News & Events
NIH Training Programs at Rensselaer Annual Retreat
Renssealer's NIH Training Programs will host an Annual Retreat on November 6th at the Hilton Garden Inn Troy. Registration is open to the first 70 responses. The day's events will include guest speaker Prof. Tim Griffin (University of Minnesota) Trainee research presentations, a CapSci scientific communication panel, and poster session. Breakfast and lunch will be provided to the attendees. Register here: https://forms.gle/a327JjLQxMasXWnWA
Novel Compound is Promising Drug Candidate for Alzheimer’s Disease
A newly identified compound is a promising candidate for inhibiting the production of amyloids, the abnormal proteins that form toxic clumps, called fibrils, inside the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. As published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Chemical Communications, the compound — known as “C1” — uses a novel mechanism to efficiently prevent the enzyme gamma-secretase from producing amyloids.
Rensselaer Announces New Degree Program in Biological Neuroscience
A new degree program in biological neuroscience at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute explores the structure and function of the brain and nervous system. The major, which was recently approved by the New York State Education Department, will be offered beginning in the spring 2020 semester through the Rensselaer Department of Biological Sciences.
Structurally Designed DNA Star Creates Ultra-Sensitive Test for Dengue Virus
By folding snippets of DNA into the shape of a five-pointed star using structural DNA nanotechnology, researchers have created a trap that captures Dengue virus as it floats in the bloodstream.
Research Aims To Make Technologies for Controlling Blood Sugar More Accessible
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have been working on two fronts to perfect continuous blood glucose monitor and insulin pump technologies: they are developing algorithms to create a closed-loop system that can effectively operate similar to a healthy pancreas, and they are working to make that system more accessible and understandable for users with diabetes.
Atomic-Level Analysis of Bone Aims to Predict and Lessen Fractures in Diabetics
People with diabetes face a significantly higher risk of osteoporotic fractures than those without the disease, but the reason for this is not well understood and can’t be adequately predicted.
Elizabeth Blaber Awarded NASA Space Biology Grant to Participate on the BionM2 Spaceflight Mission
Elizabeth Blaber, Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering, is among nine grant recipients to participate on the BionM2 spaceflight mission with RosCosmos.
Protein Movement in Cells Hints at Greater Mysteries
A new imaging technique that makes it possible to match motor proteins with the cargo they carry within a cell is upending a standard view of how cellular traffic reaches the correct destination.
Rensselaer To Host Yearlong Climate Change Speaker Series
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will host a speaker series throughout this academic year examining the effects of human activity on climate, the changing climate’s impact on humans, and the action needed to address such a complex issue.
Machine Learning Approach for Low-Dose CT Imaging Yields Superior Results
TROY, N.Y. —Machine learning has the potential to vastly advance medical imaging, particularly computerized tomography (CT) scanning, by reducing radiation exposure and improving image quality.
Those new research findings were just published in Nature Machine Intelligence by engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and radiologists at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
International Bioartists To Speak at Rensselaer on April 25 and May 8
To highlight the important connections that exist between art, science, and technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will host lectures with international bioartists on April 25 and May 8. The events, presented by the Arts Department in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) at Rensselaer, are free and open to the public.
Sugar Entering the Brain During Septic Shock Causes Memory Loss
The loss of memory and cognitive function known to afflict survivors of septic shock is the result of a sugar that is released into the blood stream and enters the brain during the life-threatening condition.
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In the News
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For healthier lakes, rivers, and drinking water, hold the salt
February 6, 2019 -Rick Relyea, an environmental scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is tackling similarly thorny questions in upstate New York’s Lake George, which has been called the Queen of American Lakes. Relyea leads the Jefferson Project, a collaboration among RPI, IBM, and the FUND for Lake George, a nonprofit focused on conserving the lake. The project has outfitted the lake with more than 500 “smart” environmental sensors during the past four years to monitor human influence on it. Over the past four decades, according to data from the Lake George Offshore Chemical Monitoring Program, chloride levels have tripled in Lake George, adding to other environmental effects on the lake. These effects include the rise of invasive species and the delivery, through stormwater runoff, of pollutants and nutrients that can stimulate algal blooms. Because it’s hard to tease apart the impacts of these various stressors on the lake’s water quality and wildlife, Relyea’s team has done a bevy of experiments in the lab and in large outdoor tanks to isolate and examine the consequences of increasing salt.
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Freshwater Is Getting Saltier, Threatening People and Wildlife
December 21, 2018 -Salts that de-ice roads, parking lots and sidewalks keep people safe in winter. But new research shows they are contributing to a sharp and widely rising problem across the U.S. At least a third of the rivers and streams in the country have gotten saltier in the past 25 years. And by 2100, more than half of them may contain at least 50 percent more salt than they used to. Increasing salinity will not just affect freshwater plants and animals but human lives as well—notably, by affecting drinking water.
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Brain Scans Can Detect Who Has Better Skills
October 3, 2018 -To gain new insight into how highly specialized workers learn skills or react to stressful situations, researchers are leveraging advanced scanning technologies to look at what’s happening inside the brain.