Research Update Newsletter
From The University of Chicago Office of the Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories
September 6, 2006
This Month in Research Update:
- Office of the Vice President for Research & Argonne National Laboratory (OVPRANL) News
- University to participate in Argonne’s Open House: Free bus service from Hyde Park provided
- Fermilab bid update
- Institute for Genomics & Systems Biology underway
- Joint Theory Institute update
- Events
- Zimmer inauguration activities planned
- Chicago Biomedical Consortium Symposium
- Board of Governors Hosts Education Colloquium and Panel Discussion at Argonne
- University September Event Highlights
- Research in the News
- Digital Darwinian world reveals architecture of evolution
- Small Chicago high schools improve dropout rates and attendance, but not test scores
- Jeffrey Matthews appointed chairman of surgery at the University of Chicago
OVPRANL News
University to participate in Argonne’s Open House: Free bus service from Hyde Park provided
Underscoring the links between campuses, the University of Chicago is planning a major presence at Argonne’s October 7th Community Open House. This year, 17 different University-affiliated organizations will sponsor activities at the event, including:
- Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
- Advanced Simulation and Computing Flash Center
- Center for Elementary Math and Science Education
- Chicago Biomedical Consortium
- Chicago Public Schools University Internet Project
- Computation Institute
- Consortium for Nanoscience Researc
- Emergency Resuscitation Center
- Howard T. Ricketts Regional Biocontainment Laboratory
- Hyde Park Arts Center
- Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics
- Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics
- Materials Science Research Center (PSD/James Franck Institute)
- Science & Technology Outreach and Mentoring Program
- UChicago Argonne, LLC
- University Admissions
- University of Chicago Cancer Research Center and the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics
The University plans to promote the event to faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends of the University, and to Hyde Park community members. To encourage Hyde Park residents to attend the Open House, the University will provide free round-trip bus service to the event from Hyde Park. Online registration for free bus service is available at http://research.uchicago.edu/argonne/openhouse/. Registration closes September 30.
Fermilab bid update
Last February, Universities Research Association, Inc. (URA) and the University jointly announced the formation of Fermi Research Alliance, LLC, a partnership that will bid to manage the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL). The partnership brings together the incumbent university consortium, URA, and the University of Chicago to advance research in the laboratory’s three business lines: the energy frontier, neutrinos, and astrophysics. Synergies between Argonne and Femilab in both science and operations are manifest, including the already established endeavor on accelerator R&D.
The proposal was submitted on August 24th and a decision is expected by November 1, 2006. The current URA contract expires January 1, 2007.
Institute for Genomics & Systems Biology underway
As director of the new joint University and Argonne Institute for Genomics & Systems Biology (IGSB), Kevin White, Professor in the Departments of Human Genetics and Ecology & Evolution and Scientist at the Argonne National Laboratory, has made impressive progress since his new appointment, announced in April of this year. Although his official start date began just a few days ago, over the past few months White has already successfully recruited another new faculty member, is actively recruiting several other faculty that specialize in other areas of genomics and systems biology, and has helped to secure over $4 million in funding as well as a long-term home for the institute.
“Our vision is to bring together the highest caliber of experimental genomists and systems biologists with the highest caliber computational biologists and to create an environment that will make advances that will have an impact on human health and well being,” said White.
Although analysis of complex biological systems is at the heart of the institute’s mission, White says that the institute’s aim is to go beyond basic biological discoveries to support and conduct translational work by integrating research teams across scientific disciplines, departments and divisions. As such, the institution will focus on two distinct research areas: setting up support systems biology approaches to studying complex human diseases and identifying potential diagnostics and therapeutic leads; and systems biology approaches for engineering microbes to produce bio-fuels. Over next few years, White plans to hire up to eight or nine University faculty in genome analysis and computational biology and four to six Argonne scientists to work in these areas.
The first recruit to the organization is Rich Jones, Assistant Professor, Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology, Ben May Institute for Cancer Research, and Committee on Cancer Biology. Jones takes protein microarray approaches to try to understand the complexity of intracellular signaling. Jones’ research is facilitating a better understanding of the modular signaling molecules whose location, abundance, and modification state underlie cell growth, migration, differentiation, and cell death. These processes lie at the heart of cancer biology and an understanding of these processes at the molecular level should enable the identification of many new therapeutic targets.
By fall, White hopes to begin recruiting Argonne scientists. He is particularly interested in individuals with research programs modeling complex systems and in researchers who are taking systems biology approaches for engineering microbes to produce bio-fuels. The IGSB will be a part of the Computing and Life Sciences Division at Argonne led by Associate Lab Director Rick Stevens.
“The bio-fuels research is particularly important because our current use of fossil fuels is not sustainable in the long term either economically or environmentally. The research community is actively engaged in trying to find alternatives to traditional fossil fuels,” said White. “The process of extracting fuels such as ethanol and butanol from plant materials, such as corn or switchgrass, is far from optimized. This is where Argonne’s energy science expertise comes in.”
Funding for IGSB has been generous to date. The BSD contributed $3 million in start-up funds and recently the Chicago Biomedical Consortium gave $1 million to establish a new Center for Cellular Screening within the institute. The center will allow for genome-wide screening of cellular models of human disease.
The IGSB will initially be located on the 4th floor of the University’s Cummings building and in Building 202 and 221 at Argonne. It will move to a permanent home in the Jules and Gwen Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery when it opens in 2008.
Joint Theory Institute update
Last April, the University and Argonne formed the Joint Theory Institute (JTI), a new, multi-disciplinary research institution dedicated to solving the toughest problems in theory of condensed matter, chemistry, high energy physics, nuclear physics and interdisciplinary topics involving nanoscience, biology, economics, engineering and computing. The JTI’s purpose is to enhance theory-related activities, create collaborative research opportunities, and promote the integration of this work with experimental activity at both institutions.
Since then, the JTI has worked to constitute a board and has a visitors program planned for next winter. The program, "Modern trends in nonequilibrium phenomena," will be run by Leo Kadanoff, John D. MacArthur Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Physics and Math, James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Paul Wiegmann, Professor, Physics, James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, and Ilya Gruzberg, Assistant Professor, Physics, James Franck Institute, University of Chicago. The program will run from January to March and may include as many as twenty visitors in residence at the University and at Argonne for periods of up to three months.
A call for proposals can be expected early this fall.
Events
Chicago Biomedical Consortium Symposium
The Fourth Annual Chicago Biomedical Consortium Symposium “Infrastructures for Systems Biology” will be held Friday, September 29, 2006, in Ida Noyes Hall at The University of Chicago. The Symposium Agenda will include keynote addresses by Ken Buetow, Ph.D., Director, Center for Bioinformatics, and Chief of Laboratory for Population Genetics, National Cancer Institute; Leroy Hood, M.D., Ph.D., President, Institute for Systems Biology; and CBC Investigator Kevin P. White, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology, University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory. Poster reviews and awards will also be a part of the day.
Registration for the symposium and for poster submission is now open until September 15 at http://www.chicagobiomedicalconsortium.org/symposium_registration. To register for poster submission, registration as a CBC website user is first required. Early registration and submission is strongly advised because space is limited. Registration will close on September 15.
Board of Governors Hosts Education Colloquium and Panel Discussion at Argonne
On September 27 from 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., The University of Chicago Board of Governors for Argonne National Laboratory will host a colloquium and panel discussion on education entitled “By the Numbers: Catalyzing the Next Generation of Innovators.” The colloquium will feature keynote speaker William Bates, Vice President for Government Affairs at the Council on Competitiveness and Executive Director of the Council’s Forum on Technology & Innovation. The panel discussion will focus on how educational institutions, national laboratories, business and industry can help to maximize the number of students pursuing careers in science and engineering. The event will be held in Argonne Building 362 High Energy Physics Auditorium. All are invited to attend. For more information, please call (630)252-3244.
Inauguration of President Robert J. Zimmer
On July 1, 2006, Robert J. Zimmer became the 13th president of the University of Chicago. On Friday, October 27, 2006 he will be inaugurated. All members of the community are invited to help celebrate the occasion. While some inauguration events are by invitation only, everyone is welcome to attend the all-campus inaugural celebration on Friday, October 27th. In particular, a live webcast of the inaugural convocation ceremony will be available on Friday, October 27, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. Please check the University’s website for details on the morning of the 27th. For more details about inaugural activities, click here.
University September Event Highlights:
Smart Museum of Art: Adrian Piper: The Mythic Being, Saturday, Sept. 16 through Sunday Dec. 10
5550 S. Greenwood Ave., http://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu. 702-0200.
The Renaissance Society: Avery Preesman, Sunday, Sept. 17 through Sunday, Oct. 29
Cobb Hall, 5811 S. Ellis Ave., 4th Floor, http://renaissancesociety.org. 702-8670.
Special Collections Research Center: Printing for the Modern Age: Commerce, Craft and Culture in the RR Donnelley Archive
Friday Sept. 15, through Monday, Feb. 12, Joseph Regenstein Library, 1100 E. 57th St.
Court Theatre: Raisin, Thursday Sept. 14, through Sunday, Oct. 22
5535 S. Ellis Ave. (773) 753-4472, http://www.courttheatre.org
For more information about these events, please click here.
Research in the News
Researchers map out networks that determine cell fate
A two-step process appears to regulate cell fate decisions for many types of developing cells, according to researchers from the University of Chicago. This finding sheds light on a puzzling behavior. For some differentiating stem cells, the first step leads not to a final decision but to a new choice. In response to the initial chemical signal, these cells take on the genetic signatures of two different cell types. It often requires a second signal for them to commit to a single cellular identity. Full story.
Digital Darwinian world reveals architecture of evolution
The architecture that pervades biological networks gives them an evolutionary edge by allowing them to evolve to perform new functions more rapidly than an alternative network design, according to computer simulations conducted at the University of Chicago. The finding is published in the August issue of the journal Nature Physics. Full story.
Jeffrey Matthews appointed chairman of surgery at the University of Chicago
Gastrointestinal surgeon Jeffrey Matthews, M.D., a leading authority on the surgical treatment of diseases of the pancreas, bile ducts and liver, and a prominent scientist known for his fundamental research on defects in chloride transport in epithelial tissue, has been appointed chairman of surgery at the University of Chicago, effective October 1, 2006. Full story.
Small Chicago high schools improve dropout rates and attendance, but not test scores
Small high school reform in Chicago is delivering on many of its promises, including a reduction in student dropouts and improvements in attendance, but it hasn’t yet shown test score improvements, according to the first comprehensive report on the reform, prepared by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago. Full story.
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