The Fort Worth Regional Science and Engineering Fair (FWRSEF), held in partnership with The University of Texas at Arlington, is the oldest continually operating regional science fair in Texas. One of the reasons it has been so successful is the tireless organizational efforts of UT Arlington psychology Professor Yuan Bo Peng, who has served as director of the 73-year-old FWRSEF since 2012. In recognition of his dedication to the science fair, Dr. Peng received the 2024 Individual Outstanding Community Service Award from the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Chinese Institute of Engineers (CIE/USA-DFW).

Brain disorders like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s Disease start to develop in patients much earlier than when their first clinical symptoms appear. Treating patients at these early stages could slow or even stop their disease, but there is currently no way to diagnose brain disorders at those pre-symptomatic stages. A collaborative team led by David Walt at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital advanced their technology platform for detecting biomarkers of disease in extracellular vesicles with a critical step that gets them closer to that goal. By enzymatically digesting all surface-bound proteins from a purified EV population, they were able to specifically home in on the PD-specific cargo protein ⍺-synuclein inside of EVs while eliminating unspecific “contaminations.”