News & Events

Yifan Dai and his team designed a method based on directed evolution to create synthetic intrinsically disordered proteins that can facilitate diverse phase behaviors in living cells. Intrinsically disordered proteins have different phase behaviors that take place at increasing or decreasing temperatures, as shown in the image above. The intrinsically disordered proteins on the left are cold responsive, and those on the right are hot responsive. The tree image in the center depicts the directed evolution process with the reversible intrinsically disordered proteins near the top. Feeding into the process from the bottom are soluble intrinsically disordered proteins. (Credit: Dai lab)

Harnessing evolution: Evolved synthetic disordered proteins could address disease, antibiotic resistance

Yifan Dai’s lab designs directed evolution-based method to program synthetic intrinsically disordered proteins.

01.09.2026

Wilson named associate dean for graduate programs in McKelvey Engineering

Angela Wilson will oversee graduate admissions, recruitment, advising.

01.09.2026

Ramesh Agarwal receives 2025 IDSAI Lifetime Achievement Award

Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the fields of data science and artificial intelligence.

01.06.2026

Reinforcement learning for arbitrarily large systems is possible

Work in Jr-Shin Li’s lab develops mathematically rigorous and computationally efficient techniques to transform extremely complex reinforcement learning problems into a manageable domain.

01.06.2026

Images of roots studied as part of new research exploring the molecular underpinnings to how plants twist their roots. (Image: Dixit Lab)

Plant science with a twist

Researchers at WashU find mechanism for twisted growth of plant organs.

01.06.2026

Rohit V. Pappu, the Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Min Kyung Shinn, a former postdoctoral researcher in his lab, investigated some of the physical features of nuclear speckles that were inconsistent with the type of uniform droplets one expected to see if they formed via liquid-liquid phase separation. Their microscopy images revealed that the speckle-associated proteins were distinct in the types of structures they formed. [Credit: Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 4, 605–612 (2003).]

Microphases are targets for therapeutic intervention for neurodegenerative disorders

Min Kyung Shinn, Rohit Pappu investigate nuclear speckles.

12.19.2025

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis find a way to better track circadian brain signals that synchronize the body clocks.

Mapping the dance of circadian synchrony

Researchers at WashU map the brain connections that synchronize the body’s clocks.

12.19.2025

Hong Chen, professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering and of neurosurgery at WashU Medicine, and Jan Kubanek, associate professor of psychiatry in the Division of Clinical Neuroscience and Behavioral Health at WashU Medicine, have been named director and co-director of the Focused Ultrasound Center of Excellence at Washington University in St. Louis. (Credit: Douglas Garfield)

Washington University in St. Louis named Focused Ultrasound Center of Excellence

Hong Chen, Jan Kubanek named director and co-director of the new center, respectively.

12.19.2025

A team of computer scientists and occupational therapists collaborated to integrate two novel vision-language models that create a potential AI assistant that may help those with cognitive decline remain independent for longer. (Credit: Ruiqi Wang)

AI ‘CHEF’ could help those with cognitive declines complete home tasks

AI-occupational therapy team leverages novel vision-language models to detect cognitive errors.

12.18.2025

View all News

rss feed

Events

The latest events

View all Events

Jan 13 8:30 am

Biomedical Engineering Master's Virtual Information Session

Jan 14 7:30 am

Engineering Management Full-Time Master's Virtual Information Session

Jan 14 6:00 pm

Department Chair's Master's Fellowship Virtual Information Session

Mbatai wins Dean James E. McLeod First-Year Writing Prize

Sophomore Izzy Mbatai has been awarded the Dean James E. McLeod First-Year Writing Prize from the College of Arts & Sciences and the College Writing Program.

10.17.2025