Jayashree Balaraman grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, the kind of student who loved biology and taught herself to code in high school because she was already beginning to sense that the two disciplines belonged together. When it came time to choose a college, RPI's emphasis on research and interdisciplinary thinking made it feel like the obvious fit. One visit to campus sealed the deal. 

Many disease-causing bacteria — including pathogens that can cause cholera, meningitis, and certain types of pneumonia — contain an enzyme called Na⁺-NQR. The enzyme is essentially a pump that helps bacteria generate energy by moving sodium ions across their cell membranes while transferring electrons.  

A team of researchers at RPI, in collaboration with the University of South Florida, University of North Carolina, and The Neural Stem Cell Institute, have made a discovery that opens the door to new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders. 

RPI Biology Professor Doug Swank, Ph.D., was recently awarded the prestigious Marion J. Siegman Lectureship Award from the American Physiological Society. The award recognizes researchers who have made outstanding contributions to the understanding of muscle contraction and motility. 

When you're running up stairs or out on a jog, your muscles eventually start to feel heavy and weak. That's fatigue setting in, a sign that the muscles’ energy reserves are becoming depleted. But a team of researchers led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) biology professor Doug Swank, Ph.D., have discovered something surprising: certain muscle fibers have a built-in backup system that fights back against fatigue, potentially helping us keep going when we'd otherwise have to stop. 

The Multi-Organ Approach to Address Diseases Following Estrogen Loss (MODEL) program aims to map the entire biological landscape of menopause

A discovery with major implications for cancer treatment has been made by a team of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), University of Binghamton, and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has received a $10 million gift from Ajit Prabhu ’98, founder and CEO of Quest Global, to establish the Ajit Prabhu Catalyst Endowment and the Ajit Prabhu Catalyst Fund, both in support of the Office of Strategic Alliances and Translation (OSAT). Prabhu launched the fund, which will assist RPI student and faculty entrepreneurs.