ISB News

High School Duo Named Champions in DOE-Sponsored AlgaePrize Competition

High school students Ashwin Mukherjee and Rohan Chanani worked with ISB Research Scientist Dr. Jacob Valenzuela on a project to build a machine learning algorithm to count algal cells from microscope images taken from a cell phone. In April, the team was recognized as champions in the DOE-sponsored AlgaePrize competition.

The AI Will See You Now

This essay published by The Wall Street Journal is adapted from “The Age of Scientific Wellness,” the new book by Dr. Lee Hood, co-founder and professor of the Institute for Systems Biology, and Dr. Nathan Price, chief science officer of Thorne HealthTech.

Daniel Chen Earns Prestigious Marshall Scholarship

As an undergraduate researcher in the Heath Lab, Chen has made major contributions to ISB’s research into COVID-19 and Long COVID. He will be pursuing a master’s degree in biological sciences and genomic medicine and conducting genomic medicine research at the Sanger Institute at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

2022 ISB Virtual Microbiome Series

2022 ISB Virtual Microbiome Series Announced

Our multi-day microbiome-themed virtual course and symposium is back for the third year! ISB is hosting a two-day course on October 12 & 13, 2022, followed by a symposium on October 14, 2022 on global perspectives in microbiome research. Both events are virtual and free. The intended audience for these events are graduate students, postdocs, principal investigators, industry scientists, educators, clinicians, or any other variety of microbiome-curious people from across the globe.

Reimagine: Your Immune System Event Generates $60,000 to Fuel Critical ISB Research

More than 300 people registered for Reimagine: Your Immune System, ISB’s annual virtual fundraiser, for an evening that included guest appearances Nobel laureate Dr. David Baltimore, immunology expert Dr. Mark Davis, ISB President Dr. Jim Heath, and a host of ISB researchers studying the human immune system.

2021 ISB Microbiome Series

2021 ISB Virtual Microbiome Series Announced

Our multi-day microbiome-themed virtual course and symposium is back by popular demand! ISB is hosting a two-day course on October 13 & 14, followed by a symposium on October 15. Both events are virtual and free. The intended audience for these events are graduate students, postdocs, principal investigators, industry scientists, educators, clinicians, or any other variety of microbiome-curious person from across the globe.

Personalized Nutrition and Your Gut Microbiome

In ISB’s first-ever Research Roundtable event, Assistant Professor Dr. Sean Gibbons delivered a presentation titled “Gut-Check: Personalized Nutrition and Your Microbiome.” His talk covered a lot of ground, including recently published research showing how the health of our microbiomes can predict longevity, and how we can build and maintain a healthy gut microbiome. 

Dr. Naeha Subramanian

Dr. Naeha Subramanian Promoted to Associate Professor

Dr. Naeha Subramanian – an expert in immunology, innate immunity, and host-pathogen interactions, and head of ISB’s Subramanian Lab – has been promoted to Associate Professor. “I am honored with this promotion and excited about the incredible research being conducted in my lab. It is a pleasure and privilege to tackle exciting questions everyday,” she said.

NYT Illustration

ISB Research on the Aging Microbiome Featured in The New York Times

ISB’s research into the aging microbiome was featured in a story published by Anahad O’Connor for The New York Times titled “A Changing Gut Microbiome May Predict How Well You Age.” The research featured was published in Nature Metabolism by Drs. Tomasz Wilmanksi, Noa Rappaport, Sean Gibbons and Nathan Price.

Drs. Naeha Subramanian, Leah Rommereim Gilmore, and Ajay Suresh Akhade

Small, Persistent Increase in the Expression of NOD1 May Promote Cancer Risk

ISB researchers have found that a small, persistent increase in the expression of NOD1 could be responsible for higher cancer risks. The research team found that a slight 1.5-fold uptick in NOD1 expression can activate the protein and downstream signaling pathways in a manner similar to vast (30- to 200-fold) overexpression. 

Dr. Jim Heath at ISB

Inside the intense world of COVID-19 science, and unexpected findings from Seattle researchers

GeekWire published a story spotlighting ISB’s COVID-19 research. Reporter Lisa Stiffler spoke with ISB President Dr. Jim Heath about the breakneck pace ISB and all of our collaborative partners are working at to tease out COVID’s biological secrets to advance the understanding and treatment of the novel coronavirus.

Subramanian and Akhade

How Salmonella Co-Opts the Host Immune System to Conceal Itself

While scientists have long studied bacterial infections, less attention has been paid to how the host immune response affects bacterial gene expression in the body. In a just-published paper in PNAS, ISB researchers detailed how the bacterium Salmonella conceals itself from the host immune system.

Dr. Jim Heath and Dr. David Eagleman

David Eagleman and Creating New Senses for Humans

Dr. David Eagleman — bestselling author, TV personality, CEO of Neosensory, adjunct professor at Stanford, TED speaker, and more — was the featured guest at the ISB-Town Hall Seattle event focusing on brain health. His presentation was titled “Can We Create New Senses for Humans?”

Human proteome blueprint

HUPO Releases 10-Year High-Stringency Blueprint of Human Proteome

Like the draft “shotgun” Human Genome Project of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO), the HPP has now reached a significant decadal milestone of more than 90 percent completion of the Human Proteome that is referred to as the human proteome “parts list.”

Overall composition of gut microbiome in participants

Variations in the Microbiome Associated with Health, Disease

ISB researchers examined the associations between the gut microbiomes of about 3,400 people and roughly 150 host characteristics. The team looked at diet, medication use, clinical blood markers, and other lifestyle and clinical factors, and found evidence that variations of the gut microbiome are associated with health and disease.

Innovating Forward: 2020 ISB Summer Interns

While other 2020 summer programs were canceled due to COVID-19, ISB’s internship program was not. 2020 ISB Summer Interns Kanwulia Onianwa and Sarah Logman and ISB Education Systems Medicine Program Director Becky Howsmon discuss the importance of this experience — especially during a pandemic.

Keystone Taxa Indispensable for Microbiome Recovery

How can we harness successional ecology to quickly repair antibiotic-damaged gut microbiota? ISB Assistant Professor Dr. Sean Gibbons wrote this commentary for the journal Nature Microbiology detailing recent research that answers that question. Click the link to read the story (link will open as a new window). Illustration by Allison Kudla, PhD / ISB. 

Leroy Hood: Leading the systems biology revolution

ISB Co-founder Dr. Lee Hood won the Lasker Award in 1987. The Lasker Foundation recently published a profile of Hood, writing: “The highlights Hood’s scientific career are like peaks in a mountain range spanning diverse fields, from molecular immunology and engineering, to genomics, to systems medicine.”