Patterns of molecular activity in the blood may hold clues not only to how fit someone is, but also to the biological processes that support physical performance. Researchers at MIT, GE HealthCare, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point have developed a computational model that links thousands of these molecular signals to fitness levels, revealing pathways that could inform future studies to improve fitness training and speed injury or disease recovery. To develop their model, the researchers analyzed more than 50,000 biomarkers in 86 cadets at the U.S. Military Academy who were training for a military competition. Using these data, the researchers were able to identify molecular pathways that appear to contribute to higher levels of physical fitness. 'We had 50,000 measurements, and we wanted to get it down to about 100 where there's some likelihood that the markers that we're measuring are mechanistically linked to physical fitness. So, not just a statistical correlation, of which there will be many, but markers where there's a likelihood that there is a causal relationship,' says Ernest Fraenkel, the Grover M. Hermann Professor in Health Sciences and Technology in MIT's Department of Biological Engineering....

Three MIT rising seniors have been selected to receive a 2026 Barry Goldwater Scholarship, including Deeksha Kumaresh in the School of Engineering and Anna Liu and Charlotte Myersin the School of Science. An estimated 5,000 college sophomores and juniors from across the United States were nominated for the scholarships, of whom only 454 were selected. The Goldwater Scholarships have been conferred since 1989 by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. These scholarships have supported undergraduates who go on to become leading scientists, engineers, and mathematicians in their respective fields. Deeksha Kumaresh, a third-year biological engineering major, is an undergraduate researcher at the Hammond Lab. The Hammond Research Group at the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research focuses on the self-assembly of polymeric nanomaterials, with a major emphasis on the use of electrostatics and other complementary interactions to generate multifunctional materials with highly controlled architecture....

Four MIT faculty members are among the roughly 250 leaders from academia, the arts, industry, public policy, and research elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the academy announced April 22. Thirteen additional MIT alumni were also honored. One of the nation's most prestigious honorary societies, the academy is also a leading center for independent policy research. Members contribute to academy publications, as well as studies of science and technology policy, energy and global security, social policy and American institutions, the humanities and culture, and education. MIT alumni elected this year include Mark Aguiar PhD '99 (Economics); Mark G. Allen SM '86, PhD '89 (Chemical Engineering); Magdalena Balazinska PhD '06 (EECS); Keren Bergman SM '91, PhD '94 (EECS); Sara Cherry PhD '00 (Biology); Cynthia J. Ebinger SM '86, PhD '88 (EAPS); Charles L. Epstein '78 (Mathematics); Shanhui Fan PhD '97 (Physics); Atif Mian '96, PhD '01 (Mathematics with Computer Science and Economics); Sarah E. O'Connor PhD '01 (Chemistry); Darryll J. Pines SM '88, PhD '92 (Mechanical Engineering); Phillip (Terry) Ragon '72 (Physics); and Mansour Shayegan '79, EE '81, SM '81, PhD '83 (Electrical Engineering)....

Mitali Chowdhury '24 and Christina Kim '24 have been selected as 2026 Gates Cambridge Scholars. The highly competitive fellowship offers fully funded opportunities for postgraduate study in any field at Cambridge University in the U.K. Kim is a second-time Gates Cambridge Scholar. Chowdury graduated from MIT with a BS in biological engineering and minors in both urban planning and environment and sustainability. Chowdhury has had a longstanding interest in reducing inequities in global health. At MIT, she pursued research in point-of-care diagnostics to identify and treat disease with accessible biotechnologies. She also helped develop low-cost testing for bacterial contamination in water in South Asia. Chowdury currently works at a startup advancing sequencing-based diagnostics. At Cambridge University, she will study for MPhil and PhD degrees in the Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensor Technologies. Her research will focus on CRISPR-based diagnostics to address antimicrobial resistance and expand equitable access to care....