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The Stony Brook University Program in Public Health presents a conversation to answer your questions and learn about updates for both COVID and flu vaccines.     Register now for this free Zoom webinar on Tuesday, November 16, at 7 pm, featuring Gregson Pigott, MD, MPH, Commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, and Lawrence E. Eisenstein, MD, MPH, FACP, Commissioner of the Nassau County Department of Health.     Moderator Lisa Benz Scott, PhD, Director of the Program in Public Health at Stony Brook University     Translator Héctor E. Alcalá, PhD, MPH, Core Faculty, Program in Public Health; Assistant Professor,     Dr. Lawrence E. Eisenstein Dr. Lawrence E. Eisenstein Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University     Co-Sponsors Suffolk County Department of Health Services Nassau County Department of Health Stony Brook Program in Public Health Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University     With support from the Stony Brook University Alumni Association

More than 70 million people worldwide suffer from stuttering. Without intervention, many of these individuals endure this communication disorder for their entire lives. Even so, intervention therapies may not be accessible as they can be considered out-of-pocket expenses and not always covered by insurance. In a lifetime, the stuttering population is disproportionately at risk for heightened anxiety, insecurity and isolation. This life-long speech disorder stigmatizes its victims as socially inept. Personally and professionally, these individuals are limited by a fluency issue that is out of their control.     Today, thanks to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Stony Brook University faculty, people who stutter have the opportunity to build confidence through speech improvement.     Stony Brook University PhD candidate Bhavya Ghai and Professor Klaus Mueller from the Department of Computer Science, have proposed an AI-based script-writing tool: Fluent.     Fluent is the first of its kind. Much of the literature that addresses the intersection of stuttering and AI focuses on a singular facet — stuttering detection. While there is no cure to stuttering, only intervention, this literature looks at diagnosis, not solutions. Fluent addresses the latter.     Through the use of AI, the smart writing tool leverages speech patterns of people that stutter, specifically substitution tendencies. Through this, Fluent creates AI-driven inroads for continuous speech.     Those that stutter engage in many practices to conceal their disfluent speech such as avoiding communication altogether, the use of fillers (“um,” “like,” “so”) and substitution. Speakers enact substitution to replace trigger words with appropriate synonyms. These phonological patterns do not quell stuttering, but they mask inconsistencies in speech. Fluent strives to make these substitutions easier.     Fluent is powered by Active learning (AL), a specialized branch of machine learning (ML). AL is responsible for training ML models through user feedback. Queries prompted by AL aptly determine phonetic sequences that induce stuttering episodes.     “In our context, active learning expedites the process of learning an individual’s unique condition, i.e., the phonetic pattern they might struggle to pronounce,” said Ghai.     Upon starting up Fluent, users are asked to tap into their challenges with stuttering. Fluent immediately asks for user feedback by prompting the user to annotate at minimum five words with their level of difficulty to pronounce through a binary: “easy” or “difficult.” As the inventory of words increases, with the corresponding personalized-annotations, Fluent better adapts to specific user needs.     Through these inquiries, Fluent posits trigger words and replaces them. Synonyms are harnessed from an online database that covers multiple online dictionaries: DataMuse. Accessing a single online thesaurus is reputably unreliable, especially in the case of people who stutter, where certain words are discarded for their pronunciation limitations. The variable index of synonyms provides an expansive phonetic opportunity for Fluent users. These replacements appear in a drop-down list when the user hovers over a highlighted word (which indicates possible difficulty in pronunciation). Users then click on the word that best befits their speech.     Post-evaluation, Fluent expresses a positive trend of accuracy. Fluent’s classifier reports an 80 percent accuracy with limited user interactions. As these interactions increase, so does its accuracy.     Design advancements can be employed to address more subtle and nuanced speech disfluencies. AL has a technological edge because the consistent retraining of the ML model allows for more refined feedback. However, detecting trigger words is not the only solution Fluent provides. Stuttering episodes are not only produced by specific phonological patterns, but also situations, speakers and so on. Future endeavors with Fluent set out to explore the intricacies of situations that can spur a stuttering episode in longitudinal and situational contexts.     “In the long run, we hope that technologies such as Fluent might be integrated as an accessibility feature into popular tools like MS PowerPoint, MS Word, Google Sheets, etc. for a broader impact,” said Ghai.     — Alyssa Dey

The State University of New York (SUNY) system recognized Stony Brook’s Division of Student Affairs with three Outstanding Student Affairs Program awards. The Chief Student Affairs Officers organization from state-operated campuses appoints a panel to review nominations, and this year Stony Brook’s Student Affairs was recognized for its innovative programs and initiatives that have demonstrated a positive impact on students’ development and serve to better student life with unique and practical solutions to common issues.     Students in the award-winning Seawolf Outdoor Adventure Program (SOAP) enjoyed a day of fun kayaking in Southampton. Students in the award-winning Seawolf Outdoor Adventure Program (SOAP) enjoyed a day of fun kayaking in Southampton. Student Accessibility Support Center (SASC) was recognized for its Virtual Proctoring Program: Making Online Exams Accessible, in the International, Multicultural, Cultural, Gender, LGBTQ, Spirituality, Disability, and related category. As classes moved to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this change had a significant impact on testing for students with accommodations. The various software used for virtual exam proctoring did not leave room for several types of student accommodations, and to overcome this challenge, SASC implemented a Virtual Proctoring program, using widely available tools such as Zoom and Google Calendar, establishing clear protocols for test-takers and training for virtual proctors, as well as developing a close working relationship with faculty and teaching assistants.      Through this plan, SASC was able to proctor almost 900 exams for students with disabilities since the program was first piloted in Summer 2020. This Virtual Proctoring program showcases the ingenuity of the team who, in this challenging situation, was able to find a solution to successfully administer exams utilizing existing tools to ensure academic integrity and benefit both students and faculty.     Next to shine was the Spring Brook Staycation Program for winning the award category, Student Health, Wellness, Counseling, and related category. When SUNY schools made the difficult decision to cancel the traditional Spring Break week due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Stony Brook implemented Spring Brook Staycation as a way to give students outlets to destress and unwind. Spearheaded by the Center for Prevention and Outreach in collaboration with many other Student Affairs departments, Spring Brook Staycation was a series of fun and engaging activities during the last week of March where students on campus could connect and appreciate what the local community had to offer. Sixty in-person, virtual and hybrid activities were offered the week of March 29, 2021.      Inspired by the vacation packages offered by travel agencies, students were free to choose to participate in as many activities as they desired from the following “staycation packages”: Artsy Adventures, Active Escapes, Entertainment Escapades, Foodie Fun, Environmental Energizers, Games and Playcation, and Relationship Refreshers. Spring Brook Staycation was a huge success with more than 90 percent registered attendance for all 60 activities. Students were able to relax and connect with each other in real time and virtually, all while following health and safety protocols.     Lastly, the Seawolves Outdoor Adventure Program (SOAP) was recognized in the Enrollment Management, Financial Aid, Orientation, Parents, First-year, Other-year, and related category. SOAP was developed by Recreation and Wellness with the goal to increase first-year students’ sense of belonging and connection to the university and support their successful transition into college life. After an initial brainstorming session, SOAP began in Fall 2021 as a pilot program aided by the generous support of two Stony Brook alumni, introducing six outdoor activities from which students could choose to participate: Kayak Adventure, Scenic Boat Tour, Horseback Riding, Outdoor Adventure Course, Yoga and Meditation, and Hiking.     The three-day program was an opportunity to create safe, small and supportive groups of new Seawolves focused on learning about Stony Brook, to participate in team-building activities, and to have the opportunity to go off-campus and experience the beauty of Long Island. In total, more than 400 new students expressed interest in participating in the SOAP program and 60 first-year students — from various backgrounds, majors and geographic locations — were selected to participate. Based on the post-event assessment, the program was highly successful and attained the goals of making students feel more equipped to transition to and navigate their new college environment, engage with a diverse group of students, and build friendships. For instance, 73 percent of participating students said they felt a greater sense of belonging after having gone through the program and that many have found friends and lasting connections.     “These awards reflect the student-centered efforts of our entire team, and I am honored that so many colleagues in the Division of Student Affairs were recognized at the SUNY level for their hard work, creativity and initiative,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Richard Gatteau. “I am immensely proud of the tremendous work done by Student Affairs and their commitment to our students,” he continued.

The last drug designed to more effectively treat dangerous systemic fungal infections, most often affecting immunocompromised patients, was developed more than 20 years ago. Now an interdisciplinary team of investigators from Stony Brook University believe they have identified what may be a new approach toward developing another class of better antifungal agents. By inhibiting an enzyme called sterylglucosidase 1 (Sgl1) in a model of Cryptococcosis, the researchers found infection did not spread. They believe this enzyme can be a target for a new class of antifungal drugs. The research findings are published in Nature Communications.     Current antifungals have many drawbacks for patients, including high toxicity and many drug interactions, so the need for new antifungals remains high. Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen that, upon entering the lung and moving into the bloodstream, causes life-threatening meningoencephalitis in susceptible patients and is life-threatening.     The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a sharp lens on the dangers of infections that spread, particularly to the lungs. Cancer patients and other immunocompromised individuals with chronic conditions are much more susceptible to systemic fungal infections such as Cryptococcosis.     Cryptoimage A scanned electron microscopy of a cell of Cryptococcus neoformans showing the “hairs” within the fungal cell that cause disease. Credit: Jeehyun Karen You “Essentially by identifying selective small molecule inhibitors of Sgl1 in an experimental model, we found that the infection failed to spread to the brain and began to be cleared from the lungs within two weeks,” summarized Mike Airola, senior author and assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.     “We believe based on our experimentation that by targeting Sgl1, we can create a new class of antifungal agents against this and possibly other fungal pathogens in order to prevent both primary and secondary infections,” said Nivea Pereira de Sa, first author of the manuscript and post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Del Poeta. “We are taking the next steps to test this approach.”     Airola says that the research team involves a collaboration of scientists at Stony Brook through the Institute of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery. The team includes microbiologists, cell biologists, immunologists and chemists. Additionally, the groundwork to this finding was led by co-senior author and SUNY Distinguished Professor Dr. Maurizio Del Poeta, an internationally recognized expert in fungal disease. His lab demonstrated that Sgl1 is a fungal specific protein, and when mutated, the fungus is non-pathogenic.     The research team presented co-crystal structures of Sgl1 with two inhibitors. By combining traditional medicinal chemistry with computational approaches, they were able to unravel how these anti-Sgl1 compounds interact with the enzyme.     In future research, they expect to develop new derivatives of these inhibitors to see if a complete clearance of infection can occur.

Lia Strait — the URECA researcher of the month for November 2021 — is a senior majoring in biomedical engineering who has been doing research since freshman year under the mentorship of Mei Lin (Ete) Chan and Clinton Rubin from the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Center for Biotechnology. Earlier this year, Strait also began working on a collaborative mechanobiology research project with Chan, Rubin and Stella Tsirka, from the Department of Pharmacological Sciences, on “The Effect of Low-intensity Vibration Therapy Decreases Levels of Inflammatory Proteins in the Brain in Mouse Model.” Her work on this project was supported this past summer through the URECA Summer – PSEG Explorations in STEM programs, and was presented at the virtual 2021 Summer Symposium. This research will be the basis of her senior departmental honors thesis. Strait plans to pursue a PhD in bioengineering, focusing on mechanobiology.      Strait also worked as a research assistant for Lahara Bio, a start-up biotechnology company, and was involved in her sophomore year in a Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) team, where she worked on designing and developing Roflex, a motion sensing athletic smartwatch, which she presented at Stony Brook’s WolfieTank pitch competition in 2020. Strait has served as a teaching assistant for BME 205: Clinical Challenges of the 21st Century in Spring 2020 and as a peer tutor for the Academic Success and Tutoring Center in 2021. She also dedicates much of her time to the Stony Brook Equestrian Team, serving currently as president (and formerly as secretary); and is an avid cyclist. She is from Salt Point, NY.

Stony Brook’s annual One Book, One Community program is a fun and innovative way to unite the university and neighboring communities through shared reading and conversation. 2021’s reading is Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu.      Kara Wang Actress Kara Wang Join the panelists in a moderated conversation — Why Representation Matters: Panel Discussion Featuring Actress Kara Wang — based on their expertise and experiences that are tied to themes in the book. The event will be held on Wednesday, November 10, at 6 pm in the Student Activities Center Auditorium. Topics may include race, identity, immigration, inclusivity, representation in pop culture and a variety of fields, and racialized experiences. Judi Brown Clarke, vice president for equity & inclusion and chief diversity officer, will present opening remarks.     This event is free and open to the public.     Register today     Panelists include:     Dr. Edward Sun is a gastroenterologist at Stony Brook Hospital who also researches ways to improve patient access to as well as quality of care.  Dr. Amy Lu is a scientist who studies the relationship between hormones and behavior in non-human primates. Rev. Steven Kim is the pastor at Setauket Methodist.  Kara Wang is a bilingual Chinese American actress who has returned to Los Angeles after five years of working in Asia. She can currently be seen recurring on Freeform’s Good Trouble and Amazon’s Goliath. She will next be seen on the big screen in the highly anticipated sequel Top Gun: Maverick. A pre-event reception with hors d’oeuvres will be held from 5 pm to 6 pm in the Student Activities Center Sculpture Garden (Rain location: Student Activities Center, Room 169).      For more information about the program, schedule of events and how to obtain a free copy of Interior Chinatown, please visit stonybrook.edu/onebook.

Stony Brook University Hospital received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Gold Plus Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Award with Target: Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll. Stony Brook Southampton Hospital received the Gold Plus Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Quality Achievement Award with Honor Roll Elite and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll. These awards recognize Stony Brook Medicine’s commitment to ensuring that stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.     Stony Brook University Hospital and Southampton Hospital each earned these awards by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing mortality and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, scheduling a follow-up visit, as well as other care transition interventions. For recognition criteria visit this link.     “I am proud to join a healthcare system worthy of the American Heart and Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® award,” said Dr. Hal Paz, executive vice president, Health Sciences, Stony Brook University. “These designations show Stony Brook Medicine’s commitment to delivering the best possible care to stroke patients across Long Island.”     Stony brook university hospital“We’re proud to have received these awards for so many consecutive years and glad to have helped improve the health outcomes of thousands of stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Dr. Michael Guido, director of the Stony Brook Neurology Stroke Program and co-director of the Stony Brook Cerebrovascular and Stroke Center at Stony Brook Medicine. “Our success is a result of Stony Brook Medicine’s dedicated team of nurses, technicians, radiology staff and physicians, mobile stroke unit EMTs, and other medical specialists in addition to neurologists and neurosurgeons.”           In May 2018, Stony Brook University Hospital became the first hospital in Suffolk County to achieve Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC) certification by The Joint Commission — the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare. This is the highest level a stroke center can achieve, and involves a rigorous screening process. The advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center designation indicates the hospital’s ability to receive and treat the most complex stroke cases. As a certified comprehensive stroke center, Stony Brook provides nationally recognized best practices and a level of care few hospitals anywhere can match.      The following year, Stony Brook Medicine launched Long Island’s first and only Mobile Stroke Unit Program designed to provide specialized, life-saving care to people within the critical moments of stroke before they even get to the hospital. This allows for time-sensitive stroke therapies to be administered earlier and allows for the transport of stroke patients directly to the most appropriate hospital for the level of care they require.     Stony Brook University Hospital was also named as one of America’s 100 Best HospitalsTM by Healthgrades for stroke care for the past seven years, from 2016 to 2022.     The Southampton Hospital Stroke Team, from left: (First row) Monina Baldo, RN; Lisa Dellipizzi, RN; Deborah O’Brien, RN; Samantha Pullium, RN (Second Row) Rose Paul, RN; Dr. Darin Wiggins, MD; Janet Woo, RN; Catherine Baccelliere, RN; Olga McAbee, MD The Southampton Hospital Stroke Team, from left: (First row) Monina Baldo, RN; Lisa Dellipizzi, RN; Deborah O’Brien, RN; Samantha Pullium, RN (Second Row) Rose Paul, RN; Dr. Darin Wiggins, MD; Janet Woo, RN; Catherine Baccelliere, RN; Olga McAbee, MD Stony Brook Southampton Hospital has met specific guidelines set by the New York State Stroke Designation Program to be recognized as a Primary Stroke Center. The Audrey and Martin Gruss Heart & Stroke Center is capable of treating acute ischemic stroke with IV t-PA and provides patients comprehensive supportive care.     “We are dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Dr. Fredric I. Weinbaum, chief medical officer and chief operating officer, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”      “We are pleased to recognize Stony Brook Southampton Hospital for their commitment to stroke care,” said Dr. Lee H. Schwamm, national chairperson of the American Heart Association’s Quality Oversight Committee and executive vice chair of neurology, director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”     According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

In a study that used inorganic, physical and analytical chemistry to mimic respiratory droplets that can carry viruses, researchers demonstrated a mechanism that enables multiple mask materials to be protective. Led by Stony Brook University Professor Amy Marschilok, the study findings suggest that adsorptivity of mask materials is an important feature in providing protection from viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. The paper is published in Applied Materials & Interfaces, a journal of the American Chemical Society.     Studies evaluating dry measurements of particles to test mask breakthrough have been conducted during the 2020-21 pandemic. In contrast, researchers in this investigation used a novel method that involved creating a virus nanoparticle mimic, using functionalized nanoparticles suspended in artificial saliva, then spraying the suspension and providing scientists with a unique wet characterization approach to compare the effectiveness of potential mask materials. Thus, rather than viewing the mask as a simple screen, the study tests the adsorptive properties of the mask materials for trapping virus in saliva droplets.     Masktestingvisual This visual of the mask material testing shows the spray simulation process (top graphic), and implementation of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to further measure nanoparticle spread and reach (bottom graphic). Credit: Yelena Belyavina “We recognized the precious nature of the N95 respirators, and therefore decided to compare mask materials that are broadly available and represented a range of technology and manufacturing readiness using the evaluation methodology that we developed,” said Marschilok, co-director of the Institute for Electrochemically Stored Energy, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and adjunct faculty member, Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering. She also has a joint appointment with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), of which Stony Brook is part of the management team.     The masks ranged from a commercialized N95 product, to a commercially available mask material, and a potential future mask material prepared by Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility. Each material was characterized using a variety of methods including scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at BNL’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN).     Wetting properties of the mask materials were quantified by measurements of the contact angle with an artificial saliva. The surface functionalized metal oxide nanoparticle suspension in artificial saliva was sprayed with an airbrush device through the mask material onto a target. The amount of suspension reaching the target was measured using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy at BNL’s National Synchrotron Light Source-II (NSLS-II).     “Our goal was to develop new approaches to characterize mask materials, investigate the adsorptive properties of the mask and consider dispersion of droplets containing the virus. The mechanism investigated adsorbing or trapping the suspended virus mimic rather than blocking it,” summarized Marschilok.     Marschilok and colleagues found that multiple types of mask materials functioned effectively under the test conditions. When the researchers conducted the same experiments to a target without the use of mask protection even at longer distances, much less protection occurred from the viral particles than in the presence of mask materials — a result that further points toward the protective value of masks against virus exposure.     The authors say further investigation is necessary to determine the stability of mask materials over time and extended use as a protection against viral particles.     The DOE’s Office of Science supported the study, with funding provided by the Coronavirus CARES Act, and method development for preparation of the functionalized COVID-19 virion mimic supported as part of the Center for Mesoscale Transport Properties. The CFN and NSLS-II are both DOE Office of Science User Facilities. The National Institutes of Health funded New York Consortium for the Advancement of Postdoctoral Scholars (IRACDA-NYCAPS) provided additional staff support.

The Stony Brook University community is invited to show its support for all those affected by relationship violence in any form by participating in the Take a Stand/Walk with Me march at 1 pm on Wednesday, Oct. 27, at the SAC Plaza.       The event, hosted by the Center for Prevention and Outreach, will begin with remarks from student leaders, and the march, led by the Spirit of Stony Brook Drummers, will start at approximately 1:05 pm and will last about 30 minutes.       After the march, there will be a brief resource fair on the SAC Plaza that will feature representatives from campus and community resources, as well as interactive elements such as a poster signing where event participants can express messages of support for those impacted by all forms of interpersonal violence.       Contact Christine Szaraz (christine.szaraz@stonybrook.edu) to get involved or with questions about the event.

Stony Brook University senior Saaima Nanabawa was named to the inaugural class of Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Student Ambassadors, one of 21 current EOP students from 20 State University of New York (SUNY) campuses.     EOP Student Ambassadors will mentor their fellow students, create a student support network of EOP students across the SUNY system, advise the SUNY chancellor on strengthening the program, and help inspire more students to seek opportunities through EOP.     A psychology major who is interested in pursuing a nursing degree, Nanabawa was nominated for EOP ambassador by her counselor, Jenille Johnson, and endorsed by Stony Brook’s EOP/AIM director, Pamela Matzner.     “Saaima is a student who truly represents what EOP is all about and will serve in the role as EOP Student Ambassador well,” Matzner said. “She came to Stony Brook and immediately took advantage of all the resources and support both EOP and SBU had to offer. The EOP team and her peers are extremely proud that Saaima was chosen for this important role within SUNY, and will no doubt represent us well.”     SUNY chancellor Jim Malatras made the announcement on October 22 at the EOP Directors Conference, which focused on economic eligibility, student engagement, recruitment practices, and strategic priorities.     “For decades, the Educational Opportunity Program at SUNY has changed the lives of countless students from across every corner of the state, and we must continue to build upon that legacy of access, opportunity, and success for the next generation of students,” said Malatras. “Our 21 new EOP Student Ambassadors will help us do just that by bringing their voices to the table and guiding SUNY leadership on ways to further increase access to SUNY, strengthen the support EOP students need on campuses to succeed, and continue to increase retention and graduation rates.”     Each SUNY EOP director was asked to nominate students. A committee comprised of EOP directors and SUNY system administrators selected student ambassadors based on their demonstrated leadership, potential as a peer mentor, and commitment to the program. Ambassadors are EOP students in good academic standing who are enrolled full-time for the Fall 2021 semester. EOP Student Ambassadors will receive stipends of $5,000 to carry out this important new role, totaling $105,000 for the year.

The Rohlf Medal for Excellence in Morphometric Methods and Applications will be presented to Joan T. Richtsmeier on Monday, October 25, 2021 at 4 pm at the Charles B. Wang Center, Lecture Hall 2.      Created in honor of F. James Rohlf, distinguished professor emeritus of the Stony Brook University College of Arts and Sciences Department of Ecology and Evolution, the Rohlf Medal is presented every two years to distinguished members of the morphometrics community for their outstanding work on the development of new morphometric methods, or for their applications in the biomedical sciences.      In her presentation, “Morphology as Mechanism” Dr. Richtsmeier will talk about our shifting understanding of craniofacial evolution and development in the context of studying disease processes, the people who have influenced her work, and how morphometric methods can be used to identify cellular- or tissue-level contributions to changes in morphology. She is the first female recipient of the Rohlf Medal.      Dr. Richtsmeier’s current work joins developmental and evolutionary biology, integrating the study of mouse models carrying known genetic variants with understanding the biological basis of patterns of evolutionary change. Her research combines advances in 3D imaging, developmental biology, and morphometrics to further the understanding of a group of craniofacial disorders known collectively as craniosynostosis–the premature fusion of bones in the skull.     Currently a distinguished professor in the Department of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Richtsmeier trained first as an archaeologist at Northwestern University but became fascinated with the human skull and focused her PhD research on understanding skull growth and evolution. Dr. Richtsmeier was elected Fellow of the American Association of Anatomists in 2018 and received their Henry Gray Scientific Achievement Award in 2019, and the David Bixler Excellence in Craniofacial Research Award of the Society for Craniofacial Genetics and Developmental Biology in 2019. She was elected Fellow of the AAAS in 2020. Her work is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Wellcome Trust.      James rolfe F. James Rohlf The Rohlf Medal has previously been presented to two Stony Brook alumni:      In 2017, Dennis Slice ’93 (1958-2019) received the medal for his presentation, “An Unexpected Journey: A Curious Career in Shape Analysis.” Dr. Slice received his PhD in Ecology and Evolution under the supervision of Dr. Rohlf. While at Stony Brook, Drs. Slice and Rohlf worked together on two papers, published in Systematic Biology and Italian Journal of Zoology, respectively. In 2019, Dean C. Adams ’99 received the medal for his presentation, “Morphometrics, Macroevolution, and An Effect Size Measure for Multivariate Data.” Dr. Adams received his PhD from the Department of Ecology and Evolution. During his time at Stony Brook, he already evinced a dual commitment to the collection of empirical data and coming up with innovative methods of analysis. Fittingly, his dissertation had a twofold focus: developing new morphometric methods for shape analysis of articulated structures and examining the evolution of character displacement in Plethodon salamanders.  Additional recipients of the Rohlf Medal include:     2011: The first presentation of the Rohlf Medal to Fred L. Bookstein, University of Vienna, Washington University; “Biology and Mathematical Imagination: the Meaning of Morphometrics” 2013: Paul O’Higgins, Head, Centre for Anatomical and Human Sciences, Hull York Medical School, England; “The measure of things: pattern, process and morphometry” 2015: Benedikt Hallgrímsson, “Morphometrics and the Middle-Out Approach to Complex Traits” Dr. Rohlf received his PhD from the University of Kansas in 1962. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and American Association for the Advancement of Science, he has lectured at and organized numerous international workshops on geometric morphometrics. The Rohlf Medal was established in 2006 in celebration of Dr. Rohlf’s 70th birthday.      The Presentation of the Rohlf Medal is part of the Provost’s Lecture Series and is co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences Departments of Anthropology and Ecology and Evolution. Learn more about the Rohlf Medal. 

The Inauguration of Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis will take place Saturday, October 23 at 11 am at Island Federal Credit Union Arena, and everyone in the SBU community is invited to celebrate.     Anyone who cannot attend the ceremony in person can watch the livestream of the event at stonybrook.edu/live.     In addition, the president’s inaugural address will be made available immediately following the ceremony, and will also be translated into multiple languages.     Inauguration Day will also include Homecoming, which begins at 12:30 pm with Seawolves Town and the Homecoming BBQ in the Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium parking lot. That is followed by the Homecoming football game, as the Seawolves take on the University of Richmond Spiders at 3:30 pm.     An Art Crawl featuring free guided tours of university galleries begins at 1 pm in the Charles B. Wang Center Skylight Gallery, and participants may join the tour at any stop along the way.     The UNITI Cultural Center will host its ribbon cutting at 2 pm in the Stony Brook Union, celebrating the move to its new, 3,500 square-foot space.     Tony Award winner Alan Cumming caps the series of celebrations with the American premiere of his cabaret show, Alan Cumming is Not Acting His Age, at 8 pm in the Staller Center for the Arts.

In 2009, published genome-wide DNA data was not available for a single ancient human individual. Today, there is genome-wide data available for more than 6,000 ancient humans. This rapid expansion of ancient DNA (aDNA) research enables scientists to uncover more information than ever on past human populations, including their genetic adaptations, patterns of migration and mixing, and even clues about our species’ deep past. But this wide availability of aDNA brings ethical questions on how the data is gathered and used to the forefront. Now a team of more than 60 scholars from 31 countries has articulated a set of ethical guidelines regarding aDNA as a way to govern such research globally. Their guidelines are published in Nature.     The authors — which include Elizabeth Sawchuk, a research assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, and a research associate of the Turkana Basin Institute — contend that the ethics of aDNA research has a particular urgency because of the rapid growth of the field, the societal and political impacts of studying ancestry, and the fact that aDNA work analyzes once living people who must be respected.     Any research that pursues questions about the past by generating genetic data from archaeologically derived human tissues, such as skeletal remains, constitutes aDNA research. Such work has revealed new information about individuals and events anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years old.     Sawchuk believes that establishing a globally applicable set of guidelines is a turning point in the field of aDNA research.     Sawchuckpic Elizabeth Sawchuk in the Turkana Basin in Kenya collecting a sample for ancient DNA analysis. “Since the first fully sequenced ancient human genome was published in 2010, we have been operating in what some have characterized as a rather chaotic ancient DNA revolution,” says Sawchuk. “After years of public outcry to establish clear universal guidelines for ethical research in this field, our paper attempts to do just that. The work represents the largest effort to date to create global guidelines for aDNA research developed by a team of diverse archeologists, curators, geneticists and other stakeholders. I think our guidelines will fundamentally shift the way the field operates and will have a long-lasting impact.”     The authors point out that much of the literature thus far on the ethics of aDNA research has centered around North America. Their research presents global case studies that illustrate the breadth of issues surrounding the identification of community and Indigenous groups, and stress that researchers need to recognize that there are global differences in the meaning of Indigeneity.     The team together assessed a range of issues related to carrying out research on ancient human remains, with a specific focus on different research contexts and diverse perspectives held by those conducting research as well as other stakeholders — which may include Indigenous peoples, descendants and/or guardian communities, museum curators, and others with a connection to the ancient individuals sampled.     Using this approach, the international team of scholars developed what they believe is a strong and universally applicable set of ethical guidelines summarized by five points:     Researchers must ensure that all regulations are followed in the places where they work, including all local regulations. Prepare a detailed plan prior to beginning any study. Minimize damage to human remains. Ensure that data are made available following publication to allow critical reexamination of the scientific findings. Engage with other stakeholders from the beginning of a study to ensure respect and sensitivity to stakeholder perspectives. Key to ensuring ethical practices and sensitivity when conducting aDNA research, say the authors, is to identify and consult with the stakeholders and communities appropriate to specific research contexts and questions. This should occur from the very beginning of a study, alongside the creation of a detailed plan for how research will be conducted, and results shared.     Another key guideline involves making aDNA data available to other scientists for the purpose of replication once research is complete, so scientific results can be independently confirmed without the need for additional destructive sampling. Researchers should also engage with how their findings are communicated and understood, and correct misrepresentations when appropriate.     As an anthropologist who studies ancient human remains, Sawchuk particularly supports the guideline aimed at minimizing damage to remains.     “As our only direct link to people who experienced life in the past, human remains must be respected and carefully conserved. We must balance the potential benefits of aDNA research with the impacts on skeletal collections, and always remember that we are studying other human beings,” she stressed.

As a child growing up in a small town in India with little access to electronics or technology, Anurag Purwar never had a chance to experience anything related to robotics.     “Looking back, I’m sure it would have had a major impact on me,” said Purwar, now an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University.     And while a second chance at childhood is the stuff Hollywood screenplays are made of, Purwar is not only getting an opportunity to experience the dreams he missed, he’s working with a greater goal of making a transformational robotics experience possible for today’s children all around the world.     Boosting his noble cause, Purwar’s research group, in collaboration with Stony Brook University startup Mechanismic Inc., recently received a $1 million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for their proposal, “A Design-Driven Educational Robotics Framework.” The award comes from NSF’s Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR), an approximately $180 million seed funding program designed to help commercialize high-risk technological innovations via research and development grants to small businesses and startups.     Assisting Purwar with their own unique expertise are Stony Brook colleagues Keith Sheppard from the Institute of STEM Education, Erik Flynn, clinical lecturer from the School of Health Technology and Management, Kedar Kirane, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Jeff Ge, professor and chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering.     The award follows Phase I funding Purwar received from the NSF in 2019, which led to the development of SnappyXO Design, a platform that was conceived and developed in Purwar’s research lab, Computer-Aided Design and Innovation. Prior to receiving NSF funding, Purwar received funding from the NSF’s I-Corps (Innovation-Corps) program, which helped him with customer discovery. Building upon his entrepreneurial experiences, Purwar is the current PI and the site director of the NSF I-Corps program at Stony Brook.     Mechanismic Inc. is the licensing partner and is working to bring the technology to market. The company, for which Purwar serves as CEO, has received several startup awards and grants from the SUNY Research Foundation, Fuzehub, SPIR, SensorCAT, and MTRC (Manufacturing & Technology Resource Consortium at Stony Brook programs. In addition, Purwar and his team have received significant commercialization support from SUNY Research Foundation as a SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund (TAF) awardee and SUNY Startup Summer School Class of 2020 graduate and TAF Catalyst Investment winner.     “SnappyXO was originally created to address a fundamental need to teach freshman college students authentic engineering design in the context of robotics,” he said.     Snappy xo ms A middle school student wiring a SnappyXO robot. Purwar is currently working to develop a Design-Driven Educational Robotics Framework, a unified and holistic platform which teaches students engineering design, practical electronics, and computer programming under one umbrella, and brings a new approach to STEM and robotics education. In this model, students engage in the entire design innovation cycle from conceptualization to programmed robots.     Purwar said that this multi-disciplinary approach provides multiple entry points for students to be engaged in different STEM disciplines, including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science, rather than just focusing on coding.     “This approach has been shown to be especially effective for engaging young women and encouraging them to pursue STEM education and careers,” he said. “Given that both minorities and women are highly underrepresented across STEM education and careers, adoption of this teaching style presents an opportunity to increase engagement among these groups.”     Purwar’s robotics education program is unique in that it enables students to not only build robots but to design and prototype their own robot kits. The incorporated hardware has varied levels of sophistication suitable for individual students’ level of knowledge.     “This technology can not only transform STEM and robotics education in schools and colleges, it could also lead to design tools used by automation and robotic industries,” he said.     “Professor Purwar and his SnappyXO robot kit have been featured in the summer MTRC Robotics Camp since 2018, in which high school students team up to learn and design robots for prescribed tasks,” said Imin Kao, executive director of MTRC. “This robotics learning program is a workforce development event for MTRC because these students will join the manufacturing workforce in just a few years.”     Anurag purwar 1 2 Anurag Purwar A key component of SnappyXO Design is a state-of-the-art robot motion design software, which builds on years of Purwar’s NSF-funded research in solving an age-old problem of kinematic design of machines and robots.     “As part of this project, our research is going to bring together rigid body kinematics and machine learning to develop a suite of methods and algorithms for an AI-driven mechanism design architecture,” he said. “This software will democratize design innovation and invention and put the power of creativity in the hands of every student and engineer. SnappyXO Design also comes with a patented hardware and standards-aligned curriculum for K-12 and college students.”     Purwar said this award will enable his research team to develop the next generation of hardware for robot design, software for building invention design capacity, and a standards-aligned curriculum for K-12 and college students.     “Creating this robotics education product is my way of reliving my childhood playing, tinkering, and learning with robots and machines that I wish I had,” he said. “I expect that the scalability and affordability of this product would allow millions of children all over the world to experience authentic robotics education.”     — Robert Emproto

Stony Brook President Maurie McInnis announced sweeping investments in research at the Campus Conversation on Accelerating Research, held online on Friday, October 15.     “Today is a start of a new and exciting chapter in Stony Brook history, because we’re going to be talking about making investments, hiring, looking ahead, and planning what comes next for this great institution,” said McInnis. “When I first came here, one of the things I was committed to was expanding our research. Today we’re going to talk about some of the work that we’re doing to enhance our research portfolio. As I speak with people in the Stony Brook community, I sense a greater degree of optimism of hope and a sense that exciting things are coming.”     Joining McInnis in the webinar were Paul Goldbart, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, Richard Reeder, vice president for research, and Alfredo Fontanini, professor of neurobiology and behavior, who was recently appointed as Stony Brook’s first vice provost for research and infrastructure.     McInnis began by clarifying the initiative, providing a bigger picture of what this investment means.     “We’re talking about all disciplines, including the humanities, the social sciences and the creative arts,” she said. “We’re talking about the English professor who’s writing a book on Indian captivity narratives; the historian who is writing about race and race relations between India and Africa; the soprano who is preparing for performance with one of the world’s great opera companies; and the economist who is working on the effects of COVID-19 through network simulation and big data.”     Goldbart echoed the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration.     “Having this full spectrum of research is one of the things that makes Stony Brook incredibly exciting,” he said. “We have ethicists and philosophers, microbiologists and ecologists, anthropologists, chemists, linguists, neuroscientists humanists and physician scientists all striving to understand the world more deeply and elevate the human spirit. It’s remarkable. We’ve had inspiring conversations with people in music and people in history and other disciplines, learning from each other about what draws them to their scholarship and research. It’s an example of our deep commitment to the full spectrum of research.”     Accelerating research title     Goldbart also announced that Stony Brook is moving ahead with faculty hiring, with a goal to hire more than 50 tenure and tenure track faculty this year and next year, hopefully by September 2022.     “As we engaged with faculty across the spectrum, we saw that there are critical roles to be played by people in the arts, people in the humanities, and people in social sciences as well as people in STEM fields,” Goldbart said. “This diversity is the heart of the Stony Brook future.”     Reeder discussed two important current pieces of legislation in Congress, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the reconciliation bill. “This legislation has provisions for tens of billions of dollars for new research and development,” he said, noting that agencies including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, NASA, and the Department of Defense would all see significant budget increases. “Some of the priority topics that have been highlighted, like climate and clean energy, quantum information, and health-related topics, are very important to us.”     Reeder also said the U.S. Innovation in Competition Act (USICA) has broad bipartisan support, and identifies 10 focus areas that need to have additional funding. “These 10 focus areas are what we really use to define our focus teams,” he said. “There is a pilot project sponsored by both the Provost’s Office and my office with the goal of constructing teams of subject matter experts that would be nimble and able to respond to funding opportunities as early as possible.“     Fontanini discussed the work of the Strategic Research Council, a committee he created that advocates for researchers. “It expresses the needs of the faculty and the research active faculty,” he said. “One of these needs was for a standing committee on campus that would advocate for research and research support in administration and identify challenges and opportunities and provide actionable advice.”     To this end, Fontanini, Goldbart and Reeder meet on a monthly basis.     “The overarching goal is to support research here at Stony Brook,” Fontanini said. “The more practical goal and ambition of ours is to increase health and research investment. But we need to connect our researchers and administration. We need to facilitate communication and putting a clear governance in place via the Strategic Resource Council will make everyone’s life much easier. We’re working hard on these challenges.”     McInnis pointed to the interdisciplinary nature of Stony Brook’s research and the need to bring disciplines together to tackle immediate real-world challenges like climate science, healthcare disparity, and injustice.     “These are vitally important conversations for us to be having right now,” she said. “What we’re talking about when we say we’re accelerating research is supporting our faculty across all of our disciplines to work together in tackling these far-reaching challenges.”     — Robert Emproto