October 17, 2022
Michael Giacomelli has developed a novel imaging system using two-photon fluorescence microscopy to shorten the process of analyzing skin biopsies to two minutes. This would enable a surgeon to immediately determine whether a lesion is cancerous and, if so, to “treat the patient during the same visit instead of stretching it out over the next month and multiple visits.”
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
To help our transfer students acclimate to our campus, we are celebrating National Transfer Student Week with special events tomorrow and Wednesday.
A Resource Fair from 3-5 p.m. tomorrow at Bridge Lounge on the 4th Floor of Wilson Commons will give transfer students a chance to chat with members of the Office of Undergraduate Research, Kearns Center, Greene Center, Public Safety, and more about the services they provide.
From 12:30-3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, transfer students can drop by the College Center for Advising Services, 312 Lattimore, for cookies, refreshments, and a chance to meet fellow transfer students.
And please drop by the Transfer Student Organization (TSO) weekly meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday in 325 Genesee Hall. The TSO was founded last year by Savannah Schisler ’22, who won the University’s Transfer Student Award for 2020-21. Her goal was to “create a community for transfer students to ease their transition to their new campus and help them make friends, learn about other clubs and activities, and explore Rochester.”
So please take advantage! Pizza and refreshments will be served.
RESEARCH NEWS
Consider what happens when a patient needs to have a skin lesion biopsied for nonmelanoma skin cancer.
“The surgeon will take a little piece of the skin out,” says Michael Giacomelli, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and of optics. Next, “someone in pathology will look at it under a microscope. And then, depending on what they find, the patient is notified that everything’s fine, don’t worry about it, or we need you to come back for a second appointment so we can treat you.”
A novel imaging system developed by Michael shortens this process to two minutes and demonstrated remarkable accuracy in a pilot study summarized recently in JAMA Dermatology.
Michael is now working with Sherrif Ibrahim, an associate professor of dermatology at the Medical Center, on a larger, 200-patient follow up study, using biopsy samples taken at random at Sherrif’s Rochester Dermatological Surgery.
“The goal is to analyze how well the technique works in a real-world scenario, where you have a lot of people coming in and all kinds of things can show up,” Michael says. “We really want to make sure that there isn’t some bizarre thing that normally has nothing to do with cancer that we somehow confuse with cancer—or something that does have something to do with cancer but we can’t image.”
He foresees eventual applications for his system in quickly providing biopsy results for all kinds of diseases. Learn more.
LEARN ABOUT SPIN DATABASE
The University has licensed InfoEd’s funding opportunity database SPIN, which provides investigators with the ability to locate funding. SPIN includes thousands of opportunities from approximately 10,000 sponsors, including non-traditional ones. This database is available for all University faculty and staff.
If you want to learn more, William DeCocco from InfoEd SPIN will present a virtual training webinar from 10-11:30 a.m., this Friday, October 21. Email Crys Holm to register.
A BIG WEEK FOR OPTICS
Left to right, Tom Battley, Andrew Berger, James Fienup, and Sarah Mangelsdorf will give presentations at the Industrial Associate’s fall meeting on Thursday.
Top optics and photonics researchers and professionals converge on downtown Rochester this week. Optica (formerly OSA) holds its 2022 annual meeting Frontiers in Optics + Laser Science Conference and Exhibition today through Thursday at the Riverside Convention Center. Presented in hybrid format, the meeting will include more than 50 technical sessions featuring 70 invited speakers and hundreds of contributed oral talks and poster presentations.
The Institute of Optics’ fall Industrial Associates (IA) meeting will overlap with Optica, including a full day of guest speakers, student presentations, and a company showcase on Thursday at the Hyatt Regency and the Convention Center.
IA presentations will include:
- Andrew Berger, professor of optics, “Raman Spectroscopy of Bones in Human Hands.”
- Sarah Mangelsdorf, our University president, “Elevating Optics: Funding, Faculty, and Beyond.”
- James Fienup, the Robert E. Hopkins Professor of Optics, “Alignment of the JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) at the Institute of Optics.”
- Tom Battley, vice president of AmeriCOM and executive director of the New York Photonics Cluster, “Working Together to Strengthen America’s Precision Optics Manufacturing Base.”
Students will interview with representatives from IA member companies on Friday and Saturday at The Institute of Optics. An Industry and Faculty Research Lunch from 12-1:30 p.m. Friday in the Feldman Ballroom at Douglass Commons will provide an opportunity to generate research collaborations between optics faculty and industry members and guests. What an exciting week!
MEET THE TEAM: JIM ALKINS
Jim Alkins helped Ben Martell ’19 mill brass replacement parts for a practice instrument used to train students to perform on the Hopeman Memorial Carillon in Rush Rhees Library.
Jim Alkins, a senior laboratory engineer and manager of the Rettner Hall Fabrication Shop, is not one to draw attention to his achievements. However, they do not go unnoticed.
Jim has mentored hundreds of students at all skill levels in the use of machine tools. And not just in the classes he teaches. Numerous student teams depend on him for guidance to get their projects to work.
Many of the incoming first generation, low income, and minority students who take his workshop as part of the University’s Early Connection Opportunity program credit Jim for giving them the confidence to fully engage in their engineering studies.
And students in the Department of Mechanical Engineering routinely invite him to their annual Faculty Roast. A student appreciation for Jim is always part of the ceremony.
“He is very patient with the students, sometimes unbelievably so,” says Chris Muir, professor of mechanical engineering. “It is important to him that they not only learn but gain confidence in themselves and their abilities.”
Learn more about Jim’s remarkable mentorship—and catch up on all the other great things happening at the Hajim School—in our Fall 2022 edition of Rochester Engineering.
iZONE GRANTS AVAILABLE
The “Make It Happen” grant awarded by the Barbara J. Burger iZone provides individuals and groups $300 to $500 to help bring their ideas to life. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Friday, October 21, and will be reviewed on a rolling basis until then. All current University students and alumni are eligible to apply; students may apply as an individual or a group. The funds can be used to support any early-stage project activities such as brainstorming, user research, team-building, and prototyping. If you’re unsure about whether your project qualifies for the grant, email izonercl@gmail.com.
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
