MAY 2026 NEWSLETTER

Building Capacity for Research in Ukraine

Two Feinberg investigators, Sara Huston, MS, and Steven Cohen, MD, have been collaborating with scientists in Ukraine to better understand how the war is impacting Ukrainians through inquiries into DNA use for family reunification and better treatment of amputees' pain.

Read the Feature

Bass Named 2026 AAAS Member

Joseph Bass, MD, PhD, has been selected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the oldest general scientific society in the United States. He is the Charles F. Kettering Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism and directs the Center for Diabetes and Metabolism.

Read about Bass's award

Faculty Profile

Advancing the Understanding and Treatment of Pediatric Epileptic Encephalopathies

Richard Smith, PhD, is an assistant professor of Pharmacology and of Pediatrics. His laboratory seeks to understand the role of neuronal activity in the development of the prenatal brain by leveraging modern genetics and classic neurobiology approaches with the goal of treating early life ion channel diseases.

Read more about his research

Staff Profile

Translating Grant Funding into Actionable Research

Denisha Rose Brown is a clinical research associate in the Elevate Lab, which focuses on improving health and healthcare delivery, ensuring that individuals from all backgrounds have the opportunity to achieve their best possible health.

Read about her work

Student Profile

Understanding Proteins that Regulate Brain Activity

Matthew Barraza is a fifth-year PhD student in the Driskill Graduate Program in Life Sciences (DGP). Now in the laboratory of Anis Contractor, PhD, the Wendell Krieg Professor of Neuroscience, Barraza studies how vesicles are regulated within neurons.

Learn more about his research

Campus Events

Research in the News

NBC News — Patients Say They Want Alzheimer's Blood Tests. Doctors Aren't Sure They Help with Andrea Russell, PhD

ABC 7 Chicago — Could Hantavirus Be The Next Pandemic? Experts Weigh in Amid Cruise Ship Outbreak with Michael Angarone, DO

Science — Most NIH-Funded Studies Fail to Break Down Results by Sex with Nicole Woitovich, PhD

NUCATS Corner

Meet the Newest K12 Scholars

Keith Summa, MD, PhD, Timothy Janetos, MD, and Vidhi Dalal, MD, have been named the newest cohort of K12 scholars at the NUCATS Institute. The Multidisciplinary Career Development Program (K12, formerly KL2 award) is sponsored by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and supports early-career faculty at Northwestern.

Learn more

Breakthroughs Podcast

Is Antimicrobial Resistance Threatening Modern Medicine?

Listen to the podcast episode

Galter Library

Major Update to the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy

In February 2026, it was announced that as of May 25, 2026, an updated DMS Policy format will be required, building on the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Data Management and Sharing Policy (DMS Policy) that went into effect in January 2023.

Read about the policy

Sponsored Research

Role of mRNA Internal 2′-O Methylation in Post-transcriptional Regulation

Yang Yi, PhD, assistant professor of Urology, received a new grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to better understand a new layer of gene regulation.

Read about the project

High Impact Research

Leaver AM, Abbott CC, Espinoza RT, Narr KL. Brain morphometry, stimulation charge, and seizure duration in electroconvulsive therapy. Molecular Psychiatry. Apr 2026; 31(4):2094-2105.

Li ZJ, Zhao MY, Wang R, Liu N, Hu CL, Chang B, Hu F, Li XY, Xu CH, Liu P, Chen BY, Chen SB, Wang Y, Li QJ, Xue BS, Deng C, Chen X, Ren Y, Jia-Cheng Jin, Yan X, Zhang Y, Gale RP, Fu J, Zhang QL, Wang X, Huang Q, Liu Y, Qiu J, Qin J, Ye X, Zhang J, Liang Y, Chen Z, Chen SJ, He PC, Chang CK, Sun XJ, Wang L. Site-specific methylation of SRSF2 P95H by SETD2 inhibits MDSC-mediated proinflammatory niche formation in mouse models of myelodysplastic syndrome. Science Translational Medicine. Apr 2026; 18(843):eadv1065.

Mabrouk OS, Tichler B, Arnold HM, Thoma EC, Alexanian SM, Chen J, Liu TY, Hirschhorn B, Llorens Arenas R, Annand JW, Kapadnis U, Shomo AA, Glajch KE, Ferber K, Moroishi Y, Czerkowicz J, Inra J, Postuma RB, Gurevich T, Mir P, Morris HR, Aldred J, Brodsky MA, Ellenbogen A, Larson D, Tolleson CM, Siderowf A, Tzoulis C, Balaguer E, Marti MJ, Zhao HT, Kordasiewicz HB, Lane R, Hirst WD, Fradette S, Graham DL. LRRK2-targeting antisense oligonucleotide in Parkinson's disease: a phase 1 randomized controlled trial. Nature Medicine. Apr 2026; 32(4):1421-1431.

Masopust D, Awasthi A, Bosselut R, Brooks DG, Buggert M, Chamoto K, Cui W, Dong C, Farber DL, Gebhardt T, Gerlach C, Goldrath A, Greenberg PD, Hale JS, Hayday A, Homann D, Iannacone M, Jameson SC, Jenkins MK, Joshi NS, Kaech SM, Kallies A, Kamphorst AO, Kaplan MH, Klenerman P, Künzli M, Lanzavecchia A, Lauer GM, Lugli E, Luster AD, Mackay LK, McElrath MJ, Mueller SN, Ndhlovu Z, Ndung'u T, Ohashi PS, Oxenius A, Pantaleo G, Pepper M, Picker LJ, Quarnstrom CF, Reyes-Terán G, Roederer M, Rosato PC, de Oca GS, Sallusto F, Schumacher TN, Schwartz DM, Shin EC, Soerens AG, Thommen DS, Vezys V, Viola JPB, Walker BD, Watts TH, Weaver CT, Wherry EJ, Xue HH, Youngblood B, Ahmed R. Guidelines for T cell nomenclature. Nature Reviews. Immunology. Apr 2026; 26(4):298-313.

Featured Core

Behavioral Phenotyping Core

The mission of the Northwestern University Behavioral Phenotyping Core (BPC) is to provide funded research projects with a facility to determine the behavioral effects of genetic manipulations, potential pharmaceuticals, aging and other manipulations upon normal behavior, and the learning and memory capacities of rodents used as model systems. The BPC will also work with principal investigators to gather pilot data for new applications.

Learn more about consultations, services and tests offered by the BPC.

NIH Policy Notices

• Update - NIH Implementation of Uniform Administrative Requirements for Federal Financial Assistance
  (NOT-OD-26-072)
  National Institutes of Health

• Announcement of Upcoming System Enforcement of Common Forms and End of NIHs Leniency Period
  (NOT-OD-26-079)
  National Institutes of Health

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