Jiebo Luo and Yu Wang did not set out to predict who would win the 2016 U.S. presidential election. However, their exhaustive, 14-month study of each candidate’s Twitter followers–enabled by machine learning and other data science tools–offers tantalizing clues as to why the race turned out the way it did.

“We wanted to understand how each of the candidate’s campaigns evolved, and be able to explain why someone won or lost,” says Luo, an associate professor of computer science.

Luo and Wang, a dual PhD candidate in political and computer science, summarized their findings in eight papers during the course of the campaign, including these observations:

• The more Donald Trump tweeted, the faster his following grew–even after he performed poorly in debates against other Republican candidates, and even after he sparked controversies, such as proposing a ban on Muslim immigration. (Read the paper.)
• When Trump accused Hillary Clinton of playing the “woman card,” women were more likely to follow Clinton and less likely to “un-follow” her during the week that followed. But it did not affect the gender composition of Trump followers. (Read the paper.)
• Moreover, a “gender affinity effect” seen in other elections–women tending to vote for women–did not appear to be working for Clinton as the primaries drew to a close. The percentage of female Twitter followers in the Clinton camp was no larger than that in the Trump camp. Moreover, though “un-followers” were more likely to be female for both candidates, the phenomenon was “particularly pronounced” for Clinton. (Read the paper.)
• At the same time, several polls, including ABC/Washington Post and CBS/New York Times, suggested that some Bernie Sanders supporters might “jump ship” from the Democratic column, and end up voting for Trump if Sanders dropped out. Luo and Wang found supporting evidence, reporting that the number of Bernie Sanders followers who were also following Trump was increasing–but the number also following Clinton was declining. The dual Sanders/Trump followers were also disproportionately (up to 64 percent) male. (Read the paper.)

“In the end, even though we chose not to make any predictions, we were not surprised at all that Donald Trump won,” says Luo.

Read more here.

The label may say “cinnamon” or “vanilla” but the true contents of e-cigarette flavorings are acetoin, diacetyl, and other chemical additives that are known to irritate the respiratory tract and impair lung function, according to a collaborative study from western New York scientists.

Senior author Irfan Rahman, professor of environmental medicine and part of the Lung Biology and Disease Program at the Medical Center, says the findings suggest that chemical flavorings in e-cigarettes not only cause inflammation but may rapidly impair the critical epithelial cells in the airways, which act as the first defense against infections and toxins. When the epithelial barrier becomes more permeable or leaky due to chemical assaults, life-threatening lung diseases can occur.

Read more here.

LaRon E. Nelson, assistant professor at the School of Nursing, who has been selected to serve as a member of the Adolescent HIV Prevention and Treatment Implementation Science Alliance. The Center for Global Health Studies at the National Institutes of Health’s Fogarty International Center is launching the new initiative to enhance the use of evidence to overcome implementation challenges in preventing, screening, and treating of HIV among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. “This appointment reflects LaRon’s leadership in this field, both domestically and internationally,” said Kathy Rideout, dean of the School of Nursing. “The knowledge he has gained from his own work in Africa will allow him to make invaluable contributions to this important initiative.” Read more here.

Nina Schor, the William H. Eilinger Chair of Pediatrics and the pediatrician-in-chief at Golisano Children’s Hospital, who has been named the recipient of the Child Neurology Society’s 2017 Hower Award, the organization’s highest honor. The award is given annually to a child neurologist for being an outstanding teacher, scholar, and for making high levels of contributions to the field and to the Child Neurology Society. Schor, who has spent much of her career researching neuroblastoma, one of the most common childhood cancers, will be recognized at the society’s annual meeting in October in Kansas City, Missouri. She will also give the annual Hower lecture.

Sean McLaren, chair and program director for the Eastman Institute of Oral Health’s Pediatric Dentistry Department, who has been named a Fellow in the American College of Dentists, the oldest major honorary organization for dentists. Its members exemplify excellence through outstanding leadership and exceptional contributions to dentistry and society. Fellowship in the American College of Dentists is a distinct honor, granted to only about 3.5 percent of dentists in the United States. Read more here.

Last November, Solomon Abiola, a dual PhD candidate in translational biomedical sciences and computer science,  joined 99 other contestants from around the world at the Falling Walls competition in Berlin to pitch their innovative ideas to an international panel of judges.

Abiola earned his place at the conference by taking first place at a preliminary contest held by the University of Rochester.  (Click here to see his presentation on using a mobile app to track disease outbreaks.)

This year’s Falling Walls preliminary contest will be held April 20 in Schlegel Hall’s Eisenberg Rotunda on the River Campus. To participate register here by March 19.

The winner will directly qualify for the Falling Walls Lab Finale in Berlin on November 8 with costs of travel and accommodations covered.  The contest consists of a series of rapid-fire presentations. Presenters have just three minutes and three slides to summarize their ground-breaking idea. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three finalists.

Contact Adele Coelho, Faculty Outreach Coordinator at adele.coelho@rochester.edu for additional information.

(This is part of a monthly series to help principal investigators understand their role in ensuring that human subject protection requirements are met in their studies.)

As discussed in the October PI Oversight Tip, PI’s are responsible for overseeing the training and education of research staff. While individuals who conduct human subject research are required to complete and maintain basic human subjects training through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI), this training is not exhaustive of all research-related competencies to conduct research. The Office for Human Subject Protection (OHSP) recommends additional training, as needed, through the OHSP Research Education and Training Framework.

A major component of the training framework, Research Boot Camp, is now available to be completed online in MyPath.  This 4.25-hour online course expands on and applies the basic concepts introduced via CITI training to the conduct of research at the University. The course is in 4 major sections — protocol development, informed consent, IRB review, and post-approval considerations.

Each section contains 2 to 3 training videos that range in length from 5 to 40 minutes. OHSP recommends all new hires (or current staff with less than 1 year of experience) conducting human subject research complete the training within 6 months of their start date. Several experienced faculty and staff who completed the in-person version of the training have noted the benefits of taking the course.

A copy of the course objectives, a content outline, and instructions for self-enrolling in the MyPath course are available here. Questions about other human subject training opportunities? Contact Kelly Unsworth, OHSP’s director of Research Education and Training.

Kenneth Goodfellow, Optics, “Nanophotonics with Two-dimensional Semiconductors.” 1:30 p.m., March 3, 2017. Goergen 109. Advisor: Nick Vamivakas.

Hao Luo, Computer Science, “Optimizing Parallel Programs Using Composable Locality Models.” 2 p.m., March 3, 2017. CSB 703. Advisor: Chen Ding.

Berkeley Fahrenthold, Neuroscience, “Assessment of the Involvement of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Cell Death Pathways in Retinal Ganglion Cell Death After Excitotoxic Injury.” 1:15 p.m., March 20, 2017. Aud K-307 (3-6408) Medical Center. Advisor: Richard Libby.

Today: Pangaea: “Big Data and the Future of Understanding the Mind” with discussion leader Krishnan Padmanabhan, assistant professor of neuroscience. 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Medical Center Specialty Room 2-7536 (URMC). Pangaea, sponsored by the Graduate Student Society and the Graduate Student Association, is a free-flowing group discussion centered around a topic of universal interest and importance, bringing together perspectives from multiple academic disciplines to discover creative ideas and opportunities. Snacks, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate provided.  The GSS and GSA Facebook pages have information on upcoming student events.

Feb. 27: 5 p.m. deadline to apply for Center for AIDS Research funding for projects that use the center’s Pharmacology Shared Resource to address key gaps in understanding HIV/AIDS pharmacology and therapeutics. Read more here.

Feb. 28: “Informatics and Neurogenetics: From the Cluster to the Clinic,” presented by Alex Paciorkowski, assistant professor of neurology. Projects involving massively parallel genomic sequencing and what the next generation in clinical genomic medicine may hold. Noon to 1 p.m., Lower Adolph Auditorium (1-7619). Center for Biomedical Informatics. Lunch will be served.

March 19: Deadline to register for the University’s preliminary Falling Walls competition, to see who will represent Rochester at the final competition in Berlin, Germany this fall. This year’s Falling Walls preliminary contest will be held April 20 in Schlegel Hall’s Eisenberg Rotunda on the River Campus. Register here. Contact Adele Coelho, faculty outreach coordinator, at adele.coelho@rochester.edu for additional information.

March 20: Deadline to submit applications for a University Research Award of up to $37,500, matched by the applicant’s home school for a total of $75,000. The program provides seed money on a competitive basis for innovative research projects that are likely to obtain external support.  Completed applications should be directed to adele.coelho@rochester.edu. Click here to view the full RFP.

March 20: Deadline to submit applications for an AS&E PumpPrimer II award. Click here for more information. Faculty in the School of Arts & Science should refer questions to Debra Haring, and those in the Hajim School of Engineering to Cindy Gary.

March 20: Deadline to nominate early career faculty in AS&E and SMD natural and biological sciences for Furth Fund awards. Additional information can be found here.

March 25: Brainstorming for the Healthy Weight Initiative, which aims to increase the proportion of people with healthy weight in Rochester and beyond. The goal is to identify potential collaborators and research topics in any area related to body weight development as a first step toward developing new transdisciplinary research teams to obtain more research funding.  For more information, contact Diana Fernandez.

April 10: Deadline to apply for pilot and feasibility awards offered by the Schmitt Program in Integrative Neuroscience (SPIN), in conjunction with the Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience. Click here for more information and to download the RFA.