Congratulations to our largest group of graduates to date! Seven incredible students recently earned their Ph.D.s in molecular and cellular biology from Van Andel Institute Graduate School. This milestone achievement is an exciting step toward impactful careers in science.

This National Postdoc Appreciation Week, we’re inspired by stories like Dr. Agot Aleer’s. Her journey shows exactly what our postdoctoral program aims to be: a place where passion and opportunity come together to advance science. #NPAW25 www.vai.org/article/find...

It's National Postdoc Appreciation Week! We are proud to recognize our stellar postdocs, whose curiosity and dedication help drive our mission to improve health and enhance lives. Thank you for your outstanding work! 💙 #NPAW2025 www.vai.org/research/pos...

Another graduate student defended! Congratulations, Dr. Goralski!

Cure Parkinson’s and Van Andel Institute (@vai.org) are delighted to announce Dr Matt Farrer as the winner of the 2025 Tom Isaacs Award, which honours researchers who closely collaborate with the Parkinson’s community. Find out more: buff.ly/a003fQj

Congratulations to Dr. J. Timothy Greenamyre, recipient of the 2025 Jay Van Andel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Parkinson’s Disease Research! Dr. Greenamyre received the award today at the Grand Challenges in Parkinson's Disease symposium: www.vai.org/2025-jva-award

We are thrilled to welcome 16 students into Van Andel Institute Graduate School's 19th student cohort!

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Maulik Patel to VAI as an associate professor in our Department of Metabolism and Nutritional Programming. He will explore how cells maintain mitochondrial homeostasis and what happens when this process breaks down. www.vai.org/article/van-...

A new study, led by VAI’s Dr. Russell Jones and published in @cp-cellmetabolism.bsky.social, reveals that glucose, long known as a vital fuel for immune cells, also plays a key role in helping cancer-fighting T cells communicate and function effectively. www.vai.org/article/swee...

Grand Challenges in Parkinson’s Disease brings together hundreds of scientists, clinicians and people with Parkinson’s to learn, connect and shape the future of research. Join us Sept. 9–10, 2025 at Van Andel Institute. Learn more and register: grandchallengesinpd.org

🚀 Our new study is out in Nature Metabolism! We used single-embryo metabolomics and transcriptomics to map the earliest metabolic transitions in Drosophila development, including the onset of zygotic metabolism. Explore the dataset & findings: 🔗 rdcu.be/eAH12 #DevBio #metabolomics #Drosophila

A new study by @lempradllab.bsky.social offers a high-resolution look at the “metabolic handoff” from fruit fly mothers to offspring. The findings could help us better understand the roots of health and disease in humans. www.vai.org/article/stud...

A study by VAI’s Dr. Russell Jones, published in Science Advances, reveals that blocking a common inflammatory protein called IL-17 could open the door to better treatments for gastrointestinal cancers and Peutz-Jehgers syndrome. www.vai.org/article/redu...

What’s next in metabolism research? VAI’s Metabolism and Nutrition (MeNu) Program recently asked top experts to forecast their bold ideas. Read about six areas they said are primed for discovery: www.vai.org/article/what...

Congratulations to @nickburton.bsky.social, who was named today as a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences! This four-year award supports exceptional early-career scientists who seek answers to pressing questions about health and disease.

I’m really beyond thrilled to be included in this years Pew Biomedical Scholars cohort and to be able to meet all the incredible scientists in this program. I was in Scott Kennedy’s lab when he was a Pew Scholar and never thought I’d be lucky enough to also be one! www.pew.org/en/about/new...

Van Andel Institute (@vai.org) scientists develop improved single-cell DNA methylation technique https://cancerletter.com/clinical-roundup/20250725_8d/

Van Andel Institute scientists have developed an improved technique to comprehensively profile DNA methylation in single cells, an advance that will help researchers better study the role of epigenetics in cancer and other diseases.‬ www.vai.org/article/van-...

VAI’s Dr. Huilin Li and @rockefelleruniv.bsky.social's Dr. Michael O’Donnell have used cryo-EM to reveal a never-before-seen look at the “proofreading” proteins that safeguard DNA from errors during replication:

Congratulations to VAI's Dr. H. Josh Jang, who has been appointed to assistant professor in our Department of Cell Biology. www.vai.org/article/van-...

It is our pleasure to announce Eric L. Sturdy as Van Andel Institute’s Vice President of Philanthropy! Eric brings to this role more than 25 years of strategic fundraising leadership across community-based nonprofits, healthcare and higher education. Read more: www.vai.org/article/van-...

Congratulations to Joe Floramo, Ph.D., and Nathan Spix, Ph.D., who recently earned their Ph.D.s in molecular and cellular biology from Van Andel Institute Graduate School!

A study led by VAI’s @rothbartlab.bsky.social and his team sheds light on how interwoven epigenetic layers work together to sustain cancer cell survival. Their findings reveal a potential weak spot that could be leveraged to improve treatment.

We are thrilled to announce that renowned physician-scientist J. Timothy Greenamyre, M.D., Ph.D., of University of Pittsburgh, will be the recipient of the 2025 Jay Van Andel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Parkinson’s Disease Research!

Van Andel Institute scientists and collaborators have developed a new method for identifying and classifying pancreatic cancer cell subtypes based on sugars found on the outside of cancer cells.

The VAI Epigenomics Workshop is a great opportunity for #PhD students to learn the latest techniques from internationally recognized #epigenomics experts! 🗓️ July 29–31, 2025 📍 Van Andel Institute 👇 Learn more and apply

👏 Congratulations to VAI’s Dr. @shenhui1986.bsky.social, who was elected to the @aimbe-official.bsky.social College of Fellows! The prestigious appointment represents the top 2% of medical and biological engineers.

After the recent #exenatide results, what’s next in #Parkinsons disease research and clinical trials? Dr. Darren Moore, chair of VAI's Department of Neurodegenerative Science, explains:

We're thrilled to welcome Dr. Bang-An Wang as an assistant professor in our Department of Neurodegenerative Science!

A person’s lifetime risk for #cancer may begin before they are even born, reports a paradigm-shifting study by Van Andel Institute scientists published in @naturecancer.bsky.social. @andrewpospisilik.bsky.social @ilariapanzeri.bsky.social

The Van Andel Institute Public Lecture Series is back for 2025! The lectures are free to attend and registration is required. Read more: www.vai.org/article/van-...

“A major element of this effort was working to ensure that these models could be deployed by other groups onto new datasets. All too often this type of work is difficult to replicate or apply to new samples.” - Dr. Kyle Ellrott on the collaboration ⤵️

A free, publicly accessible resource to aid in classification of patient tumor samples is now available, thanks to a multi-institutional collaboration led by scientists at VAI, @broadinstitute.org and @ohsuknight.bsky.social. @peterwlaird.bsky.social

Thrilled to share the results in Cancer Cell of years of hard work to develop classifiers for all major TCGA cancer subtypes, enabling assessment of differential drug response among cancer subtypes in clinical trials. www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...

2024 has been a year of growth and impact for VAI. Check out our research year in review! ⬇️

Congratulations to VAI's Dr. Peter Jones, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and VAI’s Dr. Stephen Baylin, and Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Dr. Andrew Feinberg, who will receive the Harvey Prize for their groundbreaking work in cancer epigenetics! Read more: vai.org/harvey-prize

The VAI @vainstitute.bsky.social Graduate School is recruiting Ph.D. students in molecular & cell biology! Get top-tier scientific training, mentorship, and prep for leadership in biomedical research. 🎓 Watch our recruiting video: youtu.be/cOTdF06MekE #PhDSky #BioMedSky

Website and registration for the 11th annual Midwest Worm Meeting on April 18th is now live. Great opportunity for trainees who might not be able to attend the bigger meetings. Also if you'd like to visit VAI or see a great Keynote by Prof. Frank Schroeder this year. - www.vai.org/event/2025-m...

Congratulations to VAI's Dr. Russell Jones and Dr. @peterwlaird.bsky.social for being named to this year's Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list — a distinction that marks them as leaders in their fields. #HighlyCited2024

Our institute is hiring for a new faculty to join my department at any level! Incredible research support, a great community, a chance to build something while still being at a place already producing top tier research. We start reviewing apps in 2 weeks! vai.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/VAICar...

Cutting off cancer cells’ access to fat may help a specific type of cancer treatment work more effectively, reports a new study by VAI's Dr. Evan Lien published in @cellchembiol.bsky.social:

An experimental blood test consisting of 2 biomarkers more effectively detects pancreatic cancer earlier than other available tests, according to new research from VAI’s Dr. Brian Haab and collaborators. www.vai.org/article/expe...

New anti-cancer ‘degrader’ targets protein essential to infant leukemia: This side-by-side shows an untreated bone marrow sample (left) and a bone marrow sample after treatment with the cancer-fighting compound MS-41 (right). Read more: www.vai.org/article/new-...

Please join us in celebrating Van Andel Institute Graduate School's 18th student cohort! They are, in alphabetical order: Braelyn Binkowski; Maxwell Frye; Ali Gamal; Yixiong Han; Renee Hoffman; Ava Jensen; Dahlya Kamarudin; Noah Lubben; Vinny Sartori; Ashlin Slanger; Le Tran; and Anika Weekes.

Congratulations to @laurenmharmon.bsky.social, a Ph.D. candidate in the @timtriche.bsky.social lab, who recently earned a prestigious F99/K00 award! This fellowship will aid her research in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia. Read our 2023 profile of Lauren here ⬇️

Immune cells use two different routes to produce an essential metabolite required to fight infection and cancer, according to a study led by VAI scientists published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. www.vai.org/article/immu...

These tiny fish are making big waves in cancer research! Dr. Stephanie Grainger and her lab rely on #zebrafish to investigate how stem cells are made, how they are maintained and — when things go wrong — how they can become cancerous. www.vai.org/article/can-...

VAI scientists have identified more than 1,000 previously undetected proteins in common metabolite samples. In a new Nature Communications paper, they offer a novel protocol for removing them to improve metabolomics results: www.vai.org/article/stud...

Proteins usually are studied at low temps. But what happens when you heat certain proteins to body temp, then flash freeze them to study under high-powered microscopes? They reveal possible hidden drug targets, according to new research from Dr. Juan Du and Dr. Wei Lü:

Findings from VAI’s Henderson Lab, published in Nature Communications, identified a molecular “fingerprint” that marks brain cells vulnerable to Lewy bodies, key hallmarks of #Parkinsons & Lewy body dementia. The image depicts cells in yellow & pathology in magenta. www.vai.org/henderson-le...