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Whitford receives NIH grant to ‘enable translation’ across ribosomes
“This award will use theoretical models and high-performance computing to study the ribosome, a massive molecular assembly composed of hundreds of thousands of atoms. The ribosome is responsible for translating our genes into proteins, making its function central to all life. In this study, we will identify the molecular factors that control protein synthesis in bacteria and higher-level organisms. Insights into bacteria will aim to identify novel antibiotics, while the study of human ribosomes can shed light on a range of diseases, including metabolic diseases and forms of cancer.”
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Weng receives funding to identify small molecules involved in diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s
“The proposed research aims to develop a plant-based drug screening platform to identify small molecules that can disrupt protein and RNA aggregation associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The project will utilize the unique lyciumin peptide biosynthesis pathway in plants to generate a diverse library of cyclic peptides. These peptides will be screened in engineered tobacco BY-2 cells … to identify compounds that alleviate cellular toxicity and alter aggregation kinetics. … The established screening platform and identified compounds will be made available to the research community, potentially offering new tools and therapeutic strategies.”
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‘The Evolutionary Origin of Naturally Occurring Intermolecular Diels-Alderases From Morus alba’
“Biosynthetic enzymes evolutionarily gain novel functions, thereby expanding the structural diversity of natural products to the benefit of host organisms. Diels-Alderases (DAs), functionally unique enzymes catalysing [4 + 2] cycloaddition reactions, have received considerable research interest. However, their evolutionary mechanisms remain obscure. Here, we investigate the evolutionary origins of the intermolecular DAs in the biosynthesis of Moraceae plant-derived Diels-Alder-type secondary metabolites. Our findings suggest that these DAs have evolved from an ancestor functioning as a flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent oxidocyclase, which catalyses the oxidative cyclisation reactions of isoprenoid-substituted phenolic compounds.” Find the paper and authors list at the National Library of…
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Engineering professor wants to revolutionize wireless communication by manipulating ‘acoustic waves in solids’
Assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering Siddhartha Ghosh has received two prestigious early career awards for his work on radio frequency front-end devices, developing materials that convert radio signals into acoustic waves at the microchip level.
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Large language models can lie to you — this professor wants you to know when they do
Assistant professor of computer science Malihe Alikhani has received a DARPA AI Exploration grant to introduce “healthy frictions” into human-AI interactions. These frictions would help human users understand the varying levels of certainty large language models have regarding their own statements and decrease the likelihood of users falling for AI “hallucinations.”
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When it comes to building more resilient structures, it takes ‘a whole profession,’ Northeastern professor says
CDM Smith Professor and chair of civil and environmental engineering Jerome Hajjar received both the AISC Special Achievement Award and the SSRC Beedle Award at the recent AISC annual conference, delivering a keynote to several thousand attendees on sustainable and resilient structural systems.
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Professor’s new book shines light on how architectural works are in constant conversation with the past
With “The Architecture of Influence,” associate professor of architecture Amanda Lawrence explores how architectural copies, imitations, emulations and more interact to create an ongoing conversation between the present and the past.
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Lili Su receives NSF CAREER Award for developing ‘resilient, scalable distributed algorithms’
Assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering Lili Su has received an NSF CAREER Award for her work on federated learning, a “privacy-preserving and communication-efficient” methodology for large distributed systems.
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Ferrins receives NIH AViDD Center Development Grant
“There are two goals in this project, firstly, to continue to develop our advanced hit compound … to identify a lead suitable for in vivo proof of concept studies. Secondly, to develop novel methods to study the structural dynamics of both covalent inhibitors and PLpro active site structures enabling the development of more potent covalent inhibitors.”
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Meni Wanunu, developer of sensitive biological sensors, receives Northeastern University NAI Innovator of the Year Award
Professor of physics and chemistry and chemical biology Meni Wanunu develops “nanopores,” sensors composed of molecule-sized holes that stretch individual molecules for scientific observation. At this year’s annual gathering of the Northeastern chapter of the National Academy of Inventors, Wanunu received the Innovator of the Year Award.
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Dy elected as Fellow of Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence
Professor Jennifer Dy, in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences and in the department of electrical and computer engineering, was elected as a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) “For significant contributions to unsupervised and interpretable machine learning, advancing AI to address health care challenges and service to the AI community,” the organization wrote in its announcement.
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Cassella added to Fulbright Specialist Roster
“Electrical and computer engineering associate professor Cristian Cassella was recommended by a panel of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and World Learning to join the prestigious Fulbright Specialist Roster for a tenure of three years. The program, which is part of the larger Fulbright Program, pairs highly qualified U.S. academics and professionals with host institutions in over 150 countries to share their expertise, strengthen institutional linkages, hone their skills, gain international experience and learn about other cultures while building capacity at their overseas host institutions.”
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Two members of the Northeastern community elected ACM Fellows for contributions to artificial intelligence and advances in computer science
Professor of the practice at Northeastern University Kenneth Church and Northeastern graduate Natasha Noy have been elected 2023 ACM Fellows. Both Church and Noy have advanced research in artificial intelligence, and both have worked on tools to support other researchers’ efforts.
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For teaching computers to see, Northeastern professor receives eminent achievement award
A leading researcher in the field of computer vision — which uses artificial intelligence to process images received from cameras that “mimic human eyes” — Yun Raymond Fu, distinguished professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering, has received the 2024 Edward J. McCluskey Technical Achievement Award for making “impactful contributions” over a nearly 20-year career.
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Dos Santos wins award for the treatment of drug-resistant infection
Thiago dos Santos has won the Hanna H. Gray Fellow’s Program Transition Award. “Our group will study the proteins that build the bacterial cell envelope and develop mechanism-based inhibitors of these proteins to treat multidrug-resistant infections.”
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Zheng winner of Energies 2023 Young Investigator Award
“Mechanical and industrial engineering associate professor Yi Zheng received the Energies 2023 Young Investigator award. Zheng is the first recipient from the United States to receive this award, previous recipients were from Denmark, Singapore, Australia and China.”
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Zheng selected as Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineering
“Mechanical and industrial engineering associate professor Yi Zheng was selected as a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering for his exceptional engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession, particularly in the research field of micro/nanoscale heat transfer for sustainable energy harvesting, conversion and storage. Zheng was nominated by professor Hameed Metghalchi.”
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Ganguly and Melodia named Distinguished Members of Association for Computing Machinery
Auroop Ganguly, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Tommaso Melodia, William Lincoln Smith Professor of electrical and computer engineering, have been named Distinguished Members by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). According to the ACM, “inductees are longstanding ACM Members and were selected by their peers for work that has advanced computing, fostered innovation across various fields and improved computer science education.” Ganguly was particularly noted “for foundational advances, sustained service, and entrepreneurial accomplishments in climate data mining and machine learning,” while Melodia was commended “for contributions to architectures and algorithms for software-defined wireless networked systems.”
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Fu elected to European Academy of Sciences and Arts
“Electrical and computer engineering and Khoury College of Computer Sciences professor Yun Raymond Fu was elected as a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in the Technical and Environmental Sciences class. The Academy’s mission is to stimulate cross-disciplinary collaboration between reputable scientists of all disciplines, leading artists, and practitioners of governance. New members are received formally at the annual Festive Session of the Academy, which takes place on April 5-6.”
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Fu and Sridhar named National Academy of Inventors Fellows
Among 162 other academic inventors, Northeastern University boasts two new additions to the National Academy of Inventors: Yun Raymond Fu, Distinguished Professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Srinivas Sridhar, Distinguished University Professor of physics.
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Murthy receives patent for dendritic cell collection
“Devices, systems, and methods can be used for the automated production of dendritic cells (DC) from dendritic cell progenitors, such as monocytes obtained from peripheral blood, and the automated generation of immunotherapeutic products from those dendritic cells, all within a closed system. The invention makes it possible to obtain sufficient quantities of a subject’s own DC for use in preparing and characterizing vaccines, for activating and characterizing the activation state of the subject’s immune response, and to aid in preventing and/or treating cancer or infectious disease.”
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Improving the efficiency of medical device communication
“Electrical and computer engineering William Lincoln Smith Professor Tommaso Melodia was awarded a patent for ‘Ultrasonic multiplexing network for implantable medical devices.'”
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Chowdhury and Jornet made IEEE Fellows
“Electrical and computer engineering professors Kaushik Chowdhury and Josep Jornet were elevated to IEEE Fellows. Chowdhury was elevated for contributions to the development of cognitive radio networks and applied machine learning for wireless systems. Jornet was recognized for contributions in terahertz communication and nanonetworking.”
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Connecting to medical devices through ultrasonic network
“Electrical and computer engineering William Lincoln Smith Professor Tommaso Melodia was awarded a patent for ‘Internet-linked ultrasonic network for medical devices.'”
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Protecting wireless systems from adversarial attacks
“Electrical and computer engineering William Lincoln Smith Professor Tommaso Melodia, assistant professor Francesco Restuccia and assistant research professor Salvatore D’oro were awarded a patent for ‘Neural network for adversarial deep learning in wireless systems.'”
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Improving RF resonator technology
“Electrical and computer engineering associate professor Cristian Casella and electrical engineering student Xuanyi Zhao, PhD’23, were awarded a patent for ‘Two Dimensional Rod Resonator for RF Filtering.'”
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Professor Yi Zheng’s efforts to share science with his community — and the world — garner a Scientist of the Year award
Associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering Yi Zheng received the 2022 Scientist of the Year award from the New England Chinese American Alliance, both for his pioneering work in electricity-free cooling and water filtration systems and for his deep civic engagement.
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Matteo Rinaldi selected as Optica Fellow
Electrical and computer engineering professor Matteo Rinaldi was selected as a Fellow of Optica (formerly OSA) for pioneering contributions to the research, development and commercialization of zero-power wireless infrared sensors. Optica Fellows are selected based on several factors, including outstanding contributions to research, business, education, engineering and service to Optica and our community.
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Wireless Internet of Things Team wins best paper award at IEEE Globecom 2023
“Electrical and computer engineering professors Josep Jornet, Dimitrios Koutsonikolas and Milica Stojanovic, together with graduate students Duschia Bodet, PhD’25, and Phuc Dinh, PhD’25, all within the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, together with Dr. Joerg Widmer at the IMDEA Networks Institute in Madrid, Spain, have received the Best Paper Award at the IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) 2023 for their work titled ‘Characterizing Sub-THz MIMO Channels in Practice: A Novel Channel Sounder With Absolute Time Reference.'”