Laura Ackerman Smoller, chair of the Department of History and a scholar of medieval and Renaissance Europe, is on a roll.

This month she was named a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, the highest honor the academy bestows on North American medievalists. The same day she learned she’d been named to the academy’s Fellows Class of 2022, she also received official notification for a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowship to write her third book, an exploration of the relationship between astrology and prophecy in medieval and Renaissance Europe.

An expert on the intersection of magic, science, and religion in medieval and Renaissance, the Rochester historian follows two major themes in her research: astrology and apocalyptic prophecy, and saints and miracles.

Smoller will use her newly awarded NEH fellowship to support her work on a book tentatively titled Astrology and the Sibyls: Paths to Truth in Medieval and Renaissance Europe.

According to Smoller, the introduction of astrological theories about religious changes into Latinate western Europe began around 1100. Her investigation ends around 1600 with the absorption of astrology into apocalyptically charged polemical prophecies that ultimately fueled religious warfare in the wake of the Reformation. Learn more.

Results of a global research project led by Eva Pressman and Tim Dye, both professors in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, indicate that trust in science is the most powerful determinant of whether a person will decide to get a COVID vaccine.

Pressman and Dye led a team of researchers that analyzed data from online surveys conducted in the early stages of the pandemic in the spring of 2020.  The results were recently published in the journal BMJ Open.

COVID vaccines were not available at the time but were already under development.  Responses were collected from more than 7,400 participants in 173 different countries.

The study found that trust in science – namely the ability of biomedical research to produce a safe and effective vaccine – had the most impact on the decision to get vaccinated.   They also found vaccine acceptance was higher in younger ages (under 32 years old) and those with more education.

People indicating they were unlikely to obtain a COVID vaccine were also less likely to socially distance or to stay home from school or work, and reported lower social support from friends, family, and significant others.

Learn more.

Rochester researchers have received an award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to address vaccine hesitancy and improve health literacy among middle and high school students.

The one-year project supplements an existing NIGMS Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA grant) that, since 1998, has supported the Life Sciences Learning Center (LSLC). The LSLC, which is located at the Medical Center, offers outreach programs for Rochester students and community members, and gives them opportunities to participate in hands-on science activities.  Since its inception, LSLC has received more than $9 million in funding.

The new SEPA grant to Dina Markowitz, professor of environmental medicine and LSLC director, focuses on “One Health” – the connection between the health of humans, animals, and the environment. The new NIGMS award will extend those lessons to include COVID-19 and vaccination.

Lessons and hands-on activities will teach students about how COVID-19 spreads, how COVID testing works, what RNA is, and how the vaccine works.

Learn more.

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a well-known neurotoxin that can impact brain development, particularly in utero. A series of new studies from Medical Center researchers indicate that exposure may disrupt the early development of the connections between muscles and the brain, which could lead to motor control problems later in life.

The new studies from the lab of Matthew Rand of the Department of Environmental Medicine, which appear in the journals Neurotoxicology and Teratology and Toxicological Sciences, shed light on the mechanism by which mercury may damage developing muscles and motor control.

The new research was conducted in the fruit fly Drosophilia, a long-established and important research tool in neuroscience because it enables researchers to study the entire nervous system.

The researchers – who included graduate students Ashley Peppriell and Jakob Gunderson–identified a gene called Nlg1 that encodes a protein found in muscles that plays an important role in forming the connections between muscles and neurons, known as the neuromuscular junction. The Nlg1 gene expression is altered when exposed to MeHg during the larva stage.

“What we have to appreciate is that the musculoskeletal system is really sort of a continuation of the nervous system,” says Rand. “They’re connected and neural impulses are responsible for the muscle contractions that move our body. These are integrated systems and when a fetus is forming, muscle tissue and neural tissue need to talk to each other to get wired up. These findings indicate that mercury exposure disrupts this process, with effects that may not appear until adulthood.” Learn more.

Life-changing and curative therapies for disabling and fatal neurological conditions are costly and often inaccessible for patients from underrepresented minority (URM) populations. During translational research in neurology, much of this inaccessibility begins at the therapy development phase and grows through the implementation and dissemination phases.

A virtual Neurotherapeutics Symposium on “Integrating Equity within Translational Research” will be held Friday, January 28 and Saturday, January 29 with the goal of accelerating the translation of advances in neurological therapy into improved health outcomes for all patients.

The Medical Center’s Office for Faculty Development is accepting applications for the Dean’s Teaching Fellowship Program.

This program is open to junior and mid-career faculty members who have held academic faculty positions for at least 2 years and are committed to academic careers in education.

Researchers can learn how to effectively engage with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) at a virtual workshop from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET, on Friday, February 4, hosted by the agency and Lewis-Burke Associates.

This workshop will also provide researchers with information about further advancements in biological defense research.

The event will include an overview from DARPA BTO’s director, Kerri Dugan, and a short session on how to do business with DARPA.

Additionally, several BTO program managers will share their current research priorities in biodefense, such as emerging biological threats, biotechnologies, and warfighter health and performance:

• Anne Cheever– bio-complexity, bio-systems, design, and syn-bio
• Matthew Pava– bio-systems, health, injury, neuroscience, restoration, and syn-bio
• Jean-Paul Chretien– countermeasures, disease, health, syn-bio, and therapy

This 90-minute virtual workshop will be held via Zoom and has a 350-person capacity limit.

RSVP is required by 5 p.m. Monday, January 31.   RSVP here as soon as possible given the limit on participation.

Lewis-Burke will host this workshop for clients only and researchers whose work is closely aligned with DARPA and BTO.  Lewis-Burke reserves the right to manage participation and limit attendees per institution/organization.

All pre-approved attendees will receive the Zoom link and other pertinent information a few days in advance of the workshop.

All University PhD students in the humanities are eligible to apply for four, two-year Mellon “mid-doc” fellowships in the digital humanities that will be awarded for 2022-2024.

A general information and interest meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 25, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Eastern Time via Zoom (Meeting ID: 946 3663 0344, or click here for the meeting link).

Morris Eaves, director of Andrew W. Mellon Graduate Program in the Digital Humanities, and current fellows will answer questions.

These two-year “mid-doc” fellowships offer a guaranteed stipend and include funds for travel to workshops and conferences. The fellowships have built an eight-year record of success in providing humanities Ph.D. students with the digital skills and concepts needed to enrich their own primary research and qualify them to collaborate with partners and mentors in a very wide-ranging set of projects here at the University and elsewhere—in the community and beyond.

The application deadline is February 15, 2022. More information about how to apply is available here.

The Furth Fund, established in 1986 by Valerie and Frank Furth, provides early career scientists with up to $12,500 in research funds to help foster the development of promising scientists.

Nominees should be junior, tenure track faculty appointed in natural, biological science, or engineering departments within ASE, SMD or SON who have been hired within the past three academic years.

Preference will be given to nominees who wish to use the award to support the active engagement of graduate students or postdocs in their research.

All nominations must include the nominee’s curriculum vitae and a short (1-2 page) letter from the departmental chair describing the nominee’s research activities and proposed use of the funds, and an endorsement from the dean of the school. Nominations must be submitted to the dean of the school no later than Friday, March 4, 2022.
Learn more about the Furth Fund here.