“Dancing molecules,” the promising new treatment for acute spinal cord injuries developed by CRN director Samuel Stupp, has received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The FDA’s Orphan Drug program is designed to encourage and support the development of treatments for rare diseases or conditions. The designation’s benefits include financial incentives such as tax credits for clinical trials, exemption from user fees and up to seven years of market exclusivity after approval.

A research team led by CRN director Samuel Stupp has developed a new approach that directly combats the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

In these devastating illnesses, proteins misfold and clump together around brain cells, which ultimately leads to cell death. The innovative new treatment effectively traps the proteins before they can aggregate into the toxic structures capable of penetrating neurons.

CRN faculty member Jonathan Rivnay was elected into the 2025 class of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellows, the AIMBE announced. He was cited “for making pioneering contributions in the field of conducting polymers, bioelectronics, and medical devices.”

The AIMBE College of Fellows comprises the top 2 percent of medical and biological engineers, honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering and medicine research, practice, or education.

Northwestern University scientists led by SQI director Samuel Stupp have developed an injectable bioactive material that successfully regenerated high-quality hyaline cartilage in the knee joints of large animals. With more work, the researchers say the new material could potentially be used to prevent full knee replacement surgeries, treat degenerative diseases like osteoarthritis and repair sports-related injuries like ACL tears.

In November 2021, SQI director Samuel Stupp’s laboratory introduced an injectable new therapy, which harnessed fast-moving “dancing molecules,” to repair tissues and reverse paralysis after severe spinal cord injuries. Now, the same research group has applied the therapeutic strategy to damaged human cartilage cells.

“We are beginning to see the tremendous breadth of conditions that this fundamental discovery on ‘dancing molecules’ could apply to,” Stupp said. “Controlling supramolecular motion through chemical design appears to be a powerful tool to increase efficacy for a range of regenerative therapies.”

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) published a “science highlight” on new technologies to improve bladder surgery and monitoring, developed by SQI members Arun Sharma, Guillermo Ameer and John Rogers. Their translational research, which combines regenerative medicine and bioelectronics, was originally published in separate papers in PNAS and PNAS Nexus.

SQI member Jonathan Rivnay was named to the 2024 “Researchers to Know” list by the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC). An expert in organic and hybrid bioelectronics, Rivnay was one of 31 faculty members from across the state recognized by the ISTC.

Researchers led by SQI members Guillermo Ameer, John Rogers and Arun Sharma have developed a new soft, flexible, battery-free implant that attaches to the bladder wall to sense filling. Then, it wirelessly transmits data to a smartphone app, so users can monitor their bladder fullness in real time.

While this new device is unnecessary for the average person, it could be a game-changer for people with paralysis, spina bifida, bladder cancer or end-stage bladder disease. The sensor system also can enable clinicians to monitor their patients remotely and continuously to make more informed — and faster — treatment decisions.