Category: research

Ten current or former UGA students have been awarded graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation. Six of the ten are from the Franklin College:

[The fellowships will allow students] to conduct research while working on their master's and doctoral degrees. The awards provide students with up to $126,000 during a five-year period to conduct research in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Eleven students and alumni also received honorable mentions.

This year's Fellows include:

Cameron Brown, of Savannah, GA

Kao-Wie Chua, of Johnson City, TN

Caitlin Elizabeth Conn, of Port Royal, Penn.

Chelsea Cunard, of Warren, R.I.

Caitlin Ishibashi, of Camarillo, Calif.

Uma Jyothi Nagendra, of New Orleans, La.

and from the Odum School of Ecology:

Daniel Joseph Becker, of West Chester, Penn.

Doug Booher, of Dalton, Ga.

Robert Daniel Harris, of the Drumkeerin area in County Leitrim, Ireland,

Carly Phillips, of Columbus, Ohio

Congratulations to these students and alums. Read more at the link about the work these fellowships will support.

The UGA Librairies presents a lecture by Kenneth D. Crews, director of the Copyright Advisory Office at Columbia University in New York City, "Copyright and the Academy: The Battle turns to the Courts," on Monday May 20 at 10 am in 271 Auditorium of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. Crews will discuss recent U.S. court decisions that shape fair use for higher education:

For many years, universities and some copyright owners have sparred over interpretations of fair use and other critical provisions of the law. The disagreements have been played out in congressional hearings, negotiations over guidelines and efforts by leading organizations to influence policymaking at educational institutions. The debates have been robust, but ultimately more of a standoff than a true clash of powers. Much has changed in recent years. Cases involving copyright and education are heading to the courts. The litigation is costly and demanding, but it also is a chance to learn for the first time the view of the courts about the state of copyright law in higher education. The recent court ruling about fair use at Georgia State University is a leading of example. However, cases are also challenging videostreaming at UCLA, the preservation of digital books at the University of Michigan and even the ability of libraries to keep foreign books and other materials in their collections. This presentation will offer insights into these cases and pending developments in Congress. It will also examine reasons why the copyright issues that were once the domain of respectful agreement have escalated into litigation. 

Free and open to the public (and very informative).

Image: Columns at the Richard B. Russell Building, courtesy of UGA photographic services

 In thier quest to develop nanosensors for early detection of plaque build-up in the arteries, researchers from the department of chemistry have hit upon an even bigger advancement:

Early detection of cellular components in the plaque that rupture and block arteries have long been held as potentially effective detection for heart diseases and their link to atherosclerosis.

A new study by University of Georgia researchers in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of chemistry, published online May 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, documents a technological breakthrough: Synthetic high density lipoprotein nanoparticles. A completely biodegradable synthetic version of the so-called good cholesterol, the nanoparticles represent a potential new detection and therapy regimen for atherosclerosis.

In the process of developing a nanoparticle sensor to detect unstable cellular components in atherosclerotic lesions, study coauthors assistant professor Shanta Dhar and graduate student Sean Marrache constructed the lipoprotein nanoparticle in Dhar's NanoTherapeutics Research Laboratory. In bench-scale animal trials, the synthetic HDL-mimicking nanoparticle showed significant reductions in total cholesterol and triglycerides.

"In creating all the processes for the nanoparticle to mimic the natural HDL and carry a signaling output, we were able to demonstrate excellent biocompatibility," Dhar said. "If we simply leave out the sensor, we have a very promising therapy for triglyceride reduction in the bloodstream."

Huge congratulations to Dhar and Marrache for this work. A new manufacturing process for completely synthetic HDL has very wide implications for human health, but the advances seen in Nanomedicine in just the last decade alone should help grow the support for this kind of research (and instruction) at universities around the world. That's how we get advances like this.

Image: Shanta Dhar, right, and Sean Marrache work in Dhar's NanoTherapeutics Research Laboratory at UGA, courtesy of UGA photographic services.

Careers in academia are, in some ways, like those of any other profession: once you have secured a position, you set about to address professional obligations, establish personal goals and pursue opportunities for advancement. Most of all of these would occur within the framework of the position for which you were intially hired.

An important difference in the professoriat, and one emphasized by a program at UGA, is the opportunity to study outside of your chosen discipline. The 2013-2014 Study in a Second Discipline Fellows were just announced and they are all from the Franklin College:

"Some of the most notable research and scholarship occurs at the interface of fields, and the Study in the Second Discipline program is one of the many ways that the university encourages interdisciplinary research," said Provost Jere Morehead. "I commend the recipients of this fellowship for undertaking projects that will advance their fields and have the potential to foster long-term collaborations on campus."

The 2013-2014 Fellows are:

• Benjamin Ehlers, associate professor of history, who will study in the geography department to gain proficiency in data mapping and further his research into patterns of religious violence in the Spanish Mediterranean;
• Chad Howe, associate professor of Romance languages, who will study in the department of statistics with the goal of applying advanced quantitative techniques to the study of language variation;
• Amy Ross, associate professor of geography, who will study in the departments of philosophy and military science to advance her research on civilian casualties and lay the foundation for a new course on "The Geographies of Conflict." 
• Janice Simon, Meigs Professor of Art History, who will study Native American culture in the anthropology department to broaden the scope of her research on landscape images as well as her courses on American art;
• Robert Varley, professor of mathematics, who will study in the physics department to enhance collaborative research on particle physics and quantum field theory; and
• Andrew Zawacki, associate professor of English, who will study photography in the Lamar Dodd School of Art and incorporate the technical and theoretical knowledge he gains into an upcoming book of poetry.

Congratulations to these faculty members, and thanks to their colleagues in every department for supporting their return to the classoom in a different guise. We look forward to the fruits of their study in a second discipline and salute the dedication to innovative scholarship.

Graduate students often participate in conferences, in formal presentations and conversations about their work with other participants during poster sessions and other events. Most frequently, academic conferences are organized by discipline but the UGA Graduate Student Association tried something different in April with their Interdisciplinary Research Conference and it seems to have been an overwhelming success. Among the unusual outcomes was the presentation of People's Choice Award at the conference, which went to psychology graduate student Brian Stone:

Stone's research focuses on the way the brain uses information from the senses to keep track of where the body is in space. This sensory information lets the brain know what is part of the body and what is an outside object.

By manipulating people's senses in the lab, psychologists have found that the brain can be tricked.

In his presentation, Stone highlighted the connection between sensory psychology and fields like robotics and engineering. Short-term applications include designing better prosthetics.

"(We can use) sensory tricks to incorporate an external object, like a prosthetic, into the body for someone like an amputee," Stone said.

The chance to discuss these broader implications of his research was what drew Stone to present at the Interdisciplinary Research Conference.

The idea of a conference like this is great and the Grad Student Association is to be commended. They know the importance of getting feedback from outside their disciplines and interacting with colleagues from other areas, which is why they organized such a conference. Even picking a favorite presentation is less of a competition and more of an acknowledgement of insightful work. Great job, and congratulations to Stone for being the People's Choice.

Some great new research published out of the department of sociology, concerning the signals teachers get from students and how teacher perceptions shape student performance:

Elementary school students bring varied skills and experience to the classroom, commonly referred to as cultural capital. And when teachers notice and value these skills, students do better in school.

A new University of Georgia study, published in the April issue of the journal Sociology of Education, expands the notion of cultural capital to include a digital dimension, demonstrating that computer fluency is as important of a signal to teachers as visiting museums and attending concerts.

"We know that cultural capital matters, that teachers like to know about kids doing well outside the home and bringing that into the classroom," said study co-author Linda Renzulli, associate professor in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of sociology. "But maybe we need to update cultural capital and think about this other piece of information teachers are gaining about students, which isn't the ballet and isn't travel. It's actually digital capital."

In a society as broad and diverse as the U.S., inequality is a perennial issue - though it's simply not the case, as some ideologues would have it, of trying to create some uniform set of experiences for every person. Equality of opportunity is another matter, and the more we learn about how to help provide this for all young students, no matter their personal circumstances, the better-able they will be to discover their person potential and grow up to make their unique, positive contributions to society.

Image: via Wikimedia Commons, used by permission of an Art Libre license.

One thing we missed in the rundown of the Faculty Awards banquet is the announcement of the 2013 Distinguished Research Professors. Among the three awardees is one of our favorite researchers and teachers from the department of chemistry, John Stickney.

Stickney has received worldwide recognition for his contributions to the field of electrochemistry. He singlehandedly invented a method of producing extraordinarily thin semiconductors created one atomic layer at a time through a process he called electrochemical atomic layer epitaxy, or EC-ALE. He patented this approach and founded a company to market equipment for making materials by this process. The materials produced by EC-ALE are of a quality previously unmatched through traditional methods of electrodeposition, and they have great potential in a number of technological applications, including solar energy conversion, as specialty sensors and for catalysis, the process of accelerating a chemical reaction by a catalyst.

I am fortunate to have spent time with Stickney, intervewing and writing about his work several times over the years. The EC-ALE process is fascinating and he can make it sound easy to understand and obvious, a true mark of genius in my view. But more than that, Stickney is as funny and engaging as he is serious and creative about his work. Even in formal settings, he is able to talk about very complex science in a way that makes you want to learn more. He is intrigued and fascinated by his field, and maybe that is one of the keys to thinking creatively about sensors and semiconductors.

The title Distinguished Research Professor is bestowed upon faculty who are internationally recognized for their original contributions to knowledge and whose work promises to foster continued creativity in their discipline. That describes John Stickney perfectly. Congratulations.

Did you know that that first time the seat of an empire was transferred to a colony happened in 1808? It was from Portugal to Rio de Janeiro, under the duress of the Napoloenic wars in Europe. And when Brazil gained its independence in 1822, the first country to recognize it was the very young United States of America and the two countries have been closely linked ever since.

This and more I learned at the inaugural Brazilian Student Association Symposium - Collaboration  & Academic Production: Stimulating Research and Partnership between UGA and Brazil, on Friday, April 5. Brazil has solid support on our campus and we have many, very talented Brazilian students at every level. The day-long event featured student panels focussed on substantive issues and research across campus, faculty that have long-supported the Portuguese language program on campus, and a terrific keynote speech by the Consul General of Brazil in Atlanta, Ambassador Hermano Telles Ribiero.

Ambassador Telles Ribiero offered a quick but informative rundown of Brazil's growing role as a leader among the family of nations. Its quickly growing economy and strong links with other regions and countries in the world make it one of our most important partners in terms of trade, energy, technology and tourism, as well as a host of issues that focus decentralized cooperation between Brazilian and U.S. cities.

Find out more about the Brazilian Student Association here. My thanks to BSA President Fernanda Guida for the very kind invitation. Congratulations on a great symposoium. Muito bem feito.

Originally named from an outbreak at an American Legion convention in 1976, Legionellosis or Legionaires' disease is a severe type of pneumonia that affects only a small percentage of the population but can be fatal. UGA researcher Vincent Starai was recently awarded $1,503,565 by the National Institutes of Health to investigate how the bacterium that causes Legionellosis overcome the body’s defenses.

Starai is an assistant professor who holds a joint appointment with the departments of microbiology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and infectious diseases in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

...

Bacteria enter the lungs and are attacked by phagocytes, the white blood cells that fight infection. Normally phagocytes eat foreign particles, engulfing and breaking them into smaller fragments within a specialized compartment called the lysosome, but Legionella bacteria somehow block this process. Instead of fusing with the lysosome and disintegrating, the pathogen survives as a whole entity inside the phagocyte. The microbe then multiplies and reproduces inside the larger host cell. When the phagocyte finally dies, it releases a batch of new Legionella microbes ready to infect more phagocytes.
Over the next five years, Starai will look at proteins secreted by Legionella that prevent the host cell’s internal membranes from fusing with the lysosome. The fusion of these membranes is an essential step in the degradation of invading microbes.

We have only begun to reckon with the growing inventory of atmospheric carbon dioxide and its effects on the planet. Up until now, most of that has taken the shape of wondering how to reduce the production of CO2, and the warming that follows. But Franklin researchers in the Bioenergy Systems Research Institute have published new work that may help turn CO2 into useful industrial products. Even fuel: 

researchers at the University of Georgia have found a way to transform the carbon dioxide trapped in the atmosphere into useful industrial products. Their discovery may soon lead to the creation of biofuels made directly from the carbon dioxide in the air that is responsible for trapping the sun's rays and raising global temperatures.

"Basically, what we have done is create a microorganism that does with carbon dioxide exactly what plants do-absorb it and generate something useful," said Michael Adams, member of UGA's Bioenergy Systems Research Institute, Georgia Power professor of biotechnology and Distinguished Research Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

This could be an interesting turning point, to say the least. Especially the re-thinking of our stance on photosynthesis:

During the process of photosynthesis, plants use sunlight to transform water and carbon dioxide into sugars that the plants use for energy, much like humans burn calories from food.