University News

Rice Announces $30M Gift, Plans for 'Greenest' Building Yet

Representatives of Rice University announced a $30 million gift from Anne and Charles Duncan to support its unique residential college system. In addition, the university unveiled plans for its 11th residential college, which will be one of the most environmentally sustainable buildings ever built in Houston. The building will be named in honor of the Duncans in recognition of their long-standing commitment to both Rice and environmental conservation.

Duncan College will be the second major building on campus bearing the Duncans' name. The first, Anne and Charles Duncan Hall, was built in 1996 and is home to the George R. Brown School of Engineering.

Designed with features like motion detectors that shut off lights in unoccupied rooms and retention of storm water runoff for irrigation, Duncan College will be the first at Rice and among the first buildings in Houston to receive gold-level certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards program.

The Duncans have a long-standing interest in preserving the environment. Charles Duncan, who was U.S. Secretary of Energy under President Jimmy Carter, has chaired the Business Coalition for Clean Air. Anne Duncan serves on the board of the Nature Conservancy of Texas.

The five-story, 324-bed Duncan College will be built concurrently with McMurtry College. Both colleges figure prominently in the university's plan to expand its student body by 30 percent, which is one of 10 objectives for Rice's strategic plan for its second century. Rice celebrates its centennial in 2012.

All Rice undergraduates are assigned to a college on day one. Colleges are self-governed communities, each with its own traditions and character. College life is so central to the Rice experience that when alumni meet, the first question they ask is not "What year?" or "What major?" but "What college?"

LEED certification is a nationally accepted standard for the design, construction, and operation of buildings promoting sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, environmentally friendly materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. A gold rating is second only to platinum as the highest level of LEED certification. To date, no building in Houston has achieved the platinum level.

Duncan College will feature environmentally friendly building materials. Rice is making a special effort to use materials, where practical, that are extracted and manufactured in the nearby region.

Among Duncan College's other sustainable features are the following:

• Reduced energy consumption by at least 25 percent and reduced water consumption by at least 30 percent, compared with similar buildings simply built to code
• A green roof with low-maintenance plants that will reduce energy needs for heating and cooling
• Smart controls that shut off air-conditioners when the windows are opened
• Pre-fabricated bathrooms to reduce the generation of on-site construction waste
• A world-class system for modeling and monitoring energy consumption
• A classroom finished with green materials and furnishings for Rice students interested in sustainable living

Duncan College will be built on the northeast campus, near Duncan Hall. It is scheduled to open for student use in the fall of 2009.

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UCLA Researchers Awarded $9 Million Contract for National Study Identifying
Antibiotic Treatment for Resistant Staph Infection

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a UCLA research team a five-year, $9 million contract to fund a multicenter study investigating antibiotic treatments for MRSA, a staph infection seen increasingly in communities across the nation that is resistant to antibiotics most commonly used to treat skin infections.

The study, to be led by co­-principal investigators Dr. David A. Talan and Dr. Gregory J. Moran, both of Olive View–UCLA Medical Center and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, will explore whether various off-patent antibiotics for the treatment of uncomplicated skin and soft tissue infections may be effective in treating MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Off-patent medications are those whose patents have expired, allowing any manufacturer to produce them.

Last year, the research team reported in The New England Journal of Medicine that CA-MRSA had become the most common cause of skin and soft tissue infections among patients presenting to a geographically diverse group of 11 emergency departments across the nation. Researchers tested MRSA resistance to antibiotics in a test tube and found that in 57 percent of cases, doctors had prescribed an antibiotic to which the bacteria were resistant. Finding certain antibiotics ineffective against MRSA in a laboratory setting, however, does not necessarily mean they will fail in patients, who have the help of their immune systems. More research, including the study supported by this NIH contract, will address the impact of MRSA resistance to various off-patent antibiotics.

Researchers note that this NIH contract is unique, since it will fund the investigation of off-patent antibiotics that would not typically be evaluated through pharmaceutical industry–supported research.

Community-associated MRSA most often manifests itself on the skin as a boil or pimple that can be swollen, red and painful and can have discharge. Most MRSA cases are mild, and having the infection drained and keeping it clean generally resolves the problem. But when antibiotics are needed, it is important to prescribe an effective medication.

Olive View–UCLA Medical Center will be the principal study site. Anusha Krishnadasan, Ph.D., at Olive View–UCLA is the project director. Other participating centers and investigators include Dr. Fredrick Abrahamian at Olive View–UCLA, Dr. Richard Rothman at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore, Dr. Frank LoVecchio at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, Dr. Mark Steele at Truman/University of Missouri Medical Center in Kansas City and Dr. David Karras at Temple University Medical Center in Philadelphia.

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Emory Center for AIDS Research Awarded $8 Million from National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the Emory Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) nearly $8.5 million in a five-year grant that includes renewal of Emory's designation as an NIH CFAR site, Emory University researchers announced.

The new award, which totals $8,466,322, marks the third time Emory has successfully competed for and been funded by the NIH. It was first designated an NIH CFAR site in 1998 and funding was renewed in 2002. Emory is one of only 18 NIH CFAR sites in the U.S.

The new grant will help facilitate the continued growth of AIDS research at Emory in five core areas: biostatistics, social and behavioral science, clinical research, immunology and virology/drug discovery.

In the years since the Emory CFAR was first established, total HIV/AIDS research funding at Emory increased nearly three-fold from $23 million in 1996 to $59 million in 2005. The university's AIDS research program now encompasses the full translational pipeline from concept to community in the domains of vaccines, drug discovery and behavioral interventions.

The Emory CFAR includes more than 120 member investigators from Emory, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Morehouse School of Medicine who collaborate in the areas of clinical, prevention, vaccine and basic science HIV research. Of the approximately 10,000 patients receiving healthcare for HIV/AIDS in Atlanta, Emory CFAR clinicians and physicians provide care to nearly 7,000 of them.

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Civic Knowledge Project Receives $1 Million Anonymous Gift

The University of Chicago's Civic Knowledge Project, a four-year old arts and humanities program to enhance the university's connections with its surrounding communities, got a huge boost last month when an anonymous donor gave the program $1 million.

One of the largest single contributions to the university's Division of the Humanities, the $1 million gift will create an endowment for the CKP at a crucial time, said Bart Schultz, Director of the Civic Knowledge Project and Senior Lecturer in the Humanities.

Created by former Humanities Dean Danielle Allen, the effort to enhance the University's relationship with its surrounding neighborhoods through arts and humanities programming has grown tremendously over the past year, adding new programs and expanding student and faculty participation.

By creating an endowment, the gift will provide support for the CKP's core staff structure. This is tremendously helpful, said Schultz, because it not only ensures that staff costs will be taken care of, it also gives the CKP a chance to shift its fund-raising efforts to its programs. And this, said Schultz, is a much easier task than raising money for infrastructure costs.

During its first years, the Civic Knowledge Project has grown with generous support from the Chicago Community Trust, the Spencer Foundation and private donations.

But over the past year, Schultz, who became the project's director last fall, said, the CKP's growth has accelerated. Located in the basement of Walker Museum, the project has added two part-time staff members and five student interns. Last winter, Joanie Friedman joined the CKP to coordinate its rapidly growing Southside Arts and Humanities Network. The network, which provides support and resources for South Side arts and humanities organizations, now has more than 200 members.

More recently, the CKP added Erika Dudley, an expert in community development and adult literacy education, to coordinate the Odyssey Project, a one-year course in the humanities for adults living at or below the poverty level. In addition to coordinating that program, Dudley will function as Parent-Education Coordinator at the Donoghue campus of the University of Chicago's Charter School, 707 E. 37th St.

The CKP also has added student coordinators. Hannah Jacoby, fourth-year in the College, now directs Winning Words: Orate, Debate, and Enact/Verbal Arts for Democratic Practice, the CKP's year-long after-school program for high school and middle school students; while fourth-year Clare Johnson now coordinates the CKP's Institutional Policy/Know Your Neighborhood program. Additionally, Ben White, a graduate student in Anthropology, Nalika Vasudevan, second-year in the College, and Naima Booker, a fourth-year in the College, are working as interns for CKP.

During the coming year, Schultz said, the CKP is planning to add a variety of new programs with a focus on fostering connections between Chicago students and faculty and the neighboring community.

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Cambridge Scientists Receive Grant to Fight Breast Cancer

Two Cambridge scientists, Dr. Christine Watson at the Department of Pathology and Dr. Ruth Warren at the Department of Radiology, have received grants totaling almost £225,000 (US$448,000) from Breast Cancer Campaign.

One of the scientists, Dr. Christine Watson, has been granted a PhD studentship worth over £95,000 (US$189,000), her second award from the Charity.

Dr Watson will study a group of molecules called ‘executioner caspases'. Their job is to kill damaged cells which could become cancerous. She will investigate the role of each of the executioner caspases in breast cells and whether losing any of them makes breast cancer more likely to develop.

Dr Watson said "It may be possible to develop new breast cancer treatments mimicking the action of caspases that will cause the breast cancer cells to die whilst leaving the healthy cells intact."

Pamela Goldberg, Chief Executive Breast Cancer Campaign said "Thanks to real progress in breast cancer research during this time we have seen significant improvements in diagnosis, treatment and survival. Breast cancer research is saving lives and our mission is to beat breast cancer by funding world class research projects such as Dr Watson's to keep up the momentum of bringing us closer to a cure."

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and accounts for nearly one in three of all cancers in women. In the UK, almost 44,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women each year - 120 a day.

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NIH MERIT Award Advances Fetal Alcohol Research

Susan Smith, a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has received a prestigious MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health, which provides research funding for up to 10 years. Smith is an expert on fetal alcohol exposure, the leading known cause of mental retardation in the world.

MERIT awards, short for Method to Extend Research in Time, are among the most selective research grants given by the NIH. Less than 5 percent of NIH-funded investigators are selected for the awards, which recognize researchers who have demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity in research endeavors of special importance or promise, according to the NIH.

The grant will support Smith's ongoing research into how alcohol damages developing fetuses. In the lab, Smith focuses on a small sub-population of fetal cells called neural crest cells that contribute to the formation of parts of the nervous system, face and heart. These cells are damaged and sometimes killed by alcohol, and children with fetal alcohol exposure can suffer damage to those organs, including visible facial malformations. Studying the effect of alcohol on chicken embryos, Smith was able to show that alcohol somehow directs the neural crest cells to end their own lives.

Now Smith seeks to understand how alcohol causes this fatal release of calcium. Specifically, she is looking for the protein on the surface of the neural crest cells where alcohol attaches. This binding ultimately leads - via a series of cellular signals - to the calcium release.

In the long run, Smith hopes this kind of basic research will yield treatments that can ameliorate the damage caused by fetal alcohol exposure.

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Oxford's New Director of Research Services Announced

Glenn Swafford, Vice-Principal (Research) of the University of Melbourne, Australia, has been appointed as Oxford University's new Director of Research Services. He will take up his new role in September.

Dr Swafford graduated from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and studied for his Doctorate at Flinders University of South Australia before obtaining a Masters in Policy and Law from La Trobe University, Australia. He has held a series of high-profile roles at universities including lecturer and Sub Dean at the University of New England; Executive Assistant to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Queensland University of Technology; and Head of the Research and Innovation Office at the University of Melbourne. He was made Vice-Principal (Research) at Melbourne in 2006. He also served as Director of the Public Accounts Committee, New South Wales Parliament.

Research Services supports the University of Oxford's researchers and works in partnership with academic departments to provide a range of professional services. These include reviewing and helping with the completion of applications for research funding, negotiating research-related contracts and agreements, advising about the costing and pricing of research, providing advice on how to find funding, advising about IP issues, supporting the planning and conduct of clinical research and contributing to the development of research-related policies.

Oxford has the highest research income of any UK university. Last year, it received £213 million (US$465 million) in external research grants and contracts – up 16 per cent on the previous year.

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Acclaimed Stem Cell Scientist Joins Gladstone Institutes

Acclaimed Japanese stem cell scientist Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, has joined the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD), where he will continue his research into reprogramming adult cells into embryonic stem cells.

Yamanaka is the L.K. Whittier Foundation Investigator in Stem Cell Biology at the GICD. He will also be a professor of anatomy at University of California – San Francisco.

In August 2006, Yamanaka was the first scientist to report, in the journal Cell, on a new method for "reprogramming" skin cells from mice into embryonic-like cells that can differentiate into other types of cells.

This month, two separate teams of scientists affiliated with UCLA and MIT published papers confirming the approach. Yamanaka also published a new study in Nature improving on his original research demonstrating that the reprogrammed cells generated from the adult-termed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) had all the properties of embryonic stem cells, including the ability to generate a mouse entirely derived from the reprogrammed adult cells.

The Gladstone Institutes and Yamanaka have had a long relationship. In 1995, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Thomas L. Innerarity, who was an investigator in GICD.

Yamanaka received his MD from Kobe University and his PhD from the Osaka City University Graduate School. He completed a residency in orthopedic surgery at the National Osaka Hospital. After his fellowship at Gladstone, he joined the faculty of Osaka City University Medical School and then moved to the Nara Institute of Science and Technology and finally to the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto University

The J. David Gladstone Institutes, an independent, nonprofit biomedical research organization affiliated with UCSF. It is dedicated to the health and welfare of humankind through research into the causes and prevention of some of the world's most devastating diseases. Gladstone is comprised of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology and the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease.

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Princeton's Debenedetti Earns Award for Research on Liquids

Princeton University Chemical Engineering Professor Pablo Debenedetti has been named the 2008 recipient of the Joel Henry Hildebrand Award in the Theoretical and Experimental Chemistry of Liquids.

The American Chemical Society has given the award annually since 1981 to recognize "distinguished contributions to the understanding of the chemistry and physics of liquids."

Debenedetti, the Class of 1950 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science, has been a leader in understanding the properties of metastable liquids and glasses, particularly water. In addition to providing fundamental insights into the liquid state of matter, his research has applications ranging from improved pharmaceutical formulations to the design of self-cleaning surfaces. He was cited specifically for "seminal contributions to the understanding of metastable states of fluids and the nature of the glassy state, the phenomenon of polyamorphism, and the nucleation of stable phases, by statistical mechanical theory."

He will receive the award April 8 at a ceremony during the American Chemical Society national meeting in New Orleans. The meeting also will include an awards symposium in honor of the 2008 physical chemistry award winners.