Volcanic hot spots such as the ones that created the Hawaiian Islands have long been considered stationary points, created by processes deep within the earth’s interior. 

Using new paleomagnetic data and analyses, researchers John Tarduno, a professor of earth and environmental sciences; Richard Bono, a former post-doctoral research associate in Tarduno’s lab and now a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool; and Hans-Peter Bunge, a geophysicist at Munich University, provide conclusive evidence that hot spots are not fixed but are moving. The research, published in Nature Communications, solves a major debate about the origin of the large-scale structure of the earth’s surface and deep interior.

The earth’s lithosphere is the outermost shell of our planet, composed of seven major puzzle pieces known as tectonic plates. While today each of the tectonic plates roughly encompasses one of the seven continents and the Pacific Ocean, scientists believe the pieces once fit together to form supercontinents. Earth’s last supercontinent, Pangea, began to break apart about 175 million years ago. Much of the earth’s seismic activity, including earthquakes and volcanoes, occurs at the boundaries of the tectonic plates.

But there are other regions on earth characterized by volcanic activity, independent of the plate boundaries. Researchers refer to these areas as hot spots. Hot spots are thought to develop above abnormally hot upwellings of magma in the earth’s mantle called mantle plumes. Although researchers cannot travel to the mantle to observe these processes, they are able to infer hot spots because of the volcanism that develops when the magma pushes through the lithosphere. The most active hot spots include those beneath Yellowstone, the Galapagos Islands, Iceland, and Hawaii.

For decades after the plate tectonics revolution, researchers thought hot spots were fixed, providing a reference frame to measure the motion of the earth’s plates.

For example, researchers believed the Hawaiian Islands were created via an assembly line-like process: an island would form over a hot spot, the motion of the plate would move the island off the hot spot, and the hot spot would remain in place and generate a new island.

In 2001, Tarduno and his colleagues collected samples of rocks and sediment via scientific ocean drilling in Hawaii’s Emperor Seamounts—undersea, extinct volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean. By studying the magnetism locked in the ancient samples—a field known as paleomagnetism—the researchers determined that the hot spot beneath Hawaii was not fixed but had moved. This painted a picture more consistent with an actively convecting and constantly churning mantle.

Read more here about additional evidence gathered by Tarduno and his colleagues showing that it was the motion of hot spots—and not their fixity—that caused the bend in the Hawaiian Islands.

She is the oldest of eight children, the daughter of chemists. Her mother died when she was just 10. In high school she was a multisport athlete, earning 13 varsity letters (while taking advanced classes and working at Burger King) and she went on to play varsity softball in college. She can easily spot a team player. “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts,” she likes to say.

Based partly on a love of Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown books as a child, she decided that detective work in a science lab was a perfect career option and settled on biochemistry.

Meet Paula Vertino, the Wilmot Distinguished Professor in Cancer Genomics, and the cancer institute’s highest-level leadership recruit in several years. Her priority is to help Wilmot in the lengthy and rigorous review process to achieve National Cancer Institute designation as a top cancer center in the country.

When Vertino agreed to leave Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute in 2018 and come to Rochester, it was a strategic home run for Wilmot — because she sits on the NCI-A committee that oversees the review of NCI-designated cancer centers nationwide. She laughs at the idea of being a “secret weapon,” but agrees that her experiences and insights should help Wilmot become a stronger organization.

A western New York native and loyal Buffalo Bills fan, Vertino conducts research in the areas of cancer epigenetics and novel mechanisms of gene silencing in cancer. She packed up a 22-year career in Atlanta, bought a snow-blower, and joined Wilmot at a critical time in its history. She brings a playbook on problem-solving, team building, and how to woo the NCI.

Read a transcript of her interview with Lydia Fernandez here.

Two grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) will pave the way for new treatments for neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses and Charcot Marie Tooth diseases, two groups of rare neurological disorders.  The funding, which totals $10 million, will support new research programs led by Medical Center neurologists Erika Augustine and David Herrmann, and will involve an international team of scientists and clinicians.

The funding comes from the NINDS Clinical Trial Readiness for Rare Neurological and Neuromuscular Diseases program, which was created to support studies that lay the groundwork for the next generation of treatments – including gene replacement therapies – currently under development.

The research program led by Augustine will focus on juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (CLN3 disease) – the most prevalent form of a family of neurological disorders commonly referred to as Batten diseases. The symptoms of CLN3 disease emerge in early childhood and involve vision loss, seizures, and impaired cognitive and motor function, all of which worsen as the disease progresses. Youth typically die of disease complications by their twenties or thirties. There are currently no therapies available to modify the course of the disease.

The new funding will support a partnership between the University of Rochester Batten Center and the University of Hamburg in Germany to validate clinical outcomes and neuroimaging biomarkers that will precisely measure the symptoms and progression of CLN3 disease and enable researchers to determine if new experimental therapies are effective. This funding builds upon more than 15 years of leading research by the Batten Center.

Herrmann, who heads the Neuromuscular Disease Program, will focus on Charcot Marie Tooth disease (CMT), a family of rare inherited peripheral neuropathies that are characterized by progressive weakness, imbalance, sensory loss, and gait abnormalities.   While surgery and physical and occupational therapy, braces, and other orthopedic devices can help individuals cope with the disabling symptoms of the disease, there is no disease-modifying treatment for CMT.

The project will involve researchers from URMC, the University of Iowa, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Sydney in Australia, University College of London, and the C. Besta Neurological Institute in Milan, Italy. The team will validate a clinical outcomes tool and new imaging technologies that measure the integrity and density of muscle tissue and nerve endings.   The goal of the program is to generate a set of biomarkers and patient-centered measures of meaningful functional improvement that can ultimately be used in future clinical trials.  Read more here.

Graduate students applying for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in October, 2019 –  or considering applying in October, 2020 — are invited to share their questions with an expert panel, starting at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, September 5 in the Hawkins-Carlson Reading Room at Rush Rhees Library.

Faculty who are National Science Foundation reviewers, along with successful NSF GRFP fellows, will lead a discussion on successful application strategies for this prestigious fellowship.

Graduate students enrolled in a degree-granting graduate program are limited to only one application to the GRFP, submitted in the first year or at the beginning of the second year of their degree program. Attendees who are not already familiar with the fellowship should review eligibility and program details  prior to the session. Attendees are welcome to bring their lunch.

Register here to reserve your seat.

Aug. 30: Entry forms due for a 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 — a well-developed and researched thought experiment  — to address one or more identified Tobacco Regulatory Research Priorities. The winning team will travel to DC/MD to present their solution to the FDA and NIH. Read more here.

Sept. 5: Information session on applying for a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Faculty who are NSF reviewers and successful NSF GRFP fellows will lead a discussion on successful application strategies and answer questions. Attendees who are not already familiar with the fellowship should review eligibility and program details prior to the session. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Hawkins-Carlson Reading Room, Rush Rhees Library. Register here to reserve your seat. Attendees are welcome to bring their lunch.

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 here. By Friday, September 27 email a three-panel slide presentation. Then pitch your innovative idea — highlighting a breakthrough that creates a positive impact on science and society — in just three minutes on October 8 at Feldman Ballroom. The winner will represent the University at the International Falling Walls Finale in Berlin. Questions? Contact Adele Coelho.

Sept. 13: Symposium on novel applications of technology to accelerate the development of new therapeutics for patients with rare neurological disorders. Hosted by the University and sponsored by the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI). Featuring industry leaders in rare diseases, health technologies, and clinical trials. Registration information and agenda available on the TRNDS website.

Sept. 17: Training workshop for the TriNetX cohort discovery tool that will replace the current i2b2 tool. With TriNetX investigators can search a limited set of electronic medical record data to determine the feasibility of their clinical trials. Participants should have a basic understanding of the TriNetX interface and be able to build simple queries. 2-4 p.m. SRB 1404. Register now. Learn more about TriNetX here.

Sept. 23: Deadline for next-generation optics, photonics, and imaging-enabled startup companies to apply for the next cohort of the Luminate business accelerator. Each cohort company receives a $100,00 investment to begin the program. At the end of six months, $2 million in additional seed money is distributed among four winning teams at Demo Day. Learn more.

Oct. 16: Training workshop for the TriNetX cohort discovery tool that will replace the current i2b2 tool. With TriNetX investigators can search a limited set of electronic medical record data to determine the feasibility of their clinical trials. Participants should have a basic understanding of the TriNetX interface and be able to build simple queries. 2-4 p.m. SRB 1416. Register now. Learn more about TriNetX here.

Oct. 22: Deadline to apply for AS&E PumpPrimer II seed funding, typically up to $50,000 for up to one year, for innovative research projects to help the applicant establish a novel research direction and secure extramural funding. Submit proposal via the application portal. All eligibility criterion is enumerated in the guidelines. Direct questions to your respective AS&E assistant dean: Arts and Sciences – Debra Haring, debra.haring@rochester.edu; Engineering – Cindy Gary, cindy.gary@rochester.edu.

Oct. 25: Conference co-sponsored by UNYTE on opportunities and challenges in research and clinical collaboration, including regional clinical, biomedical and translational research and advances in psychosocial care in pediatric hematology/oncology. 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Flaum Auditorium. Learn more.  Register now.

Nov. 20: Training workshop for the TriNetX cohort discovery tool that will replace the current i2b2 tool. With TriNetX investigators can search a limited set of electronic medical record data to determine the feasibility of their clinical trials. Participants should have a basic understanding of the TriNetX interface and be able to build simple queries. 2-4 p.m. SRB 1412. Register now. Learn more about TriNetX here.