Rochester researchers are developing a new diagnostic platform—an optical chip on a disposable card—that can detect exposure to multiple viruses, including the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, within a minute from a single drop of blood. Find more information below.
In today’s issue:
This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Address, featuring keynote speaker Ibram X. Kendi, is February 24.
The Medical Center continues to roll out its COVID-19 vaccination plan, which has already provided vaccines to more than 14,000 UR Medicine faculty and staff in Rochester and the surrounding region.
Since Wednesday’s notice in @Rochester there are no new cases of COVID-19 to report. Please note that the University’s COVID-19 Dashboard is updated daily. Whenever a new case is known, the contact-tracing process begins immediately with confirmed exposures being contacted and required to quarantine.
If you think you’re experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, it’s important to report them through Dr. Chat Bot immediately. Even if you think your symptoms might be something else—like a cold, seasonal congestion, or allergies—it’s still important to tell University health professionals and contact tracers what you’re experiencing. Common COVID-19 symptoms include
A temperature of 100°F (37.8°C) or higher
Chills
Muscle or body aches
Severe fatigue
Headache
Congestion or runny nose
Sore throat
Loss of taste, smell, or appetite
Cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing
Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
Chip on a card would detect COVID-19 antibodies in a minute
The Medical Center continues rolling out its COVID-19 vaccination plan, which has already provided vaccines to more than 14,000 UR Medicine faculty and staff in Rochester and the region. Additional clinical faculty, staff, and community providers are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccination per New York State guidance. Medical Center staff can find the latest information on the vaccination intranet site. In this brief video, Medical Center faculty and staff share why they made the decision to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Sawgrass Surgical Center closed temporarily starting today
As the latest COVID-19 surge continues, Medical Center leaders have made the difficult decision to temporarily close the Sawgrass Surgical Center from January 7 to 18. This move frees up Sawgrass staff members to care for patients in our hospitals’ ICUs and other areas during the anticipated “surge upon a surge” in the next few weeks. Urgent surgeries are being managed at other UR Medicine locations.
Mentoring-up resolution challenge for graduate students in science-related fields
The Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) group is challenging full-time University graduate students—gender-inclusive—in the biomedical, biological, or chemical sciences to take charge of their futures by setting and, through mentoring-up, achieving professional and personal goals for spring 2021. Send resolutions of three professional and three personal goals to elizabeth_leverenz@urmc.rochester.edu by noon EST on Thursday, January 21; submissions have a 1,000-word limit. From these submissions, a panel of anonymous judges will select contestants for presentations on Thursday, May 20, at the last GWIS seminar of the semester. These contestants will compete for the chance to receive one of two $2,000 technology-related prizes. All applicants must also attend all four of the spring 2021 GWIS meetings. Find more information, including meeting dates.
When it comes to nutrition, how do you know if what’s new will work for you? Join UR Medicine EAP and experts from Well-U’s lifestyle management team on Tuesday, January 12, at noon EDT for a deep dive into trending diets. See how they stack up to recommendations and discover how and what you should be eating to prevent disease, increase energy, and improve overall health. Register here.
Get your OER bearings
The River Campus Libraries will host an hour-long workshop on open educational resources (OER) and open pedagogy (OP) today, Thursday, January 7, at 2 p.m. EDT. You will hear authors from Open Pedagogy Approaches speak on their chapters, which will cover OP efforts in large and small higher education settings and information literacy instruction in student-authored OP projects. Register to attend.
Apply now to use the COVID-19 biobank
The COVID-19 biobank is a collection of thousands of stored samples from hospitalized COVID-19 patients. University research faculty and staff can now apply for access to COVID-19-positive and -negative serum, plasma or peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples, and associated, de-identified clinical data. Learn more about the biobank and apply for access by Monday, February 1, at 5 p.m. EDT.
Warner School’s Doctoral Student Peer Support Association winter conference
The Warner School of Education’s Doctoral Student Peer Support Association will hold its first-ever winter conference, “Reflections and Possibilities: Surviving 2020 and Thriving in 2021,” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST on Friday, February 26, and Saturday, February 27. Graduate students, faculty, and staff across the University are encouraged to share the ways the global pandemic, racial unrest, and experiences over the last year have influenced their graduate research, coursework, and overall wellbeing. Apply to present by Friday, January 15. Learn more and register online to attend.
Medical research forum call for projects
The Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Goergen Institute for Data Science, and Health Science Center for Computational Innovation are hosting a virtual medical research forum for the purpose of bringing together data science students and School of Medicine and Dentistry researchers with data analytics needs.
If you have a project that you would like to be considered, submit a project description that includes a one-page abstract, aims, or description of your proposed project. Include a brief description of the dataset and the type of project you anticipate a student would work on. Project descriptions are due Friday, January 15. You will be notified by January 22 if your project is accepted. Direct questions about projects to Alex_Paciorkowski@urmc.rochester.edu and logistic or administrative questions to Tracie_Norman@urmc.rochester.edu.
Join the online celebration of the Aquarelles CD release featuring long-time Eastman School of Music faculty artists Bonita Boyd, a professor of flute; Steven Doane, a professor of violoncello; and Barry Snyder, a professor emeritus of piano. The virtual event takes place Friday, January 22 at 7 p.m. EST. Register here to attend.
Save the date: MLK Commemorative Address by Ibram X. Kendi is February 24
This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Address will take place virtually on Wednesday, February 24, from 7 to 8 p.m. EST. It was previously announced that Ibram X. Kendi, a best-selling author, professor, antiracist activist, and historian of race and discriminatory policy in America, will be the keynote speaker; Kendi’s speech will be preceded by a Q&A with University student leaders. Registration details will be announced later this month.
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