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Health & Science

Quantum physics is an exploration of light and matter at the most fundamental level. Professor Prem Kumar says more than an intriguing curiosity, quantum is essential to creating real-world technologies that will revolutionize our lives.

Read Kumar’s essay

Prem Kumar smiles while standing over a lab bench with his right hand twisting a piece of metal equipment. He wears a blue blazer and a dark green shirt.
As the world’s population rises and the effects of climate change threaten crop yields, food insecurity is an urgent matter. With the support of University Trustee Melih Keyman and Zeynep Keyman, Northwestern researchers are pursuing a novel approach to farming with the potential to make a substantial impact on the global food crisis.

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Sarah Sobol, wearing safety glasses, a light blue lab coat with a Northwestern research logo and orange gloves, is conducting synthetic biology research in a lab.
The Lucks Laboratory developed a home test that can detect common contaminants in water. The technology, called ROSALIND, harnesses the “molecular taste buds” found in bacteria and programs them to glow when they detect a contaminant.

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In a lab environment, Julius Lucks, wearing a dark suit and a purple striped tie, stands beside a Northwestern researcher wearing a light blue lab coat. Their mouths are open as though in conversation, and they are gesturing while looking at a laptop screen.
Northwestern has been awarded $50 million over five years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Simons Foundation to establish the National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB) — the first institute of its kind in the U.S.

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A close-up infrared image of a fruit fly’s brain, displayed in neon reds, greens and yellows.
With a Circumnavigators Travel-Study Grant, senior global health and neuroscience double major Elizabeth Hyun traveled to five post-conflict nations in 10 weeks to study how historical context contributes to trauma diagnoses.

Learn about the Hyun’s work

Elizabeth Hyun smiles in Seoul, South Korea
Ruchi Gupta is co-founder of Yobee, a startup that makes an all-natural, topical scalp treatment clinically proven to revitalize the skin’s microbiome and reduce flakiness, itching and redness. In spring 2023 Gupta was one of three women chosen to be part of the inaugural class of FoundHer Fellows, a program supporting women faculty at Northwestern who are first-time founders of entrepreneurial ventures.

Watch our video with Gupta

Portrait of Dr. Ruchi Gupta

Light the Way

Winter 2024
Lauren Dandridge Gaines ’04 is co-founder and principal of Chromatic, a Los Angeles–based lighting design firm working at the intersection of architecture and social justice.

Read more about Gaines’ work

Michelin-starred restaurant asterid in the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles
Mimi Scheffler Gordon ’94 dreamt of working in Africa one day when she visited for the first time as a Northwestern undergrad. Nearly three decades later, she’s spearheading a sustainability project in Kenyan communities, building up local economies with an unlikely partner: local bees.

Get in on the buzz

A beekeeper holds a panel of honeycomb with swarming bees
Artificial intelligence is all around us. And if AI is not already in your doctor’s office, you can bet it’s coming soon — with the potential to create major improvements in our health care and well-being.

Explore the feature

Geometric illustration featuring futuristic wheelchairs and doctors
Northwestern researchers are the first to discover a link between so-called “underground climate change,” or “subsurface heat islands,” and ground movements beneath urban areas. The researchers found that as the ground warms, it also moves, and this could be a ticking time bomb for urban infrastructure, which is now, quite literally, on shaky ground.

Learn about subsurface heat islands

A warmly colored illustration shows a city and its underneath layers, with abstract flames surrounding it.