Department News
The biology department’s research is regularly featured in journals, publications, and news outlets. In addition, our faculty consistently garner awards and recognitions for their work. See our news archive for past stories.
Visit the University of Rochester Newscenter for more biology department news.
Department of Biology members win awards at Genetics Day 2023
May 11, 2023
One of the most popular activities during Genetics Day is the poster session. Postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates are invited to enter their poster, and each is evaluated by a panel of judges. This year, judges gave out six poster prizes, four in the grad student category, one in the postdoc category, and one in the undergraduate category.
Continue ReadingJeremy Summers awarded Edward Peck Curtis Award for graduate student teaching
April 14, 2023
Graduate student, Jeremy Summers, has been awarded a 2023 Edward Peck Curtis Award for graduate student teaching, given to a small number of full-time graduate students who have a role in undergraduate education. Recipients have assisted in undergraduate instruction, and have had significant face-to-face interactions with undergraduates in the classroom or laboratory. Meet the recipients.
Continue ReadingJenna Lentini and Ethan Walker win 2023 JBC Herbert Tabor Early Career Investigator Awards
March 2, 2023
Former graduate students Jenna Lentini and Ethan Walker have been given the 2023 JBC Herbert Tabor Early Career Investigator Awards. Named for the late editor-in-chief of the JBC, these awards recognize early-career scientists for their standout first-author papers published in the past year. Winners will be giving oral presentations at this year’s annual ASBMB meeting, Discover BMB 2023, in Seattle from March 25 to 28, 2023.
Continue ReadingiGem team develops award-winning devices to ‘save syrup’
November 28, 2022
Undergraduate students on Rochester’s International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team developed methods to detect and repurpose defective maple sap and syrup—creating new tools, including several novel biosensors and a glucometer, to help reduce waste in the maple syrup industry. “Team Saptasense” entered their research in the iGEM competition, competing against 356 other teams from six continents, where it was nominated for best hardware, best composite part, and best measurement awards and won a gold medal—making the team the second-most-awarded iGEM team in North America.
Continue ReadingPhD student Maria Castaño analyzes tanager bird feathers to explore how species evolve over time
November 17, 2022
Maria Castaño, a third-year PhD student at the University of Rochester in the lab of Al Uy, a professor of biology, studies populations of birds to understand the processes that lead to the creation of new species.
Continue ReadingAnne S. Meyer to create first ocean-friendly bioplastics
November 16, 2022
Associate Professor in the Department of Biology Anne S. Meyer is collaborating with Marine Microbiologist Alyson Santoro, Oceanographer Melisa Omand, Ecologist Ryan Freedman, and biodegradable polymers producer Mango Materials to develop a new bioplastic that can decompose in aquatic environments.
Continue ReadingFloria Uy shows undergrads what paper wasps can tell us about evolution, aging, and group living
September 23, 2022
Wasps are social insects that work together to benefit their hive. When a parasitic insect called Xenos peckii infects certain species of paper wasps, however, something incredible happens: the parasite manipulates the wasp’s brain so the wasp loses its social instincts and abandons its colony. The parasite also manipulates the wasp’s genes to increase the wasp’s lifespan.
Continue ReadingPresgraves and Larracuente use population genomics to study a selfish ‘supergene’ that skews genetic inheritance
July 12, 2022
The human genome is littered with “selfish genetic elements,” which do not seem to benefit their hosts, but instead seek only to propagate themselves.
Continue ReadingLynn Sidor honored with Edward Peck Curtis Award
April 19, 2022
Eleven University students have been selected as recipients of the Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student. This award was established by former life trustee Edward Peck Curtis in 1984 and recognizes graduate students who excel in advancing the teaching mission of the University by providing highly skilled and innovative instruction to Rochester’s undergraduates. This year’s recipients are Shoeib Ahmed Chowdhury (mechanical engineering), Zach Barber (philosophy), Michael Chavrimootoo (computer science), Dillion Dzikowicz (nursing), Andrew Hahn (electrical engineering), Marianne Kupin-Lisbin (history), Ying Lin (brain and cognitive sciences), Kevin Ling (biomedical engineering), Derek Myler (music theory), Lynn Sidor (biology), and Neal Shah (neuroscience).
Continue ReadingLynn Sidor awarded the DoD NDSEG fellowship!
April 5, 2022
Graduate student Lynn Sidor has been awarded a fellowship from the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program!
Continue ReadingMaria Castano wins the Best Poster award for the Natural Sciences at ASE Graduate Research Symposium
March 25, 2022
Congratulations to Maria Castano (Uy Lab) for winning the "Best Poster" award for Natural Sciences at the AS&E Graduate Research Symposium. There were over 50 students presenting their incredible research across disciplines and the judges had a tough time deciding who to give the $300 prizes to.
Continue ReadingGrant helps Jenn Brisson study ‘complex interplay’ of nature and nurture on genes
February 17, 2022
Many organisms have the ability to change certain traits in response to their environment. This ability, known as phenotypic plasticity, is an important evolutionary strategy in allowing an organism to better survive.
Continue ReadingAmanda Larracuente appointed to the Genetics Society of America (GSA) Board of Directors
January 28, 2022
As a Director, Larracuente will advocate for the support and accessibility of genetic tools and resources, contribute to GSA initiatives that engage students and foster collaboration between educators across our community, and support the expansion of existing GSA efforts to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in the society and contribute to the professional development of trainees.
Continue ReadingiGem students’ award-winning device instantly detects sepsis via sweat
December 2, 2021
“This year’s iGEM team tackled a problem that has a huge impact on society,” says Anne S. Meyer, an associate professor of biology, and one of the advisors for Rochester’s iGEM team. “The students realized that a patient’s sweat contains specific biomarkers that can report on whether or not the patient has sepsis. So, monitoring the levels of these biomarkers in patient sweat would be an easy and noninvasive way to diagnose sepsis in real time to get instant information.”
Continue ReadingMeyer Lab develops novel 3D printing technique to engineer biofilms
November 5, 2021
Anne S. Meyer, an associate professor of biology at the University of Rochester, and her collaborators at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, recently developed a 3D printing technique to engineer and study biofilms—three-dimensional communities of microorganisms, such as bacteria, that adhere to surfaces. The research provides important information for creating synthetic materials and in developing drugs to fight the negative effects of biofilms.
Continue ReadingElaine Sia: Teaching the ‘how’ as well as the ‘what’ in science
October 27, 2021
Elaine Sia’s first experience teaching came as a graduate student at the Columbia University Medical Center.
Continue ReadingElaine Sia to receive Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching
October 27, 2021
The diversity of subjects in which University of Rochester undergraduates find exceptional teachers may best be illustrated by this year’s recipients of the Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
Continue ReadingGorbunova, Seluanov, and Zhao show how selfish genetic elements that can cause tumors may also trigger the death of cancer cells
October 22, 2021
Selfish genetic elements were once thought to be merely parasites of the genome. But researchers at the University of Rochester have discovered that this so-called “junk DNA” may actually be key to preventing tumors.
Continue ReadingBob Minckley explains the San Bernardino Valley is home to 500 bee species - a record
September 23, 2021
In a recent paper published in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research, Bob Minckley, a professor of instruction in the Department of Biology, and Bill Radke, manager of the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, found that 497 species of bees live within just over six square miles of the San Bernardino Valley, a modest area for such a study—10 times smaller than Washington, DC. “The density of bees there is astronomical—far and away higher than anywhere else in the world that’s been carefully studied,” says Minckley.
Continue ReadingJack Werren's approach predicts novel ‘protein partners’ that could contribute to COVID-19 symptoms
September 16, 2021
In a new paper published in the journal PeerJ, John (Jack) Werren, the Nathaniel and Helen Wisch Professor of Biology at the University of Rochester, and recent undergraduates Austin Varela ’20 and Sammy Cheng ’21 studied proteins that closely evolve with Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the receptor used by the SARS-CoV2 virus to enter human cells.
Continue ReadingNancy Chen hopes to save the Florida scrub-jay from an inbreeding crisis
January 19, 2021
Human development has caused the bird's gene pool to shrink. An ambitious experiment to relocate scrub-jay families could bring reprieve, while also pointing the way to preserving other threatened species.
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