Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) chemist Pier Alexandre Champagne has received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to advance the understanding of sulfur-containing molecules that are key to cellular defense and health, but transform so quickly into different compounds — within fractions of a second — that scientists have struggled to understand them. The $785,000 award will support Champagne’s project to develop new tools to produce these quick-changing molecules for study, while using advanced computational methods to predict their behavior. In addition, the award will...

The average person is estimated to consume up to a credit card's worth of plastic particles each week. However, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) undergrad Allison Harbolic is now uncovering the effects that our regular intake of nano-sized plastics can have at a critical stage of life — during pregnancy. Harbolic's latest research into how nanoplastics impact placental health recently won her prestigious honors from the Society of Toxicology (SOT), an international scientific organization with members from more than 60 countries. Harbolic ’26 was one of just 20 undergraduates...

Biologists at NJIT unearth a buried chapter in the evolution of dirt ants, uncovering first fossil evidence that one of Earth's stealthiest insects inhabited the Caribbean millions of years ago. Wherever there’s dirt there’s bound to be ants, but one particular group is so adept at blending in with the ground that they hold the name “dirt ant” (Basiceros) all to themselves. Now, an ancient fossil has revealed these elusive ants have seen much more of the planet’s dirt throughout their history than scientists previously realized. In findings published in the Proceedings of the Royal...

We all know how bad smoking is for you, but what about vaping? A new study at New Jersey Institute of technology (NJIT) led by forensic anthropologist and biochemist Sara Zapico is exploring the potential long-term health risks of e-cigarettes and how they might manifest in young adults at the genetic level, which up until now isn't fully understood. With funding from the New Jersey Health Foundation, Zapico is investigating how vaping may alter patterns in gene expression in Gen Z and young Millennial users — insights from which could reveal early warning signs of cancer and...