Biological Sciences
Professor Cathrine Hoyo and a team of researchers found that environmentally caused alterations to specific areas of the genome – known as imprint control regions – during early development may contribute to the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and that Black people may be more affected than white people.
Doctorate student Haviv Avrahami, Lindsay Zanno, an associate research professor, and two researchers from other universities published a paper on Fona herzogae, a newly discovered dinosaur that likely spent at least part of its time underground.
Chemistry
Yi Xiao, an associate professor and Hugh C. Lord, LORD Corporation Distinguished Scholar, is developing methods to instantly detect fentanyl in drug samples.
Jun Ohata, an assistant professor, received a five-year Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to pursue fundamental research on selective chemical reactions on natural proteins.
Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Kathie Dello, director of the North Carolina State Climate Office and project partner on the heat action plan toolkit issued by the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency, discussed how the toolkit can help us safely navigate extreme heat.
Zhen Qu, an assistant professor, and a team of researchers examined the faster-than-predicted rise in methane emissions and outlined three actions to reduce them.
Mathematics
Etienne Phillips, who graduated with a bachelor’s in mathematics last spring, overcame many obstacles — through dogged determination and the help of several scholarships — and became a standout mathematician. He’s now working toward his doctorate in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley.
Molly Fenn, a teaching professor and assistant department head, prioritizes showing her students — many of whom are non-mathematics majors — how math ties into their different fields of study.
Physics
Dali Sun, an associate professor, and a team of researchers found that the direction in which pure spins are injected into chiral materials affects their ability to pass through them. These chiral “gateways” could be used to design energy efficient spintronic devices for data storage, communication and computing.
Gail McLaughlin, Distinguished University Professor, and Evan Grohs, an assistant research professor, were part of a study that examined a potential solution to the challenge of keeping track of both the physical movement of neutrinos and their change of flavor — a quantum mechanical property — in astrophysical systems.
Statistics
Nathaniel Josephs, an assistant professor, was the corresponding author on a study examining communication dynamics within a successful organization, which found that teams forged communication “shortcuts” across the hierarchy.
The department’s alumni are achieving big things locally and nationally. Check out some of their recent accomplishments and accolades.
