Understanding the structures of life at a near-atomic scale
Studying the biological structures of viruses, proteins and other tiny macromolecules is key to understanding how life systems function and what happens when disease or injury cause these systems to break down.
These macromolecules are so small that traditional microscopes can’t see them very well. Instead, it takes a special kind of microscope to view these samples at the scale needed to fully understand them. The more powerful the microscope, the better researchers are able to map out the samples’ unique structures and applications.
Scientists at Boston University have the tools to do just that. Enter the Cryogenic Electron Microscopy (CryoEM) Core Facility, launched in April 2024 at the Center for Advanced Biomedical Research on the BU Medical Campus.
Vladimir Kefalov, PhD (GMS ’99), currently serves as a professor of ophthalmology, and of physiology & biophysics, at the University of California Irvine, holding the Allergan Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology and serving as Vice Chair for Research in Ophthalmology. He is recognized worldwide as one of the top electrophysiologists in vision research and has received […]
The Community Catalyst Center's fourth-annual Gear-Up Week brought students together for a week of connection, academic skill-building, creativity and more. Gear-Up Week, hosted this year from Sept. 8 to 12, offered four different activities and events throughout the week. The week began with Community & Belonging Office Hours, hosted by Dr. Karin Schon in the C3 […]
Welcome to Fall 2025 at Graduate Medical Sciences! This semester, we welcomed 486 students to GMS, including 459 master’s students, five MD/PhD students and 22 PhD students. Our incoming students are joining us from 22 different countries and 39 states, attending a collective 220 undergraduate institutions. Most of our new students arrived on campus on […]
What’s the key to healthful aging? Ask George Murphy, PhD, associate professor of medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. The Murphy Lab applies stem cell-based models and regenerative medicine to develop and advance techniques in the advancing fields of geroscience and aging biology. Rather than studying disease itself, the Murphy Lab […]