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.  

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has appointed Professor Alhussein (Hussein) Abouzeid, Ph.D., as head of the department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering (ECSE).

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. 

The Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) was recently awarded $1 million in federal funds as part of the Congressionally Directed Spending program to advance RPI research and translational efforts related to pharmaceuticals, biopolymers, and food production. 

RPI Professor Karyn Rogers, director of the Rensselaer Astrobiology Research and Education Center, and graduate student Meri Herrero Perez are among the feature interviewees in the new PBS NOVA documentary Asteroids: Spark of Life?