Jonathan Dordick, Ph.D., Vice President for Strategic Alliances and Translation and Institute Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), has recently received two prestigious honors.

Jayashree Balaraman, a sophomore computational biology student, has been named a Goldwater Scholar for 2024. Balaraman hails from East Brunswick, New Jersey.Named for the late U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, the Goldwater is considered among the most prestigious awards available to sophomores and juniors from U.S. colleges and universities who show exceptional promise in the fields of science, mathematics, and engineering and who intend to intend to pursue research careers in these fields.  

We all know how a bad night’s sleep can affect how we feel. In fact, the disruption of our sleep has been implicated at many levels of human disease, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and disorders associated with aging.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students will have the opportunity to meet with and learn from forensic scientists and other professionals from the New York State Police (NYSP) Crime Laboratory System at 2 p.m. on March 26 at the Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies.

Heparin, the world’s most widely used blood thinner, is used during procedures ranging from kidney dialysis to open heart surgery. Currently, heparin is derived from pig intestines, but scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered how to make it in the lab. They have also developed a path to a biomanufacturing process that could potentially revolutionize how the world gets its supply of this crucial medicine. 

Steve Eshiemogie, a doctoral student studying chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been recognized as an honorable mention in the annual Cell Press Rising Black Scientists Awards for his essay “From village to lab: An African scientist’s quest for a sustainable future.” [MS1] More than 350 students across a range of scientific disciplines applied.