An innovative testing platform that more closely mimics what cancer encounters in the body may allow for more precise, personalized therapies by enabling the rapid study of multiple therapeutic combinations against tumor cells. The platform, which uses a three-dimensional environment to more closely mirror a tumor microenvironment, is demonstrated in research published in Communications Biology.

A number of vulnerabilities, known collectively as deep learning adversaries, hold artificial intelligence (AI) back from its full potential in applications like improving medical imaging quality and computer-aided diagnosis.

More than two decades ago, Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson became the first African American woman to lead a top-ranked research university when she was named the 18th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Today, President Jackson announced to the Rensselaer community that she intends to step down from her historic post in 2022.

A team including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researcher Gaetano Montelione has identified the design principles for creating large “ideal” proteins from scratch, paving the way for the design of proteins with new biochemical functions. The results were published today in Nature Communications.

Heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death in the United States, and it’s increasingly understood that they share common risk factors, including tobacco use, diet, blood pressure, and obesity. Thus, a diagnostic tool that could screen for cardiovascular disease while a patient is already being screened for cancer has the potential to expedite a diagnosis, accelerate treatment, and improve patient outcomes. 

Amir Hirsa, a professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has developed a device that could yield valuable insights about the fluid mechanics at play in diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. 

When combined with drugs currently used to treat hepatitis C, the antiviral remdesivir is 10 times more effective in treating cells infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Fouling is a natural phenomenon that describes the tendency of proteins in water to adhere to nearby surfaces. It’s what causes unwanted deposits of protein to form during some food production or on biomedical implants, causing them to fail. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are harnessing this process, which is typically considered a persistent challenge, to develop a versatile and accessible approach for modifying solid surfaces.

A novel form of polymerized estrogen developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute can provide neuroprotection when implanted at the site of a spinal cord injury — preventing further damage. This promising result, found in a preclinical model, was recently published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience, and it lays the groundwork for further advancement of this new biomaterial.  

Using a nanopore, researchers have demonstrated the potential to reduce the time required for sequencing a glycosaminoglycan — a class of long chain-linked sugar molecules as important to our biology as DNA — from years to minutes.