News
SBU CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES RECEIVES $7.4 MILLION FROM NIH TO RESEARCH EMERGING PATHOGENS
New Five-Year Award Extends Research, Brings NIH Total
Funding to $23 Million
Faculty from the Center
for Infectious Diseases (CID) at SBU. From left,
standing: Drs. Jorge Benach, Adrianus van der Velden,
Martha Furie, David Thanassi, and Erich Mackow. From
left, seated: Drs. Wali Karzai and James Bliska.
The Center for Infectious Diseases (CID) at Stony Brook University received a $7.4 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue a research program focused on investigating emerging organisms causing bacterial and viral infections in humans. The grant is a competitive renewal of a grant that began in 2004 for a grand total of $23 million.
“Infectious diseases are a real threat to human health locally and globally, making research in this area more important than ever,” said Dr. Samuel Stanley, Jr., President of Stony Brook University. “I congratulate Dr. Benach and his colleagues at the CID for obtaining new support for this vital work,” he said.
“There are a number of emerging organisms that have the potential to cause human diseases, but what we really need to understand is why these organisms are so virulent, which is an essential step in planning how to deal with them,” says Jorge Benach, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, and Director of the CID.
SBU Receives more Stimulus Dollars for Translational Research
Richard Clark, BME, in collaboration with Adam Singer,
Emergency Medicine, are the recipients of a RC2 stimulus grant
for $1.65 million over 2 years entitled: Novel Peptide to
Inhibit Burn Injury Progression. The Clark laboratory has
been at the forefront of studies related to extracellular matrix
derived components for accelerated healing of wounds and burn
related injuries. Specifically the members of the
laboratory have made many seminal observations regarding the
sources and significance of fibronectin protein in wounds and
wound healing over the past several decades. They have
recently discovered bioactive peptides within the fibronectin
structure that enhance the activity of growth factors and act as
survival factors for tissue cells and are applying that
knowledge to the development of systemic and topical treatments
to prevent burn injury progression and to promote healing.
Clark is the scientific founder of NeoMatrix Formulations, Inc and FibroMatrix, LLC. These companies are in the development phase of moving novel bioactive peptides discovered in his laboratory and biopolymer composites created in his laboratory to the market place. While at Stony Brook University, he has been the recipient of a 10-year National Institute of Health Merit Award.
Dr. Clark is currently serving as President of the Society for Investigative Dermatology, founded to promote the sciences related to skin health and disease.
Increasing Diversity in Geosciences
A proposal headed up by Gil Hanson, Distinguished Service
Professor in the
Department of
Geosciences, has been funded by the National Science
Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Geosciences in the amount of
$1.5 million for five years. “GeoPREP Track 2: Expanding the
Geoscience Pathway” aims to increase diversity in the
Geosciences. This effort was spearheaded by Principal
Investigator Hanson and co-PIs Brian Colle, Associate Professor,
School of Marine and
Atmospheric Sciences; David Ferguson, Distinguished Service
Professor and Chair,
Department of Technology and Society; Kamazima Lwiza,
Associate Professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences;
David Bynum, Director,
Center for Science
and Mathematics Education; and Paul Siegel, of Technology
and Society and the Director of
GeoPREP.. Siegel was instrumental in bringing the co-PIs
together, and he has played a significant role in the design and
creation of the GeoPREP program.
The OEDG program is designed to address the fact that certain groups are underrepresented in the Geosciences relative to the proportions of those groups in the general population. The primary goal of the program is to increase participation in the geosciences by African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans (American Indians and Alaskan Natives), Native Pacific Islanders (Polynesians or Micronesians), and persons with disabilities.
STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR RECEIVES FUNDING FROM NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Baosheng
Li awarded $675,000 for materials project
Baosheng Li, a research professor in the Mineral Physics Institute, will serve as principal investigator for a project titled “Thermoelasticity of SSP Materials: An Integrated Acoustic and Diffraction Study at High-P and High-T.” Li’s research is to investigate the behavior and physical properties of materials under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. The award is part of more than $20 million in NNSA grants awarded to 28 researchers from 18 states.
This award was made possible through the NNSA’s Stewardship Science Academic Alliances (SSAA) program.
Joanna Fowler, chemistry, honored as recipient of national medal of science
Professor Joanna Fowler, senior scientist at Brookhaven
National Laboratory and adjunct faculty member of the Chemistry
Department at Stony Brook is the recipient of the prestigious
National Medal of Science awarded at a ceremony in the White
House earlier this month. Congratulations Joanna!
She was also awarded the National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences earlier this year.
For more information see: http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=1010&template=Today
OBA to Webcast Panel Discussion on Dual Use Research for International Audience
The charge of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity includes fostering an international dialogue on dual use life sciences research - or life sciences research that is conducted for legitimate scientific purposes but produces information, knowledge, or technology that may be misused to threaten human, animal or plant health and/or national security. Toward that end, OBA will be hosting on October 22 a moderated discussion with participants across the Americas to address the concepts of "dual use research” and “dual use research of concern," how risks associated with dual use research of concern can be meaningfully assessed, and strategies for managing and addressing these risks.
Session presenters include Amy P. Patterson, M.D., Acting Associate Director for Science Policy, National Institutes of Health; Dennis L. Kasper, M.D., NSABB Chair, Harvard Medical School; David R. Franz, D.V.M., Ph.D., Chair of NSABB International Engagement Working Group, Midwest Research Institute; and Stuart B. Levy, M.D. Co-Chair of NSABB International Engagement Working Group, Tufts School of Medicine. Remote participants in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and North America will submit questions and comments for the panel to consider. All interested individuals are welcomed to view this informative event through the Internet.
For more information on the agenda and specific instructions on accessing the Webcast, connect to: http://oba.od.nih.gov/biosecurity/internationalwebcast.html
For further information contact Judy Matuk at judy.matuk@stonybrook.edu.
WINNER OF SBU DARE COMPETITION LAUNCHES STARTUP: DOTGO launch at DEMO in San Diego
The
company was founded by Stefan Gromoll and Kenneth M. Lanzetta in
January 2007, was selected a co-winner of the Stony Brook
University DARE entrepreneurial competition in May 2007, and was
awarded Small Business Innovation Research Phase 1, 1b, and 2
grants by the National Science Foundation in January 2008, April
2008, and February 2009, respectively.
Scientific Media, Inc. (founded in 2007 by Kenneth M. Lanzetta, Physics and Astronomy, and Stefan Gromoll, a former graduate student in Astrophysics) announced the launch of DOTGO, a powerful new mobile publishing platform, at the prestigious DEMO launch venue in San Diego on September 23rd. DOTGO, partially funded by the NSF, is a revolutionary product that allows any company, brand, or web site to quickly, easily, and cheaply offer mobile services, with particular emphasis on text messaging.
For more information about the company and the founders, see hhttp://dotgo.com/AboutUs/.
STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR CO-AUTHORS NEW COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS WHICH SHEDS LIGHT ON THE ORIGIN OF CETACEANS
 |
| Eocene "walking whale" |
The State of the Unions – American Labor featured on PBS Stations in September
Michael Zweig, Director, Center for Study of Working Class
Life and Bill Fletcher, co-author of SOLIDARITY DIVIDED: THE
CRISIS IN ORGANIZED LABOR AND A NEW PATH TOWARD SOCIAL JUSTICE
appeared on PBS stations in September in a conversation about
the crisis facing organized labor, and its relationship to the
Obama administration and the broader working class.
Bill Moyers talked with Michael and Bill about the state of organized labor and what it needs to do to face the challenges of the 21st-century economy.
For more information see: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09182009/profile.html
ARRA Funding at Stony Brook (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009)
Stony Brook researchers have been very successful in
acquiring recovery act funding and lead the SUNY system in the
number of awards and the amount of funding provided. As of this
writing Stony Brook has received 75 ARRA awards with budgets
totaling $25,474,679.
For more information on ARRA see: http://www.sunysb.edu/research/news/arra/
| Sponsor Name | Awards | ARRA Funding |
| Colorado State University (Federal Flow Through) | 1 | 335,896 |
| Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child | 4 | 546,007 |
| Georgetown University (Federal Flow Through) | 1 | 150,000 |
| National Cancer Institute | 3 | 585,063 |
| National Center for Research Resources | 4 | 1,189,524 |
| National Eye Institute | 4 | 584,747 |
| National Inst of Arthritis Musculoskeletal & Skin | 4 | 2,969,390 |
| National Inst of Biomedical Imaging and Bioenginee | 1 | 375,571 |
| National Inst of Neurological Disorders & Stroke | 6 | 1,499,271 |
| National Institute for Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism | 1 | 390,000 |
| National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Disease | 6 | 4,682,330 |
| National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Res | 1 | 292,575 |
| National Institute of General Medical Sciences | 12 | 1,740,042 |
| National Institute on Drug Abuse | 3 | 731,629 |
| National Science Foundation | 24 | 9,402,634 |
| Grand Total | 75 | $ 25,474,679 |
GET 10% more on your federal grant
New York State has established the New York State Innovation
Economy Matching Grants Program -
http://www.nystar.state.ny.us/matching/ - providing a 10%
match from state funds "to support ARRA applications to federal
agencies in strategic technology areas that have been identified
as crucial to the expansion of the State’s economy." At this
moment 24 federal programs have been approved by the Governor's
Recovery Cabinet as eligible for this match.
The 10% match is calculated on the total amount (Direct Costs + F&A) of the federal award only. "State matching funds may be used for expenses associated with the application including, but not limited to, salaries, construction, equipment, materials, and supplies. New York State funds cannot be used to pay for general operational costs such as rent and utility costs. No indirect administrative costs will be allowed under this program."
Online application form is accessible from - http://www.nystar.state.ny.us/matching/apply.htm.
Currently supported funding announcements listed here - http://www.nystar.state.ny.us/stimulus.htm.
Please call your Office of Sponsored Programs representative if you have any questions. If the program to which you are applying has not yet received Recovery Cabinet approval for the match by the time of the application deadline, you will be provided with language to highlight the potential for the match.
GOOD NEWS REGARDING RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH
The National Science Foundation is placing its trust in
universities when it comes to ethical standards in research.
The America Competes Act was designed to improve U.S. competitiveness in mathematics and science. This past August the National Science Foundation announced its plans for carrying out a requirement of the law that all NSF grant recipients be trained in the "responsible and ethical conduct" of research.
In order to comply, the NSF has decided to “Let the universities handle it.” In rules published in the Federal Register, the NSF said it would require institutions to certify that they have provided ethics training, and would not routinely ask universities to submit any description of the actual content of the instruction.
"While training plans are not required to be included in proposals submitted to NSF," the agency said, "institutions are advised that they are subject to review upon request."
The NSF will make some guidelines available for teaching ethics, including workshops and online resources, but would not dictate specific content standards. "Training needs may vary depending on specific circumstances of research or the needs of students," the NSF said... "Therefore, it is the responsibility of each institution to determine both the content and the delivery method for the training that will meet the institution's particular needs" for ethics training, it said.
About 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted at U.S. universities is supplied by the NSF’s annual budget of approximately $6-billion. According to the NSF, a series of requests for universities to be allowed to pay for ethics training through an exemption from the general 26-percent cap on administrative costs in research grants has been received, however the NSF has said that it does not have the authority to change that cap.
SBU and RFSUNY POLICIES and OPERATIONS
WEBSITE FOR NEW FACULTY SETTING UP LABS FOR THE FIRST TIME
EH&S has created a new web page for faculty setting up their lab for the first time. Information and links to most of the various safety regulatory requirements needed are included.
For more information see: http://www.stonybrook.edu/ehs/lab/newfaculty.shtml
If you will be working with any of the following in your lab, follow the links to learn what you need to comply with Stony Brook University procedures:
- Laboratory Safety
- Animals Facilities(DLAR, IACUC)
- Biological Material (includes Infectious Agents, Human material, Select agents)
- Chemicals
- DEA Controlled Substances
- Human Subjects (IRB)
- Radiation (URPC)
- Recombinant DNA or Transgenic Animals (IBC)
Federal Announcements
NIH Announces Tool for Grant Searches
As of Sept. 1, RePORTER replaced NIH's now-retired CRISP system.
Link: http://projectreporter.nih.gov/
NSF’s DIVISION OF GRADUATE EDUCATION FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
The NSF's Division of Graduate Education invites applications
for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program to support
outstanding graduate students in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
A total of $66.99 million in new fellowships will be offered through the program. Approximately 1,654 graduate fellowships will be awarded. The program's stipend for students is $30,000 for a 12-month period and up to three years of support will be provided. Eligibility is restricted to graduate students pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in STEM disciplines and who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent resident aliens.
Applications are due between Nov 2-12, with the exact day determined by the applicant's field of study. More information regarding NSF 09-603 is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09603/nsf09603.htm.
OVPR Announcements
COEUS Roll-out of Proposal Development Module Begins
All federal sponsors are transitioning to mandatory
electronic proposal submission through Grants.gov using an
adobe-based proposal package. There have been many concerns,
nationwide, regarding Grants.gov's instability and transmission
problems at times of high volume. Alternatives to using the
adobe package to transmit to Grants.gov would be to build our
own in-house "system-to-system" computer program or to purchase
one of these systems from a vendor or education institution that
has already built one that can communicate directly with
Grants.gov.
The Office of Sponsored Programs on behalf of Stony Brook University and in conjunction with the University at Buffalo, the University at Albany, and Binghamton University has entered into a consortium arrangement to license Massachusetts Institute of Technology's COEUS software product. Currently, this product is licensed to over 40 institutions including Johns Hopkins University, the largest US recipient of NIH funding. In addition to the proposal preparation and submission module, COEUS provides internal proposal routing and approval, and modules for proposal and award tracking, research compliance and conflict of interest approvals.
On July 1st, 2008 the Office of Sponsored Programs has initiated the use of the Proposal Log and Institute Proposal modules to record proposals received and submitted. Over the last several months OSP has released proposal preparation training materials on the OSP website and held campus pilot training sessions for the Proposal Development module in anticipation of implementation.
We anticipate a systematic roll-out of the Proposal Development module by School, beginning in the Fall with the departments under the College of Arts and Sciences. As your department is being set up for use of the COEUS System, you will be required to view the training material on-line in order to gain access to the live system.
Please feel free to access the on-line training tutorial now at http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/osp/coeus-training.shtml. You will need your Stony Brook NETID to access the training site. After you view the material, if you would like to participate in a hands-on training session, contact Esther Miller at Esther.Miller@Stonybrook.edu or Kathryn Belmonte at Kathryn.Belmonte@stonybrook.edu.
We will also require that authorized signatories for each department attend a training session on routing of proposals electronically prior to their department's use of the COEUS system. OSP will be contacting department heads to arrange these training sessions. To learn more about COEUS please visit http://www.coeus.org and feel free to send any questions or comments to Ivar.Strand@stonybrook.edu.
Stem Cell Research Oversight (SCRO) Committee
Prior to commencing with research using human embryonic stem cells/cell lines or other pluripotent stem cells/cell lines regardless of source (not limited to embryos, adult tissues, amniotic fluid or fetal tissue), Stony Brook University investigators must now have their research protocols approved by SBU's new Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee (SCRO)
NIH released the new Guidelines on Human Stem Cell Research effective July 7, 2009. The Guidelines can be viewed in detail at: http://stemcells.nih.gov/policy/2009guidelines.htm.
In addition to NIH guidelines, The State of New York, Department of Health, requires review/approval and monitoring of the following:
- Human embryonic stem cells
- Human totipotent or pluripotent cells
- Human pluripotent stem cell lines
- Human neural and gonadal progenitor stem cells or
- Other somatic tissues or stem cell research (excluding cells that remain restricted in tissue potential and are not known to possess totipotent or pluripotent potential). An example would be Mesenchymal stem cells.
Therefore, even if you are not using human embryonic stem cells, approval may still be needed for human stem cell research.
Of note:
- NIH will create a stem cell registry listing lines eligible for federal funding.
- For embryos donated before July 7, 2009, the line must be on the registry or PI must demonstrate compliance with requirements and provide this documentation to NIH for review.
- Stem cell lines created before July 7th will undergo review by an appointed committee that will advise NIH on whether ethical procedures were employed when obtaining consent for embryo donation and therefore the cell line should be listed on the NIH Registry, eligible for NIH funding and not need additional review.
- The appointed committee will evaluate foreign derived stem cell lines, created both before and after the effective date of the Guidelines.
- Federal funding for research using stem cell lines derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer, parthenogenesis, or from embryos created expressively for research purposes is not allowed.
- Donation of embryos - Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) embryos are allowed.
- Embryo donors must be informed of all embryo disposal options "available in the health care facility where treatment was sought" rather than all available options.
- Documentation must be maintained that "no payments, cash or in kind, were offered for donated embryos."
- Consent for research donation is to be done when consent for reproductive treatment is done.
- IVF physician and the researcher seeking embryo donation should be different individuals but is not always possible, nor is it required.
As we work to finalize details concerning specific policies and procedures, we request that the SCRO application be completed to cover the activities described above that you are, or will be, conducting. An educational module is under development to satisfy the requirement for training, so just leave that question on the application blank at this time.
The completed application should be emailed to maryoneill@notes.cc.sunysb.edu with follow-up hardcopy (signatures) to Mary O'Neill, Office of Research Compliance, Z=3368.
This
month, the Office of VP for Research highlights Dr. Joanna
Fowler, Senior Scientist at the Medical Department at BNL and
Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at SBU. Earlier this month, she
was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Barack
Obama.
Also featured in our "Spotlight" section is the Institute of Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University.
Links can be found on http://www.stonybrook.edu/research.
Federal Funding Opportunities
NSF’s
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences invites
Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships and Research Starter
Grants in an effort to increase the diversity of researchers who
participate in NSF programs in the social, behavioral and economic
sciences and thereby increase the participation of scientists from
underrepresented groups in selected areas of science in the United
States. Up to 12 total fellowships and follow-up research starter
grants will be awarded. Only individuals who are U.S. citizens,
nationals, or permanent residents may apply. The proposals must
be submitted by the individual directly to the NSF. U.S. academic
institutions may apply for follow-up research starter grants with
the former Fellow as principal investigator. Applications are due
Oct 19. More information regarding NSF 09-595 is available at:
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf09595
NSF
invites proposals for the Research Experiences for Undergraduates
(REU) program. REU projects involve students in meaningful
ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically
designed for the REU program. This solicitation features two
mechanisms for support of student research. The first, REU Sites,
is based on independent proposals to initiate and conduct projects
that engage a number of students in research. REU Sites may be based
in a single discipline or academic department, or on interdisciplinary
or multi-department research opportunities with a coherent intellectual
theme. A partnership with the Department of Defense supports REU
Sites in DoD-relevant research areas. The second is REU Supplements
that may be requested for ongoing NSF-funded research projects or
may be included as a component of proposals for new or renewal NSF
grants or cooperative agreements. Proposals are due Oct 22.
More information regarding NSF 09-598 is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf09598.
Funding Opportunities
Funding Opportunities Database
You can now access our new weekly Funding Opportunities Bulletin at http://www.stonybrook.edu/fundingopportunities. Here, you can search for Funding Opportunities by discipline, deadlines and keywords.
SEMINARS/LECTURES
November 18-19, 2009, Hyatt Regency, Long Island.More information at http://www.aertc.org/conference09/index.html
If you are in any way involved in the search for innovative solutions to the world's energy needs, then Advanced Energy 2009 is the one conference you cannot afford to miss. On November 18 & 19 the energy world will be focused on the Hyatt Regency Long Island hotel in Hauppauge, New York.
Registration: If you wish to register for Advanced Energy 2009 ($300 Registration Fee), please contact: Kathleen Ferrell at kferrell@notes.cc.sunysb.edu, or by telephone at (631) 632-4625.
This year's conference will have important Program Tracks including:
- Energy Policy, Energy Sector Finance
- Battery/Energy Storage/Load Management
- Smart Grid, Intelligent Transmission & Distribution
- Solar, BioFuels, Wind, Geothermal, Tidal, Hydrogen Economy
- Wireless Energy Applications
- Low Carbon Society, Climate Change & Sustainable Building
- Intelligent Transportation
- Energy Efficient Data Centers
This is the third annual Advanced Energy Conference being produced by the Advanced Energy Center at Stony Brook Research & Development Park.
The Advanced Energy Center is a public-private partnership dedicated to the advancement of energy research and technology deployment. In addition to over 56 energy provider exhibits from several countries, the Advanced Energy Conference will feature internationally recognized speakers who will share energy research, energy technologies and applied energy technologies with global applications.
MASTER THE TECHNIQUES OF WRITING SUPERIOR AND WINNING PROPOSALS
Professional Grant Development Workshop Proposal Writing I
November 11-13, 2009 Location: The City College of New
York, New York, NY
Sponsored by: The Grant Training Center Online at: The Grant Training Center
Learn how to prepare, write and secure proposals from various funding agencies at the Grant Development Workshop at City College of New York. With the 2009 Economic Stimulus Package, comes new opportunities to receive funding. Doing so requires proper strategy and knowledge which will be demonstrated in this interactive workshop. Space is limited so seating is available on a first-come first-serve basis.
FALL FACULTY LECTURES
Wednesday, October 21 Professor Ellen Pikitch, Executive
Director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science
Stemming the Tide of Ocean Extinctions
Wang Center, Lecture Hall 2 ,
5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
It is hard to fathom
irreversible loss in the sea since the ocean has long been
considered vast and infinitely bountiful. But because of
pollution, habitat destruction, overfishing and the effects of
global climate change, we are now faced with a spiraling decline
of marine ecosystems, including the irreversible loss of
species. Professor Pikitch will describe the causes and
consequences of extinction in the sea, through personal accounts
of her expeditions and efforts to save sharks, sturgeon, and
other marine wildlife around the globe.
More about Ellen Pikitch »
Thursday, October 22 Professor Richard Leakey, Professor of
Anthropology
Staller Center, Main Stage, 5:00 pm
to 6:30 pm
Richard Leakey is Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook
University and former Director of the Kenya National Museums and
the Kenya Wildlife Service. His field work at Lake Natron on the
Kenya-Tanzania border, in the Lower Omo Valley in Ethiopia, and
all around Lake Turkana
in Kenya, yielded a treasure trove of hominid fossils that has
provided much of the paleontological record on which our
understanding of human evolution is based. He has served as a
leading spokesman for Transparency International, a global
coalition to fight corruption, and for the Great Apes Survival
Project, a United Nations effort to defend mankind's closest
relatives.
More
about Richard Leakey »
Saturday, October 24 Howard Schneider, Dean, School of
Journalism
How Do You Know If You're Getting the Truth from the News
Media?
Javits Center, 11:30 am to 12:30
pm.
As the Digital Age spawns a flood of information and
misinformation around the clock and from around the world, Dean
Howard Schneider describes specific strategies to sort fiction
from fact, uninformed opinion from news and unsubstantiated
rumor from verifiable news accounts. Learn how you can become
"news literate."
The Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University is
committed to teaching students how to use critical thinking
skills to judge the reliability and credibility of news reports
and news sources. It is the only such center in the United
States.
More about Howard Schneider »
Monday, October 26 Clint Rubin, Chair, Department of
Biomedical Engineering
Engineering an Intervention for Osteoporosis and Obesity
Wang Center, Lecture Hall 2, 5:30 pm.
Osteoporosis and obesity affect more than 30% of the American
population and the result is close to $200B in annual health
service costs. Control of these diseases has proven difficult,
with perhaps their most common factor being a "sedentary
lifestyle" and the most common intervention being exercise,
indicating a pivotal role of mechanical signals in defining bone
and fat mass. Research has indicated that extremely small
magnitude mechanical signals stimulate bone formation in the
weight bearing skeleton and may represent a non-drug therapy for
too much fat or not enough bone.
More
about Clint Rubin »
Tuesday, October 27 John Morgan, Director, The Simons Center
for Geometry & Physics
Why a Center for Geometry and Physics?
Wang Center, Lecture Hall 2, 5:45
pm to 6:30 pm.
During the past 35 years the subjects of geometry and physics have become increasingly intertwined. The new Simons Center for Geometry and Physics is dedicated to exploring this relationship and its consequences: Why do the mathematically non-rigorous methods of physics lead to so many fruitful questions and conjectures in geometry and possibly lead eventually to a completely new kind of geometry?
Conversely, are
quantum field theory and/or string theory the way to describe
the fundamental laws of nature, and is a new mathematical
context necessary for their correct formulation and analysis?
More about John Morgan »
Wednesday, October 28 Edward Casey, Distinguished Professor,
Philosophy Department
A Matter of Edge: Border vs. Boundary at La Frontera
Wang Center, Lecture Hall 2, 5:30 pm
to 6:30 pm.
The
complex and evolving situation at La Frontera, the U.S.-Mexico
border, has been central to current discussions of immigration
reform in the United States. In this talk, I bring to bear my
recent research on the differences between borders and
boundaries in order to illuminate the earlier history of La
Frontera as well as what is now happening in the region. Special
attention is paid to the extensive wall erected at the border: a
massive structure that marks and reinforces a circumstance that
is unjust and often tragic in its ecological and human
consequences.
More about Ed Casey »
Fall 2009 Provost Lecture Series
The Eleventh Annual George Goodman Memorial Symposium
October 29: Maude Barlow, Thursday, October 29, 2009, 4:00 pm, Student
Activities Center Auditorium.
Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly. She also chairs the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch and is a Councilor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council.
Maude is the recipient of eight honorary doctorates as well as many awards, including the 2005 Right Livelihood Award (known as the “Alternative Nobel”), the Citation of Lifetime Achievement at the 2008 Canadian Environment Awards, and the 2009 Earth Day Canada Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award. She is also the best-selling author or co-author of 16 books, including the recently released Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and The Coming Battle for the Right to Water. View video »
November
3: Adrienne Asch
Disability and Bioethics: Can Controversies Be Resolved?
Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 2:30 pm, Student Activities Center,
Ballroom A.
Adrienne Asch is the Director of the Center for Ethics at Yeshiva University, where she holds appointments at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Wurzweiler School of Social Work. Her work focuses on ethical issues in reproduction, death and dying, and justice for disadvantaged minorities in American society. She is a member of the NY State Task Force on Life and the Law, board member of the Society for Jewish Ethics, the Academic Coalition for Jewish Bioethics, and the American Civil Liberties Union. She is also a Fellow of the Hastings Center and of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters, and is the co-editor of Prenatal Testing and Disability Rights and The Double-Edged Helix: Social Implications of Genetics in a Diverse Society. Read abstract » Co-sponsored by Stony Brook's Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics.
Inaugural Lecture of the Distinguished Speaker Series on the Future of Energy Long Island Forum on Energy
November 9: John H. Marburger,
III
Energy, Economics, and Ethics
Monday, November 9, 2009, 4:00 pm, Student Activities
Center, Ballroom B.
John H. Marburger, III, a professor in the departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering at Stony Brook and the third President of Stony Brook University (1980-1994), served as Science Advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) during the Bush Administration (2001-2009). Serving during a time of deep political and ideological divisions, especially regarding climate change and human embryonic stem cell research, Marburger brought high standards of fairness and objectivity to the science policy process, and launched a movement to strengthen the "science of science policy" that achieved international recognition. Prior to his federal service, he was Director of Brookhaven National Laboratory from 1998. Professor Marburger's current research centers on physical systems that display quantum properties of possible importance in a future quantum information technology. Co-sponsored by Brookhaven National Laboratory and Long Island Forum on Energy.
ABOUT RESEARCH NEWS
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