Research News

Penn State Harrisburg graduate students in environmental pollution control Rizki Prasetyaningtyas and Saskia Putri have been eating lots of bananas and oranges. All this fruit consumption has a purpose. The students are testing whether fruit peels can be used to remove heavy metals from wastewater coming from textile mills like the ones in their native country Indonesia.

That pint of ice cream after a nasty breakup may not do as much damage as you think. Despite the emotional turmoil, people on average do not report gaining weight after a relationship dissolution, according to new research from Penn State Harrisburg.

Through a five-year, $1.9 million grant funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases within the National Institutes of Health, researchers are studying the protein REDD1, which may play a role in how the body responds to hormones like insulin or cortisol. Understanding that role could lead to advances in the treatment of obesity, diabetes and other insulin resistant conditions.

Gina Brelsford was like any other new professor – she hoped she wouldn’t embarrass herself in front of her students. As a new instructor in clinical psychology at Penn State Harrisburg and a soon-to-be mother, she was nervous for many reasons.