September 2, 2010 | honors and awards
Paul Greengard receives Karolinska Institutet’s Bicentennial Gold Medal

The gold medal is the highest award conferred by the Karolinska Institutet, one of the world’s leading medical universities, during its 200th anniversary celebrations. The medal recognizes the work of an individual not permanently located at the Karolinska Institutet, who has contributed to and has achieved acknowledged eminence in the university’s activities.

September 1, 2010 | science news
Scientists identify protein that spurs formation of Alzheimer’s plaques

Rockefeller researchers report that the cancer drug Gleevec reduces Alzheimer’s plaques in a mouse model of the disease by binding to a molecule called gamma-secretase activating protein, or GSAP. By knocking out the gene that produces GSAP, the researchers reduced the primary component of senile plaques. They say that the development of compounds that work like Gleevec and target GSAP could revolutionize the treatment of this disease.

August 26, 2010 | campus news
New faculty member studies evolution of social behavior in insects

A scientist who studies how evolution operates at different levels of organization in insect societies is the third and latest recruit in Rockefeller’s fall 2009 open faculty search. Daniel Kronauer, who is a junior fellow at Harvard University, will join Rockefeller in July 2011 as the head of the Laboratory of Insect Social Evolution.

August 15, 2010 | science news
Experiments decipher key piece of the ‘histone code’ in cell division

The division of one cell into two is one of the most basic processes of life. One of the many tricks involved is the segregation of copied chromosomes to opposite ends of the cell before it divides. New research details for the first time the role of an epigenetic modification to the proteins that package DNA in the fundamental biological phenomenon, known as mitosis.

August 9, 2010 | campus news
Ted Scovell named director of university’s science outreach program

A former high school teacher himself, Scovell works to give new generations of young scientists access to the facilities — and mentors — that can take them well beyond the frogs and earthworms of their high school classrooms.

July 27, 2010 | science news
Protein found to control the early migration of neurons

Long before our nervous system is able to see, smell, touch, hear or speak, the earliest neurons that make it up must be precisely guided to the proper layers in the developing brain. Exactly how this early neuron migration happens has been elusive, but a better understanding of it could lead to insight into myriad developmental problems, including autism and schizophrenia. New research identifies a gene that works behind-the-scenes to control a closely related adhesion gene that helps keep young neurons on the right track.

July 27, 2010 | science news
MicroRNAs play a role in cocaine addiction

MicroRNAs, short stretches of RNA that silence genes, have already been linked to cancer, heart disease and mental disorders such as schizophrenia. New research by Rockefeller University scientists suggests microRNAs are also involved in regulating the motivation to consume cocaine, a finding that could ultimately lead to new ways of combating addictive diseases in humans.

July 26, 2010 | science news
Muscle gene may provide new treatments for obesity and diabetes

In muscle, a protein called MED1 normally suppresses a genetic program that holds in check certain energy expenditure pathways. But when Rockefeller University scientists removed this gene in mice, a number of genes that are usually suppressed were activated, suggesting that targeting the Med1 gene could provide new therapeutical approaches to treating such metabolic diseases as obesity and diabetes.

July 20, 2010 | science news
Researchers identify DNA damage repair gene in Fanconi anemia pathway

The threats to our genes come fast and furious. To fend them off, evolution has come up with complex safety measures to preserve the stability of our DNA. New research identifies a protein that is involved in guarding against a particularly dangerous peril called the inter-strand crosslink, when two strands of DNA become stuck together and can’t be unzipped for their proper replication or transcription. A mutation in the gene that produces this protein may lead to the deadly cancer-causing disorder known as Fanconi anemia, and may be involved in breast cancer as well, the experiments show.

July 16, 2010 | science news
Scientists identify nature's insect repellents

Chemicals emitted by mosquito predators could lead to as environmentally friendly tactics for repelling disease-carrying insects.

July 2, 2010 | honors and awards
Rockefeller postdoc named finalist for Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists

Agnel Sfeir, a postdoctoral fellow in Titia de Lange's Laboratory of Cell Biology and Genetics, has been named a finalist in the fourth annual Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists competition, which recognizes the contributions of young scientists and engineers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

July 2, 2010 | science news
New HIV vaccine trial first to target dendritic cells

HIV has been able to outmaneuver every vaccine that's been tried on the virus since it was first discovered in 1981. But no vaccine has yet to directly employ what is arguably the most powerful weapon the human immune system, the dendritic cells that orchestrate the body's response to infection. Now that's about to change. Researchers at Rockefeller University, where dendritic cells were discovered in 1973, are building on decades worth of research to launch a novel vaccine trial in hopes of mustering an immune response strong enough to defeat the deadly virus. It's the first clinical trial of a dendritic cell based vaccine against infection, and researchers hope it will mark a turning point in the battle against AIDS.

June 18, 2010 | science news
New research shows how experience shapes the brain’s circuitry

The adult brain, long considered to be fixed in its wiring, is remarkably dynamic, according to new research by Rockefeller University scientists. The finding explains how the circuitry of a region of the mouse brain called the somatosensory cortex, which processes input from the various systems in the body that respond to the sense of touch, is continually modified by experience.

June 18, 2010 | honors and awards
Winrich Freiwald named Pew Scholar

A cognitive neuroscientist, who uses imaging techniques to study the parts of the brain responsible for visual processing, is the recipient of a prestigious Pew Scholars award.

June 18, 2010 | appointments and promotions
Microbiologist to join Rockefeller faculty

Rockefeller’s newest faculty member is Luciano Marraffini, a microbiologist who studies how bacterial pathogens modulate the transfer of foreign DNA into their genomes. His work sheds light on how bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus evolve, including how they gain the ability to resist antibiotic drugs.

June 15, 2010 | science news
Problematic blood clotting contributes to Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease isn’t just about twisted brain cells. It’s also about the blood vessels that feed those neurons. New research at Rockefeller University has shown how the most common element of the plaque deposits found outside the brain cells of Alzheimer’s patients interacts with a blood clotting agent and causes clots to form faster and become harder to break down. The scientists suggest new drugs that would target this association could potentially treat what is increasingly recognized as a crucial element of the disease, the vascular component.

June 10, 2010 | science news
Alzheimer’s brain protein may provide target for treating mental retardation

Reducing the level of β-amyloid, a protein found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome, may improve the cognitive abilities of children with Down syndrome. The new study by Rockefeller University scientists may provide a model for developing new anti-amyloid drugs.

June 9, 2010 | campus news
37 students to receive Ph.D.s at Rockefeller’s 52nd Commencement

In addition to graduate degrees, two honorary doctorates will be awarded, to Hanna Holborn Gray, historian, president emeritus of The University of Chicago and chairman of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and Harold E. Varmus, Nobel laureate and president and chief executive of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

June 8, 2010 | science news
Researchers modify yellow fever vaccine to fight malaria

A genetically modified vaccine originally used to eradicate yellow fever could be the key to stopping a mosquito-borne scourge that afflicts much of the developing world.

May 25, 2010 | honors and awards
Donald W. Pfaff and Bruce S. McEwen will share 2010 Foundation Ipsen Neuronal Plasticity Prize

Donald W. Pfaff and Bruce S. McEwen share the 2010 Foundation Ipsen Neuronal Plasticity Prize for their studies on the neuroendocrine control of behavior. The French foundation presents the award to researchers who publish remarkable, pioneering studies.

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June 22, 2010


“Some of my colleagues have put forth what are called green or renewable solutions or technologies, and they’re OK at a boutique scale—single households,” says Jesse Ausubel, who is director of the Program for the Human Environment at the Rockefeller University in New York City. “But when you look at two billion households, you find out that the solution isn’t green at all. Things that work on a boutique scale don’t necessarily work for billions of people and terawatts of power.”

June 21, 2010


Elaine Fuchs: "I’ve always been interested in how things work. When I was child in 1950s Chicago, there weren’t many women scientists. So to ask the kinds of questions that interested me was unusual. I remember as one of three females among 200 male chemistry majors at the University of Illinois, I was terrified that if I did well in class, the professors would think I’d cheated. That’s how much I didn’t think I belonged. So I studied like crazy and routinely got the best grades on examinations because if I was No. 1, then who could I have cheated from?...I took these things as an invitation to prove people wrong about women in science. It made me work harder."

March 30, 2010


“‘We put so much emphasis on food and purity of ingredients and where they come from,’ said Mark Stoeckle, a physician and DNA expert at Rockefeller University who advised the students. ‘But then there are things selling that are not what they say on the label. There's an important issue here in terms of economics and consumer safety.’”

March 29, 2010


“Children, Elaine Fuchs says, have a natural fascination with science. She remembers that she did. ‘I think like many of the children in our world, I got interested in science just from having a butterfly net and from having a few strainers and some boots and going down to the streams and creeks and being out in the fields,’ says Fuchs.”

March 27, 2010


“Forget the sweet smell of success. When it comes to scents in the city, New Yorkers rank vanilla as the most pleasant. That’s according to Dr. Leslie Vosshall, who led a five-year study of what smells please or annoy New Yorkers, how we interpret odors and ‘how does smell affect our daily experiences.’ Isovaleric acid — the odor of sweaty socks — has the baddest bouquet, according to New Yorkers who rank it as the least pleasant essence. They also find the smell of buttered popcorn ‘pretty unpleasant,’ Vosshall said.”

March 25, 2010


“One protein appears to play an integral role in protecting telomeres, and possibly preventing cancerous growth, according to a study published this week in Science. The protein in question is part of a complex called shelterin, which prevents a potentially dangerous type of DNA repair that can shorten telomeres and therefore cause cells to age quickly. Alternatively, the repair process can help elongate telomeres in cancer cells, allowing them to proliferate. This protein ‘is required in the complex to repress one of the two DNA repair pathways that can act on DNA ends,’ said cell biologist and study author Titia de Lange of The Rockefeller University. ‘It’s important for cells to repress this [because it can be] dangerous for telomeres, lead[ing] to abrupt changes in telomere length [that] can kill the cells or reset telomere length.’”

March 14, 2010


“Why do some people succumb to whatever illness is going around while other soldier on, seemingly unaffected? It’s all in the genes. Research from the Rockefeller University in New York presented at the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia annual conference recently revealed a strong genetic link to a person’s ability to survive infection. ‘There is solid evidence which shows that during the course of an infection some people remain asymptomatic, while others may end up with a life-threatening disease,’ said paediatrician and immunologist Jean-Laurent Casanova. ‘That is to do with a number of known factors, such as family background and the population the person is living in. However, now we have proven the genetic link, too.’”

March 9, 2010


“‘In more than 90 percent of human deafness, what’s missing are hair cells, the sensory receptors of the internal ear,’ Dr. Hudspeth said. ‘What we want to do and what we hope to do is to replace those cells. Now the zebrafish can tell us how those cells might be replaced. We hope to learn what genes are involved, and then to learn how to switch those same genes in our own ear, and by that means to restore hearing.’”



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