1:19 p.m., Sept. 18, 2009----Ten UD faculty have won grants from the University of Delaware Research Foundation (UDRF) for research ranging from the development of cutting-edge molecular techniques to thwart the influenza virus, to the design of a novel instrument for high-temperature measurements of surface friction that will aid the development of “extreme” lubricants for aircraft, spacecraft, wind turbines, and other mechanisms operating in challenging, remote environments.

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UDRF is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization, chartered in 1955, that supports fundamental research in all fields of science at the University. A committee of distinguished scientists, physicians, and engineers governs the foundation. Grants are awarded on the basis of eligibility and merit and administered by the Research Office.

The two-year, $35,000 awards included $25,000 in funding from the foundation, which was matched by $5,000 from the provost and $5,000 from the faculty member's dean.

“UDRF grants provide faculty with a valuable opportunity to explore a research idea or conduct a proof-of-concept study that often will seed the development of an expanded proposal on a major problem or technology of interest to a national agency or to industry,” says Mark Barteau, senior vice provost for research and strategic initiatives.

Barteau notes that UDRF is offering two funding award competitions in 2010 -- an Early Career program designed specifically for non-tenured, tenure-track faculty; and a Strategic Initiatives program, which supports collaborative projects involving a junior faculty member and a tenured faculty member focusing on one of the three research areas emphasized in the University's Path to Prominence^TM strategic plan: Life and Health Sciences, Energy, or the Environment. For the guidelines, see the UDRF Web site.

The 2009 funded projects include the following:

• Carlton Brown, assistant professor of nursing, is exploring whether a basic oral care regimen can prevent or reduce the severity of oral mucositis, inflammation and ulcers in the mouth, which occurs as a painful side effect in virtually all patients who undergo chemotherapy for cancers in the head or neck. Patients 18 years and older receiving radiation will be invited to participate in the study.

• David Burris, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is designing a novel instrument for high-temperature surface-friction measurements. These studies will advance the understanding of variable temperature friction and promote the development of extreme solid lubricants for aircraft, spacecraft, wind turbines, and other mechanisms designed to operate in challenging and remote environments.

• Thomas Epps, III, assistant professor of chemical engineering, is creating new polymer materials for organic electronics and membrane applications, where performance is controlled by the nanoscale assembly of well-defined and continuous conducting pathways. “Organic” electronics devices use carbon-based materials such as polymers versus traditional semiconductors such as silicon.

• Serguei Golovan, assistant professor of animal and food sciences, is exploring a leading-edge molecular technique known as RNA interference (RNAi) to thwart the influenza virus across its many strains, including human, avian, and swine influenza. He's testing several approaches to overcome the virus's ability to mutate and avoid suppression at the target RNAi site. Ultimately, he wants to develop a human antiviral drug and virus-resistant poultry and swine.

• Tanya Gressley, assistant professor of animal and food sciences, is studying the relationship between metabolic disease and “clock genes,” which regulate gene expression through circadian rhythms, in bovine liver cells. This project will evaluate clock gene expression patterns in bovine hepatocytes using different culture conditions. Her ultimate goal is to determine the impact of circadian rhythms on bovine liver metabolism in health and disease.

• William Rose, assistant professor of health, nutrition and exercise sciences, is testing a non-invasive method for estimating vascular properties such as artery stiffness, which can signal increased risks of heart attack and stroke. The method uses a quantitative model of arterial pressure and flow that he developed previously, which extends from the aorta to capillaries and includes 24 million blood vessels. His goal is to provide an accurate, non-invasive vascular assessment for use by physicians in identifying and managing disease.

• Computer simulations are used in lots of scientific endeavors. Yet simulation software is often rife with undiscovered defects. Stephen Siegel, assistant professor of computer and information sciences, is developing a prototype system to take a numerical program with annotations describing the claimed accuracy and automatically determine whether the program satisfies those claims. The results will be reported in leading venues for software analysis.

• Quantitative genetics enables scientists to dissect traits that generally are controlled by multiple genes, each contributing a small effect. Randall Wisser, assistant professor of plant and soil sciences, is leading the first detailed quantitative genetic analysis of a plant pathogen -- Cochliobolus heterostrophus, the fungus that causes Southern Corn Leaf Blight. The study will lay the groundwork for future plant pathogen studies in this emerging discipline.

• Jingyi Yu, assistant professor of computer and information sciences, is creating an integrated system for the portable acquisition, archiving, and interactive visualization of high-dimensional appearance data. A target object will be placed in front of a parabolic mirror array, and a high-resolution camera will be used to simultaneously capture multiple views of the object reflected from the mirrors. Besides applications in computer graphics, the system will aid historians in digitizing cultural assets and the movie industry in producing compelling imagery.

• The use of antiretroviral drugs in HIV therapy is limited by the sequential development of multi-drug-resistant strains. Ryan Zurakowski, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is developing a predictive model to estimate the likely genetic distribution of HIV variants in a patient with a known history of antiretroviral use and virological failure. Such a model would work hand-in-hand with treatment-switching techniques to extend the lifespan of HIV patients, which Zurakowski is working on with a collaborator.

Article by Tracey Bryant
Photo by Ambre Alexander