News from 4/2015

Klaus Schulten: Seeing with the Quantum Biology of Vision

Klaus Schulten, Illinois physics professor and head of the Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, works with researchers at the Energy Biosciences Institute based in the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) to unlock the secrets behind photosynthesis in bacteria, algae, and plants to find ways to utilize sunlight for human energy needs

Barbey Suggests Updated Treatment for Brain-Injured Patients

Advances in cognitive neuroscience should inform the treatment of traumatic brain injuries, according to a new report co-authored by Aron Barbey, faculty member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Group and Illinois neuroscience professor.

Four Beckman Faculty Members Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Gary Dell, full-time faculty member in the Cognitive Science Group, John Rogers, full-time faculty member in the 3D Micro- and Nanosystems Group, Taekjip Ha, affiliate faculty member, and Cathy Murphy, affiliate faculty member in Nanoelectronics and Nanosystems, have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. 

Liang Receives EMBS Distinguished Service Award

Zhi-Pei Liang, full-time faculty member in the Bioimaging Science and Technology Group, has been selected to receive the 2015 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) Distinguished Service Award for "outstanding service to EMBS and the field of biomedical engineering." The award will be presented in August during the opening ceremony of EMBC'15.

Understanding Our Sense of Smell

How exactly our sense of smell works is one of the most important, unanswered questions in sensory science. It’s also a question that has resulted in an acrimonious controversy that spans nearly two decades. Beckman faculty member Ken Suslick, of the Bioimaging Science and Technology Group, weighs in on the debate. 

Lyding Receives Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology

Joseph W. Lyding, professor of electrical and computer Engineering and full-time member of the Beckman Institute's Nanoelectronics and Nanomaterials Group, has been named the recipient of the Foresight Institute Feynman Prize for experimental work. Lyding is a pioneer in the development of scanning tunneling microscope (STM) technology and particularly hydrogen depassivation lithography.

Mother's Presence Changes Brain Activity in Adolescent

Teens are less likely to take risks and also find responsible behavior more rewarding when their mother is present, researchers found. This study was led by Eva Telzer, from Beckman's Cognitive Neuroscience Group and Illinois psychology professor. 

Three Beckman Faculty Members Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Three Beckman Institute faculty members have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the longest-standing honorary societies in the nation. J. Kathryn Bock and Gary S. Dell, of the Cognitive Science Group and Illinois psychology professors, and Taekjip Ha, Beckman affiliate and physics professor, will join other new members in an induction ceremony in October in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Scientists Observe Structure-Function Relationship in Proteins

By combining two highly innovative experimental techniques, scientists at Illinois, led by Beckman affiliate Taekjip Ha, have for the first time simultaneously observed the structure and the correlated function of specific proteins critical in the repair of DNA.

Evolution of Menstruation

Kathryn Clancy, affiliate faculty member in Cognitive Science, explains how research in the early 1900s was colored by deeply entrenched taboos against menstruating women, some of which persist even today. "Some of the early thoughts on menstruation were that it was removing toxins from the body," says Kathryn Clancy, an anthropologist at Illinois.

Electronic Device Performance Enhanced with New Transistor Encasing Method

Joseph Lyding, full-time faculty member in the Nanoelectronics and Nanomaterials Group and professor of electrical and computer engineering, and graduate student Jae Won Do led a research team to develop a new method of soldering gaps between carbon nanotubes, a new type of transistor.

Free Public Panel on Traditional and Alternative Science Careers

As part of the 21st Century Scientists Workshop, there will be a free public panel on traditional and alternative science careers at 1 p.m. on Friday, April 17 in the Beckman Institute Auditorium. Among the panelists is Patty Jones, associate director for research at the Beckman Institute.

Beckman Center Finds BPA Exposure Affects Fertility For Three Generations

In a study of mice, University of Illinois researchers linked BPA exposure during pregnancy to reproductive problems in the next three generations. This project was done in conjunction with the Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center, based at the Beckman Institute.

Researchers Use High-Powered Laser to Determine Structural Evolution of Alloy

Yang Zhang, affiliate faculty member of the Autonomous Materials Systems Group, co-lead a team of researchers that have found a new class of alloys that retain enhanced mechanical properties even when the mixing is uneven or disordered, which opens up new possibilities for future alloy design.

Schulten Receives NSF Funds to Study Ebola on Blue Waters

Klaus Schluten, of Beckman's Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group and a professor of physics at Illinois, is leading one of three research teams chosen to gain new understanding of the deadly Ebola virus using the computational power of NCSA's Blue Waters supercomputer. Allocations for the study were provided through the National Science Foundation’s Rapid Response Research program.

Amygdala Encodes Varying Responses to Faces in the Developing Brain

Eva Telzer, University of Illinois psychology professor and member of Beckman's Cognitive Neuroscience Group, and her colleagues found that children’s brain responses to opposite-sex faces differ as they mature.

Surviving Chemotherapy through Video Games

Steven Gonzalez Jr., founder of The Survivor Games, will be presenting a seminar entitled "The Survivor Games: Surviving Chemotherapy through Video Games," noon, Friday April 24, 5602 Beckman Institute. The Survivor Games is a virtual arcade where teenagers with cancer can play, watch, and discuss video games in a safe and supportive environment that builds friendships, confidence, strength, and hope so that they don’t have to endure cancer alone. Survivor Games founder Steven Gonzalez Jr. is a cancer survivor who will describe his journey and the benefits of gaming technology for health.

A roundtable discussion will follow.

Rogers Develops New Way to Purify Arrays of Carbon Nanotubes

A team of researchers, led by John Rogers of the 3D Micro- and Nanosystems Group, has shown how to strip out metallic carbon nanotubes from arrays using a relatively simple, scalable procedure that does not require expensive equipment.

Fencing Could Help the Aging Brain

Beckman Institute Director Art Kramer is quoted in an article in the Washington Post about how fencing, which requires learning a variety of complex motor functions, can help the aging mind. According to studies published by Kramer and colleagues, physical activity is associated with more-compact and fibrous white matter in the brains of children and older adults. White matter plays a role in attention and memory, and it deteriorates with age.

'Diagnoses & Decisions' Now Available Online

On April 2, WILL-TV hosted doctors, families, and cancer survivors for the program "Living With Cancer in Central Illinois: Diagnoses & Decisions." Three panelists, including Rohit Bhargava, bioengineering professor and full-time faculty member of Beckman's Bioimaging Science and Technology Group, discussed issues related to cancer genetic testing and the challenging decisions to make after cancer diagnosis.

Ultrasonic Hammer Sets Off Tiny Explosions

Using an ultrasonic hammer, researchers from the University of Illinois, co-led by Ken Suslick of the Bioimaging Science and Technology Group, used sound to trigger microscopic explosions, giving insight into how explosives work and how to control them.

Mohaghegh Honored with Dean's Award for Excellence in Research

Zahra Mohaghegh, affiliate faculty member in the Human Perception and Performance Group and assitant professor in nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering (NPRE), has received the 2015 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research from the College of Engineering at Illinois. An NPRE faculty member the past two years, Mohaghegh has pioneered research in systematic causal modeling of the interactions of physical and social failure mechanisms and in incorporating big data analytics into probabilistic risk assessment (PRA).