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MolES launches Pilot Awards to fuel groundbreaking interdisciplinary research

November 4, 2024

Nov. 4, 2024 Four UW faculty teams received the Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute’s (MolES) new Pilot Awards. These awards aim to seed new research initiatives and support preliminary data generation. They are sponsored by MolES with matching funds from the Sepsis Center of Research Excellence (SCORE) and Kidney Research Institute (KRI). A four-member committee [...]

Revolutionizing Sustainable Materials: Strain Learning Metamaterials Inspired by Nature

October 30, 2024

Imagine a material that can be stretched and pulled out of shape that not only returns to its original shape but also grows stiffer and stronger each time. University of Washington researchers have developed a new “strain learning” metamaterial. Inspired by how nature strengthens materials—like how bones repair themselves or how spider silk becomes stronger when stressed—this innovation could significantly impact industries that rely on durable, adaptable materials, especially medicine. Their work, “Strain learning in protein-based mechanical metamaterials,” has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). [...]

AI enlisted to design vaccines against pandemic threats

October 10, 2024

Medicine will lead one of the seven new centers in a network funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to prepare against a variety of dangerous pathogens. NIAID is part of the National Institutes of Health. The center will receive $13.6 million a year for three years. [...]

MolES professor David Baker receives Nobel Prize

October 10, 2024

Computational biologist David Baker, professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine, director of the UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design, and member of the Molecular Engineering and Science Institute, has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for computational protein design. He shares the Nobel Prize with Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper of [...]

MolES launches new Scientific Advisory Council

October 1, 2024

The University of Washington Molecular Engineering and Science (MolES) Institute established its first scientific advisory council. The council will advise the MolES leadership on strategic areas of opportunity as the Institute strives toward its mission to foster scientific exchanges and new collaborations among MolES members, the wider UW research community, and industry leaders from biotech and cleantech. [...]

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Meet our new UW MolE cohort

September 30, 2024

The Molecular Engineering and Science Institute (MolES) is excited to introduce the newest cohort of Ph.D. candidates to the Molecular Engineering program. Their pioneering research, which spans diverse fields such as advanced drug delivery systems and sustainable material innovation, has the potential to revolutionize industries and tackle some of the most urgent global challenges. Get to know our 13 new students. [...]

Cole DeForest named new Director of Education at UW Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute

September 27, 2024

Cole DeForest, Weyerhaeuser Endowed Professor and associate chair for graduate studies in chemical engineering, has been appointed Director of Education at the Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute (MolES). DeForest succeeds Alshakim Nelson, NIST Faculty Fellow and professor of chemistry. DeForest will lead the Molecular Engineering (MolE) Ph.D. Program, an interdisciplinary graduate program housed in the [...]

Celebrating esteemed graduates in Molecular Engineering and Sciences

August 6, 2024

The UW Molecular Engineering Ph.D. program celebrated 12 students who successfully defended their theses during the 2023-2024 academic year on May 31. Faculty, students, and the graduates’ family and friends were in attendance. These MolE Ph.D. graduates conducted interdisciplinary research across eight different departments and organizations. [...]

Lifesaving star: Low volume resuscitant for prehospital treatment of severe hemorrhagic shock

July 23, 2024

Extensive blood loss after injuries is life-threatening and must be counteracted as fast as possible. Relatively small volume injections of solutions of a novel star-shaped polymer could compensate for fluid loss without disrupting coagulation. [...]

MAF characterization of materials workshop

July 15, 2024

The MAF Characterization Workshop, Aug. 22-23, includes lectures in the morning and instrument ‘hands on’ demonstrations in the afternoon. [...]

Q&A with Molecular Engineering Graduate Student Abdul Moeez

May 14, 2024

Molecular Engineering graduate student Abdul Moeez came to UW to advance materials for clean energy. Through unique training opportunities in data science and access to state-of-the-art research facilities, he’s developing autonomous systems to accelerate the fight against climate change. [...]

Olivia Dotson recognized as 2024 Husky 100

April 30, 2024

Each year, the Husky 100 recognizes 100 undergraduate and graduate students from the UW Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma campuses in all areas of study who are making the most of their time at the University of Washington. [...]

Scientists solve chemical mystery at the interface of biology and technology

April 30, 2024

Researchers who want to bridge the divide between biology and technology spend a lot of time thinking about translating between the two different “languages” of those realms. “Our digital technology operates through a series of electronic on-off switches that control the flow of current and voltage,” said Rajiv Giridharagopal, a research scientist at the University of Washington. “But our bodies operate on chemistry. In our brains, neurons propagate signals electrochemically, by moving ions — charged atoms or molecules — not electrons.” [...]

Q&A: How a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease could also work for Type 2 diabetes

April 16, 2024

Of the 38 million Americans who have diabetes at least 90% have Type 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Type 2 diabetes occurs over time and is characterized by a loss of the cells in the pancreas that make the hormone insulin, which helps the body manage sugar. [...]

Recruiting robots for materials discovery

April 11, 2024

Chemical engineers in the Pozzo Research Group are using open-source tools to build modular robots that can run multiple functions of complex experiments. This customizable framework helps alleviate the cost barrier of purchasing multiple, single-purpose commercial machines. [...]

Lih Lin inducted into the 2024 class of the AIMBE College of Fellows

April 4, 2024

Lih Lin, a Molecular Engineering & Sciences faculty member and electrical & computer engineering professor, was inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows last month. [...]

AI shown to dramatically speed protein engineering

April 4, 2024

Study findings promise to shift the field away from trial-and-error approach and toward computational approaches. Protein engineering scientists have been able to use machine learning to design proteins that are more efficient at performing a biochemical task. This approach shortened a process that typically takes months to years of trial and error. Currently, researchers design proteins by introducing mutations into a protein’s amino acid sequence in the hope those mutations will give the protein a desired property or function. They then must repeatedly test the resulting mutant proteins in the lab. [...]

Using computers to design proteins allows researchers to make tunable hydrogels that can form both inside and outside of cells

January 30, 2024

When researchers want to study how COVID makes us sick, or what diseases such as Alzheimer’s do to the body, one approach is to look at what’s happening inside individual cells. Researchers sometimes grow the cells in a 3D scaffold called a “hydrogel.” This network of proteins or molecules mimics the environment the cells would [...]

Q and A with a molecular engineering graduate student: Olivia Dotson

December 5, 2023

Molecular engineering graduate student Olivia Dotson is not wasting any of her time at UW. The Ypsilanti, Michigan native is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, focused on regeneration in injured or diseased livers. [...]

Q&A with Suzie H. Pun, new director of MolES

November 30, 2023

Suzie H. Pun is the Washington Research Professor of Bioengineering, a fellow in the U.S. National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and now, the new director of the Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute (MolES). Pun has been a major part of MolES since it opened in 2009 -- contributing to the growth of research collaborations and the Ph.D. program. [...]