News
Feb 17, 2026
Penn State biochemist Denise Okafor awarded 2026 Sloan Research Fellowship
Denise Okafor, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and of chemistry and Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Biophysics at Penn State, has been honored with 2026 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship. Awarded annually since 1955, the fellowship honors extraordinary researchers whose creativity, innovation and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of scientific leaders.
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Feb 17, 2026
Penn State names 14 new distinguished professors for 2026
Penn State's Office of Faculty Affairs has named 14 new distinguished professors for 2026. The distinguished professor or distinguished librarian title recognizes outstanding academic contribution to the University. This special academic title is bestowed upon a limited number of professors who are leaders in their fields of research or creative activity and who have demonstrated significant accomplishments with respect to teaching, research or creative activity, and service.
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Feb 16, 2026
Penn State town hall addresses factors affecting research
Nearly 1,000 members of the Penn State research community joined a hybrid town hall meeting led by Senior Vice President for Research Andrew Read that addressed federal policies affecting research, Penn State’s research goals and included a live Q&A
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Feb 16, 2026
Huck SciArt team’s ‘BioMachine’ installed at Penn State Harrisburg
'BioMachine,' a large-scale multimedia art installation bringing together science, research and creative expression to explore the role of viruses in everyday life, has been installed for a long-term engagement at Penn State Harrisburg.
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Feb 11, 2026
Skeleton ‘gatekeeper’ lining brain cells could guard against Alzheimer’s
Brain cells are constantly swallowing material from the fluid that surrounds them — signaling molecules, nutrients, even pieces of their own surfaces — in a process known as endocytosis that is essential for learning, memory and basic neural upkeep. New research by Penn State scientists has revealed this vital process may be governed by a previously unknown molecular gatekeeper: a lattice‑like structure just beneath the surface of neurons called the membrane‑associated periodic skeleton.
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Feb 11, 2026
Flipping and reversing mini-proteins could improve disease treatment
For the microbe that gives rise to tuberculosis, a team of researchers from Penn State and The University of Minnesota Medical School found that a potential solution may be chemically changing the structure of a naturally occurring peptide — a building block of proteins — to make it a more stable and effective antimicrobial agent, while reducing potential toxicity to human cells.
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Feb 10, 2026
Too many saturated fats may be more harmful than too many refined carbohydrates
In recent years, many media reports and social media influencers have emphasized the dangers of eating too many carbohydrates. Though a carbohydrate-heavy diet can be harmful, consuming too many fats may cause more health problems, according to a study in mice led by researchers in the Penn State Department of Nutritional Sciences.
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Feb 04, 2026
Helping soil microbes kill weed seeds to aid organic farmers
To better equip organic farmers to control weeds, a team of Penn State agricultural scientists received a four-year, $935,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study how promoting soil microbes to infect and kill weed seeds might reduce problematic weed species.
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Feb 04, 2026
Top student teams awarded funding to move to next phase of Nittany AI Challenge
Fifteen student teams have been awarded a total of $4,500 in the "Prototype Phase" of the Nittany AI Challenge. Each team proposed an artificial intelligence (AI) solution to help make the world a better place.
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Feb 02, 2026
Targeting the 'good' arm after stroke leads to better motor skills
Traditional stroke rehabilitation therapy focuses on restoring strength and movement to the more impaired side of the body, but a new randomized clinical trial has revealed that targeted therapy for the less-impaired arm significantly improved movement and control for stroke survivors. The trial, led by researchers from Penn State and the University of Southern California (USC), compared the new approach to the standard best-practice therapy currently in use.
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