SCSB News

Bacterial populations in mother’s GI tract may play a central role. Source: [MIT News Office, Anne Trafton | September 13, 2017] Mothers who experience an infection severe enough to require hospitalization during pregnancy are at higher risk of having a child with autism. Two new studies from MIT and the University of Massachusetts Medical School […]

Success rate is comparable to that of highly trained scientists performing the process manually. Source: [MIT News Office, Anne Trafton | August 30, 2017] Recording electrical signals from inside a neuron in the living brain can reveal a great deal of information about that neuron’s function and how it coordinates with other cells in the […]

Engineer brings active interest in innovation to new role. Source: [MIT News Office, Peter Dizikes | August 16, 2017] Krystyn Van Vliet, an MIT professor in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering, with wide-ranging interests in research and innovation, has been named as the Institute’s new associate provost. She will assume […]

Source: [Spectrum, Ingfei Chen | August 16, 2017] In October 2010, Lisa and Eugene Jeffers learned that their daughter Jade, then nearly 2 and a half years old, has autism. The diagnosis felt like a double whammy. The parents were soon engulfed by stress from juggling Jade’s new therapy appointments and wrangling with their health insurance […]

Tissue-expansion technique could allow scientists to map brain circuits. Source: [Anne Trafton | MIT News Office, April 17, 2017] MIT researchers have developed a way to make extremely high-resolution images of tissue samples, at a fraction of the cost of other techniques that offer similar resolution. The new technique relies on expanding tissue before imaging […]

Source: [Spectrum, Bahar Gholipour | April 6, 2017] As many as one in three rare mutations seen in people with autism have nothing to do with the condition, a new study suggests1. Researchers looked at more than 10,000 spontaneous, or de novo, mutations identified in people with autism, intellectual disability or developmental delay. De novo mutations […]

MIT associate professor brings a materials scientist’s understanding to biochemical behavior in stem cells and organ tissue. Source: [Denis Paiste | Materials Processing Center, March 18, 2015]  With joint appointments in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering, MIT Associate Professor Krystyn J. Van Vliet brings a materials scientist’s understanding of mechanical triggers for biochemical […]

New members have made advances in artificial skin, wireless communications, nanotechnology, hydrology, and cancer treatment. Source: [School of Engineering, February 10, 2017] Eight MIT faculty are among the 84 new members and 22 foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Newly elected members for this year also include an impressive 18 MIT-affiliated alumni. Election […]

SFARI announces 2016 Bridge to Independence Award finalists Source: [SFARI.org; 13 January 2017] The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) is pleased to announce that it has selected six finalists in response to the 2016 Bridge to Independence Award request for applications (RFA). Grants awarded through the Bridge to Independence Award program are intended to invest […]

CRISPR pioneer named to inaugural chair created by Patricia and James Poitras ’63, founders of MIT’s Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research. Source: [Julie Pryor | McGovern Institute for Brain Research; January 13, 2017] The McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT has announced the appointment of Feng Zhang as the inaugural chairholder of the James […]