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UCI’s Hans Keirstead (shown), Jason Sharp and colleagues have found that human embryonic stem cells restore limb function in rats with neck spinal cord injuries. Photo by Kerrin Piche Serna, University Communications.
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Stem Cells Restore Mobility in Neck-Injured Rats
The first human embryonic stem cell treatment approved by the FDA for human testing has been shown to restore limb function in rats with neck spinal cord injuries – a finding that could expand the clinical trial to include people with cervical damage. In January, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration gave Geron Corp. of Menlo Park permission to test the UCI treatment in individuals with thoracic spinal cord injuries, which occur below the neck. However, trying it in those with cervical damage wasn’t approved because preclinical testing with rats hadn’t been completed. Results of the cervical study currently appear online in the journal Stem Cells. UCI scientist Hans Keirstead hopes the data will prompt the FDA to authorize clinical testing of the treatment in people with both types of spinal cord damage.
Headlines
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Campus News & Announcements
Lasers: A Zigzag Path to Better Vision
For most of the 40,000 Americans who undergo corneal transplants each year, recovery is uncomfortable and slow, sometimes taking as long as six months. Even then, clear vision may not be fully restored. But ophthalmologists with UCI’s Gavin Herbert Eye Institute have developed a surgical technique that allows patients to heal faster and see better. By trading the traditional scalpel for a laser and using a zigzag incision pattern on the “front window” of the eye, Drs. Marjan Farid, Sumit Garg and Roger Steinert are revolutionizing corneal transplantation – in which a diseased or damaged cornea is replaced by donor tissue. Photo by Drs. Marjan Farid and Roger Steinert, UCI.
Cochlear Implants Restore Children’s Hearing
Ava Martin (left) seems less nervous than her parents as the three sit in an audiologist’s office at UC Irvine Medical Center a few days after Labor Day. In August, the 6-year-old had surgery to place a cochlear implant in her right ear. Now Ava plays with toys while Ginger Stickney describes to Dave and Gabrielle Martin the tests that will gauge how their daughter’s auditory nerve is responding to the implant. But first Stickney must activate the device that could restore function to Ava’s right ear – an ability lost years ago due to a congenital inner-ear defect that’s also destroying the hearing in her left ear.
UCi brief Holiday Schedule
UCi brief will have a modified publication schedule for the holiday season. Due to the Veterans Day holiday, this week’s issue has been published a day early. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, there will not be an issue on Nov. 25, but regular weekly publication will resume Dec. 2. As always, UCi brief welcomes your comments and suggestions.
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Research Discovery
UCI Robot to Aid Brain Research
A robot powered by a computerized model of a rodent brain will help researchers from UCI and UC San Diego understand how people recognize and adapt to change. The $1.6 million joint study is expected to provide neuron-level insight about the specific brain areas responsible for decision-making and attention, advancing robotic design as well as knowledge of human behavior. Shown: UCI cognitive scientist Jeffrey Krichmar (right) and former Hollywood animatronics engineer Brian Cox with robot CARL. Photo by Daniel A. Anderson, University Communications.
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Work/Life
Open Enrollment: Medical Plan Chooser
Check out the Medical Plan Chooser for 2010. Employees who have already completed their Open Enrollment transaction can make changes until 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24. This tool helps employees decide the best medical plan for their needs by helping to compare medical plans’ premiums, out-of-pocket expenses, doctors, services, features and more.
Think Different Workshop: Using Flexible Spending Accounts
The Think Different Workshop Series continues with “Using Flexible Spending Accounts” noon-1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, at the Student Center, Moss Cove B. The free workshop will discuss how flexible spending accounts allow employees to pay for eligible dependent care and health-related expenses on a pre-tax, salary-reduction basis. Those who expect to have between $180 and $5,000 of out-of pocket expenses should consider enrolling. In partnership with Open Enrollment and the Human Resources Benefits Team, this workshop will cover who CONEXIS is as the administrator, what is a Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA), how to best use these plans, and resources on how to budget for eligible expenses in 2010. Register via TED.
Sexual Harassment Prevention for Supervisors (AB1825) Workshop Available
The Office of Equal Opportunity & Diversity has scheduled an instructor-led AB1825-compliant Sexual Harassment Prevention for Supervisors presentation 10 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Nov. 18, in the OEOD Training Room. AB1825 requires all faculty and staff supervisors have two hours of sexual harassment prevention training every two years. To learn more about AB1825 workshops for supervisors and faculty, visit www.oeod.uci.edu/sho/faq_ab.html. Enroll via TED.
UCI’s CIRM Fellows Plan Stem Cell Symposium, Workshop
The Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center will host a symposium celebrating stem cell research at UCI Wednesday-Thursday, Nov. 18-19, at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. Pre- and post-doctoral fellows supported by a training grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine have organized the event, which will feature their work. On Nov. 18, the keynote speaker will be Mathew Blurton-Jones, training program graduate, on “Neural Stem Cell Transplantation as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease,” and dinner speaker Douglas Wallace (shown), Center for Molecular & Mitochondrial Medicine & Genetics director and CIRM training grant mentor, will discuss “Mitochondrial Biology in Health and Disease.” The Nov. 19 event is a career workshop for students and postdocs. Attendance is free; RSVP (with “Symposium” or “Workshop” in the subject line).
Gassmann Series Features Grammy-Award Winning Pianist Cheng
Grammy Award-winning pianist Gloria Cheng will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, in Winifred Smith Hall. Featured music will be by Kaija Saariaho, Luigi Nono, William Kraft and a world premiere of new works by James Newton. Cheng also will speak on “Interpretation of Contemporary Piano Music” at 5 p.m. The free concert and lecture are presented by the Gassmann Electronic Music Studio.
Contact: Christopher Dobrian, 949.824.7288
Protect Against Slips, Trips or Falls
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that, in 2007, one in five workplaces lost time from injuries caused by slips, trips or falls. With the predicted El Niño rainy season starting, Environmental Health & Safety reminds members of the campus community to protect themselves by: wearing firm, supporting, closed-toe, slip-resistant footwear; walking slowly in wet areas using the whole foot to maintain traction; cleaning up spills immediately and reporting slippery conditions to building managers; placing slip-resistant, water-absorbing mats at entrances to campus buildings. Remember that all slips, trips and falls, with or without injury, should be reported, recorded and thoroughly investigated. Corrective actions also should be taken immediately.
Wellness & Safety Partnership: Did You Know?
November has been designated American Diabetes Month to help focus attention on the serious disease that affects more than 18 million people. Most people with diabetes have the largely preventable Type 2 form. For more information, visit the November Wellness & Safety Toolkit.
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People
Chang: The Missionary Doctor
Dr. Kenneth Chang has built one of the nation’s finest digestive disease centers for UC Irvine Healthcare with a drive and passion inspired by doctors he assisted in a poor Taiwanese fishing village nearly 30 years ago. Then a medical student, Chang had taken a year off from his studies at Brown University to work in a missionary clinic. With very little equipment, the doctors there often improvised, using unconventional methods that defied Chang’s formal medical training. Photo by Paul R. Kennedy.
Iverson Receives Society for Mathematical Psychology Best Paper Award
Geoffrey Iverson, cognitive sciences professor, received the Society for Mathematical Psychology’s 2009 Best Paper Award for work published between 2005 and 2008. The honor recognizes his research in theoretical psychophysics, the study of how sensory stimuli – such as sound and sight – are described in physical terms. The SMP award highlights his article on how loudness is perceived that appeared in the June 2006 issue of the Journal of Mathematical Psychology. The piece was a birthday tribute to his former graduate advisor, Jean-Claude Falmagne, UCI cognitive sciences professor.
Rim Named 2009-10 Fletcher Jones Foundation Fellow
Kathy Rim, political science graduate student and 2009 recipient of the Lauds & Laurels Outstanding Graduate Student Award, has been selected as the 2009-10 UCI Fletcher Jones Foundation Fellow. The honor recognizes Rim for her “past accomplishments, enthusiasm for excellence, vitality, ingenuity and leadership potential consistent with that exhibited in life by Fletcher Jones.” The accompanying $20,100 prize will support her research on the political behavior and participation of Asian Americans, a topic she has been studying since her days as an undergraduate at UCI.
Srinivasan Receives NIH Grant to Study EEG & MEG Imaging
Ramesh Srinivasan, cognitive sciences associate professor, has received a $2.36 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a noninvasive approach for studying areas of the brain responsible for attention. The study will be one of the largest of its scale to combine electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography imaging methods to simultaneously measure the electric and magnetic fields of the brain during performance of attention-related tasks. Data will be used to develop a software-generated model of the brain for future non-invasive cognitive studies and clinical brain studies of attention disorders.
Titi Awarded SIAM Outstanding Paper Honor
Edriss Titi, mathematics professor, has won the Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics Activity Group Analysis of Partial Differential Equations Prize for outstanding paper in the last four years. Written jointly with Titi’s former student Chongsheng Cao, the paper “Global Well-Posedness of the Three-Dimensional Viscous Primitive Equations of Large Scale Ocean and Atmosphere Dynamics” appeared in the 2007 Annals of Mathematics. The award will be presented at the SIAM meeting Dec. 7-10 in Miami, where Edriss will give a talk about this work.
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Sports Update
Highlight: Women’s Basketball
Women’s basketball hosts San Diego State 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at the Bren Events Center.
Highlight: Men’s Basketball
Men’s basketball hosts La Verne 7:35 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at the Bren Events Center.
Highlight: Women’s Tennis
Women’s tennis hosts the UCI Fall Invitational all day Friday, Nov. 13, at the Anteater Tennis Stadium.
Keeping Score
Follow these links to get the Anteaters’ latest results.
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University Communications
Informing campus and community
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Quicklinks
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Quotable
Schultz on H1N1
“A vast majority of people are doing fine even if they get no [medical] intervention, so it seems inappropriate to bring them to [the] ER where negative things could happen.” – Dr. Charles Schultz, emergency medicine professor, commenting on treatment for the H1N1 virus. Newsweek, Nov. 4, 2009.
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UCI in the News
Get a Daily Dose:
UCI in the News, a compendium of articles featuring UCI, is available by e-mail each workday from University Communications.
Contact asamano@uci.edu to be added to the distribution list. Daily news clips are also available at: today.uci.edu/news
/newsclips.php
For breaking news, visit Zot!Wire – UCI’s frequently updated newswire.
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Featured Events
Critical Theory Emphasis
On the Philosophy of the Face.
With Bernard Rhie, English assistant professor, Williams College. 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10. Humanities Gateway, Room 1010.
Film & Video Center
Film for Thought/Où Gît Votre Sourire Enfoui?
With director Pedro Costa. 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12. Student Center, Emerald Bay A. Free. Also Le Streghe, Femmes Entre Elles (Witches, Women Among Women), directed by Jean-Marie Straub, and Ossos, directed by Pedro Costas – includes Q&A session. 6:30 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. screening; Humanities Instructional Building, Lucille Kuehn Auditorium (Room 100); $3-$6.
Humanities Collective
Incognegro.
With Frank B. Wilderson, III. Lecture and book signing. 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12. Humanities Instructional Building, Room 135. Free.
Social Sciences
Hot Topics Debate: Health Care as a Constitutional Right?
With Mark Petracca, political science chair and associate professor; William Schonfeld and Wayne Sandholtz, political science professors. 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12. Parkview Classroom Building, Room 1100. Free.
Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences
Conference on Inference and Imaging.
1-3:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13. Social Science Plaza A, Room 2112. Continues through Nov. 15.
Dance, Drama and Music
The Threepenny Opera.
Directed by Keith Fowler. 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13. Claire Trevor Theatre. $12-$28. Continues through Nov. 21.
Business
CIWM Conference Series: New Investment Realities in the Current Challenging Environment.
Luncheon with keynote speaker Rob Arnott, Research Affiliates CEO and founder. 11 a.m.-1:45 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16. Pacific Club, 4110 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach. $80-$600.
Public Health Seminar
Irvine’s Strategic Plan for Children, Youth and Families.
With Corinne Schneider-Jones, health & human services manager, City of Irvine. Noon-1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16. Social Science Tower, Room 238.
Anthropology
Haunting Legacies: Violent Histories and Transgenerational Trauma.
With Gabriele Schwab, Chancellor’s Professor, comparative literature. 3:30-5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17. Social Science Plaza A, Room 2212.
Spanish
Film Forum: ‘Elegy.’
Directed by Isabel Coixet. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, Humanities Hall, Room 156. Panel discussion follows. Free.
Event sponsors: Send information regarding upcoming events to
calendar@uci.edu.
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