Research Connections :: 糖心传媒

The image shows the top 10 brain regions that were most informative at distinguishing HIV-negative from HIV-positive subjects.

Using machine learning to diagnose HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders

More than 25 percent of individuals with HIV experience a set of complications known as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Symptoms are often subtle and dynamic, which renders diagnosis of the condition challenging. A new study published in Computers in Biology and Medicine explores automated approaches to detect biomarkers of HAND. In the study, led by Udaysankar Chockanathan, third-year Medical Science Training Program (MSTP) student, researchers trained a machine learning model using brain network properties derived from functional MRI (fMRI) data. They then applied the learned model to predict HIV-status and cognitive performance at the level of individual subjects.

糖心传媒淭o perform this study, we integrated expertise from many different disciplines,糖心传媒� says Chockanathan. 糖心传媒淔or instance, one of the study糖心传媒檚 authors is Giovanni Schifitto, a neurologist with experience in the management of patients with HAND. The senior author, Axel Wism眉ller, is a radiologist who runs a research lab on computational methods for medical image analysis.糖心传媒�

Researchers took raw fMRI data and built brain connectivity maps using two different analysis methods: Pearson correlation, a widely used technique for comparing the similarity between two variables, and large-scale Granger causality (lsGC), a novel method developed from an algorithm initially deployed in economics. 听The brain connectivity maps generated from each method were analyzed with a machine learning model to predict (1) HIV-status and (2) cognitive performance. Prediction of both variables was better with lsGC than with Pearson correlation.

糖心传媒�The fact that a technique originally developed for economics might help predict brain scores better was surprising to me,糖心传媒� says Chockanathan. 糖心传媒淣o one has taken these brain networks and thrown them at a machine learning algorithm to use them to predict HIV status, so this is new.糖心传媒�

Down the line, Chockanathan would like to understand how biological and socioeconomic variables, such as age, sex, education level, drug use, and antiretroviral medications, affect the brain networks of individuals with HAND, and, ultimately, to find biomarkers that can be used to identify HIV-positive individuals at risk for HAND, before neurocognitive decline begins.

Additional co-authors Adora DSouza (PhD 糖心传媒�19) and Anas Abidin (PhD 糖心传媒�19) provided substantial insight on the design and implementation of the models used in the study.

GIDS糖心传媒� new interim director wants to 糖心传媒榖uild a community糖心传媒� with faculty

Academic researchers tend to identify themselves with their research groups, the courses they teach, the grants they receive, the departments they are connected to.

Mujdat Cetin would like 糖心传媒 researchers to see the Goergen Institute for Data Science (GIDS) as an equally important 糖心传媒渄imension of their professional identities.糖心传媒�

That will be one of Cetin糖心传媒檚 top priorities when the associate professor of electrical and computer engineering takes over July 1 as GIDS糖心传媒� interim director for a one- year term. He replaces Ehsan Hoque, assistant professor of computer science, who held the position for a year and a half while the University conducted a nationwide search for a permanent director to replace Henry Kautz. That search will continue this fall. Kautz, the founding director of GIDS, is currently serving a three-year term as director of the Division of Information and Intelligent Systems at the National Science Foundation.

The Institute, founded in 2014, 糖心传媒渉as put the University of Rochester way ahead of the curve as compared to some of our peers,糖心传媒� Cetin says. 糖心传媒淚t is a very well- managed, well-established organization; it has very successful academic programs, at both the undergraduate and graduate level.糖心传媒�

What糖心传媒檚 needed now are ways to better connect the institute with the University糖心传媒檚糖心传媒渄iverse set of faculty, in areas from basic sciences and engineering, to medicine and economics, who obviously have different research interests, but have a shared interest in the theory, techniques, and applications of data science,糖心传媒� Cetin says.

Many of the faculty members he糖心传媒檚 talked with, he says, want to know 糖心传媒渉ow GIDS can contribute to the scientific environment and scientific output that we have; and how it can help us do something that we ourselves are not already doing.糖心传媒�

So, as he makes the rounds this summer and into fall, Cetin will be gathering ideas on how to build a community that more closely engages faculty with GIDS. 糖心传媒淲e should come up with activities that not only improve faculty connections with the institute, but improve our knowledge of one another糖心传媒檚 research,糖心传媒� he says.

In parallel, he wants to explore incentives and mechanisms GIDS might offer to encourage multidisciplinary collaborations among faculty. That might involve GIDS facilitating the formation of research clusters, and helping researchers write research proposals, with the goal of 糖心传媒渃oming up with multi-PI, major research initiatives in data science that we wouldn糖心传媒檛 be doing in our own departments,糖心传媒� Cetin says.

He糖心传媒檚 also interested in:

exploring synergies between GIDS and the University糖心传媒檚 Rochester Data Science Consortium, which was established in 2017 with New York State funding to help create 糖心传媒渉igh-value, knowledge-based糖心传媒� jobs in Rochester and further the region糖心传媒檚 development as a high-tech hub.
making sure GIDS is 糖心传媒減ublicized well to the outside world,糖心传媒� including industry, other academic institutions, government, and foundations.

Do term limits really work?

Between 1990 and 1995, 21 states adopted legislative term limits, and 15 still have them on the books today.

But did they really produce the intended change?

Term limits were expected to replace career politicians with so-called 糖心传媒渃itizen legislators,糖心传媒� who intended to serve a short while and then return to their previous occupation, according to Lynda Powell, a professor of political science, who 听before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, chaired by Republican Senator Ted Cruz from Texas.

Powell, who has studied the matter since 1995, told the subcommittee that term limits had 苍辞迟听led to a significant increase in citizen-legislators, nor to a decrease in career-oriented politicians.

Instead, she found that in states with term limits politicians often ran for another office. Powell discovered no differences in demographic composition between term limit newcomers and other newcomers when it came to politicians糖心传媒� level of education, income, age, race, gender, occupation, ideology, and ideological extremism.

Term limits did, however, have an immediate effect on legislator behavior.

糖心传媒淲e found that members in term limit chambers spent less time on keeping in touch with their constituents, on casework, and on pork,糖心传媒澨齭aid Powell. Yet, there was no difference between term limit and non-term limit chambers when it came to time spent on campaigning and fundraising.

The strongest findings involved institutional effects. 糖心传媒�When term limits are implemented in legislatures, governors, as well as bureaucrats and civil servants, gain considerable influence at the expense of legislatures,糖心传媒� Powell said.

Watch Powell糖心传媒檚 five-minute .
See her , which starts with Powell糖心传媒檚 answer to Senator Hirano糖心传媒檚 question about other ways to achieve the goal of less corrupt, more transparent, and more responsive government.
Read a written copy of her prepared testimony听or watch the .

Demonstration of Embark initiative software offered for study coordinators

The initiative to streamline clinical research management at the Medical Center is underway. The (Study Coordinators Organization for Research and Education) meeting on Wednesday, July 17 will focus on this topic.

The meeting, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in SRB Room 1416, will delve deeper into what the software can achieve along with software demonstrations.

This meeting is designed for study and research coordinators. The meeting will be videotaped, and Zoom will be available. If you require special accommodations or wish to get the Zoom link, please email SCORE.

Falling Walls Competition seeks applicants

Last year, Medical Center urologist Ahmed Ghazi 糖心传媒� along with prize money, a year-long mentorship on scientific publishing, and an invitation to serve as a judge for the 2019 International Final.

Students, junior faculty, early career researchers, and entrepreneurs who would like to follow in Ghazi’s footsteps can apply now through September 11 to enter this year’s competition.

Pitch your innovative idea 糖心传媒� highlighting a breakthrough that creates a positive impact on science and society 糖心传媒� in just three minutes on October 8 at Feldman Ballroom. The winner will represent the University at the International Falling Walls Finale in Berlin.

by Wednesday, September 11. Email a three-panel slide presentation by Friday, September 27. Contact Adele Coelho for questions.

New student competition promotes awareness of tobacco regulatory science

Students 听at 听the 听University 听of 听Rochester 听and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center are 听invited 听to 听participate 听in听 a .听 It aims to promote student awareness and interest in Tobacco Regulatory Science (TRS) and the aligned FDA Research Priorities to better understand toxicity, addiction, and appeal of current and emerging tobacco products, and to provide an evidence base for FDA regulatory considerations.

Each team (either an individual or up to four students) develops and presents a proposed solution 糖心传媒� a well-developed and researched thought experiment听糖心传媒� to address one or more identified Tobacco Regulatory Research Priorities.听 Presentations may also propose novel methodologies for addressing these priorities.听 For a list of Tobacco Regulatory Science priorities, students should consult the collaborative

The presentation must be five minutes or less.听 It may use various AV resources. Creativity is strongly encouraged.听听 Presentations should also aim to have high regulatory impact. Each presentation will be followed by two minutes of Q&A with our judges. The competition will be held at the annual CRoFT Conference on September 20, 2019.

The winning team will travel to the DC/MD region to meet with the FDA and NIH and present their proposal sometime in November or December of 2019. Completed entry forms are due to CRoFT by August 30, 2019.

Questions and completed Entry Forms should be submitted to:

Notifying NIH of sexual harrasment

National Institutes of Health (NIH) leadership recently .

After receiving dozens of responses, NIH has created a new 听for anyone in the biomedical research community to share information related to a potential case of sexual harassment directly and, if desired, anonymously, to NIH. The NIH is dedicated to ensuring听that all NIH-funded activities are conducted in a safe and harassment-free work environment.

For additional information and resources, see .

Upcoming PhD dissertation defenses

Aimee Morris, neuroscience, “Functional Brain Network Structure in Focal Embouchure Dystonia and Related Disorders.” 2 p.m. July 1, 2019. Lower Adolph Auditorium 1-7619 (Medical Center). Advisor: Jonathan Mink.

Emma Grygotis Norris, pharmacology, 糖心传媒淒evelopment of acoustically-modified collagen-based biomaterials for regenerative medicine applications.糖心传媒� 9 a.m. July 8, 2019. 1-7619, Adolph Auditorium (Medical Center). Advisor: Denise Hocking.

Dev Ashish Khaitan, physics, “Pulse Shape Discrimination in the LUX Dark Matter Detector.” 11 a.m. July 8, 2019. Bausch and Lomb 372. Advisor: Frank Wolfs.

Scott Friedland, genetics, 糖心传媒淎rid1a, a subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, is a barrier to KrasG12D-driven tumorigenesis.糖心传媒� 9:45 a.m. July 9, 2019. 1-9576 Ryan Case Method Room (Medical Center). Advisor: Aram Hezel.

Alissa Trzeciak, microbiology and immunology, 糖心传媒淓arly Detection and Chronic Management of Sepsis.糖心传媒� 10 a.m., July 11, 2019. Lower Auditorium 1-7619 (Medical Center). Advisor: Minsoo Kim.

Kenneth Sims, Jr, translational biomedical science, “Enhancing pH-Responsive Nanoparticle Drug Delivery to Inhibit Oral Biofilm Formation.” 1 p.m. July 12, 2019. Adolph (Lower) Auditorium 1-7619 (Medical Center). Advisor: Danielle Benoit.

Enjoy the 4th!

Due to the holidays, Research Connections returns on July 12.

Mark your calendar

July 10: 听糖心传媒淪oftware and Hardware for Mobile Visual Computing糖心传媒� by Yuhao Zhu, assistant professor of computer science. 2019 Summer Colloquium Series, Goergen Institute for Data Science. 12 noon to 1 p.m.,1400 Wegmans Hall. Free to all faculty, staff, students and community members. Lunch sponsored by the Goergen Institute for Data Science. Pre-register

July 17: Demonstration of initiative software for study coordinators. (Study Coordinators Organization for Research and Education) meeting, 3-4:30 p.m., SRB Room 1416.

July 17: 听糖心传媒淎ging & Engaging: Development of a Web-based Communication Coach for Older Adults糖心传媒� with Kimberly Van Orden, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine. 2019 Summer Colloquium Series, Goergen Institute for Data Science. 12 noon to 1 p.m.,1400 Wegmans Hall. Free to all faculty, staff, students and community members. Lunch sponsored by the Goergen Institute for Data Science. Pre-register

Aug. 8-9: “Navigating Deaf and Hearing Collaborations in Science.” Second biennial . Keynote speakers, short talks, breakout sessions, panel discussion and a poster session highlighting the research carried out by undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and staff attending the conference. for the conference (for free) and .

Aug. 30: Entry forms due for new annual student competition promoting awareness of Tobacco Regulatory Science. Each team (either an individual or up to four students) develops and presents a proposed solution 糖心传媒� a well-developed and researched thought experiment听糖心传媒� to address one or more identified Tobacco Regulatory Research Priorities. Winning team will travel to DC/MD to present their solution to the FDA and NIH. Read more .

Sept. 11: Deadline for students, junior faculty, early career researchers, and entrepreneurs to apply for this year’s Falling Walls competition. Complete the online application . By Friday, September 27 email a three-panel slide presentation. Then pitch your innovative idea 糖心传媒� highlighting a breakthrough that creates a positive impact on science and society 糖心传媒� in just three minutes on October 8 at Feldman Ballroom. The winner will represent the University at the International Falling Walls Finale in Berlin. Contact Adele Coelho for questions.

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