemical experiments in yeast cells proved effective in reversing the toxicity of a mutated protein in the familial type of the disease.
Study may help explain cultural differences in forming memoryApril 18, 2011Angela Gutchess, assistant professor of psychology, spent a semester in Turkey investigating how cultures use categories to shape memory. Such research is increasingly important, she says, as nations become more multicultural and globally integrated.
NSF graduate research fellowships soar in 2011April 15, 2011Students and graduates of the sciences at Brandeis scored big this year, winning nine National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, the largest number awarded in a decade. The youngest is physics major Netta Engelhardt ’11. Fellows share prestige, a three-year annual stipend of $30,000 and a $10,500 cost of education allowance.
- Banerjee receives Fulbright to study Indian technologyApril 13, 2011
The professor of strategy in the International Business School will explore how entrepreneurs assemble resources in an environment of scarcity, and the role that intellectual property rights play in facilitating entrepreneurial activity. She also will use her research to write new cases about ways in which entrepreneurship can sustain the bottom of the economic pyramid.
English professor lands Guggenheim FellowshipApril 8, 2011John Plotz compares the states of partial immersion produced by novels, poems and panoramas in the Victorian age to modern-day versions of addictive tuning out: Second Life, online gaming, texting and Facebook-status surfing. His current project, “Semi-Detached,” investigates what it means to get lost in a work of art.
Study reveals older adults spot phoney smiles betterApril 8, 2011Research project created in a Brandeis laboratory harnesses video to offer a more real-world atmosphere for researching emotional cognition. Learn how experience, regulation and recognition change with age.
- Expert on survey research methods to speak on climate change April 6April 5, 2011
- McIntosh wins Clifford Geertz PrizeMarch 31, 2011
Patterns found in lab spark insight into nature, societyMarch 24, 2011Irv Epstein's research is proving that patterns found in mathematical formulas and chemical reactions may be used to understand economics, how an epidemic might spread, population patterns in a city or region and the way animal communities survive in the natural world.
Experiential learning connects classroom with community and beyondMarch 21, 2011More than 80 students hope to inspire others at the third annual symposium on March 24.
- Social media study shows how we choose friendsMarch 11, 2011
Professor Peter DeScioli's research on the online friendship decisions of 11 million people sheds light on how we choose our best friends. His research supports what is called the 'alliance hypothesis of friendship,' and the study's findings were recently published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.
- Harald Helfgott ’98 awarded Adams Prize by University of Cambridge, UKMarch 11, 2011
Lasers, custom microscope illuminate gene splicing March 10, 2011A microscope developed in the Gelles laboratory uses colored lasers to illuminate biomolecules, allowing researchers to study how cellular micro-machines are assembled in real time.
- What we can learn about aging, from wormsMarch 4, 2011
Princeton University Professor Coleen Murphy to share research on genes that regulate longevity in her Mar. 9 lecture: “Slowing the Ticking Clock: What we can learn about aging and memory from C. elegans. Genes that regulate the length of an animal’s reproductive span may yield clues to age-related changes in human fertility and memory.
- Irene Abrams appointed associate provost for innovationFeb. 28, 2011
- Chemistry's Christine Thomas named a 2011 Sloan Research FellowFeb. 28, 2011
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