November 2015
Volume 2, Issue 11
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Professor Bayachou Receives
$421,000 NIH Grant
Meet CSU's New Faculty
Featured Researcher
Video Series
CSU Scholar News
News from the Technology
Transfer Office
The Ohio Supercomputer
Center
Professor Kaufman's
Research in Physical Review
NSF Major Research
Instrumentation Program
NSF Changes
Successful Grant
Writing Seminar
Proposal Development
Support
Professor Bayachou
Receives $421,000 NIH Grant
Dr. Mekki Bayachou, Professor of
Chemistry,
has
received a
$421,000 grant from the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) for his
R15 grant "Nitric Oxide Synthasebased
Thin
Films
as
Antithrombotic Coatings."
Many surgical interventions entail
the introduction of devices such
as intravascular catheters and
sensors, grafts, and coronary
artery and vascular stents. However, such devices lead to
complications at the injured site, including clot formation, also
known as thrombosis. 80% of vascular dysfunction is caused
by graft thrombosis, which comes with an associated healthcare cost of over $1 billion per year.
Nitric oxide (NO) is known to counteract thrombosis. NOreleasing materials have the potential to prolong vascular
graft and stent potency without adverse results. NO-based
coatings, while promising, are relatively limited because of
the need for stable materials that are capable of sustained
and prolonged NO release. This is partly due to the small
amounts of NO-releasing material that can be incorporated in
the coating.
The goal of Dr. Bayachou's three-year research project is to
develop stable NO-releasing thin films that can be used as coatings for implantable medical
devices. Dr. Bayachou's research lies at the heart of the treatment of cardiovascular disease,
which claims the lives of 2,150 Americans each day.
Meet CSU's New Faculty
Dr. Kathleen Stansberry joined CSU in fall 2014 as an assistant
professor in the School of Communication. Her research is informed
by her professional experience in public relations and social media
marketing. Her interests include digital analytics and data analysis,
online community development, and the use of social media in
strategic communication campaigns. She is particularly interested in
ways that strategic communication professionals can better analyze
the influences of online, health-based communities.
The recent expansion of online and mobile communication platforms
has created unprecedented opportunities for connecting around topics
of shared concern. Dr. Stansberry studies how these interest-based
communities create meaning, build collective power, and influence public opinion. Using a
combination of online social network analysis and qualitative techniques such as rhetorical
analysis, textual analysis, and narrative analysis, Dr. Stansberry explores information flow and
the development of shared cognition within online communities. She studies the ways that epatients are empowered through new media, and how they develop a sense of efficacy through
collaborative communication.
Dr. Stansberry's current research examines cancer patients' and survivors' use of social media to
actively engage in their care. She is also studying the counter-narratives that breast cancer
bloggers develop in response to Pinktober marketing. She has published and spoken extensively
on the use of social media by members of the young adult cancer community as a tool for
information sharing, support, and advocacy.
Featured Researcher Video Series - Norbert Delatte
Research by Professor Norbert Delatte is
the focus of the latest installment of the
Featured Researcher Video series.
Professor Delatte earned his Ph.D. from the
University of Texas at Austin in 1996. He
served for 11 years on active duty as an
officer in the United States Army Corps of
Engineers. He is currently professor and
chair of the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering. His research interests include concrete pavement performance and
rehabilitation, nondestructive testing, and the integration of failure case studies in the civil
engineering curriculum. He is the editor of the ASCE Journal of Professional Issues in
Engineering Education and Practice, a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a
Fellow of the American Concrete Institute, and the recipient of the 2013 Forensic Engineering
Award.
We encourage you to learn more about Professor Delatte's research, and to take a look at our
previous Featured Researcher Videos.
CSU Scholar News
Dr. Ann Reinthal is an associate professor in
the Physical Therapy Program in the School of
Health Sciences. Her research focuses on
motor control and learning, especially as
related to developing clinical methods for
effective and cost-efficient motor practice. She
is particularly interested in using inexpensive
technologies
for
rehabilitation,
including
commercial video gaming to improve balance
and arm function after a stroke.
She has collaborated with CSU engineering
professors (Drs. Zhao and Sridhar) to develop
inexpensive sensor technologies to track practice repetitions as well as provide feedback about
the accuracy of exercise performance. She is part of a team that was recently awarded Ohio
Bureau of Workman's Compensation grant "Safe Patient Handling among STNA's in Nursing
Homes: Compliance, Monitoring, and Continuous Quality Improvement of Best Practices." This
grant integrates various sensor technologies and provides real-time feedback to nursing
assistants to remind them to move in ways that prevent back injury.
Balance training is often not intense enough to provide significant improvements, so Dr. Reinthal
is working with colleagues on a harness system in conjunction with video gaming to provide
aggressive but safe balance training.
News from the Technology Transfer Office
Kalafatis Patent: A provisional patent application has been filed for Dr. Michael Kalafatis, titled
Recombinant Prothrombin Analogues and Uses Thereof. The patent application includes a
method of inhibiting coagulation in a subject who is at risk of developing blood clots.
Innovation Competition: Patents for Humanity is the United States Patent & Trademark Office's
(USPTO) awards competition, and recognizes innovators who use game-changing technology to
meet global humanitarian challenges. Applications are being accepted until December 4th.
Faculty are encouraged to submit an application or contact the Technology Transfer Office with
questions.
Patent Trolling: Much has been recently written about the pervasive business practice known as
patent trolling. In light of the recent Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) vs. Apple,
Inc. jury decision, the question has been asked in this NY Times article whether universities
engage in a form of patent trolling.
Start-Up Companies: I-Corps@Ohio is a statewide program to assist faculty, staff, and
students from Ohio universities, colleges, and community colleges in validating the market potential of technologies and launching start-up companies. Teams develop market-driven value
propositions and scalable business models that attract seed, angel, and venture funding to
support company formation and market entry, and to accelerate the growth of income and jobs in
Ohio. For detailed information, please review the recently released RFP, or contact the
Technology Transfer Office with questions.
Innovation and Economic Prosperity: A survey which is part of the
University's application for the nationally recognized APLU Innovation and
Economic Prosperity (IEP) Designation was emailed by the Office of Research
at the end of October. The survey is a critical component of the application
process. The TTO would greatly appreciate it if faculty take time to respond to
the survey.
The Ohio Supercomputer Center
The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC)
provides
high-performance
computing
resources and expertise to the state of Ohio,
and includes researchers in academia, industry,
and government. OSC was established in 1987
by the Ohio Board of Regents, now the Ohio
Department of Higher Education, and is located
on the Ohio State University campus. OSC's
goal is to be a strategic force for Ohio's economy and to position the state as a national
competitor in science and technology.
OSC's supercomputers, mass storage systems, and software applications empower over 1,100
clients and 370 partners to innovate, develop new research and business opportunities, and lead
Ohio's knowledge economy. OSC's Statewide Users Group (SUG), composed of faculty
members across Ohio, guides OSC's user-related and technical operations.
OSC's next bi-annual Statewide Users Group meeting is scheduled for 10:30 am to 6 pm on
Thursday, Dec. 3rd. The meeting will highlight new scientific developments produced with OSC
resources, foster connections between OSC staff and the public, and obtain feedback for the
future of OSC and its role in supporting science across Ohio. There will be flash-talk and poster
sessions, and participants and winners will receive OSC computing hours. See here for details.
For questions, contact Heidi Hamblin at hhamblin@osc.edu.
Professor Kaufman's Research in Physical Review
A paper co-authored by Dr. Miron Kaufman, "Phase transition and
surface sublimation of a mobile Potts model," has been accepted for
publication in Physical Review E, which is considered by many to be
among the most prestigious physics journals in the world.
Dr. Kaufman's paper examines the sublimation of a solid into a gas.
A familiar example of sublimation is the transformation of solid dry ice
into vapor. Dr. Kaufman's co-authors are H. T. Diep, a professor of
physics at the University of Cergy-Pontoise, and A. Bailly-Reyre, a
PhD student who is working under Dr. Diep's supervision.
Dr. Kaufman's research in statistical physics has been published in
over 100 refereed publications. The Physical Review has been published since 1893 by The
American Physical Society, which is the world's largest physics society, and is the highest
ranked journal in the world in the field of statistical and non-linear physics. Drs. Diep and
Kaufman have been collaborating since 2007.
NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program
The proposal submission deadline for the NSF Major Research
Instrumentation Program (MRI) is January 13th, 2016. The University may
submit up to three (3) proposals, including a maximum of two (2) for
instrument acquisition and one (1) for instrument development. Because of
this limitation, the Office of Research is seeking to identify interested
project directors and teams as soon as possible. The University is required
to provide 30% of the total project cost. University policy requires that this
cost-share be documented and approved in advance of proposal submission. All MRI proposals
must be approved by the Office of Research prior to proposal development. See here for the
Office of Research memo that details the University's MRI proposal requirements. See here for
the NSF MRI proposal solicitation.
NSF Changes
The NSF has issued a revised version of their Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide
(PAPPG). The new PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January
25th, 2016. Given the number of important revisions, PIs are strongly encouraged to review the
summary of changes provided in the introduction section of the PAPPG. The PAPPG is available
here.
Successful Grant Writing Seminar
The Office of Research sponsored a successful grant
writing seminar on November 6th, which was presented
by Dr. John Robertson from Grant Writers' Seminars &
Workshops, LLC. The full-day seminar was attended by
30 faculty members, ranging from first-year assistant
professors to tenured full professors, and was focused on
NSF and NIH proposals and on "writing to the review
process." Participants scored the seminar very highly: on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) the
average post-seminar evaluation score was 4.8. Some of the comments included: "really
excellent," "extremely helpful," "very helpful," "very well done," "great information," "great
speaker," and "fantastic workshop." The Office of Research will offer this grant writing seminar
again next year.
Proposal Development Support
Some of the challenges in preparing large,
interdisciplinary, or multi-institutional proposals
include assembling a team, managing the inputs
and documents that come from team members,
gathering institutional content, and packaging the
materials together in accordance with sponsor
requirements. Other challenges include the search
for suitable collaborators, the need for frequent meetings and communication with team
members as the proposal deadline nears, and the development of a cohesive management plan.
All of these reasons are why the Office of Research is eager to facilitate the development of
large, collaborative proposals for external funding. The Multi-College Interdisciplinary Research
Program (MIRP) is one incentive that the Office of Research instituted to encourage proposal
development. Additional staff will likely be added to the Office of Research to assist in proposal
development. In the meantime, the current staff would be pleased to assist faculty in the
development
of large, collaborative proposals. Please contact Dan Simon at
d.j.simon@csuohio.edu with questions or ideas.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Please share with us important news or updates on your research, scholarly, or creative
activities. Updates may be related to a paper that has been accepted for publication in a highimpact journal, a book you've just published, your work that will be exhibited at a prominent
institution, or other updates you wish to share with our office. Send details to j.yard@csuohio.edu
and d.j.simon@csuohio.edu.
_____________________________________________________________________________
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