Mechanical and aerospace engineering Professor Yeqing Wang from the College of Engineering and Computer Science and chemistry Professor Davoud Mozhdehi from the College of Arts and Sciences were selected as recipients of competitive 2020-2021 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). The Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards program provides funds to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty. Continue Reading
News
Ph.D. Candidate’s Work in the Patteson Lab Requires Tools from Multiple Disciplines
After completing a master’s degree from the University of Akron in physics, Ph.D. candidate Maxx Swoger attended a seminar hosted by Alison Patteson, assistant professor of Physics at Syracuse University. “Originally and very broadly, I wanted to study soft matter physics or biophysics. And to be perfectly honest with you, I think this is one of the best places in the country to do that,” says Swoger. “The collaboration both within the physics department and the University allows students to approach the systems we’re studying with a variety of techniques. This is something I really liked about Syracuse when deciding which school to attend for my Ph.D.” Continue Reading
The BioInspired Mind
Biophysicist Alison Patteson is using a trio of grant awards to probe the mysteries of complex living systems.
No one was more surprised than Alison Patteson when, at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, she received her first major National Science Foundation (NSF) grant award. “Frankly, it was a shock to me because some of the work is out of my comfort zone,” says the assistant professor of physics, who is using the funding to study the cellular entry of SARS2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. “I’ve had to pivot my research to accommodate the project.” Continue Reading
NSF Equipment Grants to Fund Acquisition of Two Chromatography-Mass Spectrometers
The familiar saying goes, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” But for scientists, understanding those smaller parts is critical to scientific discovery.
A method known as chromatography-mass spectrometry lets researchers analyze and study the composition of a larger compound by separating out its parts. One common application is quality control in the food industry, where researchers separate and analyze additives, vitamins, preservatives and proteins. Continue Reading
Patteson’s Interdisciplinary Research Selected for Grant from National Science Foundation
Assistant Professor of Physics Alison Patteson’s research on the concept of “emergence” in living systems was selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to receive an Early-Concept Grant For Exploratory Research (EAGER) award on Sept. 12. The NSF selected Patteson’s proposal to be one of 33 funded from a pool of 800 entries. According to the NSF website, Patteson’s research was selected chiefly for its potential “to address grand challenges in fundamental research or in STEM education.” Continue Reading
Professor Sandra Hewett Recognized for “Inspiring” Mentorship
Sandra Hewett, the Beverly Petterson Bishop Professor of Neuroscience at Syracuse University, is a 2020 recipient of the Landis Mentorship Award. Given annually by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the award supports researchers’ efforts in advancing the careers of students and postdoctoral fellows in their laboratories. Hewett will receive $100,000 in the form of a supplement to an existing NINDS grant. Continue Reading
BioInspired Institute Faculty Awarded NSF Grants to Study Material and Living Systems
Funding signals “world-class research with real-world impact,” says Director M. Lisa Manning.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded major grants to members of Syracuse University’s BioInspired Institute, supporting their research into complex biological systems and innovative materials. Continue Reading
BioInspired Institute Developing Skills for Real-World STEM Careers
The BioInspired Institute’s new microcredentialing program gives graduate students and postdocs valuable communication and management skills for success in competitive job markets.
BMCE Professor Pranav Soman Wins DARPA Award to study Laser Technology for Printing Lung Interfaces
Human lungs are intricate 3D structures with air sacs surrounded by blood vessels with a gap between them that can be less than one micrometer. (As a frame of reference, human hair is about 100 micrometers wide) This minuscule gap/membrane between the air side and the blood side is the key to our respiratory system being able to take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide. The thin membranes modulate oxygen transfer in the lungs but so far no one has been able to fabricate them outside the human body. Continue Reading
National Science Foundation awards professors Alison Patteson and Jennifer Schwarz a major grant to study the cellular uptake of the SARS2 virus
Physicists in the College of Arts and Sciences are using a major grant to study the cellular uptake of SARS-CoV-2 (SARS2), the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Assistant Professor Alison Patteson and Associate Professor Jennifer Schwarz a $196,000 grant to investigate the link between vimentin, a chain of proteins founds in animal cells and bacteria, and SARS2 cell entry. The award, Patteson’s first from NSF as a principal investigator, is part of the agency’s Rapid Response Research (RAPID) initiative, supporting better treatment for COVID-19.
“New evidence suggests that vimentin is present on the extracellular surface of cells and plays a critical role in the binding and uptake of multiple viruses. The mechanism by which this happens, however, is unclear,” Patteson says.
Part of the answer may reside in the cell’s skeleton, known as the cytoskeleton. Vimentin helps form the cytoskeleton, a series of protein filaments that gives the cell its shape and structure. The Patteson lab is interested in the role of these cytoskeletal networks in cell movement and mechanics.
“We are turning to extracellular vimentin to determine its role in the uptake of SARS2 and to find ways to block its entry into the cell,” she says. “Such information may help us understand how coronaviruses, in general, infect cells.”
While there are many kinds of coronaviruses, only a few cause disease. COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus spread through droplets released into the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 11.7 million global cases of COVID-19, for which there is no vaccine.
“In rare cases, COVID-19 can lead to severe respiratory problems, kidney failure or death,” says Schwarz, the project’s co-principal investigator. She and Patteson are part of the Soft Matter Group in the Department of Physics as well as the University’s new BioInspired Institute.
The duo is collaborating with colleagues from the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków, the Medical University of Bialystok (Poland) and Northwestern Medicine. In addition to physics, their RAPID project combines elements of biology, chemistry and engineering.
“There is an urgent need for this information, as we have an incomplete understanding of how SARS2 enters the cell,” Patteson says. “It’s likely that vimentin mediates how SARS2 interacts with the surface of the cell and possibly increases the virus’s uptake by the cell.”
A full understanding of how SARS2 invades cells is critical to the development of antiviral drugs to combat COVID-19.
This RAPID grant is awarded by the Cellular Dynamics and Functional Program in NSF’s Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, using funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.