News & HighlightsNews
Getting an unprecedented view of the molecular machines of life
Shixin Liu is pioneering new ways of studying the tiny proteins that copy and transcribe genetic code.
The antioxidant glutathione discovered to play a key role in proper protein folding
The findings may lead to new therapeutic interventions for certain types of neurodegeneration and cancers.
Programming the immune system to manufacture its own therapeutic proteins
By editing blood stem cells, researchers show that the immune system itself can be transformed into a durable, boostable source of therapeutic proteins—opening the door to potential single-shot treatments for diseases ranging from HIV to cancer.
Novel tool could identify new therapeutic targets in complex diseases like cancer
Researchers devised a platform for mapping the regulatory nodes where genetic variations converge to drive changes in cell behavior.
Symposium highlights SNFiRU's transition from incubator to engine
Three years in, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research has matured into a working pipeline connecting basic science and emerging therapies.
A new mouse model of virus-driven liver cancer may open the door to better diagnosis and treatments
Researchers created the first mouse model in which chronic viral infection progresses to liver cancer, closely mirroring what happens in people with hepatitis C.
Three Rockefeller researchers chosen for the Biohub NY Immune Cell Reprogramming Program
The Rockefeller teams will map immune cell interactions, engineer cells as drug delivery systems, and activate immune responses in hard-to-treat cancers.
Studying two very different viruses is helping this virologist develop new strategies for more potent antiviral treatments
Theodora Hatziioannou used her expertise on HIV-1 to gain insights into SARS-Co-V-2, and vice versa. The potential applications of her insights could be much broader.
New club helps early career scientists explore the challenges and rewards of becoming an entrepreneur
The Rockefeller University Biotech Club is offering a series of talks, bringing in startup founders and industry experts to share their experience of turning lab discoveries into companies.
Key driver of long-term inflammatory memory identified
Researchers used a combination of wet lab research and deep machine learning to pinpoint distinct genetic sequences, work that could inform therapeutic strategies for chronic inflammation.
Microtubules discovered to play an active role in correctly distributing chromosomes during cell division
Long thought to serve as cellular scaffolding, microtubules also reshape the proteins that bind to them—guiding enzyme activity to prevent genetic errors linked to cancer.
How ants distinguish friend from foe
Researchers find that ants continually update their sense of nestmate identity and tolerance for outsiders, a discovery that opens the door to studying the neural circuits behind social recognition.
Most mass spectrometers can process just a few molecules at once. A reengineered prototype does a billion simultaneously
Researchers laid the groundwork for tools that could one day make high-throughput, comprehensive single-cell protein analysis routine.
Movie series debuts on campus
Grab some popcorn and soda in Carson Family Auditorium.
Researchers discover an epigenetic switch that could be targeted by new cancer therapies
Researchers were able to shut down certain malignancies by disabling a protein complex that regulates cell differentiation.
This tiny cellular portal could open vast possibilities for medicine
Michael Rout has spent decades studying the molecular machinery that controls all traffic in and out of the cell’s nucleus. His research could lead to new treatments for cancer and viral diseases.
New tracking tool reveals how T cells adapt in different organs
Researchers uncovered immune dynamics that may inform future therapies for infection, cancer, and autoimmunity.
Rockefeller expands professional development training
The university’s HR department launches a new feature on its centralized platform, which brings together digital tools, leadership training, and in-person learning.
Astronomer Chris Impey to receive 2026 Lewis Thomas Prize
The annual Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science was established by Rockefeller’s trustees in 1993. On March 9, Impey will be honored for his exploration of life’s origins, exoplanets, and humanity’s place in the universe in a ceremony on campus.
Theodora Hatziioannou promoted to research professor
In recognition of her outstanding contributions to the understanding and treatment of infections caused by the HIV-1 and SARS CoV-2 viruses, Theodora Hatziioannou has been promoted to research professor.
Two Rockefeller students are named Weintraub Award winners
Gabriella Chua, who did her Ph.D. research in Shixin Liu’s Laboratory of Nanoscale Biophysics, and Andrea Terceros, who did her Ph.D. research in Priya Rajasethupathy’s Skoler Horbach Family Laboratory of Neural Dynamics and Cognition, have been honored with a prize considered to be one of the mo...
Scientists map how aging reshapes cells across the entire mammalian body
Age-related changes in cells are synchronized across organs, suggesting common molecular signals that could be targeted with drugs.
A new method reveals hidden rules of gene control
A new cell-free genomics framework isolates the primary impacts of transcription factors and establishes tuberculosis as a model for understanding how genes are regulated.
Even during one of the city's coldest winters, our science never takes a snow day
As New York endured severe snowstorms and its coldest winter in decades, the Plant Operations team kept science moving at Rockefeller's historic campus.
Biomedical science in the age of AI 
AI holds enormous potential for the biomedical sciences. To get there, scientists are addressing challenges around trustworthiness, training data, and tool design.
A protein thought to play a supporting role in DNA replication actually facilitates the whole process
Scientists have discovered that a protein once thought to simply help load a factor necessary for the copying of DNA, actually plays a key role in ensuring fast and reliable replication—an insight that could inform research into cancer and other diseases.
In rare cases, autoantibodies can cause severe reactions to a live-attenuated virus Chikungunya vaccine that has been discontinued in the U.S.
A new study shows that preexisting autoantibodies in a small subset of the population can allow weakened vaccine viruses to escape control, explaining some adverse events tied to this one kind of Chikungunya vaccine, which is no longer available in the U.S.
Study on brain navigation reveals function of an unconventional electrical-signaling mode in neurons
New work in fruit flies uncovers an electrical trick that allows neurons to compute direction efficiently by juggling multiple signaling mechanisms. These findings could reframe our understanding of how some neurons operate.
The color of your fat could determine the level of your blood pressure
Scientists knew that obesity raises the risk of hypertension. Now Paul Cohen's team has uncovered the mechanism—and the enzyme—that explains how fat can stiffen blood vessels and drive blood pressure upward.
How beige fat keeps blood pressure in check
New study shows that beige fat suppresses an enzyme that promotes high blood pressure, revealing a new molecular pathway and a potential target for future precision therapies.
The publishing rules for NIH-supported research have changed. Here’s what to know
What is a scientist who wants to stay in the good graces of both federal funders and private publishers to do?
Scientists have gotten good at blocking enzymes to treat disease. Now can they speed them up?
Tarun Kapoor is tackling a deceptively tricky biochemical challenge: how to speed up the internal machinery of living cells.
How the brain creates facial expressions
New work demonstrates how neural circuits in the brain and muscles of the face work together to respond physically to social cues.
Physicist Konstantin Goulianos, professor emeritus, has died
Goulianos, a member of the Rockefeller community since 1971, was a renowned particle physicist who contributed to the discovery of fundamental building blocks of matter. He died Jan 2.
The value of publishing negative data
Scientific publishing has a bias against negative results and that hurts science, says Tim Fessenden, editor of Life Science Alliance, a publication of Rockefeller University Press. Here’s how journal editors can help.
Researchers identify gene that calms the mind and improves attention in mice
Study demonstrates that the Homer1 gene improves focus by reducing "noise" in the prefrontal cortex, with implications for the study of ADHD and other attention disorders.
Some mammals can hit pause on a pregnancy. Understanding how that happens could help us treat cancer.
New study reveals the molecular brake that lets embryonic stem cells enter suspended animation, while retaining the ability to develop normally—which could shed light on abnormal cell growth in humans.
New engineered derivative of a natural molecule could translate into a powerful replacement for IVIG therapy for a wide array of autoimmune disorders
In experiments with mice, the new molecule accomplished the same job at a hundredth of the dose.
What these scientists revealed about the structure of the T cell receptor could help resolve a decades-old debate over how T cells get activated
Researchers discovered new characteristics of a T cell receptor that’s essential to a variety of cutting-edge T cell immunotherapies.
This new insight into T cell receptors may improve cancer immunotherapies
Researchers discovered that a crucial first step in the signaling system operates differently than previously thought, an insight that could lead to the next generation of treatments.
Intriguing science discoveries of 2025
Across fields as diverse as evolution, mechanobiology, and antibiotic discovery, here are some of the intriguing discoveries that came out of Rockefeller in 2025.
This new, one-two punch could knock out drug-resistant TB
Researchers found that pairing the antibiotic rifampicin with a second compound turned multidrug resistance into a weakness—providing proof of concept for using basic science to design life-saving dual-drug strategies.
Hess Center for Research on Women’s Health and Biomedicine holds its inaugural symposium
Covering topics from osteoarthritis to neurodevelopment, the inaugural symposium of the Marlene Hess Center showcased research that illuminates how biological sex shapes health and disease.
A new reference brain could make the clonal raider ant a go-to model species for neuroscience  
Researchers created this first-of-its kind map by merging 40 ant brains into one.
Why understanding stem cells lies at the root of treating diseases from psoriasis to cancer
Elaine Fuchs has spent decades uncovering why our bodies are so good at regenerating skin—and how we might harness that understanding to combat illness, hair loss, and possibly the aging process itself.
New model demonstrates how a dynamic mechanism regulates traffic through the nuclear pore complex
A new study reveals that nuclear pore complexes—tiny gateways in a cell’s nuclear membrane—are governed by dynamic action.
Scientists can finally answer an old question about cellular aging
Replicative aging of human cells, the result of telomere shortening, is slower at physiological oxygen than at atmospheric oxygen, a difference now shown to be due to low oxygen impairing the ATM kinase response to withered telomeres.
DNA transcription is a tightly choreographed event. A new study reveals how it is choreographed.
A first-of-its-kind platform reveals how the molecular machine that turns DNA into RNA controls the speed of transcription.
Your memories are governed by hidden timers inside your brain
Neuroscientists have long posited that memory functions like an on/off switch—either your brain remembers something or it doesn’t. Priya Rajasethupathy’s team discovered why the truth is more complicated.
How the brain decides what to remember
New research reveals a cascade of molecular timers unfolding across the hippocampus, thalamus, and cortex determine whether short-term impressions consolidate into long-term memory, with implications for memory-related diseases.
Mechanical forces are key to embryonic self-organization
Scientists used light-inducible gene expression to demonstrate that formation of the body axes in human embryo models requires an interplay between chemical cues and mechanical forces.
This molecular switch helps cancer cells survive harsh conditions
When under cellular stress, breast cancer cells turn on genes that promote tumor growth and stress resistance.
Faculty members Kivanç Birsoy and Jun Cao receive promotions
Birsoy has been promoted to professor with tenure and Cao has been promoted to associate professor. In addition, Birsoy has been named the Joseph L. Goldstein Professor.
Rockefeller tops an international ranking of research impact
According to the 2025 CWTS Leiden Ranking Open edition of over 2,800 universities from 120 countries, Rockefeller has the highest percentage of most frequently cited scientific publications.
Rockefeller startup aims to change the course of treatment for severe autoimmune diseases
Nuvig, a biotech company cofounded by Jeffrey Ravetch, has launched phase two trials and raised $200 million.
Researchers develop a potential IVIG replacement for treating autoimmunity that’s significantly more potent
The discovery could greatly improve patient experience and address supply shortages.
This immune circuit may protect the brain from Alzheimer's
A newly identified molecular pathway shifts microglia into a protective state, and may lead to Alzheimer's therapies that can reprogram the brain’s own immune defenses.
Researchers release the world’s first head-to-toe cellular atlas of the mosquito
The global effort, led by Rockefeller University, just made the most dangerous animal in the world a lot easier to study—and perhaps defeat one day.
Major milestone achieved in capturing ribosome assembly
Using AI and other cutting-edge techniques, researchers have captured the first near-continuous "molecular movie" of ribosome formation—revealing, frame by frame, how cells build the protein factories that make life possible.
What we got wrong about mosquito mating
Researchers have discovered the first evidence of what happens when a female mosquito chooses to mate for the one and only time in her life.
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