News

Gregg Howe and James Tiedje were included in this year’s annual list of Highly Cited Researchers, showing they are among the world’s most influential scientists.

Two Michigan State University College of Natural Science (NatSci) microbiologists, Shannon Manning and Gemma Reguera, are 2024 recipients of prestigious awards from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). Manning, an MSU Research Foundation Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics (MMG), was awarded the Alice C. Evans Award for Advancement of Women. Reguera, MMG professor and NatSci associate dean of faculty development and affairs, received the D.C. White Award for Interdisciplinary Research. The awards are given annually to nominees who have contributed significantly to advancing their careers, institutions and the study of microbiology.

Four undergraduate seniors in the Michigan State University College of Natural Science (NatSci) have been nominated for the Marshall Scholarship, a competitive opportunity that funds graduate school in the United Kingdom (UK). Kyleen Hall, Brennan Haugen, Isaac Smith, and Dorothy Zhao are among 10 MSU Honors College students and two alumni nominated this year. Annually, up to 50 students in the United States receive Marshall Scholarships to pursue graduate studies in the UK. Haugen was also nominated for the Mitchell Scholarship, which allows students to pursue a year of graduate study in Ireland and Northern Ireland. 

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) cause more than five percent all human cancers worldwide, yet for many, current treatments are ineffective. Dohun Pyeon, an MSU professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics in the College of Natural Science, has received a 2023 Strategic Partnership Grant; the MSU Research Foundation is funding his work on the development of a new immunotherapy for HPV-associated cancers. As one of just three recipients for 2023, Pyeon will receive $480,000 over three years to help his lab reach its long-term goal of developing an inexpensive immunotherapy.

Working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan State University researchers have shown that antibiotic resistance genes are prevalent in the bacterium Campylobacter jejuni, a leading cause of foodborne illness.The team found that more than half of the C. jejuni, isolated from patients in Michigan, are genetically protected against at least one antibiotic used to fight bacterial infections. Their report, recently published in the journal Microbial Genomics, provides valuable technical insights to epidemiologists, health care workers and other specialists.