The University of Kentucky received $212 million in research grants and contracts for fiscal year 2001-2002. This year’s awards represent a 22.1 percent increase over last year and mark the first time that UK has exceeded the $200 million award level. The increase is a result of reinvestment of indirect costs, an overall increase in funding from the National Institutes of Health, and, most of all, the efforts of the faculty. Success in UK research has a significant impact on Kentucky citizens. Each research dollar spent is turned over an estimated three times in the Kentucky economy. Also, research dollars contribute to the expertise in research and in clinical medicine for the major health issues of this region and the nation.
2. Students Work With ‘Bucks for Brains’ Faculty in Summer Program
Twenty-two African-American upperclassmen spent their summer working in the scientific laboratories and academic offices of several University of Kentucky professors hired under the state’s Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF) program, or “Bucks for Brains.” The program was developed by Deneese Jones in The Graduate School to encourage more African Americans to consider careers in research. Meanwhile, twelve students from private colleges and universities in Kentucky also were paired with RCTF faculty under the Kentucky Young Scientists Summer Program (KYSS). The KYSS program is part of UK President Lee T. Todd Jr.’s efforts to build collaboration with the private institutions. The “Bucks for Brains” and KYSS students worked with the professors in ongoing projects, including studies on possible ways cancer develops at the cellular level; transdermal delivery systems for anti-nausea and curative pharmaceuticals; the effectiveness of Super Bowl advertisements in reaching their desired audiences; and the presidential use of executive orders. In late July, President Todd and Kentucky Governor Paul E. Patton congratulated the students for completing the programs.
3. UK Breaks Ground for New Center for Rural Health Building
UK officials broke ground August 1 for the new UK Center for Rural Health Building. Also participating in the official ceremony were U.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers, Hazard Mayor William “Bill” Gorman, Appalachian Regional Hospital (ARH) C.E.O. Stephen Hanson, ARH Board of Trustees Chairman William Engle, UK Board of Trustees member Grady Stumbo and former state Senator Benny Ray Bailey. The new four-story, 57,000-square-foot facility, will be located on the campus of the Hazard ARH Medical Center. The $13.1 million project represents a unique collaboration of University, Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), state, federal and private funding sources. The building is expected to be completed in January 2004. The building will house outpatient family practice and dental clinics, classrooms and class laboratories, and faculty and staff work stations. Several health professions associate degree programs of Hazard Community College also will be located in the new facility. Flexible space will be available for community programs and for student service-learning experiences. To honor the hard work and concern of Bailey and Stumbo for rural Kentuckians, the new building will be named the Bailey-Stumbo Building.
4. World’s Virus Researchers Meet at UK to Share Their Findings
The American Society for Virology brought nearly 1,300 of the world’s most prominent researchers on plant, animal and human viruses to UK’s campus in mid-July for the organization’s annual five-day meeting. Dozens of workshops and seminars highlighting the researchers’ most recent discoveries on disease-causing viruses were held in the Student Center, the Singletary Center for the Arts and the White Hall Classroom Building. The society’s president, Robert Lamb of Northwestern University, said the group’s decision to hold the meeting here recognizes the high quality of UK’s virus research programs. Said Ghabrial, Plant Pathology, and Judith Lesnaw, Biology, were the UK hosts for the meeting.
5. UK Researchers Evaluate Lung Cancer Vaccine’s Effectiveness
Two University of Kentucky researchers are evaluating a vaccine to prevent lung cancer recurrences following primary treatment of the disease. The Phase I trial is enrolling subjects with diagnosed non-small-cell lung cancer who already have undergone treatment with surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy. The ultimate goal is to reduce risk of recurrence or maintain remission following treatment. Edward A. Hirschowitz, Hematology and Oncology, and John Yannelli, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, are using white blood cells from patients’ blood to make a vaccine. Then the vaccine is administered to the patient. It is hoped that the patient’s immune system will recognize and destroy residual tumor cells that can lead to recurrences after cancer treatment.
6. Former Senator Huddleston Donates Public Papers to Ford Policy Archives
Former U.S. Senator Walter “Dee” Huddleston in late June presented the public papers from his 12-year senatorial career -- all 1,000 boxes -- to the University of Kentucky Libraries. U.S. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke at the presentation at the Wendell H. Ford Research Center and Public Policy Archives of the Margaret I. King Library.
7. General Clinical Research Center Wins $11.6 Million in Renewed Funding
The UK General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) received renewed funding of $11.6 million for the next five years to provide clinical scientists the essential resources to conduct patient-oriented research. Since 1985, the GCRC has had continued funding from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Center for Research Resources to provide clinical scientists the essential resources necessary to conduct patient-oriented research. The most important purpose of the GCRC is to provide clinical research infrastructure for investigators who receive their primary research funding from the NIH. The facility may assist investigators funded by other federal, state and local agencies, as well as the private sector.
8. UK Licenses Generate $1.5 Million in RoyaltiesUK generated $1.5 million in royalties during fiscal 2001-2002 from intellectual property licensed for use by business and industry. The top royalty-producing licenses include a sustained-release ocular drug-delivery system and two equine vaccines. During the year, 32 patents were issued, 23 patent applications filed, 83 inventions disclosed, and 11 licenses issued, one to a Kentucky-based start-up business. UK held 66 licenses during fiscal 2002. After recovering patent costs, UK returns 40 percent of all royalties to the inventors, 20 percent to the inventor’s department and 20 percent to the inventor’s college. The remaining 20 percent is reinvested in the University’s research activities through a variety of programs administered by the UK Research Foundation, Inc.
9. Kentucky Geological Survey Puts Oil, Gas Drilling Records on the Web
In late July, the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) launched the nation’s first free online database for oil and gas well records. Until recently, anyone seeking this information had to rely on paper records archived by KGS in Lexington or Henderson. The new system provides free, 24-hour access to 1.3 million digital images of well records for anyone with an Internet link and desktop computer. People can view, print, copy, export or save images of original oil and gas well records directly on a personal computer in an office, home or local library. The system is at www.uky.edu/KGS/pubs/lop.htm.
10. UK College of Agriculture Among Several Recognized by USDA Award
UK's participation in a program that helps bring economic stability to agriculture in Armenia has earned national recognition from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In early July, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman presented a Secretary's Honor Award to the USDA's Marketing Assistance Project in Armenia. The USDA’s program manager noted Craig Infanger, Agriculture, is the program’s director in Armenia. The Secretary's Honor Award each year recognizes personnel and projects that, because of outstanding performance, deserve special merit. The Marketing Assistance Project in Armenia was chosen for its “exemplary leadership in strengthening the links between the U.S. and Armenia resulting in new markets for American farmers and renewed hope for thousands of Armenians.”
11. Cardiac Resynchronization Is Effective in Treating Chronic Heart Failure
A study of cardiac resynchronization in chronic heart failure patients led by William Abraham, co-director of the Linda and Jack Gill Heart Institute at the University of Kentucky, indicates significant clinical improvement in patients, according to an article released in the June 13 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. Cardiac resynchronization therapy is a new treatment for heart failure that uses an implantable device, the Medtronic InSync® cardiac resynchronization system, to improve the pumping efficiency of the heart. The study found that patients using the device could walk farther, felt better, had fewer hospitalizations, and experienced a decreased need for intravenous medications.
12. Peers Show Affection for Tom Clark at 99th Birthday Celebration
More than 200 people attended a College of Arts and Sciences celebration of noted historian Thomas Clark’s 99th birthday at Maxwell Place. Clark, who received his master’s degree in history from UK in 1929, served as a professor and department chair in the UK Department of History. He has written numerous books, including The Emerging South; Pills, Petticoats, and Plows: The Southern County Store; The Greening of the South; The Southern Country Editor; Kentucky: Land of Contrast; and A History of Kentucky, which the Lexington Herald-Leader called “a watershed text that served the state for more than a half century.” Clark’s awards have been numerous and varied. In 1969, he received an honorary doctorate from the University. The Kentucky State Legislature named him Commonwealth Historian Laureate for life and designated him “a state treasure” in 1990. That same year, he was awarded the first UK Library Medallion for Intellectual Achievement. The University Press of Kentucky has named both its Limestone Street building and its foundation for Clark.
13. UK Hospital Installs Security Devices and Procedures to Ensure Safety
The UK Hospital is implementing security technology that channels patients and visitors to public entrances and requires employees to use identification badges to enter secured areas. New magnetic locks and card readers are part of a perimeter security system, designed to protect building occupants and hospital resources. With the new system in place, public access to UK Hospital is directed to specific entrances monitored by security staff. Also, security officers have the ability to lock down the hospital quickly during times of civil disobedience, terrorism or disaster.
14. Young Classical League Brings 1,600 High School Students to UK for Convention
Nearly 1,600 high school students from across the country came to the UK campus two weeks ago for the National Junior Classical League’s annual convention. The students participated in spirit contests, classically oriented academic testing, artistic media exercises, athletic activities and rhetorical contests in both Latin and English. Also included in the six-day conference were teaching seminars, workshops and a talent show. On August 3, the students dressed in togas and paraded around campus for a “Day in Old Rome.” After the processional, students participated in a true Roman banquet and sampled Kentucky culture and cuisine.
15. College of Dentistry Explores Use of Orthodontic Implant to Straighten Teeth
A new implant being used at the UK College of Dentistry will reduce the need for some patients to wear the unsightly and uncomfortable headgear. UK periodontists and orthodontists are among the first in the nation to use the dental implant. The implant allows orthodontists to move teeth in ways not previously possible.
16. Five UK Faculty Are Named Fulbright Scholars for Overseas Study
Five UK faculty have been named Fulbright Scholars for the 2002-2003 academic year, permitting them to teach or perform research abroad. The five are Rory Remer and Edward (Skip) Kifer, Education; Mark Berger, Economics; and Desmond O. Brown and Greg Brock, Family Studies.
17. UK Holds 50th Annual College Business and Management Institute
Business managers and other administrators from colleges and universities around the country attended UK’s 50th annual College Business and Management Institute in late July. The institute, the only one of its kind in the nation, offers training in business affairs, purchasing policies, accounting fundamentals, human resource management and other critical issues in institutional operations.
18. UK Health Care Professionals Offer Guidance to Romanian Colleagues
UK health care professionals did their part to improve the health of Romanians earlier this summer. For two weeks, Romanian health care professionals visited the Kentucky School of Public Health faculty and staff of the UK Distance Learning Technology Center as part of an ongoing, cooperative project between UK and Romania's Department of Public Health and Management of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest and the Institute of Health Services Management. The program educates Romanians about their new health care system. Once under communist rule, Romania now faces the task of implementing new health care systems and educating its citizens about health care options. UK faculty members are helping the country achieve its goal through two separate public health education projects.
19. UK Trustee Russ Williams Assists in Choosing New World Trade Center Proposals
Russ Williams, Human Resource Development and staff representative on the UK Board of Trustees, traveled to New York City in mid-July as one of 500 volunteer facilitators specially chosen from around the nation to assist in "Listening to the City," a town meeting that attracted about 5,000 people. The facilitators assisted participants' discussions as they evaluated proposals for reconstruction of the area where the World Trade Center stood.
20. Health Sciences Faculty Help Open Russian Women’s Wellness Center
UK College of Health Sciences faculty members returned recently from opening a Women's Wellness Center in Pereyaslavka in the far eastern part of Russia. The center resulted from work on a three-year, $750,000 grant awarded to Elizabeth Schulman, Health Services, to improve rural health care in the Lazo region, an area similar to Eastern Kentucky. The Women's Wellness Center links services with the Health Education Center, which opened in Russia last year. While the Women's Wellness Center services primarily focus on family planning and treatment of sexually transmitted infection, the Health Education Center provides adolescent consulting services, community health classes, and health education and promotion activities. During their visit, the Kentucky team held a three-day workshop for Russian teenagers, focusing on effective habits for successful teens.
21. LCC Nursing Program Posts High Pass Rate on Registered Nurse Licensure
The 2001 graduates of
Lexington Community College Nursing Program posted a
93 percent pass rate as first-time writers on the National Council Licensure
Examination-Registered Nurse, enabling them to practice as registered nurses.
The Nursing Program certified 57 nursing graduates in 2001 as successfully
earning the associate in applied science degree.
22. UK Has New Graphics Standards
A new Graphic Standards Manual has been posted on UK's Web site at www.uky.edu/Regs/Graphics/. The University must present a consistent image to the world that reflects our quality, professionalism and mission. UK Public Relations was charged with developing visual identity standards critical to achieving this objective. The staff will assist individuals and departments to ensure that their communication vehicle meets the high standards set by our institution. The new Graphic Standards Manual will project and protect a clear, unifying image for the University.
23. Significant Activities of Students
Charles Amuzie, Education graduate student, has been awarded a UK Graduate School Dissertation Enhancement award to conduct research in Nigeria this fall.
Christina Charriez and Tyler DeGraw, Pharmacy graduate students, received renewals for second year fellowships awarded by the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education.
Brandon D. Conley, Chemistry and Classical Languages and Literatures, was named a Goldwater Scholar in Mathematics, Science and Engineering by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. He was one of 309 students nationwide who received the one-year, $7,500 scholarship, and the only student from a Kentucky college.
Jodi Dickey, Lexington Community College, received a $1,000 scholarship from the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation.
David Feola, Laura Land and Santos Murty, Pharmacy graduate students, received pre-doctoral fellowships from the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education.
Lori Hancock and Leah Mensah, Library and Information Studies, each received Lyman T. Johnson Fellowships from the UK Graduate School to perform internships at the Lexington Public Library. The fellowship can total up to $15,000, depending on the number of hours an intern works at the library.
Ge Jiang, Pharmacy graduate student, received the 2002 American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences Outstanding Graduate Research Award in Pharmaceutical Technology, sponsored by Emisphere Technologies Inc.
Tracy Kershaw, Journalism, received a $10,000 Scripps Howard Foundation Top Ten Scholarship. The foundation’s Top Ten Scholarship program identifies and rewards the ten brightest college journalism students in the country.
24. Significant Faculty and Staff Activities
Donald G. Colliver, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, has been installed as president of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers for 2002-2003.
Gary Cromwell, Animal Sciences, recently received the Morrison Award for Research Excellence from the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) for research having a direct impact on livestock production. The ADSA also recognized Don Ely and Clair Hicks, Animal Sciences, for excellence in teaching.
Elisa D’Angelo, Agronomy, received a $225,000 National Science Foundation grant to study microbial population dynamics in soils.
Kathy Cisney, Patient and Family Services, UK Hospital, was named chairperson of the Education Committee of the national Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society.
Patrick P. DeLuca, Pharmacy, was named the 2002 Kentucky Pharmacist of the Year by the Kentucky Pharmacists Association during the organization’s annual meeting in Fort Mitchell.Janet Carey Eldred, English, is co-author of the recently published Imagining Rhetoric: Composing Women of the Early United States, University of Pittsburgh Press.
Richard Gates, Sue Nokes, George Duncan, S. Zolnier and R. G. Anderson, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, are recipients of a 2002 Superior Paper Award from the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE). Their paper, entitled “Non-Water-Stressed Baseline as a Tool for Dynamic Control of a Misting System for Propagation of Poinsettias,” is among an elite 5 percent of papers published by the ASAE to receive this honor.
James W. Holsinger Jr., Senior Vice President and Chancellor of the UK Chandler Medical Center, has been elected to the board of trustees of the Good Samaritan Corp., a Kentucky grant-making public charity. He also was elected to serve as the board’s chairperson.
Dewayne Ingram, Horticulture, received a $687,491 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the third phase of a new crop opportunities initiative.
Dennis G. Karounos, Endocrinology, presented a paper about the immune response to insulin at the American Diabetes Association 62nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions in San Francisco.
Tonglei Li, Pharmacy, has been selected as the recipient of the 2002 New Investigator Grant in Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology from the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. The $25,000 award recognizes outstanding new investigators and is sponsored by Pfizer Central Research.
Terry Malone, Physical Therapy, was named a Catherine Worthingham Fellow by the American Physical Therapy Association. The award was established to recognize individuals whose work has resulted in lasting and significant advances in the science, education and practice of the physical therapy profession.
Jerome Meckier, English, has published Dickens's Great Expectations: Misnar's Pavilion versus Cinderella, University Press of Kentucky.
Robert Miller, Agronomy, received a Philip Morris, Inc. grant for $1 million to study burley tobacco breeding and genetics.
Fred Payne, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, received a USDA teaching grant of $207,000 for a National Needs Graduate Fellowship in Bioprocess Engineering.
Armando Jose Prats, English, has published Invisible Natives: Myth & Identity in the American Western, Cornell University Press.
Vivek M. Rangnekar, Radiation Medicine, presented seminars on “Apoptosis by Par-4” at the University of Tokyo, Japan; Academia Sinica, Institute of Molecular Biology, Taipei, Taiwan; University of Hong Kong Medical Center, Hong Kong; Beijing University, China; Capital University of Medical Sciences, Institute of Urology; Zhong Shan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Cancer Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; and Shanghai Cancer Institute, China.
Kenneth B. Roberts, Pharmacy, and Joseph Fink III, Pharmacy and Vice President for Corporate Relations and Economic Outreach, received Kentucky Pharmacists Association (KPhA) awards. Roberts received a 2002 KPhA Professional Promotion Award recognizing outstanding efforts to demonstrate the importance of pharmacy as a health care profession. Fink received a 2002 KPhA Distinguished Service Award.
Chris Schardl, Plant Pathology, Bob Grossman, Chemistry, and Lowell Bush, Agronomy, have received a three-year, $385,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for their study “Molecular Biology and Biosynthesis of Lolines by Grass Endophytes.”
Dusan Sekulic, Center for Robotics and Manufacturing Systems, presented the paper “Pattern Selection of a Solidification Microstructure” at the Spatiotemporal Chaos Conference in Trieste, Italy.
Will Snell, Agricultural Economics, received the Tobacco Merchants Association Award for Tobacco Economics at the association’s annual meeting. He also received an award for Outstanding Extension Program at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association’s annual meeting.
Ginny Sprang, Social Work and Psychiatry, received the 2002 Outstanding Research Award from the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing International Association, a collective of trauma counselors and researchers.
Jeff Stringer, Forestry, was elected to the board of directors of the national Forest Landowners Association.
Ryan Vallance and Pinar Menguc, Mechanical Engineering, received a four-year, $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Nanomanufacturing Program for establishing an NSF Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT). The project, titled “NIRT: Staggered Probes for Integrating Nano Machining and Metrology,” will demonstrate precision nanoscale machining using a novel probe that integrates field emission from carbon nanotubes and surface probe microscopy.
Updated 8/13/02 by Chuck Ham