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Pothole project to pave way to smoother roads
• Joint research project will combine effort and expertise of pavement engineers, material scientists and computational fluid dynamics experts • Project to look at improving quality, longevity and accessibility of the highway network • Aston University will be working with University of Nottingham and seven other industrial partners including Highways England and the Road Surface Treatment Association A project which will be the driving force behind the redesigning of roads and changes in road repairs could revolutionise the way potholes are repaired, and road surfaces are designed. The three-year collaboration, ‘Prevention and Management of Road Surface Damage’, is being led by Mujib Rahman, professor in civil engineering, Department of Civil Engineering at Aston University and Dr Nick Thom of the University of Nottingham. The project will combine the efforts and expertise of pavement engineers, material scientists and computational fluid dynamic experts from both universities. The research aims to improve the design and construction of roads to minimise surface damage caused by water freezing and thawing, and general wear and tear from traffic. It also will be looking at how to change the science behind road repairs and maintenance. Research will be looking at two main elements: - Enable the design of roads to prevent surface damage from water and environmental factors - Introduce a change in the management of road repair and create a more durable repair of the road surface. . Professor Rahman said that smoother roads were critical to the nation as the 250,000 miles of paved road, valued at £750 billion, which is the network for deliveries of goods and services across the UK. But he added potholes and damage to roads had become ‘increasingly problematic’ for all users. “We want to drive out the pothole epidemic that has overcome the UK in recent years. Due to record breaking rainfall, extreme cold weather and tight financial constraints on highway authorities, this situation has become much worse. This has been combined with the lack of longevity in some repairs” he said. Dr Nick Thom, from the Nottingham Transportation Engineering Centre Research Group, said: “The expected deliverables are material specifications and maintenance guidelines designed – like a Covid vaccine – to stop this disease of the road in its tracks. In the main this will be about doing better with currently-used resources, but, given the expected slump in future oil production with consequent loss of bitumen supplies, the search will also be on for alternative viable high-performance products.” The project has been funded by Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) and will be running until March 2024. Supporting it will also be ADEPT, Highways England, Transport for London, Nottinghamshire County Council, Cooper Technology and the Road Surface Treatment Association (RSTA).
Baylor Expert Shares Four Keys to Leadership from Ulysses S. Grant’s Reflections on Civil War
Near the end of his life, as he battled spiraling health and an empty bank account, former United States President – and iconic Civil War General – Ulysses S. Grant penned his memoirs and gave the world a glimpse into the mind of one of the nation’s most celebrated figures. The book, “Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant,” was published in 1885 and has been pored over for more than 135 years. Peter Campbell, Ph.D., author, associate professor of political science at Baylor University and a nationally recognized scholar on military strategy and international security, recently wrote an essay about Grant and his memoirs for Classics of Strategy and Diplomacy. He said Grant’s personal reflections provide valuable insights into his view and practice of leadership, specifically as he led Union forces in the Civil War. Below, Campbell offers four keys to leadership that he found in Grant’s writings. 1. Know Yourself. Grant was a careful observer of himself. He was able to reflect on his experience, see where he had made errors and learn from them. In July 1861, moments before what Grant thought would be his first engagement as a commander in the Civil War, he was terrified. His heart was in his throat. When he and his forces crested a rise that they thought would reveal the enemy force, they saw that the enemy had fled. “My heart resumed its place,” Grant wrote. “It occurred to me at once that [the enemy] had been as much afraid of me as I had been of him. This was a view of the question I had never taken before; but it was one I never forgot afterwards.” Grant absorbed this lesson and it transformed him as a leader and planner. 2. Know Your Enemy. The great Chinese strategists counseled that commanders must know their enemies. Grant shows us what this looks like in practice. Rather than dwelling on his fears, those things that his opponent might do that would spell disaster, Grant put himself in the shoes of his adversary and asked himself: What would my gravest fears be, were I in his position? He then designed his plan of campaign to raise the specter of his enemy’s fears, knowing that this would compel the enemy to be blinded by fear and compel them to react. To be fair, this was easier for Grant because in the Civil War he was fighting against fellow graduates of West Point and veterans of the Mexican War, including Robert E. Lee. Grant was not in awe of Lee. “I had known [Lee] personally,” Grant wrote, “and knew that he was mortal; and it was just as well that I felt this.” This does not diminish, but rather reinforces, the importance on studying one’s adversary carefully in any kind of competition. 3. Know Your People. As Grant rose in the ranks of the Union Army, he was pulled away from the sound of the guns and the command of troops in battle. This is true in any organization – the higher one rises the further one gets from the ground truth, whether in an army or a Fortune 500 company. Grant recognized that to influence the battles he could no longer superintend, he had to select the right subordinates for the job and then give them the authority to exercise the initiative in their area of responsibility. This meant that Grant also had to be a careful observer of the strengths and weaknesses of his subordinates. Even a hero of the Battle of Gettysburg like Major General Gouverneur Warren was not spared Grant’s penetrating character assessments. Warren’s weakness, Grant wrote, was that he could not trust his subordinates to carry out his orders, which meant that he could not be give a large command. “[Warren’s] difficulty was constitutional and beyond his control,” Grant wrote. “He was an officer of superior ability, quick perception, and personal courage to accomplish anything that could be done with a small command.” When you know your people, you know where to place them where their strengths will reinforce success and their weaknesses will be least disastrous. 4. Unleash the Power of Humility. The most decisive virtue that Grant practiced was humility. As a leader he did not allow pride in his own designs to blind him to the wisdom of his subordinates. Late in the war, Grant wrote up a campaign plan for attacking the Shenandoah Valley, the key source of supply to the Confederacy. He brought the plan to General Philip Sheridan for execution. However, when he met with Sheridan, the cavalry officer presented Grant with his own plan. Grant wrote that Sheridan “was so clear and so positive in his views and so confident of success, I said nothing about [my campaign plan] and did not take it out of my pocket.” When you lead, don’t let pride get in the way of the best ideas bubbling up from your subordinates. ABOUT PETER CAMPBELL, PH.D. Peter Campbell, Ph.D., is an associate professor of political science in Baylor University’s College of Arts & Sciences. He is the author of two books: “Military Realism: The Logic and Limits of Force and Innovation in the U.S. Army” and “Farewell to the Marshal Statesman: The Decline of Military Experience Among Politicians and its Consequences.” Campbell studies international security, civil-military relations, strategy and national security decision-making, international relations scholarship and policy relevance, insurgency and counterinsurgency, the just war tradition, unconventional warfare and advanced military technology, military culture, and the effects of cyber capabilities on conflict escalation. ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 19,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s largest academic division, consisting of 25 academic departments and eight academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. Faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines. Visit baylor.edu/artsandsciences.
Fourth time a charm? Election audits are getting political in the Peach State
If at first you don’t succeed – try and try again. And Republicans did in Georgia, demanding multiple audits of last November’s presidential election, looking under every ballot box for evidence of election fraud, tampering or other shenanigans that could be used to put the results in doubt. So far, nothing has been found. But that’s not stopping those with an eye on a political future from backing down. In fact, election audits are now a hot topic for those looking to occupy the governor’s mansion in Atlanta. In a bid to bolster former President Donald Trump's lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election, Trump's Republican allies are now seeking Arizona-style audits in other swing states – including Georgia, where the former President's false claims have set off an intraparty war. A day after Trump said in a statement that Georgia should follow Arizona's lead, former Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones, a Trump supporter who is challenging incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in next year's GOP primary, proposed an audit Wednesday. "Georgians still have questions about irregularities found in the 2020 election and they deserve answers," he said in a statement. "We must get to the bottom of all of this and other irregularities to restore trust in our election process. If Mr. Kemp refuses to demand an audit, then I will when I am elected to replace him." Jones' characterization of the election was false: Georgia has already tallied the results to confirm Biden's victory there three times and conducted an audit of absentee ballot signatures. The state found no evidence of fraud, and Kemp and other Republican state officials have backed the findings. May 19 – CNN “This call for yet another ballot review is nothing but political theater," says Dr. Gregg R. Murray, professor of political science at Augusta University. "It’s extremely unlikely it would uncover anything that would overturn the 2020 election or substantial irregularities. It would be a huge waste of taxpayer money.” Despite the findings, this is an issue that won’t likely be going away soon, and if you are covering this topic, then let our expert help with your story. Dr. Gregg R. Murray, is available to talk about the election audit and what it might mean for voters in Georgia and across the country. Murray’s research focuses on political behavior and psychology with specific interests in voter mobilization and turnout. He is also executive director of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences. Simply click on Murray's icon to arrange an interview today.
As America tries to come to grips with and find lasting solutions to issues of systemic racism, new research shows staggering hiring trends that negatively impact Black Americans when they enter the workplace and as they near retirement age. Sociologist and UConn expert Dr. Matthew Hughey discussed the findings with the Washington Post: "A new experiment at Texas A&M University helps illustrate the surprising pattern, which has not been widely studied but tends to line up with Labor Department data reviewed by The Washington Post: Black workers are typically less likely to be hired than White workers with the same experience, but the gap closes in middle age. When he saw the chart above, University of Connecticut sociologist Matthew Hughey was struck by the steadiness of the trend for Whites, compared to the volatile swoop of the line representing Black workers. It shows hiring managers tend to accept White applicants at face value while subconsciously scrutinizing Black ones, he said. “Black people have always been more objectified, scrutinized and surveilled than White people,” Hughey said. “Every little thing is nitpicked on a résumé or explained as a possible red flag.” The larger pattern is common in government data, but the chart comes from a new analysis in the Journal of Policy and Management from Texas A&M economist Joanna Lahey, a widely cited authority on discrimination in the labor market. Lahey noticed the counterintuitive pattern of age discrimination against Black workers when she and her collaborator, Douglas Oxley, asked about 150 business and MBA students to evaluate about 40 résumés each. About a quarter of the students had previously screened résumés in the real world, and 11 percent had experience in human resources." May 14, 2021 - Washington Post If you are a journalist looking to cover this subject, let us help. Professor Matthew Hughey is a scholar of racism and racial inequality in identity formation, organizations, media, politics, science, religion, and public advocacy. If you are looking to book an interview, simply click on Dr. Hughey’s icon today.
She was once seen as the rising star of the Republican Party, but for Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the tides have shifted, and she now finds herself on the outs with the leadership of the GOP. Cheney’s vote to impeach President Donald Trump gained her national attention and accolades from across the aisle, and consequently, several enemies within her own party. Cheney comes with pedigree, profile and a strong following, but with Republicans boasting a record 35 women in Congress, the ousting of Cheney might not have the impact it once did. “It remains to be seen if this decision is a reflection of the Republicans’ willingness to remove a woman from leadership when they aren’t worried about having a ‘woman problem’ in their delegation,” said Dr. Mary-Kate Lizotte, an expert in gender difference in politics and associate professor of political science at Augusta University. What happened Wednesday may have short- and long-term consequences for the Republican party, including how it shapes itself for mid-term elections and the 2024 presidential election. If you are a journalist covering this topic, then let our experts help. Dr. Mary-Kate Lizotte is an expert in political behavior and the implications of gender differences in public opinion. She is available to talk about discuss gender roles in politics and the upcoming Senate runoffs in Georgia. Click on her name to schedule an interview.
UMW Professor Jason Davidson speaks to The Guardian about ‘Costs of War’ in Afghanistan
As America readies to end its military presence in Afghanistan, there’s been much reflection and examining of the role America and its NATO allies played in the war-torn country. A report released just this week shed some light and much-needed perspective on the topic. University of Mary Washington Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Jason Davidson, the study's author, was contacted by The Guardian to lend his expert opinion. “British and Canadian troops were more than twice as likely to get killed in Afghanistan as their US counterparts, according to a study that looks at the scale of the sacrifice made by Nato allies over the course of the 20-year war. The UK also gave more to Afghanistan than the US in the form of economic and humanitarian assistance as a percentage of GDP, the study published on Wednesday by the Costs of War project at Brown University in the US found. Although the US suffered by far the greatest number of fatalities in absolute terms compared with other members of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) – 2,316 American troops were killed between 2001 and 2017, the period of the study – Canadians and British soldiers sent to Afghanistan were more likely to die. The Costs of War report looks at fatalities as a percentage of national troop levels at peak deployment in Afghanistan. The US losses were 2.3% of its vast military presence. The UK lost 455 lives, which was 4.7% of its peak deployment level, while the 158 Canadians killed represented 5.4% of their total. The study refers to a grim joke told by American soldiers in Afghanistan that ISAF stood for “I Saw Americans Fight”, but points out in the case of the UK and Canada at least it was grossly unfair. “Americans do not fully understand, do not acknowledge, the sacrifices that allies made in Afghanistan,” said Jason Davidson, the author of the report, and professor of political science and international affairs at the University of Mary Washington. “It’s something that not only doesn’t get attention from those who are critics of the allies. It doesn’t even get the attention that it deserves from those who are generally cheerleaders for allies, like the current administration. I would like to see more American policymaker acknowledgment and discussion with the public of the costs that America’s allies have incurred in these wars.” May 12 - The Guardian There will be a lot of coverage in the lead up to America’s exit from Afghanistan, and if you are a reporter looking to cover that topic or the ‘Costs of War’ project, then let us help. Dr. Jason Davidson is a professor of Political Science and International Affairs and is also an expert in American Foreign and Security Policy, and International Security. If you’re looking to arrange an interview with Dr. Davidson, simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
The Facebook Oversight Board’s ruling temporarily upholding the social media giant’s ban on former President Donald J. Trump, which they instructed the company to reassess within six months, noted that the parameters for an indefinite suspension are not defined in Facebook's policies. The non-decision in this high-profile case illustrates the difficulties stemming from the lack of clear frameworks for regulating social media. For starters, says web science pioneer James Hendler, social media companies need a better definition of the misinformation they seek curb. Absent a set of societally agreed upon rules, like those that define slander and libel, companies currently create and enforce their own policies — and the results have been mixed at best. “If Trump wants to sue to get his Facebook or Twitter account back, there’s no obvious legal framework. There’s nothing to say of the platform, ‘If it does X, Y, or Z, then it is violating the law,’” said Hendler, director of the Institute for Data Exploration and Applications at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “If there were, Trump would have to prove in court that it doesn’t do X, Y, or Z, or Twitter would have to prove that it does, and we would have a way to adjudicate it.” As exemplified in disputes over the 2020 presidential election results, political polarization is inflamed by a proliferation of online misinformation. A co-author of the seminal 2006 Science article that established the concept of web science, Hendler said that “as society wrestles with the social, ethical, and legal questions surrounding misinformation and social media regulation, it needs technologist to help inform this debate.” “People are claiming artificial intelligence will handle this, but computers and AI are very bad at ‘I’ll know it when I see it,’” said Hendler, who’s most recent book is titled Social Machines: The Coming Collision of Artificial Intelligence, Social Networking, and Humanity. “What we need is a framework that makes it much clearer: What are we looking for? What happens when we find it? And who’s responsible?” The legal restrictions on social media companies are largely dictated by a single sentence in the Communications Decency Act of 1996, known as Section 230, which establishes that internet providers and services will not be treated as traditional publishers, and thus are not legally responsible for much of the content they link to. According to Hendler, this clause no longer adequately addresses the scale and scope of power these companies currently wield. “Social media companies provide a podium with an international reach of hundreds of millions of people. Just because social media companies are legally considered content providers rather than publishers, it doesn’t mean they’re not responsible for anything on their site,” Hendler said. “What counts as damaging misinformation? With individuals and publishers, we answer that question all the time with libel and slander laws. But what we don’t have is a corresponding set of principles to adjudicate harm through social media.” Hendler has extensive experience in policy and advisory positions that consider aspects of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and internet and web technologies as they impact issues such as regulation of social media, and powerful technologies including facial recognition and artificial intelligence. Hendler is available to speak to diverse aspects of policies related to social media, information technologies, and AI.
Social Work is Advancing Addiction Science Research
Tens of thousands of Americans die from drug use and addiction every year, with overdoses killing over 63,000 people in America in 2016, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Add in deaths linked to alcohol overuse and tobacco, and the number climbs above half a million Americans. The collective work of several researchers at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, in collaboration with other USC faculty and outside organizations, is advancing knowledge of substance use disorders. Social work has become a hub where researchers and practitioners drive understanding and improve treatment for this disease that impacts millions of families each year. “Either as a cause or consequence, addiction relates to every problem we deal with in social work,” said John Clapp, professor and associate dean for research and faculty development at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Addiction’s complexity The social work field is uniquely poised to help effect change because of its holistic approach to individual well-being and the public good. According to Clapp, substance use disorder problems are inherently ecological, impacting and being impacted by individuals, families, peers, neighborhoods, communities and public policy in complex and dynamic ways. Untangling those causes and effects and interdependencies is one part of the solution. The other part is understanding that simple solutions may stay out of reach. “We will not find a one-size-fits-all answer,” said Clapp. Looking at addiction as a genetic, psychological or sociological issue only shows one piece of the overall cause. A comprehensive approach is essential, he said, especially when statistics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) show alcohol use disorders alone as the third leading cause of preventable death in the world. A hub for addiction science The need for a transdisciplinary response to this worldwide crisis was behind the 2018 creation of the USC Institute on Addiction Science (IAS), a joint venture between social work and the Keck School of Medicine of USC, with membership from 10 different schools, colleges and hospitals. Its vision is to strengthen the discipline of addiction science and improve the lives of those touched by the disease. Clapp is co-director of the institute and one of its founding architects. IAS is quickly becoming the foremost place for a broad effort focused on addiction that brings together researchers from the fields of public health, social work, law, public policy, mathematicians, computer engineers and others in recognition of the promise of new approaches to longstanding problems. The USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work has eight faculty making substantial contributions to the prevention of addiction-related disorders as members of the IAS: Professor Avalardo Valdez, associate professors Julie Cederbaum and Alice Cepeda, and assistant professors Jordan Davis, Shannon Dunn, Jungeun Olivia Lee, Danielle Madden, and Hans Oh. “Social work brings one of the broadest perspectives on the underpinnings and solutions to the addiction crisis,” said Adam Leventhal, director of IAS and professor of preventive medicine and psychology at Keck. “By approaching addiction as a health condition and a social justice issue, social work brings to the table the opportunity for high-impact, multi-modal intervention and social policy approaches, which are needed to address the addiction epidemic.” A holistic approach Social work faculty are raising the bar in addiction science research, developing new and novel approaches to improving outcomes for those affected by addiction. In a study recently published in Addiction, a multidisciplinary team lead by Davis and Clapp found gender differences in the risk factors for relapse following treatment for opioid use disorder. The study was the first in this field to use machine learning techniques to process large data sets and identify risk factors for relapse, said Davis, who also serves as associate director of the USC Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society (CAIS). The findings may result in more personalized treatment for opioid use disorder with lasting results. This dovetails with additional research Davis is conducting with computer science engineers at CAIS to collect and input neighborhood and census data into their models in an effort to better understand how these macro variables affect relapse. “We are finding that data points such as crime statistics, population density and concentrated poverty tend to be some of the most important predictors of relapse, over and above individual-level predictors such as impulsivity, motivation or gender,” Davis said. These findings echo Clapp’s description of addiction as ecological and point to the need for holistic solutions. “These machine learning techniques are helping us gain an apparent picture of what the most important factors are surrounding someone’s recovery,” Davis said. “Environment matters greatly.” Davis is also collaborating closely with Eric Pedersen, associate professor at Keck School of Medicine at USC, on several research efforts examining substance use among veterans. Most recently, they have assembled a survey group of approximately 1,200 veterans whom they survey quarterly about their well-being. A recently conducted survey of the group found that veterans with PTSD prior to the COVID-19 pandemic were now managing their symptoms with more frequent alcohol and cannabis use. Another joint research endeavor between the two is examining the use of mindfulness smart phone apps to help reduce substance use in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans with PTSD and alcohol use disorder. Where well-being and inequalities intersect Jungeun Olivia Lee also seeks to decode the network of relationships between socioeconomic status, adverse childhood experiences and drug use. Her experience as a social work practitioner working directly with clients drives her motivation to demonstrate to policymakers what she sees as a linkage between unemployment, economic stress and substance use disorders. She is lead author on a paper published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research that found unemployment may advance nicotine addiction among young adults, rather than the idea that nicotine addiction may lead to unemployment. Lee’s research interests lie at the intersection of substance use and co-occurring mental health, social inequalities (such as poverty and low socioeconomic status), and adverse childhood experiences. She is interested in combining these three areas of inquiry to explore their influence on addictive behavior that can persist over generations of at-risk families, such as adolescent mothers and their children. Her memories of working directly with clients struggling with the impact of addiction remain clear in her mind. When Lee hears policymakers and others suggest that individual willpower will solve substance use disorder problems, she has a straightforward response: “People are not born with addiction.” In her view, many factors contribute to the triggered distress, including socioeconomic status and adverse childhood experiences. Lee is exploring an idea with other IAS researchers to investigate the relationship between financial strain and employment uncertainty and addiction. “Individual circumstances, such as losing a job, certainly influence substance use, but policy-level decisions, such as the generosity of unemployment insurance, can mitigate the impact,” she said. Transdisciplinary collaboration with social scientists, psychologists and medical researchers at IAS and across the USC campus enriches and amplifies her work. “We are breaking down discipline-specific silos and bringing new and valuable perspectives to this work,” she said. “The synergy is both useful and inspiring.” Looking ahead Researchers also hope to spark interest in the field among the next generation. A new minor for undergraduate students in addiction science was introduced at USC in Fall 2020. The minor is an interdisciplinary collaboration of the Keck School of Medicine, the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, the USC School of Pharmacy and the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. It is designed to provide students with a transdisciplinary approach to understanding and treatment of the broad spectrum of addiction-related problems. The goal of addiction science research and education is to improve the long-term effect of addiction treatment and save lives. As society’s understanding of the cause of addiction grows, researchers like those in the school of social work and the IAS strive to bridge the gap between science, practice and policy to positively impact outcomes for those affected by addiction.
Ambitious student research collaborations with faculty members often lead to much more than good grades. The mentorships encourage professional growth, confidence and creativity, even in the midst of a pandemic. Georgia Southern University’s Spring 2021 Honors Research Symposium, which is being held virtually April 26 through April 30, will showcase faculty-student partnerships through a broad range of scholarly and creative research projects produced by more than 100 honors students across multiple disciplines on the Statesboro and Armstrong campuses. A few of the presenters include: Chelsea Riley, a triple major in international studies, political science and Spanish, worked with political science and international studies professor Srobana Bhattacharya, Ph.D., on her thesis, “The Culture Gap: The Role of Culture in Successful Refugee Settlement.” History and English major Jacey Thomas, mentored by associate professor of history Alan Downs, Ph.D., will present, “Irish Rock Music amid a Time of Troubles: Thin Lizzy and U2 as a Bridge During a Time of Division.” Biology major Susan Ihejirika’s presentation, “A Forward Genetic Screen to Identify Human Genes of Interest and Their Roles in Ovarian Cancer,” was guided by biology assistant professor Dongyu Jia, Ph.D. The Honors College, as the university-wide center for excellence in undergraduate education, plays a crucial role with undergraduate research at Georgia Southern. Since the beginning of the College, students have been required to complete honors theses or capstone projects. The faculty-mentored projects have spanned traditional research models, applied research and creative activities in all academic colleges and majors. “Through faculty-mentored research and scholarly activities, honors students create new knowledge and the Honors Research Symposium is the venue where we share it with the broader scholarly community,” said Honors College Dean Steven Engel, Ph.D. “ I am proud of the fact that they have been able to complete these projects despite the challenges of the past year.” Presentations will be posted on YouTube and the comments section will be open for audience engagement with presenters. If you're a journalist looking to learn more about this year’s Honors Research Symposium — simply reach out to Georgia Southern Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu.
Self-Built Protein Coatings Could Improve Biomedical Devices
Fouling is a natural phenomenon that describes the tendency of proteins in water to adhere to nearby surfaces. It’s what causes unwanted deposits of protein to form during some food production or on biomedical implants, causing them to fail. Using her expertise in developing bio-inspired materials for use in human health, R. Helen Zha, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering will harness this process found in nature to develop a versatile and accessible approach for modifying solid surfaces. With the support of a more than $592,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant, Zha will use silk fibroin — a protein that naturally assembles itself — to grow a nanoscale film on the surface of an object. This approach only requires a beaker, water, salt, and the protein, which Zha said makes it biocompatible, safe, ecofriendly, and accessible beyond the walls of a lab. Zha has demonstrated that this approach can work and, in some cases, even increase the therapeutic benefits of an implant. In research published in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, Zha collaborated with Ryan Gilbert, a professor of biomedical engineering at Rensselaer, to modify the surface of a fibrous scaffold that was developed by Gilbert’s lab in order to encourage the growth of neurites at the site of nerve damage. The importance of this research could expand beyond the protein Zha and her lab are working with. This approach, she explained, could be applied to any number of proteins and macromolecules.
