(Input from faculty, staff, and students is vital to the University’s strategic planning now underway. This is part of a series looking at key areas in which faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to submit ideas for new research initiatives, or for policies, practices, or resources that will strengthen the University’s competitive position as a premier research institution. Suggestions can be made until November 17.)

The performing arts and humanities are fundamental to the human experience and play a foundational role in the life and culture of the University. They foster creative, rigorous, and critical thinking; empathy; and new perspectives, all of which are essential attributes of informed citizenship in a democratic, technologically advanced and global society. They are essential for personal development and are essential elements of being human.

The University has a remarkable array of unique strengths in the performing arts and humanities, including the Eastman School of Music; the Memorial Art Gallery; a School of Arts & Sciences that has created a Humanities Center, an Institute for the Performing Arts, an International Theatre Program and a Department of Music; a division of Medical Humanities at the Medical Center; degrees in audio and music engineering; nationally ranked research libraries; and countless opportunities for students to engage with these programs and many more in ways that fit their individual aspirations.

The performing arts and humanities, perhaps more than any other disciplines on campus, unite research, education, health care, and community and thus truly are a driving influence in each aspect of the strategic plan currently being developed.

By 2021, the top priorities are:

• Commit to greater collaboration among all areas of the performing arts and humanities among the individual units, as well as with the entire University, to create a collective impact that is significantly greater than that of the individual units alone.
• Complete the Sloan Theatre on the River Campus.
• Secure a financial and academic structure that supports humanities and performing arts.
• Significantly strengthen the financial foundation of the Eastman School of Music as the school prepares for a second century of international leadership.

We are soliciting input to develop additional thrusts in the performing arts and humanities. All submissions will remain anonymous unless a direct response is requested. Click here to submit a suggestion by November 17. The suggestion form can be submitted more than once if you have multiple ideas.

(The Lead through Research Strategic Plan Working Group seeks to generate big-picture, transformational initiatives that will make the University of Rochester an even more vibrant and impactful intellectual community in the future. The Early Worlds Initiative, a proposed program that would be housed in the Humanities Center, has been identified by the Working Group as a candidate initiative.

The Early Worlds Initiative would build on the University’s existing strengths in medieval and early modern studies across nine departments in the School of Arts and Sciences, as well as the Rossell Hope Robbins Library, the Eastman School of Music, and the Memorial Art Gallery. The goal is to foster cross-disciplinary research into the deep roots of globalization and the longstanding challenges of achieving respect for diversity and commonality.

This theme has even greater urgency in a world that is both increasingly interconnected and marked by vast disparities in wealth and access to scientific and technological advances.

The initiative would catalyze collaborative research on projects emphasizing global perspectives and on social and cultural developments between the 5th and the 18th centuries.

At present, the predominant focus within the fields of medieval and early modern studies in the United States is on Europe. The Early Worlds initiative, by contrast, would bring consideration of North America, Africa, Asia, and Latin America together with Europe into a story of interconnectedness and cultural encounter.

Here is a very brief sampling of projects illustrating the ways in which medievalists and early modernists can illuminate the big questions about the human experience noted above:

• Thomas Devaney: projects on early modern Spain exploring how societies become less tolerant of religious and cultural differences.
• Thomas Hahn: works on race and the global middle ages.
• Michael Jarvis: digital depictions of the African side of the slave trade.
• Honey Meconi: studies of Renaissance music in relation to gender and identity.
• Emil Homerin: work on the meanings of Arabic poetry.
• Gregory Heyworth: His Lazarus Project recovers new texts and historical objects from the the antique, medieval, and early modern worlds.
• Michael Anderson: use of manuscript OCR and neural networks to transcribe books of hours and transform the study of the most popular form of book in the Middle Ages as both a musical and literary phenomenon.

Other universities have centers or institutes devoted to medieval or early modern studies. What makes Rochester unique, however, is its determination to devote its rich resources to elucidate global perspectives on medieval and early modern cultures, as well as its ability to join longstanding methodologies to expertise from data science, optics, and imaging. These strengths will permit us to expand in distinctive ways from European approaches to the global perspectives that will create new knowledge and enhance the University’s reputation for innovation and research excellence.

How do we wait, and what exactly is the experience of waiting like?

Evelyne LeBlanc-Roberge uses lens-based media to reflect upon and re-interpret the relationship between people and the ways they occupy space — for example, in waiting rooms.

The assistant professor of art & lens based media will share her work “looking at the rooms in which we wait, the subtle movements of a person waiting, the anxious state of being in between two moments, and what we remember from these moments” at an upcoming Humanities Center Jesse L. Rosenberger Faculty Work-in-Progress Seminar.

The series features presentations on pre-circulated papers by center fellows and faculty affiliates. The seminars offer an opportunity for participants from a variety of disciplines to share their perspectives.

Lunch is served. The schedule for the remainder of this semester is:

November 15: Steven Rozenski, center fellow and assistant professor of English: “From Creation to 1518: Writing Universal History in the Carthusian Monastery of Hull, Yorkshire, during the Reign of Henry VIII.”

November 30: Evelyne LeBlanc-Roberge, center fellow and  assistant professor in the Department of Art and Art History: “Les attentes (The Waiting),” a multimedia project examining the architecture and our relationship to waiting rooms.

December 13: Matt BaileyShea, associate professor of music theory: “‘Close / in midst of this…’: Lines, Phrases, and Syntax in Song.”

The seminars are held from 12-1:30 p.m. in the Humanities Center Conference Room D.

Faculty members who want to present in the seminar during spring 2018 should contact Center director Joanie Rubin at joan.rubin@rochester.edu. Papers related to this year’s theme of “Memory and Forgetting” are especially encouraged. Non-Center affiliates who wish to obtain copies of the papers should contact Jennie.Gilardoni@rochester.edu

When we are still embryos, proteins of the so-called “hedgehog” signaling pathway stimulate our cells to develop into different organs.

When we are adults, this pathway falls largely silent, except in certain tissues that constantly regenerate themselves, for example our skin, and the linings of our blood vessels and digestive tract.

Unfortunately, several types of cancer cells are able to reawaken this dormant pathway, causing surrounding healthy cells to produce growth factors (proteins or hormones that stimulate cell growth) that help the cancer cells proliferate and metastasize.

A potent remedy to the problem may be on its way. In a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers in the laboratory of Rudi Fasan, an associate professor of chemistry, describe the development of a cyclic peptide that is able to block the activation of the pathway in live cells.

The next step will be to further optimize the peptide for increased potency, then proceed to animal trials.

The pathway is activated when a ligand (binding molecule) produced by cancer cells interacts with a receptor on the surface of healthy cells, triggering the production of growth factors. The first drug directed against this pathway was approved by the FDA in 2012, but according to Fasan, recent studies have shown that cancer cells become quickly resistant to it.

The cyclic peptide developed in Fasan’s lab blocks the ligand farther “upstream” in the pathway, using a different mode of inhibition compared to the FDA-approved drug. “It is important to have different weapons against this pathway,” Fasan says, “and we have targeted a key component of it.” He adds that the compound is unlikely to develop resistance since it does not target a protein located on cancer cells.

Read more here.

The Center for Urban Education Success (CUES) at the Warner School of Education has released a practitioner brief describing the work of three urban schools in New York City and Rochester that have embraced a restorative practices culture based on a different set of values than the punitive system that is still common in some K-12 schools today. The brief, titled Becoming Restorative: Three Schools Transitioning to a Restorative Practices Culture, is available on CUES’s practitioner briefs webpage, where an initial brief highlighting the literature on restorative practices in schools was posted earlier this year.

Mounting evidence shows that punitive discipline is not only ineffective in reducing behavioral incidents but also detrimental to students, particularly those of color, leading to a collection of problems, including social justice offenses, fueling the school-to-prison pipeline, decreased achievement, increased misbehavior, and an increased likelihood that communities both inside and outside of school will suffer. Restorative practices offer something else—community, relationship, repair, decreased incidences of misbehavior, improved school culture, decreased racial discipline gap, and student agency—and can improve the experiences of the entire school community, including staff, parents, teachers, administrators, and especially students.

Among the findings in the brief:

• Restorative practices success and survival require involving the entire school community, both inside and outside the building.
• Transitioning to a restorative practices culture takes time—even several years—and patience.
• Financial support from districts, ongoing training, and a clear vision are instrumental for sustaining the restorative practices culture that schools work hard to establish.

Read more here.

A Medical Center researcher is part of a team characterizing where a certain type of RNA, called microRNA, is expressed in human cells. In a recent study, published in Genome Research, the team made a giant set of data about these RNA available to the public to guide research and foster the development of new therapies.

RNA, the close cousin of DNA, comes in many flavors – each with a specific role. MicroRNA (miRNA) help regulate which proteins are produced in a cell and to how much. Fiddling with the level of proteins can have subtle or large impacts on a cell’s activity and can even cause disease.

Several studies have linked miRNAs to diseases, either as the cause or simply a marker. While some of these links could lead to new treatments, others may just be red herrings.

“We’ve showed previously that when somebody claims a certain miRNA is a marker of a disease, at times it’s just a marker of increased inflammation, which is a side effect of a lot of diseases,” said Matthew McCall, assistant professor of biostatistics and biomedical genetics  and an author on the study.

Before you can understand what miRNAs are doing, you need to know where they are, according to McCall and study leader Marc Halushka, associate professor of pathology and director of Oncology Tissue Services at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

And why is that important?

Within a given tissue in your body, there could be thousands of different cell types, serving different purposes. When measuring RNA in a tissue biopsy, you will get a mixture of RNA from all of these different cell types, whether or not they are relevant to the disease you are interested in.

For their study, Halushka’s team pulled together all that was known about miRNA in human cells and conducted experiments to fill the gaps. Though it wasn’t their specific intent, the researchers found that many miRNAs originally thought to be expressed in all or many cell types actually are not. Rather, they are expressed in cells that get into all or most tissues, like blood or inflammatory cells, and could be mistakenly associated with a disease.

All of the data from Halushka’s study are available in an online database and in the University of California, Santa Cruz Genome Browser and will be updated regularly. Having access to this data should save researchers a lot of time and help weed out some of those aforementioned red herrings. With just a few clicks, researchers can find all of the cells types that express a specific miRNA or all of the miRNAs expressed in a specific cell type.

Dustin Trail, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, who has been selected as the recipient of the 2017 Mineralogical Society of America Award. The award recognizes his contributions to studies of early-Earth environments, the conditions suitable for the origins of life, and the evolution of magmas and fluids in the earth’s crust. Read more here.

Cameron Hawkins joins the Department of Religion and Classics as an assistant professor after holding teaching appointments at the University of Chicago and at Queensborough Community College (CUNY). His research concentrates on the social and economic history of the ancient Roman world. He is particularly interested in the business strategies of urban artisans in the Roman Empire during the late Republican and early Imperial periods (133 BCE–235 CE). In his recent book, Roman Artisans and the Urban Economy (Cambridge University Press, 2016), he draws inspiration both from contemporary economic theory and from studies of urban economies in early modern Europe in order to provide new interpretations of the ancient evidence for key aspects of Roman economic life. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago.

The post-doctoral fellowship supports mentored research training for physicians with M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. degrees who have completed their residency training and intend to pursue an academic career in clinical, translational, or basic cancer research.

The fellowship provides funding for up to three years. Fellows receive an annual stipend comparable to those awarded by many national foundations. In addition, each fellow receives an annual supply allowance and travel allowance to provide support for attending national or international scientific conferences.

The Wilmot Cancer Institute website has additional information and the application form.

Applicants are encouraged to complete and submit the required information by December 15.

Contact Pam Iadarola at Pamela_Iadarola@URMC.Rochester.edu or 585-275-1537 with any questions.

The Department of Public Health Sciences has funds to support a limited number of Pilot Projects. The focus of the pilot program is to stimulate new collaborations with PHS faculty.

Proposals are being solicited that support collaborative relationships between investigators who do not have a recent history (past 3 years) of joint funding or who want to expand their current collaborative efforts in new directions and for whom the pilot project would be catalytic in their effort to obtain extramural funding .

The deadline for submitting initial abstracts is February 1, 2018.

More information can be found at the PHS website.

Karen Kelsky, who provides advice and consulting services on the academic job search and all elements of the academic and post-academic career, will speak at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, November 8, at the Class of ’62 Auditorium.

Kelsky, a former tenured professor and department head with 15 years of experience teaching at the University of Oregon and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is author of The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide to Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job.

Light refreshments will be served. Contact Gradregistrar@urmc.Rochester.edu for accommodations at least three days prior to the event.

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. Lunch and refreshments will be served. For more information, click here. Registration is free.

Nov. 7: The Historical Roots of Machine Learning. CTSI Analytics Colloquium. Noon to 1 p.m. Lower Adolph Auditorium, Medical Center.

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.

Nov. 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. 8: Karen Kelsky, author of The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide to Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job, 1:30 p.m., Class of ’62 Auditorium.

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. Questions? Contact Chelsea Costanzo at chelsea_costanzo@urmc.rochester.edu or at 273-1447.

Nov. 10: “Food Justice: Exploring Our Cultures’ Complexity.” University-wide Annual Research Conference. 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Interfaith Chapel and 305 Schlegel Hall. Click here to register and see the conference schedule and speaker profiles.

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. 13: Deadline to apply to the University’s NSF I-Corps Site program for the Spring 2018 cohort. The program provides undergrads, grad students, doctoral candidates, faculty, staff, and recent alumni entrepreneurial training (two required workshops and biweekly meetings over the course of the semester) and up to $3,000 to enable teams to explore the market potential of their ideas through customer discovery interviews and completion of a Business Model Canvas. Download the I-Corps application. Contact Senior Program Manager Matt Spielmann at the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship with any questions.

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  Pamela_iadarola@urmc.rochester.edu. Questions should also be directed to her at 585-275-1537 or by email.

Nov. 15: Deadline to apply for a new Pipeline Pilot Award from the Clinical and Translational Science Institute for community-based participatory research that engages community members or organizations in all aspects of the research process. See the request for applications for more information; direct questions to mary_little@urmc.rochester.edu or 275-0653.

Nov. 17: Deadline to submit ideas to the Lead through Research Strategic Plan Working Group for big-picture, transformational initiatives that will make the University an even more vibrant and impactful intellectual community in the future. Read more here.

Nov. 17-18: The Future(s) of Microhistory: A Symposium. Nearly two dozen scholars from Rochester, the US, and abroad examine the relevancy of studying individual lives to provide insight into the larger patterns and structures of history. Hawkins-Carlson Room. Click here for details about the schedule and participating scholars.

Dec. 1: Deadline to apply for UNYTE pipeline pilot awards from the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, aimed at stimulating research partnerships between UNYTE member institutions. Click here for more information about the UNYTE Translational Research Network including partner institutions. Click here for the full RFA.

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.

Dec. 15: Deadline to apply for post-doctoral cancer research fellowship from Wilmot Cancer Institute. Go to the Wilmot Cancer Institute website for additional information and application. Contact Pam Iadarola at Pamela_Iadarola@URMC.Rochester.edu or 585-275-1537 with any questions.