Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
April 14, 2026
April 14, 2026 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

Science & Technology






COURTESY OF AJAY KUMAR CHAURASIYA / CREATIVE COMMONS
A PhD student William Brakewood is undertaking a new venture: the creation of the start-up Microbiome Foundries.

Microbiome Foundries: A new start-up venture

A fourth-year doctoral student in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Hopkins, William Brakewood, is undertaking a new venture: the creation of a start-up, Microbiome Foundries, which designs bacteria to regulate surface microbiomes.


COURTESY OF WILL KIRK
In an interview with The News-Letter, McCoy discussed his lab’s current research in evolutionary genetics.

Evolutionary genetics and biological research: an interview with Rajiv McCoy

Rajiv McCoy is a newly tenured Associate Professor within the Department of Biology at Hopkins. He is renowned for his research in evolutionary genetics. In an interview with The News-Letter, he discussed his specific interests within the field of biology and expanded upon his passion for scientific research and discovery.


COURTESY OF SLOANWEBMASTER / CREATIVE COMMONS
Sloan Fellow Professor Yayuan Liu discusses her research in an interview with The News-Letter.

Hopkins Professor Dr. Yayuan Liu Awarded Sloan Fellowship

Yayuan Liu, a Russell Croft Faculty Scholar and Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Hopkins, was awarded the Sloan Fellowship on Feb. 17, 2026, for her work in carbon capture, water remediation and electrochemical imaging platforms.


COURTESY OF DIVYANSH LALWANI
Lalwani pinpointed context-switching as a major obstacle in reaching optimal productivity. His software, overlay, aims to reduce this friction. 

Alumnus Divyansh Lalwani reduces context switching with overlay

Divyansh Lalwani, a recent Biomedical Engineering and Applied Mathematics and Statistics graduate, recently released “overlay,” a software that reduces the effort that comes with switching screens by relying on overlays, content that lays on top of the overall screen. In an interview with The News-Letter, Lalwani described the program and the journey that led to its creation.


COURTESY OF SKAMAN306/GETTY
Plotnik’s research has revealed that elephants rely primarily on olfactory senses to perceive their environments and make foraging choices.

Joshua Plotnik’s 20-year quest to understand the elephant mind

Joshua Plotnik, director of Comparative Cognition for Conversation Lab at the City University of New York, delivered a PBS Colloquium lecture on March 4 in Gilman Hall about cognitive flexibility in Asian elephants and revealed a few of the insights gained in the field of comparative cognition.




COURTESY OF ELANA FERTIG
Wu reflects on Fertig's research studying cancer using computational approaches including spatial biology.

When cells become equations: A reflection on spatial biology

In this piece, I highlight one particular talk that caught my interest — given by Elana Fertig, Dean E. Albert Reece Endowed Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland. Fertig’s talk centered around rethinking how we can predict and monitor the carcinogenesis of pancreatic cancer through a spatial biology and computational lens.


COURTESY OF YOUNAN XIA / CREATIVE COMMONS
Professor Younan Xia discusses his research and shares some insights in an interview with The News-Letter.

Nanomaterials and curiosity: an interview with professor Younan Xia

Professor Younan Xia is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Hopkins well reputed for his extensive experience and work with nanomaterials. He was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering, a significant accomplishment. In an interview with The News-Letter, he discussed his research and shared some of his insights.









News-Letter Magazine