In the 1970s, doctors in the United States sterilized an estimated 25 to 42 percent of Native American women of childbearing age, some as young as 15.

Even the lower estimate—one quarter of Native women—is a whopping statistic. The sterilizations, subsidized by the federal government and often undertaken without consent or under great duress, marked the culmination of a long history of efforts by federal and local authorities to manage the reproductive lives of Native families, explains Brianna Theobald, an assistant professor of history, in her new book, Reproduction on the Reservation: Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Colonialism in the Long Twentieth Century (University of North Carolina Press).

“The federal government and local authorities have long tried to control indigenous families and women’s reproduction, using tactics such as coercive sterilization and the removal of indigenous children into the white foster care system,” says Theobald.

Her book traces those efforts, but also the response from Native Americans themselves—“widespread activism across Indian country” that arose as a direct consequence of federal reproductive policies.

Read more here.

Pain, nausea, and shortness of breath are the most common reasons that cancer patients seek emergency treatment, according to a nationwide analysis including the Rochester area and patients from the Wilmot Cancer Institute.

The study is believed to be the first prospective, multicenter effort to describe emergency department use by individuals with active cancer, of which there are an estimated 15 million people in the country.

Surprisingly, only 8 percent of patients with active cancer had been engaged with palliative care services, which are focused on preventing and treating pain and other symptoms, and improving quality of life.

Read more here about other findings.

What do traumatic experiences and great mentors have in common among college student populations?  Both have the potential to inform and shape the development of young adults studying in a higher education institution, according to Tricia Shalka, assistant professor in the Warner School’s higher education program.

In a recent Q&A with The Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring, the long-time student affairs practitioner turned faculty member shares her experiences working with international students as well as college students who have experienced trauma.

Research confirms trauma as pervasive among college students. Yet, little is known about how trauma that is experienced in early adulthood—when many people are in college—impacts several of the developmental outcomes that are critical during this time of life, according to Shalka. She describes one strand of her research that delves into the intersection of identity development and trauma in college students.

Read more here.

Mayya Komisarchik is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science. Most recently a doctoral student at Harvard University, she focuses her scholarly interests on racial and ethnic politics, representation, the Voting Rights Act, policing, immigration, and political incorporation.

She applies a data-analysis-informed approach in her research and teaching to explore American politics and the methodologies that can be used to analyze public policymaking. Her work has appeared in journals such as the American Journal of Political Science (forthcoming) as well as IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. She has research under way on the Voting Rights Act, partisanship in political decision making, diversity in policing, electoral representation, and other topics.

As a doctoral student at Harvard, Komisarchik taught courses on research methodology and quantitative methods in statistics and political science. She was recognized for her teaching by a Harvard program designed to support experimentation, innovation, and evidence-based practices in teaching. Before graduate school, she was an assistant economist at the US Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

An Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) is a unique identifier that assists in easily tracking your research activities. Next year, NIH will require researchers to have an ORCID profile to apply for grants.

The librarians at Miner Libraries can assist researchers with creating this profile. Librarians will be in the Saunders Research Building, outside the CTSI Directors’ Suite to help set up ORCID identifiers from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday, November 11.

Stop by and create your ORCID in less than ten minutes.

“ORCID benefits researchers by providing a lifelong identifier that automatically links them to their past and recent papers, avoids the confusion caused by similar last names, enhances the discoverability of their papers and simplifies creating biosketches for grant applications,” says Michael Lauer, NIH’s deputy director for extramural research, at his Open Mike blog. Read more here.

Study teams will often create a flyer to recruit participants for their open research studies.

The University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) can assist the flyer distribution by sending an email blast to the UR Health Research list. This list consists of more than 5,000 local community members and patients who have agreed to be contacted about research study opportunities.

The service is free for studies led by University of Rochester investigators. Email Research Help to take advantage of this service for your current enrolling study.

Manisha Taya, pharmacology, “Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells and Neutrophil Elastase Promote TSC2-null Tumor Growth.” 11:30 a.m. November 5, 2019. Ryan Case Method Room 1-9576 (Medical Center). Advisor: Stephen Hammes.

Talat Jabeen, biomedical engineering, “Investigating Modulation of Organ of Corti Micromechanics by Outer Hair Cell Electromotility.” Noon, November 6, 2019. Aud K-307 (3-6408) Medical Center. Advisor: Jong-Hoon Nam.

Phillip Koyoumjian, history, “Maps and the Making of Geographical Knowledge, 1660-1730.” 2 p.m. November 8, 2019. Gamble Room, Rush Rhees Library. Advisor: Stewart Weaver.

Samuel Mellon, physics and astronomy, “The β Pictoris b Ring (bRing) Survey of the Southern Sky.” 1 p.m. November 7, 2019. Bausch and Lomb 372. Advisors:  Eric Mamajek and Dan Watson.

Letty Leslie Ann Salas Estrada, biophysics, “Study of rhodopsin’s conformational equilibrium and activation dynamics using multi-scale molecular dynamics simulations.” 1 p.m. November 7, 2019. Neuman Room 1-6823 (Medical Center).  Advisor: Alan Grossfield.

Irene Rodríguez Sánchez, microbiology & immunology, “An insight into Human Cytomegalovirus Mediated Metabolic Reprogramming.” 2 p.m. November 7, 2019. Ryan Case Method Room 1-9576 (Medical Center). Advisor: Joshua Munger.

Haofu Liao, computer science, “Deep Learning Methods for Medical Image Computing.” 10 a.m. November 8, 2019. 2-110D Dewey. Advisor: Jiebo Luo.

SYMPOSIUMS

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: Second annual Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound (RCBU) Symposium Day, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Feldman Ballroom. Lectures, trainee presentations, a poster session and installation of Diane Dalecki, director of the RCBU and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering as the Kevin J. Parker Distinguished Professor in Biomedical Engineering. Read more here.

Nov. 14: Wilmot Cancer Institute Annual Scientific Symposium. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Class of ’62 Auditorium/Sarah Flaum Atrium. The Underberg Lecture will be given by Ari M. Melnick, Gebroe Family Professor of Hematology/Oncology and director of the Weill Cornell Medicine-Sackler Center for Biomedical and Physical Sciences. Posters are being accepted for a presentation from 1 – 3 p.m. All members of the University community are invited to present posters on basic or clinical cancer-related research. The poster registration form must be submitted electronically to Michael Powers. Submit posters by Monday, November 4. 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.

LECTURES

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. 14: “Can Computers Create Meaning?: A Cyber-Bio-Semiotic Perspective,” Fairbanks Lecture by N. Katherine Hayles (’77 PhD), Distinguished Research Professor, University of California, Los Angeles, and the James B. Duke Professor Emerita from Duke University.  5 p.m., Humanities Center Conference Room D. Sponsored by Advancement and the Humanities Center.

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.

WORKSHOPS & TRAINING

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: Create an ORCID profile in less than 10 minutes. Librarians at Miner Libraries will be outside the CTSI Directors’ Suite in the Saunders Research Building from 1-3 p.m. to help researchers set up ORCID identifiers. Read more here about the importance of doing so.

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.

GRANT DEADLINES

Nov. 11: Initial abstracts due for UR CTSI 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. 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. 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.