February 2016
Volume 3, Issue 2
Dr. Thijs Heus Receives
$228,000 DOE Grant
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dr. Thijs Heus Receives
$228,000 DOE Grant
Meet CSU's New Faculty
Featured Researcher
Video Series
CSU Scholar News
News from the Technology
Transfer Office
DRA, FRD, and FSI Funding
Professors Yau, Zhou, Lam,
and Fox Receive $75,000
MIRP Award
CSU Research Leads to New
Initiative by President Obama
CSU Research Featured in
Nature Reviews
Rheumatology
Improvements in SPRS
Research Administration
Dr. Thijs Heus, associate
college
lecturer
in
the
Department of Physics, has
received a Department of
Energy / Atmospheric System
Research grant in collaboration
with
the
University
of
Oklahoma (OU), with $228,000
for his part of the research.
The
project
title
is
"Characterizing the Turbulent
Structure of the Convective
Boundary Layer Using ARM/ASR Observations and LES
Model Output," and the project focuses on clouds and mixing
processes in the lowest mile of the atmosphere, the socalled atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). This layer is a
significant source of uncertainty in climate and weather
forecasting, and it is also the key parameter in the spread of
pollution through the atmosphere. Using a combination of
radar and lidar measurements from OU, and high resolution
computer simulations from Dr. Heus, this research will shed
light on the causes of humidity variability at the top of the
ABL, and on the onset of cloud formation.
To perform the computer simulations, a grant worth 100,000
node hours was acquired from the Ohio Supercomputer
Reminder of NIH
Center (OSC). This research project began in August 2015
and NSF Changes
and is expected to conclude in July 2018. More information
about the research project can be found here. Dr. Heus will
begin a position as a tenure-track assistant professor at CSU in fall 2016.
Meet CSU's New Faculty
Prof. Michael Baumgartner joined CSU in fall 2011 as a visiting
assistant professor of musicology in the Music Department. In fall
2014, he accepted a position as an assistant professor. Prof.
Baumgartner's research comprises Western art and popular music
of the twentieth and twenty-first century, music's role in relation to
the other arts (cinema, theatre, and visual arts), and the
exploration of the narrative capacity of music.
In his first book, (Exiled Goddesses: Female Statues in the Stage
Works of Kurt Weill, Thea Musgrave and Othmar Schoeck, Georg
Olms Verlag, 2012), Prof. Baumgartner explores a medieval tale
about a Venus statue that comes to life and seduces a young
man, and which is successfully set to music in the two operas The Voice of Ariadne (1974) by
Musgrave, and Venus (1921) by Schoeck, and in the musical One Touch of Venus (1943) by
Weill. The book offers a fresh look at the opera and musical production of the twentieth century
by critically reassessing works from the early, middle, and late period of the century in a
comparative and interdisciplinary analysis.
Prof. Baumgartner continues to pursue his interdisciplinary approach to music studies with his
second book project, Meta-Film Music in the Cinema of Jean-Luc Godard, which is under
contract with Oxford University Press. This monograph will be the first extensive study in English
of music and sound in the films of Jean-Luc Godard. The project proposes an alternative theory
to analyze music in non-Hollywood cinema by suggesting that Godard's innovative and
unorthodox use of film music generates rupture and tension between the music and images that
invites the spectator/listener to actively interpret the meaning of the cinematic message.
In addition to his books, Prof. Baumgartner has several active research agendas on other film
music projects. He edits the essay collection Music in European Post-War Cinema with Prof.
Ewelina Boczkowska (Youngstown State University). This project seeks to create a theoretical
model for the music in European cinema during the post-war years leading up to the fall of the
Berlin wall (1946-89). Prof. Baumgartner's research has been published in numerous collections,
dictionaries (Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, and the Grove Dictionary of American Music),
and journals (Jazz Perspectives).
Featured Researcher Video Series - Nigamanth Sridhar
Research by Prof. Nigamanth Sridhar is the
focus of the latest installment of the
Featured Researcher Video series.
Prof. Sridhar is an associate professor in
the Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science Department. He earned his Ph.D.
in computer science from The Ohio State
University in 2004, and has been at CSU
since then. Prof. Sridhar runs two parallel
research programs. He directs the Dependable Systems and Networks Research Group, which
studies topics that lie at the intersection of software engineering, programming languages, and
distributed systems, with a special emphasis on small embedded systems such as wireless
sensor networks. He also directs the CS Ed Ohio program, which studies topics relating to
computer science education, both in higher education settings and K-12 schools. In 2008, Prof.
Sridhar received the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Award, the only one ever
received at CSU. His research has resulted in two book chapters and over 50 research papers
in conferences and journals.
We encourage you to learn more about Professor Sridhar's research and to take a look at our
previous Featured Researcher Videos.
CSU Scholar News
Prof. Wenbing Zhao is an associate professor of in the Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science Department. Prof. Zhao has a broad
interest in theoretical and applied computer science, including distributed
systems, secure and dependable computing, pervasive computing,
computational intelligence, and health informatics.
Prior to 2013, Prof. Zhao's research focused on efficient and robust fault-
tolerant distributed systems, which are important for the dependability and
trust of cloud-based computer services. Dr. Zhao investigated various
approaches to enabling concurrent computer processing. His research was supported by a CSU
FRD award, a CSUSI (now called FSI) award, and an NSF grant. In addition to several dozen
research papers, Dr. Zhao published a research monograph in 2014 titled Building Dependable
Distributed Systems, which documented his insights and his primary research findings.
In recent years, Prof. Zhao has adjusted his research to focus more on application, particularly in
the area of health care, to better align with the CSU mission and priorities. In collaboration with
colleagues in the School of Health Sciences and the School of Nursing, Dr. Zhao developed
several Microsoft Kinect-based systems for human motion tracking for the purpose of automated
real-time monitoring of rehabilitation exercises done by patients at home, and of the body
mechanics of health care workers. The former application has the potential benefits of lowering
the cost of physical therapy and increasing the quality of patient exercises. The latter application
helps reduce the risk of lower back injuries among health care professionals. Prof. Zhao's
unique technology enables selective tracking of individuals using programmable cameras, and
has led to a provisional patent that was filed by CSU in June 2015. Prof. Zhao's research is
currently supported by a grant from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (and previously
by the CSU FRD program and the CSU Undergraduate Summer Research Award Program).
Prof. Zhao's system will be deployed at the Jennings Center for Older Adults later this year.
Prof. Zhao's long-term goals are to understand fundamental modalities in human-computer
interactions, and to improve human behavior using pervasive computing technologies.
News from the Technology Transfer Office
Lee Patent Filing: A U.S. provisional patent application titled "3d-Printed Miniature Biological
Constructs" was filed by CSU on behalf of Dr. Moo-Yeal Lee from the Department of Chemical
and Biomedical Engineering. The invention claims to develop new biological constructs that are
highly automatable, and to provide for high-throughput microarray screening platforms,
instruments, and devices that can be used for biochemical and cell-based assays to assess
human metabolism and toxicology. The technology is also the subject of a NIH R01 proposal that
was submitted in October 2015.
Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) Update: CSU has entered into a three-party MTA with EliLily and the FDA on behalf of Dr. Anton Komar from the Center for Gene Regulation in Health
and Disease (GRHD), and the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences
(BGES). The MTA will allow Dr. Komar to investigate potential impact of synonymous mutations
on a structure and function of the Eli-Lilly model monoclonal antibody.
CSU has entered into an MTA with Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) on behalf of Dr. Yana
Sandlers from the Department of Chemistry. The MTA will permit Dr. Sandlers to research
pluripotent stem cells provided by BCH.
Start-Up Companies: Dr. Ye Zhu from the Department of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is leading the
first team from CSU to register for the I-Corps@Ohio
program. Dr. Zhu's executive summary will be reviewed by
program leaders, and if approved, a full response to the RFP
will be requested. In addition to receiving an award of
$15,000, I-Corps@Ohio teams develop scalable business models that attract seed, angel, and
venture funding to support company formation and market entry.
DRA, FRD, and FSI Funding
The Office of Research is pleased to provide the following reminder for the 2016-2017 internal
funding programs.
Dissertation Research Award (DRA)
Faculty Research and Development (FRD)
Faculty Scholarship Initiative (FSI)
submission deadline March 11, 2016
submission deadline March 11, 2016
submission deadline March 11, 2016
The DRA and FSI programs have significantly changed since last year and now allow summer
salary. In order to assist in the preparation of successful applications, the evaluation forms that
will be used to evaluate the proposals are included at the above web sites. For more
information, please contact Joy Yard, 687-9364, j.yard@csuohio.edu, or Dan Simon, 687-5171,
d.j.simon@csuohio.edu
Professors Yau, Zhou, Lam, and Fox Receive $75,000 MIRP Award
Professors Siu-Tung Yau (College of Engineering), Aimin Zhou (College of Sciences and Health
Professions), Eddie Lam (College of Education and Human Services), and Harry Fox (College of
Engineering), have been granted a $75,000 Multi-College Interdisciplinary Research Program
(MIRP) award from the Office of Research. MIRP awards fund broad, interdisciplinary,
collaborative research activities that involve faculty from multiple colleges at CSU.
The team's research builds on previous results from Prof. Yau, who has invented and patented
an ultrasensitive molecular detection method, and Prof. Zhou, who has discovered a novel urinebased biomarker for the diagnosis of liver cancer. The research team proposes to develop an
inexpensive, hand-held device capable of detecting extremely low concentrations of disease
biomarkers in urine. Prof. Fox will provide the technology expertise to design a prototype of the
meter, which will have an expected cost of less than $200. Prof. Lam will conduct a survey in
Cleveland and across the nation on the applicability and demand of the device for the detection
of traumatic brain injury among high school football players. The research team plans to use the
MIRP award to collect preliminary results for external funding from the National Institutes of
Health and the American Cancer Society.
Left to right: Professors Lam, Zhou, Fox, and Yau
CSU Research Leads to New Initiative by President Obama
On January 30, President Obama called for a new
initiative entitled Computer Science for All, and has
requested $4 billion of funding in his budget request
to Congress. This new initiative is partially based on
a National Science Foundation program called
CS10K. In 2013, this program awarded CSU a $1
million grant, which is being led by Profs. Nigamanth
Sridhar, Debbie Jackson, Karla Hamlen, and
Santosh Misra (retired). This program is one of the
key factors that contributed to this bold and broad
initiative from the White House.
Since beginning their grant, the CSU team has made significant strides in promoting computer
science across Ohio. They have developed curricula for the new Advanced Placement Computer
Science Principles course, which is being launched in the 2016-17 academic year by the
College Board. They have worked with 23 different schools across Ohio (Northeast Ohio,
Toledo, Springfield, Dayton, Southern Ohio, Mid-Ohio), and have trained teachers from each of
these schools. These teachers are now teaching the Computer Science Principles course to over
500 students across the state. This coming summer, the CSU team will work with an additional
25-40 teachers from across Ohio.
CSU is among a very small number of institutions of higher education leading the charge on
promoting computer science education, which will have a significant and lasting impact on K-12
education in the coming years.
CSU Research Featured in Nature Reviews Rheumatology
A recent paper by Prof. Roman Kondratov in the journal Bone has
been highlighted in Nature Reviews Rheumatology, which is one of
the top rheumatology journals in the world with an impact factor of
9.8. Dr. Kondratov, a professor in the Center for Gene Regulation in
Health and Disease (GRHD) and the Department of Biological,
Geological, and Environmental Sciences (BGES), has studied the
relationship between bone physiology and the circadian clock. Prof.
Kondratov has shown that impairing the molecular clock by
inactivating certain proteins in mice leads to osteopenia, which
contrasts with previous studies. "The current study unambiguously
establishes that the absence of the protein BMAL1 is associated with
a low bone mass phenotype, which correlates with an increased risk
of osteoporosis following circadian disruption through shift work in humans," Prof. Kondratov
explains.
Improvements in SPRS Research Administration
Researchers whose work includes human participants have been able to use Cayuse IRB, a
completely online system for protocol creation, submission, review, and management, for nearly
a year now. Cayuse IRB has eliminated the need for paper and reduced the amount of time
required for routing and approval. SPRS has also started using eFileCabinet, a document
management application, to transition from paper records to electronic records for grant
administration.
The post-award office has been using Billing and Accounts Receivable PeopleSoft modules for
several months now, which include a custom-designed invoice printing process that was
developed by CSU. Many post-award functions were previously performed manually, but the use
of the software modules is significantly more efficient, allowing for faster tracking of billing and
invoicing data. SPRS is also in the process of designing an automated summary sheet that can
be used by project directors to track budgets, expenses, and other useful information about their
grants. Additional information about this service will be publicized soon.
Reminder of NIH and NSF Changes
We recently notified NIH-funded PIs regarding changes to NIH research grant applications as of
January 25th, 2016. In the November 2015 issue of the Research Newsletter we notified readers
about changes to NSF policies and guidelines as of January 25th, 2016. NSF proposal guidelines
are available in the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG, NSF 16-1). As
of January 25th, organizations are not able to submit proposals to NSF FastLane after 5:00 p.m.
on the proposal due date. The cutoff time is determined by the submitter's local time zone.
_____________________________________________________________________________
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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