Tags: research

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Kudos, August 2021

Awards, grants, exhibitions and fellowships lead our shout-outs to colleagues across the college to begin the academic year. Congratulations all – a few of the highlights: Seven UGA doctoral students – four from the Franklin College – selected as ARCS Scholars – Albany Herald Jody Clay-Warner, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor in the department of sociology, part of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and associate…

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Ye receives NIH award to pursue precision medicine

University of Georgia researcher Kaixiong Ye has received a Maximizing Investigators Research Award from the National Institutes of Health. The nearly $2 million, five-year award will support efforts to characterize gene-environment interactions, or genetic effects modified by environment, underlying complex traits in humans. The MIRA is a grant to provide support for a program of research in an early-stage investigator’s laboratory that…

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Noted and Quoted, Summer 2021

While the summer may have been quiet for some, Franklin faculty members were busy writing and offering a wide variety of expertise in media around the world. A sampling of recent stories: It just rained at Greenland’s highest summit for the first time — and you can guess why? Thomas Mote, Distinguished Research Professor and Associate Dean, quoted by Green Matters, New York Times Potential Hurricane Henri and the remnants of Fred…

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PhD students named 2021 ARCS Scholars

Seven UGA doctoral students have been named 2021 ARCS Scholars by the Office of Research. Amanda Caulfield, Kendall Clay, Christian Freeman, Morgane Golan, Megan Meany, Judith Reyes Ballista and Aarya Venkat will receive $8,000 each for the next three years to support their dissertation research. Four of the seven hail from departments or research areas within the Franklin College: [Aarya] Venkat, a biochemistry Ph.D. student, is…

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Cobb named 2021 Georgia CTSA KL2 Scholar

Ryon Cobb, an assistant professor in Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ sociology department, is the first Franklin College faculty member named a Georgia Clinical & Translational Science Alliance KL2 scholar. The Georgia CTSA KL2-Mentored Clinical and Translational Research Scholars program is designed to support and enhance career development for junior faculty from a wide variety of disciplines at Emory University, Morehouse…

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Cassera named summer 2021 Innovation Fellow

Associate professor Belen Cassera is one step closer to introducing her research to the marketplace. Having spent the summer as UGA’s newest Innovation Fellow, Cassera has learned a lot about how to bring parasitic disease therapeutics arising from her research to market. “In fall 2019, I was among the 18 chosen women from UGA who participated in the inaugural Innovation Bootcamp, where we learned about the Innovation Fellow…

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Genetics research paves way for better corn plants

The newly assembled genomes of 26 different genetic lines of corn illustrate the crop’s rich genetic diversity and lay the groundwork for a better understanding of what genetic mechanisms account for crop traits prized by farmers. The mapping of the 26 genomes, published recently in the journal Science, was a team effort co-led by University of Georgia’s Kelly Dawe that will help scientists piece together the puzzle of corn genetics.…

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Archaeology Lab preserves relics of Georgia’s past

The UGA Laboratory of Archeology might be a hidden gem, but the facility holds a wealth of history and culture in its vast artifact repository, providing an ongoing connection to the past for scholars around the world – and a pathway to deeper connections to Georgia's past than most of us might have ever considered. Our colleagues in the Office of Research provides the details that go into curating a living warehouse of…

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Adapting Roots to a hotter planet could ease pressure on food supply

The shoots of plants get all of the glory, with their fruit and flowers and visible structure. But it's the portion that lies below the soil — the branching, reaching arms of roots and hairs pulling up water and nutrients — that interests plant physiologist and computer scientist, Alexander Bucksch, associate professor of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia. The health and growth of the root system has deep implications for our…

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Georgia Climate Project receives $300K Anderson Foundation grant

The Ray C. Anderson Foundation has awarded a $300,000 grant to Emory University and its partners for the next phase of the Georgia Climate Project, a state-wide consortium of nine colleges and universities working to strengthen Georgia’s ability to prepare for and respond to a changing climate.   The Georgia Climate Project was founded in 2018 as a collaborative effort among Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the…

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Visualizing brain activity, understanding humor as emotion

Whether it’s sarcasm, a punchline or a comical accident, humor is ubiquitous around the world. No matter the culture or language, humor involves substantial high-level mental processing. A new meta-analysis by University of Georgia psychology researchers shows humor also exhibits a surprising amount of brain activity associated with emotional processes – findings that suggest humor provides its own kind of reward. While a great…

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UGA's Art Edison leads $40M grant for NMR network

Researchers all over the world will have access to the University of Georgia’s expertise in nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, thanks to a new infrastructure funded by a $40 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The Network for Advanced Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, or NAN, will allow researchers to access ultra-high field nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers to study the structure, dynamics and interactions of biological…

graphic of three colored reference frames are associated to three different observers in relative motion along the x axis.
The structure of spacetime: Simultaneity

A new UGA research study on structural aspects of relativistic spacetime reveals the basic structure of spacetime in rotating frames, which had not been previously settled. This work clarifies for the first time the actual fabric of spacetime in rotating frames – describing the exact combination of relativistic effects and simultaneity. The research team – Edward Kipreos, professor of cellular biology, and Riju S. Balachandran (Ph.D. '18) – used…

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Researcher receives $3M NIH award to continue exploring bacterial immune systems

Michael Terns of the University of Georgia is the recipient of a $3 million Maximizing Investigator Research Award, or MIRA, from the National Institutes of Health to further research on CRISPR—bacterial immune systems harnessed as powerful human gene-editing tools—and to begin studying Anti-CRISPR, or ACR, proteins used by viruses to evade the CRISPR immune systems. “We’re studying a global viral pandemic. Rather than a virus against…

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Hargrett Hours: Exploring Medieval Manuscripts

Our colleagues with the UGA Libraries share one of the many humanities research experiences made possible through the extraordinary resources on campus: On display through Aug. 26 at the Special Collections Libraries, “The Hargrett Hours: Exploring Medieval Manuscripts” presents insights gained by UGA students while investigating medieval manuscripts in the collections of the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library. A Book of Hours is a…

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UGA undergrad brings science vividly to life

Daniel Sina Rouhani is just finishing up his second year as a UGA undergrad, but this genetics and biochemistry double major has already put together a portfolio that would be the envy of many college graduates. Rouhani is the founder of the 3D design studio ExonScientific, which develops new techniques in digital graphic design to “push the boundaries of scientific communication.” He’s put his talents to use in projects with both UGA…

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UGA professor awarded Harvard fellowship

Chana Kai Lee, associate professor in the department of history, has been awarded a 2021-22 Warren Center Faculty Fellowship at Harvard University. The Charles Warren Center, Harvard’s research center for United States history, invited applications for a workshop on Slavery and the Universities. The workshop will bring together scholars to systematically reflect on how such research can be elevated by considering how it contributes to…

graphic map of Gulf of Mexico
Noted and Quoted, April 2021

From reporting on new research findings from across the college to weighing in on events of the moment, Franklin faculty expertise appeared in a wide variety of international media during April. A sample: The Great Depression led to many of the hobbies we enjoy now. The pandemic created a whole host of new ones – Stephen Mihm, associate professor of history, quoted by CNN Landmark study shows what makes a relationship successful…

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Sensors eliminate sparking risk in hydrogen vehicles

Hydrogen as a clean, renewable alternative to fossil fuels is part of a sustainable-energy future, and very much already here. However, lingering concerns about flammability have limited widespread use of hydrogen as a power source for electric vehicles. Previous advances have minimized the risk, but new research from the University of Georgia now puts that risk in the rearview mirror. Hydrogen vehicles can refuel much more quickly and go…

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Three faculty members elected to National Academy of Sciences

Three distinguished faculty members at the University of Georgia have received one of the highest honors a scientist can earn, election to the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership and — with the National Academy of…

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Marshall Shepherd elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

UGA's J. Marshall Shepherd has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an honorary society that recognizes and celebrates the excellence of its members and is also an independent research center that convenes leaders from across disciplines, professions and perspectives to address significant challenges. This highly prestigious national honor comes in the same year that Shepherd, the Georgia Athletic Association…

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Focus Group Updates

The first two position evaluation process focus groups were held via zoom the week of April 5. Our colleagues on the project team report positive conversation, feedback, and perspectives from participants. There has been some reluctance, but overall response thus far has been positive. The need for more details about the process outcome was both broadly shared and will guide the results of these discussions. Other comments…

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Under the skin: How social and environmental factors affect health

Man Kit “Karlo” Lei came from humble beginnings in Macau, China. His mother was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease and died five years later when Lei was a teenager. It was a difficult time, but fortunately, he had good support through school and from friends. He thrived despite the challenges, earning degrees in law and sociology at National Taiwan University and then the University of Georgia. Lei’s studies led him to a question: Why do…

photo of man walking next to small river, with plants
New UGA center to combat global human trafficking

Each year, an estimated 800,000 people are trafficked globally, though the true number may be higher. In a quest to arm officials and stakeholders around the globe with more accurate and trusted data to better understand and address this global problem, the University of Georgia has established a new interdisciplinary center to combat human trafficking through research, programming and policy development: The Center on Human Trafficking Research…

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Noted and Quoted, March 2021

COVID, Post-COVID, Fish oil and work/life balance were a few of the many recent subjects of media interest informed by Franklin College faculty expertise. A sample from the past the month: After years of early storms, forecasters consider moving start of hurricane season to May 15 – Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences, quoted by the Sun Sentinel Why is…
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