Research Update Newsletter
From The University of Chicago Office of the Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories
August 2, 2006
This Month in Research Update:
- Competition Update
- UChicago Argonne, LLC wins contract to manage Argonne
- Office of the Vice President for Research & Argonne National Laboratory (OVPRANL) News
- 2005 Collaborative Seed Grant Award Beneficiaries Report Progress
- Events
- National Counterproliferation Center Visits Joint University/Argonne Centers
- Purdue Explores Collaborative Opportunities with University, Argonne
- University August Highlights
- Research in the News
- People unconsciously use "verbal gestures" when they speak
- Brain-computer link lets paralyzed patients convert thoughts into actions
- Professorships at University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration to advance research on mental health and major urban problems
Competition Update
UChicago Argonne, LLC wins contract to manage Argonne
The Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Monday, July 31 that a new team assembled by the University of Chicago has been selected to manage Argonne National Laboratory. It is the quality and dedication of you, the Argonne scientists and engineers, operations experts and support personnel, that make this Laboratory the pride of the nation. We at the University look forward to ever deeper connections and expanding opportunities with Argonne in the decades to come.
UChicago Argonne, LLC, with the University of Chicago as its sole member, has established partnerships with Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. and BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) to bring best commercial practices to the Laboratory. Academic partners Northwestern University and the University of Illinois will be involved in through membership on the Argonne National Laboratory Board of Governors and the Science Policy Council. This new team is committed to delivering world-class research safely and efficiently. Full story.
OVPRANL News
2005 Collaborative Seed Grant Award Beneficiaries Report Progress
Over the past eight months since the University’s Board of Governors for Argonne National Laboratory selected seven proposals for 2005 Collaborative Seed Grant Awards of $80,000 - $100,000 each, tremendous progress has been reported by University and Argonne researchers working jointly on each project. The projects represent a variety of disciplines ranging from anthropology, chemistry and physics, to cosmo-chemistry and models of disease and development.
Award recipients come from three divisions of the University and its medical school and six divisions at Argonne.
“The seed grant has provided a fantastic opportunity to explore a new research direction: functional morphology of fruit flies,” said award recipient Melina Hale, Assistant Professor in Organismal Biology & Anatomy at the University, who collaborates with and Wah-Keat Lee, Advanced Photon Source at Argonne, on ‘Use of the Advanced Photon Source to identify physiological and functional anomalies in Drosophila models of disease and development.’ “The experience has been great. We now have a research group that combines the expertise of University and Argonne faculty and staff and are all learning a lot from each other," said Hale.
Hale and Lee have completed baseline studies of normal fruit fly breathing and feeding and are now working on mutants. They are finding some interesting differences from the normal animals. “The mutant work is particularly exciting,” says Hale “because many Drosophila genes have homologs in vertebrates, including humans, and so understanding their roles in Drosophila may provide insight into the function, and effects of dysfunction, in other taxa.”
The Collaborative Seed Grant Award program was established by the University of Chicago Office of the Vice President for Research and for Argonne to enhance the intellectual relationship between the University and Argonne. It has awarded $6.6 million in research funding since it began in 1996.
“I am delighted by the remarkable progress the award recipients have made on their projects,” said Thomas Rosenbaum. “The multidisciplinary collaborations across our two campuses generate a level of excitement that is compelling to observe.”
Events
National Counterproliferation Center Visits Joint University/Argonne Centers
Last month, Ambassador Kenneth C. Brill, Director, National Counterproliferation Center (NCPC), Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and Lawrence Kerr, Senior Bio Advisor to the Director of the NCPC, paid a two-day visit to the University of Chicago. The purpose of the visit was to learn about the work of University and Argonne researchers at the Great Lakes Regional Center of Excellence (GLRCE) and the Joint Threat Anticipation Center (JTAC), to explore areas of common interest, and to talk about recruitment opportunities for government research with graduate students and post-doctorial fellows.
The first day of the visit was sponsored by the GLRCE and spent with University Department of Microbiology faculty, staff and students. Ambassador Brill and Dr. Kerr gave brief presentations on their office and what they hoped to accomplish through their visit. University Microbiology faculty members, Dr. Olaf Schneewind, Dominique Missiakas, and Juan Martinez, spoke about their research and Debra Anderson, Associate Director, GLRCE, provided an overview of the GLRCE. Q&A followed with discussion about bio-defense research in general and the development of vaccines, specifically.
“Bio-defense is a multi-agency affair,” said Anderson. “The NCPC tied together nicely why there are so many government agencies involved, what their individual responsibilities are and how they are working together in an effort to create greater efficiency.”
An informal luncheon followed where students were able to talk one-on one-with the visitors. “The students seemed to really enjoy hearing about recruitment opportunities within the agencies and how to get their foot in the door,” said Anderson.
The second day of ODNI visit was spent with researchers and graduate students from JTAC. The day began with briefings from JTAC co-directors Charles (Chick) Macal, senior systems engineer and director, Center for Complex Adaptive Agents Systems Simulation at Argonne and Kathleen Morrison, director, Center for International Studies & Professor of Anthropology at the University and included presentations from a number of other University and Argonne researchers.
“Aside from receiving an overview of the JTAC, Ambassador Brill and Dr. Kerr wanted to explore potential collaborative opportunities that might be of mutual interest,” said Macal. “They asked a lot of questions and saw many connections in terms of using the center as an academic resource for broadening perspectives on proliferation and counterproliferation.”
The visit concluded with a Q&A session between Ph.D. candidates from the Department of Political Science, Ambassador Brill and Dr. Kerr.
“We all sat around a table and Ambassador Brill made a pitch for government service,” said Keven Ruby, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Political Science. “He emphasized how important it was to have well-trained scholars in government service—particularly in regard to national security.”
“He provided a fairly extensive list of specific opportunities for graduate students,” said Ruby. “They offered good experience working on actual national security issues for the government for limited periods of time in various capacities that didn’t necessarily require giving up your academic career.”
The GLRCE, a collaborative effort including researchers from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Argonne National Laboratory, and 23 additional upper-Midwestern universities, hospitals, and research organizations, applies the tools of modern science to mankind's battle against infectious disease.
The JTAC, a joint venture of the University’s Center for International Studies and the Argonne’s Center for Complex Adaptive Agent Systems Simulation, was originally created and supported by the Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The Center takes an integrative, cross-disciplinary approach that draws upon the expertise of social science researchers at the University and computational modeling experts at Argonne to better understand and anticipate long-term threats to the U.S. national security.
Established in 2005, The National Counterproliferation Center coordinates strategic planning within the Intelligence Community (IC) to enhance intelligence support to United States efforts to stem the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and related delivery systems.
Purdue Explores Collaborative Opportunities with University, Argonne
On July 18, Thomas Rosenbaum, Vice President for Research and for Argonne, and Bob Rosner, Argonne Director, hosted a Purdue delegation led by Charles 'Chip' Rutledge, Purdue Vice President for Research. Senior scientists and staff from Purdue met with Argonne and University counterparts to explore increased collaboration.
Discussion centered on joint research opportunities, ways to leverage different research, and technology development models. With support from the State of Indiana and the Lilly Endowment, Purdue established a Discovery Park in 2001 and has entered into research and technology alliances with academic and corporate leaders. Purdue proposes to identify areas of mutual interest; initial discussions focused on biochemistry, materials research and nanotechnology, pharmacogenomics, and proteomics. The visit included a tour of Argonne, including the Advanced Photon Source.
University August Event Highlights
- Doc Films, Max Palevsky Cinema, Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th St., 702-8575, Admission: $4.Doc Films, the oldest student-run film group in the country, specializes in top-quality recent releases as well as the finest films of the 20th and 21st centuries. The summer 2006 screening schedule features films Wednesday through Saturday until late August. For more information see listings under FILMS, call (773) 702-8575 or visit http://docfilms.uchicago.edu for 24-hour film and ticket information.
Research in the News
People unconsciously use "verbal gestures" when they speak
University of Chicago scientists have determined that people spontaneously use a system of communicating when they speak that either reinforces their message or provides additional information that is not conveyed by words alone. Dubbed “analog acoustic expression,” this uninvestigated form of communication is described as a sort of verbal gesturing. Full story.
Brain-computer link lets paralyzed patients convert thoughts into actions
A multi-institutional team of researchers has found that even those with long-standing, severe paralysis can generate signals in the area of the brain responsible for voluntary movement and these signals can be detected, recorded, routed out of the brain to a computer and converted into actions - enabling a paralyzed patient to perform basic tasks. Full story.
Professorships at University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration to advance research on mental health and major urban problems
The study of pressing urban social problems, such as child welfare, public education and community recovery following widespread trauma, will get special attention at the University of Chicago through research done by four current faculty members who have been appointed to named professorships at the University’s School of Social Service Administration. Full story.
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