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Newsletter from the Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Education - U. T. Dallas

University News

National Cancer Institute and National Science Foundation Launch Collaboration; Training Grants Awarded for Nanobiotechnology

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced a collaboration that will establish integrative training environments for U.S. science and engineering doctoral students to focus on interdisciplinary nanoscience and technology research with applications to cancer. Through this partnership, US$12.8 million in grants are being awarded to four institutions over the next five years.

Nanotechnology, the development and engineering of devices so small that they are measured on a molecular scale, has significant potential in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. The application of nanotechnology to cancer requires cross-disciplinary training in biological and physical sciences, and at present there are not enough individuals with such training. The NCI’s Cancer Nanotechnology Plan, and the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer identified the need for such a cross-trained scientific workforce as essential to 21st century research and development.

The awards are granted through NSF’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT). The IGERT program is intended to facilitate greater diversity in student participation and preparation and contribute to the development of a diverse, globally-engaged science and engineering workforce.

All of the four selected projects, each of which will support approximately 30 students, are linked to regional cancer centers and the biomedical research community:

Along with other NCI training grants being awarded this month, the NCI-NSF awards address the full spectrum of training and education needs at graduate school, postdoctoral, and mid-career levels highlighted as priorities in the NCI’s Cancer Nanotechnology Plan. The award program will be jointly overseen by NSF and by NCI through the Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer.

The US$144.3 million five-year NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer is a comprehensive, integrated initiative encompassing researchers, clinicians, and public and private organizations that have joined forces to develop and translate cancer-related nanotechnology research into clinical practice. The Alliance was launched in September 2004.

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NSF Awards $11.16 Million to Caltech's Center for the Science and Engineering of Materials

The National Science Foundation today awarded US$11.16 million to the Center for the Science and Engineering of Materials (CSEM) at the California Institute of Technology. The renewal funding will allow the center to continue its work in exotic and futuristic materials applications, such as macromolecular materials, ferroelectric photonics, novel composites of glass and metals, spintronic devices, and fuel cells.

According to Harry Atwater, director of the center and an engineering professor at Caltech, the new funding will allow 18 Caltech faculty members and numerous graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to pursue novel research programs that appear to be especially promising.

According to Atwater, the center will focus on three major interdisciplinary areas of materials research, and will also devote resources to two "seed" projects, albeit on a smaller scale. The major interdisciplinary areas are the following:

-Macromolecular materials. One of the principal goals is to produce tailored responses to cell adhesion so that artificial implants and transplants will work better. A longstanding problem with tissue transplants is rejection by the patient's own immune system, and evidence shows that novel ways of attending to the microscopic details of cellular response could trick the immune system into thinking that the foreign body "looks" like the rest of the body at the microscopic level. Led by David Tirrell, chair of Caltech's Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, the effort in cell adhesion also demonstrates the highly interdisciplinary nature of the center, because chemists, chemical engineers, biologists, engineers, and others will all be involved in the work.

-A new research emphasis for the center will be ferroelectric photonic materials. This research involves the changing of optical properties of materials used to modulate light from lasers. Normally, the optical properties of a material, such as the refractive index, cannot be tuned after fabrication-which explains why eyeglass wearers must each have their own individual prescriptions. But there are situations in which engineers would like to tune the transparency or frequency response of optical devices after fabrication by simply applying a voltage-and ferroelectric materials let you do just that. This ability to harness and tune optical properties after fabrication will open up such applications as tunable microdevices for "photonic integrated circuits" that would lead to much greater compactness, lower power demands, and lower costs. This area of the center is led by Kaushik Bhattacharya, professor of mechanics and materials science.

-The third area, bulk materials and composites, is carried over from the center's beginnings in 2000. Led by Bill Johnson, the Mettler Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, the effort will focus on the fabrication processes that could combine liquid and glassy metals (i.e., materials with no crystalline structure) with nanoscale crystals to exploit the unique mechanical attributes of each. The researchers think they may succeed in creating a tough and ductile structural metal which has two to three times the strength of steel or titanium. If cost-effective, such a material could conceivably replace steel in many types of structures.

The center will also provide funding for the following two seed projects, which are of limited duration and smaller scope:

-Research on spintronic materials will be led by Caltech physics professor Nai-Chang Yeh. A promising new research avenue in the physics of composite materials, spintronics seeks to exploit the quantum spin characteristics of electrons to operate electronic devices, rather than the moving of current through wires.

-New materials for the storage and conversions of methanol will be the focus of a group led by Associate Professor of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering Sossina Haile. The goal is to identify materials that are good at the conversion of hydrogen and carbon dioxide to methanol, and conversely, the materials that can best convert methanol to hydrogen for use as a fuel in fuel cells.

According to Atwater, the center will continue to be highly interdisciplinary, not only because researchers from four Caltech divisions will work on the projects, but also because the very nature of the projects draws upon expertise in several branches of science and engineering.

The center will also continue its ongoing efforts in education and public outreach. Current projects include a television series that will be titled Material World, and a materials partnership with Cal State Los Angeles. The latter program has been especially noteworthy in its ongoing efforts to foster materials research and curriculum on the CSULA campus.

The center will continue to build its already extensive network of research collaborations in the private sector with various companies, government laboratories, and other research institutions.

Atwater is the Hughes Professor and professor of applied physics and materials science.

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UW Jewish Studies Gets $10 Million gift From Althea Stroum

The Jewish Studies Program in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington(UW) has received a commitment for a US$10 million gift from prominent Seattle philanthropist, Althea Stroum. The gift will come from Althea and her late husband Sam Stroum, who died in 2001. Both have served for more than 60 years on numerous community and national boards to benefit the Jewish and larger communities. "They always planned to dedicate their estate to charitable causes, just as they've dedicated their lives," said Althea's daughter, Marsha.

Of the gift total, $2 million will fund the continuation of the existing Stroum lecture series and publication of the Stroum book series by the UW Press. Three million dollars will create new endowed chairs in the Jewish Studies Program, and $5 million will support scholarships and fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as strategic program objectives.

Besides the Samuel and Althea Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies established by the Stroums in 1987, daughter and son-in-law Marsha and Jay Glazer have recently pledged a chair in Althea's honor. In addition, the Stroum name appears frequently across the UW campus in places such as the Henry Art Gallery, athletics, medicine, business, and the Evans School of Public Affairs.

This latest commitment from Althea Stroum will rename the program The Samuel and Althea Stroum Jewish Studies Program at the University of Washington.

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$7.5M NSF Grant Establishes a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center

The National Science Foundation has awarded a six-year, US$7.5-million grant to establish a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Yale University and Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), with participation by Brookhaven National Laboratory of Upton, New York.

The MRSEC research program will be highly interdisciplinary, bringing together members of the departments of Applied Physics, Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. In addition to advances in science and technology, the Center will bring new educational opportunities for students at all levels and for the general public.

The initial scientific focus of the Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena (CRISP) is the surfaces of oxide materials and the “interface” where an oxide material joins together with another material. Oxides are the most commonly occurring materials on Earth; some common examples include sand (silicon oxide) and rust (iron oxide). More exotic oxides that will be studied by CRISP include high temperature superconductors and ferromagnets.

Atoms in the layers at the edge of an oxide material can behave very differently from those within the interior of the material. CRISP investigators will study this region with microscopy that can distinguish differences at the atomic level. They will apply a novel electric field technique to alter properties at the interface and then explore possible applications, including new electronic devices and chemical sensors.

Educational goals of the Center include: providing state-of-the-art research experiences for graduate students, undergraduates and New Haven area high-school teachers; increasing the numbers of women and underrepresented minorities in science; reaching out to New Haven area elementary, middle and high school students through laboratory visits, lectures and demonstrations at Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History; and increasing science literacy in future political and business leaders and members of the community at large.

This program is one of only two new MRSECs that will be launched by the National Science Foundation this year. SCSU will receive $1,484,000, about 20% of the $7.5 million grant, with the remaining funds going to Yale. The Center will develop state-of-the-art experimental facilities that will be made available to other researchers at SCSU and Yale, as well as outside users, and will establish working relationships with several industrial laboratories.

The faculty participants in CRISP are:

Additional members: At Yale: Eric I. Altman, Professor of Chemical Engineering; Sohrab Ismail-Beigi, Assistant Professor of Applied Physics and Physics; Tso-Ping Ma, Raymond J. Wean Professor and Chairman of Electrical Engineering, Professor of Applied Physics; Udo Schwartz, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering; and at Brookhaven National Laboratory: Yimei Zhu, Senior Scientist and Head, Electron Microscopy Facility.

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Emory's Symptoms Center Receives $1 Million Renewal from NIH

The Center for Research on Symptoms, Symptom Interactions and Health Outcomes ( Symptoms Center) at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing received close to US$1 million in renewed funding over the next three years from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute for Nursing Research (NINR). It is one of only nine NINR-funded exploratory research centers in the country. The Symptoms Center is led by the center's director Kathy P. Parker, PhD, RN, FAAN, Edith F. Honeycutt Endowed Chair in Nursing and Sandra B. Dunbar, DSN, RN, FAAN, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Cardiovascular Nursing, the center's co-director.

Research at the Symptoms Center is based on the Symptom Interactional Framework, which was recently published in the September issue of the "Journal of Nursing Scholarship."

Instead of studying the frequency and severity of a single symptom in a specific illness, center researchers examine how symptoms relate and interact in multiple types of illnesses and patients. The framework's goals are to help researchers better understand the mechanisms underlying symptoms and how they interact, and to translate those findings into more effective interventions that improve health outcomes.

According to the framework, patients' symptoms occur within the context of their environment and developmental status. Symptoms are caused by factors that lie in four primary categories (etiologic domains) -- physiological, psychological, behavioral, and sociocultural. Because of this, a major focus of the Center is facilitating interdisciplinary research.

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Oxford University and GE Healthcare Announce Cancer Research Collaboration

The University of Oxford and GE Healthcare, a division of the General Electric Company, have joined forces to study the pathology of colorectal cancer, with the aim of achieving earlier diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

The two-year collaboration is the first ever to focus on developing a comprehensive disease management program which will focus on improved staging of the disease using both imaging and genomic pathology, targeted therapy selection and efficacy assessment, and overall-treatment monitoring. A major goal will be to create a coherent picture of a patient’s disease and determine the most treatment.

The study could act as a model for changing and improving the way a variety of cancers and other diseases are treated. GE Healthcare will contribute expertise in genomic and information technologies. Oxford University will provide clinical data and medical and research expertise.

The project aims to shift the colorectal cancer model from late disease – discovering diseases late when intervention is costly and less effective - to early health – predicting disease based on genetic analysis and selecting treatment customized to the individual. GE Healthcare and Oxford will study technology to aid in four major stages of disease identification and treatment - prediction, screening, diagnosis and treatment.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the Western world, where the annual incidence in Western Europe and America is 370,000; however, with regular screenings and early action, colorectal cancer is 90 percent curable, according to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Once colorectal cancer has been diagnosed, the correct treatment needs to be selected. Currently, 60 percent of colorectal cancer patients receive chemotherapy to treat their disease; however, this form of treatment only benefits a few percent of the population, while carrying with it high risks of toxicity, thus demonstrating a need to better define the patient selection criteria, also according to the NIH.

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Major Upgrades Nearly Complete at Nanotechnology Research Facility

Year-long renovations to the Nanotechnology Research & Teaching Facility at the University of Texas at Arlington have resulted in the addition of four major pieces of equipment that will greatly increase research capabilities. The equipment purchases are valued at more than US$3.5 million and facility modifications are valued at more than US$1 million. Three additional pieces of equipment have been purchased and will be installed during the 2005-06 academic year.

The major acquisitions ready for use include:

Physical improvements included the addition of two wet chemical labs, two optoelectronics labs, a nano-giga electronic lab, a cryoelectronics lab, a nano-device lab and individual labs to accommodate the SEM, STM and E-Beam writer.

The equipment to be added includes two Deep Reactive Ion Etchers one for silicon compounds and one for III-V compounds such as Gallium Arsenide) and a Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition system with high-temperature capability.

Electrical Engineering Professor Zeynep Celik-Butler, director of the Nanotechnology Facility, believes these improvements will not only aid faculty and students at UTA but also encourage commercial researchers to use the facility.

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UT System Associate Vice Chancellor for Research is Appointed

Arjuna Sanga has been named to the newly created position of associate vice chancellor for research at The University of Texas System. In his new position, Sanga will provide innovative and strategic leadership, coordination and facilitation of major technology transfer initiatives and policy. His duties will include developing and implementing strategies to expand and enhance research funding to the UT System’s 15 institutions. The appointment is effective October 3.

UT System institutions conduct the majority of university research activities in the state. In fiscal year 2003, the UT System had $1.45 billion in total research expenditures, one-third of which was academic in nature and two-thirds of which was health related. Of this amount, $887.8 million came from federal sources, $214.9 million from State of Texas resources, and $347.6 million from the private sector. According to the National Science Foundation, Texas ranked third among states receiving federal research and development grants in 2002 – behind California and New York, respectively.

Sanga is currently corporate counsel for the University of Kansas Center for Research (KUCR). While there, he has provided advice for the full range of university research issues, working on personnel, technology transfers and intellectual property compliance. At KUCR, he has also worked with researchers, faculty and administrators on a wide variety of legal issues.

Sanga received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with an emphasis in chemistry and computer science from the University of Washington and a doctorate of law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. He is a registered patent attorney who has worked at KUCR on intellectual property and technology transfer challenges facing researchers and universities, including research contracts and license agreements.

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Urie Bronfenbrenner, Father of Head Start Program and Pre-eminent 'Human Ecologist,' Dies at 88

Urie Bronfenbrenner, a co-founder of the national Head Start program and widely regarded as one of the world's leading scholars in developmental psychology, child-rearing and human ecology -- the interdisciplinary domain he created -- died at his home in Ithaca, N.Y., Sept. 25 due to complications from diabetes. He was 88.

At his death, Bronfenbrenner was the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Human Development and of Psychology at Cornell University, where he spent most of his professional career. A memorial service organized by his family is planned for Saturday, Oct. 8, at 3 p.m. at Kendal of Ithaca. A service for the Cornell community will be announced at a later time.

Bronfenbrenner's ideas and his ability to translate them into operational research models and effective social policies spurred the creation in 1965 of Head Start, the federal child development program for low-income children and their families. In 1979 Bronfenbrenner further developed his thinking into the groundbreaking theory on the ecology of human development. That theoretical model transformed the way many social and behavioral scientists approached the study of human beings and their environments. It led to new directions in basic research and to applications in the design of programs and policies affecting the well-being of children and families both in the United States and abroad.

His research also furthered the goals of Cornell's Life Course Institute, which was renamed the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Institute in 1993 and is currently directed by Daniel Lichter.

He spent many of his later years warning that the process that makes human beings human is breaking down as disruptive trends in American society produce ever more chaos in the lives of America's children. "The hectic pace of modern life poses a threat to our children second only to poverty and unemployment," he said. "We are depriving millions of children -- and thereby our country -- of their birthright … virtues, such as honesty, responsibility, integrity and compassion."

The gravity of the crisis, he warned, threatens the competence and character of the next generation of adults -- those destined to be the first leaders of the 21st century. "The signs of this breakdown are all around us in the ever growing rates of alienation, apathy, rebellion, delinquency and violence among American youth," he said. Yet, Bronfenbrenner added: "It is still possible to avoid that fate. We now know what it takes to enable families to work the magic that only they can perform. The question is, are we willing to make the sacrifices and the investment necessary to enable them to do so?"

Bronfenbrenner also was well-known for his cross-cultural studies on families and their support systems and on human development and the status of children. He was the author, co-author or editor of more than 300 articles and chapters and 14 books, most notably "Two Worlds of Childhood: U.S. and U.S.S.R.," "The State of Americans," "The Ecology of Human Development" and "Making Human Beings Human." His writings were widely translated, and his students and colleagues number among today's most internationally influential developmental psychologists.

Researchers say that before Bronfenbrenner, child psychologists studied the child, sociologists examined the family, anthropologists the society, economists the economic framework of the times and political scientists the structure. As the result of Bronfenbrenner's groundbreaking concept of the ecology of human development, these environments -- from the family to economic and political structures -- were viewed as part of the life course, embracing both childhood and adulthood.

Bronfenbrenner's "bioecological" approach to human development shattered barriers among the social sciences and forged bridges among the disciplines that have allowed findings to emerge about which key elements in the larger social structure and across societies are vital for developing the potential of human nature. The theory has helped tease out what is needed for the understanding of what makes human beings human.

From the very beginning of his scholarly work, Bronfenbrenner pursued three mutually reinforcing themes: developing theory and corresponding research designs at the frontiers of developmental science; laying out the implications and applications of developmental theory and research for policy and practice; and communicating -- through articles, lectures and discussions -- the findings of developmental research to undergraduate students, the general public and to decision-makers, both in the private and public sectors.

His widely published contributions won him honors and awards both at home and abroad. He held many honorary doctoral degrees, several of them from leading European universities. His most recent American award (1996), now given annually in his name, is for "Lifetime Contribution to Developmental Psychology in the Service of Science and Society" from the American Psychological Association, known as "The Bronfenbrenner Award."

Born in Moscow in 1917, Bronfenbrenner came to the United States at the age of 6. After graduating from high school in Haverstraw, N.Y., he received a bachelor's degree from Cornell in 1938, completing a double major in psychology and music. He went on to graduate work in developmental psychology, completing an M.A. degree at Harvard University followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1942. The day after receiving his doctorate he was inducted into the Army, where he served as a psychologist in a variety of assignments in the Air Corps and the Office of Strategic Services. After completing officer training, he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. Following demobilization and a two-year stint as an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, he joined the Cornell faculty in 1948, where he remained for the rest of his professional life.

In addition to his wife, Liese, he is survived by six children, including Kate, who is the director of labor education research at Cornell, and 13 grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

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