Imagine a refrigerator so cold it could turn atoms into their quantum states, giving them unique properties that defy the rules of classical physics.

In a paper published in Physics Review Applied, Andrew Jordan, professor of physics,  and his graduate student Sreenath Manikandan, along with their colleague Francesco Giazotto from the NEST Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR and Scuola Normale Superiore in Italy, have conceived an idea for a refrigerator that would cool atoms to nearly absolute zero temperatures (about minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit). Scientists could use the refrigerator, which is based on the quantum property of superconductivity, to facilitate and enhance the performance of quantum sensors or circuits for ultrafast quantum computers.

In an ideal scenario, a material would conduct electricity without encountering resistance; that is, it would carry a current indefinitely without losing any energy. This is precisely what happens with a superconductor.

“When you cool down a system to extreme temperatures, the electrons enter a quantum state where they behave more like a collective fluid that flows without resistance,” Manikandan says. “This is achieved by electrons in a superconductor forming pairs, known as cooper pairs, at very low temperatures.”

The superconducting quantum refrigerator uses the principles of superconductivity to operate and generate an ultra-cold environment. The cold environment then is conducive to generating the quantum effects required to enhance quantum technologies. The superconducting quantum refrigerator would create an environment whereby researchers could change materials into a superconducting state—similar to changing a material to a gas, liquid, or solid.

In the superconducting quantum fridge, researchers place a layered stack of metals in an already cold, cryogenic dilution refrigerator:

• The bottom layer of the stack is a sheet of the superconductor niobium, which acts as a hot reservoir, akin to the environment outside a traditional refrigerator.
• The middle layer is the superconductor tantalum, which is the working substance, akin to the refrigerant in a traditional refrigerator.
• The top layer is copper, which is the cold reservoir, akin to the inside of a traditional fridge.

When the researchers slowly apply a current of electricity to the niobium, they generate a magnetic field that penetrates the middle tantalum layer, causing its superconducting electrons to unpair, transition to their normal state, and cool down. The now cold tantalum layer absorbs heat from the now warmer copper layer. The researchers then slowly turn off the magnetic field, causing the electrons in the tantalum to pair and transition back into a superconducting state, and the tantalum becomes hotter than the niobium layer. Excess heat is then transferred to the niobium. The cycle repeats, maintaining a low temperature in the top copper layer.

Read more here.

Oscine Therapeutics, a new biotechnology company based on discoveries made and developed at the Medical Center (URMC) has received a significant multi-year investment to support both research and development of cell-based therapies for neurological disorders.  The funding represents the largest-ever investment in a URMC start-up company.

The new venture is based on decades of research in the lab of Steve Goldman, co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine. Goldman’s work has focused on understanding the basic biology and molecular function of support cells in the central nervous system, devising new techniques to precisely manipulate and sort these cells, and studying how cell replacement could impact the course of neurological diseases.

Goldman has developed techniques to manipulate the chemical signaling of embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to create the brain’s support cells, called glia. A subtype of these, called glial progenitor cells, gives rise to the brain’s main support cells, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, which play important roles in the health and signaling function of nerve cells.

“Neurological disorders are complex diseases, but in many instances it appears that faulty support cells of the brain are driving the disease process,” says Goldman, the Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience and Neurology. “These diseases represent promising targets for cell-replacement therapies because we know a great deal about the role these cells play, how to create them, and how to get them to the areas of the brain where they are needed.”

The investment in Oscine is being made by Sana Biotechnology, a new company focused on creating and delivering engineered cells as medicines for patients.

In many neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and Huntington’s, glial cells have impaired development and function, or are simply lost during the course of the disease. This results in the disruption of communication between nerve cells, leading to the motor, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms of these disorders.

Goldman’s lab has developed new methods to replace the sick glial cells found in these diseases with healthy ones. In research involving animal models of these diseases, this approach has slowed, and for some disorders even reversed, disease progression.

The new investment – the terms of which were not publicly disclosed – will support R&D by Oscine focused on bringing these cell-based therapies to the clinic. The research will be conducted at URMC under a sponsored research agreement and will support 21 full-time staff, with researchers in Rochester and additional staff in Seattle and New York City.  The manufacturing of cells for clinical delivery will use protocols developed at Rochester.

Read more here.

Most policies, obstetric care, and research tends to focus on moms and ignore dads when looking at birth outcomes. But a new study supported by the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR-CTSI) shows that fathers’ education level, age, and race or ethnicity can have a bearing on how healthy their children are at birth.

According to the study, babies were most at risk for negative birth outcomes if their dads had less than a high school education. Fathers who hadn’t finished high school had about 35 percent greater odds of having a premature newborn and nearly 50 percent greater odds of having a low birthweight child (both major causes of infant mortality) compared to fathers who had more than a high school diploma.

That was true regardless of moms’ education level – suggesting that at least some paternal factors could be better predictors of poor birth outcomes than maternal factors.

“Paternal information is routinely collected during prenatal checkups, but this information has not been utilized to predict birth outcomes,” says study author Ying Meng, assistant professor at the School of Nursing and former UR CTSI Population Health Research postdoctoral fellow. “Our study suggests we might be able to make those predictions and prevent negative birth outcomes with programs that focus on – or at least include – fathers.”

Meng and study co-author Susan Groth, associate professor at the School of Nursing, examined a decade’s worth of birth certificates – nearly 37,000 – to find links between paternal factors and negative birth outcomes while controlling for maternal conditions like employment, gestational diabetes or hypertension, smoking, etc. They focused on major causes of infant mortality like premature birth, low birthweight, and babies born small for their gestational age, as well as high birthweight, which is linked to long-term health issues like obesity.

Their study shows several strong links between paternal factors and poor birth outcomes, which they hope might lead to new social programs that would encourage high-risk dads to play a more active role in prenatal care. For example, programs might provide support and information about how to lower the risk of preterm birth and low birthweight to dads with less than a high school education.

“There are few interventions that include fathers – and most aren’t focused on birth outcomes,” said Groth. “Future policies and programs targeted at improving birth outcomes should engage fathers in prenatal care.”

Because when it comes to having healthy babies – dads matter, too.

Read the full study.

Paul Geha joins the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience as an assistant professor. Geha went to medical school in Lebanon before completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Northwestern University and going on to Yale University for a fellowship, residency, and faculty appointment. His Pain and Perceptions Laboratory will focus largely on chronic pain, branching out into the interaction of chronic pain and addiction. Geha plans to continue to work on understanding how the brain of patients with chronic pain changes as they experience the chronic pain, or as they transition from acute to chronic pain. Read more in a Q&A with Geha in the latest NEUROSCIENCE newsletter from the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience.

To improve research support and user experience, the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) – in partnership with the Medical Center’s Information Systems Division – is launching in a new tool, TriNetX, to the URMC research community in July 2019.

TriNetX will replace i2b2 as the primary patient cohort discovery tool, providing powerful and intuitive query building functions that allow investigators to query electronic medical record data in a completely self- serviceable and secure way to obtain summary patient counts.

Once the patient cohort is identified, investigators can work with the UR CTSI Informatics Team to obtain patient-level data for preparation to research. Look for more details and information in early July.

Elizabeth Belcher, translational biomedical science, “Cranial irradiation leads to acute and long-lasting deficits in proliferating cell populations in the adult brain.” 2 p.m., June 17, 2019. Medical Center | K-207 Auditorium 2-6408. Advisor: Kerry O’Banion.

Michael-John Beltejar, genetics, “Understanding the Genetic Basis for Bone-Matrix Quality.” 9:10 a.m. June 18, 2019. Medical Center | 2-6408 K-207.  Advisor: Cheryl Ackert-Bicknell.

Jennifer Urban, chemistry, “Super-Resolution Biological Imaging with Quantum Dots.” 1 p.m., June 19, 2019. 1400 Wegmans Hall. Advisor: Bradley Nilsson.

Sarah Smith, electrical & computer engineering, “Instantaneous Frequency Analysis of Reverberant Audio.” 10 a.m. June 20, 2019. Computer Studies Building 601. Advisor: Mark Bocko.

June 19: One Step Beyond @ the Carlson. TED-like event (speaker series) at Comedy at the Carlson to help build a clinic in Kenya that will provide sustainable health care and proper diagnostics to more than 2,000 families. Speakers include Evan Dawson, Jennifer Johnson, Hélène Hofer, Todd Youngman, and Mike Alcazaren. 6:30 p.m. Humans for Education. Read more here.