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Microscopic photograph of kidney cells.
Biochemistry & Biophysics

Biochemist receives funds to unlock new structural pathway

Biophysicist Afua Nyarko has received $820K over a four-year period to conduct research into biological processes important for the regulation of cell growth, memory and kidney function. She hopes that her research will broaden the scope of scientific knowledge, opening new doors for disease treatment.

Aerial shot of coral reef.
Research

Science faculty research funding in fiscal year 2021 hits a high mark

College of Science faculty were awarded $24.4 million in new research grants and awards in fiscal year 2021, a 55% increase over the average of the previous three years and one of the highest award levels ever.

Holly Swisher standing in a backyard.
Faculty and Staff

New NSF award to support 'rich and intricate discoveries' in mathematics

Professor of mathematics Holly Swisher was awarded a NSF grant to investigate a number of problems that relate to modular and automorphic forms, which have played a central role in many major problems in number theory over the last century.

Mammoth weevil in yellow amber.
Integrative Biology

Ancient, newly identified 'mammoth weevil' used huge 'trunk' to fight for mates

Oregon State University research has identified a 100-million-year-old weevil unlike any other known fossilized or living weevil.

Quagga mussels on rock on bank of Colorado River.
Integrative Biology

Low-flow research on Colorado River sheds light on eventual new normal for Grand Canyon

Researchers from Oregon State University say ecological data gathered during a recent low-flow experiment in the Grand Canyon is a key step toward understanding Colorado River ecosystems as the amount of water in the river continues to decline.

Eastern Spadefoot Toad sitting in leaves.
Integrative Biology

Oregon State Ph.D. candidate sheds light on better way to study reputedly secretive toad

Research by an Integrative Biology Ph.D. candidate Anne Devan-Song in Oregon State University’s College of Science has upended the conventional wisdom that for a century has incorrectly guided the study of the eastern spadefoot toad, which is considered endangered in part of its range.

Ph.D. student and researcher Christine Tataru
Graduate students

Martin-O’Neill fellow Christine Tataru uses computers to decode our guts

Christine Tataru receives the 2021-22 Larry W. Martin & Joyce B. O’Neill Endowed Fellowship for her work in computational modeling that seeks to understand how gut microbiomes impact their human hosts’ health. She develops tools and frameworks to advance microbiome research, then uses these tools to explore gut-brain axis phenomenon.

Mushroom growing out of a carpenter ant.
Integrative Biology

Mushroom growing out of fossilized ant reveals new genus and species of fungal parasite

Oregon State University entomologist George Poinar Jr., has identified the oldest known specimen of a fungus parasitizing an ant, and the fossil also represents a new fungal genus and species.

Katherine McLaughlin standing in front of a beige wall.
Data Science

From HIV to COVID-19, analyzing data for the greater good

Katherine McLaughlin’s work explores a large number and wide variety of at-risk populations around the globe and involves collaborations with epidemiologists, statisticians, and public health officials.

Graphic showing pulsar light traveling to Earth amid a sea of gravitational waves.
Physics

Oregon State leading $17M effort to understand universe via low-frequency gravitational waves

Funded by the NSF as a Physics Frontiers Center, the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, or NANOGrav, research group at OSU operates under the direction of Xavier Siemens, professor of physics.

Hops plant in full bush.
Biomedical Science

Compounds derived from hops show promise as treatment for common liver disease

Research by Oregon State University suggests a pair of compounds originating from hops can help thwart a dangerous buildup of fat in the liver known as hepatic steatosis.