Research

Scientists and citizens are thinking about how slowdowns and shutdowns from COVID-19 might be helping the environment. Among those exploring this issue is UNC Charlotte atmospheric scientist Brian Magi, who is part of a local and global network of researchers who consider air quality and climate.

Corals depend on their symbiotic relationships with the algae that they host. New insights into this important process, in a study by UNC Charlotte’s Tingting Xiang and colleagues, could offer clues to helping reefs survive.

As biology doctoral student Farida Yasmin advances her research into the wild soybean and its potential to address worldwide food scarcity, she continues to grow her impact and her knowledge. The wild soybean provides half the world’s vegetable oils and proteins but is susceptible to a devastating pest that Yasmin is addressing through cutting-edge omics technology.

Three College of Liberal Arts & Sciences graduate students earned the first, second and third-place places at UNC Charlotte’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.

In a review article appearing in the November 18, 2019 issue of Trends in Molecular Medicine, University of North Carolina at Charlotte cancer biologists Pinku Mukherjee and Mukulika Bose discuss a mechanism that, they suggest, may implicate bacterial infections in a wide variety of cancers. This is a cause that science has yet to fully understand.

Margaret Kocherga’s story is one of a young scientist and artist who is making connections and encouraging others; discovering and sharing knowledge; and keeping a sharp eye on a dizzying array of daily tasks. Along with her research, Kocherga makes time to engage the community in science, and to also dance and teach dance.

Two faculty members in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Xingjie (Helen) Li and Kevin McGoff, have each received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation. CAREER awards are among the most prestigious in support of early-career faculty.

A new collaborative effort called the Bridges to Baccalaureate Program is designed to help students at UNC Charlotte, Gaston College, and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College complete undergraduate biomedical degrees and, ultimately, succeed in biomedical careers. The initiative is made possible through support from the National Institutes of Health, with funding expected to total $1.37 million over five years.

To further research efforts in improving delivery and impact of cancer treatments through nanoscale science, the lab of Juan Vivero-Escoto, associate professor of chemistry, has received $100,000 in funding from the National Science Foundation.

Keeping her native land of Bangladesh close to her heart, Farida Yasmin has come to UNC Charlotte to research the woes of the soybean, which, as a critical global resource, provides more than half of the world’s vegetable oils and proteins. She is conducting research as a doctoral student in Bao-Hua Song’s lab in the Department of Biological Sciences.