Maria Castaño, a third-year PhD student in the lab of Al Uy, a professor of biology, studies populations of birds to understand the processes that lead to the creation of new species.

Castaño collects and analyzes DNA sequences and feathers of tanagers from her native Colombia in South America. Her research focuses on two different subspecies of tanagers, which have different colored feathers on their rump areas: one subspecies lives in the lowlands of Colombia and has yellow rump feathers, while another subspecies lives in the mountains and has red rump feathers.

There are three regions along the edge of the mountains where the two subspecies reproduce, resulting in hybrid tanagers with a gradient of orange feathers. Castaño is investigating tanagers in the three regions to find out if the two subspecies will collapse back into a single population or if the birds are on the way to becoming two entirely new species. At the same time, she is investigating if the genes that determine plumage color are moving from one subspecies into the other using the orange hybrid birds as a “go-between.” Learn more.

A phase III clinical trial of the DCVax®-L cancer vaccine, conducted at the Wilmot Cancer Institute and other centers internationally, has shown that the vaccine extended survival in patients with newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma brain cancer. This marks the first time in nearly 20 years for such an advance among patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma and the first time in nearly 30 years that a treatment has shown such survival extension in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

“We are excited to see the meaningful survival extensions among glioblastoma patients treated with the vaccine in this trial,” says Kevin A. Walter, a Wilmot researcher and professor of neurosurgery and oncology who served as the principal investigator of the trial at the Medical Center. “Brain cancer is such an aggressive disease, and so many diverse treatments have failed in clinical trials, it is gratifying to be able to help advance a potential new treatment option for patients.”

The trial results, reported in JAMA Oncology, show that newly diagnosed patients treated with the vaccine survived for a median of 22.4 months after surgery, and 13 percent of patients survived at least five years. Newly diagnosed patients who had methylated MGMT gene, which has been associated with improved outcomes for glioblastoma patients, had a median survival of 33 months after surgery. Learn more.

Institute of Optics alumnus William (Wade) Cook ’04 (PhD) has been named executive director of AIM Photonics, the public-private partnership of industry and federal and state governments dedicated to advancing photonic integrated circuit manufacturing in the US.

“This is very exciting news,” says Institute Director Thomas Brown, who serves on the AIM Leadership Council and coordinates University of Rochester River Campus support of the AIM Photonics TAP facility. “Wade is a top-notch choice for the position. After an outstanding military career, he has risen to very responsible executive positions in local optics companies. He has a deep understanding and appreciation for the importance of the optics and photonics industry in Rochester and Upstate New York.”

AIM operates through two main facilities, a 300 mm wafer R&D facility at the Albany Nanotech Complex that creates photonic integrated chips, and the TAP facility at Rochester where the chip wafers are diced, tested, characterized, and attached to wires and fibers.

Faculty at the Institute of Optics have been leaders in AIM Photonics from the time of its launch in 2015 and have played central roles in the design of photonic integrated circuits for biosensing, quantum science, and metrology. They have also played crucial roles in photonics education and workforce development and road mapping.

Learn more.

Jack Chang, translational biomedical science, 9 a.m., December 6, 2022, Helen Wood Hall/1W304 (Medical Center).
EMR-Based Computational Phenotyping in Multiple Sclerosis Incorporating Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning.
Host: Tim Dye.

An AS&E Research Administrators Professional Development & Catch-Up session at 1 p.m. Wednesday, December 7, in Douglass 401, is open to research administrators to provide an:

• Overview of the award lifecycle.
• New or upcoming federal guidance.
• Review of institutional resources including our updated website.
• Answers to your questions.

Presented by the Assistant Deans for Grants and Contracts in AS&E.

The request for proposals and online application for University Research Awards are now available. The award provides seed money on a competitive basis for innovative research projects. Funding is awarded to recipients who demonstrate their projects, when sufficiently developed, are likely to attract external support. Applications for planning grants are also encouraged. A review committee of faculty from across the University provides peer review of the applications.

Applications must be received by 11:59 pm EST on January 31. Late submissions will not be accepted. Selected applicants may be asked to present their research project to the Research Executive Committee before the final award decisions, which will be announced in mid-May. Recipients of the award are required to peer review future University Research Award proposals.

The Department of Psychiatry is accepting applications for its T32 postdoctoral fellowship in suicide prevention, which provides two years of stipend support and related benefits.

Each fellow works closely with a mentoring team, takes courses and participates in a diverse array of research and training activities. Rolling applications accepted. Learn more.