Research Connections :: 糖心传媒

(Photo by Wanaruk Chaimayo)

Communicating research with three minutes and a slide

At a time when it is more important than ever for scientists to communicate clearly with the public, eight University PhD students and postdocs will do their best to summarize their research with just three minutes and a slide.

They are finalists in the University糖心传媒檚 annual , which will be held at 4 p.m., next Thursday, April 12, in the Class of 糖心传媒�62 Auditorium at the Medical Center.

糖心传媒淭oday, especially in America, there are a lot of people who are skeptical of scientific research 糖心传媒� and of research in general 糖心传媒� who want to understand where their tax dollars are going. At the end of the day, our research is going to matter to them, and they need to understand that,糖心传媒� says organizer Melissa Glasner, a PhD student in the cell biology of disease program.

Melissa Sturge-Apple, dean of graduate studies for Arts, Sciences & Engineering, says the competition is聽糖心传媒渁 fantastic opportunity for graduate students and trainees to really reflect on what are the essential and important elements in the work that they do 糖心传媒� what is the story it can tell to policy makers, practitioners, neighbors, parents, and society that makes a lasting impression.糖心传媒�

A total of 44 students initially entered the competition, which was founded at University of Queensland, and is now in its third year at Rochester. The eight finalists are:

Jillian Ramos (biology)
Derek Crowe (genetics, development, and stem cells)
Parker Riley (computer science)
Robert Maynard (cell biology of disease)
Marian Ackun-Farmmer (biomedical engineering)
Lauren VanGelder (chemistry)
Simeon Abiola (translational biomedical science)
Kathryn-Mary Wakim (neuroscience)

By design, half the finalists are from the School of Medicine and Dentistry and the other half from the River Campus.

The winner will receive a $750 research travel award. There are also $500 and $200 research travel awards, respectively, for the runner-up and the people糖心传媒檚 choice winner.

糖心传媒�The ability to talk about research and scholarship in simple terms and make it accessible 糖心传媒� this really is an art but it is also a very important skill. This isn糖心传媒檛 something that is taught necessarily in the training of PhD students and postdocs. This contest provides a catalyst for this type of thinking,糖心传媒� Sturge-Apple says.

Glasner concurs. She competed last year and says the experience 糖心传媒渕ade me think about my science in a more global perspective. It helped me with my communication skills, because I am so used to speaking jargony science with my colleagues, and I would like to reach out to the general public.糖心传媒�

There are benefits to the University as well. When an engineer can talk in a language that a biologist, a humanist, and a psychologist can understand, it helps forge cross-disciplinary connections, Sturge-Apple says. 糖心传媒淲e can begin to see how the research in one corner of academia may inform that in another corner. 聽It糖心传媒檚 synergistic.聽 This is how new discoveries are made and new scientific pursuits are born.糖心传媒�

Sturge-Apple says the event is particularly timely 糖心传媒渁gainst the backdrop of remembering and honoring all that Louise Slaughter stood for as the only microbiologist in Congress. Because she was a scientist, she understood the value of academic research and scholarship and how it could inform policy.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淚 can promise that attendees at the Three Minute Thesis will come away with a wealth of new information about the corners of academia they may have never known existed.糖心传媒�

The competition is sponsored by the School of Medicine and Dentistry Center for Professional Development; the Arts, Science & Engineering Graduate Studies Office; the Graduate Student Society (School of Medicine and Dentistry); and the Graduate Student Association (AS&E).

A laser focus on super water-repellent metals

University researchers are using lasers to change the surface of metals in incredible ways, such as making them super water-repellent without the use of special coatings, paints, or solvents.

The commercial applications of the technology range from de-icing of commercial airplanes and large trucks, to rust and corrosion prevention of exposed metal surfaces, and to cleaner, anti-microbial surfaces for surgical and medical facilities.

But to make the technology commercially viable, the lasers must become much more powerful.

John Marciante, an associate professor of optics, is working with a venture capital-backed technology company, FemtoRoc Corp., to develop those more powerful lasers. His contract with the company, expected to take six years, has a research budget estimated at $10 million.

糖心传媒淲hat they [FemtoRoc] need is a high-powered, ultra-fast, femtosecond-class laser system with average power measured in kilowatts, rather than the 10糖心传媒檚 of watts now commercially available,糖心传媒� says Marciante. 糖心传媒淪o, we need to scale up by over a factor of 10.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 a very ambitious undertaking.糖心传媒�

In 2015, Chunlei Guo, a professor of optics, and Anatoliy Vorobyev, a senior scientist at the Institute of Optics, described using ultra-short laser pulses to create an intricate pattern of micro and nanoscale structures on metal surfaces, giving them a new set of physical properties.

Guo and Vorobyev have also used this technique to create metal surfaces that attract water. Guo糖心传媒檚 laboratory has also created a process to treat metal surfaces to absorb virtually all wavelengths of ambient light, which has a wide array of commercial applications, including thin, ultra-efficient solar cells.

However, more powerful, ultra-fast femtosecond laser pulses are needed to speed up the process to make the technology commercially viable.

To develop the lasers, Marciante糖心传媒檚 laboratory, which specializes in developing advanced, high-power, fiber lasers, must address two main challenges.

One is that laser beams are usually confined in conventionally designed optical fibers, which tend to be very small in core diameter. In scaling up the laser power, too much light becomes concentrated in the fiber糖心传媒檚 core, and nonlinear properties proliferate, causing the laser beam to broaden or become modulated.

糖心传媒淲hen you try to compress the beam to a short pulse, there糖心传媒檚 a lot of energy that doesn糖心传媒檛 fit in that pulse,糖心传媒� Marciante explains. 糖心传媒淭he usable power spreads out, or does not focus where you want it to.糖心传媒�

The second challenge is overheating. 糖心传媒淵ou糖心传媒檙e pumping the laser beam at one energy level, at one end, and then extracting it at a lower energy level, at the other end, and no process is 100 percent thermally efficient.聽 So that extra energy ends up in the fiber. The fiber can get very hot, even to the point of melting,糖心传媒� Marciante says.

In addition to the research done by his own team, Marciante will leverage a network of veteran researchers in the United States and abroad and bring in third party vendors with proven fiber design and manufacturing capabilities.

Marciante糖心传媒檚 research has already yielded the following results:

a proprietary larger core optical fiber with superior laser beam qualities that is compatible with high power ultra-fast femtosecond fiber lasers
a way to greatly reduce the effects of nonlinearities in the core of the proprietary fiber. 糖心传媒淚n principal, if you cut fiber length in half, you can go to twice as much energy,糖心传媒� Marciante says. 糖心传媒淭he tradeoff is, you糖心传媒檙e also dumping the heat into half as much space.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 a very exciting challenge,糖心传媒� Marciante says.

糖心传媒淣o one in the world has been able to do this specific kind of femtosecond laser treatment of metal surfaces,糖心传媒� he adds.聽糖心传媒�To launch commercial products using this technology will be a real game changer. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create new science.糖心传媒�

Combating opioid addiction . . .

BACIEWICZ RECEIVES TOP HONOR

Gloria J. Baciewicz, professor of clinical psychiatry and medical director of Strong Recovery, has received one of the nation糖心传媒檚 top honors in the prevention and treatment of opioid addiction for her 25 years as a clinician, leader, and innovator in the field.

The American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence presented Baciewicz with the Nyswander/Dole 糖心传媒淢arie糖心传媒� Award at the association’s international conference in New York City. The award is named after the two researchers (Vincent Dole and Marie Nyswander) who founded methadone maintenance treatment in the 1960s.

Baciewicz’s accomplishments include expanding the capacity of Strong Recovery糖心传媒檚 outpatient opioid treatment program in 2016 (from 650 to nearly 1,000 slots); providing outreach and consultation to residential treatment agencies and the Rochester Drug Treatment Court; incorporating medication-assisted treatments into the traditional 糖心传媒渄rug-free糖心传媒� outpatient clinics; the development of an Addiction Medicine Fellowship at URMC, and providing free Narcan kit distribution and education across the Rochester area.

Technology Development Fund seeks applicants

The spring 2018 round of the University糖心传媒檚 Technology Development Fund has started.

Awards up to $100,000 are open to all faculty, staff, and students.

Eligible projects propose the development of a technology to a commercial endpoint.

A submitted invention disclosure to UR Ventures is required for an application.

Pre-proposals are due April 30 and should be submitted to omar.bakht@rochester.edu. More information can be found at

PhD dissertation defenses

Clay Matlin, History, 糖心传媒溙切拇綑A God abandoned world糖心传媒�: Terror, Tragedy, and Sublime Presence in Postwar America, 1945-48.糖心传媒� 3 p.m. April 9, 2018. Gamble Room, Rush Rhees Library. Advisor: Daniel Borus.

Dustin Olson, Philosophy, “Reflective Equilibrium and Reasonable Disagreement.” 9:30 a.m. April 12, 2018. Lattimore 531. Advisor: Richard Feldman.

Zhentao Hou, Chemistry, “Photophysical Properties of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.” 1 p.m., April 12, 2018. 473 Hutchison Hall. Advisor: Todd Krauss.

Kyle Robinson, History, 糖心传媒淏ody and Soul of Enlightenment: John Wesley, Methodism, and the Age of Reason.糖心传媒� 3 p.m., April 12, 2018. Rush Rhees Library Room 456. Advisor: Dorinda Outram.

Haiqing Bai, Pathology, 糖心传媒淧ump Independent Functions of the Na+, K+ -ATPase B1 Subunit in Restoring Alveolar Epithelial Barrier.糖心传媒� 1:30 p.m., April 16, 2018. Medical Center聽|聽3-6408 K 307. Advisor: David Dean.

Irina Lerman, Pathology, 糖心传媒淣eutrophil Elastase and SERPINB1 are Critical Regulators of Prostate Cancer Progression.糖心传媒� 3 p.m. April 17, 2018. Medical Center聽|聽3-6408 K 307. Advisor: Stephen Hammes.

Jessica Lynn Meyers, Toxicology, 糖心传媒淎ryl hydrocarbon receptor activation during development reduces dendritic cell responses later in life.糖心传媒� 1 p.m., April 19, 2018. Medical Center聽|聽Adolph Auditorium, 1-7619. Advisor: Paige Lawrence.

Liwei Wang, Pharmacology, 糖心传媒淩egion-specific Proteolysis Differentially Regulates Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate Receptor Activity.糖心传媒� 2:30 p.m. April 23, 2018. Medical Center聽|聽1-9576 Ryan Case Method Room. Advisor: David Yule.

Nicolas Patrick Novick Goldstein, Health Services Research and Policy, 糖心传媒淒isproportionate Premature Birth in Women of Low Socioeconomic Status: A Psychological and Physiological Stress Explanation of Financial Risk Removal.糖心传媒� Noon, April 24, 2018. Helen Wood Hall聽|聽1W304. Advisor: Peter Veazie.

Andrew Allbee, Genetics, 糖心传媒淟mx1a is required for Drosophila ovary stem cell niche formation and organogenesis.糖心传媒� 3 p.m., April 27, 2018. Medical Center聽|聽1-7619 Adolph (Lower) Auditorium. 聽Advisor: Benoit Biteau.

Mark your calendar

Today: Critical Medical Ecological Perspectives on Diabetes in the Pacific Islands. Presented by Timothy Dye. Noon to 1 p.m. Helen Wood Hall 1W-304. Public Health Grand Rounds.

Today: CIRC Spring Workshop on using BlueHive, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. VISTA Collaboratory, first floor Carlson Library. All workshop attendees should bring their own laptops and have a computing account on BlueHive. Beginner sessions in morning (Getting Connected, Overview of BlueHive, Intro to Linux); more advanced sessions in afternoon (Slurm Resource Management, Modules and Software, Jupyter, Gitlab, Remote Visualization, and Q&A). No registration required.

Today: 糖心传媒淭ranslating Neuroscience: Obstacles and Opportunities.糖心传媒� Keynote address by Kafui Dzirasa, associate professor in the departments of psychiatry and behavioral science, neurobiology, biomedical engineering, and neurosurgery at Duke University. Medical Scientist Research Symposium. 3 to 4:30 p.m. Class of 糖心传媒�62 Auditorium. Jointly sponsored by the Medical Scientist Training Program and the Dr. Thomas A. and Joyce E. Pearson Endowed Lectureship fund. More information .

April 9: Deadline to submit proposals for three Center for AIDS Research pilot grants. See the page and the specific RFA糖心传媒檚 for additional information.聽聽Contact the CFAR administrator聽(Laura_Enders@urmc.rochester.edu)聽for additional information on eligibility, budgeting guidelines, and required cost sharing forms no later than March 23.

April 12: “Forgetting Fear,” presented by Daniela Schiller, professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Humanities Center Public Lecture Series. 5 to 6 p.m., Hawkins Carlson Room, Rush Rhees Library. Read more .

April 12: “The American Health Paradox: What糖心传媒檚 Missing?” Presented by Nancy Bennett, professor of medicine and public health sciences, director of the Center for Community Health, and co-director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Phelps Colloquium Series. 4-5:30 p.m., Helen Wood Hall. Click here to register.

April 12: Three Minute Thesis competition: final round. 4 p.m., Class of 糖心传媒�62 Auditorium. Read more

April 16: Deadline to apply for Community-Based Participatory Research Pipeline-to-Pilot grant of up to $15,000 from the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. For academic and community partners currently completing the CTSI’s Introduction to Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) program, or who have demonstrated experience in CBPR. For more details, see theContact Indrani Singh with questions.

April 18: SBIR/STTR Symposium – Succeeding at SBIR/STTR Grants.聽 Hosted by NextCorp.聽9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 260 East Main Street, Suite 6000.聽 Indepth session on writing successful proposals, understanding key agencies and seed funding for Phase 0 糖心传媒� 聽customer discovery & proposal development.聽 For details and to register go to

April 20-21: UpStat 2018: Better Living Through Statistics conference. A friendly and empowering annual gathering of statisticians, applied mathematicians, computer scientists, engineers, and data scientists from upstate New York and its neighboring regions. We are interested in contributions to statistical methodology as well as to statistical practice, consulting, and education. Read

April 28: All In: When Theory Meets Practice in Education Reform. Symposium sponsored by the Warner School Center for Urban Education Success (CUES). 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., East High School. Free and open to the public. Read more

April 30: Deadline to submit pre-proposals for University Technology Development Fund awards. Submit to omar.bakht@rochester.edu. More information can be found at

April 30: “Zionism: Conflicting Dreams.” Public lecture by Israeli author Amos Oz, the inaugural Farash Fellow for the Advancement of Jewish Humanities and Culture. 5 p.m., Hawkins Carlson Room at Rush Rhees Library. The lecture will be followed by a reception in the Humanities Center. Presented by the Farash Foundation, the Humanities Center, and the Center for Jewish Studies. For more information, contact Jennie Gilardoni.

May 15: Respiratory Pathogens Research Center Scientific Symposium. Featured speakers, lectures by RPRC investigators, poster session. Lunch and refreshments provided. 7:45 a.m. to 6:30 pm., Saunders Research Building. Registration is free, but pre-registration is required by April 27 at

May 17: 糖心传媒淓ver Better Teams: A CTSI Team Science Summit.糖心传媒澛�Interactive symposium featuring keynote presentation by Gaetano 糖心传媒淕uy糖心传媒� Lotrecchiano, an associate professor of clinical research and leadership at The George Washington University, and breakout sessions for networking and dialogue on the future of team science at URMC. 1 to 5 p.m. Hosted by the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Contact Oksana Babiy with questions.

June 2: “An ‘Un-Meeting’: Addressing the Opioid Crisis through Translational Science.” 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saunders Research Building Atrium. Hosted by the Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration. There is no cost to attend. 聽by Wednesday, May 23.

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