A new multidisciplinary study conducted by Medical Center researchers finds that the co-development of three systems—the gut microbiome, respiratory system, and immune system—is correlated with a baby’s respiratory health. An infant can have negative respiratory outcomes if the development of one of these systems is disrupted.

The study, “Aberrant newborn T cell and microbiota developmental trajectories predict respiratory compromise during infancy,” was published in iScience (Cell Press) and was co-authored by Kristin Scheible, associate professor of pediatrics and microbiology and immunology, and Andrew McDavid, assistant professor of biostatistics and computational biology.

The study found that disruption of any of the three systems resulted in greater respiratory morbidity for infants. In addition, the postmenstrual age (or weeks from conception) of the baby was a more accurate benchmark for predicting disruption of any of the systems than time since birth.

“When a baby is born, that is typically considered day zero for that child. We instead modeled it with the baby’s age starting at the day of conception,” says Scheible. “A baby’s immune and microbial development at 2 months old doesn’t look the same for a baby born at 32 weeks compared to one born at 42.”

The implications of using postmenstrual age as a benchmark could potentially change how clinicians view the risk and benefit of immune or microbial-altering therapies, such as antibiotics or probiotics. This study found that prenatal antibiotics or infection disrupts the developmental trajectory. If babies are exposed to antibiotics—especially premature infants—that increases their risk for respiratory illnesses in the first year of life. Learn more.

Memorial Art Gallery seeks interdisciplinary faculty participants for two ideation sessions to explore issues related to the problematic permanent collection installation that displays the arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas together in one space.

By engaging faculty in conversation with museum staff, the museum hopes to begin a process by which it can reframe and reimagine these collections, as well as carefully consider the effect of this gallery space on visitors in a way that responds to current and emerging issues related to colonialism and the complex and fraught origins of global art museums in the West.

Proposed dates for the first session are Tuesday, June 28, or Wednesday, June 29; session two is proposed for Tuesday, August 9, or Wednesday, August 10.

To express your interest in participating or to learn more, email Jess Marten or Nile Blunt.

Images show (top left) the design of a superconductive system of cryogenic computing cores and (top right) a superconducting multi-chip module and interface design, including flexible cables for connections between temperature stages. They will be developed as part of an ambitious $15 million, National Science Foundation-supported project that includes electrical and computer engineering faculty members Eby Friedman, Mark Bocko, Selcuk Kose, and Roman Sobolewski.

Cloud computing that supports so much of our digital society—from Facebook to Google to Amazon—is fast but uses incredible amounts of energy.

Eby Friedman, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and three of his ECE colleagues—Mark Bocko, Selcuk Kose, and Roman Sobolewski—are key partners in an ambitious project led by the University of Southern California to develop next-generation, superconductive integrated circuits—on chips a third of an inch in size. The circuits would be at least 100 times more energy efficient and operate more than 10 times faster than the CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) technology currently used.

The research could have applications not only in cloud computing, but space programs and quantum computing, says Friedman, who is the associate director of the project. Moreover, the $2.6 million share of the funding received by Rochester will enable five to ten graduate students a year to participate in the project, with 15 or more students completing their PhD. Learn more.

Led by principal investigator Joel Burges, an associate professor of English and visual and cultural studies, the Rochester Digital Annotation Project (RDAP) will explore the process of creating metadata that better reflects the sometimes complementary and sometimes competing interests of scholars and communities.

They will use a selection of materials from the Portable Channel collection held by the Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) to prototype five “data dictionaries”: two grounded in the interests of Black and LGBTQIA+ communities and three in the interests of Black studies, queer studies, and media studies.

With a seed grant from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the RDAP team will begin developing the five data dictionaries around the Portable Channel videos using Mediate, a time-based media annotation tool developed by Burges in partnership with RCL Digital Scholarship.

To learn more about the Rochester Digital Annotation Project or Mediate, contact Emily Sherwood, director of Digital Scholarship, at esherwood@library.rochester.edu.

Katharine Tomberlin, microbiology and immunology, 1 p.m. June 28, 2022, Ryan Case Method Room (1-9576) Medical Center. Zoom link
Defining the Genetic and Functional Requirements for Type III Secretion System-Mediated Colonization in Vibrio cholerae
Host: Michelle Dziejman, microbiology and immunology

Connor McGuire, toxicology, 1 p.m. June 29, 2022, Lower Adolph Auditorium (1-7619) Medical Center.
Xenopus laevis as an exploratory model organism to determine the effects of thyroid disrupting chemicals on immune development
Host: Jacques Robert, toxicology

University PhD students from multiple departments, including electrical and computer engineering, optics, biomedical engineering, brain and cognitive sciences, computer science, and neuroscience are invited to apply for extra training in augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR).

Applicants will receive instruction and hands-on experience with high-tech equipment used across industries today. They will have the opportunity to participate in industrial internships at companies such as Meta-FaceBook, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Vuzix, which support this program.

The deadline for paid fellowship applications, offered to US citizens and permanent residents only, is July 25. The deadline for the general trainee program, open to all, is Aug. 15.

Apply here. More information about the program, including how to apply for a paid fellowship, is available here. Individual questions? Contact Kathleen DeFazio.