In recent years, leadership at the Wilmot Cancer Institute went on a recruitment spree to draw young talent from top institutions around the world and establish a new generation of wunderkinds.

They built an extraordinary class of junior faculty with interests and expertise to complement Wilmot’s strengths. The investigators — nearly all of them are Millennials — also brought the latest skills in parsing technology, big data, genomics, and bioinformatics.

“The goal was to build cohesion through attracting high-performing individuals who can offer new ideas and new perspectives to our research environment,” says Hucky Land, Wilmot’s deputy director. “On top of that, you’re happy if you can attract from the best organizations in the world — and we’ve done that.”

Land describes the group as a “brain tsunami” that will add depth and freshness to Wilmot’s outstanding research team for years to come.

Cancer is a private concern for many of the investigators. Stephano Mello’s wife, for instance, had cancer at a young age. She is doing well, but the experience moved him deeply. Isaac Harris lost a close friend to breast cancer, and it stirred an urgency that drives him daily. Rachael Turner decided to pursue cancer research, in part, because her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother struggled with the disease.

Read more about each these 11 researchers here.

A new study by a team led by Lynne Maquat, the J. Lowell Orbison Endowed Chair and Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, shows that many abnormalities in Fragile X syndrome cells are related to glitches with one of the body’s major quality control systems. The research provides fresh insight into the molecular mechanisms of the disorder and a pathway to search for potential treatments.

Fragile X syndrome occurs when individuals don’t make the fragile X protein known as FMRP, which is needed for normal brain development, leading to the intellectual disability and severe learning problems characteristic of the disease.

The researchers found that many irregularities in cells that lack FMRP are due to misregulated nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, or NMD. Discovered by Maquat, NMD is like a molecular guide that helps our cells make smart decisions that (in most cases) improve cellular function and contribute to good health.

Maquat’s team discovered that NMD influences a wide range of genes throughout the brain. They also found that when FMRP is absent from cells, as it is in people with fragile X syndrome, nonsense-mediated mRNA decay shifts into overdrive.

In multiple experiments using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from individuals with fragile X syndrome, first author and research assistant professor Tatsuaki Kurosaki revealed that tamping down NMD with compounds called small molecule inhibitors restored some of these neurological functions in cells. “This is a big step forward in understanding how this disease develops,” says Maquat, “While NMD supports our cells in various ways, too much of it can upset a complex molecular balance that sustains the expression of genes and the creation of proteins. It is bad to have no NMD, but is also detrimental to have too much.”

Read more here.

New Medical Center research has detailed a part of the nervous system by which the brain can modify our sense of balance. The study expands our understanding of how balance stimuli are received by the brain while also offering insights into potential drug targets in the ear, which may be leveraged for treating motion sickness and balance disorders.

“These data are one of the first steps in beginning to unravel the functional significance of the efferent vestibular system,” says Joseph C. Holt, associate professor of otolaryngology and senior author of the study published in the journal Scientific Reports. The efferent vestibular system (EVS) begins as a small collection of neurons that travel from the brainstem out to the ear where our sense of balance begins.

Holt and his team recorded an increase in the activity of vestibular afferent neurons in mice during stimulation of the EVS system. The excitatory effects of EVS stimulation were diminished by the application of scopolamine, a drug widely used to treat motion sickness in humans, demonstrating for the first time that EVS mechanisms in the ear are also targeted by this drug.

Previously, it was believed that scopolamine only targeted similar receptors in the brain. Read more here.

Creative and independent thinking are hallmarks of a University of Rochester PhD in the humanities or social sciences.  Graduating students are often unaware that the training they have received, and the skills they have acquired, are valued and needed in academic-adjacent careers.

In response to this, and the changing job market, the Greene Center for Career Education and Connections, partnering with the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs office in AS&E, has developed InternPhD, a competitive internship program to provide academic-adjacent higher education experiences for AS&E PhD students in the humanities and social sciences.

InternPhD is designed to help broaden students’ experiences and learn more about alternative academic positions. Undertaking an internship in a higher education setting provides students with valuable work experience. Applying the knowledge gained in their programs of study to academic and student life support offices will enrich their PhD and promote their career development. Further, an internship, when combined with the student’s academic training, will result in graduates with a broader range of skills.

As part of InternPhD students will participate in a summer-long internship, working part time (15-20 hours a week) receiving a $3,000 stipend funded by the new Dean’s Career Fellowship. Before applying for an internship, students must complete the prerequisite CASC 504 (offered in spring 2021).

CAS 504 is designed to assist PhD students in the humanities and social sciences to identify, develop, and communicate competencies that make them an ideal internship candidate later in their PhD career.  Through readings, self-assessments, utilizing online resources, completing informational interviews, and more, students will be able to reflect strategically and align their program of study with future career goals.  Students will be researching various industries and fields of interest and integrate their self-reflection to develop personal career readiness skills and create a career exploration plan.

Interested in taking CASC 504 this spring? Contact alissa.clark@rochester.edu to receive further instructions for registration. 

Join the Goergen Institute for Data Science (GIDS) on Tuesday, February 9 from 1 to 2 p.m. for a virtual info session on the Advanced Certificate in Data Science with GIDS Deputy Director Ajay Anand and Education Program Coordinator Lisa Altman.

The advanced certificate program is designed for individuals who have a working knowledge of data science gained through industry or academic experience but would like to formalize their training with a deeper mastery of the fundamental concepts in the field.

Current University employees and graduate students are welcome to apply and will receive application fee waivers. The program is designed to be a total of 16 credits and can be completed in 2-4 semesters of study.

Zoom link: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/98002625158?pwd=YkhPaU1IOVFXR3UrYi9Mek1zUkVQQT09

Here are important links for researchers:

• The University’s COVID-19 Resource Center 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
• The University’s COVID-19 “Restart and Recovery” web page

ORANGE ZONE LIFTED, BUT VIGILANCE STILL NEEDED: On Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that most all of the New York State COVID Microcluster Zones have been lifted, meaning that the University is no longer in an Orange Zone, or any NYS Zone. This means some of the COVID practices and protocols in place within the University community will remain in effect, while others will have more flexibility. It’s important to note, however, that the pandemic is far from over and the University’s safety protocols, including mask wearing, social distancing and completing Dr. Chat Bot every day, are not being relaxed. Adhering to these requirements is even more important now in order to keep the infection rate low and avoid a surge of the virus that could lead to a return of zone restrictions. Read more here.

PLEASE NOTE that the University’s COVID-19 Dashboard is updated daily and dashboard numbers may reflect additional cases confirmed later in the day. When a new case is known, the contact-tracing process begins immediately with the Monroe County Health Department, with confirmed exposures being contacted and required to quarantine. Remember:

• A temperature of 100 °F (37.8 °C) or higher
• Chills
• Muscle or body aches
• Severe fatigue
• Headache
• Congestion or runny nose
• Sore throat
• Loss of taste, smell, or appetite
• Cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea