In a recent paper in Light: Science & Applications, University researchers Jannick Rolland and Jacob Reimers describe an optical device with potential applications ranging from improved satellite and diagnostic imagery to more precisely matching the paint color on a living room wall.

The device is a type of spectrometer—an optical instrument that takes light and breaks it down into components to reveal a catalogue of information about an object.

Unlike traditional spectrometers, however, this one is designed using freeform optics, a relatively recent advance that upends more than a century of optical design.

For more than 125 years, optical design was constrained to using rotationally symmetrical, often perfectly spherical surfaces placed in round tubes—for example, single-lens reflex cameras and microscope objective lenses. Each lens element in such a design can contribute up to 15 aberrations that limit field of view and resolution.

The advent of computer numerical control and new diamond turning technology has made it both feasible and economical to design and fabricate far more complicated, freeform optical surfaces that dispense with rotational symmetry. Freeform design enables a device to efficiently correct aberrations with fewer, smaller lenses and mirrors. The result, researchers say, will be sensors, mobile displays, and a host of other devices that are not only smaller in size, lighter in weight, and less expensive—but also out-perform those containing traditional lenses and mirrors.

Reimers, a PhD student and the lead author, and Rolland, the Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering and Reimers’s thesis advisor, describe a spectrometer using three freeform surface mirrors, that:

• is five times more compact than similar spectrometer designs using more conventional mirrors;
• allows a three-fold increase in the bandwidths analyzed;
• and is 65 times more effective at correcting aberrations that affect field of view and resolution.

“Spectrometers monitor the environment, help examine patients, and are broadly used for many other applications. What we found here can be applied to spectrometers used in all of these other applications,” says Rolland. “That is the power of freeform optics.”

Read more here.

A drug developed at the Medical Center protected mice from one of the many ills of our cheeseburger and milkshake-laden Western diet – non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

In a study in the journal JCI Insights, scientists report that a drug called “URMC-099” reversed liver inflammation, injury, and scarring in animals fed a diet high in fat, sugar, and cholesterol. The diet was designed to replicate the Western fast food diet and recreate the features of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease found in people. The drug was well tolerated and the research team plans further testing in order to move URMC-099 into early phase human trials.

Eating lots of fatty and sugary foods triggers inflammation in the liver and the body responds by sending immune cells to neutralize the threat. Unfortunately, the immune response can rage out of control, creating even more inflammation and further damaging the liver. URMC-099, which was discovered in the laboratory of Harris A. (Handy) Gelbard, dials back the immune response to a normal level.

“URMC-099 seems to break this vicious cycle of persistent inflammation by restoring balance between immune cells and liver cells,” said Gelbard, professor and director of the Center for Neurotherapeutics Discovery. “The drug’s ability to turn down the volume on the immune response allows the liver to regain its normal functions.”

A new therapy for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is needed now more than ever. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a third of adults in the U.S. are obese and that number is expected to climb.

Read more here.

(This is part of a monthly series to help principal investigators understand their role in ensuring that human subject protection requirements are met in their studies.)

 A well-written, clear, and concise study protocol is key to the success of human subject research. As protocols increase in complexity, entwining research procedures and routine care/standard care procedures, maintaining research compliance becomes more of a challenge.

A first step in meeting this challenge is to clearly differentiate routine procedures versus those specific to the research in the study protocol. Key distinguishing factors include the intent of the procedure, when and how the procedure is conducted, and the ability to exercise judgment.

• The intent of a research procedure is to generate data in order to answer a question; the intent of a routine or standard of care procedure is to directly benefit an individual patient, client, or student, for example diagnosing or treating an individual’s disease.
• When and how research procedures are conducted are limited to the confines of the study protocol. Conversely, routine procedures are driven by patient/client/student need and/or professional standards, with freedom to exercise judgment within applicable policies/regulations/standards.

All study protocols including routine or standard care procedures must clearly delineate what procedures will be conducted per routine care versus those that are augmented for the purposes of the study (e.g. conducted more often than the standard). Protocols should also clarify if and when judgment, based on professional standards, can be exercised.

The Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC) has funds to support a limited number of pilot projects. The objective of a pilot project should be relevant to the theme of the EHSC: environmental agents as modulators of human disease and dysfunction. This includes research that investigates how the environment alters stem cells, how early-life exposures shape adult health and disease, and how the environment alters host-pathogen interactions.

Applicants may request a maximum of $30,000 for the duration of one year and must hold a tenure-track faculty position. Applications from new investigators collaborating with existing EHSC faculty are encouraged. Funds are restricted to research expenses and staff salaries, and cannot be used to support travel, faculty salary, or equipment purchases. Junior faculty may use a portion of these funds for salary support.

For more information, contact Michael O’Reilly  or Pat Noonan-Sullivan, or go to the EHSC website.

The deadline for submitting initial applications is September 1.

Proposals must be submitted electronically by email to Patricia_Noonan@urmc.rochester.edu (Phone:  x53265).

Download the PDF for more details.

The University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute is seeking applications for awards that support the development of novel biostatistical and epidemiologic methods. The methods  should overcome specifically identified analytic limitations and significantly enhance the validity and accuracy, scope, or speed of clinical or translational research.

A maximum of $35,000 will be awarded for a one-year period. Strong proposals spreading the budgeted amount across two years will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Initial abstracts of proposals must be received by 5 p.m. September 25.

Click here to view the RFA. The NBEM Funding Attestation must be submitted with the initial abstract and full proposal.

“Celebrating a Community of Diverse Students and Trainees at URMC” will be held from 1 to 4 p.m., September 17 at Canalside Shelter in Genesee Valley Park. The event, for students, trainees and their families, is sponsored by the Medical Center, and includes food, fun, and games.

Click here to RSVP by September 8.

Travis Petersen, Optics, “Scaling Infrared Femtosecond Optical Parametric Oscillators to High Average Powers.” 1 p.m., Aug. 11, 2017. Goergen 109. Advisor: Jake Bromage.

Dominic Malcolm, Biomedical Engineering, “Nanoparticle-Mediated siRNA/miRNA Delivery to Mesenchymal Stem Cells.” 1 p.m. Aug. 14, 2017. Goergen 101. Adivsor: Danielle Benoit.

Aug. 20: Deadline to apply for Innovation Lab to Drive Early Career Grants, a five-day creative problem-solving event to help early-career scholars develop transdisciplinary collaborative grant proposals to address the growing opioid abuse epidemic. To be held Nov. 6-10 in Buffalo. Click here to apply, and here for more information.

Aug. 23: Science, Technology, and Culture – a multidisciplinary reading group examining how science is shaped by the culture that surrounds it and how technological innovations change society. Join us for snacks and good conversation about Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, 5 p.m., Humanities Center Lobby (Rush Rhees Library). Contact Emma_Grygotis@urmc.rochester.edu with any questions.

Aug. 28: Deadline to apply for Clinical and Translational Science Institute pilot study and ‘super-pilot’ Incubator awards. Click here for the request for pilot study applications, and here for the RFA for Incubator Program awards.

Aug. 29: Registration deadline for a Department of Public Health Sciences three-credit course on participant recruitment and retention for health research studies. For more information, contact Pattie Kolomic, graduate programs administrator, 275-7882.  Contact the Graduate Education Office for instructions on how to register.

Sept. 1: Deadline to apply for pilot funding from The Rochester Aging Research Center for projects in basic or geriatric aging research. Contact Dirk Bohmann or Anne Reed for more information.

Sept. 1: Deadline to submit initial applications for Environmental Health Sciences Center pilot project awards. For more information, contact Michael O’Reilly  or Pat Noonan-Sullivan, or go to the EHSC website.

Sept. 4: Series of talks by leading computer science theoreticians honoring Joel Seiferis, professor emeritus of computer science. Click here for more details and to register by Aug. 22.

Sept. 12-14: LIght and Sound Interactive conference, trade show, career fair, and presentations focusing on eight emerging technologies: virtual and augmented reality, games and interactive media, cinema, music and audio engineering, imaging, displays and lighting, health care, and optics and photonics. Riverside Convention Center. Click here for updates as new keynote speakers and events are added.

Sept. 17: Celebrating a Community of Diverse Students and Trainees at URMC. 1 to 4 p.m., Canalside Shelter, Genesee Valley Park. The event, for students, trainees and their families, is sponsored by the Medical Center, and includes food, fun, and games. Click here to RSVP by September 8.

Sept. 25: 5 p.m. deadline to submit initial abstracts for Novel Biostatistical and Epidemiologic Methods awards from the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Click here to view the RFA.

Sept. 25 to 29: Early Stage Faculty Boot Camp to help senior instructors and assistant professors identify the skills they need for successful career advancement. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit the CTSI website for more details. Registration deadline is September 1.