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New global tool measures climate resilience at the city level

2024-12-19T12:15:00-05:00

Jakarta, Indonesia, faces a paradox. Its economy and population are soaring, but the city itself is sinking. Excessive groundwater use is causing land to sink by up to 10 inches annually. Experts warn that by 2050, this sinking, combined with rising sea levels and extreme weather, could leave a third of the city underwater. In response, the Indonesian government is weighing plans to relocate the capital at an estimated cost of $35 billion.

Jakarta’s climate-related conundrum may be extreme, but the underlying question it raises is relevant to urban areas around the world: What is the best use of limited resources for cities to adapt to climate change?

To help answer this question, governments and organizations now have a critical new resource developed by a team at the University of Notre Dame: the Global Urban Climate Assessment (GUCA). It is a decision-support tool that offers leaders a way to understand and compare city vulnerabilities, assess adaptation plans and develop resilience.

“Cities are realizing the question isn’t ‘if’ they’ll face the effects of climate change—it’s ‘when’ and ‘how,’” said Danielle Wood, associate professor of practice at the University of Notre Dame’s Environmental Change Initiative.

According to Wood, who leads the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), what those investing in climate adaptation need is evidence-based guidance.

“The challenge for investment is a lack of reliable, comparable data, making prioritizing difficult for those managing climate investment,” she said.

A more granular approach to climate resiliency

GUCA builds on the foundation of ND-GAIN’s Country Index, which measures climate vulnerability and readiness for more than 180 countries. The GUCA pilot provides city-level metrics for 12 cities, incorporating data from multiple sources, including remote sensing. Like ND-GAIN, GUCA is free and open-source, so stakeholders across the public, private and nongovernmental organization sectors can identify priorities and direct funding where it is most needed.

GUCA measures vulnerability and resilience across a number of globally comparable metrics. Vulnerability includes specific hazards such as flooding, extreme heat and landslides. It also measures sensitivity to climate change, which can refer to potential impacts on people (including specific groups, such as children, seniors, migrants or low-income residents) as well as features of urban areas, such as the rate of urban expansion.

Resilience, on the other hand, is the capacity of a city to withstand shocks and adapt over time. It includes disaster planning, water access, governance systems and economic stability, recognizing that cities with robust systems can respond more effectively to climate-related challenges.

A tool with global implications

GUCA’s 12-city pilot phase focused on Abuja (Nigeria), Amman (Jordan), Beijing (China), Berlin (Germany), Bogotá (Colombia), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kinshasa (DR Congo), Mogadishu (Somalia), Mumbai (India), Panama City (Panama), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and Shenzhen (China). With additional funding, ND-GAIN aims to expand the GUCA framework, enabling a deeper understanding of vulnerabilities and resilience in more cities across the globe.

Wood emphasized that this expansion is critical because as more people migrate to urban environments, the need to identify and target funding for climate adaptation in the most impacted cities is becoming an even more widespread and urgent concern.

“At the start of the 20th century, only 13 percent of the world’s population lived in urban areas. By 2050, that number is expected to rise to 60 percent, with an estimated 4.9 billion people living in cities,” she pointed out. “Our team at Notre Dame is eager to see the tool evolve with feedback from partners around the world.”

GUCA is the latest addition to ND-GAIN’s already robust suite of data-driven climate tools and resources, which includes the U.S. Urban Adaptation Assessment, a tool assessing more than 270 U.S. cities’ climate risks and social vulnerabilities by neighborhood.

ND-GAIN is a program of the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative (ND-ECI). At ND-ECI, more than 60 faculty across several disciplines are pursuing research solutions for some of the key environmental challenges of our time. ND-ECI focuses on globally significant, multidisciplinary research that can be translated into management and policy solutions to help make the world a better place for humans and the environment upon which people depend.

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director of media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

Notre Dame marks another year of unprecedented research success

2024-09-06T16:55:00-04:00

During the 2024 fiscal year, researchers at the University of Notre Dame submitted 1,310 proposals for external research funding for a total amount of $1.016 billion — the first time the University has surpassed the billion-dollar mark for proposals. In addition, the University received 829 separate awards — the largest number on record. With $223 million in total funding, these awards propelled the University past the $200 million mark for the fourth straight year.

“I want to extend my congratulations to the faculty, students and staff who have dedicated themselves to the research enterprise of the University. This year’s successes are the tangible result of their hard work,” said Jeffrey F. Rhoads, vice president for research and professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.

“Proposals, awards and total dollar amounts matter,” Rhoads said, “but only as an imperfect measure of our progress toward fulfilling our mission to use our research and scholarship to transform lives for the better, both here in our local community and in the growing list of locations around the world where our faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars and students are having an impact.”

Below are some of the most significant research awards to the University’s colleges and schools:

Helping to build the ‘Silicon Prairie’

Researchers in Notre Dame’s College of Engineering received new funding as part of the CHIPS and Science Act to support the on-shoring of semiconductor manufacturing. This funding makes University facilities and resources available to help in the national “lab-to-fab” effort.

Advancing technology for quantum computing

A grant from the Army Research Office will allow researchers in the College of Science to conduct quantum computing research. The researchers will design and fabricate new circuits that mitigate or eliminate “trapped flux,” a significant obstacle affecting the performance of supercomputing circuits.

Meeting challenges facing humanity

Scholars in the College of Arts and Letters continued the college’s long record of success in winning prestigious grants in the humanities. The past year’s highlights included three faculty members receiving 2024 Guggenheim Fellowships in recognition of their career achievements and exceptional promise.

Pursuing justice for the wrongly convicted

Notre Dame Law 91��Ƶ’s Exoneration Justice Clinic received a grant from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs to administer a program for the defense of Mexican nationals in criminal matters in the United States. The clinic has an established record of success that includes the recent exoneration of a client who spent 14 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Partnering for peace in the Philippines

Building on the success of its Barometer Initiative project in Colombia, the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ in the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs has expanded its Peace Accords Matrix (PAM) program with funding from the U.S. Department of State. PAM Mindanao supports and accompanies the people of the Philippines in their peacebuilding process using PAM’s Comprehensive Peace Agreements verification and monitoring methodology.

Developing the next generation of sustainable building materials and practices

In the 91��Ƶ of Architecture, a grant from the National Science Foundation will allow researchers to develop an integrated ecological-technological framework and create a dashboard to visualize the embodied carbon emission and related environmental impact from the building stock in the United States at the ZIP code level.

Educating ethical business leaders

In the Mendoza College of Business, new funding from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation will help support the undergraduate Business Honors Program. The program will enable students to investigate the moral purpose of business and apply Catholic social thought in today’s business world.

The largest portion of the new funding — more than $134 million — came from federal agencies. The largest single sponsor was the National Science Foundation, which contributed over $46 million to research at Notre Dame. Another $23 million came from private foundations, while $20 million came from industry partners, and the remainder came from other non-federal sources.

In addition to increasing its number of funded projects, the University expanded its global footprint. Of the new funding, 173 awards will support international research in 67 countries around the world.

Rhoads said, “We deeply appreciate the support of the agencies, foundations, industry partners and others who have joined forces with our researchers to share in our vision for being a powerful means for doing good in the world.”

To explore more about the University’s research funding and awards, including historical trends and current activity, visit https://research.nd.edu/about/facts-figures/.

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director of media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

Notre Dame partners to grow Indiana’s mental health workforce

2024-09-05T14:04:00-04:00

Today, one out of every two Americans lives in a mental health workforce shortage area, according to the United States Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW). In many communities, the lack of providers means behavioral health, mental health and substance use-related needs go untreated. To meet Americans’ needs by 2036 would mean training nearly 100,000 new psychologists, along with thousands of social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists and other providers.

The University of Notre Dame is part of a statewide effort aimed at reversing this trend. In partnership with WISE Indiana, on behalf of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA), the University is contracted to help enhance the recruitment, retention and quality of Indiana’s behavioral health workforce. The effort will also identify promising, data-driven strategies for mental health workforce development that can be applied by future programs across the state.

Gina Navoa Svarovsky, who will lead Notre Dame's efforts, said, "With a problem this large, it's important to explore a wide range of potential solutions." Svarovsky, who serves as the faculty director of the Center for Broader Impacts and an associate professor of the practice in the Center for STEM Education, will oversee the convening of representatives from the state’s 18 Recruitment and Retention Innovation grant awardees to form a Community of Practice that can foster idea sharing, networking and professional learning among project leaders.

Initiatives within the state’s Community of Practice will take several different approaches, such as:

Hosting career exploration and training for high school students,
Implementing new training opportunities and career pathways for community health workers and addiction peer recovery coaches,
Piloting or expanding intern-to-employee career programs, and
Providing support for existing providers to reduce unnecessary burdens and prevent burnout.

The members of the Community of Practice will share successful ideas with each other as their projects unfold. The team will also leverage Notre Dame’s expertise in mental health to provide professional development opportunities to members of the Community of Practice over the next three years.

The Community of Practice will be supported by Notre Dame's research strengths in community health and data-driven program evaluation. Campus partners that will contribute to the statewide Community of Practice will include the Center for Broader Impacts, the Community Health and Clinical Partnerships team, the Department of Psychology, the Notre Dame Research Communications Team, and the William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families.

To learn more about efforts to enhance the overall societal impact of research at the University of Notre Dame, please visit cbi.nd.edu.

Contact: Brandi Wampler, associate director of media relations, 574-631-2632, brandiwampler@nd.edu

Notre Dame’s Center for Bioanalytic Metrology receives five additional years of NSF support

2024-08-29T13:12:00-04:00

For the past five years, the Center for Bioanalytic Metrology (CBM) at the University of Notre Dame has served as the world’s leading consortium for academic research in analytical science and engineering.

Now, with five years of funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the CBM will enter Phase II of its mission to create new capabilities in measurement science and solve current, emerging and industry-relevant problems, creating value for its corporate, non-profit and federal members.

CBM Director Paul W. Bohn said, “Support from the NSF has allowed the Center for Bioanalytic Metrology at Notre Dame to play a pivotal role in advancing research and product development across a broad spectrum of industries; pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, energy, consumer products and ag/nutrition sectors are all represented in CBM. We are grateful to the NSF for supporting and affirming these efforts."

Bohn, the Arthur J. Schmitt Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, added, “The CBM's Phase II will lead to enhanced measurement science and more precise instrumentation to ensure that industrial products are safe, accurate and personalized.”

In addition to serving as the director of the CBM, Bohn is the inaugural director of Notre Dame’s Bioengineering and Life Sciences Initiative, which was launched in the spring of 2024.

For Phase II, Bohn will remain CBM director but step down from his role as Notre Dame site director for the CBM. Merlin Bruening, the Donald and Susan Rice Professor of Engineering, has accepted the position of site director.

Bruening said, “I look forward to working with Professor Bohn and our colleagues at Purdue University and Indiana University on this important research collaboration with our industry partners.”

The CBM was launched in 2019 as an NSF Phase I Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC). The IUCRC program accelerates the impact of basic research through close relationships between industry innovators, world-class academic teams and government leaders. IUCRCs are designed to help corporate partners and government agencies connect directly and efficiently with university researchers to achieve three primary objectives:

Conduct high-impact research to meet shared industrial needs in companies of all sizes;
Enhance U.S. global leadership in driving innovative technology development, and;
Identify, mentor and develop a diverse, high-tech, exceptionally skilled workforce.

Notre Dame serves as the lead institution with Purdue University and Indiana University Bloomington as partners. During Phase I, the CBM facilitated over $3 million in industry-relevant measurement science research on behalf of its dues-paying corporate members, including AbbVie, Agilent, Corteva, Evonik, ExxonMobil, Genentech, Bristol Myers Squibb, Lilly, Merck, Moderna, P&G, Pfizer and Takeda.

Since its inception, the CBM has been at the forefront of developing cutting-edge bioanalytical tools and methodologies. The center's interdisciplinary approach, combining expertise in chemistry, biology and engineering, has led to significant advancements in understanding complex chemical systems and developing innovative solutions for real-world challenges.

The NSF's renewed support will enable the CBM to expand its research initiatives, foster new collaborations, and accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into practical applications.

For more information about the Center for Bioanalytic Metrology and its research initiatives, visit cbm.nd.edu.

Contact: Brett Beasley, writer and editorial program manager, bbeasle1@nd.edu, 574-631-8183

Originally published by Brett Beasley at research.nd.edu on Aug. 27, 2024.

Notre Dame to develop next-generation refrigerant technology as part of a new National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center

2024-08-21T15:02:00-04:00

Jennifer Schaefer (Photo by Wes Evard/University of Notre Dame)

The University of Notre Dame is part of a new National Science Foundation (NSF) Gen-4 Engineering Research Center (ERC) called EARTH, which stands for Environmental Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub. Led by the University of Kansas, EARTH will bring together 80 institutions and researchers from a wide array of disciplines. In addition to Notre Dame, the University of Maryland, the University of Hawai'i, the University of South Dakota and Lehigh University will serve as core university partners.

All partners will collaborate around a shared goal: creating a sustainable refrigerant economy.

Currently, most of the air-conditioning and refrigeration systems used to preserve foods, store medicines and cool buildings rely on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). HFCs are greenhouse gases, some of which are thousands of times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. Due to leaks and the energy required to operate existing systems, HFCs account for nearly 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The U.S. and 170 other countries are phasing down HFCs in accordance with domestic and international agreements signed in recent years, which creates a tremendous challenge to responsibly and sustainably replace billions of kilograms of refrigerants.

“A warming world combined with rising incomes around the world means that globally, we’re adding air conditioners at a rapid rate. Over 3 billion people live in some of the hottest places on Earth, and only 8 percent currently have air conditioning,” said Jennifer Schaefer, the Sheehan Family Collegiate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Notre Dame. “That means we’ll likely see 10 new air conditioners sold every second over the next 30 years. We have to find alternative solutions to meet that demand without contributing to a vicious cycle of ecological harm.”

Schaefer will serve as Notre Dame’s lead and the center’s deputy director. The Notre Dame team will also include eight additional members of the College of Engineering, including seven from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Assistant Professor Yamil Colón, Associate Professor Alexander Dowling, Frank M. Freimann Collegiate Professor of Engineering Ruilan Guo, Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Engineering and Associate Vice President for Research Edward Maginn, Bernard Keating-Crawford Professor Nosang Myung, Assistant Professor Casey O’Brien and Rooney Family Collegiate Chair of Engineering William Phillip.

The team also includes Yanliang Zhang, the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Collegiate Professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; John Onyango, an associate professor in the 91��Ƶ of Architecture; and Bruce Huber, a professor in the Law 91��Ƶ.

Schaefer explained that Notre Dame will contribute to all three main streams of the center’s research.

The first stream focuses on innovative ways to handle current refrigerants. Notre Dame researchers will develop new, more economical ways to separate HFCs to reuse or recycle them. A second research stream aims to achieve safer refrigerants that maintain or improve performance but do not negatively affect Earth’s atmosphere over time. Notre Dame will do computational prediction work for this stream in collaboration with atmospheric scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi. As part of a third stream, researchers at Notre Dame will pioneer technologies that will increase the energy efficiency of refrigeration systems to reduce the electricity demand on the grid.

Notre Dame researchers will also develop new ways of sensing refrigerant leaks, engineer solid-state systems that eliminate the need for refrigerant fluids and explore new approaches to moving heat while also contributing expertise in environmental law and sustainable architecture to support the successful implementation of new technologies developed by the center.

For Schaefer, EARTH’s approach aligns well with the University’s mission and current priorities.

“Refrigeration might not be the first thing that comes to mind as we think about protecting the environment, but it is a critical energy sustainability challenge, and we are grateful to the National Science Foundation for supporting innovation in this area,” Schaefer said. “At the same time, Notre Dame’s new strategic framework asks us to ‘draw the connections between the social and environmental dimensions’ of climate change. That is exactly what the holistic, interdisciplinary approach embodied in EARTH is seeking to do.”

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director of media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

Biotech hub that includes Notre Dame awarded $51M in CHIPS Act funding

2024-07-10T08:00:00-04:00

The U.S. Department of Commerce and its Economic Development Administration have announced $51 million in federal funding to support the implementation of a Regional Technology and Innovation Hub that includes the University of Notre Dame among its members. Called Heartland BioWorks, the hub is led by the Applied Research Institute and aims to enhance Indiana’s capacity to make and deploy life-saving medicines. 

Jeffrey F. Rhoads, vice president for research and professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Notre Dame, said, “Heartland BioWorks’ new grant is exciting news for Indiana and the Midwest writ large. Every dollar will go toward establishing our region as a national and international leader in biotechnology and biomanufacturing. The University of Notre Dame could not be more proud to join together with the esteemed research institutions and industry partners helping to build an unparalleled innovation ecosystem and talent pipeline here in our state.”

Rhoads added, “We are especially pleased that through Heartland BioWorks, Notre Dame is able to contribute its expertise in data, bioengineering and the life sciences while also driving economic and workforce development throughout the Midwest.”

Nitesh Chawla, the Frank M. Freimann Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and founding director of the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, serves as Notre Dame’s lead on the BioWorks Hub.

Chawla said, “We have an established track record for bringing the latest data science and AI techniques to advance innovations in biotechnology and biomanufacturing and benefit human health. We have also developed educational and training programming, including internship and experiential learning opportunities for our students, and workforce development. Contributing these strengths to the BioWorks effort is a way for us to ensure we are producing breakthroughs that create benefits for society.”

Other major Notre Dame contributors to BioWorks so far include Paul Bohn, the Arthur J. Schmitt Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and director of Notre Dame’s Bioengineering & Life Sciences (BELS) Initiative; Valya Kuskova, professor of the practice and associate director at the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society; and Gina Svarovsky, an associate professor of the practice and faculty director of Notre Dame’s Center for Broader Impacts.

Last October, Heartland BioWorks was one of 31 regional hubs chosen for Tech Hub designation by the Department of Commerce. It is now one of 12 hubs chosen to split $500 million in funding that stems from the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which was co-authored by Indiana’s U.S. Sen. Todd Young.

Heartland BioWorks stated that the funding will support projects to:

Attract and connect workers, including those historically excluded from the innovation workforce, to good jobs. 
Establish a formal network to provide navigation resources, mentorship and greater access to facilities and venture capital funding to help innovators successfully scale and launch their bioproducts in the region. 
Construct BioWorks HQ, a training and demonstration facility for trainees to enter the workforce and for current employees to grow.  
Implement a grant program to help early-stage innovators surmount cost barriers to accessing these product development facilities, keeping biotech inventions and supply in the U.S.
Develop training pathways, leveraging curricula from Indiana’s higher education institutions and other globally recognized training programs to prepare participants for high-quality jobs in biomanufacturing operator and lab technician roles once the BioWorks HQ is constructed.

In addition to the University of Notre Dame, Heartland BioWorks members include Eli Lilly, Elanco, Corteva, INCOG BioPharma Services, Roche, Indiana University, Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community College. To learn more about Heartland BioWorks, visit pathfinder.theari.us/heartlandbioworks.

Contact: Brett Beasley, writer and editorial program manager, Notre Dame Research, bbeasle1@nd.edu, 574-631-8183; research.nd.edu, @UNDResearch

Originally published by Brett Beasley at research.nd.edu on July 8.

Notre Dame elected to Universities Space Research Association

2024-06-05T08:00:00-04:00

The University of Notre Dame has been inducted into the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). Founded in 1969 under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences at the request of the U.S. government, the USRA is a nonprofit corporation chartered to advance space-related science, technology and engineering. The USRA consists of 121 universities that work together to advance space-related education, research, development and operations around the world.

To be eligible for USRA membership, a university must demonstrate “significant contributions in space- or aeronautics-related research by faculty and a substantial commitment to a course of studies and dissertation research leading to the doctorate in one or more related fields.”

The USRA cited Notre Dame’s “active research programs in physics, astronomy, aerospace and mechanical engineering, and earth sciences.” It also noted that research at the University “is built around a robust framework of strong interdisciplinary and collaborative activities both within in-house departments and with other renowned national and international institutes.”

Clive Neal, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, called the University’s USRA membership “an important recognition of Notre Dame’s deep involvement in space activities.”

Neal, who has been conducting lunar research at Notre Dame for more than 30 years, explained that Notre Dame’s involvement with USRA will bring benefits for researchers interested in conducting research in space as well as for those who are interested in helping to advance space exploration.

“Utilizing the space environment to conduct experiments has been revolutionary,” Neal said. “It has led to new materials and new pharmaceuticals. And now, as we understand and document useful resources on different planetary bodies, it is crucial that we understand how to utilize those resources in a very different environment from what we are used to on this planet.”

The University’s recent space-related research includes an effort by Neal’s lab to perform the first-ever analysis of samples collected in 1972 from the surface of the moon in vacuum tubes by Apollo 17 astronauts.

Additionally, Tengfei Luo, the Dorini Family Professor for Energy 91��Ƶ, used the microgravity environment aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to gain a better understanding of the competing physical forces involved in the dynamics of bubbles. In another experiment aboard the ISS, Meenal Datta, an assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, explored how the microgravity environment affects the development of organoids that could lead to more efficient and effective models for cancer research.

Jeffrey F. Rhoads, vice president for research and professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, said, “Space is an exciting new frontier for making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. We are grateful to the USRA for recognizing the distinctive contribution Notre Dame can make to these efforts.”

Rhoads added, “It is particularly inspiring to see the ways Notre Dame researchers are looking to space to advance human health on Earth — whether by improving disease detection, creating more realistic disease models or developing new and better therapeutics in space.”

To learn more about the USRA, visit usra.edu.

Contact: Brett Beasley, writer and editorial program manager, Notre Dame Research, bbeasle1@nd.edu, 574-631-8183; research.nd.edu, @UNDResearch

Originally published by Brett Beasley at research.nd.edu on May 22.

White House’s Jake Braun addresses statewide cybersecurity summit at Notre Dame

2024-05-01T08:00:00-04:00

On April 18, leaders in cybersecurity from government, industry and academia gathered for the 2024 Indiana Statewide Cybersecurity Summit hosted by the University of Notre Dame in collaboration with co-sponsors Indiana University, Purdue University, and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The invited guests, which included the White House’s Jake Braun, gave voice to an urgent call for cross-sector collaboration to address the current shortage of trained cybersecurity professionals across the state and the nation.

“There are 500,000 open cybersecurity positions around the country and thousands of vacancies in Indiana,” said Braun, the acting principal deputy national cyber director in the White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director. Established by a bipartisan act of Congress in 2021, Braun’s office spearheaded the development of the President’s National Cybersecurity Strategy, which was issued by President Joe Biden on March 2, 2023.

Braun called the effort to fill cybersecurity positions “a national security imperative.” He said that cybersecurity professionals are critical for protecting everything from water systems to the electric grid to airports and national defense systems.

Jeffrey F. Rhoads, vice president for research and professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, said, “I can think of few issues right now that are more impactful on society than the issue of cybersecurity.” Rhoads called the summit, which is now in its third year, “a shining example of how universities, government and industry can come together to solve really complex challenges.”

Jarek Nabrzyski, director of Notre Dame’s Center for Research Computing, served as the program committee chair and the host for the summit. Nabrzyski, who is also a concurrent professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, shared his hope that the meeting will serve as a segway to “establishing more coordinated action here in Indiana,” including a statewide cybersecurity task force.

“Cybersecurity is more critical than ever as we think about a world where AI, drones, unmanned vehicles and robots are the norm. In order to make use of these capabilities, we must also have a coordinated plan for how we will secure our critical infrastructure,” Nabrzyski said.

Luiz A. DaSilva offered a keynote address on his experiences as co-founding executive director of Virginia’s Commonwealth Cyber Initiative. DaSilva explained how the initiative connects the state’s colleges and universities to create a statewide engine for cybersecurity research, workforce development and innovation. DaSilva also offered insights for building a similar statewide initiative in Indiana.

DaSilva explained that by creating a statewide initiative, universities can increase resources from state, local, corporate and federal sources.

“The key message,” DaSilva said, “is that we can work together to ‘grow the pie’ rather than competing against each other for a slightly larger piece of a smaller pie.”

To find out more about the annual Indiana Statewide Cybersecurity Summit, visit indianacybersummit.org.

Contact: Brett Beasley, writer and editorial program manager, Notre Dame Research, bbeasle1@nd.edu, 574-631-8183; research.nd.edu, @UNDResearch

Originally published by Brett Beasley at research.nd.edu on April 26.

Sen. Todd Young, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan visit Notre Dame to discuss critical investments in science and technology

2024-04-29T14:59:00-04:00

On Thursday (April 25), Sethuraman Panchanathan, director of U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), joined U.S. Sen. Todd Young in a visit to the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The pair met with faculty, students and University leaders and discussed how research and innovation can drive better policymaking, grow the local economy and contribute to national security.

Young said, “As I travel around the state, I am inspired by the quality of students and the quality of research at our universities — and we have that at Notre Dame. Some of the best research in the country is happening here. That is exactly why I thought it was important that the director of the National Science Foundation come to Indiana, see it for himself and meet many of the researchers whose projects have been funded by the NSF.”

Panchanathan, who was appointed as the 15th director of the NSF in 2020, stressed that his agency invests in discovery, curiosity and exploratory research with the aim of serving not just researchers, but all of humanity.

“Pick any technology that we rely on today, and chances are the NSF had a hand in supporting its development,” Panchanathan said. “Artificial intelligence, for example, which we hear so much about today, was sustained by investments from the NSF for almost six decades.”

During his visit, Panchanathan was welcomed by senior Notre Dame leaders, including University President-elect Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., and John T. McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost. Panchanathan also met with Notre Dame faculty members who were recently awarded through the NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development Program.

A final session focused on wireless technology and highlighted the ways through which Notre Dame researchers are partnering with the local community. South Bend Mayor James Mueller and the city’s chief innovation officer, Denise Linn Riedl, joined Notre Dame Wireless Institute co-directors Nicholas Laneman and Bertrand Hochwald to discuss how researchers are working with the city to enhance the region’s innovation ecosystem. Hochwald and Laneman, both professors in the Department of Electrical Engineering, discussed Notre Dame’s history as the site of the nation’s first long-distance wireless transmission and its current work leading SpectrumX, the NSF Spectrum Innovation Initiative Center.

Several Notre Dame graduate student recipients of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship were also able to discuss their projects with Panchanathan and Young.

Panchanathan said, “The future is always about the young talent, the young minds. And I can tell you that when I meet students all across the country, I have no doubts that our country will be at the vanguard of innovation.”

Panchanathan also commented on the University of Notre Dame and its ongoing relationship with the NSF.

“Notre Dame is a fantastic institution,” Panchanathan said. “It is a place of great ideas and tremendous talent. But it is also founded on values and is committed to serving humanity. At the NSF, we find that when you pursue research and commit to serving others, you find a new dimension of excitement and possibility.”

Notre Dame Research hosted this visit together with Notre Dame’s Office of Federal and Washington Relations, which serves as a resource and connection point for all members of the Notre Dame community, including faculty, current students, alumni and friends of the University. To learn more about Notre Dame’s work and opportunities in the nation’s capital, visit federalrelations.nd.edu.

Originally published by Brett Beasley at research.nd.edu on April 26.

Notre Dame sends cancer research aboard the International Space Station

2024-03-21T11:00:00-04:00

SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket

Researchers will gather new insights about cancerous tumors using the station’s microgravity environment

University of Notre Dame researchers are taking their science to space aboard NASA’s 30th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission, which is slated to launch no earlier than Thursday (March 21).

The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft will lift off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and travel to the International Space Station (ISS), which is in orbit roughly 250 miles above Earth’s surface. In addition to food, supplies and equipment for the ISS crew, the spacecraft will transport an experimental study from researchers in Notre Dame’s Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.

Assistant Professor Meenal Datta, an affiliate of Notre Dame’s Harper Cancer Research Institute, is leading the study. She plans to use the unique microgravity environment found aboard the space station to gain new insights into human biology.

The self-contained experiment uses materials and methods similar to those Datta uses in her lab at Notre Dame, but the experimental procedures have been miniaturized and automated in partnership with Space Tango using its CubeLab technology.

“Researchers have been studying the body and biological processes in space since the ISS first launched,” she said. “It goes hand-in-hand with space exploration and is a key part of keeping astronauts safe and healthy. But increasingly researchers are turning their attention toward ways research in space can improve life on Earth.”

Datta’s experiment will shed light on glioblastoma, a fast-growing, aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer.

“There are all sorts of advantages to studying brain cancer in microgravity,” she explained. “When you study brain tumors on Earth, that usually means studying them in a flat layer in a dish on a benchtop. But the microgravity environment of the ISS provides conditions that in some ways mimic how a tumor would form when it is suspended within the brain’s tissues.”

Datta’s experiment focuses on one particularly difficult step in studying brain cancer: growing tiny structures that resemble human organs known as organoids. Organoids function as “stand-ins” or “avatars” for human tissues in experimental studies. Datta and her team use organoids developed from glioblastoma and immune cells to discover how immune cells interact with cancerous cells. They will be among the first researchers to grow glioblastoma-immune organoids in space and compare their growth and development to similar structures grown on Earth.

“Organoids form organically from human cells,” she said, “but in Earth’s gravity, they are heterogeneous and form slowly. Microgravity will provide an environment where they can form quickly and regularly, allowing for clearer and more reproducible results in experimental studies, including drug discovery and testing.”

To provide a control condition for the study, Datta’s lab at Notre Dame will run an Earth-based experiment parallel to the one that will take place during the 30-day space expedition. After the mission is complete, Datta and Alice Burchett, a doctoral student in Notre Dame’s Bioengineering Graduate Program, will collect the samples and thoroughly analyze the differences.

Datta’s experiment is not the first by a Notre Dame researcher to take place on the ISS. In 2021, Tengfei Luo conducted a groundbreaking study with Space Tango on the formation of bubbles in space, the results of which recently appeared in the Nature journal Microgravity.

Datta said she plans to work with Luo and a host of other researchers at Notre Dame to send additional experiments to the ISS.

“As surprising as it may sound,” Datta said, “when it comes to advancing health research, there are many things we can do more efficiently in space than on the ground. Space provides a better way to synthesize a reproducible model. And better models allow us to more quickly develop and test the treatments that can fight this cancer and ultimately save lives.”

In addition to the Harper Cancer Research Institute, Datta is an affiliate of the Eck Institute for Global Health, the Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health, NDnano, the Warren Center for Drug Discovery, the Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society and the Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases.

Find more information, including instructions for viewing the launch, in NASA’s news release.

Contact: Brandi Wampler, associate director of media relations, 574-631-2632, brandiwampler@nd.edu

Researchers to develop electronic nose for rapid disease detection

2024-02-26T08:00:00-05:00

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence Accelerator Program has awarded $650,000 to the University of Notre Dame to support the development of an advanced electronic nose that researchers say could help prevent the next pandemic.

“Human health is linked with animal health, and we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic what can happen when a disease passes from animals to humans and continues to spread uncontained,” explained Nosang V. Myung, the Bernard Keating-Crawford Endowed Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

Myung, who also directs the micro- and nanoscale biomedical instrumentation theme at the Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health, will lead the development of the new technology. His team is one of 16 teams awarded under Track L: Real-World Chemical Sensing Applications.

Myung said the electronic nose will build on existing technologies developed in his lab at Notre Dame. It will complement conventional disease prevention and management approaches by adding real-time disease monitoring.

A researcher works with a prototype of the electronic nose in the Myung Lab.

To build the device, Myung and his team of collaborators will develop new, high-sensitivity materials using nano-engineering processes. Still, Myung says the device will be portable and affordable, so it can be used on-site by farmers, packing plant inspectors, animal husbandry technicians and others.

“The idea is to use data to make critical decisions quickly — to isolate or treat infected animals, for example — to minimize the spread of diseases,” Myung explained.

During the project’s first phase, Myung and his collaborators will equip the electronic nose to detect avian flu, which resulted in more than 40 million animal deaths and over $2.5 billion in economic losses during a 2022 outbreak. The researchers will gather data from infected birds and healthy birds and will employ machine-learning techniques to train the electronic nose to distinguish between the two.

At the same time, Emily Stoler, assistant director of risk assessment at Notre Dame’s IDEA Center, will work with Myung and his team to evaluate and pursue potential commercial opportunities associated with the electronic nose technology.

During the project’s second phase, the researchers will train the electronic nose to detect an array of other infections, both in animals and in humans. The end result will be a flexible monitoring system that can be taken to sites where infections are most likely to occur or spread.

Finally, the researchers will develop a user-friendly graphic interface that allows users to operate the device wirelessly using a smartphone and see results in real-time.

Components of the electronic nose technology.

Although it has been two decades since a landmark experiment found that dogs were effective at using smell to detect human bladder cancer, the use of smell for disease diagnosis remains rare. Myung said the new device has the potential to show that smell is a valuable surveillance technique that can be affordable, accessible and also highly sensitive. The team predicts that the electronic nose will be capable of detecting smells at a sensitivity of one part per billion.

The academic collaborators who will join Myung in developing the electronic nose technology include:

Richard Bowen, a professor of reproductive biology and virology at Colorado State University. Bowen also directs the Animal Models Core of the Rocky Mountain Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease.
Yamil Colón, assistant professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Colón is an expert in computational materials discovery and design.
Bruce Kimball, a chemical ecologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. Monell is an independent, nonprofit scientific institute dedicated to interdisciplinary basic research on taste and smell.

To learn more, visit myung-lab.com.

Originally published by Brett Beasley at research.nd.edu on Feb. 16.

New ND-GAIN data shines spotlight on small islands’ climate vulnerability and adaptation efforts

2023-12-19T12:00:00-05:00

Palau, which lies in the western Pacific, is one of several island countries added this year to ND-GAIN.

“We will not sign our death certificate,” said Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) last week, calling for a clear commitment to phasing out fossil fuels.

Schuster was representing the Alliance of Small Island States and drawing attention to the fact that rising sea levels, tropical storms, droughts and dwindling freshwater supplies pose existential threats to life on many small islands around the world.

Despite these vulnerabilities, islands often have little influence in shaping major climate resolutions. But researchers at the University of Notre Dame say there is something that could lend islands more influence: data.

“We have lots of data on the vulnerability and preparedness of wealthy nations with highly developed infrastructure,” said Danielle Wood, director of the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) and an associate professor of the practice in Notre Dame’s College of Engineering. “But having routine data collection is expensive. Low-income countries are usually data scarce, with islands often lacking the resources to collect it. What this means is that we often have the most information on the countries likely to be the least impacted.”

Wood pointed out that the lack of data can deepen existing disparities and create a vicious cycle. “Many small islands contribute a negligible amount to greenhouse gas emissions, but we quite often don’t have a clear picture of where the most critical vulnerabilities lie or how the situation might worsen without action. That lack of data can discourage investment on the part of governments and philanthropists — including the investments that would help collect better data,” she said.

ND-GAIN is a signature climate change adaptation tool that has long been central to conversations at COP and other climate change conferences. Updated annually, ND-GAIN’s Country Index ranks more than 180 nations according to how vulnerable they are to climate change and how prepared they are to deal with climate change’s effects.

Until this year, measurements specific to islands were largely absent from ND-GAIN. This year’s update, however, includes data on Nauru, Palau and the Marshall Islands. It also includes updated vulnerability indicators that reflect the core concerns of islands, such as how dependent the country is on imported energy.

“Before the recent addition of these islands, we have routinely received questions about data for islands and representation in ND-GAIN,” said Brian Wanbaugh, program manager for ND-GAIN.

“This update is a step in the right direction,” Wood cautioned, “but it helps make the case that the data needs to be part of a larger conversation about justice in climate adaptation.”

Camile Cleveland, a policy manager at Hua Nani Partners, which relies on ND-GAIN in its climate policy, strategy and advocacy efforts, welcomed the updates.

“Donors and agencies are very data-driven. Without solid evidence, it’s tough to make a case for funding, and this data will help show why islands need attention and investment,” Cleveland said. “And although all islands are vulnerable to climate impacts, they are vulnerable in different ways; we need a clearer picture of who is most at risk now.”

Cleveland also emphasizes that we should see islands not just as vulnerable places on the “front lines” of climate change but also as leaders developing innovative solutions to climate adaptation.

“Island communities were thriving on their own for centuries before colonizers reached their shores, so they have cultures and indigenous practices that reflect an impressive mastery of natural systems,” Cleveland said. “These cultures combined with the need to adapt to climate impacts are leading to innovations that should be given more attention on the global stage.”

The updated ND-GAIN Country Index is available to download at gain.nd.edu. Free and open source, the ND-GAIN Country Index helps decision-makers in governments, nongovernmental organizations, corporations and academia prioritize investments for a more efficient response to the global challenges ahead, such as overcrowding, food insecurity, inadequate infrastructure and civil conflicts.

ND-GAIN is a program within Notre Dame’s Environmental Change Initiative, with more than 60 faculty across several disciplines pursuing research solutions for some of the key environmental challenges of our time.

Contact: Brett Beasley, writer and editorial program manager, Notre Dame Research, bbeasle1@nd.edu, 574-631-8183; research.nd.edu, @UNDResearch

Originally published by Brett Beasley at research.nd.edu on Dec. 15.

Notre Dame helps establish first US node of top computational modeling network

2023-12-13T08:00:00-05:00

The European Centre for Atomic and Molecular Computation (CECAM) is the longest-running European institute for promoting computational methods. Sometimes called the “third pillar of science,” computational methods involve a new form of discovery that complements theory and experimentation. These methods have become central for advanced research in materials science, medicine, biology and other fields. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, CECAM initiates research and training at 17 different nodes across Europe and Israel.

This month, the University of Notre Dame announced it will help launch an 18th CECAM node, extending CECAM’s network to the United States for the first time.

The node, which will be called CECAM-US-Central node, will be based at and led by the University of Chicago. In addition to the University of Chicago and Notre Dame, several leading Midwestern research universities will be founding partners, including Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Argonne National Laboratory will also serve as a founding partner.

Edward Maginn, the Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Engineering and associate vice president for research

Edward Maginn, the Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Engineering and associate vice president for research at Notre Dame, said, “The University of Notre Dame is excited to partner in the establishment of CECAM-US-Central. Notre Dame has long been a leader in the field of molecular modeling and simulation, and the establishment of this CECAM node will allow us to further strengthen our research in this rapidly changing field. Along with our partner institutions, we look forward to developing this node into an intellectual hub for the advancement and application of new simulation and modeling methods to solve some of the most challenging problems facing society.”

CECAM Director Andrea Cavalli said, “The CECAM-US-Central remarkably impacts the global positioning of CECAM by creating its first node outside of Europe. This node brings together a strong and exciting consortium of partners. It provides CECAM with a unique opportunity to strengthen further knowledge exchange between European and U.S. researchers in computational science. These scientific and technological activities are crucial to fostering exciting collaborations in leading-edge theories, software and applications to address grand challenges for societal progress.”

The node and its members will host workshops, seminars and conferences and provide opportunities to jointly develop training programs and networks. Faculty and students will also have the opportunity to visit and/or work alongside peers at other CECAM nodes.

The new node will officially launch in January, and its first activity will be an academic conference to be held at the University of Chicago in July.

Contact: Brett Beasley, writer and editorial program manager, Notre Dame Research, bbeasle1@nd.edu, 574-631-8183; research.nd.edu, @UNDResearch

Originally published by Brett Beasley at research.nd.edu on Dec. 8.

Notre Dame joins IBM, Meta, other partners in founding new AI Alliance

2023-12-05T11:00:00-05:00

On Tuesday (Dec. 5), the University of Notre Dame joined with partners around the world to launch the AI Alliance. The AI Alliance is a broad, international coalition of organizations that are working across numerous aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) education, research, development, deployment and governance. Its aim is to enhance the social benefits of AI by supporting open innovation and ensuring that AI systems are safe, secure and trustworthy.

“Innovations in artificial intelligence offer, at the same time, the promise of serving the common good and the threat of undermining it. It is critical that we engage serious ethical questions about AI alongside the technological,” said University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. “Notre Dame has long been a place for researching and reflecting on the ethical implications of science and technology, and we are pleased that through the AI Alliance we will be able to lend a distinctive voice and perspective to the conversation about building technologies that are both innovative and ethical.”

Led by IBM and Meta, the AI Alliance also includes builders of hardware and software such as AMD, as well as creators of open-source AI tools and models. In addition to Notre Dame, university partners in the AI Alliance include Cornell University; Dartmouth College; Imperial College London; Indian Institute of Technology Bombay; Technical University of Munich; the University of California, Berkeley’s College of Computing, Data Science, and Society; University of Illinois; University of Tokyo; Yale University; and others.

Through the range and diversity of its partners, the AI Alliance plans to “shape the evolution of AI in ways that better reflect the needs and the complexity of our societies.” With this approach to AI development, the AI Alliance “stands in contrast to a vision that aims to relegate AI innovation and value creation to a small number of companies with a closed, proprietary vision for the AI industry.”

“The technologies that will truly move our world forward will be the ones that emerge from an inclusive, interdisciplinary innovation ecosystem,” said Jeffrey F. Rhoads, vice president for research and professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. “As a founding partner in the AI Alliance, Notre Dame’s engineers, data scientists, ethicists and other researchers will be able to collaborate to build that ecosystem, joining both with AI labs around the world and with the industry partners who get new technologies into the hands of users.”

Rhoads added, “This will bring an unprecedented opportunity to our faculty and our students as they help steer innovations that bring benefits to society.”

AI Alliance members will participate in working groups to develop the following:

Benchmarks, tools and other resources that enable the responsible development and use of AI systems at a global scale.
Benchmarks and evaluation standards for open model releases and model deployment into applications.
An ecosystem of open foundation models with diverse modalities, including highly capable multilingual, multimodal and scientific models that can help address society-wide challenges in climate, human health and beyond.
An AI hardware accelerator ecosystem that boosts the contributions and adoption of essential enabling software technology.
AI skills building, education and exploratory research.
Educational content and resources to inform the public discourse and policymakers on the benefits, risks, solutions and precision regulation for AI.
Initiatives that encourage open development of AI in safe and beneficial ways and events to explore AI and show how alliance members are using open technology in AI responsibly and for good.

As it participates in the AI Alliance, Notre Dame builds upon its commitments in its recently announced Strategic Framework and will draw upon its established strengths in technology ethics research, applied technology ethics, values-based technology education, trusted AI and data science as a force for good.

To learn more about the AI Alliance, visit thealliance.ai.

Contact: Brandi Wampler, associate director of media relations, 574-631-2632, brandiwampler@nd.edu

New technology could lead to quick, minimally invasive cancer diagnoses

2023-10-20T07:00:00-04:00

Reprinted with permission from Sharma, Himani, Vivek Yadav, Crislyn D’Souza-Schorey, David B. Go, Satyajyoti Senapati and Hsueh-Chia Chang. "A Scalable High-Throughput Isoelectric Fractionation Platform for Extracellular Nanocarriers: Comprehensive and Bias-Free Isolation of Ribonucleoproteins from Plasma, Urine, and Saliva." ACSnano 17, no. 10 (2023): 9388-9404. Copyright 2023 American Chemical Society.

A new device created at the University of Notre Dame employs an innovative method for “listening in” on cells’ conversations.

Scientists have long known that RNA (ribonucleic acid) acts as a messenger inside cells, translating DNA information to help cells make proteins.

But recently, scientists have discovered that certain types of RNA venture outside the cell wall. Each of these strands of “extracellular RNA,” or exRNA, rests inside a tiny carrier “bottle” and flows along bodily fluids like a microscopic message in a bottle, carrying information to other cells.

The new appreciation for exRNA also raised a tantalizing possibility: Could we use exRNA as a way of “listening in” on cells’ conversations?

“These extracellular RNAs are a goldmine of information,” said Hsueh-Chia Chang, the Bayer Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. “They can carry the early warning signs of cancer, heart disease, HIV and other life-threatening conditions.”

Chang, an expert in nanofluidics, explains that diagnosing a disease using exRNA could prove not only more effective but also faster and cheaper than existing methods, since there is enough exRNA in a small sample of blood or another bodily fluid to signal the presence of many diseases.

But intercepting and interpreting exRNA messages has been a difficult challenge. Many labs have attempted to filter them from samples of blood or other bodily fluids. Many others have used advanced centrifuges to isolate exRNA. These methods have met with little success for a simple reason: The different types of “bottles” that carry exRNA messages overlap in size and weight. Even the most advanced filters and centrifuges leave many carriers jumbled together. Labs using these methods have to add additional steps in which they add chemicals or small magnetic particles to further sort the carriers into discrete groups.

Four years ago, Chang and a team of researchers at Notre Dame decided to try a radically new approach, and their idea received support from the Common Fund of the National Institutes of Health, which selects promising “high-risk, innovative endeavors with the potential for extraordinary impact.”

Chang was joined by three other Notre Dame faculty members: Crislyn D’Souza-Schorey, the Morris Pollard Professor of Biological Sciences; David Go, vice president and associate provost for academic strategy and the Viola D. Hank Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; and Satyajyoti Senapati, research associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Postdoctoral fellow Himani Sharma served as project lead, and chemical and biomolecular engineering graduate student Vivek Yadav helped conduct the research.

In a study published in ACS Nano, Sharma, Chang and their colleagues describe the groundbreaking device that resulted from their research. The new technology uses a combination of pH (acidity/basicity) and electrical charge to separate the carriers. The idea relies on the fact that although the carriers overlap in size and weight, each type has a distinct “isoelectric point” — the pH, or level of acidity/basicity, at which it has no positive or negative charge.

The device integrates several existing technologies developed at Notre Dame and fits neatly in the palm of the hand.

Flowing through the middle of the device is what looks like a simple stream of water. But there is something special about the stream that is not visible to the naked eye. At the left side, the water is highly acidic, with a pH about the same as a glass of grapefruit juice. On the other side of the stream, the water is highly basic, with a pH similar to a bottle of ammonia.

A special feature of the device is not just the fact that it has a pH gradient in the stream but also how it achieves that gradient. The technology is able to generate the gradient without the addition of any chemicals, making it cheaper, more eco-friendly and more efficient to run than designs that rely on added acids and bases.

Postdoctoral fellow Himani Sharma holds a prototype of the device in the Chang Lab.

The gradient comes not from a chemical but from a two-sided membrane powered by a specially designed chip. The membrane splits the water in two ions (H+ and OH-) and adds a different kind of ion to each side of the stream. One side of the membrane releases acidic hydronium ions, and the other size releases basic hydroxide ions. When the basic and acidic streams flow together, they create a pH gradient just as hot and cold streams flowing together would form hot and cold sides with a gradient of temperature through the middle of the stream. The team used the two devices running in parallel to select the pH range required for carrier separation and optimized the process using machine learning.

The pH gradient achieved what filters and centrifuges could not: It caused the exRNA carriers floating in the stream to sort themselves like colors of light passing through a prism. The different types of carriers formed lines along their isoelectric points where they could easily flow out into separate outlets.

Thanks to the new method, the research team was able to generate very pure samples (up to 97 percent pure) using less than a milliliter of blood plasma, saliva or urine. The process was also lightning-fast compared to current methods. Whereas the best existing technologies take about a day to achieve separation, the Notre Dame team was able to comprehensively sort their sample in just half an hour.

“We have filed for a patent and soon hope that the technology will be commercialized, so that it can help improve diagnoses of cancer and other diseases,” said Sharma, who won several awards for her work on the study from Notre Dame’s Harper Cancer Research Institute.

“Noncommunicable diseases are responsible for more than 70 percent of deaths worldwide, and cardiovascular disease and cancer are responsible for most of that number,” Sharma said. “Our technology shows a path to improving the way clinicians diagnose these diseases, and that could save a tremendous number of lives.”

Contact: Brandi Wampler, associate director of media relations, 574-631-2632, brandiwampler@nd.edu

Originally published by Brett Beasley at research.nd.edu on Oct. 18.

Notre Dame tops $200 million in annual research funding for third straight year

2023-09-05T09:58:00-04:00

During fiscal year 2023, the University of Notre Dame received nearly $216 million in new research award funding, topping $200 million for the third year in a row.

This total includes 824 separate awards, the largest number the University has ever received.

Jeffrey F. Rhoads, vice president for research and professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, said, “We are grateful to all of the agencies, foundations, industry partners and others who have supported research at the University — research that is not only leading to new discoveries, but is helping to create a safer, healthier, more sustainable and more equitable world.”

Rhoads added, “Credit ultimately belongs to the dedicated Notre Dame faculty members and students who received the awards and are committed to using every dollar to have the greatest possible impact.”

A few highlights from across the University include the following:

Using data to feed the world

The largest new award to a research institute was to the Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society. The award of nearly $5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will support a collaborative effort to create evidence-based approaches to agriculture and help alleviate global hunger.

Learn more about this project here.

Theological education for a new generation

Nearly $8 million went to the Department of Theology within the College of Arts and Letters. The funding, which comes from Lilly Endowment Inc., will support Haciendo Caminos, a new partnership of 18 Catholic graduate schools of theology that seeks to identify and form the next generation of U.S. Latino/Latina Catholics. The program brings together Catholic institutions of higher education, advocates and other entities in the wider Church to expand opportunities for U.S.-born or U.S.-raised Hispanic students to enroll and flourish in graduate programs of theological and ministerial formation.

Learn more about this project here.

Solving the mystery of blood vessel formation

An award of $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation went to the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering. The award will support a new platform for discovering how stem cells differentiate and form patterned blood vessels. Solving this mystery could lead to improved implantable tissues and organs.

Machine learning to predict chemical reactions

The National Science Foundation will fund the Center for Computer Assisted Synthesis (C-CAS) in the College of Science with $4 million per year, initially for five years. Led by Notre Dame, 21 researchers at 14 universities will use machine learning to discover new chemical reactions at C-CAS. C-CAS also works with 18 partners from the chemical and pharmaceutical industry to apply its predictive methods to the synthesis of new pharmaceuticals and materials. More than 80 students and postdoctoral fellows in C-CAS will receive training in the emerging field of data chemistry. They will also work with the public to discuss the rapidly increasing use of artificial intelligence in science.

Serving as a trusted partner in the peace process

Within the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, the Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ received $600,000 from Humanity United to support its Barometer Initiative, which works in real time to monitor and support the implementation of Colombia’s historic 2016 Peace Accord.

Learn more about this project here.

Training ethical business leaders

In the Mendoza College of Business, $80,000 in new funding from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation will help support a new undergraduate Business Honors Program. The program will help students take a deep look at the moral purpose of business and how it can contribute to human flourishing.

Building for sustainability

The 91��Ƶ of Architecture received $225,000 — part of a total $20 million production grant — from the U.S. Department of Energy. The funding will support the development and manufacturing of a super wood siding that sequesters carbon, reduces emissions and is resilient to climate change.

The largest portion of the new funding — nearly $120 million — came from federal agencies. The largest single sponsor was the National Science Foundation, which contributed nearly $43 million to research at Notre Dame. Another $38 million came from private foundations, while $24 million came from industry partners and the remainder came from other non-federal sources.

In addition to increasing its number of funded projects, the University expanded its global footprint. Of the new funding, nearly $38 million across 49 awards will support international research. In total, Notre Dame researchers are now conducting projects in 62 different countries around the world.

Notre Dame receives NAUTILUS, a one-of-a-kind system for materials analysis, from US Navy

2023-08-18T17:16:00-04:00

Bruce Danly (left), U.S. Naval Research Laboratory director of research, Capt. Jesse Black (center-right), NRL commanding officer, and Jeff Rhoads (center), Notre Dame vice president for research, sign an Education Partnership Agreement transferring NRL’s NAUTILUS instrument to Notre Dame during an event in Washington, D.C. The NAUTILUS provides measurement capabilities for research in atomic mass spectrometry. (U.S. Navy photo by Sarah Peterson)

The United States Navy has transferred NAUTILUS, a one-of-a-kind system for materials analysis, to the University of Notre Dame. The transfer occurred during a ceremony held at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.

Jeffrey F. Rhoads, vice president for research and professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, said, “We are so grateful for our long-standing relationship with the United States Navy. For over 80 years, we have worked together with a shared mission to serve our country and its people, and today is just another example of Notre Dame and the Navy working together to drive innovation for the betterment of the United States.”

Rhoads added that “the transfer of NAUTILUS to our campus in South Bend is not only a generous gift, but it will be an impactful one. At Notre Dame, our researchers will steward it well, using it to explore and discover new knowledge as they advance their research and lean into our research ethos of doing good in the world.”

The name NAUTILUS stands for NAval Ultra-Trace Isotope Laboratory Universal Spectrometer. Unlike other spectrometers, NAUTILUS combines two separate processes for materials analysis. It uses secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analysis along with single-stage accelerator mass spectrometry (SSAMS). The addition of SSAMS makes NAUTILUS over 10 times more sensitive than commercial SIMS instruments.

Philippe Collon, professor and associate chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, explained, “NAUTILUS excels at detecting impurities in a material. It enables what you might call ‘needle in a haystack’ work. But instead of a needle in a haystack, imagine detecting a single bottle of pollutants poured into Lake Michigan — then you have an idea of the kind of extremely precise analysis this instrument is capable of.”

NAUTILUS’ unique capabilities will augment the University’s existing research expertise. As part of one of the world’s longest-running particle accelerator research programs, Notre Dame currently operates several low-energy accelerators.

Capt. Jesse Black (right), U.S. Naval Research Laboratory commanding officer, Bruce Danly (left), NRL director of research, Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus (center-left), Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Christopher W. Grady (center), and Jeff Rhoads (center-right), University of Notre Dame vice president for research, during an event to transfer NRL’s NAUTILUS instrument to Notre Dame in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 18. The NAUTILUS measures nuclear, cosmo/geo-chemical and electronic materials. (U.S. Navy photo by Sarah Peterson)

By transferring NAUTILUS from the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., to South Bend, the U.S. Navy will foster collaborative research with Notre Dame faculty members while also making new connections with other universities and national laboratories that will be able to now use NAUTILUS at the University.

“This transfer, authorized by Congress and facilitated through educational partnership agreements, is more than a mere exchange of equipment,” said Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a 1984 Notre Dame graduate. “It is a commitment to fostering further innovation and research that can be applied to Naval and national security challenges, enhancing collaboration between government and academia and strengthening America’s competitive advantage in the global scientific arena.”

Notre Dame researchers said they plan to integrate NAUTILUS into several existing research projects.

For example, Collon will use NAUTILUS to understand the processes that formed our solar system, while Clive Neal, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, will use NAUTILUS to bring a new dimension to his lunar samples. Amy Hixon and Antonio Simonetti, both associate professors in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, will use NAUTILUS to test samples from the Ewing Mineral Collection at Notre Dame.

Once NAUTILUS is operational in its new home on Notre Dame’s main campus, it will be the center of a new University-wide research facility managed by the College of Science, the College of Engineering and Notre Dame Research. Researchers from the Institute for Structure and Nuclear Astrophysics (ISNAP) and ND Energy will serve as frequent collaborators, and NAUTILUS will also be available to research groups from outside the University.

According to Collon, some of the biggest benefits of NAUTILUS’ presence at Notre Dame will be for students.

“The next generation of STEM researchers are going to be tasked with doing a more careful analysis of material with smaller and smaller samples to detect things like very advanced forgeries, for example. Students who work with NAUTILUS can learn a comprehensive set of techniques — how to understand ion optics, how to run an accelerator, how to analyze its data and how to optimize tests. That is training we will now be able to offer to our undergraduate and graduate students using this one very advanced piece of equipment.”

To learn more about nuclear science at Notre Dame, visit isnap.nd.edu.

Researchers reveal why obesity makes ovarian cancer more deadly

2023-07-18T12:12:00-04:00

A new study links a high body mass index (BMI) to alterations in the structure and environment of cancerous tumors.

Most women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed with the most advanced form of the disease. Less than a third of those diagnosed with the disease survive five years later. As the third most common type of gynecological cancer, it led to more than 200,000 reported deaths globally in 2020 alone, according to a recent study.

In a study published this month in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, University of Notre Dame researchers in collaboration with NeoGenomics Laboratories have shed new light on one key factor that can make ovarian cancer especially deadly: obesity.

Obesity, considered a non-infectious pandemic, is known to increase the risk of ovarian cancer and decrease the likelihood of surviving the disease. A team of researchers led by M. Sharon Stack, the Ann F. Dunne and Elizabeth Riley Director of Notre Dame’s Harper Cancer Research Institute, and Anna Juncker-Jensen, senior scientist and director of scientific affairs at NeoGenomics, wanted to understand why obesity makes ovarian cancer more deadly.

M. Sharon Stack

The researchers analyzed cancer tumor tissues from ovarian cancer patients. They were able to compare the tissues of patients with a high body mass index (BMI) to those with a lower BMI, and two important differences stood out.

In cancer patients with a BMI higher than 30 (the range for obesity determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the researchers found a particular pattern in the type of immune cells surrounding cancerous tumors. They found a change in the populations of a type of immune cells, called macrophages, infiltrating the tumor that are typically associated with more advanced cancer stages and poor survival.

The cancerous tumors in obese patients were also surrounded in more stiff, fibrous tissue known to help tumors resist treatment by chemotherapy. The team was also able to confirm their findings by observing similar patterns in ovarian cancer-bearing mice fed a high-fat diet.

Stack, who also serves as the Kleiderer-Pezold Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Science at Notre Dame, emphasized that the study offers hope for better treatments as the prevalence of obesity increases worldwide.

“Our data give a more detailed picture of how and why obesity may affect ovarian tumor progression and therapeutic responses to the cancer,” Stack said. “We are hopeful that these findings will lead to new strategies for targeted therapies that can improve outcomes for ovarian cancer patients.”

This study was supported by research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Aging, the American Institute for Cancer Research, the American Cancer Society and the Leo and Ann Albert Charitable Trust.

For more information on the Harper Cancer Research Institute’s work to increase the survival of all patients diagnosed with cancer, visit harpercancer.nd.edu.

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director, media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

Researchers decipher the secrets of Benjamin Franklin’s paper money

2023-07-17T15:09:27-04:00

A rare window into the early American monetary history — thanks to techniques from physics

Benjamin Franklin may be best known as the creator of bifocals and the lightning rod, but a group of University of Notre Dame researchers suggest he should also be known for his innovative ways of making (literal) money.

During his career, Franklin printed nearly 2,500,000 money notes for the American Colonies using what the researchers have identified as highly original techniques, as reported in a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The research team, led by Khachatur Manukyan, an associate research professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has spent the past seven years analyzing a trove of nearly 600 notes from the Colonial period, which is part of an extensive collection developed by the Hesburgh Libraries’ Rare Books and Special Collections. The Colonial notes span an 80-year period and include notes printed by Franklin’s network of printing shops and other printers, as well as a series of counterfeit notes.

Manukyan explained that the effort to print money for the fledgling Colonial monetary system was important to Franklin not just as a printer but as a statesman as well.

Khachatur Manukyan and his team employed cutting-edge spectroscopic and imaging instruments to get a closer look than ever at the inks, paper and fibers that made Benjamin Franklin’s bills distinctive and hard to replicate.

“Benjamin Franklin saw that the Colonies’ financial independence was necessary for their political independence. Most of the silver and gold coins brought to the British American colonies were rapidly drained away to pay for manufactured goods imported from abroad, leaving the Colonies without sufficient monetary supply to expand their economy,” Manukyan said.

However, one major problem stood in the way of efforts to print paper money: counterfeiting. When Franklin opened his printing house in 1728, paper money was a relatively new concept. Unlike gold and silver, paper money’s lack of intrinsic value meant it was constantly at risk of depreciating. There were no standardized bills in the Colonial period, leaving an opportunity for counterfeiters to pass off fake bills as real ones. In response, Franklin worked to embed a suite of security features that made his bills distinctive.

“To maintain the notes’ dependability, Franklin had to stay a step ahead of counterfeiters,” said Manukyan. “But the ledger where we know he recorded these printing decisions and methods has been lost to history. Using the techniques of physics, we have been able to restore, in part, some of what that record would have shown.”

Manukyan and his team employed cutting-edge spectroscopic and imaging instruments housed in the Nuclear Science Laboratory and four Notre Dame research core facilities: the Center for Environmental Science and Technology, the Integrated Imaging Facility, the Materials Characterization Facility and the Molecular Structure Facility. The tools enabled them to get a closer look than ever at the inks, paper and fibers that made Franklin’s bills distinctive and hard to replicate.

One of the most distinctive features they found was in Franklin’s pigments. Manukyan and his team determined the chemical elements used for each item in Notre Dame’s collection of Colonial notes. The counterfeits, they found, have distinctive high quantities of calcium and phosphorus, but these elements are found only in traces in the genuine bills.

Their analyses revealed that although Franklin used (and sold) “lamp black,” a pigment created by burning vegetable oils, for most printing, Franklin’s printed currency used a special black dye made from graphite found in rock. This pigment is also different from the “bone black” made from burned bone, which was favored both by counterfeiters and by those outside Franklin’s network of printing houses.

Another of Franklin’s innovations was in the paper itself. The invention of including tiny fibers in paper pulp — visible as pigmented squiggles within paper money — has often been credited to paper manufacturer Zenas Marshall Crane, who introduced this practice in 1844. But Manukyan and his team found evidence that Franklin was including colored silks in his paper much earlier.

The team also discovered that notes printed by Franklin’s network have a distinctive look due to the addition of a translucent material they identified as muscovite. The team determined that Franklin began adding muscovite to his papers and the size of this muscovite crystals in his paper increased over time. The team speculates that Franklin initially began adding muscovite to make the printed notes more durable but continued to add it when it proved to be a helpful deterrent to counterfeiters.

Manukyan said that it is unusual for a physics lab to work with rare and archival materials, and this posed special challenges.

“Few scientists are interested in working with materials like these. In some cases, these bills are one-of-a-kind. They must be handled with extreme care, and they cannot be damaged. Those are constraints that would turn many physicists off to a project like this,” he said.

But for him, the project is a testament to the value of interdisciplinary work.

“We were fortunate to have student researchers on this project with interests both in physics as well as in history and art conservation. And the core research facilities as well as the Rare Books and Special Collections team were incredible research partners. Without an uncommon level of collaboration across disciplines, our discoveries would not have been possible.”

In addition to lead investigator Manukyan, the research team for this project included Armenuhi Yeghishyan, a laboratory technician in the Department of Physics and Astronomy; Ani Aprahamian, the Frank M. Freimann Professor of Physics and concurrent professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Louis Jordan, an associate University librarian emeritus for academic services and collections; Michael Kurkowski, a former undergraduate researcher studying physics and mathematics; Mark Raddell, a former undergraduate researcher studying finance and physics who is now a consultant at Deloitte; Laura Richter Le, a former undergraduate researcher who is now a graduate student at the Conservation Center at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts; Zachary D. Schultz, a former associate professor at Notre Dame who is now a faculty member at the Ohio State University; Liam Spillane, who works at Gatan Inc.; and Michael Wiescher, the Frank M. Freimann Professor of Physics.

This research project was funded by an internal grant from Notre Dame Research. For more information on the Nuclear Science Laboratory’s work investigating historical materials, visit sites.nd.edu/kmanukyan/research/.

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director, media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

Seven faculty receive Early Career Awards from the National Science Foundation

2023-07-17T14:08:00-04:00

During the 2022-23 academic year, seven researchers at the University of Notre Dame received prestigious early career awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The Early Career Development (CAREER) awards provide support to early career faculty members who exhibit the potential to “serve as academic role models” and “lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.” Since 2014, Notre Dame faculty have earned 68 of these nationally competitive awards.

Each awardee receives at least half a million dollars in funding over five years to support innovative research. Through their projects, awardees “build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.”

“These seven faculty members help highlight the bright future of Notre Dame Research. Each investigator will play an important role in shaping the direction of their field,” said Jeffrey Rhoads, vice president for research and professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering. “We congratulate them on this awesome achievement and sincerely thank the National Science Foundation for recognizing them and supporting their work.”

Below are the awardees who made this year’s list:

Paola Crippa, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, will develop a new modeling framework to improve predictions of atmospheric processes and events with high societal impacts. Crippa’s framework will integrate numerical simulations with data from field experiments to better understand how atmospheric conditions vary over smaller distances and shorter time intervals than existing models can capture. Crippa will also develop new course materials, including atmospheric science lesson plan kits, to support education in local elementary and middle schools.

Adam Czajka, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, will conduct research on biometric recognition technologies. Computers often use biometric data — sensing a user’s voice, eyes or face — to confirm a user’s identity. However, these systems do not always generalize well to attack types never seen during training. Czajka’s project seeks to improve their ability to detect unknown forms of fraudulent data using human-machine cooperation. Czajka will also develop an educational program to help K-12, undergraduate and graduate students learn about biometric technologies and the ethics and security questions they raise.

Yi-Ting Hsu, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will focus on theory-guided material design for topological superconductivity. These exotic quantum materials conduct electrical currents with zero resistance and are candidates for error-free quantum computation platforms. Hsu will develop a material-designing framework that integrates mathematical theory, machine learning techniques and numerical analyses, focusing on few-layer Van der Waals materials. Hsu will launch a public multimedia channel to provide answers in toddler-friendly language to physics-related questions children ask. Hsu will also form support groups for female students, postdoctoral scholars and faculty who are of child-bearing age, are expecting or have children in the South Bend area.

Felix Janda, an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics, will work toward solving several difficult mathematical problems inspired by string theory. Janda will develop two techniques for counting curves in geometric spaces to rigorously prove mathematical predictions arising from string theorists’ efforts to model the universe. Janda will also organize a yearly workshop for graduate students along with other events aimed at countering stereotypes within science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Jonathan MacArt, an assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, will create a mathematical and software framework to help develop high-efficiency, low-emission engines. MacArt’s software will improve combustor modeling and design with the aim of more cleanly using limited energy resources. MacArt will also organize a summer symposium on data and modeling for turbulent combustion as well as a high school program to stimulate interest in energy science among a diverse group of students.

Arnaldo Serrano, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, will focus on understanding protein structures. By developing new spectroscopic tools, Serrano will shed light on how proteins — including toxic, disease-causing proteins — fold and separate. Serrano will also create an open-source web-based chemical kinetics software platform for undergraduate students.

Katharine White, the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, will examine how proteins sense changes in pH (acidity or basicity) within cells. White will use new tools developed in her lab to manipulate the pH within single cells to understand the molecular mechanisms that drive pH sensitive cell biology. White will also create activity-based learning modules for use in middle school classrooms, working initially with Edison Intermediate, a local middle school.

The NSF selects CAREER projects based on not only their intellectual merit but also “broader impacts,” or benefits to society, which might include efforts to make research more inclusive, to educate the public about key topics, or to develop a diverse, well-trained workforce.

Patricia Clark, associate vice president for research and the O’Hara Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, noted that broader impacts align well with Notre Dame’s mission.

“Researchers at Notre Dame make new discoveries not just to advance a scholarly conversation but also to contribute to the common good. Broader impacts projects serve as a prime example,” Clark said, “and through Notre Dame Research’s Proposal Development Team and our new Center for Broader Impacts, all faculty members have a world-class support system available to help them brainstorm these projects, identify campus and community partners with similar interests, and measure the social impact of this work.”

Established in 1995, NSF CAREER awards currently support 34 active research projects at the University of Notre Dame. To learn more, visit https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/faculty-early-career-development-program-career.