Eventually Aaron Bauer ’16 (PhD) would like to strike out on his own as a design consultant to optical companies.

But for now, the Institute of Optics senior research engineer is exactly where he wants to be: With the Center for Freeform Optics (CeFO).

CeFO, which was recently awarded a second five years of funding from the National Science Foundation, is a collaboration between Rochester, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and 17 companies and research institutes. The goal is to advance the use of lenses and mirrors with freeform surfaces to create optical devices that are lighter, more compact, and more effective than ever before. Applications include 3-D imaging and visualization, augmented and virtual reality, infrared and military optical systems, efficient automotive and LED lighting, energy research, remote sensing, semiconductor manufacturing and inspection, and medical and assistive technologies.

This is a newly emerging technology, and Bauer is grateful to be in on the ground floor.

Bauer is principal designer of a compact telescope that CeFO is creating using three freeform mirrors that are up to 260 mm in diameter. For the last two years he’s worked closely with Nick Horvath, a PhD student in mechanical engineering at UNC Charlotte, who is developing the opto-mechanical design and researching methods that will be used to create a prototype of the freeform telescope.

The exchange illustrates:

• how close collaboration between mechanical and optical designers enables truly novel research within the CeFO.
• the respective strengths that the two universities bring to the collaboration. Rochester is strong in design and theory, UNC Charlotte is strong in manufacturing and precision mechanical design, and both take pride in their metrology skills.
• what CeFO director Jannick Rolland considers to be one of the key achievements of the center’s first five years: a full adoption and expansion of “concurrent engineering” required for projects like this.

Rolland, the Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering, cites these other accomplishments:

• A new methodology for designing freeform optics that removes much of the guesswork was published earlier this year in Nature Communications, with Bauer as the lead author. “I really feel we’ve nailed key components of the design space,” Rolland says.
• Two hardware prototypes have been completed – a compact freeform spectrometer and a down-scaled version of the freeform telescope.
• Seven patents have been awarded.
• Total annual revenues are now in excess of $1 million.
• About 30 percent of the students and faculty involved with CeFO are women.
• There has been a significant increase in participating companies and institutes from an initial 8 to 17. “The interest is clearly picking up; it is a very exciting time in the discovery of what freeform optics can do and the understanding of the science that underlies the emerging results,” Rolland says. Members and faculty determine the center’s 14 ongoing projects; membership fees and supplements fund the projects.

“Freeform optics is poised to permeate all precision technologies of the future, and perhaps a lot sooner than we ever anticipated,” Rolland says.

CeFO’s goals for the next five years include advancing the metrology (measuring of freeform surfaces) to ensure quality, and finding ways to mass produce freeform optics quickly, using a variety of materials, for large consumer markets. One intriguing possibility: Molding transparent ultraviolet-cured polymer materials so they can be applied, almost like contact lenses, to traditional glass lenses and mirrors, giving them a freeform surface.

“There’s an evolution in the education process that is still happening, as companies learn more about what freeform optics can really do,” says Thomas Suleski, professor of physics and optical science at UNC Charlotte and new director of the CeFO team there.  “Many companies are still only thinking of freeforms in terms of tiny changes to existing symmetrical elements….they aren’t thinking far enough outside the box.”

“Once you start to think away from these classical designs, it should be possible to take multiple optics and with one freeform optic turn them into one,” says Matt Davies, a professor of mechanical engineering and engineering science, who served as prior director of the CeFO team at Charlotte. “So that the price of making the device is more than overcome by the reduction in assembly steps, the reduction in the number of optics, and the compactness.”

Read more here.

A multidisciplinary group of clinical and bench researchers has formed at the Medical Center to study cerebrovascular disease. The Cerebrovascular and Neurocognitive Research Group, which consists of faculty from neurology, neurosurgery, electrical and computer engineering, microbiology and immunology, and vascular biology will leverage advanced brain imaging technologies to investigate diseases, including stroke, cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), and vascular dementia.

The efforts are being supported in part by a new $2.7 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study how chronic inflammation drives cerebrovascular disease and disrupts the structure and connections between different parts of the brain.

The new study involves Giovanni Schifitto, Miriam Weber, and Bogachan Sahin with the Department of Neurology, Jianhui Zhong with the Department of Imaging Sciences, Sanjay Maggirwar with the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Zhengwu Zhang with the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology. They will focus on a specific population of immune cells, called monocytes, that can trigger inflammation and at the same time facilitate blood clot formation. The end result of this process is reduced blood flow in the brain, leading to mini-strokes and, over time, cognitive impairment.

The new research will specifically seek to understand how the damage caused in CSVD disrupts the brain’s communication networks. The team will use advanced MRI imaging technology that can capture precise details of brain structure and function and the computational resources of Center for Integrated Research Computing. The researchers seek to build a comprehensive map of the neural connections in the brain – called a connectome – and observe how these connections are disrupted in CSVD over time. The information can be used to develop a series of neuroimaging biomarkers of the disease to diagnose and evaluate new treatments.

The researchers will follow 220 study participants – both HIV positive and negative – over a period of three years. While CSVD can arise due to high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and other risk factors, the condition tends to be more prevalent in individuals with HIV. It is estimated that 50-60 percent of people who are HIV positive may develop some form of CSVD by the time they reach their 50s. While the HIV infected population is at higher risk of cerebral vascular disease, researchers believe that their findings may ultimately be applicable to the general population.

A $2 million grant will build upon pioneering work by Margot Mayer-Proschel, an associate professor of biomedical genetics, to understand more precisely the cellular mechanisms that cause iron deficiency in mothers to impair brain development in their children.

The new research will focus on specific sets of inhibitory neurons that, while small in number, play an important role in balancing the excitatory and inhibitory outputs that govern normal brain function. Preliminary work from Mayer-Proschel’s lab suggests that gestational iron deficiency (GID) may trigger an overproduction in this population of cells leading to the disruption of brain signaling.

This new research also seeks to change the perception of the role of prenatal iron supplements and of how GID should be managed during pregnancy. In order to provide sufficient iron to the developing fetus, pregnant mothers must increase iron consumption, which is primarily accomplished through multivitamins and supplements. However, factors such as obesity, diabetes, medications, and certain diets that contain high levels of whole grains, can prevent the body from absorbing iron. In addition, iron can cause severe nausea and constipation, causing many women to stop taking the supplement as long as they are not developing iron deficiency anemia, the most severe form of iron deficiency.

The research also seeks to develop a new method of determining fetal iron levels. This, combined with a better understanding of the window during which iron is necessary for normal brain development, could help establish new standards of prenatal care.

Read more here.

The Medical Center will host two program managers from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) on Monday, November 19 for a regional seminar on the program.

The seminar will be held in the Class of 62 Auditorium from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and will include a keynote session, a panel discussion offering a deeper dive into CDMRP research and training opportunities, and a grant writing workshop/panel discussion geared toward early career investigators.

The featured speakers will be Gayle Vaday, CDMRP program manager for breast cancer research, and Angel Davey, CDMRP program manager for health sciences.

Boxed lunches will be provided free of charge.  A poster networking session will be held during registration and lunch in the Flaum Atrium. Participating institutes, centers, and any industry or government collaborators who attend are invited to bring a poster highlighting their work.

For more information, contact Laurie Chiumento at laurie_chiumento@urmc.rochester.edu or 585-273-5995.

A significant amount of data was lost at the Medical Center during a server maintenance procedure in May, and the files were not able to be restored. There have been limited instances where this loss of data has affected ongoing research, no cases where obligations to research sponsors have been compromised, and Medical Center leadership is not aware of any impact on clinical or administrative operations.

Should you discover missing documents or data that may impede the ability to meet research obligations, please work with the appropriate University resource on whether and how to report this. Sponsors and regulatory agencies have different requirements with respect to data supporting research programs, from reproducibility to retention, and you should obtain appropriate guidance before taking any action.

Read the full article on the URMC Intranet for information regarding appropriate contacts.

Nov. 3: 4^th Annual Immune Imaging Symposium, a forum to share the newest developments in understanding immune function through visualizing immunity “in action.” The symposium features a distinguished group of international speakers, an interactive poster session, and opportunities for oral presentations from students and postdoctoral fellows. Saunder’s Research Building. Registration is free but closes on October 22. Hosted by the Program for Advanced Immune Bioimaging.

Nov. 5: Deadline for collaborative biomedical research teams to apply to the Center for Leading Innovation & Collaboration for funding to write a Synergy Paper. Questions can be directed to synergy_papers@clic-ctsa.org. Click here for the RFA.

Nov. 5: Annual Medical Student Research Poster session, noon to 1 p.m. Flaum Atrium, Medical Center. Medical students present their summer and year-out research projects. Contact omecached@urmc.rochester.edu with questions.

Nov. 6: Inaugural Biomedical Ultrasound Symposium Day. Lectures by Frederick W. Kremkau, professor of radiologic sciences and director of the Program for Medical Ultrasound at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Theresa Tuthill ’84, ’87 (MS), ’91 (PhD), senior director of clinical and translational imaging at Pfizer Inc. Also includes graduate student presentations, a poster session, lunch, and networking. 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m., Feldman Ballroom in Douglass Commons. RSVP to carlaboff@rochester.edu. Include your name, affiliation, any dietary restrictions, and whether you will be presenting a poster. Hosted by the Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound (RCBU).

Nov. 12: Initial abstracts due for the School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Scientific Advisory Committee’s (SAC) Incubator Program. See details and application instructions. Contact Anne Reed for more information.

Nov. 13: Wilmot Cancer Institute annual scientific symposium. Keynote speaker is Judith Campisi, professor of biogerontology at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Oral presentations and poster session. 9 a.m. 3 p.m., Class of ’62 Auditorium and Flaum Atrium. Questions about submitting a poster or about the symposium in general can be emailed to Chelsea Costanzo or call 585-273-1447. The deadline for poster registration submission is 4 p.m., Wednesday, October 31.

Nov. 19: Regional seminar on U.S. Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) with Gayle Vaday, CDMRP program manager for breast cancer research, and Angel Davey, CDMRP program manager for health sciences.  11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Class of ’62 Auditorium. Keynote session, panel discussion, grant writing workshop/panel discussion for early career investigators, and poster networking session. Boxed lunches will be provided free of charge. For more information, contact Laurie Chiumento at laurie_chiumento@urmc.rochester.edu or 585-273-5995.

Nov. 30: Annual CFAR World AIDS Day Scientific Symposium. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Keynote addresses by Marguerita Lightfoot, professor of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco, and Douglas Nixon, professor of immunology in medicine at Weil Cornell Medical College.Class of ’62 Auditorium. Poster session 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Flaum Atrium. Poster registration deadline is November 1.  Contact Laura Enders for more information about World AIDS Day events and poster registration.

Dec. 5:  Phelps Colloquium series: Ajay Kuriyan, assistant professor of ophthalmology, “The Bionic Eye, Computer Vision, and Drug Discovery: The Gamut of Retina Research.” Kara Bren, professor of chemistry, “Making Fuel and Fertilizer from Sun, Air, and Water.” 4 p.m. Feldman Ballroom Douglass Commons. Register here. Questions? Contact Adele Coelho or call 273-2571.