News

A novel genetic toolkit may improve the study of how Clostridia bacteria in the gut contribute to disease and reveal new molecular mechanisms that may serve as effective therapeutic targets, as detailed in a recent study published in Nature Biotechnology.

A new study from Northwestern Medicine investigators, in collaboration with Biohub, a program of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, has identified potential drug targets for treating psoriasis, according to the study published in Nature Communications.

Feinberg students, staff, trainees and faculty celebrated scientific discoveries and collaboration and presented their research posters and abstracts at the 20th annual Lewis Landsberg Research Day on Thursday, Sept. 10.

The tissue microenvironments surrounding HIV-infected immune cells look a lot like those surrounding cancerous tumors, according to a new Northwestern study.

Brandon Jutras, PhD, associate professor of Microbiology-Immunology, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at age 44. An internationally recognized scientist, Jutras dedicated his career to translational medicine, studying the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, and advancing research to improve diagnostics and treatments for patients. His work touched countless lives and will continue to shape the future of Lyme disease research.

Jutras received his PhD at the University of Kentucky in 2013, and following postdoctoral work at Yale, he joined the faculty at Virginia Tech. In 2024, he was recruited to Northwestern as an associate professor. Jutras was a wonderful colleague who was full of energy and always willing to engage in fruitful conversations about science.

Jutras published many outstanding papers, including two in Science Translational Medicine in 2025, that demonstrated that the peptidoglycan of Borrelia can persist in discrete tissues and cause systemic Lyme disease, and identified an effective treatment. Jutras' research earned national recognition throughout his career. In addition to multiple NIH grants, he received the Bay Area Lyme Foundation's Emerging Leader Award, supporting his work on Lyme disease diagnostics. His lab's diagnostic test — which uses monoclonal antibodies with immuno-PCR and lateral flow technology to detect a unique Borrelia biomarker in blood and urine — went on to win the LymeX Diagnostics Prize, a national competition supported by the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation.

Jutras was the beloved husband of Kristin Rose Jutras and devoted father of their two-year-old daughter. He is also survived by members of his close and loving family – his parents, Debbie and Richard Jutras; his sister, Heather Jutras, her husband, Sam Herold and their daughters.

Read the full obituary.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered how calcium signaling channels in the brain’s immune cells regulate neuroinflammation and promote the development of behaviors associated with affective mood disorders, according to a recent study published in Science Signaling.

A new Northwestern Medicine study suggests a major psychiatric risk gene remains important well into adulthood and may influence brain communication, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

A new Northwestern Medicine study has identified a previously unknown mechanism by which the NAT10 enzyme promotes cancer cell proliferation, establishing this protein as a promising therapeutic target for cancer.

A new Northwestern Medicine study challenges traditional ideas about how dopamine influences movement, according to findings published in Science Advances.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that suppressing excitatory synaptic transmission in a small group of neurons in the brain may reverse levodopa-induced dyskinesia in patients with late-stage Parkinson’s disease without reducing the symptomatic benefits of levodopa treatment, according to a recent study published in Neuron.