The lab of Chunlei Guo, professor of optics, also affiliated with the Materials Science Program, is noted for its pioneering work in using femtosecond lasers to etch unique properties into metal surfaces.

However, Guo’s lab has also been exploring “parallel” ways to create unique surfaces that do not involve laser etching.

And it has come up with optical coatings like no others.

In a paper in Nature Nanotechnology, Guo and his lab describe a new class of Fano Resonance Optical Coatings (FROCs) that can simultaneously reflect and transmit the same wavelength, or color.

One possible application: using FROCs to separate thermal and photovoltaic bands of the solar spectrum. Such capability could improve the effectiveness of devices that use hybrid thermal-electric power generation as a solar energy option. Read more here.

Susana Marcos, an internationally recognized expert in the optics of the eye and the interactions of light with the retina, will become the David R. Williams Director of the Center for Visual Science at the University, effective July 1.

Marcos, a professor at the Instituto de Óptica, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IO-CSIC) in Madrid, Spain, succeeds Williams, who has served as director of the Center for Visual Science for the last three decades. His research group pioneered the use of adaptive optics to image individual retinal cells in the living eye. The methods that Williams’s team developed are also used throughout the world to improve vision correction technologies such as contact lenses and laser refractive surgery. Williams will continue his research.

Marcos has made significant contributions to ocular speckle interferometry, wavefront sensing, adaptive optics, and quantitative anterior segment optical coherence tomography, with applications in laser refractive surgery, intraocular lenses, and the treatment of keratoconus and presbyopia, among others.

“The Center for Visual Science has established itself as the world standard for vision research under the leadership of David Williams,” Marcos says. “Moreover, the University of Rochester has a global reputation as a hub of optics and photonics. And coming from the Instituto de Óptica, which is the oldest in Spain, to the Institute of Optics here, with an even longer tradition, is a dream come true.”

Her goals for the center include fostering internal and international multidisciplinary collaborations in vision science, attracting talented students, creating inspirational models for women in science and technology, and accelerating the transfer of research discoveries to industry. Read more here.

After nine years of leadership and commitment to the advancement of Rochester libraries and scholarly resources, Mary Ann Mavrinac, vice provost and the Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of the University of Rochester Libraries, is retiring.

Mavrinac will continue to carry out her duties as dean until the end of October. In the meantime, the University will conduct a national search to find her successor.

Under Mavrinac’s leadership:

• Rush Rhees Library underwent a renovation that produced Evans Lam Square, a state-of-the-art gathering space where library patrons can get information, do research, and work together on projects.
• The Barbara J. Burger iZone was built as a problem-solving space, program, and community designed to empower students to explore and imagine ideas for social, cultural, community, and economic impact.
• Within Rush Rhees Library, the 24-hour Gleason Library will undergo a refresh—the first in its 13-year existence—that will inject new life into the space through a reimagined layout and more modern, function-focused furniture.
• At Carlson Science and Engineering Library, Studio X, the University’s hub for immersive technologies, is getting a dedicated physical space for students and faculty to experience, explore, and experiment through extended reality. Both spaces are scheduled to be completed this fall.

Beyond the capital projects, Mavrinac has overseen work in digital scholarship, open access, and scholarly communications. Last year, she helped realize the Carol ’74, Pʼ11 and Sarah ’11 Karp Library Fellows Program, a unique experiential leadership opportunity that offers students the chance to develop specialized skills that prepare them for their careers while they contribute to the success of their area of the library. Read more here.

Ranga Dias, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, who has been selected by Time magazine for its 2021 Time100 Next annual list of 100 individuals who are shaping the future of their fields and defining the next generation of leadership. Dias was selected among 19 leaders in the list’s “Innovators” category for his creation of material that is superconducting at room temperature.

A study conducted by Medical Center researchers – in collaboration with several other universities – indicates that breastfeeding women with COVID-19 do not transmit the SARS-CoV-2 virus through their milk but do confer milk-borne antibodies that are able to neutralize the virus.

The study, published in the journal mBio, analyzed 37 milk samples submitted by 18 women diagnosed with COVID-19. None of the milk samples were found to contain the virus, while nearly two thirds of the samples did contain two antibodies specific to the virus.

This provides evidence that COVID-19 positive mothers should not be separated from their newborn children. Major health organizations have often provided contradictory advice on whether this separation was necessary. This report will hopefully offer new clarity on guidance for post-natal mothers.

“We only want to sequester a mother from her baby if it’s medically necessary,” says co-investigator Bridget Young, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics. “These early results suggest that breast milk from mothers who have had a COVID-19 infection contains specific and active antibodies against the virus, and that they do not transfer the virus through milk.  This is great news!”

Read more here.

The Goergen Institute for Data Science (GIDS) announces its Data Science Spring 2021 Speaker Series. The series of free, virtual research talks will be given by faculty and research leaders. All talks are on Fridays from 2-3 p.m.

This spring’s lineup includes:

• Today: – SLIDE: Commodity Hardware is All You Need for Large-Scale Deep Learning, with Anshumali Shrivastava, assistant professor of computer science, Rice University
• March 12: - AI-Powered Extraction of Knowledge from Social Media, with Yiannis Kompatsiaris, research director, Information Technologies Institute (ITI), Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH)
• March 26: - Subvector Inference in Partially Identified Models with Many Moment Inequalities, with Alexandre Belloni, John D. Forsyth Professor of Business Administration and Statistical Science, Duke University
• April 2: - Interpretable Prediction of Obstructive Lung Disease from Chest Radiographs with Deep Learning, with Tolga Tasdizen, professor of electrical and computer engineering, University of Utah
• April 16: – (Re-)Imag(in)ing Price Trends, with Dacheng Xiu, professor of econometrics and statistics, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago
• April 23: - Using Data Science to Uncover the Morphogenetic Blueprints of the Fly Embryo, with Tomer Stern, postdoctoral research fellow, Princeton University
• April 30 - Cell Atlases as Roadmaps, with Aviv Regev, head of Research and Early Development, Genentech

Graduate students, faculty, and staff (within and outside of the Warner School) are invited to attend the school’s first-ever Doctoral Student Peer Support Association (DSPSA) 2021 Winter Conference, “Reflections and Possibilities: Surviving 2020 and Thriving in 2021,” on Friday, Feb. 26 through Saturday, Feb. 27. 

Bettina Love, an award-winning author and the Athletic Association Endowed Professor at the University of Georgia, will be the keynote speaker on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 10:30 a.m. EST. 

The DSPSA Winter Conference aims to offer both master’s and doctoral students, faculty, and staff, as well as Rochester community members an opportunity to:

• share their research,
• hone their presentation skills,
• receive feedback on their work,
• share work with the community beyond the University,
• find out about the research interests of University peers.

 Register online to attend. Learn more about the conference and conference schedule on the DSPSA Website. 

Contact ResearchHelp@urmc.rochester.edu to get a free consultation.

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

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