News & HighlightsNews
Bacterial art, sheep brains, and a fish race: highlights from our Science Saturday festival
The annual event invites children to campus for an unforgettable day of hands-on experiments and interactive learning.
30 young scientists receive Ph.D.s at Rockefeller’s 60th convocation
Since its first convocation, Rockefeller has granted doctor of philosophy degrees in bioscience to more than 1,260 students, including today’s graduates.
William E. Ford elected Chair of The Rockefeller University Board
Ford succeeds Russell L. Carson, who is retiring after leading the Board for the past 13 years.
Rockefeller tops global university ranking in measures of research excellence and patents
The university ranks first in two major categories in a survey of more than 1600 institutions.
A. James Hudspeth to receive Kavli Prize in Neuroscience
Hudspeth is receiving the honor for pioneering work on the molecular and neural mechanisms of hearing.
Sohail Tavazoie promoted to professor
Sohail Tavazoie, a physician-scientist who studies the genes that regulate a tumor’s ability to metastasize, has been promoted to professor.
Rockefeller takes first place in global ranking of scientific impact
Out of over 900 universities from 55 different countries, Rockefeller tops a survey measuring the impact of university research publications, scoring the highest percentage of frequently cited scientific publications.
Small molecule from Kapoor lab is accepted as first Bridge Medicines drug candidate
A chemical inhibitor targeting basal cell carcinoma, originating from Tarun Kapoor’s lab, is graduating from the Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute into Bridge Medicines.
Astrophysicist Kip Thorne to receive Rockefeller’s 2018 science writing prize
Thorne is recognized for his deft explanations that have drawn readers into the space-, time-, and mind-bending realm of Einstein’s ideas. The prize, which honors scientists as inspirational authors, will be presented on April 17.
Günter Blobel, a Nobel laureate who redefined cell biology, has died
Günter Blobel, a Nobel Prize-winning Rockefeller biologist who discovered the mechanisms by which proteins are targeted for delivery to specific locations within cells, died February 18 at 81.
Proof of principle: Tri-I TDI drug candidates “graduate” to next phase of development
As inaugural Sanders Director Dr. Michael Foley is set to depart the Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute later this year, two projects from a portfolio of 57 that the Tri-I TDI has supported are now ready for the next phase of therapeutic development—a phase intended to lead to inv...
Neuroscientist Vanessa Ruta promoted to associate professor
Ruta, who explores how brains produce such flexible responses to fixed stimuli, has been promoted to Gabrielle H. Reem and Herbert J. Kayden associate professor.
Daniel Kronauer, who uses ants to study social behavior, is promoted
Kronauer has been promoted to associate professor. He has dedicated his laboratory to investigating the molecular basis underlying complex social behavior among insects.
Statistical physicist and Rockefeller Professor Emeritus E.G.D. “Eddie” Cohen dies at 94
Cohen was an emeritus faculty member at The Rockefeller University and leader in statistical physics and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. He died September 24 at the age of 94.
JoAnne Stubbe of MIT will receive the 2017 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize
Stubbe is being recognized for illuminating the processes that drive DNA replication and repair. Her research has led to the development of several cancer therapies.
Rockefeller is a leading institution in Nature Index ranking of innovation
The ranking evaluates how research articles are cited in patents, showing the influence of research on the development of products and services.
23 students receive Ph.D.s at Rockefeller’s 59th convocation
The Rockefeller University today awards doctoral degrees to 23 students who have completed their studies in bioscience. In addition, four distinguished scientists—Anthony B. Evnin, Mary-Claire King, Matthew Meselson, and Steven Weinberg—will receive honorary doctor of science degrees.
Hundreds of children and their families attend Rockefeller’s Science Saturday festival
The fourth annual science festival drew more than 1,000 school-age children and their families to campus. The young explorers participated in hands-on experiments and interactive demonstrations led by scientists.
Reem–Kayden Early-Career Innovation Award is established to support newly promoted associate professors at Rockefeller
The unique award, funded by a $7 million gift, is designed to encourage Rockefeller’s early-career faculty members to pursue the most imaginative science in the years leading to a tenure decision. All heads of laboratories are eligible upon their promotion to associate professor.
Pablo G. Legorreta, founder and chief executive officer of Royalty Pharma, is elected to the Board
Rockefeller’s Board of Trustees elected new member Pablo G. Legorreta, the founder and CEO of Royalty Pharma, at their February 15 meeting. With his election, the university has 49 voting members.
Rockefeller president Richard P. Lifton releases statement on proposed federal budget cuts to science
Rockefeller University President Richard P. Lifton today released the following statement on proposed cuts to federal funding for science: Given the remarkable track record of American science, one can only read with alarm the White House budget proposal recommending an 18 percent reduction in NI...
Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Mary Hynes donate Ursula von Rydingsvard sculpture to university’s art collection
The former Rockefeller president and his wife made the gift to express their thanks to the university community. The dramatic cedar sculpture, called Plate with Dots, was installed earlier this month in the Abby Lounge.
Rockefeller’s redesigned website set to launch in March
It has been more than a decade since Rockefeller’s most prominent public face received a major overhaul. That’s set to change next month, when the initial phase of a reimagined and redesigned rockefeller.edu launches. The new external site, which has taken two years to carefully plan and rebuild...
Talking Science lecture introduces students to the genetic aspects of infectious diseases
As he opened this year’s Talking Science lecture, geneticist Jean-Laurent Casanova made a stark observation to his teenage audience: “If we had been here 150 years ago, about half of you would already have died.” The primary reason, he told the 350 high school students and 60 teachers present,...
Carolyn Walch Slayman, Rockefeller alumna and pioneer woman in science, dies at 79
Carolyn Walch Slayman, who was one of the first women to graduate from Rockefeller’s Ph.D. program, died last December at the age of 79. Dr. Slayman spent nearly 50 years at the Yale School of Medicine, where she was Sterling Professor of Genetics and deputy dean for academic and scientific affai...
Rockefeller president Richard P. Lifton releases statement on U.S. immigration policy
In response to an executive order on immigration issued by President Donald J. Trump Friday, Rockefeller University President Richard P. Lifton today released the following statement: We at Rockefeller University, a world-renowned center for research in the biomedical sciences, oppose both the sp...
Pels Family Center for Biochemistry and Structural Biology receives new $10 million grant
by Alexandra MacWade, assistant editor A new $10 million endowment gift made by the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust will provide ongoing support for the university’s chemical and structural biologists through the Pels Family Center for Biochemistry and Structural Biology. Mr. Pels, who was a Roc...
Rockefeller’s annual Celebrating Science benefit raises $2.8 million, an all-time record
by Alexandra MacWade, assistant editor Last month, 400 guests gathered on campus for cocktails, a lecture on next-generation genomics given by Robert B. Darnell, and a festive dinner. The event—Rockefeller’s fifth annual Celebrating Science benefit—raised a record $2.8 million for th...
Molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler receives Rockefeller’s Pearl Meister Greengard Prize
by Alexandra MacWade, assistant editor For hundreds of years, bacteria were thought of as reclusive, antisocial organisms. But molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler, known to some as the “Bacteria Whisperer,” discovered that these single-celled creatures actually talk to one another and c...
Neuroscientist Huda Y. Zoghbi is elected to the Board
by Alexandra MacWade, assistant editor Huda Y. Zoghbi, a pediatric neurologist and neuroscientist who has made key discoveries in the study of brain disorders, has been elected to Rockefeller’s Board of Trustees. With her election, which took place at the Board’s October 19 meeting, the univ...
Rockefeller’s Science Outreach program explores the microbes in food
If you’ve ever forgotten about a cheese wedge in the fridge, you may have discovered something mysterious growing on it, a sure sign that it’s no longer edible. But have you ever wondered where the microbes responsible for that change came from? That’s one of several questions that the late...
Gaby Maimon, who studies sophisticated brain functions in fruit flies, is promoted to associate professor
Neuroscientist Gaby Maimon, who heads the Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function, will become an associate professor as of January 1, 2017. His research program explores how the brain performs calculations to estimate values like angles and time, and is based on the idea that fruit flies, his r...
Awards, Arrivals, and Promotions
Congratulations to our latest award winners: Winrich Freiwald has won the 2016 W. Alden Spencer Award. The prize, given by Columbia University, recognizes outstanding contributions in neuroscience. Dr. Freiwald, who shares the prize with his long-time collaborator Doris Y. Tsao of Caltech, presen...
Pioneering drug discovery company Bridge Medicines launched to advance promising early technologies in major academic institutions through human proof of concept
The Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute, a partnership between Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medicine and Takeda, joins with Deerfield Management and Bay City Capital to create an accelerated path to innovative therapies to treat ...
Child and Family Center expansion to 15 classrooms is complete
  The Rockefeller University Child and Family Center has grown. The recently completed expansion project, which included the construction of five new classrooms on the second floor of the Graduate Students Residence, has doubled the number of infant spots available in the child care program and a...
Thinking like a scientist: Research assistants at Rockefeller
by Alexandra MacWade, assistant editor As an undergraduate, Raquel Hernandez-Solis knew she wanted to pursue a graduate degree in the biosciences. She assumed she would follow the trajectory of many of her peers: apply to schools in her senior year and begin a Ph.D. program right upon graduation...
Rockefeller University awarded $27 million NIH grant to fund clinical and translational science
Rockefeller University’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science, established a decade ago to accelerate the pace of translating scientific discoveries into interventions shown to improve health, has received $27 million from the National Institutes of Health to fund ongoing and expanded wo...
Rockefeller boosts its wellness offerings
by Alexandra MacWade, assistant editor "Your head is down and you’re gritting your teeth and you’re pedaling hard,” says Timothy Blanchfield, describing what it’s like to be in one of the spin classes he teaches at Rockefeller’s fitness center. Mr. Blanchfield, a triathlete who has bee...
Neuroscientist Cori Bargmann to lead science work at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Cori Bargmann, an internationally recognized neuroscientist who heads the Lulu and Anthony Wang Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behavior at Rockefeller, has been named the incoming president of science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), the philanthropy funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuc...
Awards, Arrivals, and Promotions
Congratulations to our latest award winners: Richard P. Lifton has won the 2016 Academy Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Biomedical Science. The award, given by The New York Academy of Medicine, recognizes Dr. Lifton for his seminal work on hypertension that has led to more effective prev...
Richard P. Lifton assumes office as the university’s 11th president
Physician-scientist Richard P. Lifton takes office on September 1 as Rockefeller University’s 11th president. Lifton, who has pioneered the use of genomics to identify the basis for diseases, succeeds Marc Tessier-Lavigne, who is leaving to assume the presidency of Stanford University. Lifton arr...
Awards, Arrivals, and Promotions
Congratulations to our latest award winners: Veronica Jove is one of 34 graduate students who have received this year’s Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study, a program aimed at increasing diversity in the scientific workplace. The fellowship, given by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, support...
Daniel Mucida, who studies the gut’s specialized immune system, receives promotion
As of September 1, Daniel Mucida, who heads the Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology and studies the immune system along the vast surface of the intestine, will become an associate professor. The Board of Trustees approved his promotion on July 29. Although hidden from view, the gut has more interact...
Daniel Mucida, who studies the gut’s specialized immune system, receives promotion
by Wynne Parry, science writer As of September 1, Daniel Mucida, who heads the Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology and studies the immune system along the vast surface of the intestine, will become an associate professor. The Board of Trustees approved his promotion on July 29. Although hidd...
The 2016 graduates: Congratulatory tributes
During the Convocation ceremony, Rockefeller faculty commended their students for their scientific contributions, untiring work, and unique skills. Here are the congratulatory tributes given to each of the 2016 graduates (including students in the Tri-Institutional M.D.-Ph.D. Program, denoted wit...
Rockefeller’s 58th Convocation ceremony in pictures
At Rockefeller University’s first Convocation in 1959, there were five graduates. Fifty-seven years later, as of Convocation on June 9, 2016, there are now 1,209 recipients of the Rockefeller University doctor of philosophy degree. The day’s festivities began with a graduate luncheon in the G...
Awards, arrivals, and promotions
Congratulations to our latest award winners: Cori Bargmann has been awarded an honorary doctor of science degree from the University of Oxford. Dr. Bargmann was one of nine distinguished figures who was celebrated at Encaenia, the university’s annual honorary degree ceremony, on June 22. Dr. Barg...
Rockefeller’s newest faculty member studies birdsong to illuminate the origins of human language
The ability to speak has allowed our species to pass knowledge between generations, articulate complex ideas, and build societies. Erich Jarvis, the newest addition to Rockefeller’s faculty, uses songbirds as a model to study the molecular mechanisms that underlie how individuals learn spoken lan...
Rockefeller’s newest faculty member studies birdsong to illuminate the origins of human language
by Katherine Fenz, media relations manager The ability to speak has allowed our species to pass knowledge between generations, articulate complex ideas, and build societies. Erich Jarvis, the newest addition to Rockefeller’s faculty, uses songbirds as a model to study the molecular mechan...
Mary E. Hatten and Daniel Kronauer honored with teaching awards
by Alexandra MacWade, assistant editor Mary E. Hatten, Frederick P. Rose Professor and head of the Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, and Daniel Kronauer, assistant professor and head of the Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, were honored at this year’s Convocation luncheon w...
2016 David Rockefeller Fellowship awarded to third-year graduate student Lillian Cohn
by Alexandra MacWade, assistant editor Lillian Cohn, a graduate fellow in Michel Nussenzweig’s Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, has been awarded the 2016 David Rockefeller Fellowship, given annually to an outstanding third-year student for demonstrating exceptional promise as a scientist...
Four leaders in biomedicine awarded honorary degrees
by Alexandra MacWade, assistant editor In addition to 31 students, four esteemed scientists received degrees at this year’s Convocation ceremony. Continuing a tradition dating back more than five decades, the university awarded honorary doctorate of science degrees to distinguished individual...
Neurobiologist interested in memory to join Rockefeller faculty
For humans, the ability to form and recall memories is what gives meaning to existence. Memory is what allows us to learn, to form relationships, and to feel emotions. Priya Rajasethupathy, the most recent addition to Rockefeller’s faculty, studies the mechanisms that make memories possible, work...
Neurobiologist interested in memory to join Rockefeller faculty
by Wynne Parry, science writer Currently a postdoc at Stanford, Dr. Rajasethupathy will join the university as a tenure-track assistant professor and head of laboratory in May. She is the third new scientist to emerge from Rockefeller’s fall 2015 open recruitment process, making this year...
New faculty member investigates how cells respond to mechanical forces
Whether maneuvering about under their own power, or being pushed and pulled by the surrounding tissue, cells both give and receive mechanical force. The newest addition to Rockefeller University’s faculty, Gregory Alushin, is a biophysicist who investigates how cells use their structural filament...
New faculty member investigates how cells respond to mechanical forces
by Wynne Parry, science writer Whether maneuvering about under their own power, or being pushed and pulled by the surrounding tissue, cells both give and receive mechanical force. The newest addition to Rockefeller University’s faculty, Gregory Alushin, is a biophysicist who investigates ...
Miriam O. Adelson, a physician and expert in drug addiction research, is elected to the Board
by Alexandra MacWade, assistant editor The university’s Board of Trustees elected new member Miriam O. Adelson, a doctor of internal medicine and an expert in drug addiction research, at their June 1 meeting. With her election, the university has 48 voting trustees. Dr. Adelson is the chairma...
Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute expands focus to include antibody drug discovery research
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Rockefeller University and Weill Cornell Medicine today announced that they will expand the focus of the successful Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute, Inc., a partnership established in 2013 to expedite early-stage drug discovery of inn...
Awards, arrivals, and promotions
Congratulations to our latest award winners: Research associate Richard Hite and postdoctoral fellow John Maciejowski are two of this year’s four winners of the 2016 Tri-Institutional Breakout Awards for Junior Investigators. The prize, established last year by three Tri-Institutional winners of ...
Installation of River Campus structure begins with delivery of first of 19 prefabricated modules
A new phase of the project to extend the Rockefeller University’s campus toward the East River begins tomorrow at midnight, when the first of 19 prefabricated sections of the extension’s structural skeleton will be lifted into place over the FDR Drive
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