Category: Research
The spliceosome: more than meets the eye Sept. 30, 2013Researchers from Brandeis University and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have teamed up to unravel a major component in understanding the process of RNA splicing.
Brandeis scientists visit Capitol HillSept. 24, 2013Brandeis researchers recently met with a number of senators, including Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren, to share their research and its implications for human health. Topics of discussion included Brandeis’ impact on local business and the value of research in the economy at local, state and national levels.
Wild and weird world of fluoride channels Sept. 18, 2013In a paper published in August in the journal eLife, professor of biochemistry Christopher Miller reports microorganisms have evolved an unusual fluoride-specific ion channel to export toxic fluoride from the cell. The research may have implications for the treatment of bacterial diseases such as tuberculosis.
Discuss and celebrate the Dead Sea ScrollsSept. 11, 2013On Oct. 20, the Museum of Science exhibition, 'Dead Sea Scrolls: Life in Ancient Times,' co-sponsored by Brandeis University, will close. Between now and then, Brandeis will host several events to discuss and celebrate the mystery, impact and importance of these ancient scrolls, discovered decades ago in a cave overlooking the Dead Sea.
Life Decisions: Articles of Faith?Sept. 10, 2013PhD candidates Emily Sigalow, Michelle Shain and Meredith Bergey found that faith influences some traditionally secular decisions, such as choosing where to live or work, among Christians and other faith-based communities. They focused on four questions: How do religious principles influence career choice, marriage, place of residence, and number of offspring.
Brandeis-Israel Research Initiative starts strongSept. 9, 2013Israeli neuroscientists recently visited Brandeis University to present research and develop projects as part of the Henry J. Leir Brandeis-Israel Research Initiative, which underwrites collaborations between Israeli and Brandeis neuroscientists and funds postdoctoral appointments for Israelis at Brandeis.
Physicist Bulbul Chakraborty is finding equilibriumAug. 21, 2013Theoretical physicist Bulbul Chakraborty, who became the first woman to join the Brandeis physics faculty in 1989, says the last five years of her research have been the most exciting and fulfilling, but the road here has been filled with twists and turns: moving from India, raising a family and simultaneously navigating and excelling in a male-dominated field have been part of the journey.
- Initiative to foster partnerships between Brandeis and Israeli scientistsAug. 19, 2013
David DeRosier, electron microscopy pioneer, honored Aug. 19, 2013David DeRosier, an emeritus professor of biology, pioneered the use of electron microscopy to make fundamental discoveries about cellular structures and is currently developing a new, super-resolution cryogenic light microscope. He was recently awarded the Microscopy Society of America Distinguished Scientist Award, the society’s highest honor.
Hanley Center, Brandeis partner for physician trainingAug. 15, 2013The Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership in Portland, Maine, and the Heller School for Social Policy and Management have partnered to create an advanced education program with the goal of building a statewide network of physician leaders in Maine.
Eapen named HHMI international research fellowAug. 14, 2013Vinay Eapen is one of 42 international predoctoral students selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to receive fellowships that will support their graduate studies at U.S. universities. Eapen, who comes from India, is studying DNA damage response and autophagy in the Haber Lab.
The temperature tastes just right to insectsAug. 7, 2013Call it the Goldilocks Principle — animals can survive and reproduce only if the temperature is just right. A team of Brandeis University scientists has discovered a previously unknown molecular temperature sensor in fruit flies belonging to a protein family responsible for sensing tastes and smells.
- Eve Marder: At the intersection of wisdom and technologyAug. 1, 2013
Blazeman's 'War on ALS' comes to BrandeisJuly 22, 2013Thanks to a gift from the Blazeman Foundation for ALS, Mugdha Deshpande has been named the Blazeman Postdoctoral Fellow for ALS Research and is utilizing a novel research approach developed in Assistant Biology Professor Avital Rodal’s laboratory to search for a cure to the neurodegenerative disease.
Youth summit explores the world of medicine July 18, 2013The inaugural Global Youth Summit on the Future of Medicine gathered a diverse group of nearly 175 teenagers mulling careers in medicine and healthcare. Over nine days, the delegates received a behind-the-scenes, hands-on education, attending talks by renowned doctors and scholars and visiting medical schools and hospitals in the Boston area.
Students win Fulbrights to pursue passions abroadJuly 18, 2013The Fulbright U.S. Student Program will send seven Brandeis students and young alumni around the world this year to pursue their passions while promoting global understanding. Three of the Fulbrighters will teach English in countries as distant as Thailand and Azerbaijan, and four will conduct research abroad.
Protecting the body in good times and badJuly 16, 2013Assistant Professor Michael T. Marr had a mystery on his hands: Why do cells continue to produce some proteins while shutting down production of others when the body is trying to conserve resources? What he discovered could impact our understanding of cancer and other threats to the body.
Paradis' research could impact seizure treatmentJune 27, 2013Assistant Professor of Biology Suzanne Paradis started with a simple question: How are GABAergic synapses built? Now she and her team have applied for a patent and are continuing research that could have implications for millions of people who suffer from epilepsy.
Innovation sprouts with annual grant competitionJune 19, 2013Five teams of young Brandeis scientists and programmers will receive a total of $50,000 to fund the research and development of products ranging from compounds that can target cancer cells to a mobile app that helps avoid lines. It's all part of the third annual Brandeis Virtual Incubator Sprout Grant Program.
Computer modeling technique goes viralJune 18, 2013Sophisticated computational models and advances in graphical processing units are helping scientists understand the complex interplay between genomic data, virus structure and the formation of the virus’ outer “shell” — critical for replication.
Brandeis inventor patents anti-cholesterol formulaJune 13, 2013Senior Brandeis research scientist Daniel Perlman ’68 has discovered a way to make phytosterol molecules from plants dispersible in beverages and foods that are consumed by humans, potentially opening the way to dramatic reductions in human cholesterol levels.
Rodal explores ‘eye candy’ with Pew grantJune 13, 2013Assistant Professor of Biology Avital Rodal has been named a Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences. Rodal, who has been on faculty since 2010, studies neuronal systems and neurodegenerative diseases.
- Educator examines quality of parental involvementJune 11, 2013
Speaking at the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education’s lunch seminar, Marci Borenstein, director of Brandeis' Office of High School Programs, shared frameworks and findings from an 18-month ethnographic study of immigrant parent involvement in two elementary schools in New York City
Eve Marder wins 2013 Gruber Neuroscience PrizeJune 10, 2013Eve Marder ’69, a pioneering researcher who has dedicated her career to understanding the nervous system’s basic functions, received the award for 'the best neuroscience being done anywhere' for her studies of a network of some 30 large neurons found in the gut of lobsters and crabs — a small yet elegant window into humans’ unfathomably rich nervous system.
- Research council honors Hadassah-Brandeis InstituteJune 6, 2013
The National Council for Research on Women (NCRW) has given its Research and Scholarship Award for 2013 to the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute. The award recognizes recent outstanding research and the production of knowledge built on theoretical perspectives that advance understanding of the experiences of women and/or girls in society. The council also honored HBI founder Shulamit Reinharz.
- Families and Work Institute to honor BarnettJune 3, 2013
Rosalind Barnett of the Women's Studies Research Center has written well over 100 articles and is currently finishing her ninth book. Her work is particularly focused on how gender stereotypes affect women in every stage of life, from childhood to adulthood, from classrooms to boardrooms.
Rosbash, Hall and Young awarded Shaw PrizeMay 30, 2013Foundation cites the positive and profound impact of research into circadian rhythms by Brandeis biology professors Michael Rosbash and Jeffrey Hall and their colleague Michael Young of Rockefeller University. The $1 million prize will be awarded in Hong Kong in September.
- Schuster Institute fellow launches new book on 'The Business of Baby'May 8, 2013
- Marc Brettler elected to American Academy for Jewish ResearchMay 7, 2013
Photographer donates Israel then-and-now collectionMay 6, 2013Photographer Dan Tassel has been collecting and shooting photographs of the Middle East for decades, and recently donated some of what he's amassed to the Robert D. Farber Archives & Special Collections, in the hopes students can put them to use.
National Academy elects neuroscientist Turrigiano April 30, 2013Gina Turrigiano, a professor of biology whose pioneering research studies how neurons and circuits change during learning and development, was elected Tuesday to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the nation’s most prestigious scientific society.
Birren, Marder comment on neuroplasticity discoveryApril 25, 2013In the current issue of the journal, Science, Susan J. Birren, Professor of Biology and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Eve Marder, Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Neuroscience and head of the Division of Sciences, co-author an invited commentary on a discovery suggesting that changes in the mixture of neurotransmitters released by neurons (nerve cells) can induce changes in behaviors.
- Dead Sea Scrolls come alive at Brandeis April 23April 18, 2013
Students and other members of the Brandeis community are invited to sample food from the era and learn about the scrolls, their political and social context and the science of artifacts from the ancient world. 5 p.m. Tuesday in Rapaporte Treasure Hall.
Gabbay Award goes to optogenetics researchersApril 18, 2013Three scientists will be honored for their contributions to the discovery and applications of optogenetics, a technology that allows scientists to control the brain’s activity by genetically engineering neurons to fire in response to light.
Paul Anastas, father of green chemistry, says world on an unsustainable courseApril 10, 2013
Marder '69 joins Obama neuroscience 'brain trust'April 5, 2013When President Obama unveiled his $100 million brain research initiative April 2, Brandeis neuroscientist Eve Marder was in the East Room audience as one of 14 all-star scientists charged with defining the project and its goals.
- Rohleder receives early career award from American Psychosomatic SocietyApril 5, 2013
Back to the future for a distinguished scientistMarch 29, 2013An emeritus professor of biology, David DeRosier has been working as a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscientist Gina Turrigiano’s lab. This job bookends DeRosier’s first postdoc in the famous Cambridge, England, lab where many fundamental biological discoveries were made.
- Christine Thomas to receive Strage AwardMarch 28, 2013
The award lecture and ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, in Gerstenzang 123 on the Brandeis campus. Thomas’ lecture is entitled '21st Century Alchemy: Design of bimetallic systems to access novel synthetic transformations.'
Sara Shostak explores human, environmental health issuesMarch 28, 2013As the public struggles to make sense of how chemicals in the environment affect our health, major changes are underway in environmental health science and regulation. Sara Shostak explores decades of environmental science research and policy-making in her new book.
UCLA’s Gordon Fain wins Pepose Award from BrandeisMarch 11, 2013
Museum of Science staff to outline scrolls openingsMarch 4, 2013Opportunities for students to work on the upcoming 'Dead Sea Scrolls: Life in Ancient Times' exhibition at the Museum of Science in Boston will be outlined in an information session with representatives of the museum on Wednesday, March 6.
Heller study finds public policy widens wealth gapFeb. 27, 2013New research by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy unearths the dramatic gap in household wealth existing along racial lines in the United States. Researchers say the gap cannot be attributed to personal ambition and behavioral choices, but rather reflects policies and institutional practices that create different opportunities for whites and African-Americans.
Brandeis scientists support new peer-edited journalFeb. 20, 2013Getting published in research journals can be a long, arduous process, one for which scientists have felt that they had no alternative — until now. eLife, which recently launched online, is a joint initiative of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society and the Welcome Trust. It is the first 'open access' journal that engages editors who are working scientists with the research scientists throughout the entire editorial process.
- 'Lincoln's Tragic Pragmatism' looks at the president's moral evolutionFeb. 16, 2013
Burt draws accolades for ‘Lincoln’s Tragic Pragmatism’Feb. 14, 2013Burt spent over two decades working on his book, which has also been the basis of his coursework: Examining 19th-century political oratory and asking how a political culture founded on deal-making and compromise comes to terms with conflicts over moral issues where deal-making and compromise may be scorned, as in the final debates over slavery preceding the Civil War
Undergrad’s research image makes cover of journal Feb. 7, 2013Valerie Marchenko ’13 is pretty happy to have the image she created of quasar 3C345 chosen for the cover of this month’s Astronomical Journal. Her proficiency in Astronomical Image Processing System software enables her to take data from 27 antennas in New Mexico, which are separated over a 25-mile diameter, to work like one single 25-mile diameter telescope.
Rosbash, Hall and Young receive Wiley PrizeJan. 31, 2013Discovery of the molecular mechanisms governing circadian rhythms have landed Michael Rosbash, Jeffrey Hall and Michael Young this year's Wiley Prize. Their research could lead to the development of drugs to treat sleep disorders, physical and mental illness, and even jet lag.
- Women's Studies Research Center celebrates women making musicJan. 28, 2013
The Women and Music Mix, a group of musician-scholars within the Women’s Studies Research Center, in collaboration with numerous dignitaries of the Boston music scene, will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Judith Tick’s groundbreaking anthology, 'Women Making Music: The Western Art Tradition 1150-1950' with a concert and talk on Sunday Feb. 3.
MS program helps people understand genetic factsJan. 27, 2013Who is at risk of developing life-altering diseases, and how can they process the results if the future looks threatening? Genetic counselors analyze inheritance patterns and risk for recurrence, discuss options, and provide counseling to families.
- Associate Professor Tun on cognitive deficits, hearing lossJan. 23, 2013
- Professor Art Wingfield on hearing loss and dementiaJan. 21, 2013
Brandeis University Press authors win book awardsJan. 15, 2013The Jewish Book Council has announced the 2012 National Jewish Book Award winners, two of whom are Brandeis University Press authors. This is the longest-running North American awards program in the field of Jewish literature, which recognizes outstanding books of Jewish interest.
- Student in Sustainable International Development Program works in BoliviaJan. 15, 2013
Schuster, PBS, WGBH reporting on slaveryJan. 14, 2013Joint effort involves public radio series on present-day slavery and leading abolitionists, as well as investigations and essays by affiliates of Brandeis' Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, collected under the theme “Investigating Slavery Now and Then.”
The pilot and autopilot within our mind-brain connectionJan. 10, 2013Have you ever driven to work so deep in thought that you arrive safely yet can’t recall the drive itself, but can recall planning your day? Professor John Lisman explores conscious and unconscious systems, habit and non-habit systems in the mind-brain connection, which allow us the ability to multitask. This research, Lisman says, will lead to a better understanding of what we are as human beings.
X-ray-emitting jet is discovered in distant quasarJan. 2, 2013The discovery of a new X-ray-emitting jet is the result of a collaboration that includes Teddy Cheung Ph.D. ’04, Professor of Astrophysics John Wardle, Doug Gobeille Ph.D. ’10 and four other scientists. The jet is produced by a supermassive black hole at the center of a quasar known as GB 1428+4217, located 12.4 billion light years from Earth.
Lansing receives modern language awardDec. 19, 2012Richard Lansing, professor of Italian studies and comparative literature, received the Modern Language Association’s Scaglione Publication Award for the manuscript entitled, 'Dante’s Lyrics: Poems of Youth and the Vita Nuova.' Lansing is the editor of 'The Dante Encyclopedia,' among other publications.
American jihadis: Where are they coming from, where are they going?Dec. 17, 2012Jytte Klausen, the Lawrence A. Wien Professor of International Cooperation, has received a $459,969 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to research the role of social networks in the evolution of Al Qaeda-inspired violence in the United States.
- Impact of caring for adult child with disability studiedDec. 14, 2012
Caring for an adult child with developmental disabilities or mental illness increased the chances that an aging parent would develop disabilities of their own, according to findings of a new study led by Dr. Subharati Ghosh, a post-doctoral research fellow at the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. Her study was recently published in the journal Psychiatric Services.
Susan Lovett explores wreckage, repair of cellsDec. 5, 2012Can DNA cells which have mutated be repaired? Susan T. Lovett has successfully investigated mechanisms by which changes come about and how cells have mechanisms to prevent them. For her contributions to understanding mechanisms of DNA repair, Lovett was recently elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- New programs available for Justice Brandeis SemesterDec. 4, 2012
- Marusic awarded Marie Curie Fellowship for philosophy researchDec. 4, 2012
- Eight members of Mathematics department honoredNov. 26, 2012
Nemzoff offers families tips on holiday challengesNov. 20, 2012It’s the time of year when a single table in one home may very well be shared by turkey lovers and vegans, war protesters and NRA cardholders, the amicable and the austere. Ruth Nemzoff, a resident scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center shares ways to foster family relationships with tips from her new book.
- Marusic awarded Humboldt research fellowship Nov. 20, 2012
Why America's working moms love MondaysNov. 8, 2012The conventional wisdom is that Monday morning is a downer after the freedom and fun of the weekend, but that's not what mothers of young children told Hadassah-Brandeis Institute's Michelle Cove during her year of research for her new book, 'I Love Mondays.'
- Tim Sanchez Ph.D. '12 receives honors for thesis workNov. 6, 2012
Class investigated funding of controversial state labNov. 5, 2012Students from last spring’s 'Advocacy for Policy Change' class were taken aback recently when the state lab for which they were lobbying was thrust into a maelstrom of controversy after an employee allegedly falsified criminal drug tests. Was the testing disaster that affected 1,140 prison inmates a result of insufficient funding, which they had been working to change, or the responsibility of a rogue technician?
Brandeis scientists feted at Gairdner ceremoniesOct. 26, 2012Professor of Neuroscience Michael Rosbash and Professor Emeritus of Biology Jeffrey C. Hall were honored last night at a festive awards ceremony in Toronto celebrating their receipt of the prestigious Canada Gairdner Award, that nation’s foremost international scientific honor.
Epstein named state academy of sciences fellow Oct. 17, 2012Each year the Massachusetts Academy of Science honors distinguished individuals through its Fellowship and Honorary Life Member awards. Recipients are recognized for extraordinary scientific accomplishments and service to the science community and the public.
Stephen J. Elledge wins 42nd Rosenstiel AwardOct. 17, 2012The 42nd Rosenstiel Award For Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Science has been awarded to Steven J. Elledge of Harvard Medical School and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His research has identified key DNA damage response genes both in yeast and mammalian cells and made key contributions to defining key events that control DNA repair.
Larson investigates military substance abuse Oct. 12, 2012US military have experienced significant drug and alcohol abuse problems historically and in the recent Iraqi and Afghani wars. To better understand the problem, and what can be done to curb it, the Department of Defense asked the Institute of Medicine to analyze current policies and programs.
Justice Brandeis Semester intense and rewardingOct. 3, 2012Through the Justice Brandeis Semester, students explore a thematic topic through a combination of classroom and hands-on work. Students not only learn by doing, they also make lasting connections in their chosen field. Three years out, the program is flourishing, and new offerings are expected for the spring and summer of 2013.
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