Jesse Schallek, assistant professor of ophthalmology and neuroscience, can barely contain his excitement as he shares time-lapse videos showing immune cells moving through living retinal tissue at the back of an eye.

In one clip, immune cells crawl so slowly along the inside edge of a blood vessel that the video must be sped up 25 times to show their progress. Another cell slowly treads against the flow of blood in a vessel, like a salmon fighting its way upstream. Other immune cells leave the blood vessels and inch through the surrounding tissue, then congregate in a swarm, forming a beehive of activity.

Schallek and his vision lab at the Center for Visual Science and Flaum Eye Institute, have created a new microscopy technique, described in the journal eLIFE, that builds upon groundbreaking adaptive optics developed at the University more than 20 years ago.

Combined with time lapse videography and artificial intelligence software, the new technique enables researchers for the first time to noninvasively image and track—without labeling—the interactions of translucent immune cells within live retinal tissue in animals. Until now, the immune cells had to be labeled with fluorescent agents and often reinjected in order to image them—raising questions about how this might change the behavior of the cells. Another common, but limiting approach is to remove cells and study them with a microscope in a dish.

“We think this will be a game changer for ophthalmology and for our understanding of retinal diseases that lead to blindness,” says Schallek. Read more and see a video here.

In response to low turnout at the polls, several countries have introduced a plethora of policies aimed at making the voting process more convenient—such as postal voting, on-demand absentee balloting, early voting in person, and internet voting. In the United States, about one quarter of all voters opted to cast their votes by mail in the 2016 presidential election.

But there are two problems with these convenience measures.

First, “there is little evidence that such initiatives expand participation in inclusive ways,” say University of Rochester political science professor James Johnson and Susan Orr, an associate professor of political science at the State University of New York Brockport. In other words, voting by mail does not make more people vote, nor does it really increase the participation of minorities.

Second, and arguably more importantly, the security of the ballot is not guaranteed if voting takes place at home.

“Such measures threaten electoral integrity,” the political scientists write in their forthcoming book Should Secret Voting Be Mandatory? (Polity, November 2020). The coauthors—a husband-and-wife team—argue that some of these convenience measures undermine the very ballot secrecy that was originally introduced to prevent intimidation and bribery of voters—practices which have started to reemerge. Read more here.

Engines that run with 100 percent efficiency are still more science fiction than science fact, but new research at the University may bring scientists one step closer to demonstrating an ideal transfer of energy within a system.

Andrew Jordan, a professor of physics, was recently awarded a three-year, $1 million grant from the Templeton Foundation to research quantum measurement engines—engines that use the principles of quantum mechanics to run with 100 percent efficiency. The research, to be carried out with co-principal investigators in France and at Washington University St. Louis, could answer important questions about the laws of thermodynamics in quantum systems and contribute to technologies such as more efficient engines and quantum computers.

“The grant deals with several Big Questions about our natural world,” Jordan says. Read more here.

The COVID-19 pandemic may be pushing many emerging market nations into two separate crises that could spiral out of control—one involving public health, the other involving individual country’s national debt.

Yan Bai, a professor of economics, has analyzed how emerging markets are struggling to balance policies designed to keep their populations safe while financing high debt obligations.

“If a country has a lot of debt—or if it has difficulty rolling over its debt—the government will have limited capacity to help its people,” she says.

Bai and fellow economists Cristina Arellano of the University of Minneapolis and Gabriel Mihalache of Stony Brook University detail the financial and health risks in a new paper, “Deadly Debt Crisis: COVID-19 in Emerging Markets.”

They began by studying the effectiveness of lock downs that began about two months after the initial outbreak and lasted for eight months. When half of the workforce stays at home, followed by a gradual relaxation of restrictions, the authors found that the death toll was reduced by half.

But lockdowns come at a price, especially for countries with limited financial resources. People still need to pay for food, shelter, and basic supplies during a pandemic, but if a country is facing a debt crisis, that nation’s policy makers have fewer resources to help citizens make purchases. That means less revenue goes to vendors and landlords, which puts a further drag on the economy, forcing more people to lose their jobs. Read more here.

Ann Dozier, a professor and chair of public health sciences, and Irena Pesis-Katz, senior director of population health management, informatics, and payment innovation, and an associate professor of clinical nursing and public health sciences, will present “COVID-19 Modeling: Navigating Towards a Moving Target.”

The grand rounds lecture takes place Friday, November 6, from noon to 1 p.m. EDT via Zoom. Register in advance to attend. ASL interpreters will be in attendance.

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is soliciting applications for Administrative Supplements and Emergency Competitive Revisions from current Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) recipients, including those at the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI). Proposed projects should address the COVID-19 pandemic though:

• Provision of clinical data in specified formats to support illness/infection status/surveillance determinations and/or clinical study data (awards anticipated to be $50,000 to $100,000 total costs)
• Involvement with clinical studies and trials in support of COVID interventions, as well as clinical sample provision and assessing infectious or convalescent status

If interested, review the Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) and send a description of your proposed project to CTSI@urmc.rochester.edu. Submission to NCATS must be made by Tuesday, November 10.

Catherine Bunce, senior associate in medicine within the Division of Infectious Diseases, has been helping lead several COVID-19 treatment and vaccine trials at the Medical Center.

Recognizing the importance of gaining the trust and support of community members, she reached out to the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) and Center for Community Health and Prevention to conduct a virtual Community Engagement Studio.

The studios, run by a team of community engagement experts, provide a structured approach to directly engaging members of the community for their guidance and input on specific research studies. “The studio was eye-opening,” said Bunce. “The participants were very engaged and honest, and their candid comments have helped us be more thoughtful in our approach and in providing information to the community.”

If you are interested in getting community input to improve your study, request a virtual studio or contact Laura Sugarwala for more information.

The next in a series on Department of Defense (DOD) research programs and opportunities will be held by Zoom starting at 12:30 p.m., Monday, November 9.

Sponsored by the Office of Government and Community Relations, School of Medicine and Dentistry, and the College of Arts, Sciences and Engineering, the session will feature a panel discussion with University faculty who have had success in working with DOD agencies like Office of Naval Research (ONR), Army, Air Force Office of Scientific Research/Air Force Research Laboratory (AFOSR/AFRL), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

Featured panelists are:

• Duncan T. Moore, Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Professor in Optical Engineering Science and vice provost for entrepreneurship.
• John M. Nichol, assistant professor of physics.
• Peter Wyman, professor of psychiatry and director, School and Community-Based Prevention Laboratory.

RSVP to laurie_chiumento@urmc.rochester.edu by November 6 to receive a Zoom link.

The UR CTSI’s Population Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship aims to produce interdisciplinary researchers trained in team science and competency-based skills who can conceptualize research across the translational continuum from basic research through population health.

Over the course of one year, postdocs develop and complete a population health research project within an existing research program and participate in didactic and hands-on training experiences through virtual learning and research platforms. The first round of rolling applications are due by Sunday, November 15.

Here are important links for researchers:

• University’s COVID-19 website for important updates and guidance on working, teaching, and learning remotely
• University of Rochester Medical Center website for restrictions, resources, and news
• Office of Research and Project Administration (ORPA) site on Coronavirus 2019 resources related to sponsored programs
• University’s COVID-19 “Restart and Recovery” web page.

Be respectful, stay healthy and safe: In a message to faculty, staff, and students yesterday, University President Sarah Mangelsdorf emphasized the importance of demonstrating respect—both in our interactions with each other in the current political and social climate and in continuing to follow health and safety guidelines surrounding COVID-19. Read the full message.

The importance of getting a flu shot: “For the health of the University community, receiving a flu shot is even more important now during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ralph Manchester, vice provost and director University Health Service, explains in a message to the University community. “UHS is currently managing a full program of COVID-19 testing and prevention efforts on top of regular patient appointments, and the addition of a potential flu outbreak within the University community would significantly strain our ability to see and care for all patients in need. And because symptoms of COVID-19 and the flu are similar—both often including fever/chills, cough, sore throat and congestion—it can be difficult to immediately distinguish which virus a patient may have, and this investigation period can quickly max out the quarantine and isolation spaces we have available to students.” Read more here.

New look and content for University’s COVID-19 Dashboard: The University of Rochester COVID-19 Dashboard has been redesigned to be cleaner, more mobile-friendly, and include more data points for the University community to track the status of the virus and prevention efforts on our campuses. The dashboard is updated every day to present the most up-to-date changes, and the data closely aligns with that presented on New York State’s COVID-19 Report Card.

Essential Zoom host tips: Meeting distractions can quickly derail an event. Learn the Zoom participant controls, quick steps to remedy interruptions, and benefits of having a cohost before your next session in the Zoom Host Guide, available on the University IT website.