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Phase III+: The University is open for expanded research operations; only authorized personnel will be admitted on campus. More info here.
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Phase III+: The University is open for expanded research operations; only authorized personnel will be admitted on campus. More info here.

Rockefeller University

News & Highlights > News
Blood droplet
Science News

Novel cells might act as a warning sign for rheumatoid arthritis flares

A genomics study has identified a previously unknown cell type whose blood levels tend to rise and fall in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The findings could make it easier to manage the disease and help scientists understand its root causes.
Photo of Mary Jeanne Kreek
Seek Magazine

Interview: Mary Jeanne Kreek 

Thousands of years after humans discovered opioids, we’re just beginning to understand how these substances warp the brain and change behaviors.
Plant Operations employees making repairs.
Campus News

How Plant Operations maintained essential university functions during shutdown

For the men and women of Plant Operations, there really was no university closure. Even as most of the university’s labs shut down, those that remained still semi-operational required support.
Campus News

Rockefeller tops international ranking of research impact

According to this year’s CWTS Leiden Ranking of over 1100 universities from 65 countries, Rockefeller has the highest proportion of frequently cited scientific publications.
Memory-forming neurons (green) in the brain
Science News

Why memory-forming neurons are vulnerable to Alzheimer's

Scientists have used advanced technology to “micro-dissect” the first brain cells to perish in Alzheimer’s disease. The result is a short list of genes that could represent new drug targets.
Photo of mosquito
Seek Magazine

If humans could hide 

The Aedes aegypti genome might hold clues for developing the most effective repellants yet—including ones that make the mosquito unable to smell us, or less motivated to seek us out.
Zoom screenshot of a CFC class
Campus News

How an adapting Child and Family Center supports the littlest learners in the pandemic

The CFC’s team has had to pivot quickly to create new online programming to support their young charges and provide age appropriate education and enrichment—and a measure of continuity.
Entrance to Founder's Hall
Campus News

Rockefeller statement on executive order suspending visas

The Office of the President today issued the statement below to all Rockefeller University employees. President Donald J. Trump’s ill-conceived executive order to suspend the issuing of temporary visas for foreign workers, including H1-B and J-1 visas, is detrimental to the advance of science a...
Tom Hindmarsh Sten
Campus News

David Rockefeller Fellowship awarded to graduate student Tom Hindmarsh Sten

Hindmarsh Sten receives the university’s most prestigious graduate fellowship for his work exploring the fundamental cognitive and neurological pathways underlying courtship behavior in Drosophila.
virtual convocation image
Campus News

30 young scientists receive Rockefeller Ph.D.s during virtual convocation ceremony

Since its inception, Rockefeller’s graduate program in bioscience has granted doctor of philosophy degrees to more than 1,320 students, including this year's graduates.
SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies
Science News

COVID-19 immunology study reveals universally effective antibodies

New findings characterize human antibody response to SARS-Cov-2, with implications for convalescent plasma therapy, vaccine design, and antibody-based drugs.

Hair cells in zebrafish organ
Science News

Transparent fish reveal the subtle, cellular dance in which sensory organs take shape

How do primitive cells “know” where to go during development? Scientists studying the fish equivalent of inner-ear hair cells have shown that biochemical and mechanical cues work together to orchestrate a highly complex arrangement.
Campus News

Alipasha Vaziri promoted to professor

Vaziri has created and applied new imaging techniques that capture the activity of vast numbers of neurons with record speed and spatial resolution, and at new depths.
llamas participating in research
Science News

How antibodies from llamas may lead to COVID-19 treatment

Llamas make antibodies that are much smaller than their human counterparts, yet still potent. Scientists hope that future drugs based on these molecules could provide new weapons against SARS-CoV-2.
Campus News

Rockefeller leads global university ranking in measure of top cited publications

An international ranking of research institutions by U-Multirank placed Rockefeller first in the United States among 227 universities, and first internationally in a measure of its impact based on citations.
Withdapi image
Science News

Brain study finds a molecular “off” switch for nicotine craving

In findings that might lead to better smoking-cessation tools, scientists have shown that manipulating a specific brain receptor can alter a mouse’s nicotine sensitivity.
Hoods from a past Convocation ceremony
Campus News

Rockefeller’s 62nd Convocation to be held virtually this week

The spirit of the occasion will be preserved as this year’s usual in-person event is replaced with a virtual ceremony.
Entrance to Founder's Hall
Campus News

Rockefeller statement calls for justice and inclusivity in the United States

Read the Office of the President’s message to the campus community.
BRCA2 mutation
Science News

Unique mutation reveals a new role for well-known DNA-repair gene

The discovery of a rare mutation in BRCA2, commonly known as the breast cancer gene, has shed new light on how cells safeguard their genetic material.
 
Immune cell clusters
Science News

Study reveals first evidence inherited genetics can drive cancer’s spread

Scientists have long struggled to understand what drives a tumor to seed itself elsewhere in the body. New research implicates our own pre-existing genetics.
Kawasaki disease
Science News

Rockefeller scientists investigate life-threatening inflammation affecting children with COVID-19

The condition resembles a rare childhood illness, Kawasaki disease. Researchers are analyzing blood samples to find genetic clues to what might be causing it.
NFI post wound
Science News

Mice with patchy coats lay bare how stem cells endure

Scientists have discovered how stem cells in the skin maintain their ability to replenish themselves, a process critical for hair growth. The findings suggest that errors in stem cell maintenance might contribute to permanent hair-loss conditions.
DNA code on screen
Science News

The gene hunt to explain why some young, healthy people die from COVID-19

People under 50 without preexisting conditions typically develop mild symptoms of coronavirus infection—but there are exceptions. Researchers are working to identify rare genetic variations that may explain why some in this group have succumbed to the disease.
Blood donation for COVID-19 research
Science News

Scientists are using ‘elite’ antibodies from COVID-19 survivors to develop potent therapies

Most people infected with the coronavirus are able to fight it off because their immune system produces effective antibodies. Rockefeller scientists are working to turn such antibodies into a drug.
Science News
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In Brief

Study captures the molecular architect of cells’ infrastructure

Using atomic-resolution technology, scientists have constructed the most detailed view yet of the molecular complex that decides where microtubules form.
Ekaterina Vinogradova portrait
Campus News

New faculty member designs chemical probes to dissect and alter immune protein function

Ekaterina Vinogradova, an organic chemist, investigates the functions of immune proteins, with the goal of finding new targets for therapies. She will join Rockefeller as an assistant professor on January 1, 2021.
Junyue Cao portrait
Campus News

Researcher studying the dynamics of gene activity, cell by cell, joins Rockefeller faculty

Junyue Cao examines patterns of gene expression in order to better understand how cells differentiate into distinct types and how the body’s organs maintain stable populations of cells throughout life. He will move to Rockefeller as an assistant professor this summer.
Campus News

Stavros Niarchos Foundation donates $3 million to Rockefeller COVID-19 research

The grant bolsters Rockefeller’s round-the-clock research initiatives related to COVID-19 and the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes it.
Vessel blockage
Science News
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In Brief

3D imaging of blood vessels could shed new light on cardiovascular disease

The new imaging technique enables researchers to construct a comprehensive image of blockages and other vascular injuries.
Campus News

The Rockefeller University releases statement concerning Knut Wittkowski

The opinions that have been expressed by Knut Wittkowski, discouraging social distancing in order to hasten the development of herd immunity to the novel coronavirus, do not represent the views of The Rockefeller University, its leadership, or its faculty.
Biosafety Level 3
Science News

Rockefeller scientists launch a broad range of studies into novel coronavirus

Over 130 scientists in 18 labs are conducting research to advance the development of new, urgently needed approaches for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Elaine Fuchs portrait
Awards and Honors, Campus News

Elaine Fuchs awarded 2020 Canada Gairdner International Award for Biomedical Science

Fuchs, a world leader in the study of skin biology, is being recognized for revealing the molecular mechanisms by which skin stem cells make and repair tissues.
Phase separation
Science News

How skin cells embark on a swift yet elaborate death

Scientists have identified the mechanism that allows skin cells to sense changes in their environment, and very quickly respond to reinforce the skin's outermost layer. The findings provide insight into how errors in this process might lead to skin conditions like psoriasis.  
Turtle ants
Science News

Research on soldier ants reveals that evolution can go in reverse

Turtle ant soldiers and their oddly-shaped heads suggest that evolution is not always a one-way street toward increasing specialization.
Paul Muller
Awards and Honors, Campus News

Paul Muller wins 2020 Weintraub Graduate Student Award

Muller receives the honor for his examination of the interactions between neurons in the intestinal tract, known as enteric neurons, and intestinal macrophages, a kind of immune cell.
Rockefeller's new boiler
Campus News

Rockefeller gets a new, more efficient boiler

With the aid of a mobile crane and a crew of around 20, a fully assembled Cleaver Brooks Fire Tube boiler was delivered into the university’s Power House. This winter, after months of work to plumb, wire, and test the machine, it was lit for the first time and began providing heat to Rockefeller ...
Illustration by Tiahua Mao
Seek Magazine

When zombies take over the brain 

Research on Parkinson’s has taken a surprising twist. A group of neurons long assumed to expire in the disease were recently found to not be dead after all—providing a possible explanation for how the condition worsens.
Image of a medicine bottle
Science News

Rockefeller grants commercial license for the development of new HIV drugs

The novel compounds are based on so-called broadly neutralizing antibodies, molecules that make rare people's immune systems capable of fighting HIV. They could potentially yield new treatment and prevention approaches benefitting people around the world, including in developing countries.
Campus News

The Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute renews partnerships with Takeda and Bridge Medicines

The renewal allows Rockefeller faculty to continue transforming their discoveries into new medicines.
Calcium signaling
Science News
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In Brief

Neuron-like activity detected in an unforeseen place

Scientists have identified a particular type of skin cell that looks and behaves similar to a nerve cell, prompting new questions about the body's biggest organ.
Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) laboratory
Campus News

New BSL-3 lab to advance research on pathogens

Rockefeller researchers studying the tuberculosis bacterium now have access to a state-of-the-art biosafety level 3 laboratory on campus. The new facility is one of only a small handful in New York City.
Photo of Jasmine Nirody
Seek Magazine

Becoming a Scientist: Jasmine Nirody 

She’s the physicist whose love of locomotion became a research topic, and a career.
Kivanç Birsoy portrait
Awards and Honors, Campus News

Kivanç Birsoy receives 2020 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise

Birsoy is honored for his research examining how metabolic pathways regulate biological processes and contribute to disease.
Campus News

Rockefeller joins tri-institutional Ph.D. program in computational biology

Data analysis is becoming increasingly important in all fields of science. In joining the program, Rockefeller will connect with a stream of talented students focused on computational problems.
Human cell infected by CMV
Science News

Patient with unusually severe infection leads scientists to a rare type of immune deficiency

A rare genetic change may explain why some people die from cytomegalovirus, a stealth pathogen that is often asymptomatic.
Erich Jarvis speaking to high school students in Caspary Auditorium.
Campus News

Erich D. Jarvis speaks with high-school students about the evolution of speech and diversity in science

On a recent Saturday, over 400 teens crowded into Caspary Auditorium to hear Jarvis’s 2020 Talking science seminar, “Singing in the Brain: A Personal Science Journey.”
Image of lysosomes
Science News

Small containers inside cells might offer new targets for cancer treatment

For reasons that have long been unclear, cells stop dividing when the pH rises inside tiny cellular compartments called lysosomes. Now scientists have found an explanation for this phenomenon, with potential implications for drug development.
Leslie B. Vosshall
Awards and Honors, Campus News

Leslie B. Vosshall to receive Pradel Research Award

The National Academy of Sciences announced that Vosshall will receive the honor for her research on how mosquitoes seek out and bite human hosts.
neuronal activity in a zebrafish brain
Science News

How decisions unfold in a zebrafish brain

Tracking neuronal activity in a zebrafish brain, researchers can predict when the fish will flip its tail and to which direction, left or right.
Image of cancer cells
Seek Magazine

How to starve a tumor 

Scientists are learning how tumor cells’ nutritional needs differ from those of normal cells. Will their work help launch the next genre of cancer therapies?
Small intestine
Science News

Scientists examine how a gut infection may produce chronic symptoms

For some unlucky people, a bout of intestinal distress like traveler’s diarrhea leads to irritable bowel syndrome. Recent discoveries have given scientists a better idea of how this happens, and potential leads for new treatments.
Bruce McEwen portrait
Campus News

Neuroscientist Bruce McEwen, who studied the impact of stress on the brain, has died

A pioneer in neuroendocrinology, McEwen’s work on how the brain changes throughout life has profound implications for public health. He died on January 2, at age 81.
Fruit fly sperm
Science News

Insects on a diet, zombie neurons, and other memorable science stories of 2019

Rockefeller researchers accomplished a lot this year. We look back at 12 of the most exciting science stories of 2019.
Area PITd is connected to attentional network
Science News

A surprising new source of attention in the brain

Scientists find a new brain area in control of our attention skills, raising new questions in what has long been considered a settled scientific field.
B cells in germinal centers
Science News

New clues about why a universal flu vaccine is so elusive

To scientists' surprise, the immune system develops its response to each virus variant mostly from scratch, instead of building on what it has already learned.
Wilms tumor
Science News

Researchers discover a new mechanism in childhood kidney cancer

A problem in reader proteins that identify which gene is up for expression may cause normal cells to turn malignant during development.
Clara Lynch
Campus News

Collaborative Research Center installation bridges past and present scientists

A new digital display, the Scientist Explorer, is a portal into the cumulative accomplishments of researchers with labs in Flexner and Smith Halls.
Hippocampus microscopy
Science News

Scientists develop new method that predicts vulnerability to stress

Researchers have identified a set of biological factors in mice that seem to determine one's ability to bounce back from a traumatic event, and provide preliminary evidence that a naturally-occurring substance may help boost resiliency in the face of stressful situations.
Campus News

Five-year strategic plan is approved by Board of Trustees

Here are the main priorities of the new plan, intended to maximize the university’s scientific impact through 2024.
Nerve cells without PI31
Science News

Neurodegenerative diseases may be caused by molecular transportation failures inside neurons

Protein clumps are routinely found in the brains of patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Now researchers find a link between this buildup and the intracellular movement of proteasomes, molecular machines tasked with degrading protein waste inside cells.
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