A new artificial intelligence tool developed by researchers at Rochester can help people with Parkinson’s disease remotely assess the severity of their symptoms within seconds.

An npj Digital Medicine study describes the new system, which has users tap their fingers 10 times in front of a webcam to assess motor performance on a scale of 0–4.

“These findings could have huge implications for patients who have difficulty gaining access to neurologists, getting appointments, and traveling to the hospital,” says Ehsan Hoque, an associate professor in Rochester’s Department of Computer Science and codirector of the Rochester Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory. “It’s an example of how AI is being gradually introduced into health care to serve people outside of the clinic and improve health equity and access.”

Learn more about the finger-tapping test.

(Getty Images)

A new set of national guidelines recommends that cancer patients use mind-body techniques—particularly mindfulness meditation—to ease anxiety and depression during and after treatment.

Yoga, hypnosis, acupuncture, and music therapy were also among the “integrative oncology” interventions that showed strong enough evidence to recommend to patients. Other methods, such as inhaling lavender essential oils during cancer-related medical procedures, came with weaker recommendations due to less compelling data—but still would do no harm and may provide some benefit, researchers say.

Wilmot Cancer Institute oncologist Alissa Huston, who is an associate professor of medicine and hematology/oncology, was part of a national team that reviewed scientific data and made recommendations based on clinical study outcomes. Their findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Read what Huston and collaborators don’t recommend.

(A view inside the OMEGA target chamber during an experiment at LLE. The OMEGA laser facility is used for laser-driven inertial confinement fusion research. (University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics photo / Eugene Kowaluk)

The US Department of Energy is providing a team of fusion physicists and computer scientists from Rochester and Hewlett Packard Enterprise nearly $3 million to explore how machine learning and data science can help predict, design, and improve laser-fusion implosions.

For years, scientists have been using lasers to try to generate fusion energy through a process called inertial confinement fusion, in which targets filled with fuel are compressed and heated to initiate nuclear fusion reactions. But so far, tests at laser facilities such as OMEGA at Rochester’s Laser Lab for Energetics (LLE) have generated less energy than simulations predicted.

“Despite many years of laser-driven inertial confinement fusion research, there is not a clear path to the high energy gains required for inertial fusion energy,” says principal investigator Riccardo Betti, LLE’s chief scientist and the Robert L. McCrory Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and in the “However, we now have a wealth of experimental data that we can harness with machine learning to systematically correct the simulations and guide real-time adjustments to experiments.”

Learn more about the project.

The Recruitment Innovation Center, a collaborative group of researchers involved in recruitment and retention of research participants, will be formally re-launched this fall as part of the renewal of the Trial Innovation Network, with support from Rochester’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

Learn more about the program’s origins and its benefits for researchers.

Thursday, September 14, noon–1 p.m. EDT
Virtual

Office for Human Subject Protection staff will present on best practices for facilitating the review of study modifications. Please register to attend.

Friday, September 15, noon–1:30 p.m.
415 Elmwood Ave, Natapow Conference Room 1-9545

Register online. If the registration is full, please email myHub@urmc.rochester.edu for accommodations. Refreshments will be available.

Friday, September 15, 1:30–4 p.m.
First floor, Carlson Library

Join Studio X for a day that showcases the latest extended reality (XR) research and advancements across disciplines on campus and from the broader Rochester community. Learn more from colleagues, identify collaboration points, and network with researchers across disciplines. This event is also an opportunity for students to become acquainted with research groups and future opportunities.

Attendees will be able to try a range of Studio X equipment during this time, including headsets from Meta, Microsoft, HTC, and Varjo. See the schedule and sign up to attend.

Apply by Monday, September 18 at noon

Medical Center faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, and residents can apply for one-time grants of up to $2,000 to support URMC-community partnerships. Funds can help address concerns such as transportation, childcare, meeting space rental, meeting refreshments, and more. Get the details.