The ‘Oscars of science’ goes to team probing the origins of the universe to reveal its most fundamental constituents and their interactions Scientists from UMass Amherst are among the researchers worldwide honored with the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, awarded to the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) alongside its sister experiments ALICE, CMS and LHCb. Among the laureates are 36 scientists from the UMass Amherst research team, including 14 Ph.D. students, who produced results based on…
UTA physicist Ben Jones recognized for pioneering particle physics instrumentation University of Texas at Arlington physicist Ben Jones has received an international honor for his contributions to developing advanced instruments used in particle physics research. Dr. Jones, an associate professor of physics, was awarded the 2025 International Committee for Future Accelerators (ICFA) Early Career Researcher Instrumentation Award. Presented by the ICFA Instrumentation Innovation and Development Panel, the award recognizes significant advancements in the innovation and development of new instrumentation for…
The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is honoring Yonatan Stelzer, Ph.D. with the 2025 ISSCR Outstanding Young Investigator Award. Dr. Selzer is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. The award recognizes the exceptional achievements of an investigator in the early part of his or her independent career in stem cell research. Dr. Stelzer will present his work at the ISSCR 2025 Annual Meeting taking place in Hong…
As a member of a collaborative team led by General Atomics, SLAC will help bridge basic research programs with the growing fusion industry. Researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory will contribute to the DOE’s newly established Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) Collaboratives. These collaborative teams were created to bridge basic science research programs with the needs of the growing fusion industry. In total, the DOE announced $107 million in funding for six projects under this initiative….
University of Virginia Brain Institute and School of Medicine researchers have received an initial $9.3 million award from the National Institutes of Health for a $30 million clinical trial to determine if the powerful anesthetic ketamine can save patients from prolonged, life-threatening grand mal seizures that won’t respond to other treatments. “Status epilepticus,” as the seizures are known, are seizures that last more than five minutes or that strike repeatedly without the person regaining consciousness between seizures. These ceaseless seizures are considered…
A physics professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with a heart for transfer students has received the Cottrell Scholar Award. Established in 1994, the award honors and helps to develop outstanding teacher-scholars who are recognized by their scientific communities for the quality and innovation of their research programs and their academic leadership skills. Assistant Professor of Physics Lawrence “Larry” Lee of UT’s College of Arts and Sciences will receive $120,000 over three years from the Research Corporation for Science…
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah has received a federal contract award that will broaden access to specialized cancer care for Utah’s rural and frontier patients. “Huntsman Cancer Institute has a vast area to support across the Mountain West. Rather than having our patients come to us, whenever possible, we want to find ways to go to them,” says Kathi Mooney, PhD, RN the principal investigator, co-leader of the Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute, and distinguished professor in the College…
A UCLA research team has found that drugs being sold as fentanyl contain high amounts of the industrial chemical bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate, or BTMPS. This new substance of concern emerged in the illicit drug supply nearly simultaneously in multiple U.S. locations from coast-to-coast. From June through October 2024, the team quantitatively tested samples of drugs sold as fentanyl that had high levels of the chemical, which belongs to a class of compounds called hindered amine light stabilizers and has a variety…
Researchers are attempting to develop room-temperature superconductors, which would revolutionize energy efficiency Rice University physicist Emilia Morosan is part of an international research collaboration that has been awarded multimillion-dollar funding from The Kavli Foundation to develop and test next-generation superconductors through artificial intelligence and quantum geometry. This global initiative, spearheaded by Päivi Törmä of Aalto University in Finland, seeks to push the boundaries of quantum materials science and superconductivity. The project includes funding from the Klaus Tschira Foundation and philanthropist Kevin Wells, fueling this…
International research team awarded multi-million-dollar funding to develop and test next-generation superconductors through artificial intelligence and quantum geometry. Heidelberg/Los Angeles. The Kavli Foundation, the Klaus Tschira Foundation, and philanthropist Kevin Wells have launched a joint initiative to advance the development of next-generation superconducting materials: with a multi-million-dollar investment, an international team of scientists will design and test new superconductors based on quantum geometry concepts. Artificial intelligence (AI) will be used to predict unique material properties and structures that could achieve…
Harvard’s Dr. Kerry Ressler shares insights on fear, trauma, and healing in an exclusive Genomic Press Interview exploring amygdala function BELMONT, Massachusetts, USA, 4 February 2025 – In a comprehensive Genomic Press Interview, Dr. Kerry Ressler, Chief Scientific Officer at McLean Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, unveils groundbreaking advances in understanding the neurobiological basis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related anxiety conditions. Dr. Ressler’s research bridges the gap between molecular neuroscience and clinical psychiatry, focusing…
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action ForMovFluid explores how essential minerals form in the Earth’s crust The new EU-funded consortium “ForMovFluid” will study how fluids transformed the materials inside the Earth’s crust. Thanks to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Doctoral Networks programme, ForMovFluid will fund the doctoral studies of 18 researchers, and train them to become elite experts in the field of geoscience. Moreover, this project will allow us to understand the origin of the so-called critical raw materials, of vital importance for the…
Grant enables study into mechanical properties of episiotomy cuts Millions of women undergo episiotomies during childbirth every year, yet the mechanics behind these surgical cuts remain largely unstudied. A new research project is poised to change that, addressing this significant gap in women’s health. An episiotomy involves cutting the pelvic-floor muscles to aid delivery, a technique currently guided largely by a surgeon’s personal judgment and experience. While intended to prevent severe vaginal tears or other complications during delivery, the procedure…
Award recognizes contributions to rehabilitation psychology EL PASO, Texas (Jan. 30, 2025) – Health sciences researcher Emre Umucu, Ph.D., associate professor and associate dean for research at The University of Texas at El Paso, has been awarded the Roger G. Barker Distinguished Research Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association (APA). The award honors research in the field of rehabilitation psychology, which focuses on helping individuals with disabilities and chronic conditions improve their health, independence and social participation. “I am…
Preparing for pandemics: EU research consortium awarded 7.5 million euros for new antiviral drugs Pandemics threaten both human health and the global economy. Vaccines are an essential part of the fight against pandemics, but they are only available months after the outbreak. Broad-spectrum drugs, on the other hand, could limit the spread of a pathogen at an early stage and save many lives. While broad-spectrum drugs are available to treat bacterial infections, there are no comparable drugs for viruses. The…
NIH grant to UCR School of Medicine could improve treatments for metabolic disorders and helminth infections RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Biomedical scientists at the University of California, Riverside have received a $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the role of sex-specific immune responses in obesity and parasitic worm infections — both significant global public health concerns. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than two in five American adults have obesity, a common and…
SW-MAG data will help NOAA predict, mitigate the effects of space weather. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently awarded Southwest Research Institute a $26 million contract to develop magnetometers for NOAA’s Space Weather Next (SW Next) program for two missions to be launched in 2029 and 2032. The magnetometers will measure the interplanetary magnetic field carried by the solar wind. “The instruments provide critical data to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center which issues forecasts, warnings and…