Penn State's Andrew Patterson receives Society of Toxicology Achievement Award

February 9, 2021

The Society of Toxicology has named Tombros Early Career Professor Andrew Patterson of Penn State as the recipient of its 2021 Achievement Award, recognizing his significant contributions to the field of toxicology within 15 years of obtaining the highest earned degree.

University in-house TASC Lab begins COVID-19 diagnostic testing

February 9, 2021

CLIA certification is underway to support University Park campus testing, ability to send results directly to individuals

2020 Grier Scholarship Recipients

February 2, 2021

Congratulations to two of our Pathobiology Graduate students, Juhi Arora and Fenghua Qian, for being chosen to receive the Grier Scholarship for 2020! In order to be considered for the award, students must be a Ph. D. candidate in Pathobiology, and must have passed the qualifying examination for the Ph.D. no later than July 1 and the award does come with a monetary prize. Congrats to you both again!

College of Agricultural IID student Hailey Reiss earns internship award

January 20, 2021

Hailey Reiss, an immunology and infectious disease major from Quakertown. A graduate of Quakertown Community High School, Reiss was the summer scholar at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, where she performed statistical analysis and reviewed and presented data. Hailey is advised by VBS faculty member Dr. Pamela Hankey-Giblin.

"What about the environment? Leveraging multi-omic datasets to characterize the environment’s role in human health"

January 6, 2021

Kristin Passero (Hall Lab PhD student) and Dr. Molly Hall organized the session "What about the environment? Leveraging multi-omic datasets to characterize the environment’s role in human health" for the Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing (PSB) with environmental health research experts Dr. Chirag Patel (Harvard Medical School), Dr. Arjun Manrai (Harvard Medical School), Dr. Kimberly McAllister (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences), and Dr. Shefali Setia Verma (University of Pennsylvania). Kristin and organizers published an introduction to the session and gave an introductory talk as well: https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/9789811232701_0029. Hall Lab MD/PhD student, Morris Aguilar, also gave a talk on his metabolomics research which is published here: https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/9789811232701_0030

Andrew D. Patterson, PhD receives Society of Toxicology Achievement Award

December 18, 2020

A world leader in the field of metabolomics, Andrew D. Patterson, PhD, has been awarded the 2021 SOT Achievement Award for his leadership, vision, service, and dedication to the field of toxicology. Dr. Patterson has established himself as a prestigious investigator at the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, where he holds multiple positions, including Professor of molecular toxicology and Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. He is the Tombros Early Career Professor and Huck Endowed Chair, as well as the Penn State Cancer Institute Metabolomics Shared Resource Director. Dr. Patterson received his PhD in genetics in 2006 through a graduate partnership program between George Washington University and the National Cancer Institute. He then undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in the Laboratory of Metabolism at the National Cancer Institute, during which he focused on the development and refinement of metabolomics approaches to determine how toxicants and other environmental exposures influence the metabolome. At a time when this field was just emerging, Dr. Patterson’s work furthered metabolomics as an invaluable tool for understanding drug metabolism and promoted the development and identification of translational biomarkers for ionizing radiation exposure, toxicity, diabetes, and cancer. Dr. Patterson’s research illustrates the connection between toxicology and medicine in ways that have clear implications for the development of therapeutics and for public health measures to address risk factors associated with nongenetic metabolic diseases and their associated chronic disease manifestations. His laboratory has become a world leader in metabolomics research and is a major resource for numerous laboratories within and outside the United States that are trying to incorporate this approach into their science. Dr. Patterson’s current research interests are focused on understanding the host-metabolite-microbiota axis—specifically how the manipulation of gut bacteria affects host metabolites and how these host/bacterial co-metabolites interact with host nuclear receptors and modulate toxicity and cancer. In addition to his research, Dr. Patterson’s service in the field of toxicology is exemplified by his long list of advisees and mentees. Dr. Patterson has mentored nearly 50 young researchers, from undergraduate students to junior faculty. Many postdoctoral fellows under his mentorship have progressed to academic and industry careers, and he has trained graduate students who have earned PhDs with an emphasis on metabolomics and toxicology. Since Dr. Patterson joined SOT in 2012, his laboratory has presented research findings every year at the SOT Annual Meeting, including poster presentations and a Platform Session. He also has served on the Editorial Board of Toxicological Sciences (ToxSci) and currently serves as an Associate Editor of ToxSci and Environmental Health Perspectives. In addition to participation within SOT, Dr. Patterson also is a member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and the American Chemical Society and is an Editorial Board member of several high-impact journals. Congratulations Andrew!

Mckayla Nicol receives first place for 2020 CIDD Best Student Paper

December 15, 2020

Congratulations to McKayla Nicol who won first place for the 2020 CIDD Best Student Paper, McKayla is a Pathobiology Grad student in Dr. Girish Kirimanjeswara's lab in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Nicol, M.J., Brubaker, T.R., Honish, B.J., et al. Antibacterial effects of low-temperature plasma generated by atmospheric-pressure plasma jet are mediated by reactive oxygen species. Sci Rep 10, 3066 (2020).

College of Ag Senior Selected As Marshall Scholar

December 7, 2020

Penn State senior A’dryanna Jenkins earned a 2021 Marshall Scholarship, allowing her to pursue graduate studies in pathology at Cambridge University for one year. Jenkins, of Easton, Pennsylvania, is an immunology and infectious diseases major in the College of Agricultural Sciences and a Schreyer Scholar. After graduating, she plans to pursue a combined MD/PhD degree and work as a physician-scientist in academia and government. She will use the Marshall Scholarship to join the Roychoudhuri Laboratory in Cambridge University’s Department of Pathology.

Penn State researcher to explore how vitamin D affects COVID-19

November 23, 2020

Funding from the National Institutes of Health will enable Margherita Cantorna, distinguished professor of molecular immunology and nutrition in the College of Agricultural Sciences, to study whether vitamin D supplementation could help people ward off or reduce symptoms caused by COVID-19.

Faculty continues strong research ties with Ohio State

October 29, 2020

Dr. Troy Sutton receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID/NIH) to research COVID-19

October 27, 2020

Dr. Troy Sutton, Assistant Professor, has received funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID/NIH) to determine how long immunity to COVID-19 lasts after an initial infection. Specifically, Dr. Sutton’s research group will use animal models to determine how antibody levels change over time, and the relationship between decreasing levels of antibodies and susceptibility to re-infection. Using a similar approach, he will also explore how long vaccine induced immunity is protective, and working with Emory University, the findings in animal models will be compared to antibody responses in humans.

Memorandum of Understanding between Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Maharashtra Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (MAFSU) in India now in place.

October 26, 2020

Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and Maharashtra Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (MAFSU) have now a Memorandum of Understanding in place to develop an international program in areas related to One Health, Food Safety and Diagnostic Medicine. MAFSU was formed on December 3, 2000 with its operational center at Nagpur. The University comprises of five veterinary colleges, two colleges of fishery sciences, and one college of dairy technology. Since 2003, Penn State faculty including Dr. Bhushan Jayarao and Professor Emeritus Channa Reddy have worked with MAFSU faculty and students on several different occasions, including training MAFSU faculty at ADL, providing research and extension programming support in diagnostic medicine, and dairy production. This is a beneficial relationship for both the Department and the College of Ag, and we congratulate and thank everyone involved who made this endeavor official last week!

Veterinary experts offer advice after pet cat tests positive for COVID-19 in Pa.

October 20, 2020

Despite the state's first confirmed case of COVID-19 in a domestic cat, veterinary experts say residents should not be concerned about contracting the virus from pets and other domesticated animals. However, people with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 should take precautions to protect the health of their pets.

Dr. Girish Kirimanjeswara's lab to mentor IID undergraduate student Nina De Luna’s participation in this year’s Step-Up Year Round Research Program.

October 20, 2020

Nina De Luna is an IID honors student in Dr. Girish Kirimanjeswara's lab. She has been accepted in the NIH STEP-UP program called Year Round Research Program. The STEP-UP Program is a federally funded program managed and supported by the Office of Minority Health Research Coordination (OMHRC) in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The overall goal of STEP-UP is to build and sustain a biomedical, behavioral, clinical and social science research pipeline focused on NIDDK’s core mission areas of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases and nutrition; kidney, urologic and hematologic diseases.

VBSC Grad Student Outing to Way Fruit Farm

October 17, 2020

Some of VBSC's graduate students had a blast at Way Fruit Farm in Port Matilda on Friday 10/16/20. We were missing a few but a great time was had by all who attended shopping, apple picking and going on hayrides. We hope to have similar outings each month. Look for emails on future adventures!

Dr. Margherita Cantorna receives new Competitive Revision Supplement to NIH R01 award

October 14, 2020

Dr. Margherita Cantorna recently received a Competitive Revision Supplement to her NIH R01 award to “Vitamin D fluctuations and the mucosal immune response” to generate some preliminary data on the effects of vitamin D on host resistance to COVID-19 infection in mice and hamsters. Drs. Girish Kirimanjeswara and Troy Sutton are Co-Investigators.

Penn State researcher part of project to develop novel COVID-19 vaccine

October 6, 2020

A researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences is part of a team of scientists working to develop a unique COVID-19 vaccine that uses a bovine adenovirus as a safe and effective delivery vehicle.

IID Alum Jimmie Frisbee Featured on The Penn State Alumni Association’s "Football Letter Live"

October 3, 2020

Former Blue drum major Jimmie Frisbee was featured on The Penn State Alumni Association’s Football letter Live Event on Thursday 10/01/2020. An immunology and infectious diseases graduate in the College of Agricultural Sciences, Frisbee's roots run deep in the band with his parents, grandfather and uncle all wearing the Blue Band blues.

Poultry isolators to boost capacity to study avian infectious diseases in Pa.

September 28, 2020

With COVID-19 continuing to spread around the world bringing sickness and death, a little-noticed development at Penn State’s Animal Diagnostic Laboratory takes on added significance.

Congrats to Drs Barragan and Brown on their recognition for Teaching Excellence!

September 26, 2020

Members of Cantorna lab collaborate on a recent paper on retinoid signaling

September 14, 2020

Retinoid signaling in intestinal epithelial cells is essential for early survival from gastrointestinal infection.

Graduate Student Jiayan Zhou is first author on ‘Investigation of gene-gene interactions in cardiac traits and serum fatty acid levels in the LURIC Health Study’

September 13, 2020

Funded by @usdagov they applied filtering approaches to identify numerous genetic interactions related to cardiac-related outcomes as potential targets for therapy. The approaches described offer ways to detect epistasis in the complex traits and to improve precision medicine capability.

New Animal, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Building now 50 percent complete

September 11, 2020

Leaders from Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and Office of Physical Plant, HOK architectural firm, and Turner Construction Co. on Sept. 11 held a "topping out" ceremony to mark the halfway point of construction of the Animal, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Building on the University Park campus.

Penn State researchers to study novel coronavirus potential to infect livestock

September 9, 2020

A grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will enable Penn State researchers to study the potential for SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, to infect and spread among livestock.

Penn State launches Testing and Surveillance Center for University Park students

September 8, 2020

As part of the University’s testing and contact tracing plan shared during a July 30 community town hall, Penn State has launched the Testing and Surveillance Center (TASC), to be used for random asymptomatic surveillance testing at the University Park campus.

Technology developed in Schmitt lab showcased at the inaugural Penn State BioTech Discovery Day.

September 3, 2020

The technology “Virus-like Particles as Protein Delivery Vehicles” offers a new tool for delivering therapeutics such as CRISPR enzymes directly into patients’ cells, providing an alternative to AAV vectors and other DNA delivery approaches that can lead to unintended genome changes.

$2 Million will come to Penn State, Kuchipudi Lab, in collaboration with Purdue University to Develop Effective Vaccine to Combat COVID-19

August 26, 2020

A collaborative project between Penn State and Purdue University will develop a novel vaccine solution for COVID-19. Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi, clinical professor of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences and Associate Director of Penn State Animal Diagnostic laboratory will collaborate with Dr. Suresh Mitral, distinguished professor of microbiology, Purdue University on this project. The team has been awarded $3.8 Million by the National Institutes of Health of which over $2Million will come to Penn State.

Aspirin after calving can provide relief to dairy cows, increase milk production

August 25, 2020

Dairy cows that received a short course of anti-inflammatory medication after calving had lower metabolic stress and produced more milk than untreated cows, according to researchers, who say the regimen they tested could be adopted more easily by producers than previously studied treatment strategies.

Brooks named Forensic Science program director

August 11, 2020

Jason W. Brooks, associate clinical professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences at Penn State, has been named director of the Forensic Science program in the Eberly College of Science’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, effective Sept. 14.

College of Ag Sciences students receive Gilman grant for international study

August 10, 2020

Two students in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Janelle Answer and Justin Kurtz, have received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.