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News

map showing greening of EarthBoston University researcher finds climate-related "greening" is not enough to meet population demands

Large regions of Earth have been “greening” in recent decades because of global climate changes that have brought more rainfall, better growing temperatures, and more sunlight, according to findings reported by Ranga Myneni, associate professor Ranga Myneniof geography at Boston University, and co-investigators in the June 6 issue of Science. The researchers indicate the increase, however, falls far short of the food, shelter, and heating demands of a burgeoning global population. . . . cont'd

(see full press release by Ann Marie Menting)

CMLD logoCenter for Chemical Methodology and Library Development (CMLD) to host 4th Annual Symposium on Advances in Streamlined Synthesis

The symposium brings together researchers in academia and industry to discuss recent advances and new methodologies for synthesis of medically active organic compounds. Speakers include Peter Wifp, University of Pittsburgh; Richard D. Cramer, Tripos-USA; Christopher R. Sarko, Boehringer-Ingelheim Phamaceuticals, Inc.; and Andrew Myers, Harvard University.

partial view of data from Milky Way Galactic Ring SurveyBoston University Center for Astrophysics to host, "Milky Way Surveys:The Structure & Evolution of our Galaxy.

The Institute for Astrophysical Research (IAR) at Boston University will host its fifth international scientific conference June 15-17, bringing together more than 100 experts from around the globe who study Milky Way astrophysics and conduct large area astronomical surveys.

IAR is a leader in the world-wide effort to better visualize and understand the Milky Way. Among the Center's recent accomplishments was the mapping of the one-millionth point in the Galactic Ring Survey, a study of an area of the galaxy that is particularly is rich in molecular gas, making it the dominant star-forming area of the Milky Way.

BU Physicists find that stock trade patterns could predict financial earthquakes

(Boston, Mass.) — The stock market has its share of shakeups, but who would guess that large movements in this man-made system adhere to a similar pattern of predictability as earthquake magnitudes?

After analyzing four years of data from the world financial markets, an interdisciplinary team comprising an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and physicists from Boston University discovered that large-scale events in the stock market adhere to distinct patterns. They believe that market analysts could use these new findings to partially predict the chance of a market crash, although prevention is not possible.

complete press release by Ann Marie Menting

BMC receives $3.3M grant to study breast cancer in elderly women

Rebecca A. SillimanRebecca A. Silliman, a MED professor of medicine and an SPH professor of epidemiology is directing a new study  with a $3.3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute that will help physicians and their elderly patients make better informed decisions regarding breast cancer treatment. Her research team at Boston Medical Center will study 2,180 U.S. women, age 65 and older, who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1990 and 1994 to determine how particular types of treatments relate to cancer recurrence and mortality. Silliman has studied breast cancer for two decades.

BU Bridge story by David J. Craig

 

Awards

. . . lists of student and faculty recipients of distinguished fellowships and scholarships

. . . College of Engineering Awards

. . . Award Archive

Stephen GrossbergGrossberg to receive Helmholtz Award for Distinguished Research on Visual Perception

Stephen Grossberg, professor of cognitive and neual systems, has been selected by the International Neural Network Society (INNS) to receive its 2003 Hlmholtz Award for Distinguished Research on Visual Perception. The award recognizes Grossberg's groundbreaking work describing computational theores for how the brain sees. Grossberg is a pioneer in the modern scientific movement to develop a model for how the mind and brain work. His research aims at understanding how a brain gives rise to a mind, a line of inquiry known as the mind/body problem.

see press release by Ann Marie Menting

Sir hans KornbergSir Hans to recieve Distinguished Service Award  from International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Sir Hans Kornberg, professor and director of the University Professors, will receive the Distinguished Service Award from the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in July. The award will be presented at the International Congress of the Union, which will be held in Toronto. Kornbert served as president of the organization from 1991 to 1994.

Michael HolickHolick receives awards from the American Society for Clinical Nutrition and the American Skin Association.

MED Professor Michael Holick was honored with the Robert H. Herman Memorial Award in Clinical Nutrition for 2003 from the American Society for Clinical Nutrition. The award recognizes Horlick's ongoing contributions in the field of nutrition, particularly involving the role of sunlight and vitamin D on human health and nutrition. He has also been honered with ASCN's McCollum Award for his research in photobiology and the Psoriasis Research Achievement Award from the American Skin Association.

Joseph LoscalzoLoscalzo named editor of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association

Joseph Lozcalzo, director of the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, professor and chairman of the department of medicine at the School of Medicine, has been named editor of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association effective July 2004, at the end of the term of the current editor, James T. Willerson.

Raymo chosen as Guggenheim Fellow

Maureen Raymo, associate research professor of earth science, has been chosen to recieve a 2003 Guggenheim Fellowship for her work on global warming. The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was established in 1925 by United States Senator Simon Guggenheim and his wife as a memorial to a son who died April 26, 1922. The Foundation offers Fellowships to further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts.

Awards Archive . . .

Research Briefs

Tom TulliusRadical research. Free radicals, the chemical, not the political kind, are dangerous to cells. Produced by such diverse forces as ultraviolet radiation, X rays, and food burned on a barbecue, a hydroxyl radical, a duo of oxygen and hydrogen atoms (HO) that was once part of a water molecule (H2O), can seriously damage DNA. The damage can take several forms -- for instance, the radical can attach to one of the bases (adenine, thymine, guanine, or cytosine) that are strung together to make up the sides of the ladder-like DNA scaffold and form a bulge, or it can break one or both sides of the ladder. In most cases, damage is detected by repair proteins, setting in motion a complex repair process.

Tom Tullius, a CAS chemistry professor and chairman of the chemistry department, is interested in how DNA repair is initiated. In particular, he has focused on how a single strand break -- a single missing base and sugar on one of the two strands -- is detected. Recently, Tullius and Hong Guo, a former student of his from Johns Hopkins, who is now at Protometrix, Inc., in Guilford, Conn., have taken a significant step toward understanding this process. . . . . continued

Couch potato brain. Overeating and lack of exercise may make men less smart, according to a recent study by Merrill Elias, a research professor in the CAS department of mathematics and statistics. The study measured the effects of obesity and high blood pressure, individually and together, on performance on standard tests of intelligence and memory.

Elias and his team found that obese men scored at least 20 percent lower on tests of cognitive functioning than did men who were not obese. Neither factor had a significant effect in women. . . . continued

(Research Briefs are published weekly in the BU Bridge)
Archives. . .