News Archive

“As an undergrad, I finally thought I knew what I wanted to do, but I’ve been constantly swayed by new things that are creative and exciting,” says Viswajit Kandula, this year’s recipient of Chemistry of Life Processes Institute’s Chicago Area Undergraduate Research...

Almost everyone has been touched by cancer in some way — whether they are a patient, caregiver, family member or friend. And while new prevention protocols and treatment strategies are attacking cancer in amazing ways, Northwestern is pushing for even more innovation...

Highlights of 2018 2018 has been a year of transformative discovery and impact in Northwestern University’s Chemistry of Life Processes Institute. Some of the highlights of the past year include: The National Science Foundation awarded CLP faculty members Vadim...

Northwestern Engineering received more than $3 million from the National Science Foundation through two of its 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments, “Growing Convergence Research” and “Understanding the Rules of Life.”  Five out of nine of the investigators are CLP...

A long-standing problem in optics holds that an improved resolution in imaging is offset by a loss in the depth of focus. Now, scientists are joining computation with X-ray imaging as they develop a new and exciting technique to bypass this limitation. The featured...

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine recently announced a $5.8 million, five-year award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to expand translational research into the prevention and treatment of kidney diseases. The...

The nematode roundworm, Caenorhabditis elegans, is tiny— about the size of a comma on a printed page— and yet it can reveal a lot about human genetics according to Chemistry of Life Processes Institute’s latest member Erik Andersen. Andersen, Assistant Professor of...

Three Northwestern University faculty members have been elected 2018 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. Guillermo Ameer, Jian Cao and Frederic Rasio have been recognized for their...

Northwestern Engineering’s Guillermo Ameer, a pioneer in the field of regenerative engineering, was presented the Key to Panama City, Panama, by Vice Mayor Raisa Banfield last week. The event wascovered by Telemetro, a national Spanish-language television network...

Chandler Robinson, CLP board member and Northwestern chemistry and math undergraduate, started a biotech company to develop a potentially life-saving drug, choline tetrathiomolybdate, for use in the treatment of Wilson’s Disease. That drug is nowin Phase III trials...

Researchers at Northwestern University and San Diego State University (SDSU) have better unraveled the complex process of how black widow spiders transform proteins into steel-strength fibers. This knowledge promises to aid scientists in creating equally strong...

The Northwestern University Quantitative Bioelement Imaging Center (QBIC) invites applications for a senior scientist position who can lead the center into its next phase of growth and development as a national resource for bio-element imaging and analysis.  Ph.D....

Original story published in Northwestern News on 8/11/2018 by Kristin Samuelson.  Photo by Jim Prisching. CHICAGO (Northwestern Now) - Teresa K. Woodruff, vice chair for research in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School...

A group of Northwestern University chemists and engineers have been been awarded $3.6 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to support their work of creating better qubits, the smallest unit of a quantum computer. The grant is one of 85 research awards, totaling...

SOMERVILLE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Finch Therapeutics Group, Inc. (Finch), a clinical-stage microbiome therapeutics company, announced today that it has appointed Ulrich Thienel, Ph.D., M.D., as Chief Medical Officer and Gregory Perry as Chief Financial Officer. Dr....

Researchers at Northwestern University (NU) are using a blood test called TimeSignature that requires only two blood draws to tell the precise internal time clock of humans as compared to the time in the external world. The test measures 40 different gene expression...

llinois cancer patients no longer have to choose between costly life-saving treatments and preserving their ability to one day have their own biological children, thanks to a fertility preservation bill signed  Aug. 27 by Gov. Bruce Rauner at Northwestern Medicine...

Northwestern Engineering’s Michael Jewett has received the 2018 Young Investigator Award from the Biochemical Engineering Journal. Launched in 2009, the annual award recognizes outstanding excellence in research and practice in the field of biochemical engineering....

Northwestern synthetic biology professors and Chemistry of Life Processes Institute faculty members have received the first-ever research project grant (R01) dedicated to synthetic biology from the National Institutes of Health. Though R01 grants are common, this...

Northwestern’s newest center has officially launched with a bold mission and interdisciplinary mindset. The Center for Advanced Regenerative Engineering (CARE) aims to create an ecosystem that enables researchers and clinicians to regenerate tissues and organs for...

Parasitic nematodes, known commonly as roundworms, infect one-third of the world’s human population and are a threat to livestock and pets.  There are only three general classes of anti-nematode (anthelmintic) drugs available to treat these parasites, and resistance...

Tumors love chemist Tom O’Halloran’s nano-sized creations, until they get a dose of arsenic “Some of the most potent cancer drugs ever made include metals and other inorganic compounds.” Chemist Tom O’Halloran is a world-renowned expert on inorganic compounds —...

American Society for Cell Biology featured CLP faculty member Sadie Wignall as their May cell biologist of the month. Wignall is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences at Northwestern University. Her research studies meiotic cell divisions...

A Northwestern University-led team has developed a new way to manufacture proteins outside of a cell that could have important implications in therapeutics and biomaterials. The advance could make possible decentralized manufacturing and distribution processes for...

Proteins are finicky molecules. When removed from their native environments, they typically fall apart. To function properly, proteins must fold into a specific structure, often with the help of other proteins. Now a team of researchers at Northwestern University and...

When a RAS gene operates normally, it acts as an on/off switch for cell signaling to control cell proliferation. But when the gene mutates, the switch jams into the “on” position, allowing cells to proliferate uncontrollably. This unstoppable cascade inevitably leads...

Chemistry of Life Processes Institute faculty member Richard Silverman (chemistry and molecular biosciences) has developed a new compound, OV329, that could provide many people relief from drug addiction. The story of OV329 recently received a write up in Science....

Thomas O’Halloran, Director of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute and its Center for Developmental Therapeutics (CDT) is pleased to announce that William Sargent, PhD, former President of Lorex Pharmaceuticals and current member of Chicago Innovation Mentors,...

Biomedical engineer Vadim Backman develops more sensitive cancer diagnostics and more effective treatments Blue plastic bins of metal rods and black plastic posts line the basement walls. Drawers of a red metal tool chest are labeled wrenches, abrasives, string and...

We are saddened to share with you that CLP board member, Barbara Dyson, passed away March 11th. Barbara was a loyal supporter of CLP and a member of the Executive Advisory Board since 2007. Barbara was a founder and principal of Dyson, Dyson & Dunn, Inc., a...

Three CLP faculty members receive honors, Teri Odom, Christian Petersen and George Schatz. TREE Award in Chemistry  Teri W. Odom, a Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry, is one of three Cottrell Scholar TREE Award recipients for 2018.  The award,...

Patients with Huntington’s disease, a fatal genetic illness that causes the breakdown of nerve cells in the brain, have up to 80 percent less cancer than the general population. Northwestern investigators have discovered why Huntington’s is so toxic to cancer cells...

Original article published on Northwestern Engineering News. Written by Amanda Morris. Biologists have long understood the various parts within the cell. But how these parts interact with and respond to each other is largely unknown. “We want to understand how cells...

Article originally published on Northwestern Engineering News. Written by Amanda Morris Nanocarriers are one of the most promising forms of targeted drug delivery. They can be programmed to selectively target cancer and other sites of disease. For instance, in cancer,...

Originally posted on Northwestern Medicine News Center. Written by Will Doss In two recent publications, Northwestern Medicine scientists and international collaborators discovered mutations that cause improper drainage and a buildup of ocular pressure leading to one...

Teresa K. Woodruff has been elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Woodruff is among 912 total NAI fellows, representing more than 250 research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes. Election to NAI fellow status is a high...

Two CLP cores were recognized in December for superior safety protocols: Developmental Therapeutics Core and the Recombinant Protein Production Core. The Office for Research Safety bestowed the inaugural honors in December, recognizing seven biomedical/biotechnology...

For decades, scientists and clinicians have been puzzled by an autoimmune condition, antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), which causes devastating health problems including uncontrolled blood clots and repeated pregnancy loss. Recent studies have shown that naturally...

George C. Schatz, a Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry inNorthwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, has been named an Honorary Fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society. There are only 100 such fellows worldwide; the organization...

Northwestern University’s Center for Advanced Molecular Imaging (CAMI) is offering pilot project funding for up to TEN projects/year during each of the next three years to researchers with nascent imaging projects that will benefit from CAMI expertise in imaging...

By Roger Anderson, December 18, 2017 A pathbreaking series of compounds designed and synthesized at Northwestern’s Center for Molecular Innovation and Drug Discovery (CMIDD), has been shown to starve multiple myeloma — a rare form of blood cancer — of its favorite...

Two teams of Chemistry of Life Processes Institute (CLP) investigators were each awarded $50,000 in seed funding to initiate new research projects by the Institute’s Executive Advisory Board during their November 17th meeting.  Recipients of the CLP Cornew Innovation...

Original article posted on Northwestern Now. Written by Marla Paul The first genetic mutation that appears to protect against multiple aspects of biological aging in humans has been discovered in an extended family of Old Order Amish living in the vicinity of Berne,...

Rigorous CLP training program spans disciplines to help graduate students launch careers — in the lab and beyond Written by Roger Anderson As a biologist in the lab of chemist Chad Mirkin, Jennifer Ferrer has learned the value of being “multilingual.” “When I arrived...

For the first time, researchers control cells’ chromatin to prevent cancer from adapting to treatment Chicago Region Physical Sciences Oncology Center investigator Vadim Backman has developed an effective new strategy for treating cancer, which has wiped out the...

The Chemistry of Life Processes Institute (CLP) announces that second year neuroscience major Casey Grage has been awarded the CLP Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium (CAURS) Grant in support of her interdisciplinary research on the function of protein...

Northwestern's Guillermo Ameer has been elected as a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the world’s leading organization for chemical engineering professionals. An expert in biomaterials and regenerative engineering, Ameer was recognized...

Four Northwestern professors participated in a lively panel discussion on a theme of “How to stay on (tenure) track” on October 25 at Chemistry of Life Processes Institute in The Richard and Barbara Silverman Hall for Molecular Therapeutics and Diagnostics.  The...

Northwestern scientists have used an innovative gene editing technique to identify the genes that may lead to Parkinson's disease after exposure to paraquat, a commonly-used herbicide. This study, which utilized the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool, serves as a...

Studies begin to uncover why embryos sometimes lack correct amount of genetic material. Two recent Northwestern University studies shed new light on the mystery of the leading cause of birth defects and miscarriage, laying the foundation for further research in an...

Ali Shilatifard, PhD, the Robert Francis Furchgott Professor and chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, and his research group have discovered the mechanism driving a protein that influences transcription, a crucial step in gene expression. The...

The Chemistry of Life Processes Institute (CLP) has teamed up with JourneyCare to provide Northwestern faculty, students and staff an opportunity to give to children who are affected by many of the diseases CLP and Northwestern are researching. The drive runs from...

Luis Fernando (Luifer) Schachner, a third year graduate student, jointly mentored by Neil Kelleher (chemistry, molecular biosciences, and medicine) and Yuan He (molecular biosciences), has been awarded a 2017 Gilliam Fellowship by Howard Hughes Medical Institute...

Monica Olvera de la Cruz has received a significant five-year grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation in support of her innovative materials science research. Olvera de la Cruz, the Lawyer Taylor Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in...

Synthetic biologist’s work in RNA biology and engineering could lead to new diagnostics, therapeutics Julius Lucks, member of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, is among 13 young faculty members nationwide selected to receive a 2017 Camille Dreyfus...

Amy C. Rosenzweig, professor of molecular biosciences and member of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute at Northwestern University, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Membership in the academy is one of the highest honors given to...

Scientist will use funding to target antibiotic-resistant bacteria in middle ear infections Heather W. Pinkett, associate professor of molecular biosciences and member of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute at Northwestern University, has received a 2016...

Chemistry of Life Processes Institute faculty Michael Jewett will be honored with a 2017 Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence award. The award recognizes his dedication to high-quality education and passion for advancing his discipline through...

Nano-carrier system makes vaccines more effective for newborns Called the “window of vulnerability,” the first year of a newborn baby’s life is when they are highly susceptible to infectious diseases. This window could narrow or even close completely, if it were...

Richard B. Silverman, was honored with the ACS Award for Creative Invention on April 4, 2017 by the American Chemical Society (ACS) at its 253rd National Meeting and Exposition in San Francisco. He is cited for his “fundamental enzyme inhibitor work resulting in his...

A team of researchers repaired a hole in a mouse’s skull by regrowing “quality bone,” a breakthrough that could drastically improve the care of people who suffer severe trauma to the skull or face. The work by a joint team of Northwestern and University of Chicago...

New DNA Imaging Technique Breaches 10-Nanometer Resolution Threshold, Becomes First To See DNA ‘Blink’ Scientists believe that understanding how chromatin — the bundle of the DNA double helix and proteins — is arranged within a cell’s nucleus is key to understanding...

A tiny, transparent device that can fit into a contact lens has a bright future, potentially helping a range of scientific endeavors from biomedicine to geology. Developed by Chemistry of Life Processes Institute faculty, the device, called the Micro-ring resonator...

Thomas Meade, serial entrepreneur, chemistry professor at Northwestern University and amateur Gettysburg Battlefield guide, owes his career to a discovery he made two dozen years ago while on the faculty of the California Institute of Technology. Working with tiny...

Utilizing the most rigorous testing methods to date, researchers from North Carolina State University have isolated additional collagen peptides from an 80-million-year-old Brachylophosaurus. The work lends further support to the idea that organic molecules can...

Chemistry of Life Processes Institute faculty member, Ali Shilatifard, has elected by his peers as 2016 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in recognition of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance...