Notre Dame Science

10/12/2026

Congratulations to Kevin Lannon, Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, on his selection to the University of Notre Dame All-Faculty Team!

Lannon studies the fundamental building blocks of the universe through the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Working with an international collaboration of scientists, Lannon searches for undiscovered particles and forces that shape the cosmos, including dark matter and dark energy.

Learn more about Lannon's research and the other members of the 2026 Notre Dame All-Faculty Team here: https://provost.nd.edu/faculty-recognitions/all-faculty-team/2026-kevin-lannon/

Please join us in congratulating Professor Lannon!

10/12/2026

Join sophomore, Evie Skog, on a day in her life as a Neuroscience and Behavior major! (ND Neuroscience & Behavior) 🧬🧠

This semester she is taking Intro to Psychology, Intro to Neuroscience, Organic Chemistry II, Foundations of Theology, and Foundations of Marketing! ☘️

10/12/2026

For patients with catheters, exposure to pathogens can be particularly risky, as catheter-associated urinary tract infections continue to be a leading cause of deadly sepsis.

Professors Ana Flores-Mireles and Felipe Santiago-Tirado, alongside Alyssa La Bella ’21, ’26 Ph.D., have identified a novel way to prevent microbes from colonizing on catheters: a silicone-based oil coating.

https://bit.ly/476ty7c

Over 1 million patients get catheter-related infections annually.

A $1 adaptation developed at Notre Dame could save thousands of lives each year.

Earlier today, fans at Notre Dame Stadium Professor Ana Flores-Mireles and her team that have developed a simple silicone-oil coating that keeps bacteria and fungi from sticking to the device entirely.

Learn more: https://go.nd.edu/PreventingInfections

10/09/2026

Each year in the United States, there are more than one million catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI). If left untreated these infections can turn into: blood infections, prostatitis, cystitis, endocarditis, vertebral osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, meningitis, and even bladder cancer.

Notre Dame microbiologist Ana Flores-Mireles is developing a simple silicone-oil coating that makes catheters slippery, preventing proteins and microbes from attaching to the device in the first place.

Learn how Notre Dame researchers are fighting to prevent infections: https://bit.ly/476ty7c

10/09/2026

With our first Domer in a Lab of the semester: Meet Mira Zamarro ‘28! Mira is doing research in the Schaefer Lab, studying cancer cell metastasis!

10/08/2026

Summoning our lab equipment

10/07/2026

The University of Notre Dame recently welcomed seven postdoctoral fellows to the College of Science for the 2026-2027 academic year.

The seven fellows are members of the college’s Society for Science Fellows Program, created for individuals seeking research intensive careers.

- Zachary Baldwin, Department of Physics and Astronomy

- Dellena Bloom, Department of Biological Sciences

- Nayana Christudas Beena, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

- Melissa De Jesus, Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics

- Aleksey Maro, Department of Biological Sciences

- Mattia Magnabosco, Department of Mathematics

- Yuping Zheng, Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics

More: https://bit.ly/4APfrAV

10/07/2026

Today’s What’s up Wednesday Question: How would you describe your major to a fifth grader?

Happy Midterms, and Go Irish! ☘️🧪😊

10/06/2026

In memoriam: Jacek K. Furdyna, Aurora and Thomas Marquez Professor Emeritus in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Notre Dame, died Sept. 28, 2026. He was 93.

Furdyna’s research became the foundation of modern spintronics, a technology that uses an electron’s magnetic spin rather than its physical movement to carry data. This allows computers to store memory, as well as run faster and cooler. Working with many international collaborators over a career spanning six decades, he created the field of dilute magnetic semiconductors, using molecular beam epitaxy to create magnetic-semiconductor heterostructures and nanostructures.

Furdyna authored or co-authored more than 970 publications, and his work has been cited nearly 26,000 times in Web of Science. His most influential paper, the 1988 Journal of Applied Physics review “Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors,” has been cited more than 4,500 times and remains the entry point for students in the field.

He was a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Institute of Physics (United Kingdom). He received honorary doctorates from the University of Warsaw and Purdue University. In 2009 he was awarded the Nicolaus Copernicus Medal, the highest honor of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

More: https://bit.ly/4z9w6NC

10/05/2026

Bacteria aren’t the only microbes behind catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

New research from Ana Flores-Mireles and Felipe Santiago-Tirado reveals how the fungus Candida albicans behaves in the bladder of catheterized patients. The study also provides evidence that the fungus found on urinary catheters can be an active part of an infection, rather than simply contamination of the urinary catheter.

The team identified 75 target genes activated by Candida in the bladder, including 26 that had never been characterized before. When they analyzed catheters collected from patients, they found a nearly identical fungal gene network.

The findings could help reshape how clinicians diagnose and treat fungal catheter-associated infections, and the work highlights the importance of understanding how multiple microbes interact during infection.

To learn more, tap the link in our bio.