Category: Research and Innovation

Hands with blue gloves hold the biochip used to detect biomarkers for glioblastoma, a fast-growing brain cancer.

Researchers develop affordable, rapid blood test for brain cancer

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have developed a novel, automated device capable of diagnosing glioblastoma, a fast-growing and incurable brain cancer, in less than an hour. The average glioblastoma patient survives 12-18 months after diagnosis. The crux of the diagnostic is a …

several containers of fruit flies sitting together on a lab table

Piezo proteins, sculptors in organ growth

Butterfly wings, fish fins, and human limbs develop precisely and symmetrically. While genetics and chemical environment significantly influence their development, recent research has revealed that mechanical forces play a pivotal role as well. Piezo proteins have the unique ability to convert …

A photo of a stone that reads "Notre Dame" with the main building and autumn trees in the background

Notre Dame to develop next-generation refrigerant technology as part of a new National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center

The University of Notre Dame is part of a new National Science Foundation (NSF) Gen-4 Engineering Research Center (ERC) called EARTH, which stands for Environmental Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub. Led by the University of Kansas, EARTH will bring together 80 institutions and researchers from a …

Agboola Suleiman holding membrane

Machine learning discovers ‘hidden-gem’ materials for heat-free gas separation

Chemical separation, including gas separation, accounts for a whopping 15 percent of U.S. energy consumption and produces millions of tons of carbon emissions. Separating gases by passing them through membranes could be an efficient, environmentally-friendly alternative to current methods—if …

Jeremiah Zartman holds a sample of fruit flies in his lab.

Fruit fly model identifies key regulators behind organ development

A new computational model simulating fruit fly wing development has enabled researchers to identify previously hidden mechanisms behind organ generation. Since organs develop in remarkably similar ways in fruit flies and people, biological insights from this model can be used to inform the …

Paul Bohn

Paul Bohn named director of the University of Notre Dame Bioengineering and Life Sciences (BELS) Initiative

Paul Bohn, the Arthur J. Schmitt Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame, has been named the inaugural director of the new Bioengineering and Life Sciences (BELS) Initiative. A joint initiative of the College …

Yichun Wang

Yichun Wang receives Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from NIH for novel drug-delivery platform

Yichun Wang, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Notre Dame, has received the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health. The award, …

Ten students learn how to load and run a sample in the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC).

SMASH Engineering: Student researchers take on soft materials in NSF REU at Notre Dame

Sustainable energy, clean water, affordable healthcare solutions — these were some of the issues that student-researchers from colleges and universities around the country addressed at Notre Dame this summer. The students were participants in SMASH Engineering, Soft Materials for …

Notre Dame engineering profs invent trap for capturing and comparing individual bacterial cells

All hospitals battle an invisible threat: Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It is a type of bacteria that affects thousands of patients each year in intensive care units, where it can cause sepsis, pneumonia and other types of infections. “For the average healthy person, P. aeruginosa does not pose a …

Mosaic of the 10 stir grant recipients

STIR grants energize new science/engineering research projects at Notre Dame

The first Seed Transformative Interdisciplinary Research (STIR) grants, announced in early 2023 by the Notre Dame College of Science and College of Engineering, have been awarded to four new research projects led by multidisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers. The one-year seed …