Nursing homes that conducted staff surveillance testing more regularly experienced significantly lower rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths among residents, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Testing is a key part of any infectious disease response, surveillance testing in particular,” says Brian McGarry, an assistant professor of medicine and public health sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center, and lead author of the study. “This study found that greater surveillance testing of nursing home staff was associated with clinically meaningful reductions in resident COVID cases and deaths, particularly before the availability of vaccines.”

The US nursing home industry comprises 1.7 million staff and more than 4 million short- and long-stay residents. This population was particularly vulnerable during the COVID pandemic. While only comprising 2 percent of the US population, nursing home residents represented 20 percent of COVID deaths through the end of 2021.

Learn how specific forms of testing paid off.

Since 2014, Friends of the Rochester Libraries (FURL) has fanned the flames of student curiosity with the Undergraduate Research Initiative Award. The annual award recognizes excellence in the early stages of undergraduate research and is typically given to students working on their senior thesis or a capstone or independent research project. FURL received 15 applications this year, predominantly from students pursuing degrees in the social sciences and humanities, a reversal from last year, which mostly saw applicants from engineering and natural sciences disciplines.

Read about the 2022 winners.

(University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

For the past year, English and biology double major Fatoumatta Jobe ’23 has been using in-person interviews and WhatsApp to connect with around 30 elder members of her family and community in The Gambia. Jobe is seeking stories that are centuries old and have been passed down like heirlooms.

“These are stories my grandmother was told by her grandmother, who was told by her grandmother, and so on,” she says. “Stories that only exist in the oral traditions of The Gambia and Senegal.”

Jobe audio records the interviews, then types up the stories in Wolof, the primary language of more than five million people in The Gambia, Senegal, and Mauritania. She plans to publish her Wolof transcriptions. But as her senior research project for her English major, she is also translating the fables into English (also an official language of The Gambia).

“There are so many. They’re only being told orally, and people are dying,” she says. “How would they be preserved for future generations?”

Learn more about the value of these tales.

Nine student teams shared proposed solutions to regulatory science challenges at the 10th annual America’s Got Regulatory Science Talent competition. Solutions ranged from a device to secure opioid medications to developing new methods to test the safety of CAR T-cell therapies. The winning team, FoodWarn AI, proposed a solution to identify and predict outbreaks in our food supply.

April 10–14

Monday is the start of Celebrating Research Week, brought to you by the Office of Undergraduate Research and featuring an exciting lineup of events. Hear from your fellow students and professors about their research mishaps and mistakes at Screw-up Night: Research Edition; learn from alumni and employers about how undergraduate research shaped their careers and how you can use it to shape your own; explore the world of extended reality at Studio X; and learn how to turn your research into a fellowship with the Student Fellowships Office.

The week culminates with the annual Undergraduate Research Expo—including a speakers symposium, poster presentations, and awards ceremony—on Friday, April 14. See the schedule of events and register to attend.

Friday, April 14, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (EDT)
Virtual

Language inequity—an inability to access services, resources, or materials in an individual’s language—is a barrier for non-English speakers to participate in research, and more broadly silences this community, which includes mostly immigrants and refugees. Join the University of Pittsburgh to learn about best practices for conducting equitable clinical and translational research with non-English speaking participants and communities. Register here.

Wednesday, April 19, noon to 1 p.m. (EDT)
Virtual

This webinar will highlight effective strategies for clinical investigators and others who work in and with diverse communities to develop greater capacity and success in engaging, recruiting, and retaining research participants from underrepresented populations. The presenters are Nicole Wolfe and Mayra Rubio-Diaz from Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI). The event, hosted by the Trial Innovation Network, is made available to the University of Rochester community via the UR Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Registration is required.

Thursday, April 20, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Memorial Art Gallery

The University Technology Showcase begins with the Western New York AR/VR Mini Conference at 8:30 a.m., followed by a speed networking pitch event. A keynote speaker panel will start off the afternoon at 1:30 p.m., with a poster session to follow. Attendees can join for all or part of the full-day agenda. A shuttle service will be available between the River Campus and the Memorial Art Gallery. The event is presented by the Center of Excellence in Data Science (CoE) and the Center for Emerging and Innovative Sciences. See the agenda and register here.

Thursday, April 20, after 11 a.m. (EDT)
Virtual

Edith M. Williams, founding director for the Office of Health Equity Research, which is housed in the UR Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and the Dean’s Associate Professor of Health Equity Research, will present “Let’s Do It Together: Ensuring Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Health Research.” The short, informative presentation will be recorded and available on the Center for Community Health and Prevention’s Facebook page. The talk will continue to be accessible on the Facebook page after this date.

Thursday, April 20, noon to 1:30 p.m.
CEL Classroom 2-7536, Medical Center

Special guest presenter Ian Krout, a PhD alumnus in toxicology, will share tricks and tips used by two early-stage investigators to identify, apply for, and secure postdoctoral positions that helped put them on track to achieve their career goals. Register here.