‘Dancing molecules’ in the lab

Professor Samuel Stupp welcomed U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin and Northwestern President Morton Schapiro to his lab recently to discuss his research in the area of regenerative medicine and a new injectable therapy that harnesses “dancing molecules” to reverse paralysis and repair tissue after severe spinal cord injuries.

Duckworth of Illinois and Langevin of Rhode Island have been champions in Congress for Americans with disabilities as well as biomedical research.

Stupp, the Board of Trustees Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern, and graduate student Anna Metlushko show a sample of a nanofiber solution that can be injected into an injured spinal cord to help restore movement after paralysis.

Photos by Shane Collins