URA Past Winners

2023 recipients

Small Molecule Activation of Gpr68 to prevent post-operative abdominal adhesion formation

• Alayna Loiselle – Orthopaedics, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Nicole Wilson – Surgery, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Matt Kottmann – Medicine, School of Medicine & Dentistry

The Legacies of Economic Inequality: Evidence from Pakistan

• Alexander Lee – Political Science, School of Arts & Sciences

From bench to community: pushing technology to detect bruising into social service settings for people of color

• Andrew Berger – Optics, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
• Kate Cerulli – Psychiatry, School of Medicine & Dentistry / Susan B. Anthony Center, Arts, Sciences & Engineering
• Corey Nichols-Hadeed – Psychiatry, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• John Cullen – Susan B. Anthony Center, Arts, Sciences & Engineering

Analysis of orphan GPCR signaling mechanisms using atomic force microscopy

• Cesare Orlandi  – Pharmacology & Physiology, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Whasil Lee – Biomedical Engineering, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences

Developing an evidence-based guide for capturing and evaluating structural racism against Black/African American populations affected by HIV in the United States

• Chen Zhang – School of Nursing
• Yu Liu – Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Kevin Fiscella – Medicine, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Mitchell Wharton – School of Nursing

Developmental Origin of Lung Megakaryocytes

• Craig Morrell – Medicine, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• James Palis – Pediatrics, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Fluorescence reporters of membrane voltage optimized for high throughput assays

• David MacLean – Pharmacology & Physiology, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• John Lueck – Pharmacology & Physiology, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Naturalistic Audiovisual Integration in Autism Spectrum Disorder

• Emily Knight – Pediatrics, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Duje Tadin – Brain & Cognitive Sciences, School of Arts & Sciences
• Ming-Lun Lee – Electrical & Computer Engineering, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
• Michael Jarvis – History, School of Arts & Sciences

Understanding how parasite-induced neuromodulation increases longevity in its social host

• Floria Uy – Biology, School of Arts & Sciences
• Sina Ghaemaghami – Biology, School of Arts & Sciences

Uncovering communication complexity and information transfer in the mind

• Gourab Ghoshal – Physics & Astronomy, School of Arts & Sciences
• Krishnan Padmanabhan – Neuroscience, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Predicting immunotherapy clinical response and adverse events in patients of African Ancestry

• James McGrath – Biomedical Engineering, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
• Charles Kamen – Surgery, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Jonathan Flax – Urology, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Toward Sensing Beyond the Quantum Limit with Multimode Levitated Optomechanical Oscillators

• Nick Vamivakas – Optics, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences

Design and Fabrication of Optomechanical Sensors of Quantum Heat

• Pablo Postigo – Optics, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences

Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy for Imaging of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

• Roman Sobolewski – Electrical & Computer Engineering, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
• Scott Gerber – Surgery, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Bradley Mills – Surgery, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Implications beyond halting virus release: role of the cellular factor BST2 in SARS-CoV-2 host adaptation

• Ruth Serra-Moreno – Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Aerobic, radical functionalization reactions via ligand-enabled copper catalysis

• Shauna Paradine – Chemistry, School of Arts & Sciences

Unveiling and engineering structural-phase transition pathways in hafnia

• Sobhit Singh – Mechanical Engineering, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
• Niaz Abdolrahim – Mechanical Engineering, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences

An optical time-division platform for brain-scale computing

• William Renninger – Optics, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
• Yuhao Zhu – Computer Science, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences

2022 recipients

Role of the macrophage molecular circadian clock in pancreatic cancer

• Altman, Brian J: SMD – Biomedical Genetics, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Gerber, Scott A: SMD – Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine & Dentistry

CatMoment: Promoting Inclusive Conversation in Small-Group Learning

• Bai, Zhen: Hajim – Computer Science, Hajim Engineering School
• Hoque, Ehsan: Hajim – Computer Science, Hajim Engineering School

Developing an intervention to improve family adaptation among children with medical complexity

• Bayer, Nathaniel D: SMD – Pediatrics, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Petrenko, Christie: SAS – Mt. Hope Family Center, School of Arts & Sciences
• O’Connor, Thomas G: SMD – Psychiatry, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Iadarola, Suzannah Joy: SMD – Pediatrics, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Marker-free tracking of group foraging: a window to the primate social brain

• Biro, Dora: SAS – Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Arts & Sciences
• Mitchell, Jude F: SAS – Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Arts & Sciences
• Wang, Kuan Hong: SMD – Neuroscience, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Quantum Alchemy: Floquet Engineering of Qutrits Hamiltonians

• Blok, Machiel S: SAS – Physics & Astronomy, School of Arts & Sciences
• Franco, Ignacio: SAS – Chemistry, School of Arts & Sciences

Modulation of Cartilage Mechanical Properties and Health by Absorbed Macromolecules

• Buckley, Mark R: Hajim – Biomedical Engineering, Hajim Engineering School

Discovery of a glucoreceptor that is essential for glucose and energy homeostasis: novel target for treatment of diabetes and obesity

• Chhabra, Kavaljit Harvindersingh: SMD – Medicine, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Neural Mechanisms Generating Affective Touch Sensation

• Gomez-Ramirez, Manuel: SAS – Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Arts & Sciences
• Wang, Kuan Hong: SMD – Neuroscience, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Mitchell, Jude F: SAS – Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Arts & Sciences

Photoinduced Polaron Formation in Lead Halide Perovskite Semiconductors

• Knowles, Kathryn E: SAS – Chemistry, School of Arts & Sciences

Visual perception in schizophrenia: assessing predictive processing in the earliest stages of the visual cortical hierarchy

• Lalor, Edmund C: SMD – Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Keane, Brian: SMD – Psychiatry, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Learning new categories: an EEG study of second language learners of Mandarin consonants

• McDonough, Joyce: SAS – Linguistics, School of Arts & Sciences
• Yang, Chung-Lin: SAS – Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Arts & Sciences

Electrocatalytic degradation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in aqueous solution

• Mueller, Astrid M: Hajim – Chemical Engineering, Hajim Engineering School

Hydrogels for Localized Delivery of Therapeutics to Promote Bone Regeneration

• Nilsson, Bradley L: SAS – Chemistry, School of Arts & Sciences
• Benoit, Danielle SW: SMD – Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Improvement of genomic variant interpretation in intellectual and developmental disabilities

• Paciorkowski, Alexander R: SMD – Neurology, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• White, Andrew: Hajim – Chemical Engineering, Hajim Engineering School

Vanadium Oxide Sorbents for Reactive Separations of Carbon Dioxide from Air

• Porosoff, Marc D: Hajim – Chemical Engineering, Hajim Engineering School

Defective Viral Genomes as a Mechanistic Determinant of COVID-19 Pathogenesis

• Sun, Yan: SMD – Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Mariani, Thomas J: SMD – Pediatrics, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Qiu, Xing: SMD – Biostatistics & Computational Biology, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Gene-environment interaction modulates susceptibility to gestational diabetes

• Susiarjo, Martha: SMD – Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine & Dentistry
• Murphy, Patrick J: SMD – Biomedical Genetics, School of Medicine & Dentistry

Quantum Dot Sources of Quantum Light at Telecom Wavelengths

• Wicks, Gary W: Hajim – The Institute of Optics, Hajim Engineering School

Development of Novel RNA-based Therapeutics for Heart Disease

• Yao, Peng: SMD – Medicine, School of Medicine & Dentistry

2021 recipients

Text-based intervention to improve adherence to colorectal cancer screening recommendations among Emergency Department patients

• Abar, Beau W, SMD – Emergency Medicine
• Adler, David H, SMD – Emergency Medicine
• Fiscella, Kevin A, SMD – Medicine3

Capturing nanoscale lattice variations by applying AI-powered computer vision techniques on synthetic x-ray diffraction data

• Abdolrahim, Niaz, Hajim – Mechanical Engineering
• Xu, Chenliang, Hajim – Computer Science

Hybrid spin-superconductor quantum systems: making a quantum Printed Circuit Board

• Blok, Machiel S, SAS – Physics & Astronomy
• Nichol, John M, SAS – Physics & Astronomy

ENOUGH ARCHITECTURE

• Christensen, Peter H, SAS – Art & Art History

Using Mechanical Stimuli to Activate the Extracellular Matrix for Wound Healing

• Dalecki, Diane, Hajim – Biomedical Engineering
• Hocking, Denise C, SMD – Pharmacology & Physiology

Ex-novo designed cyclopeptide antibiotics for the treatment of multidrug resistant bacterial infections

• Fasan, Rudi, SAS – Chemistry
• Dunman, Paul, SMD – Microbiology & Immunology

Molecules for Quantum Technologies: Tackling the Decoherence Challenge

• Franco, Ignacio, SAS – Chemistry
• Krauss, Todd, SAS – Chemistry

Understanding Creative Performances in Social Networks

• Hoque, Ehsan, Hajim – Computer Science
• Ghoshal, Gourab, SAS – Physics & Astronomy

Photonic Reservoir for Machine Learning

• Huang, Michael C, Hajim – Electrical & Comp Engineering
• Lin, Qiang, Hajim – Electrical & Comp Engineering

Investigating Polariton Mediated Electron Transfer Reactions

• Huo, Pengfei, SAS – Chemistry
• Krauss, Todd, SAS – Chemistry
• Vamivakas, Anthony, Hajim – The Institute of Optics

Prenatal effect in the development of anti-allergic immunity

• Jarvinen-Seppo, Kirsi M, SMD – Pediatrics
• Erin Davis, SMD – Pediatrics

Addressing COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Populations with Health Disparities by Integrating Survey and Social Media Data

• Luo, Jiebo, Hajim – Computer Science
• Dye, Timothy D, SMD – Obstetrics & Gynecology

Targeting nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in Fragile X Syndrome

• Maquat, Lynne Elizabeth, SMD – Biochemistry and Biophysics
• Proschel, Christoph, SMD – Biomedical Genetics
• Sakano, Hitomi, SMD – Otolaryngology40

Biofilm-on-a-chip: Development of a microphysiological platform to revolutionize treatment paradigms

• Meyer, Anne S, SAS – Biology
• Benoit, Danielle SW, Hajim – Biomedical Engineering
• Xiao, Jin, Eastman Institute for Oral Health

Deciphering immune mechanisms behind exacerbated Staphylococcus aureus bone infection in humanized mice

• Muthukrishnan, Gowrishankar, SMD – Orthopaedics
• Beck, Christopher, SMD – Biostatistics & Computational Biology
• Rangel-Moreno, Javier, SMD – Medicine

Probing Nanoscale Thermal Transport with Optically Levitated Nanodiamonds

• Pickel, Andrea D, Hajim – Mechanical Engineering
• Vamivakas, Anthony, Hajim – The Institute of Optics

Regulation of immune responses by olfactory chemosensory neurons

• Rowe, Regina K, SMD – Pediatrics
• Meeks, Julian P, SMD – Neuroscience
• Mariani, Thomas J, SMD – Pediatrics

Using high throughput drug screening for pharmacologically-targeting macular degeneration in patient-derived hiPSC -models

• Singh, Ruchira, SMD – Ophthalmology
• Woeller, Collynn, SMD – Ophthalmology

2019 recipients

Polyoxovanadate Clusters as Single-Source Precursors for Colloidal Vanadium Oxide

• Kathryn E. Knowles, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Chemistry
• Ellen M. Matson, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Chemistry

Neural Mechanisms of Foveal Vision

• Jude Mitchell, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Michele Rucci, Professor, Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Chirped-Pulse Microresonators

• William Renninger, Assistant Professor, The Institute of Optics
• Jamie Cardenas, Assistant Professor, The Institute of Optics

Surface Chemistry for Reflective Interferometric Sensing

• Lewis Rothberg, Professor, Depts. of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
• Alexander Shestopalov, Associate Professor, Dept. of Chemical Engineering

Flexible and Efficient Deep Learning in Optics

• Yuhao Zhu, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Computer Science
• Nick Vamivakas, Associate Professor, The Institute of Optics

What Maintains Genetic Variation Affecting Health and Reproduction? A test of a Novel Hypothesis

• James D. Fry, Associate Professor, Dept. of Biology
• Sina Ghaemmaghami, Associate Professor. Dept. of Biology

Confocal Raman Microscopy for the Identification of Microplastics in Cells and Tissue

• James McGrath, Professor, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
• Andrew Berger, Professor, The Institute of Optics; Associate Professor, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
• Wayne Knox, Professor, The Institute of Optics
• Lisa DeLouise, Associate Professor, Depts. of Dermatology, and Biomedical Engineering
• Jonathan Flax, Research Assistant Professor, Dept. of Urology
• Mahlon Johnson, Professor, Depts. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Neurosurgery; Director, Neuropathology, Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Non-invasive Cerebral Blood Flow and Evoked Potential Monitoring in Adults Undergoing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

• Regine Choe, Associate Professor, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
• Imad Khan, M.D., Assistant Professor, Dept. of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Medicine
• Ross Maddox, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
• Sunil Prasad, M.D., Professor, Chief of Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery

Advancing Translational Research to Drive Universal influenzae Vaccine Development: Novel Methods for Assessing Clinical Antibody Responses

• Sally Quataert, Research Associate Professor, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, Micro Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology (CVBI)
• Mark Sangster, Research Professor, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, Micro Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology (CVBI)

Vision in a Natural Context: More than Meets the Eye?

• Farran Briggs, Associate Professor, Depts. of Neuroscience, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and in the Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience Center for Visual Science

Embryonic Origin of Natural Killer Cells

• James Palis, MD, Professor, Center for Pediatric Biomedical Research, Dept. of Pediatrics

Bacterial Pathogens, Fibronectin Mimicry and Intestinal Permeability

• Denise C. Hocking, Professor, Depts. of Pharmacology and Physiology, and in the Dept of Biomedical Engineering
• Michelle Dziejman, Associate Professor, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology

Targeting AXL in Alzheimer’s Disease

• Kerry O’Banion, MD, Professor and Vice Chair, Dept. of Neuroscience
• Michael Rusty Elliott, Associate Professor, Dept. of Microbiology & Immunology

Safety and Efficacy of Whole Food Plant Based Diet in the Management of Hypertension in Chronic Kidney Disease

• Scott Liebman, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Dept. of Medicine, Division of Nephrology
• Susan Friedman, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Dept. of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics
• Rebeca Monk, MD, Professor, Dept. of Medicine, Division of Nephrology

Novel Approaches to Genetic Diagnoses and Secure Genomic Data Analyses in Critically Ill Infants

• Laurie Steiner, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
• Kate Ackerman, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
• Muthu Venkitasubramaniam, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science
• Alex Paciorkowski, MD, Assistant Professor, Depts. of Neurology, Neuroscience, Neurotherapeutics Discovery, Pediatrics, and in Biomedical Genetics, Division of Neurology and Pediatrics

2018 recipients

Inscriptr Genome Editing – Directed Non-homologous DNA Integration

• Douglas Anderson, Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute

Particle Assembly of Mesomorphic Ceramics

• Mitchell Anthamatten, Chemical Engineering
• Shaw-Horng Chen, Chemical Engineering
• Matthew Yates, Chemical Engineering

Autonomic Nervous System Biomarkers Distinguish Epileptic vs. Psychogenic Seizures

• David Auerbach, Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute
• Jean-Phillippe Couderc, Medicine; Electrical and Chemical Engineering
• Giuseppe Erba, Neurology
• Giovanni Schifitto, Neurology and Imaging Sciences

How Is Rochester a Prison Town?

• Joel Burges, English
• Kristin Doughty, Anthropology
• Kara Finnigan, Educational Leadership
• Evelyne Leblanc-Roberge, Art & Art History
• Diane Morse, Psychiatry and Medicine
• Dena Swanson, Counseling & Human Development
• Josh Dubler, Religion and Classics
• Precious Bedell, Psychiatry

Robust Optical Devices Comprising Glassy Liquid Crystals with Photoalignment Polymer Films

• Shaw Chen, Chemical Engineering
• Tanya Kosc, Laboratory for Laser Energetics

Pre-clinical mouse model for atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS)

• Ian Dickerson, Neuroscience
• Joseph Miano, Medicine; Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute

Computer Vision Enabled Quantitative Analytics for Ultra-Widefield Fluorescein Angiography (UWFFA)

• Ajay Kuriyan, Flaum Eye Institute
• Rajeev Ramchandran, Flaum Eye Institute
• Gaurav Sharma, Electrical and Computer Engineering

White Matter Integrity and Cognitive Performance in Adolescents with Primary Hypertension

• Marc Lande, Pediatrics
• Heather Adams, Neurology
• Giovanni Schifitto, Neurology and Imaging Sciences

Non-invasive quantitative assessment of tendon healing using ultrasound and machine learning

• Alayna Loiselle, Center for Musculoskeletal Research
• Constantinos Ketonis, Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation

Disparate Geographies: Spatial and Racial Landscapes in Rochester, New York

• Kathryn Mariner, Anthropology

Quantum Optomechanical Networks

• John Nichol, Physics and Astronomy
• William Renninger, Institute of Optics

Novel Supramolecular Hydrogels for Sustained and Localized Drug Delivery

• Bradley Nilsson, Chemistry
• Takahiro Takano, Eastman Institute for Oral Health

Brain Elastography with Optical Coherence Tomography

• Kevin James Parker, ECE: Imagining Science
• Jannick Rolland-Thompson, Optical Engineering; Biomedical Engineering
• Maiken Nedergaard, Neurology

Bifunctional tandem-catalysts for CO2 conversion to plastics, chemicals and fuels”

• Marc Porosoff, Chemical Engineering

Daily Emotional Reactivity as an Early Risk Marker of Depression

• Lisa Starr, Clinical & Social Sciences in Psychology

Engineering T cell metabolism for cancer immunotherapy

• Andrew Wojtovich, Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
• Minsoo Kim, Microbiology and Immunology

2017 recipients

Protection of corneal endothelial cells from surgical trauma

• Mark Buckley, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering

Macrophage exhaustion as a novel mechanism of resistance to therapeutic mAbs

• Michael R. Elliott, Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology (CVBI)
• Clive S. Zent, M.D., Professor in the Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology, and in the Wilmot Cancer Institute

New Strategies to Improve Long-Term Survival for Patients with Pancreatic Cancer

• Scott A. Gerber, Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery Research
• David C. Linehan, M.D., Professor in the Department of Surgery Oncology
• Haoming (Carl) Qiu, M.D. Assistant Professor in the Wilmot Cancer Institute

Role of NS1 mutations in interferon responses, inflammation and pathogenesis induced by seasonal human influenza A viruses

• Marta Lopez De Diego, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Micro Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology (CVBI)
• Aitor Nogales Gonzalez, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Inflammatory Protein Translation in Anucleate Platelets

• Craig Morrell. Associate Professor, Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute
• Peng Yao, Assistant Professor, Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute

Robotic Physics of Miniature Crawlers, Swimmers and Burrowers — Non-biological Locomotion Strategies in Complex Media

• Alice Quillen, Professor of Physics and Astronomy
• Hesam Askari, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
• Scott Seidman, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and of Neurobiology and Anatomy
• Jessica Shang, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Nanophotonic paleointensity sensor based on single spins

• John Tarduno, Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science
• Nick Vamivakas, Associate Professor in The Institute of Optics

Social Vulnerability, Community Resilience and Disaster Recovery in Ladakh, India: A Model for Global Community Engaged Learning and Research

• Stewart Weaver, Professor of History
• Nancy P. Chin, Associate Professor of Public Health Science.
• Tatyana Bakhmetyeva, Lecturer, Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies.
• Stuart Jordan, Faculty Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL)

2016 recipients

Targeted Delivery Of Cytotoxic Agents For The Eradication Of Leukemia Stem Cells In The Bone Marrow

• INVESTIGATORS: Rudi Fasan, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry; Danielle Benoit, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering; Benjamin Frisch, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine Hematology/Oncology Division
• GOAL: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a major type of hematological cancer which remains associated to poor overall survival, overwhelmingly due to relapse of the disease after pharmacological treatment. This collaborative project is ultimately aimed at developing a novel nanoparticle-based system for the controlled and selective delivery of antileukemic agents to AML and leukemia stem cells within the bone marrow microenvironment. Support from the URA will enable an initial assessment of the functionality and therapeutic potential of this strategy and will be instrumental in collecting key preliminary data for securing external funding from the NIH National Cancer Institute, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Leukemia Research Foundation.

Understanding Cell Turnover And Injury Recovery In The Corneal Endothelium

• INVESTIGATORS: Amy E. Kiernan, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Genetics, Flaum Eye Institute; Jannick Rolland, The Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering, Professor of Optics and Biomedical Engineering, Director of the R.E. Hopkins Center for Optical Design & Engineering, Director of NSF/IUCRC: Center for Freeform Optics, University of Rochester; Holly B. Hindman, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Flaum Eye Institute, the Center for Visual Research, University of Rochester; Patrice Tankam, Research Associate, The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester
• GOAL: Previously considered a quiescent tissue with little turnover, this research will identify potential stem cells in the corneal endothelium, as well as non-invasively track endothelial cell turnover using a combined micron-class optical coherence microscopy and fluorescence microscopy. Results of these studies will reveal important information regarding the capacity for cell regeneration in the corneal endothelium, whose failure contributes significantly to the 30,000 corneal transplants required each year in the U.S.

Molecular Imaging Of Arterial Occlusion In Mice

• INVESTIGATORS: Vyacheslav “Slava” A. Korshunov, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute and Department of Biomedical Genetics, School of Medicine & Dentistry; Marvin M. Doyley, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
• GOAL: This research will facilitate high throughput analyses of pathological arterial remodeling in genetically manipulated or pharmacologically treated mice and produce new therapeutic approaches for treating cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The data generated in this project will be used to support a collaborative NIH research grant (at R01 level) whose goal is to explore the biomechanics of vascular tissues to improve the treatment and diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. Our findings in mice could produce a diagnostic tool for evaluating pathological arterial remodeling in humans.

Role Of Mechanics In Etiology Of Congenital Talipes Equinovarus

• INVESTIGATORS: Catherine K. Kuo, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering; Mark Buckley, Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering; Natasha O’ Malley, Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics
• GOAL: Corrective treatment of congenital talipes equinovarus (clubfoot) involves a tedious 4-year process of surgery and leg bracing. Unfortunately, recurrence by the age of 10 is reported as high as 37%, and advancements in treatments have been limited by unknown etiology. This project will develop novel in vitro and in vivo experimental models to investigate the role of aberrant mechanical loading of embryonic tendons in the development of clubfoot. The findings of this study will help motivate novel prevention or treatment strategies for nearly 200,000 babies born with clubfoot each year.

Catching An Exoplanet’s Rings Pass In Front Of A Bright Star

• INVESTIGATORS: Eric Mamajek, Associate Professor of Physics & Astronomy, Department of Physics & Astronomy
• GOAL: The project will construct a small two-camera observatory which will be able to detect a circumplanetary disk (orring system) associated with the young gas giant planet β Pic b when it passes in front of thestar β Pic in 2017. The proposed mini-observatory will be a critical part of a small network of telescopes on three continents in the southern hemisphere. When combined they will enable nearly continuous monitoring of the star β Pic during the anticipated transit of its planet “b”. The β Pic b transit in 2017 gives astronomers an unprecedented opportunity to be able to detect and study the circumplanetary material orbiting a young gas giant exoplanet. If the eclipse is particularly deep or long, then statistically significant gaps in the rings could provide dynamical evidence for exomoons.

High-Power Yellow Fiber Laser For Sodium Guidestar Applications

• INVESTIGATORS: John R. Marciante, Associate Professor of Optics
• GOAL: The technical goal of this project is to demonstrate visible lasing using special optical fibers. Although high-power visible lasers are highly sought after for a host of environmental sensing, medical, and many other applications, their key and immediate impact is in their application to artificial guidestars for adaptive optical astronomical imaging (yellow) and digital laser cinema (green). Direct visible emission from solid-state lasers has remained elusive for half a century largely due to a combination of atomic processes that rob the laser material of its stored energy and results in either very low laser efficiency or no lasing at all. Using our proprietary method for suppressing the unwanted atomic processes, our concept enables the power scaling typical of high-power, high-efficiency, fiber laser technology. Preliminary measurements have produced solid data which, when fed into our experimentally benchmarked fiber laser models, predict that not only is our new concept scientifically feasible, but it is technologically viable and highly robust, with strong commercial potential.

Early Detection Of Chronic Kidney Disease

• INVESTIGATORS: George J. Schwartz, Department of Pediatrics; Marvin M. Doyley, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Jeffrey M. Purkerson, Department of Pediatrics
• GOAL: The goal of this project is to understand the pathophysiology of having too much acid in the blood (acidosis) and how it may cause the kidney to become damaged. Such knowledge would encourage clinicians to more readily correct chronic acidosis in children and adults. Our proposed studies will determine whether we can ameliorate some of the kidney damage induced by acidosis. We will also investigate whether acute correction of the acidosis with sodium bicarbonate therapy can reverse the acid-induced increases in kidney stiffness, calcium excretion, and inflammation. These innovative experiments will provide better understanding of the pathophysiology of acidosis and provide the confidence to treat it aggressively early in the setting of chronic kidney disease. Such treatment could slow down the progression of kidney disease and delay the need to initiate dialysis in kidney patients perhaps for many years.

Ultrafast Imaging Via Induced Coherence

• INVESTIGATORS: Nick Vamivakas, Institute of Optics
• GOAL: Concepts from quantum mechanics, quantum optics and quantum information are beginning to invade classical optics. These invasions are particularly fruitful when ideas previously thought to be quantum in origin inform classical optics in new and unexpected ways. The expected outcome of this work is a proof-of-principle demonstration using a digital camera to measure an ultrafast optical pulse. These initial results will not only provide the foundation for a larger externally funded research program, but will help maintain Rochester’s position a the forefront of advances in optical science. The essence of the idea is to induce coherence in the spatial domain that is a fingerprint of the interesting temporal dynamics. The end result of such a coherence mapping is that an ordinary digital camera can take a snapshot of ultrafast time dynamics.