the current, issue one

8/14/2019 The Current, Issue One

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Three Facilitiesor Rhode IslandsScientifc Future

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RI EPSCoR:Leading Rhode IslandsScientifc Development

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SPOTLIGHT:Stephanie Forschner

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Students Ride theScience Wave with SURF

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W h a t i s E P

S C o R ?

research and happenings from rhode island epsc or | inaugural issuecurrent

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research is a huge asset not just to their aculty advi-sors, but also to our program and the local researchcommunity. Several o the graduate students presentedtheir research at the 2008 Rhode Island Research Alli-ance Symposium this summer, while others attendedposter con erences nationwide.

With the leadership o the RI Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC), RI EPSCoR has met many o its initial goals. The programs excellent leadership andsupport sta share a common vision and passion that drives li e sciences innovation and partnerships state-

wide.

We especially wish to thank the researchers, educa-tors, industry partners and government leaders whohave made RI EPSCoR so success ul. The payo s o theprogram research discovery, job creation, diversity enhancement, work orce and economic development are worth many times NSFs initial investment.

We are proud o EPSCoRs success and what it has ac-complished in its short li etime. Coming years will seethe maturation o the program through improved in ra-structure, urther collaboration and the continued edu-cation o the next generation o scientists. In these ways,the program will continue to serve as a valuable asset tothe Rhode Island research and education community as

well as the economy o the state as a whole.

Sincerely,

aculty and graduate student experiments and has inthe past housed projects rom Brown, the University o Hawaii, the University o Cali ornia and the University o Maine.

The RI EPSCoR Academy, the clearinghouse or allstudent and aculty training opportunities, is up andrunning. One o the RI EPSCoR Academys mandates isto catalyze programs that integrate research and educa-tion and stimulate the Science, Technology, Engineeringand Mathematics (STEM) pipeline. Towards those goalsRI EPSCoR recently acilitated a $12.5 million NSF Mathand Science Partnership grant to enhance K-12 STEMeducation. This capacity or coordination led to collabo-ration with the RI IDeA Network o Biomedical ResearchExcellence (INBRE) to support over 40 students in theSummer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)program. This past summers SURF program concluded

with a scienti c poster con erence that highlighted over 80 undergraduate projects rom across the state (seepage 9).

An important component o EPSCoR is recruiting mi-nority students and aculty, something we have been

working on with The Leadership Alliance at Brown.For the rst time, the Alliance extended some o their summer activities to our SURF students as a specialopportunity to promote collaboration and increase thestrength o both programs in the state. The Northeast Louis Stokes Alliance or Minority Participation (LSAMP),a consortium o New England universities committed toincreasing the number o underrepresented studentsparticipating in the elds o science, technology, engi-neering and mathematics, is a growing partner o theRI EPSCoR Academy. We worked together this year todeliver a weeklong marine science academy to minority high school students.

In the past 2 years, EPSCoR has supported 18 gradu-ate students at URI and Brown. Their outstanding

about RI EPSCoR

RI EPSCoRs mission is to createlasting improvement in Rhode

Islands research in rastructure byadvancing statewide innovationthrough strengthening RhodeIslands basic science and engineer-ing research capacity and addressingRhode Islands work orce needsusing enhancement o science andengineering training and educationor students.

about the RI EPSCoR academy

The RI EPSCoR Academy osters theintegration o research, education,

innovation and communicationstatewide. It works to (1) Develop thehuman capital necessary to supportand sustain the growth o competitiveresearch capacity in the li e sciences(2) Broaden the participation o women and underrepresentedethnic and racial minorities in theSTEM work orce and (3) Develop and

maintain sustainable communicationmechanisms to build and enhance

a strong statewide network o thestates and regions scientists, institu-tions o higher education, and privateand public sectors.

Dr. Je SeemannRI EPSCoR Director University o Rhode Island

Dr. Clyde Briant RI EPSCoR Co-Director Brown University


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Part o EPSCoRs initial development established threecore acilities one each in proteomics, genomics,and marine li e sciences that o er the latest technolo-gies and techniques to state researchers.

The acilities ensure rapid and equal access or the en-tire Rhode Island research community. And while many scientists and students use the acilities, ollowing onescientists use o them helps illustrate how they bene t li e sciences research in the state.

Dr. David Rand, pro essor o Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University, studies evolutionary genet-ics, speci cally how natural selection acts on genes andhow di erent environments a ect selection.

Rand and his colleagues study the impact o changes tothe nuclear and mitochondrial genomes o organisms,especially the Drosophila ruit fy, to determine how these changes infuence survival, reproduction, andother basic tests o evolutionary tness.

They do this using the EPSCoR core acilities.

testing the genes

Perhaps the most important o the core acilities toRands work is the Rhode Island Genomics and Se-quencing Center (RIGSC), at the University o RhodeIsland, which provides cutting-edge technical andanalytical support or molecular biology and genomicsresearch.

RIGSC is key to Rands studies because his testsmanipulate Drosophila genomes, which can be as-

sembled in constructs designed by the scientists. Oncecreated, you can then subject these assembled geneticconstructs to a variety o tests: do they produce di erent proteins, do [the fies] live longer, do they jump higher?says Rand.

Be ore RIGSC, Rand sent the materials or genotyping mapping to determine an organisms genetic makeup to labs in Washington and Texas, leading to higher costsand longer wait times or results. With RIGSC, resultsare processed aster and at a lower cost, while also

keeping research dollars in-state.needed facilities

Rhode Islands 400 miles o coastline arent just enjoyed by tourists. Theyre also central to the study o marineand coastal ecosystems.

The second core acility the Rhode Island Center or Excellence in Marine Li e Sciences, based at the URIGraduate School o Oceanography (GSO) assistedRand and a graduate student in their research. Thegraduate student used the centers modern fow-throughseawater acility in an experiment studying barnacle

genetics.

The experiment, which observed the e ects o tempera-ture, salinity, and ood supply changes on the genes o a barnacle common to the Narragansett Bay, couldnt have happened without the acilities and collaborationprovided by EPSCoR, Rand said.

Having access to this through the EPSCoR program was instrumental in letting us do this. Brown has no

Three Facilitiesor Rhode Islands

Scientifc Future

EPSCoR has many areas o ocus collaboration, scienceeducation, economic development but its primarymission is to create a statewide in rastructure to helpscientists conduct new research more e ciently.

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fowing seawater acility, he said, noting that EPSCoRs acilita-tion o collaboration with other researchers, especially Ed Baker,manager o seawater acilities at the GSO, was crucial.

local proteomics

Just as the other two acilities o er new research opportunitiesand greater e ciencies, so does the Rhode Island Research Center or Proteomics, the third core acility.

Proteomics, the study o proteins structure,unction, and interac-tion, requires state-o -the-art equipment. TheProteomics Core, locatedat Brown, o ers thisequipment and backs

it with undamentalresearch knowledge.

Thanks to its expert sta , the resources areavailable to nd out how the proteomes o [theorganisms being studied]di er. Thats somethingI dont know how to do,said Rand.

The acility also allows researchers to explore more avenues in

their research with less concern or lost time or shipping expenses.the promise of collaboration

The presence o the three core acilities strengthens Rhode Islandsnational position in li e sciences research, said Rand.

By putting these acilities in place and having people able to sub-mit proposals that would work there, it will draw in and maintainresearchers throughout the state that might not be there other-

wise, he said.

Ultimately, though, one o the best things that happened rom theEPSCoR program is that it has opened a line o communication

[among schools in the state] that is very healthy and will lead togreater local research success, he said.

By ostering collaboration and locating acilities at the states lead-ing research institutions, EPSCoR has helped researchers through-out Rhode Island, in Rands words, discover that there are peopledoing really cool things that can work together.

the presence of thethree core facilities

strengthens RhodeIslands nationalposition in lifesciences research

// research in focus //

what is genomics?

Broadly de ned,genomics is the studyo genomes, where theword genome describesthe sum total o all thegenetic in ormation thatde nes an organism,whether it be a virusor a humpback whale.The genome is com-posed o DNA, a longchain o our smaller building blocks calleddeoxyribonucleic acidsthat are arranged inde ned sequencescharacteristic or eachorganism. Some sec-tions o the DNA are designated asgenes because they either encodeor proteins or or other unctionallyimportant molecules such as smallRNAs. Other regions, that make upthe majority o genomic DNA, arenon-coding, and these infuenceunction and heredity in ways thatare not yet well understood.

Genomics is o ten comparative,taking advantage o large publicdatabases to explore relationshipsamong regions o di erent ge-nomes. Functional genomics goesbeyond the use o these databasesto study relationships and usesdata generated rom cutting edgetechnologies such as high through-put sequencing and microarrays tounderstand the unction o genomeregions. Functional genomics can

also be used to compare sequencesamong di erent individuals withina species. Genetic variations amongindividuals can contribute to dis-ease either directly or in conjunctionwith other actors such as environ-mental exposures. Other naturallyoccurring variations in human DNAsequence help explain why peoplecan have very di erent responses tosome drugs.


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I t is widel y e xpec ted tha t the li e sciences will

be

an area o grea t scien ti f c and

economic gro w th in

the decades to come. Wi th th

a t in mind, a group

o Rhode Island scien t

is ts , polic ymakers, educa tors

and business leaders ha ve been working toge th

er

since 2004 to make the na tion

s smalles t s ta te a

big pla yer in li e sciences. The

resul t o this e or t

is Rhode Island EPSCoR.

Lead ing R hode Is lands


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a history of collaboration

The National Science Foundation (NSF) establishedthe Experimental Program to Stimulate CompetitiveResearch (EPSCoR) in 1978 to better distribute ederalunding or research and development to states that historically received less R&D support, such as RhodeIsland.

Led by URI Dean Je Seemann, Rhode Island becamean EPSCoR state in 2004. That initial $500,000 plan-ning grant was ollowed in 2006 by the states rst NSF Research In rastructure Improvement grant o $6.75million, something important to both the academic and

public sectors.The University o Rhode Island and the state o RhodeIsland are very interested in advancing academic re-search capacity here within the state. It is an essentialpiece o economic development. It is an essential pieceo job creation, o technology creation, o new company creation, said Dr. Seemann, the project director o RI EPSCoR.

But its also expensive o ten more expensive than a single scientist or institution can manage on their own.

Thats where RI EPSCoR comes in.

In this time o limited resources and unding in the li esciences, its extremely important or those institutionspursuing research in those areas to be as collaborativeand cooperative as possible, said Dean Edward Hawrot o Brown University, who recently became co-project director with Seemann.

RI EPSCoR works with the RI Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) and the Rhode Island Research Alliance to e ect sustainable improvements to localresearch in rastructure that [create] the landscapeor scientists to do cutting edge, competitively undedresearch, added Seemann.

EPSCoRs three goals

RI EPSCoR aims to bolster science in three key areas:research and development in rastructure capacity,science education and outreach, and economicdevelopment.

Sc ien t i f c De ve lopmen t

EPSCoR is an essential piece of job creation, of technology creation, of new company creation

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Graduate Student:Stephanie Forschner

Graduate students area vital bridge betweentwo o the worlds that RIEPSCoR aims to integrate:research and education inthe li e sciences. To thatend, EPSCoR has unded18 graduate students in

Rhode Island. StephanieForschner, o the Universityo Rhode Island, is one.

Originally rom Leechburg, PA,Forschner is entering the th year o her graduate research at URI,

where she also earned her under-graduate degree in Marine Biology.

She works with Dr. David Rowley o the URI College o Pharmacy.

Dr. Rowley is a very motivat-ing advisor and his enthusiasm iscontagious. He can make the most mundane task exciting, she said.

Forschner studies the toxic andnon-toxic interactions o bacteria onmarine organic particles in Narra-gansett Bay. Marine particles, alsoknown as marine snow, include

once-living material such as detri-tus, dying algae blooms, sh scalesand waste. They provide nutrient hot spots in the otherwise nutri-ent-limited water column. Spaceand ood or these microorganismsis limited, especially given the speedo their reproduction, orcing themto protect their territory and bet-

ter compete or resources using adaptations like toxicchemical war are in the orm o antibiotic production.

Still, non-toxic chemical interactions occur at a higher rate than toxic interactions in the Bay, Forschner ex-plains. This could mean that non-toxic chemical inter-actions may be even more important in the community structure o bacteria on the particles. A component o her work involves the use o the EPSCoR- undedGenomics and Sequencing Center to identi y particle-attached bacteria.

The structure o these communities has implications inthe cycling o nutrients and the ood web in Narragan-sett Bay. In addition, molecules that mediate interac-tions between microorganisms may have biomedicalpotential as antibiotics.

Forschner is an active participant in EPSCoR. Thissummer Forschner taught a SURF student in Dr.Rowleys lab molecular and genetic techniques suchas extracting DNA and gene sequencing. At the SURF mixer, Forschner shared stories about her researchcruise rom Samoa to New Zealand where she studied

Actinomycetes, a class o bacteria in deep-sea sedi-ments, some o which produce biomedical compoundsincluding antibiotic and anticancer agents.

Forschner presented her research rom this project at the RI Research Alliance Symposium in June, along

with two other EPSCoR graduate students.

Wanting to stay in Rhode Island, I enjoyed this con er-ence because I got to see what research was going onin-state. I got to identi y the key players and also seethe work o other organizations outside o academia such as the local hospitals. It was a great networkingopportunity, she said.

Forschner is well on her way to receiving her Ph.D.rom URI with Dr. Rowley and hopes to gain experienceas a post-doctoral ellow be ore entering a biomedicalresearch career.

As an active member o the state research commu-nity, and someone whose work bene ts Rhode Island,Forschner is an EPSCoR success story.

I have put down roots in Rhode Island, she said, and would love to stay in the state should the opportunity present itsel .

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Students ridethe science

wave with SURF

The RI ESPCoR Academy, the education-outreachcomponent o the program, aims to expand researchcapacity, work orce training and economic development in the li e sciences. Two essential components o reach-ing these goals are the expansion o graduate programsin the STEM disciplines and increased undergraduateparticipation in research.

RI EPSCoR and Rhode Island IDeA Network or Biomedi-cal Research Excellence (INBRE) collaborated in 2008or the rst time to place students in these settingsthrough the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow-ship Program (SURF).

learning in the labs

Under the guidance o aculty scientists, SURF student ellows in Biomedical Sciences, Genomics, Proteomicsand Marine Li e Sciences completed 10 weeks o re-search and participated in career-building workshops,presentations and trips, including:

// education and 0utreach //

In a state with as muchcoastline as RhodeIsland, the word sur immediately conjuresup thoughts o saltwater and wetsuits. But a ter a summer spent in a RIEPSCoR Academy program,40 undergraduate sciencestudents rom collegesthroughout the statethink o sur in a verydi erent way.

A visit to P zer pharmaceuticals Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Flavor and Obesity research labs in Groton, CT

A tip- lled presentation about the graduate school

application process by Dr. Harold Bibb rom the URIGraduate School

A video conference on Global Sustainability & YourCareer by Dr. Barry Costa-Pierce, the director o RISea Grant, broadcast live to ve participating insti-tutions

Tours by Dr. Albert Kausch of URI and Plant Advancements, Inc., and by Ed Booth and MylesStandish at Newport Biodiesel.

posters highlight advances

The SURF program concluded with a poster con erenceat URI highlighting the research o over 80 undergradu-ates rom URI, Brown, Providence College, Rhode IslandCollege, Roger Williams University, the Community Col-lege o Rhode Island and Salve Regina University.

A ter an intensive training session led by Brianne Neptino the URI Coastal Fellows Program, each student de-signed a poster to convey their scienti c results and

The opportunity

of a lifetime

Group of SURF students touring Dr. Albert Kauschs lab

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explained their projects when questioned duringsessions.

Poster topics included cardiac development in zebra sh,selective estrogen receptor modulators and their role inthe treatment and prevention o breast cancer, patholo-gy involved in Crohns Disease and mercury bioaccumu-lation in sh o Narragansett Bay. The research couldlead to the development o antibiotics to battle quickly evolving pathogens, new techniques or detecting cancer

biomarkers, and nanopore technology or more e cient and cheaper gene sequencing.

Many o the students expressed strong interest in con-tinuing their research, demonstrating how SURF both

generates novel scienti c results and positively impactsthe students education and career goals.

unparalleled opportunities

The SURF program was a great opportunity or me toimmerse mysel in a research project, said programparticipant Danielle Perley o Roger Williams University.It gave me the opportunity to develop a research planand execute it.

Together with RWU pro essor Marcia Marston, Perley used genetic techniques to examine the diversity o cyanophage viruses o amily Podoviridae, which wererecently ound in Narragansett Bay. The team discov-ered two new podoviruses in the Bay, which will lead to

continued from page 7

continued from page 9

To enhance the states existing re-search strengths in the li e sciencesand promote synergies, RI EPSCoRscomprehensive research in rastruc-ture development strategy targetsmolecular, marine and environmen-tal biosciences or growth.

By promoting institutionalcollaboration and establishingthree core acilities in genomics,proteomics, and marine li e sci-ences (see page 4), EPSCoR helpslocal researchers access the latest technologies and nd opportunities

or collaboration. It also supportsresearchers by connecting them toNSF and other agency unding op-portunities (learn more at http://stac.ri.gov/epscor/ unding).

Scientists everywhere need to havethe latest, best tools o their scien-

ti c pro ession to carry out cuttingedge, undable research, Seemannsaid.

RI EPSCoRs education and out-reach component is centralized inthe RI EPSCoR Academy, whichprovides educational and training

opportunities to students and ac-ulty in collaboration with likemindedpartner programs (see page 9).

The RI EPSCoR Academy placesa particular emphasis on gettingmore kids more interested and moreengaged in science and technology

and making sure theyre comingrom more diverse backgrounds,said Seemann.

Lastly, EPSCoR uses new researchand work orce education to promoteeconomic development in the state,

which can take the orm o ounding

Elizabeth performing a bacterial transformation Yasah presenting her microbial fuel cell research Fabian wi th his gas sensor prototype


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a better understanding o the structure o viral commu-nities o estuarine environments and help illuminate the

way cyanophage/host interactions impact the cycling o carbon and nutrients.

Under the guidanceo URI pro essor OttoGregory, URI student

Fabian Sierra worked with researchers at URI, Georgia Tech andSensor Tech in Savan-nah, GA, to developnovel combinationso transition metaloxide catalysts or thedetection o speci c gasmolecules o interest tothe US Army and De-partment o Homeland

Security. This project could lead to sensorsable to detect minute quantities o hazardous gas with-out inter erence rom background gases.

The SURF program allowed me to grow as a student by giving me opportunities to be involved with college-levelresearch. The various activities provided by the programgave me excellent advice on how to continue my career in the research eld and opened my eyes to how many interesting and wonder ul research projects students

around the country are working on. Without a doubt this summer was the opportunity o a li etime, saidSierra.

a bigger wave

The bene ts o SURF aregreat. For the undergradu-ates, participation a ords theopportunity to gain researchskills, participate in pro es-sional development seminarsand training, and gives them a chance to present their ndingsin a public ormat, all increas-ing students competitivenessor research-based careers inthe li e sciences.

Rhode Island bene ts broadly rom SURF because the pro-

gram helps develop and trainthe personnel necessary or the state to remain competitive in the global knowledgeeconomy.

The collaboration o RI EPSCoR and RI INBRE in creat-ing SURF has created an e ective program to encourageundergraduate research in the li e and marine sciencesstatewide. Both programs are eager to continue theSURF collaboration to give Rhode Islands undergradu-ates a bigger, more exciting science wave to ride.

new companies based on research breakthroughs or convincing exist-ing companies to relocate thanks toRhode Islands scienti c and humanresources.

The hope would be that there would be commercial applications

or some o the discoveries whichcould lead to new start-ups, compa-nies orming in the state, leading tonew jobs, said Hawrot.

looking to the future

By all measures, RI EPSCoR hasmade substantial strides in its rst two years.

Were trying to do one thing very well and have it serve the needs o all the Rhode Island institutions o higher education, and I think weve

been very success ul at that, See-mann said.

In coming years, RI EPSCoR will

continue to promote the integrationo research and education and toengage government, industry andthe states 11 institutions o higher education, as well as acilitate pro-posals or EPSCoR agency unding.

In the near term, the big thing will

be ocusing on more collaborativeactivities and beginning to reap therewards, Seemann said. We willsee some great science being done.

Both Seemann and Hawrot agreethat the achievements o the two

years since RI EPSCoRs initial NSF

grant are only the beginning o thepositive changes the program willa ect in Rhode Island.

In the next ve years, Seemannsaid, you will see some bigger andeven more exciting things.

The SURF programallowed me to growas a student by giving me opportunities to beinvolved with collegelevel research


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Rhode Islands collaborative researchnetwork is represented by the statestwo standing governance and advisory committees:

RI Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC)provides oversight andgovernance or the program. Its Gov-ernor-appointed membership includes

key leadership rom government, localindustry and institutions o higher learning. STAC ensures that EPSCoR-unded programs are integrated andaligned with the states research in ra-structure and economic development objectives.

RI EPSCoR Advisory Councilservesin an advisory capacity to the RI EPS-CoR program and STAC. The Councilis composed o individuals represent-ing all 11 Rhode Island institutions o

higher education who have expertise inli e-science research, K-16 educationinitiatives and work orce development.

Dr. Edythe Anthony Chair, Department o Biology,Rhode Island College

Dr. John CostelloDepartment o Biology,Providence College

Dr. William Ferrante Associate Provost,New England Instituteo Technology

Dr. Laura GalliganScience Department Chair

Johnson & Wales University

Pamela HarringtonDirector, Corporate, Foundationand Government Relations,Rhode Island School o Design

Dr. Dan McNally Chair, Department o Science and Technology,Bryant University

Dr. Lonnie Guralnick Assistant Dean o Mathand Natural Sciences,Roger Williams University

Dr. Stanley Thompson Academic Dean/Principal, Times2 Academy

Dr. Jacqueline F. WebbPro essor & Coordinator,Marine Biology Program,University o Rhode Island

Dr. Valerie Wilson Associate Dean, Graduate School& Director, Leadership Alliance,Brown University

Dr. Peter Woodberry Dean o Business, Scienceand Technology,

Community College o Rhode Island

Dr. Lisa A. ZuccarelliChair, Department o Biology andBiomedical Sciences & Department o Chemistry,Salve Regina University

RI EPSCoR University o Rhode IslandCollege o the Environment and Li e Sciences

133 Woodward Hall, Kingston, RI 02881

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