The University is leading a seven-institution collaboration that promises to significantly broaden human understanding of “extreme matter”—matter that exists under pressures far higher than either on or inside Earth. The collaboration, which includes Cornell, Michigan, Idaho State, Iowa, Princeton, and Stanford, will develop an instrument called a high amperage driver for extreme states, or HADES, which will allow scientists to produce and study extreme matter.

The project is fully supported by the National Science Foundation, which awarded the University a $1.1 million grant in August.

Pierre Gourdain, an assistant professor of physics at Rochester and the principal investigator on the project, notes that HADES will lead to new knowledge about star formation and planetary collisions, the potential for life on other planets, and the properties of materials that make up deep-space objects.

“The frontiers of physical exploration have come down to understanding the infinitely small (quantum mechanics) and the infinitely large (astrophysics),” he says. “The next step in ground-breaking discoveries faces a big challenge: studying matter that does not exist naturally on Earth because it is too dense to be stable at atmospheric pressures or much too large to fit inside a laboratory.”

The University is the natural leader for this type of effort. The Laboratory for Laser Energetics is home to the world’s largest university-based laser. OMEGA, which was built to explore thermonuclear fusion, also allows scientists to explore key questions in astrophysics, including synthesizing revolutionary materials such as crystal structures stronger than diamonds and room-temperature superconductors. Together with OMEGA, HADES will allow scientists to study in greater depths how extreme matter evolves under wide-ranging space and time scales.

HADES is able to generate a power equivalent to hundreds of electrical power plants in a fraction of a second. Its efficient design also means that it requires relatively little energy to do so. The driver uses an electrical current to heat and compress small material samples that are about the size of a pencil lead. In less than a millionth of a second the material is compressed to pressures only found in the core of Jupiter or on the surface of neutron stars.

The project is an important component of the University’s high-energy-density physics research initiative.

The ability to know what you know or don’t know—and how confident you are in what you think you know—is called metacognition.

When asked a question, human beings can decline to answer if they know that they do not know the answer. Although non-human animals cannot verbally declare any sort of metacognitive judgments, Jessica Cantlon, an assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences, and PhD candidate Stephen Ferrigno, have found that non-human primates exhibit a metacognitive process similar to humans. Their research on metacognition is part of a larger enterprise of figuring out whether non-human animals are “conscious” in the human sense.

In a paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, they report that monkeys, like humans, base their metacognitive confidence level on fluency—how easy something is to see, hear, or perceive. For example, humans are more confident that something is correct, trustworthy, or memorable—even if this may not be the case—if it is written in a larger font.

“Humans have a variety of these metacognitive illusions—false beliefs about how they learn or remember best,” Cantlon says.

Because other primate species exhibit metacognitive illusions like humans do, the researchers believe this cognitive ability could have an evolutionary basis. Cognitive abilities that have an evolutionary basis are likely to emerge early in development.

“Studying metacognition in non-human primates could give us a foothold for how to study metacognition in young children,” Cantlon says. “Understanding the most basic and primitive forms of metacognition is important for predicting the circumstances that lead to good versus poor learning in human children.”

Read more here about the series of steps primates completed on a computer, enabling Cantlon and Ferrigno to determine that they exhibited metacognitive illusions.

University biomedical scientists and mechanical engineers are collaborating to develop a detailed understanding of the brain’s waste removal system. Their research, funded by a $3.2 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, could have significant implications for diseases like Alzheimer’s that arise when this system breaks down and toxic proteins accumulate in the brain.

The collaboration involves Maiken Nedergaard, professor of neurology and co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine, and three faculty members in the Department of Mechanical Engineering,  professor emeritus John Thomas, and assistant professors Douglas Kelley and Jessica Shang.

They will study the glymphatic system, which was first described by Nedergaard and her colleagues in 2012, showing how cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) is pumped into brain tissue and flushes away waste.  Subsequent research has shown that the glymphatic system is more active while we sleep and can be damaged by stroke and trauma.

Thomas, Kelley, and Shang are experts in the field of fluid dynamics.  While this discipline is traditionally associated with the study of ocean currents, weather patterns, plate tectonics, electromagnetic fields, and industrial systems that employ fluids or gases, the principals of fluid dynamics are also increasingly being applied to study biological processes such as blood flow and now the glymphatic system.

The Rochester team is also partnering with Ali Ertürk with the Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich.  Ertürk and his colleagues have developed a method that essentially renders mice transparent and will enable researchers to peer more deeply into the brain to observe the glymphatic system in action.  Ertürk also holds an adjunct faculty position in the Center for Translational Neuromedicine.

The new animal model, combined with advanced methods to observe, track, and model how CSF flows and carries waste out of the brain, should provide scientists with a more detailed blueprint of the structure and function of the glymphatic system.

This, in turn, will help researchers identify factors – such as age, injury, sleep deprivation, or genetic flaws – that can prevent the glymphatic system from doing its job.  While the study will specifically look at how the brain removes tau and amyloid beta, two proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease, the findings could have relevance for a range of neurological disorders or point to a new ways to deliver drugs to the brain.

Patrick Brophy, who currently serves as director of pediatric nephrology at University of Iowa Health Care, has been named the next William H. Eilinger Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical Center and physician-in-chief of Golisano Children’s Hospital, pending approval by the University Board of Trustees.

The founder of the University of Iowa’s Signal Center for Health Innovation, Brophy has led efforts to use technology — particularly telehealth — to reach patients. He maintains a research lab that focuses on kidney development in utero.

In his research, Brophy follows the life-course approach, which includes an emphasis on the social and structural components that affect a person’s well-being, along with basic research, preventive care, and precision medicine.

Read more here.

Müjdat Çetin has joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as an associate professor from Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey, where he has been a faculty member since 2005. Before that, he was with the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems at MIT. His research interests include data, signal, and imaging sciences, with cross disciplinary links to areas in electrical engineering, computer science, and neuroscience. His research group has made advances in three key areas:

• computational sensing and imaging as applied to radar and biomedical imaging;
• probabilistic methods for image and video analysis as applied to biomedical image analysis, microscopic neuroimaging, and computer vision; and
• signal processing and machine learning for brain-computer/machine interfaces, with applications for alternative communication and rehabilitation for patients and monitoring of cognitive states.

Çetin is currently serving as the vice chair of the IEEE Computational Imaging Special Interest Group. He received his PhD from Boston University.

The Wilmot Cancer Institute is soliciting applications for grants focusing on cancer research.

WCI Junior Investigator Award, due November 15
This is designated to support career development of junior Investigators by generating research that will materially help them reach competitiveness for federal support such as Career Development Awards or R level grants. Junior faculty are assistant professors or below who have not received federal grant funding as an independent investigator (PI). Awards will be based on scientific merit, innovation, and promise of helping develop academic careers. Projects will be funded at $25,000 for one year.

Collaborative Pilot Studies Targeting New NCI Funding, due November 15
This is designated to support the development of new collaborative research projects to reach competitiveness for NCI funding.  Preference will be given to projects that are aligned with the Wilmot Cancer Institute’s Core Research Programs:  “Hallmarks of Cancer,” “Tumor-microenvironment,” and “Cancer Control and Survivorship.” Any investigator will qualify only once each cycle as a principal and once each cycle as a co-investigator and may only hold a single pilot award at any given time. Projects will be funded at $50,000 for one year.

Brain Tumor Pilot Studies, due November 15
This is designated to support basic, translational, or clinical cancer research related to primary brain tumors. Proposals from a collaborative team of investigators are strongly encouraged. Preference will be given to projects that are aligned with the Wilmot Cancer Institute’s Core Research Programs (see above), Projects will be funded at $50,000 for one year with the option for competitive renewal for a second year of funding.

For additional information and applications, click here.

Applications should be submitted electronically to Pam Iadarola, research administrator, James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, Pamela_iadarola@urmc.rochester.edu. Questions should also be directed to her at 585-275-1537 or by email.

Oct. 1: Deadline for applications for AS&E PumpPrimer II awards to stimulate extramural funding for projects otherwise difficult to launch. Click here for more information.

October 5: “Sharing is Caring: Harnessing Systems Integration Thinking to End the HIV Epidemic.” LaRon Nelson, assistant professor and Dean’s Endowed Fellow in Health Disparities at the School of Nursing. Phelps Colloquium series. 4 to 5:30 p.m., Evarts Lounge, Helen Wood Hall. School of Nursing. Click here to register

Oct. 9: 5 p.m. deadline to apply to Center for AIDS Research for pilot funding. Click here to find full pilot announcement.

Oct. 18: Science, Technology, and Culture book club discusses A Crack in Creation, by Jennifer Doudna. 5 to 6 p.m. Humanities Center lobby (Rush Rhees Library). Email Emma_Grygotis@urmc.rochester.edu for more information.

Oct. 23: 5 p.m. deadline to apply to Center for AIDS Research for joint funding through SMD, SON and Program of Excellence. Click here to find full pilot announcement.

Nov. 4: Immune Imaging Symposium hosted by the Program for Advanced Immune Bioimaging.  International speakers, poster session, and oral presentations from students and postdoctoral fellows. 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  Saunders Research Building. Submit poster abstracts here by October 16. Lunch and refreshments will be served. For more information, click here. Registration is free.

Nov. 8: Science, Technology, and Culture book club discusses The Periodic Table, by Primo Levi. 5 to 6 p.m. Humanities Center lobby (Rush Rhees Library). Email Emma_Grygotis@urmc.rochester.edu for more information.

November 8: “Figures and Forms: Thoughts on the ‘Inside’ and the ‘Outside’ of Music.” Oliver Schneller, professor of composition and director of the Eastman Audio Research Studio (EARS) at the Eastman School of Music.  Phelps Colloquium. 4 to 5:30 p.m. Max of Eastman Place. Click here to register.

Nov. 9: Wilmot Cancer Institute Scientific Symposium. Oral presentations and poster session.  9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Class of ’62 Auditorium and Flaum Atrium, Prizes for best posters. Deadline for poster registration submission is November 1. For questions about the symposium, the poster presentation, or to obtain a poster registration form, contact Chelsea Costanzo at chelsea_costanzo@urmc.rochester.edu or at 273-1447.

Nov. 13: Initial abstracts due for Incubator Awards from the School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Scientific Advisory Committee. Find more details and application instructions online.

Nov. 15: Deadline to apply for Wilmot Cancer Institute’s Junior Investigator Award, for Collaborative Pilot Studies Targeting New NCI Funding, and for Brain Tumor Pilot Studies. For additional information and applications, click here. Applications should be submitted electronically to Pam Iadarola, research administrator, James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, Pamela_iadarola@urmc.rochester.edu. Questions should also be directed to her at 585-275-1537 or by email.

Dec. 1: Center for AIDS Research ninth annual HIV/AID Scientific Symposium. Keynote speakers and poster session. Click here for more information. Contact Laura Enders for more information about World AIDS Day events.

Dec. 6: Science, Technology, and Culture book club discusses Weapons of Math Destruction, by Cathy O’Neil. 5 to 6 p.m. Humanities Center lobby (Rush Rhees Library). Email Emma_Grygotis@urmc.rochester.edu for more information.

December 7: “Including Disability in the Diversity Conversation.” Susan Hetherington, associate professor of pediatrics and director of the Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities.  Phelps Colloquium. 4 to 5:30 p.m. Evarts Lounge, Helen Wood Hall. School of Nursing. Click here to register.