News
Fifty years after landmark methadone discovery, stigmas and misunderstandings persist
Methadone, the first pharmacological treatment for heroin addiction, was pioneered 50 years ago by Rockefeller University’s Mary Jeanne Kreek and her colleagues. The drug, which is widely used in treatment programs across the globe, has since saved countless lives and allowed millions of heroin users to transition into normal lives. More »
First structural map of the cystic fibrosis protein sheds light on how mutations cause disease
Jue Chen and colleagues have created the first three-dimensional map of the protein responsible for cystic fibrosis, providing new insights into this often-fatal disease which clogs the lungs with sticky mucus, causing breathing problems and respiratory infections. More »
Elaine Fuchs to receive 2016 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science
Elaine Fuchs, Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor and head of the Robin Chemers Neustein Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development, has won the 2016 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science for her innovative use of reverse genetics to understand skin diseases and cancer stem cells. More »
Command and Control System Monitors Food Intake of Flies
Working in fruit flies, Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists, including Leslie Vosshall, have discovered a command center in the brain that controls how much insects eat and how quickly they consume their food. More »
Nothing Smells Rotten in Leslie B. Vosshall’s Compost Pail
Leslie Vosshall, head of RU’s so-called “Smell Lab”, details how a polished stainless steel compost bucket with a charcoal filter has become her most valued kitchen tool. More »
NIH Working Group on Women in Biomedical Careers: Best Practices
The NIH working group on Women in Biomedical Careers has included Rockefeller University on a list of academic and biomedical institutions that offer innovative programs, policies, or practices to support the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in scientific careers. More »
Team of Rival Scientists Comes Together to Fight Zika
With the Zika virus spreading largely unchecked in Latin America and the Caribbean by way of a now-notorious insect, some of the nation’s leading mosquito researchers, including Leslie Vosshall, are striving to assemble a state-of-the-art DNA map that they say will help them fight the disease with the mosquito’s own genetic code. More »
Cori Bargmann honored with the 2016 Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience
Bargmann will receive the 2016 Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience. The award, given by the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT for outstanding advances in the field, recognizes Bargmann for her work on the genetic and neural mechanisms that control behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans roundworms. More »
Can mutant mosquitoes be used to fight Zika and dengue fever?
Leslie Vosshall is featured in a PBS NewsHour segment exploring how mosquitoes can be genetically altered in an effort to stop the spread of diseases like the Zika virus. Dr. Vosshall is Rockefeller University’s Robin Chemers Neustein Professor, heading the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior. More »
Dr. Mary Jeanne Kreek has been studying the brains of people with addiction for 50 years. In the 1960s, she was one of three scientists who determined that methadone could be a successful maintenance treatment for an opioid addicted person. Over the years, various drug czars from both political parties have consulted her at Rockefeller University in New York City, where she is a professor and head of the Laboratory of the Biology of Addictive Diseases. More »
BRAIN Initiative Update: Q&A with Neuroscientist Cornelia Bargmann
Cornelia “Cori” Bargmann has been one of the architects of this bold science effort, whose members include scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and other public and private organizations. More »
