With the new year come resolutions to get healthy, lose weight, join a gym, and also, endless advertisements for weight loss programs. In Purdue Agriculture, our researchers work year-round to enhance our health and fight disease. There are many examples across our college, but I’ll concentrate on just a few here that illustrate the Purdue 150th theme of “Giant Leaps in Health and Longevity”.

Dr. Shihuan Kuang, Animal Sciences, focuses on how muscles develop and regenerate as well as the functions they play in communication. His research in muscle science has important implications for both the meat production industry and human health. Dr. Kuang recently discovered a novel signaling mechanism that regulates muscle stem cells.  Stem cells are important for muscle maintenance and regeneration, especially under disease and aging conditions. Understanding the molecular regulation of stem cells can help researchers like Dr. Kuang improve the regeneration and function of skeletal muscles that are impacted by diseases such as muscular dystrophy as well as enhance muscle quality in meat animals.

Dr. Andy Tao, Biochemistry, has developed new methods for detecting proteins that are activated by phosphorylation, a process that often turns a protein from a normal molecule to one that can cause cancer. Dr. Tao has developed new technologies to measure phosphorylated proteins that could lead to being able to detect breast cancer through a simple blood test or bladder cancer through a simple urine test. Dr. Tao and his former post-doctoral researcher, Dr. Anton Iliuk, used these important research discoveries to start a company, Tymora Analytical Operations, in the Purdue Research Park, and he won Purdue’s 2017 Outstanding Commercialization Award for making his research available to the public. Dr. Tao and his colleagues continue to develop more products and are working to use the same techniques to detect other cancers.

Dr. Catherine Hill, Entomology, is working to develop non-toxic, non-lethal pesticides to combat mosquitoes and other insects that carry diseases like West Nile, Dengue virus, Zika virus, Lyme Disease and yellow fever. Her goal is to control these insects and the diseases they carry in a way that is safe for humans and the environment and that does not eliminate the insect population, thus preserving biodiversity.  Lyme Disease, carried by ticks, is a particular concern in Indiana, with more than 100 cases of the disease each year. In true land-grant fashion, Dr. Hill runs a Citizen Science Program, Tick Insiders, to teach high school-age students how to collect and identify ticks found throughout the state of Indiana and analyze them to determine what bacteria they are carrying. So far, the team of Citizen Scientists have found three types of ticks and identified hundreds of bacteria they carry.

These three individuals are just a few of the outstanding scientists in the College of Agriculture whose work supplies the knowledge that will allow us to treat or prevent diseases in the future. Through basic research, commercialization and student training, these individuals are laying the foundation for “Giant Leaps” in improving health and longevity.

All the best,

Purdue hits startup milestone

Purdue University hit a milestone in startup creation in 2018 with 223 startups, more than $350 million in funding and investments generated and more than 300 new jobs, officials announced on Jan. 10.

Nominations open for 2019 Awards for Excellence in Online Education

Purdue Online Learning and the Office of the Provost are now accepting nominations for the 2019 awards. The awards are available to courses and individuals at all of Purdue’s campuses and are open to faculty, instructors or other staff members as individuals or teams.

Solar solution: Technology helps reduce energy costs on Indiana farm while protecting environment

A Purdue Agriculture alumnus is using clean, solar energy to drastically reduce the electric bill for his northern Indiana hog farm with the help of a company based in the Purdue Research Park.

Soybean oil driving Purdue technology to improve roadways

A startup based on a Purdue innovation, with funding from the Indiana Soybean Alliance, is using engineering sealant technology to protect and prolong the life of new and existing concrete to make a smoother ride for travelers and save costs for road upkeep and repairs.