News

Dr. Michelle Monje ’98, a person with long blond hair and a dark dress, sits in a room talking to some other people.

‘Genius Award’ Alum Gives Inspiring Talk on Her Work to Cure Pediatric Brain Cancer

“Genius Award” winner Dr. Michelle Monje ’98 returned to her alma mater to deliver a lecture on her breakthroughs in cancer research.

A group of adults of various ages stand by a fence in a sunny field.

Getting to the Heart of Human Physiology

Students enrolled in Professor of Biology Kate Susman’s Human Physiology class learned real-life applications to their work by volunteering for four community-based organizations.

20 people sitting around a large oval table in a room with large paintings, floor to ceiling windows, and long, gold drapery.

Convening in Edinburgh, International Group of Education Leaders Collaborate on Liberal Arts Initiatives

In March, representatives of Vassar, the University of Edinburgh, University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda, and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay convened on the campus of the revered University of Edinburgh in Scotland to collaborate on initiatives incorporating the principles of the liberal arts.

Visiting Scholar Elizabeth Thiele receives funding from The Carter Center

Elizabeth Thiele, Visiting Scholar in the Department of Biology, has been a Technical Consultant for The Carter Center since 2015, and recently received the Center’s renewed support toward her ongoing research into the population genetics of Dracunculus medinensis (Guinea worm).

Bald person smiling in front of a grey backdrop.

NSF Funds State-of-the-art Confocal Microscope for Research and Teaching at Vassar

Principal Investigator Hadley Bergstrom, Associate Professor of Psychological Science, and co-PIs Bojana Zupan, Associate Professor of Psychological Science, and Jennifer Kennell, Associate Professor of Biology, received a Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant from the National Science Foundation to purchase a new state-of-the-art confocal microscope platform for basic research and teaching at Vassar, which will fundamentally transform faculty research, faculty-mentored undergraduate research, and advanced-level teaching.

Dianne Pater has Secured a Grant from the National Science Foundation

Dianne Pater, Assistant Professor of Biology, has secured a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support her project “BRC-BIO: Investigating ecophysiological strategies and drought tolerance of temperate lianas.”

David Esteban Awarded Patient-Led Research Collaborative Award

David Esteban, Associate Professor of Biology, received one of nine research grants made by the Patient-Led Research Collaborative to fund high-impact projects that seek to understand the causes, diagnostics, and treatments of Long COVID. His funded project, entitled “Microbial metabolites as disease-modifying factors in Long-COVID,” will investigate the production of, and response to, microbially derived AhR ligands in the microbiomes of people with Long COVID.

Lynn Christenson is Co-PI on New NSF Conference Grant

Lynn Christenson, Associate Professor of Biology, received a National Science Foundation award with her collaborators from George Mason University and USDA Forest Service, to support a workshop related to “Forest biodiversity responses to changing climate across the Americas: Synthesis of long-term ecological data.”

Student standing in front of a poster explaining it while gesticulating to a group of people off camera

URSI Symposium 2022

Students, faculty, and administrators who took part in the 2022 Undergraduate Research Summer Institute (URSI) celebrated their research projects at URSI’s annual Symposium.