“Remember the past to inform our future ”is the core theme behind a new community-university initiative called Sankofa Communiversity, which aims to improve the health, well-being, and overall living conditions of the larger Rochester community through collaborative research efforts. Activism is a major driving force behind this partnership between North East Area Development, Inc. (NEAD) and the University’s Warner School of Education.

Established in 2018, Sankofa strengthens and extends the University’s collaboration with the larger community on critical participatory action research that aims to ensure the vitality and vibrancy of a shared Rochester community.

“Sankofa was created with the idea of it becoming an interdependent hub where rigorous, high-quality research is conducted in the community, by the community, and for the community—it’s not just University researchers doing the work and then leaving,” says Joyce Duckles, associate professor of human development at the Warner School and co-principal investigator of Sankofa Communiversity.

To that end, Sankofa engages youth, community members, elders, and university students in authentic rigorous research that supports sustainable change with projects dealing with health, food and housing, access to economic opportunities, and elders living on fixed incomes. Read more here.

The United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has announced an agreement to support the University’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) with a supplemental cooperative agreement (CA) in the amount of $279.9 million for fiscal years (FY) 2020–23. Adding to previously executed agreements, including $80 million that the LLE already received for FY19, this makes possible a total funding level of $409.9 million for FY 2019–23—a record amount authorized for the lab in a five-year CA.

According to LLE Director Michael Campbell, the renewed NNSA agreement is a great expression of the agency’s long-term support for LLE and helps ensure that the lab’s leading role in fusion, high-energy-density science, and advanced high-intensity lasers and optics will continue in Rochester.

Read more here.

Recognizing the importance of high-energy-density science, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently selected eight national projects in high-energy-density physics to be awarded a total of $3.5 million. Three of the eight awards were given to researchers at the University of Rochester.

“The recent notification of the awards in high-energy-density physics demonstrates the quality and impact of research at the University and the Laser Lab,” says Michael Campbell, director of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). “HEDP is a growing and important field of research and the University of Rochester is a recognized world leader. We are grateful to the Department of Energy for selecting these outstanding proposals.”

Read more here.

Empowering patients to decide whether or not to receive narcotics for pain control following cervical endocrine surgery led to a 96.6 percent reduction in the number of narcotic tablets prescribed, according to a new study led by researchers in the Department of Surgery and recently published in Annals of Surgery.

A team led by Jacob Moalem, associate professor in the Department of Surgery, designed an “opt-in” prescription system for patients undergoing ambulatory procedures such as thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy. They hypothesized that many patients, if given adequate education, non-narcotic analgesia and the prerogative to choose would decline narcotic prescriptions for discharge. Read more here.

Manuel Gomez-Ramirez joins the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences as an assistant professor after serving as  a research associate in the department of neuroscience at Brown University. Previously, he was a postdoctoral research associate at Johns Hopkins University, studying the neural processes of tactile perception.

Gomez-Ramirez’s current research focuses on the neural mechanisms that mediate haptics—interactions involving the sense of touch. He uses imaging, electrophysiology, and optogenetic tools to study the dynamics between sensory and motor neural circuits that enable object recognition and grasping with the hands. Better understanding sensory and motor integration will allow researchers to develop more accurate models of how our hands and brains work together to perceive and manipulate objects. A major long-term goal of his research is to optimize neural stimulation strategies for integrating artificial prosthetic devices with brain signals.

Gomez-Ramirez’s work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals including PloS Biology, Neuron, and the Journal of Neuroscience. He received his PhD in psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Jessica Goodman, an integrated behavioral health clinician, researcher, and educator in psychiatry and medicine, and Alec Salminen, a PhD student in biomedical engineering. They took first place at recent University research competitions.

Goodman won the 2019 Steadman Family Postdoctoral Associate Prize in Interdisciplinary Research, worth $1,000. She described her team’s use of data science to take into account the unique characteristics of emergency department (ED) patients, to help address the growing number of ED visits.

Salminen took first place and a prize of $500 at the University’s Falling Walls competition. He will represent the University next month in the final Falling Walls Lab competition in Berlin, against 99 other presenters from across the globe. He described his work on a device that would allow early sepsis detection with a simple blood draw at the bedside.

Read more here.

Xiang Lu, statistics, “Model Selection and Variable Selection for Mixtures of Factor Analyzers.” 2 p.m. October 18, 2019. Helen Wood Hall (1W-509). Advisor: Tanzy Love.

Today: Center for Integrated Research Computing (CIRC) symposium, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wegmans 1400. Paul Boutz from the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics will describe new computational tools to quantify changes in transcriptome-wide splicing and polyadenylation in response to treatment of cells with small molecule inhibitors and genomic alterations targeting genes with relevance to cancer. Luke Chamandy from the Department of Physics and Astronomy will demonstrate common envelope simulations using the AstroBEAR code. Lunch will be served.

Oct. 21: Graduate Student Negative Data Club Meeting,  3 p.m., Hawkins Room (MedCenter 1-7438).  Learn more 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. 23: Humanities Center Rosenberger Works-in-Progress lecture. Eduardo Herrera, Humanities Center fellow – “Making a Jewish Neighborhood: In-group/Out-group Sonic Dynamics in an Argentine Soccer Stadium.” 12:30 p.m., Humanities Center Conference Room D, Rush Rhees Library.

Oct. 24-26: “Manipulating Brain States” conference on neuromodulation, hosted by the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience. More than 20 internationally-renowned speakers will attend. Memorial Art Gallery. Learn more here. Click here to register.

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.

Oct. 30: Annual “Pediatrics Research Celebration Day” showcasing Medical Center pediatric research. Poster session and lecture by Robert M. Blum, the Emeritus William H. Gates, Sr. Professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the immediate past director, Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Flaum Atrium and Class of ’62 Auditorium.

Oct. 30: Phelps Colloquium Series:

• How do we “fix” urban schools? Moving beyond tests, takeover, and other policy tools. Kara Finnigan, professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, Warner School of Education.
• Can we TRANSFORM our nation’s approach to preventing child abuse and neglect? Yes, by using evidence-based practice. Sheree Toth, professor of psychology and psychiatry and director of the Mt Hope Family Center.

4–5:30 p.m. Hawkins-Carlson Room, Rush Rhees Library, River Campus. Reception preceding the talks. Click here to register. Questions? Contact Adele Coelho, faculty outreach coordinator, at (585) 273-2571 or by email at adele.coelho@rochester.edu.

Oct. 31: Pre-proposals due for Technology Development Fund awards. Eligible projects propose the development of a technology to a commercial endpoint. Awards are up to $100,000 and support animal testing, prototyping, and other proof-of-concept studies. Open to all faculty, staff, and students. A submitted invention disclosure to UR Ventures is required. Pre-proposals should be submitted to omar.bakht@rochester.edu.

Nov. 2: Immune Imaging Symposium on newest developments in understanding immune function through visualizing immunity “in action.” International speakers, an interactive poster session and opportunities for oral presentations from students and postdoctoral fellows. 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Saunders Research Building. Registration is free, but preregistration is required. Learn more here.

Nov. 7: Humanities Center Rosenberger Works-in-Progress lecture. Chun Yi Sum,visiting assistant professor of anthropology – “Toast to Adulthood: Alcohol Consumption and Moral Personhood in Postreform China.” 12:30 p.m., Humanities Center Conference Room D, Rush Rhees Library.

Nov. 7-8: “Making Connections: How Scientists Can Write about Science for the Rest of the World.” Two-day workshop by Julie Sedivy, a cognitive scientist, writer, and editor. Co-hosted by Center for Language Sciences, Writing Speaking and Argument Program, and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University. Sign-up required at event website. This event is open to the public and welcomes all members of the UR community.

Nov. 11: Initial abstracts due for URCTSI funding through the Novel Biostatistical and Epidemiologic Methods Program, which supports the development of novel biostatistical and epidemiologic methods that help overcome specifically identified limitations and significantly enhance the validity and accuracy, scope or speed of clinical or translational research. Learn more and view the RFA.

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.

Nov. 21: Phelps Colloquium Series:

• From the bedside to the cloud: The digital revolution in behavioral health. Michael Hasselberg, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Dentistry.
• Emergence of cardiometabolic risk: The childbearing years. Susan Groth, associate professor, School of Nursing.

4–5:30 p.m., Feldman Ballroom, Douglass Commons, River Campus. Reception preceding the talks. Click here to register. Questions? Contact Adele Coelho, faculty outreach coordinator, at (585) 273-2571 or by email at adele.coelho@rochester.edu.

Nov. 22: 5 p.m. deadline to apply for up to two awards, with a maximum funding of $25,000 each, through the joint School of Nursing/School of Medicine and Dentistry Program of Excellence in HIV/AIDS, administered by the Center for AIDS Research. This pilot program is intended to provide support for investigator teams to generate preliminary data that will facilitate the submission of subsequent competitive proposals for NIH-sponsored or other grants. Applications should be submitted as a single file attachment in PDF format. Click here for additional information. Contact Laura Enders at Laura_Enders@urmc.rochester.edu with any questions.

Nov. 29: Deadline to apply for a Medicines Discovery Award through the Empire Discovery Institute. a new partnership of the University of Rochester, the University at Buffalo and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center to convert the institutions’ scientific breakthroughs into viable pharmaceuticals for commercialization and strengthen the region as a hub for life sciences research and development. The program provides up to $7.5 million in support for two opportunities annually. Learn more.

Dec. 3: Annual CFAR World AIDS Day Scientific Symposium. 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m, Keynote addresses will be presented in the Class of ’62 Auditorium (G-9425), Medical Center.  A poster session will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m .in Flaum Atrium.  Register your poster by November 1. Contact Laura Enders for more information.

Dec. 6:  5 p.m. deadline for postdoctoral fellows and early-career faculty to file letters of intent for the UR CTSI Career Development Award (KL2). The award provides two years of support for the early career development of multidisciplinary clinical and translational scientists. The program fosters the transition of KL2 scholars to an independent career as a clinical and translational investigator, generally by means of an individual K- or R-award. View the request for applications.