A new Science study from the labs of Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at University of Rochester and the University of Copenhagen, and Kjeld Møllgård, a Copenhagen professor of neuroanatomy, describes a previously unknown protective barrier and platform from which immune cells monitor the brain for infection and inflammation.

“The discovery of a new anatomic structure that segregates and helps control the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in and around the brain now provides us much greater appreciation of the sophisticated role that CSF plays not only in transporting and removing waste from the brain, but also in supporting its immune defenses,” says Nedergaard.

Nedergaard and her colleagues have transformed our understanding of the fundamental mechanics of the human brain by detailing the many critical functions of previously overlooked cells in the brain called glia and the brain’s unique process of waste removal, which the lab named the glymphatic system.

The new membrane, called SLYM (for Subarachnoidal LYmphatic-like Membrane) is very thin and delicate, consisting of only a few cells in thickness. Yet it is a tight barrier, allowing only very small molecules to transit, and it also seems to separate “clean” and “dirty” CSF. This last observation hints at the likely role played by SLYM in the glymphatic system, which will help researchers more precisely understand the mechanics of the system. Learn more.

Understanding how experience and exposure to trauma changes the brain could improve diagnosis and targeted care for conditions like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, assistant professor of neuroscience, has been awarded a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to use virtual reality and MRI to look into the circuitry of threat, reward, and cognitive mapping in PTSD, trauma, and resilience.

Suarez-Jimenez’s ZVR lab will build upon work that investigates brain areas that build spatial maps, specifically to discriminate between areas of an environment associated with emotions. Suarez-Jimenez’s most recent research identified changes in the salience network – a mechanism in the brain used for learning and survival – in people exposed to trauma (with and without psychopathologies, including PTSD, depression, and anxiety). His prior research has revealed that people with anxiety have increased insula and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex activation – indicating their brain was associating a known safe area to danger or threat.

The new funding will allow his lab to probe “whether the neural processes we have identified in the past are specific to threat or if they expand to reward processing,” Suarez-Jimenez says. “We are also looking at how attention allocation to some visual cues of the virtual reality tasks changes from pre- to post-task experience. We are hoping that understanding these brain processes can help us identify better ways to diagnose PTSD and to improve treatment.” Learn more.

University of Rochester faculty regularly earn regional, national, and international awards and honors for their professional contributions to research, scholarship, education, and community engagement.

Here are recent recipients:

James F. Allen, emeritus professor of computer science and an internationally renowned AI researcher, has been named a fellow of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) for his “significant contributions to natural language dialogue research, planning and plan recognition.”

Marvin Doyley, who develops novel imaging techniques to detect and track diseases, has been selected as a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The institute is recognizing Doyley, the Wilson Professor of Electronic Imaging and chair of electrical and computer engineering, for his research involving ultrasound elastography, using inverse methods.

Jennifer Grotz, a professor of English, along with Piotr Sommer of Sulejówek, Poland, received an honorable mention in the awarding of the Lois Roth Award by the Modern Language Association (MLA) for their translation of Jerzy Ficowski’s Everything I Don’t Know: Selected Poems.

Elaine Hill, an associate professor of public health sciences, of obstetrics and gynecology, and of economics, was selected as a faculty research fellow by the National Bureau of Economic Research for her work in health economics.

Ehsan Hoque, an associate professor of computer science who works in the intersection between artificial intelligence (AI) and human-centered computing (HCC), was named a Distinguished Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for his outstanding scientific contributions to computing.

Jiebo Luo, a leading expert in artificial intelligence, and Benjamin Miller, a pioneer in developing compact chips and biosensors for disease detection and personalized medicine, have been selected as fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Luo is the Albert Arendt Hopeman Professor of Engineering and a professor of computer science; Miller is the Dean’s Professor of Dermatology, who also holds appointments in biomedical engineering, biochemistry and biophysics, optics, and materials science.

Corey Nichols-Hadeed, a psychiatry associate; Kimberley Van Orden, an associate professor of psychiatry; Malik Sams, an instructor of emergency medicine; and Kiah E. Nyame of the City of Rochester were recognized with the National Academy of Medicine’s Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award for their Intergenerational Mentoring to Promote Health Across the Lifespan project.

Anthony Pisani, an associate professor of psychiatry, was recognized by the British Medical Association (BMA) with its Medical Book Award for outstanding contributions to medical literature, for Suicide Prevention: Stahl’s Handbooks, which Pisani co-authored.

Tina Sosa, Heather Wensley, and Jeffrey Yaeger of the Department of Pediatrics will participate in the year-long Disparities Leadership Program, designed to help leaders from hospitals, health insurance plans, and other health care organizations develop practical strategies to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care.

Learn more about their achievements here.

Ali K. Shargh, mechanical engineering, 1 p.m. January 25, 2023, 224 Hopeman.
Mechanics of materials with engineered microstructures: Physics-based modeling and deep learning investigation.
Advisor: Niaz Abdolrahim.

Tyler Godat, optics, 9 a.m. January 26, 2023, 310 Gavett Hall.
Functional Imaging and Classification of Retinal Ganglion Cells in the Living Primate Eye.
Advisor: David Williams.

Jeremiah Jones, statistics, 1 p.m. January 27, 2023, 1W-502 Helen Wood Hall.
The Partial Linear Model in Causal Inference: Estimation, Selection, and Inference Leveraging Machine Learning.
Host: Ashkan Ertefaie.

Berke Karaahmet, neuroscience, noon, February 1, 2023, 1-7619 (Lower Adolph Auditorium) Medical Center.
Immunomodulatory approaches to Alzheimer’s Disease.
Advisor: Kerry O’Banion.

17-year-old Gitanjali Rao gives a Neilly Lecture from 6-8 p.m. next Monday, January 23, in the Hawkins Carlson Room at Rush-Rhees Library, both in person and by Zoom. She will discuss her book, A Young Innovator’s Guide to STEM, which gives students and educators a step-by-step process for identifying problems and developing solutions to modern challenges that old tools and techniques won’t address.

Rao has won international acclaim as an inventor, author, scientist and engineer, and STEM promoter and social activist. Her innovations and the STEM workshops she conducts globally have garnered her awards including Forbes “30 under 30 in Science,” TIME’S “Top Young Innovator” and “Kid of the Year,” and an EPA Presidential Award. Learn more and register here.

Books highlighted in this year’s Neilly talks support key concepts in the biopsychosocial model developed by University professors George Engel and John Romano to serve as the cornerstone of psychiatric education and training. The 2022–2023 Neilly Author Series season is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the University’s Department of Psychiatry.

The Office of Clinical Research is holding a Research Coordinator Town Hall focused on the OnCore Finance Console Post Award section from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, January 25.

Learn how to:

• Generate an invoice.
• Determine if the invoice should be sent to Workday through the integration.
• Reconcile payment.

An overview of the visit variations, protocol events, and invoiceable items tabs in OnCore will also be presented.

Learn more.

Interested in population health research? Take your career to the next level with the Population Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship offered through the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

With an individual development plan, our program is customized to your goals. Over the course of one year, you will develop and complete a population health research project with the guidance of an interdisciplinary team of mentors.

Apply by Tuesday, January 31 for funding beginning July 1, 2023. Learn more.