(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 University has long been an innovator in undergraduate, graduate, and professional school education, by extending education beyond the traditional classroom and committing to every learner the resources and environment to design, plan, and implement their own academic and future life experiences.

The Rochester Experience 2025 will serve as a learning community uniquely designed to prepare students to engage the world as citizens and leaders.

Proposed Strategic Aims for Innovate in Education/Rochester Experience 2025

• Implications of Learning in the Digital Age
  • Leverage appropriate digital technologies to enhance traditional classroom experiences
  • Meet increasing demand for online offerings
  • Implement the best use of available digital resources
  • Leverage technology to improve student services
• Experiential and Community-Engaged Learning
  • Enhance education through participatory learning
  • Create opportunities to acquire life skills outside the classroom
  • Prepare all students to understand the process of discovery and to contribute through research
• Career Development and Professional Readiness
  • Need for ongoing (and timely) program innovation to match changes in the workplace
  • Prepare our students to be lifelong learners
  • Develop transferable 21st-century skills
  • Cultivate and develop new opportunities to support our students and alumni
• Developing and supporting a Diverse Student Body and Campus Community
  • Provide the necessary individual support for student success
  • Make curriculum changes to best meet diverse intellectual interests and needs
  • Pursue new international collaborations and experiences
  • Recruit and retain a diverse faculty
  • Strengthen linkages among schools, programs, and communities
• Excellence in Educational Delivery and Learning Environments
  • Invest in modernization and capital improvement of facilities and infrastructure
  • Continue expansion of the acquisition of resources
  • Bolster and support faculty development

A nearly $6 million, five-year award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease will allow the University’s Center for Musculoskeletal Research (CMSR) to create a new multidisciplinary research program devoted to studying bone infections.

The CMSR has been among the top five NIH-funded orthopaedic research centers in the nation for over ten years, and Edward Schwarz, Burton Professor of Orthopaedics and director of the CMSR, has been the top NIH-funded orthopaedic researcher in the nation three years running. This new grant, awarded to Schwarz and throng of researchers from across the University and beyond, brings the center’s total forecasted earnings for 2017 to $28 million.

The vast majority of infections after joint replacement are caused by a bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus, including the dreaded methicillin-resistant strain (MRSA), which causes sepsis and death in 13 percent of infected patients.

Together with Karen Bentley, director of the Electron Microscopy Core, Schwarz showed that the bacteria can crawl deep into tiny channels in bones, possibly taking shelter there and later emerging to re-establish an infection. Though S. aureus was originally thought to be incapable of movement, Bentley and Schwarz, in collaboration with James McGrath, professor of biomedical engineering, and his spin-off company, SiMPore Inc., showed that this bacteria can migrate through tiny pores in membranes in the lab.

This new grant will allow Schwarz and Hani Awad, professor of biomedical engineering and orthopaedics, to investigate exactly how S. aureus gets into bone and develop new treatments that target those mechanisms.  Microbiologists Steven Gill and Paul Dunman in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology will help the team develop new antibiotics to inhibit bone infection, which will be 3D printed into spacers that replace infected joint implants. Delivering the antibiotic at the site of infection may save patients’ limbs and lives.

Schwarz has also been working to understand what makes certain patients more susceptible to S. aureus infections than others, including why some patients recover relatively easily, while others die.

“Death following surgical site infection is not random,” says Schwarz. “By studying patient immune responses to this bacteria, we might be able to predict who will be fine and who will need extra medical attention.”

Read more here.

A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that one of the most promising strategies for a “universal” flu vaccine – creating one that targets the “stalk” of a protein that covers the flu virus – is a strong one, but isn’t completely bulletproof.

The hemagglutinin protein, which blankets the outside of the flu virus, looks a bit like a flower; it has a stalk (think stem) and a head (think petals). Current vaccines target the head, which is the part of the virus that’s always changing in an effort to evade our immune defenses. The head sits on the stalk, and it’s believed that the stalk stays relatively constant from one strain of flu to another. So, directing a vaccine and the body’s immune response towards the stalk is a seemingly logical strategy for creating a shot that would provide broad protection.

However, contrary to current assumptions, researchers at the URMC-based New York Influenza Center of Excellence found that the stalk can change, although not as easily or frequently as the head.

Using supercomputers at the University’s Health Sciences Center for Computational Innovation, they analyzed the genetic sequences of human H1N1 flu viruses circulating since 1918. They found variations in both the head and the stalk, although variability was highest in the head region.

In the lab, they coupled the H1N1 virus with human antibodies – immune system soldiers that fight off foreign invaders. Not surprisingly, repetitive exposure to the antibodies caused many mutations in the head, as it worked to escape the immune system’s clutches. But, it led to a few modifications in the stalk, too. The results suggest that the stalk can vary in response to pressure from the immune system.

“The good news is that it’s much more difficult to drive mutations in the stalk, but it’s not impossible,” says David Topham, study author and the Marie Curran Wilson and Joseph Chamberlain Wilson Professor in the department of Microbiology and Immunology. “A universal flu vaccine based on the stalk would be more broadly protective than the ones we use now, but this information should be taken into account as we move forward with research and development.”

Read more here.

Alterations in four main genes are responsible for how long patients survive with pancreatic cancer, according to a new study in JAMA Oncology.

Before now, the presence and patterns between the genes and disease progression was not clearly established. One key difference in this study is the relatively large size: it involved 356 patients who all had pancreatic adenocarcinoma that could be surgically removed.

Ninety of the patients were treated at the Wilmot Cancer Institute; the others at Dana Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center in Boston and Stanford Cancer Institute. Scientists extracted DNA from the cancerous tissue and nearby normal tissue, and conducted next-generation DNA sequencing on the specimens.

The analysis centered on the activity of the KRAS, CDKN2A, SMAD4, and TP53 genes. Results showed that patients who had three or four of the altered genes had worse disease-free survival (the time between surgery and when the cancer returns), and overall survival (from surgery to death), compared to patients with one or two altered genes. A more detailed breakdown of survival and specific gene activity is available in the full study.

“The research helps us to understand how the molecular features of pancreatic cancer impact prognosis on an individual level and gives us more facts to guide patients, and importantly, to design future research studies,” says study co-author Aram Hezel, a gastrointestinal cancer expert and chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Wilmot.

Read more here.

A melanoma patient’s gut bacteria—“favorable” or “unfavorable”—influences whether that person responds to immunotherapy treatment, according to a new study published in Science.

A more diverse gut microbiome, filled with plenty of good bacteria, was associated with better outcomes among 112 patients with metastatic melanoma who were observed for six months while taking anti-PD1 therapy —the same therapy that former President Jimmy Carter began using to control his metastatic skin cancer. The therapy works by boosting the body’s natural immune fighters against cancer cells.

The study’s results are exciting because scientists were able to correlate, to a specific microbiota, a patient’s immune system’s ability to combat cancer, said co-author Peter Prieto, assistant professor of surgery at the Medical Center and Wilmot Cancer Institute.

“And just as importantly, our results will lead to new strategies, such as testing potential probiotics in clinical trials to boost the response of standard treatments for melanoma,” Prieto says.

Prieto participated in this research project while at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas before he joined the faculty at URMC, where he’s continuing his microbiome investigation.

Read more here.

Lynne Maquat, the J. Lowell Orbison Endowed Chair and Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and director of the Center for RNA Biology, who gave a Harvey Society Lecture last month at The Rockefeller University in New York City. The lecture series is one of the most prestigious in the country and the lecturers, who are selected by the Harvey Society’s leadership council, are leading biomedical researchers from around the world. Maquat discussed her career path and the discovery of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), which she first described for humans in 1981. NMD is a cellular quality control mechanism that derails the production of unwanted proteins in the body that can disrupt normal processes and initiate disease. Maquat is known around the world for her work on NMD, which is critically important in both normal and disease states. Founded in 1905, the Harvey Society sponsors seven lectures annually that are open to the public and are attended by hundreds of scientists from New York City and the surrounding areas.

Stephen Dewhurst, vice dean for research, has announced that the Medical Center’s clinical research leadership is being restructured.

Search committees led by Dewhurst and Jeffrey Lyness, senior associate dean for academic affairs, are working to identify internal candidates for two top clinical research positions: senior associate dean for clinical research, a position currently held by Jill Halterman, and director of the Clinical Research Office, a newly created role.

To learn more about how to apply for these positions, go to the CTSI Stories Blog.

The Clinical and Translational Science Institute manages a participant registry comprised of 2,102 patients and community members who have agreed to be contacted directly for future research studies. New participants enroll every week, so the number will continue to grow. Currently, 1,116 registrants are patients of UR Medicine.

Characteristics of the patients are:

• 1,115 have seen a PCP
• 780 are female
• 288 have had cancer
• 512 have a mental, behavioral, or neurodevelopmental disorder
• 309 have hypertensive disease
• 184 take an antihyperlipidemic medication
• 103 take an antidiabetic medication

To learn more and obtain access to the registry, email researchhelp@urmc.rochester.edu.

(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.)

Department of Health and Human Service and Food & Drug Administration regulations (45 CFR 46; 21 CFR 56) define specific criteria that human subject research must meet in order for an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to approve the research.

A critical, yet often overlooked, step in the protocol development process is to objectively evaluate study protocols against these criteria prior to IRB submission. Doing so will help facilitate IRB review of the proposal, with the intent of minimizing IRB stipulations.

Over the upcoming months, as part the ‘PI Oversight Tip of the Month’ series, each criterion for IRB approval will be reviewed and summarized.

Criteria #1 is ‘risks to subjects are minimized.’ In evaluating this criterion, consider the following:

• Has the study been designed to produce the anticipated results (i.e., does the study have the potential to answer the questions being posed)?
• Are the study procedures included required to meet the aims of the research? Are any procedures unnecessary and/or unnecessarily repeated? Is data collected from routine care procedures in lieu of conducting additional procedures when feasible?
• What steps are being taken to mitigate all identified risks?
• Are adequate procedures for monitoring subject safety included? Is the time frame between safety-related monitoring procedures appropriate?
• Will the defined inclusion/exclusion criteria limit enrollment to only the target population? Will defined exclusion criteria appropriately prevent the enrollment of subjects within the target population who are particularly vulnerable or of higher risk?
• Are procedures being performed by adequately trained staff?

Stay tuned for criteria #2, ‘risks to subjects are reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits,’ which will be highlighted next month.

David Holloway has joined the Department of Modern Languages and Culture as an  assistant professor, teaching courses on Japanese literature, popular culture, and gender. He specializes in contemporary Japanese fiction. His academic interests include youth cultures and subcultures, gender and sexuality, and Japan’s “lost decade.” Forthcoming publications include “Fat Phobia in Matsuura Rieko’s ‘Himantai kyōfushō,’” (Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies), “Masochism in Contemporary Japanese Fiction” (Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies), and “The Unmaking of a Diva: Kanehara Hitomi’s Comfortable Anonymity,” in Diva Nation: Female Icons from Japanese Cultural History (Berkeley: University of California Press). Holloway, who earned his PhD at Washington University in St. Louis, completed a one-year postdoctoral appointment there before joining the Rochester faculty in 2015, initially as a visiting assistant professor of Japanese.

Today: “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: Jesse L. Rosenberger Faculty Work-in-Progress Seminar. Steven Rozenski, assistant professor of English: “From Creation to 1518: Writing Universal History in the Carthusian Monastery of Hull, Yorkshire, during the Reign of Henry VIII.” 12-1:30 p.m. Humanities Center Conference Room D. Lunch is served.

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.

Nov. 30: Jesse L. Rosenberger Faculty Work-in-Progress Seminar. Evelyne LeBlanc-Roberge, 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. Humanities Center Conference Room D. Lunch is served. 

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.13: Jesse L. Rosenberger Faculty Work-in-Progress Seminar. Matt BaileyShea, associate professor of music theory: “‘Close / in midst of this…’: Lines, Phrases, and Syntax in Song.” Humanities Center Conference Room D. Lunch is served.

Dec. 15: Deadline to apply for a 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.