News
Read the latest news from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s basic science academic departments. The links below take you to articles where you can learn more about our faculty’s latest achievements.
Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
05.28.2026A molecule once thought to be a harmful metabolic byproduct may play a crucial role in early development and gene regulation, according to a new study published in Nature that challenges decades of biochemical assumptions.
05.12.2026A new Northwestern Medicine study has found that metformin, a commonly prescribed diabetes drug, focuses primarily on the gut, acting to prevent glucose levels rising in the blood by driving glucose utilization inside cells lining the intestine.
04.23.2026Svetlana Mojsov, PhD, delivered the 2026 Kimberly Prize Lecture on April 20, drawing on decades of groundbreaking research that helped transform the treatment of diabetes and obesity.
Cell and Developmental Biology
06.04.2026Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that little-studied DNA structures play a central role in organizing the human genome and controlling gene activity, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
03.30.2026Scientists led by Sergey Troyanovsky, PhD, professor of Dermatology and of Cell and Developmental Biology, have uncovered new intracellular mechanisms promoting cell-cell adhesion, a process disrupted in a variety of skin and inflammatory diseases, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Cell Biology.
02.05.2026A Northwestern Medicine study has shed light on one of the most intricate construction projects in biology: how cells build and coordinate the internal scaffolding needed to create a healthy egg, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Cell Biology.
Microbiology-Immunology
03.12.2026Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered how calcium signaling channels in the brain’s immune cells regulate neuroinflammation and promote the development of behaviors associated with affective mood disorders, according to a recent study published in Science Signaling.
02.04.2026Lyme disease, the bacterial infection transmitted by ticks, is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States, with nearly half a million people diagnosed and treated each year, according to the CDC. Two pivotal studies on Lyme disease from the lab of Brandon Jutras, PhD, provide important insights into what may cause persistent Lyme disease symptoms in a subset of patients. This research points to some promising new directions for both diagnosis and therapeutic intervention.
01.02.2026Northwestern Medicine scientists in the laboratory of Stephen Miller, PhD, have identified the cellular and molecular mechanisms required for the antigen-specific tolerance inducing abilities of a novel nanoparticle therapy for treating autoimmune diseases, according to a recent study published in Science Advances.
Pharmacology
05.21.2026Northwestern Medicine scientists have developed a new experimental method to analyze conformational fluctuations in protein domains on a uniquely large scale, which may improve data-driven modeling, biology and protein engineering, as detailed in a recent study published in Nature.
05.18.2026In experimental models of diabetes, Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that a specialized group of skin-resident immune cells drive neuropathic pain through sex-dependent signaling pathways, according to a recent study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
04.16.2026Northwestern Medicine scientists have identified mutations in a gene coding for key ion channels in the brain as a new cause of a debilitating form of migraine, according to a study published in Brain.
Neuroscience
06.03.2026Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that suppressing excitatory synaptic transmission in a small group of neurons in the brain may reverse levodopa-induced dyskinesia in patients with late-stage Parkinson’s disease without reducing the symptomatic benefits of levodopa treatment, according to a recent study published in Neuron.
03.19.2026A new Northwestern study in humans and mice has discovered a novel biomarker of schizophrenia that could also serve as a new drug candidate to treat the cognitive symptoms of the disorder.
- 03.16.2026
Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered an FDA-approved compound promotes neuroprotective effects in experimental models of Parkinson’s disease, according to a recent study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.