Several faculty members were appointed to named professorships in the first half of 2022. An honor designed to recognize the national stature of a professor’s work, the named positions are part of a long-standing tradition to celebrate University of Rochester faculty as researchers, scholars, and teachers. They are:

• Natalya Antonova, the Wentworth Family Professor
• Danielle Benoit, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor
• William Bridges, Arthur Satz Professor of the Humanities
• Peter Christensen, the Ani and Mark Gabrellian Director of the Humanities Center
• Marvin Doyley, the Wilson Professor of Electronic Imaging
• John Duggan, the Don Alonzo Watson Professor of Political Science
• David Figlio, the Gordon Fyfe Professor in the Department of Economics
• Gretchen Helmke, Thomas H. Jackson Distinguished University Professor
• Lisa Kahn, the Helen F. and Fred H. Gowen Professor in the Social Sciences
• John Michael, the John Hall Deane Professor
• Joseph Nicholas, the William and Sheila Konar Family Professor in Geriatrics, Palliative Medicine, and Person-Centered Care
• M. Patricia Rivera, the C. Jane Davis and C. Robert Davis Distinguished Professor in Pulmonary Medicine
• Sharon Willis, the Fanny Knapp Allen Professor of Fine Arts

Learn more about these honorees and their professorships.

Kathryn Mariner, an associate professor of anthropology, has partnered with Common Ground Health on a project called fertile ground, to understand how individuals from marginalized groups build physical spaces of community within the context of hypersegregation.

Project photos, taken by Mariner and Rochester area residents, are on display until September 30 at the Central Library, 115 South Avenue.

A depiction of Earth, first without an inner core; second, with an inner core beginning to grow, around 550 million years ago; third, with an outermost and innermost inner core, around 450 million years ago. (University of Rochester illustration / Michael Osadciw)

Approximately 1,800 miles beneath our feet, swirling liquid iron in the Earth’s outer core generates our planet’s protective magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is vital for life on Earth’s surface because it shields the planet from solar wind—streams of radiation from the sun.

About 565 million years ago, however, the magnetic field’s strength decreased to 10 percent of its strength today. Then, mysteriously, the field bounced back, regaining its strength just before the Cambrian explosion of multicellular life on Earth.

What caused the magnetic field to bounce back?

According to new research from University scientists, this rejuvenation happened within a few tens of millions of years—rapid on geological timescales—and coincided with the formation of Earth’s solid inner core, suggesting that the core is likely a direct cause.

“The inner core is tremendously important,” says John Tarduno, the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and dean of research for Arts, Sciences & Engineering at Rochester. “Right before the inner core started to grow, the magnetic field was at the point of collapse, but as soon as the inner core started to grow, the field was regenerated.”

In the paper, published in Nature Communications, the researchers determined several key dates in the inner core’s history, including a more precise estimate for its age. The research provides clues about the history and future evolution of Earth and how it became a habitable planet, as well as the evolution of other planets in the solar system. Learn more.

Now that the new OnCore clinical trial management system is up and running, the Office of Clinical Research (OCR) at the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) has begun to build out several service lines to help researchers with various aspects of their clinical trials. From educational opportunities to study feasibility and financial services, the OCR is taking the Medical Center’s clinical research enterprise to the next level.

• Last year, the OCR supported unlimited institutional attendance at Advarra’s Onsemble conference for the first time. The conference, which is held annually in the spring and fall, covers a wide range of topics related to conducting clinical trials, including leveraging technologies to improve the conduct of clinical research.
• The Research Finance service line provides uniform and central services for both pre- and post-award clinical trial financials. At a rate of $50 per hour—which can be built into the study budget—clinical researchers can select from an extensive list of financial services: coverage analysis, study cost and timeline analysis, budget negotiation and creation, sponsor invoicing, revenue reconciliation, monthly research billing review, and more.  Currently, the OCR provides financial services for more than half of URMC departments running clinical trials that have billable services.
• The OCR is also helping clinical research teams assess the feasibility of their proposed clinical studies and develop meaningful study metrics through its Study Feasibility service line. The assessments examine the feasibility of a study in terms of resources (staff, investigators, space, equipment, and patient population) as well as financial feasibility, and the timeline as it relates to start up and enrollment. Research teams can also get help with cohort discovery and with developing and submitting confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements. The Study Feasibility line also connects researchers with multi-site clinical trial opportunities.
• OCR will supplement current self-guided OnCore training with additional live weekly trainings and workflow labs as well as OnCore consultations and one-on-one support.

Learn more.

Are you a trainee, postdoc or early-career researcher from a group that is underrepresented in health research? Or are you restarting your research career after a hiatus to care for family or to pursue non-research endeavors, like military service?

The University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) can help you get your research career off the ground with an NIH Diversity or Re-Entry Supplement to our UL1 grant.

Both supplement grants provide up to two years of salary support and fringe benefits for candidates to conduct research that aligns with UR CTSI priorities. Submit a brief application form by Monday, August 22. Learn more.

The Department of Psychiatry announces that the registration deadline for the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine 26th World Congress has been extended to Friday, August 26. The conference will take place from September 7–9 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Visit the conference website to register.