Research Highlights Archive
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2006 Highlights
Preserving hearing
Otolaryngology professor Kathleen Campbell (right) has received her third U.S. patent for therapeutic uses of the amino acid D-methionine. Campbell's research with lab animals has shown that the substance can protect against hearing loss from a common chemotherapy drug and from noise exposure. Molecular Therapies Inc., which has licensed the patents, is conducting clinical trials. [more]
Extending probability theory
Mathematician Salah Mohammed was named SIUC's Outstanding Scholar for 2006. Mohammed's research, in an area of math called stochastic analysis, allows better predictions about randomly evolving systems, from weather to the stock market. The National Science Foundation and NATO have funded Mohammed's work, and he has held several international fellowships. [more]
Quit-smoking aids
With a new five-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, psychologist David Gilbert and his long-established Smoking Laboratory will evaluate the effectiveness of nicotine patches versus the drug Zyban in helping smokers kick the habit. The team will look at how the two treatments act on the brain and how they affect quitters' concentration and mood. [more]
Fighting diabetic retinopathy
Work done at SIUC by physiologist Jena Steinle has found that a drug used in asthma treatment may offer a way to prevent diabetic retinopathy, which can cause vision loss and blindness. SIUC is pursuing a patent on the potential advance, which was funded in part by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Calories, insulin, and aging
Physiologist Andrzej Bartke has been awarded a five-year, $1,592,850 grant from the National Institute on Aging for his research on the genetic and nutritional control of aging. Bartke will evaluate the responses of normal mice and long-lived mutant mice to calorie restriction, which can extend life span by reducing insulin release and improving insulin sensitivity. The research could lead to the development of new therapies to protect against the effects of aging in humans.
A new class of materials
Physicist Shane Stadler (right) has won a five-year, $480,000 CAREER award from the National Science Foundation to work on ways of developing high-quality half-metallic alloys. Such materials would make possible a host of new and improved electronic devices and components—including computers that would not lose data in the event of a power loss. Stadler and physicist Naushad Ali also have received a $620,000 U.S. Department of Energy grant to optimize related alloys they've developed that perform better than any others to date for solid-state refrigeration. [Perspectives feature]
Quantum computing
Physicist Mark Byrd has won a five-year, $400,000 CAREER award from the National Science Foundation to study quantum computing error correction, one of the fundamental hurdles in developing a working quantum computer, and to host a national conference at SIUC on the topic. [more]
Ethnomusicology I
A University Museum exhibit curated by Linda M. Smith, a doctoral student in anthropology, won the 2006 Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State and Local History. The honor was for a fall 2004 multimedia exhibit on Southern Illinois folk music. The Leadership in History Award, now in its 61st year, is the most highly coveted award for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.
Ethnomusicology II
Cultural anthropologist Jonathan Hill has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to digitize hours of cassette recordings he made in the 1980s of the music and rituals of the Curripaco, an indigenous people living along a tributary of the Amazon River in Venezuela. The recordings will become part of the "Archiving Significant Collections" project at the Archives of Indigenous Languages of Latin America, housed at the University of Texas at Austin. [more]
Cool beans
With a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, biotechnologist Khalid Meksem (right) and colleagues are setting up a center to breed and screen soybean plants for desirable genetic mutations, such as disease or drought resistance. The center will store genetic profiles and seeds from the plants for use by other crop researchers wanting to produce new soybean varieties, and it will create an online archive for plant geneticists. [more]
Undergrads and materials science
SIUC has become a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program site for the National Science Foundation. Beginning in 2006, a three-year, $228,000 grant will bring undergraduate chemistry, physics, and engineering students—from groups traditionally underrepresented in those fields—to campus for three summers to work on materials research in a laboratory setting. The program encourages students to choose careers in science and engineering. [more]
Immunity challenge
Immunologist Morris Cooper has received a five-year, $975,249 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in individuals who have other sexually transmitted diseases. The research, part of a multi-center project, will examine whether such infection impairs cells' immune responses to HIV, resulting in higher rates of HIV transmission. Study findings may lead to new strategies for disease treatment or prevention.
Safer pregnancies
Obstetrics expert Donald Torry has received a five-year, $1,112,650 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to continue his research on preeclampsia, a common obstetric complication that causes premature deliveries and can endanger the mother's life. Torry's work aims to determine how to boost expression of genes needed for blood vessel formation in the uterus, which could potentially lessen the severity of preeclampsia and allow more time for the pregnancy to continue.
Mining development overseas
Y. Paul Chugh (right), professor of mining and mineral resources engineering and head of the Combustion Byproducts Recycling Consortium—Midwestern Region, will serve as a Fulbright Senior Specialist for several weeks at the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, India. He will work with curriculum and faculty development to enhance the school's capacity in environmental science and engineering. [more]
Crops and weeds
Plant scientist Bryan Young has received $880,000 from Monsanto Co. for research on agricultural weed management and the use of Roundup Ready crops (those engineered to be resistant to the company's Roundup herbicide). The work, part of a four-year, six-state study, will look at farmers' weed management practices and the benefits and risks of Roundup Ready cropping systems, including long-term ecological suitability.
Freedom of the press
In summer 2006 journalism professor Jyotika Ramaprasad led a team of SIUC journalism experts to Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya, where they held requested workshops on the operation of an independent media. The trip was the second in a series of planned exchanges funded by the U.S. State Department. [more]
Drink up
International water resources expert Benedy Dziegielewski has been tapped to help the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California develop an overall water supply strategy to meet future water demands of Los Angeles, San Diego, and other cities and districts in the region. [more]
2005 Highlights
Carrying capacity
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a three-year, $600,000 grant to assistant professor of chemistry Qingfeng Ge to continue his research into hydrogen storage. Ge does computer modeling with the aim of identifying inexpensive, easy-to-use materials that have maximum capacity for carrying hydrogen. The DOE hopes to make hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and refueling stations practicable by 2020.
Taking care of business
Siva Balasubramanian, SIUC's Henry J. Rehn Professor of Marketing, has been awarded a research chair appointment through the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program. He will hold the position in spring 2006 at the University of Alberta at Edmonton's School of Business, where he will do research with Canadian colleagues and help them develop expertise in marketing strategy. Dozens of SIUC faculty have served as Fulbright scholars over the years, but Balasubramanian is the first to be named a Fulbright research chair.
NEH grants
Two faculty members received prestigious grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support their work on book projects. Mass communication professor Jyotsna Kapur is examining the way globalization is affecting child labor in India, while English professor Kevin Dettmar is writing about the use of irony in public communication in Britain and the United States over the past century and a half.
Prairie league
Tallgrass prairie restoration can start with native seeds for dominant grasses or with commercial cultivars of those species. Small genetic differences between the two, however, can affect growth rate and use of nutrients. Such variations may help or hinder other prairie species. With $445,000 from the National Science Foundation, plant biology professors Sara Baer and David Gibson are studying how genetic differences within certain key species can affect an ecosystem's plant community and functioning. Their pioneering project, part of SIUC's new Center for Ecology, will give conservationists better guidelines for restoring tallgrass prairies. [Perspectives feature]
Children's welfare
A new model program at the School of Social Work aims to close the gaps in the state's safety net for children. Funded by $7 million to date from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, the program covers 84 downstate counties. Social workers and psychologists are working closely with DCFS staff to collect critical family information and do screenings in the first few weeks after a child is referred to the agency. This Integrated Assessment Program, the first of its kind in the nation, is overseen by School of Social Work director Mizan Miah and project director Shari Selander.
Brain signals
Physiology professor Lydia Arbogast has been awarded two five-year grants totaling more than $3 million from the National Institutes of Health for her research into the interaction of certain hormones and enzymes in the brain. One of the grants will study the molecular signaling needed for adequate milk production in breastfeeding. The other will look at how the hormone prolactin acts on the central nervous system and how its levels in the body are regulated by another hormone, dopamine. Prolactin is critical to reproduction and breastfeeding, but too much can cause infertility and other problems.
Carbon dioxide sequestration
Research by mining engineering professor Satya Harpalani and his students is part of Illinois' effort to determine if carbon dioxide from coal gasification plants can be stored permanently, and safely, underground. CO2 sequestration is envisioned as a key strategy to keeping the gas out of the atmosphere—where it is a culprit in global warming—while still allowing use of fossil fuels to generate electricity or separate hydrogen. Harpalani's research is funded by federal and state agencies.
When the chips are down
Electrical engineering professor Haibo Wang became the fifth SIUC faculty member in recent years to receive an award from the National Science Foundation's highly competitive CAREER Program. The $400,000 grant will support Wang's work on developing mixed-signal computer chips (those that can read both digital and analog signals) that can figure out on their own if they are damaged and then repair themselves. A self-repairing chip would be especially useful in places where routine maintenance is difficult, such as in space, on battlefields, or in robots.
Cottrell Scholar
Chemistry professor Boyd Goodson was named one of only 13 Cottrell Scholars nationwide for 2005. The $100,000 awards, made by Research Corporation, a foundation for the advancement of science, are given to faculty expected to make significant fundamental advances in science. Goodson's research involves techniques to improve nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of molecular structure and dynamics in thin-film materials, which will improve materials design.
Looking at both sides
A thesis documentary by Hilla Medalia, a graduate student in professional media practice, was shown at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and won a 2004 Angelus Award. The film, "Daughters of Abraham," gives American audiences a better understanding of the Middle East conflict by exploring the lives of two teenagers: a Palestinian girl who became a suicide bomber and an Israeli girl who died in the attack. [Ed.—Hilla's thesis work became the foundation for an HBO documentary she filmed, to be aired in fall 2007 under the title "To Die in Jerusalem."]
Breast cancer and metastasis
Kounosuke Watabe, a professor of medical microbiology, immunology, and cell biology at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield, was awarded a three-year, $425,887 grant from the U.S. Army to study a gene that blocks the spread of breast cancer cells in the body. The research will look at how these cells spread from the primary tumor to distant organs and may lead to new treatments to prevent the spread of breast cancer.
Ototoxicity
Otolaryngologist Leonard Rybak, a surgeon and faculty member with the SIU School of Medicine's surgery and pharmacology departments, was named SIUC's Outstanding Scholar for 2005. Rybak is known worldwide for his research on how drugs used to treat other ailments can damage the inner ear and cause hearing loss. He also studies aging and changes in the inner ear. His findings are helping scientists develop new therapies to prevent hearing loss. The National Institutes of Health has funded his research for two decades.
Environmental leadership
Karen Lips, an associate professor of zoology, is among a select group of 20 North American environmental researchers chosen to receive a 2005 Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship. Lips, who is studying the causes of amphibian declines in Latin America, is known internationally for helping detect a previously unknown fungus that appears to play a part in population crashes of some frog species. She and the other Leopold Fellows will work to better communicate important scientific findings to the media, policy makers, and the public.
2004 Highlights
Volcanic discovery in Antarctica
Geology professor Scott Ishman and graduate student Phillip Szymcek were part of an international scientific team that discovered a previously unknown, active volcano in the Antarctic Sound. The National Science Foundation formally announced the discovery on May 20, 2004. Ishman's work on climate change and ice shelf melting in Antarctica is funded by NSF.
All things Irish-American
Charles Fanning, professor of English and history, was named SIUC's Outstanding Scholar for 2004 for his work on Irish-American immigration and culture. Fanning, who has written, co-written, or edited 12 books, is considered the leading expert on Irish-American studies. He has uncovered and preserved much 19th-century Irish-American literature for future generations and used it to understand what life was like for Irish immigrants.
More CAREER Award winners
The National Science Foundation's prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award was awarded to two more assistant professors in SIUC's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, bringing its number of CAREER Award holders to four. Yong Gao has received $465,000 for research on using magnetic nanoparticles to recycle reagents, catalysts, and other chemical compounds by extracting impurities. Boyd Goodson has received $550,000 for research on using lasers and liquid crystal solutions to enhance nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of molecular structure and dynamics.
A Lincoln Prize for a Grant scholar
John Y. Simon, history professor and executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, was awarded a 2004 Lincoln Prize from the Lincoln and Soldiers Institute at Gettysburg College for outstanding achievement for The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant. This editorial project, which Simon has directed since its inception in 1962, is making Grant's correspondence and other papers available to historians and the public and stands at 26 volumes to date. The Lincoln Prizes are among the most prestigious history awards in the nation.
Lincoln Center debut
Pianist Heidi Louise Williams received an Artists International Special Presentation Award to give her New York recital debut at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Alice Tully Hall in April 2004. Williams has performed across the United States and in Europe.
Sea Grant fellowship for fisheries research
Jesse Trushenski, a doctoral student in zoology, won one of only five fellowships awarded to graduate students across the country through the National Sea Grant College Program. The two-year, $30,000 fellowship is allowing her to work with industry researchers to improve the health of sunshine bass, an aquaculture species, via diet rather than drugs.
Executive behavior
A five-year, $1.65 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health was awarded to neuropsychologist Kimberly Andrews Espy to study how self-control develops in three- to six-year-old children. The knowledge will help researchers better understand problems children have that relate to self-control, such as attention deficit disorder.
Business PR and propaganda in Nazi Germany
Jonathan Wiesen, a historian of German society and culture, was awarded a 2004-05 fellowship from Germany's Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to conduct research at the Center for Comparative European History at Free University of Berlin. Wiesen is studying German businesses, public relations, and propaganda during the Nazi period.
Health policy and the media
Jason Barabas, an assistant professor in political science, was one of 12 young scholars nationwide to be awarded a two-year postdoctoral fellowship from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholars in Health Policy Research Program. The program's purpose is to produce the next generation of creative thinkers and problem solvers in health policy in the United States. Barabas will conduct research at Harvard University's Center for Basic Research in the Social Sciences on the mass media and citizens' views about health-care policies.
Chromatin remodeling
Molecular biologist Blaine Bartholomew received two National Institutes of Health grants in 2004 totaling more than half a million dollars to continue his studies of how protein complexes in the cell "remodel" chromatin, the chromosomal material containing DNA, so that the DNA can be transcribed to activate certain genes. Information about these cellular processes is critical for cancer research.
