Winter, 2009

update! RESEARCH NEWSLETTER

 

	Featuring OSU research and scholarship in all disciplines
	The Search, and the Human, in the Research New Awards Vice President for Research Of Your Innovations and Light Bulbs Sponsored Programs Awards COAS Anniversary Incentive Funds - Put to Good Use Links to Resources
Painting "RV Cayuse" by Nelson Sandgren see COAS Anniversary.

"Human clinical study participants are essential to my job," says Mary Garrard, RN, MSN of the Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC) and Linus Pauling Institute (LPI). So when she learned that the position of Institutional Review Board [IRB] Administrator was vacant, she agreed to head the search committee to identify the best candidate.

"Being on a search committee, as many of us know, is a lot of extra work," she says. "But this one is important to me because I work with faculty who do research with human participants. I identify roadblocks to human research for LPI and EHSC investigators and work to remove them by providing services such as blood sampling and IRB support. There’s a perception on the part of some faculty that IRB approval is too difficult or frustrating, or they’ve heard intimidating rumors about how long it takes to get a study approved. I want an IRB administrator who has a focus on myth-dispelling training and education and who can make the IRB process user-friendly while maintaining rigorous oversight of human subject protections.”

One example of Garrard’s own work is serial blood sampling in younger and elder subjects, in a study of alpha-lipoic acid for researchers Tory Hagen and Judy Butler. “Without human study participants, we can’t move the promising results of in-vitro and animal research at EHSC and LPI into the human realm, where it can be applied in ways that have the potential to prolong the human healthspan.”

The search committee included Tony Wilcox of Nutrition & Exercise Science, Steve Durkee, IACUC Administrator, John Edwards, Psychology, and Kathy Gunter, Health and Human Sciences. The committee reviewed and interviewed applicants and made recommendations, and then awaited negotiations with the successful candidate.

"Now that work on the search committee is done, the new hire's work begins. I can go from searching back to researching - and I feel assured that human subjects protections at OSU will be in good hands.”

Lisa K. Leventhal has accepted the position of IRB Compliance Administrator and will join the Research Office's Office of Research Integrity on March 16th. She is uniquely qualified, having managed the regulatory compliance for human subjects research in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at Johns Hopkins University. As a general resource for issues related to regulatory affairs, her experience has included explaining, interpreting, and applying regulations, laws, and policies; assisting in the completion of IRB submissions; and assisting investigators with the human subjects section of NIH grant applications. Lisa Leventhal, former candidate for the IRB Compliance Administrator position in our office, has, within the last hour, accepted our offer for employment. She will be starting on March 16.

New Awards

Nominations are being accepted for two new awards to be presented at University Day next Fall.

Promising Scholar Award This recognizes the scholarship of junior faculty. The award consists of a $1,500 honorarium.oregonstate.edu/senate/awards/nom/pscholar/criteria.html OSU Impact Award for Outstanding Scholarship This recognizes faculty who have demonstrated outstanding scholarship in a specific project or activity resulting in substantial impact beyond the university setting. The award consists of a $2,500 honorarium; the recipient will be invited to present highlights of their work at a public presentation.oregonstate.edu/senate/awards/nom/impact/ Nomination materials must be submitted by April 3 to the Faculty Recognition and Awards Committee, c/o OSU Faculty Senate Office, 107 Gilkey Hall. Link to required online nomination form

Oscar wearing his OSU tartan tie.

Dr. John M. Cassady has decided to retire. Yet he has agreed to continue his leadership until a search is conducted and his successor is on board — which likely will not be until December, 2009.

Cassady has served as OSU's Vice President of Research since spring 2005.  His leadership has enabled the research enterprise to expand significantly, with many notable achievements, including: enhancing shared research facilities; creating a development plan for increasing OSU-corporate relationships; creating infrastructure to increase technology transfer and commercialization activities; and creating policies to increase effectiveness of Centers and Institutes. At the State level, John has provided leadership to the OUS Research Council and led OSU’s efforts to work with the other Oregon higher education institutions to develop signature research areas and seek legislative funding for them.

Sherm Bloomer, Dean of Science, has agreed to head the national search for Cassady's successor. In the meantime, the OSU community can be assured that Cassady continues to provide vigorous, visionary stewardship of OSU research and scholarship.

Of Your Innovations and Light Bulbs

Mary Foley Phillips loves to hear about faculty's discoveries. " Tell the assistant director of the Office of Technology Transfer about a new technology, and she [or one of her OTT colleagues] will help you figure out how to get it out of the lab and to the public.
Yet as she told would-be entrepreneurs recently at "Business Boot Camp in Weatherford Hall,
"You have to have more than a technology."
"You must make a mental leap, she says. "Beyond the technology, it takes imagination to think of 'what can be done with my innovation?'"

 

Foley Phillips gives the example of a conversation she had with a faculty member about a technology that would be difficult to get licensed by an existing company. "I mentioned that it would be easier if he had his own company. "Suddenly a light bulb went off for him: 'Oh, I can start a company?' he said. "And he did."

Foley Phillips encourages faculty to discuss with the Office of Technology Transfer any inventions and ideas you might have. With a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, research background in Photodynamic Therapy as a treatment for cancer, work experience in a small company, and a Registered Patent Agent, she can not only "get" your technology, but also can contribute ideas of how to bring it out to the world - and protect your rights in the process. note: The Office of Technology Transfer reports that since 2006, 10 startup companies based on OSU research have raised approximately $11.5M in new capital, the majority of which is being spent at OSU to build research and development pipelines and in the local community.

---

Sponsored Programs Awards

Here's the good news: as of December 2008, halfway through OSU's fiscal year, the total dollar amount of sponsored awards to OSU faculty is higher than the same period in each of the previous four years.

Sponsored Programs Director Pat Hawk says, "This increase in awards is very exciting to see. It is a testament to our faculty's excellence in research and everyone in the Research Office is proud to support that excellence." See statistics

---

COAS Anniversary

The College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences will celebrate 50 Years of Discovery, July 17-19, 2009. For information, schedule, and registration: www.coas.oregonstate.edu/50/
	Painting to the left "Yaquina Deck", above "RV Yaquina", by Nelson Sandgren, who taught for 38 years in the OSU Art Department

Incentive Funds - Put to Good Use

Students remain active in real-world research, with the help of the Undergraduate Research, Innovation, Scholarship and Creativity (UROSC) Funds. Current topics being explored include grass-seed pests; ocean acidification; the bushy tail wood rat; fruit and vegetable consumption among food stamp recipients; and emotional intelligence.

Following are comments by past URISC students:

"Having little previous lab experience, this opportunity allowed me to expand my background in science by gaining first hand technical skills . . . I found this project as an exciting step in furthering my future potential, in both research and a career . . . The work gave me a strong sense of pride and purpose; I felt honored in knowing I was able be to play a key part in furthering scientific knowledge and literature."

" These experiences confirmed my interest in this field and also in this particular research area .  . . Being selected for the URISC award made it possible to perform this research project. . . but it has opened a variety of other doors: I am participating in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s undergraduate summer research program and I was also selected to travel to Taiwan as part of a entomology research expedition. Additionally, I have been accepted to the Graduate Program in Entomology here at OSU."

"Receiving a URISC grant enabled me to learn most of what I know about the scientific process and working in a bioengineering lab. My previous geophysical laboratory experience was performed mostly alone in a very small lab with fairly simple machines. While working in Dr. Ely’s lab, I learned how to work with numerous other student researchers . . . the attention to detail and sterility necessary to microbiological labs . . . how to plan my schedule around classes, other activities and lab work as well as other people’s schedules . . . how to deal with lab setbacks and ask for help from senior researchers, and how to gather, organize, and present data. . . I was able to cultivate some professional relationships both inside and outside of the lab."

“The scope of this project included everything from proposal writing to planning, gathering and analyzing of data and writing. The experience I gained during this project was unequivocal during my application and admittance into a geology graduate program . . . "Having the opportunity to initiate and learn every step of the research process was an integral part of my undergraduate experience. I became more aware of the need to plan and budget both time and money  . . . .  Now, having this experience I feel more confident in my ability to transform what I’ve learned in undergraduate courses into useful tools for analysis during my research . . . "Learning how to adequately convey a concept and interpretation scientifically was undeniably a very significant part of this project. I have a completely new understanding and appreciation for clear and concise scientific writing that I can now strive to accomplish myself . . ."

"In terms of personal advancement, my involvement in this research project has been extremely beneficial. Aside from the obvious benefits . . . laboratory experience and knowledge, I was also able to finally experience what it’s like to be truly involved in a research project . . . The experience required self adjustment as the tasks and requirements . . . were almost completely novel in comparison to most of my previous involvements. I’ve come to a better understanding of the true nature of research and I have to thank this research project for that transition. "

See the various Research Office Incentive Funds for faculty and undergraduates, including current solicitations, upcoming deadlines, and previous awards.

Director and Instructor Elizabeth Helman led student actors in warm-up exercises during rehearsals
for the play Arcadia, recently produced by the University Theatre. [See article in Terra this spring.]