In Review

The Wilmot Cancer Institute has been selected as a national hub for designing and managing clinical studies to be carried out in a network of more than 1,000 clinics in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

That’s after the National Cancer Institute awarded Rochester a $29 million award as part of the National Community Oncology Research Program. The grant recognizes long-standing research strength at Wilmot and helps position the institute as a leader in tackling issues of concern to patients, including nausea and other side effects of chemotherapy, neuropathy, fatigue, fitness, and other issues related to cancer and its treatments.

The principal investigators for the award are Gary Morrow and Karen Mustian, each of whom holds the title of Dean’s Professor in the Department of Surgery.

Wilmot was one of seven cancer centers chosen as a research base. This year’s awards cover the largest geographic area in the program’s history.

Curtain Rises on 30th Theater Season

GROWN-UP CAST: Directed by visiting guest artist Kate Eminger, the International Theatre Program’s season-opening production of The Grown-Up featured student performers Oti Yonwuren ’22, Elizabeth Tighe ’22, Benjamin Frazer ’20, Olivia Banc ’21, Celia Konowe ’21, Madeleine Fordham ’21, and Tomas Waz ’20.

The International Theatre Program opened its 30th season this fall with a production of The Grown-Up. Directed by visiting guest artist Kate Eminger, the play is a poignant comedy by playwright Jordan Harrison that uses imaginative fairy tale and time-traveling elements to explore what it means to get older. The program’s 2019–20 season also includes commissioned works from award-winning playwright Sam Chanse and, in the spring, a production of William Inge’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Picnic.

Professors Recognized for Undergraduate Teaching

Three faculty members were honored this fall for their commitment and achievement as undergraduate teachers.

Receiving the 2019 Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching were Matthew BaileyShea, an associate professor in the College’s Department of Music and the Eastman School of Music; Ryan Prendergast, an associate professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures; and Katherine Schaefer, an associate professor of instruction in the Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program.

The awards program was established in 1997 by University Trustee and Board Chair Emeritus Robert Goergen ’60 and his wife, Pamela, to recognize distinctive teaching accomplishments of faculty members in Arts, Sciences & Engineering.

The three were recognized at a ceremony in October in Rush Rhees Library.

CENTER POWER: A 335-kilowatt solar energy system installed on the roof of the Goergen Athletic Center went live this fall. Designed as part of a project to help offset the energy needs of a new building proposed for the south side of Hutchison Hall, the initiative received a $1 million grant in 2018 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to recognize universities in the state for their commitments to clean energy.

Public Safety Introduces LGBTQ+ Liaison and Community Resource Officer

Laura Johnson, a veteran ice hockey referee whose experience includes officiating at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, has been named the Department of Public Safety’s first LGBTQ+ liaison. The new officer position was established to work with students across the University and build strong relationships with the LGBTQ+ community.

Erin Vess, who has been a University public safety officer since 2016, has been named the new community resource officer in the department. In that role, she will coordinate and develop programming to educate campus community members in crime prevention methods and empower them to help maintain a safe environment.

Medical Center Selected to Help Combat Opioid Crisis

Rochester has been selected as part of a national initiative by the National Institutes of Health to develop new nonaddictive treatments for pain to improve patient care and curb the use and abuse of opioids.

The Rochester award is part of $945 million in grants announced under an NIH initiative to improve treatments for chronic pain, reduce opioid use disorder and overdoses, and work toward long-term recovery from opioid addiction.

The initiative represents the largest ever financial commitment by NIH to a single research program.

Rochester researchers will conduct clinical trials for new pain therapies and provide national leadership to clinical research experts from across different specialties in academia, foundations, and industry.

Led by John Markman, director of the Department of Neurosurgery’s Translational Pair Research Program, and Jennifer Gewandter, an assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, the Medical Center will serve as a hub for a group of institutions across the country that will conduct clinical trials for new pain relief therapies.