IMPACT

Heather Masson-Forsythe, a fifth-year graduate student in the College of Science, is a winner in the 13^th annual Dance Your Ph.D. contest organized by Science Magazine in the newly created COVID-19 category. "I think the arts in general are really, really valuable on their own but also to communicate science, and as someone who really loves dance, I think it’s one of the best ways to communicate," she said.

Research led by Bo Sun, associate professor in the Department of Physics, has revealed a crucial mechanism behind one of humankind’s most deadly physiological processes: the movement of malignant cells from one part of the body to another.

New awards from the College of Science will support research on quantum information applications, better cancer screening and bioimaging technologies.

Lab work plays a critical role in many scientific fields – which is why this year, as classes moved online, Oregon State’s science labs moved quickly to adapt.

The COVID-19 pandemic is creating a surging interest in science and medicine, attracting a new generation of students to a career in medicine. Enrollment in the College of Science’s pre-med program at Oregon State University has also remained high, with numbers averaging 90-100 pre-med students annually since 2019.

In recognition of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, held on February 11, we acknowledge the women faculty, students and alumnae of the OSU College of Science.

The College of Science awarded two interdisciplinary teams funding to pursue promising leads in mental health and cancer research. One team will investigate the role of the gut-brain axis on sex differences in anxiety, and another will explore ways to develop an synthetic version of HHT-- a rare plant alkaloid that is showing great promise in the development of new medicines for multiple forms of cancer.

Meet Katherine Ganio, 2009 biochemistry & biophysics alumna and research fellow at the University of Melbourne.

Meet Tari Tan, biochemistry and biophysics alumna and currently the Director of Educational Programming for Neurobiology and the Ph.D. program in Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School.

A pivotal National Science Foundation award will enable Oregon State scientists to investigate how microbes influence their wildlife host’s sensitivity and resilience to disruptive changes in the natural environment.

Andres Cardenas (10', '15) has received funding to spend the next five years studying the impacts of prenatal and early childhood environmental stressors on children’s health and development.

Five faculty and scholars from the College of Science are among this year’s award recipients at University Day, OSU’s most prestigious annual awards for research mentoring, scholarship, teamwork, teaching and service.