Congratulations to our new NSF Graduate Research Fellows! Among the winners are current PhD students Kira Buttrey, Emilie Kono, Nathan Lanclos, Brendan Mitchell, Gabriela Pena Carmona, Sarah Wasinger, and Dana Wilkins; incoming PhD students Joseph Asfouri and Corinne Martin; and graduating undergraduates Sushil Bohara, Justin Garlepp, Cyrus Tau and Dhruv Vaish. Well done!
BioE News
Congratulations 2023-24 Outstanding GSIs!
Congratulations to Outstanding GSI Award Winners for 2023-24 from BioE courses: S. Erfan Ghazimirsaeed, Chinmoy Saayujya and Madeleine Snyder (BioE PhD Student)! The UC Berkeley Outstanding GSI Awards are given to the best GSIs of the year, nominated by the course instructor.
What bats can teach us about the evolution of human speech
In a paper in the journal Science, a team led by Professor Michael Yartsev’s lab identified the part of the brain in Egyptian fruit bats that controls vocalizations and found that it contains very similar neural wiring to the part of the human brain that controls speech.
Alumnus Di Carlo will lead new UCLA Chan Zuckerberg Initiative cell research project
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has allocated a $4 million grant to support collaborative research by UCLA, USC and CalTech that will examine cellular behaviors, many of which play a key role in developing immunity to pathogens and disease. Dino Di Carlo, UCLA professor of bioengineering and UC Berkeley BS and PhD alumnus, will lead the team.
Microfluidics: Biology’s Liquid Revolution
Professor Aaron Streets was featured in this overview on the potential of microfluidics in The Scientist magazine.
From zero to hero in budget-making
Professor Amy Herr weighs in on how researchers manage budgets and the ‘boom–bust’ grant cycle.
Rubinsky’s coral preservation work featured on PBS News
Professor Emeritus Boris Rubinsky’s isochoric vitrification method of preserving coral samples in suspended animation is part of recent emergency efforts to save dying coral reefs. The method is being used by the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
The booming business of discovering your biological age
Professor Irina Conboy and former student Alina Su have founded a new company, Generation Lab, offering an at-home molecular aging test that analyzes a person’s biological age by assessing “biological noise” in their system. The test evaluates an individual’s risk for top health conditions and the pace of aging across 19 systems in the body, which can help physicians see where interventions may be most needed and effective.
Researchers make advances toward more effective IBD therapies
Researchers in Professor Phillip Messersmith’s lab have demonstrated that treatment with DPCA, an enzyme inhibitor molecule shown to trigger regeneration in mammals, can protect against and repair colon damage in a mouse model of colitis. This work suggests that short-term use of this small molecule drug could someday provide a restorative therapy for patients with IBD — and a path to remission.