From respiration to nitrogen fixation, iron enzymes enable some of the most important biological processes. Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran and her team are developing molecular approaches to modulate biological functions of iron enzymes towards addressing long-standing challenges in health and energy. From a therapeutic perspective, she is developing new strategies to shorten treatment time for tuberculosis and chemo-resistant cancer. From a catalysis perspective, she is finding eco-friendly alternatives to current methodologies of chemical synthesis in industries.

Aging is linked to an increase in susceptibility to infections that is driven by a declining immune system. Immune cells from older individuals show higher levels of inflammation, exhaustion and senescence that are associated with its impaired response. The Camell Lab studies how immune cells interact and signal to other cell types within specific microenvironments of older organisms. Their research focuses on potential mechanisms of therapeutics that could improve the function of old immune cells.

Congress uses tax law to advance a wide variety of social goals, from wealth redistribution to housing policy to corporate investment. Jonathan Choi studies how principles of statutory interpretation can promote these goals while minimizing tax shelters and evasion. His work combines empirical analysis with normative doctrinal work to produce recommendations for agencies and courts.

Megan Giddings’s first novel, Lakewood, was a Best Book of 2020 at New York Magazine and NPR, and a nominee for two NAACP Image Awards. Her second novel, The Women Could Fly, garnered national and international attention with reviews in The Guardian, the New York Times, Time, and The Boston Globe, among others. A guest on Late Night with Seth Myers, Giddings is now working on her third novel, Meet Me at the Crossroads.

A stroke can happen at any time across the lifespan, often leaving individuals with lasting motor deficits. In order to improve rehabilitation, a better understanding of the underlying motor impairments is needed. Rachel Hawe’s research leverages technologies including robotics to precisely identify the specific impairments an individual has. This work will lead to personalized therapies and improve outcomes for the over 800,000 individuals who have a stroke in the United States every year.

Ognjen Ilic studies the mechanics of how light interacts with materials to enable new technologies for contactless manipulation. He works at the intersection of optomechanics and wave physics to develop new nanostructured materials that can be actuated by light. Through their exotic optical and mechanical properties, these metamaterials are advancing existing applications of optical manipulation in science and engineering as well as enabling entirely new technologies ranging from fuel-free spacecraft to metamaterial robots and optomechanical sensors.

Our society needs drastic innovations on a global scale to combat entrenched social and environmental challenges. These innovations can only be effective if the organizations driving them are effective. Carrie Oelberger analyzes why and how such organizations often fail to realize their lofty intentions. She develops organizational theories and management practices that incorporate individual, organizational, and field-level considerations.