RESEARCH & SCHOLARSHIP BLOG RESEARCH | SPONSORED PROGRAMS | RESEARCH INTEGRITY 2022 VOLUME I SUMMER EDITION
TABLE OF CONTENTS Message from APRS ........ 2 Research Awards ............. 3 Student Research ............ 16 Faculty Publications, Presentations, Books...... 32 Upcoming Events ........... 75 Newly Funded .................. 79 Creative Editor Image of an aged White Hake transect under transmitted light, Karen Houseknecht and two-dimensional elemental maps of 137Ba, 55Mn, 24Mg, and 88Sr variation on the otolith surface. Photo credit: John Producer Mohan. Zeynep Arslan Cover page: This x-ray image was taken using the Faxitron Ultrafocus DXA instrument. The image is from Dr. Tamara King’s research program on osteoarthritis pain. It depicts a mouse knee joint with osteoarthritis (on the right) with its contralateral control (left). The instrument was purchased in 2022 by Dr. Kathleen Becker with Research Infrastructure Funding generously awarded by the Office of Research and Scholarship, COM Dean’s office, and the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Photo Credit: V. Eaton (Behavior Core & King Lab)
Welcome to the summer edition of the UNE Research and Scholarship news magazine. Summer in Maine is a truly magical time. For many of us, summer means enjoying the beaches, mountains, lakes and the many culinary delights that our great state has to offer. For our scholars, summer also means spending creative time with our students in laboratories, on research vessels, participating in field studies and collaborating in creative endeavors wherever our scholarship takes us. For me, summer is about enjoying time with family, friends and colleagues, whether it be kayaking in Casco bay, traveling to faraway places or mentoring students in my laboratory and on exchange. Summer is a special time for building new relationships and celebrating friendships. Indeed, one of the most enriching parts of a scholarly career are the friendships we create along the way. Importantly, creativity and innovation are often inspired by collaboration. Finding solutions to complex societal problems requires bringing together people with diverse backgrounds and ideas to collaborate in creating a new way forward. And often the process of striving to create new knowledge and refine new solutions yields new friendships as well. In the spirit of getting to know each other better, in this edition we will spotlight student and faculty scholars from across UNE. In these spotlights you will learn not only about what they do, but also who they are and what inspires them. I hope you enjoy this summer edition of our news magazine. The stories of scholarly excellence will provide a glimpse into our special community of scholars and their hopes and dreams for a better future. Happy Summer! Karen Houseknecht Professor and Associate Provost for Research and Scholarship
In 2014, a biochemist met a chemical engineer at a square dance in South Portland. Today, they are leading a multimillion-dollar program to transform the future of biomanufacturing in New England and beyond Eva Rose Balog, Ph.D., the biochemist, is an associate professor in UNE’s School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. When she met Jeffrey Halpern, Ph.D., associate professor of chemical engineering at UNH, at one fateful Saturday night hoedown, they were both launching their independent research aboratories. Balog had just completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory, famous for its nuclear fusion and national security programs. Balog’s research, however, focused on creating novel nanomaterials made from “genetically engineered polymers,” a rebranding of the familiar biomolecules known as proteins. The rebrand was intended to thwart the assumption that the relevance of proteins (and other wet, squishy, natural things) to nanotechnology and materials applications is strictly confined to wet, squishy, natural disciplines like biomedicine. It turns out that some of the most extraordinary materials and machinery on earth owe their functions and features to proteins. For example, our skin, blood vessels, and cartilage owe their elasticity and resilience to a meshwork of stretchy protein called elastin. Like all proteins, elastin
is made of amino acids. But in other ways, elastin and its genetically engineered derivatives elastin-like polypeptides (“ELPs”) resemble man-made polymers like those traditionally used in manufacturing. ELPs are not just elastic, they are also stimuli-responsive “smart” polymers with sophisticated applications like sensors, actuators, and adaptive hydrogels. Balog is inspired by the idea that, with a little engineering, the nanomachinery of life can stand in for, and even improve upon, synthetic materials, especially in cases where it is advantageous to be biocompatible and eco-friendly. Balog and Halpern talked science over many meetings in the months following their introduction, culminating in writing and receiving a collaborative “high risk, high reward”-style grant from the National Science Foundation in 2016 to pursue incorporating Balog’s protein designs into novel electrochemical biosensor technology. In addition to publishing research papers and submitting a patent application, they also ran an annual, regional NanoBioSensing Symposium, hosted alternately at UNE and UNH, with a special focus on undergraduate student research and presentations. In 2020, while biochemical terms like antigen, monoclonal antibody, and mRNA were becoming commonplace and bioscience industries were racing to make COVID tests, vaccines, and therapeutics, Balog and Halpern began expanding their team and envisioning their next, bigger project: developing protein biosensors for continuous, on-demand, quality control in biomanufacturing processes. Halpern had connected with the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI), an organization advancing tissue and organ engineering for regenerative medicine at industrial scales. Enterprises that manufacture cells, tissues, and organs want to be able to continuously monitor the health, development, and differentiation of their products using constellations
of metabolites and signaling molecules. The combination of bioengineered living products, automation, and a dash of transhumanistic sci-fi imagination situates biomanufacturing in the so- called 4th Industrial Revolution – something World Economic Forum Founder Klaus Schwab says will lead to “the fusion of our physical, our digital, and our biological identities.” The NSF put out a funding call specifically for “advancing research toward industries of tomorrow to ensure economic growth for EPSCoR jurisdictions.” EPSCoR is NSF’s acronym for Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research; an “EPSCoR jurisdiction” or “EPSCoR state” is one, like Maine or New Hampshire, that is on the low end of the distribution for receiving federal research and development grants; collectively, the 27 jurisdictions receive only ~10% of federal research dollars. The EPSCoR program aims to strengthen research infrastructure throughout the country, and especially encourages collaboration between jurisdictions. Balog and Halpern joined forces with Dr. Bob Pantazes, a chemical engineer at Auburn University in Alabama, and Dr. Caleb Hill, and analytical chemist at University of Wyoming. They also brought in Dr. Andrew Crawley, an economist at the University of Maine, to help model how the integration of the team’s research and proposed educational and workforce development activities would benefit the economies of each state. The team submitted a grant proposal in January of 2021; over a year later, in March 2022, they were awarded $6 million. Having had plenty of time to prepare, the team hit the ground running. They hired undergraduate students, graduate students, and staff; started formally drafting a strategic plan; and held an official two-day kickoff meeting at UNE in April, with the first day on the Biddeford campus and the second on the Portland campus. Their project, officially titled “Advancing Manufacturing and Biotechnology through an On- Demand Sensor Platform: Investments in the Development of Engineering Principles and the Future Workforce,” now goes by the much more manageable acronym “BIO-SENS,” which stands for Bio- Inspired On- Demand Strategies for Engineering Nanostructured Sensors.
Based on input from industrial partners, the sensor technology will initially target two important quality- control proteins: insulin, the product of healthy pancreatic islet beta cells; and interleukin-6, a signaling molecule and biomarker of inflammation that cells secrete when in distress. The Balog lab will perform the molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics required to synthesize and characterize the protein components for incorporation into nanopatterned electrochemical sensor surfaces. EPSCoR grants are meant to build research capacity in regions and institutions, in addition to individual research projects. A comprehensive education and workforce development arm of the BIO-SENS program includes faculty professional development, postdoctoral research recruitment and training, undergraduate and graduate student education and research mentoring, and K-12 educational activities. In practice, this means that Balog and her co-PIs have now been thrust into leadership and management roles that are much larger and more complex than running a research lab. The idea is that through this experience, by the end of the four-year grant period, the PIs will be better equipped to lead even larger collaborations like interdisciplinary research centers. To help them stay on track, they have established two advisory boards, one made up of academics and the other of industry folks. They are also branching out to industrial partners in all four jurisdictions to place undergraduate and graduate interns and receive input regarding both their technology and workforce needs. Once a year, the entire team will come together in an Academic-Industrial Biotechnology Symposium, a scaled-up reboot of the original UNE/UNH NanoBiosensing symposium. This event, open to the public, will be held this year in Auburn, AL, and next year (July, 2023) at UNE. Biochemistry at UNE: Can Protein Polymers Help Injured Spines? https://youtu.be/rvfTD2JkiXo
UNE receives $5 million to support chronic pain research, industry collaboration The Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) for the Study of Pain and Sensory Function at the University of New England has received more than $5 million to continue its groundbreaking research in the studies of pain and novel therapeutics while driving workforce and economic development in the region. The five-year, $5.17 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) supports the third and final phase of the COBRE’s establishment, which will cement the center as a place for research and an industry resource across Maine and New England. This latest grant brings total federal support for the center to over $25 million. Read more Mechanistic Analysis of Pain – Dr. Tamara King’s Research Lab at UNE https://youtu.be/LCxgBoVPQJ0 Neuroscience Research at UNE: Can We Reduce the Effects of Neonatal Trauma on the Brain? https://youtu.be/CO347Nlegpg Fruit Flies and Chronic Pain – Dr. Geoff Ganter’s Research at UNE https://youtu.be/-Hprd9CoGKY
UNE researcher awarded $1.8 million to study chronic pain relief through gene therapy Chronic pain affects millions of people worldwide, yet popular treatments for pain — including surgery and opioid medications — can have disastrous side effects of their own. But with $1.8 million in funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a University of New England researcher will explore non- opioid treatments for chronic pain at the cellular level. Benjamin Harrison, B.Sc., Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and nutrition, will use the five-year R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how to reduce the excitability of nociceptors, which are neurons that transmit pain signals in response to painful injuries. Harrison and his team have discovered that nociceptors contain a protein called\"CELF4,” an RNA binding protein they theorize inhibits the production of “pro- nociceptive,” or pro-pain-sensing, cellular components. Read more Neuroplasticity and Systems Biology Lab - Dr. Benjamin Harrison’s Research at UNE https://youtu.be/quFfeucRimk
College of Arts and Sciences announces highest annual faculty honors Craig Tennenhouse, Alicia Peters The University of New England College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) has announced its highest annual faculty honors: the 2022-2023 Ludcke Chair of Arts and Sciences and the Distinguished Academic Service Award. Craig Tennenhouse, Ph.D., professor in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, has been named Ludcke Chair. Alicia Peters, Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology and affiliated faculty in the Women’s and Gender Studies (WGST) program, is the recipient of the Distinguished Academic Service Award — also known as the “Kenneally Cup,” named after Raymond Kenneally, who first received the award in 1986. Funded by a generous bequest from the estate of Eleanor Ludcke (Westbrook College Class of 1926), the Ludcke Chair is presented annually to a tenured CAS faculty member in recognition of outstanding academic accomplishments. The chair holder must have attained the ideal of the “teacher/scholar,” a dedicated educator and productive researcher who has given time generously to the University of New England over a significant period. Read more
UNE student Carolyn Curley awarded a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship Carolyn Curley (Biochemistry, ’23) is one of just seven recipients from Maine to be awarded a Goldwater Scholarship. She joins five other students from the University of New England to become Goldwater Scholars since 2008 and is the first at UNE to receive the scholarship since 2020. Curley is a research student in the lab of Amy Deveau, Ph.D., professor of chemistry in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, where she uses organic chemistry tools to solve biological problems. Currently, Curley and Deveau are researching methods to develop novel antibiotic compounds from a polyphenol called pyrogallol to combat drug resistant bacterial infections. read more UNE senior named Brookie Award winner for her environmental leadership Kiara Frischkorn (Marine Affairs, '22) is the recipient of a 2022 Brookie Award for her environmental leadership on and off campus. Frischkorn was nominated for the award by Alethea Cariddi, M.S., Ed., UNE’s assistant director of sustainability. In her nomination letter, Cariddi wrote, “Kiara traveled across the United States to join the UNE community with gusto and has made a lasting impact at our institution, the local community, and in the state with her dogged enthusiasm for environmental protection.” read more
UNE INTERNAL RESEARCH INVESTMENTS • The Office of Research and Scholarship approved ∼ $232,500 in Research Infrastructure Fund Investments • Faculty-initiated research and start up packages • Equipment purchases and repair • Student research (CAS, COM, WCHP, CECE) • Shared facilities • Seminar speakers • Administrative costs of GSBSE program (PhD students) • Faculty mini-grant program: • The Office of Research and Scholarship approved eight faculty mini-grants ($74,844) in FY2022 L-R: Dr. Diana Goode, Dr. John Mohan, Dr. Ursula Röse, Dr. Elizabeth DeWolfe, Dr. Ali Ahmida, Dr. Katherine Rudolph, Dr. Markus Frederich Image: This image depicts a mouse vertebra and was taken using the Faxitron Ultrafocus DXA instrument. The instrument was purchased in 2022 by Dr. Kathleen Becker with Research Infrastructure Funding generously awarded by the Office of Research and Scholarship, COM Dean’s office, and the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Photo Credit: T. Lizotte
The College of Arts and Sciences and the Westbrook College of Health Professions support 19 summer undergraduate research students as part of their SURE program! It has been a busy summer for our undergraduate research students! The SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) program affords undergraduate students the opportunity to engage in research activities during the summer months under the tutelage of a faculty mentor. In addition to valuable hands-on clinical, lab, field, archival, and other work, students who engage with the SURE program hone their critical thinking, problem solving, and analytical skills while gaining key experience in communication, teamwork, and understanding of the research process. Typical outcomes from these experiences include publications in peer- reviewed journals as well as presentations at professional conferences. Many students who participate in our SURE program continue their research during the academic year and then onto successful ventures at the graduate level. Bringing together our SURE participants to foster a community of scholars, the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and the Westbrook College of Health Professions (WHCP) are pleased to be collaborating on programming this summer. In addition to a welcome breakfast, an ice-cream social, and a BBQ, our program features professional development activities such as a poster-making workshop, a mini- colloquium, and will culminate with the annual SURE poster symposium as part of Homecoming weekend on October 1st.
The College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to support 15 students as part of its 2022 SURE program: Yesul (Ashley) Kang (Medical Biology ‘24) and Jakob Maynard (Oceanography ‘24) are collaborating on a project that applies an interdisciplinary approach to find the source of fecal contamination in Biddeford Pool’s waterways. Jakob’s work focuses on sampling under different conditions to determine the impact of run-off, tides, winds, and currents on contamination, while Ashley analyzes the water samples using molecular and microbiological techniques. Ultimately, their research may determine whether aging home septic systems are contributing to contamination. Ashley is working under the mentorship of Zach Olson, Ph.D., (School of Social and Behavioral Sciences) and Jakob is working with Charles Tilburg, Ph.D. and Stephan Zeeman, Ph.D., both from the School of Marine and Environmental Programs. Daniel Mitchell (Biological Sciences ‘23) and Meghan Hanks (Environmental Science ‘23) are also working on a collaborative fieldwork project focusing on community genetics and ecology in our 363 acre oak-pine forest off Rt. 9. Meghan is looking at the relationship between soil fungal diversity and oak tree genetic diversity and Dan studies the genetic and compositional analysis of dependent bacterial communities in this forest. Both projects consider the impact of climate change on these populations and species. Dan is mentored by Steven Travis, Ph.D. and Meghan is working under the supervision of Greg Zogg, Ph.D., both of the School of Biological Sciences.
It’s a busy scene in the Mohan research lab and out on the water, where three SURE students are conducting their summer research under the tutelage of John Mohan, Ph.D. (School of Marine and Environmental Programs). Leonardo Edmondson (Marine Biology ‘24) is studying Atlantic populations of white sharks and bluefin tuna via microchemistry analysis, where the “chemical fingerprint” in the vertebrae report on the shark’s habitat and migration. Ruhika Bhattacharya (Marine Biology ‘24) is analyzing the trace element profile of vertebrae in shiny dogfish pups and their mother toward the development of a new maternal identification technique that could replace other, more expensive methods currently in use. And, Clayton Nyiri (Marine Biology ‘25) is studying the effectiveness of bycatch reduction devices on the spiny dogfish; while these “BRDs” have shown to reduce bycatch of this species in lab- controlled settings, Clayton’s research expands this study to the ocean environment.
Meanwhile, Taylor Gibson (Marine Science-MS 4+1 ‘23) is spending her summer analyzing and comparing the diets of the grey seal and harbor seal by extracting, amplifying, and sequencing the DNA found in samples of fecal matter from deceased seals. Taylor will determine the diversity and abundance of vertebrate and cephalopod species detected in the seal waste and compare it to a more traditional “hard part” analysis. Her work, conducted under the mentorship of Kathryn Ono, Ph.D. (School of Marine and Environmental Programs) and Zach Olson (School of Social and Behavioral Sciences), will contribute to the understanding of the diets of these seals. Carolyn Curley (Biochemistry ’23) and Savannah Wakita (Biochemistry ’24) are conducting synthetic organic chemistry in the research lab of Amy Deveau, Ph.D. (School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences). Pyrogallol is a compound whose derivatives have been shown to possess antimicrobial properties against pathogens such as MRSA, so Carolyn and Savannah are each conducting the synthesis, purification, and structural analysis of a series of new pyrogallol-based compounds that will ultimately be tested for antimicrobial activity. Carolyn is working on the synthesis of a series of reduced pyrogallol derivatives with various carbon chain lengths while Savannah’s synthetic targets include both oxidized and reduced pyrogallol derivatives with variations in the aromatic hydroxyl groups. Ultimately, the team aims to identify which structural features give rise to the highest antimicrobial activity for the development of new antibiotic drugs effective against “superbugs” such as MRSA.
Marie Hoehner (Medical Biology ’23) is also working on the identification of materials to combat antibiotic resistance, via natural product extraction from red algae Chondrus crispus. Marie’s SURE work last summer focused on optimizing the extraction of this natural product from the algae and found that it possesses antimicrobial activity against three human pathogens. This summer, Marie is conducting studies to determine the minimum concentration of algal extract to inhibit bacterial growth and studying the effect of heat stress on the antimicrobial compounds. Marie has been working under the mentorship of Ursula Roese, Ph.D. (School of Biological Sciences). Lauren Cooper (Medical Biology ’23) is continuing her work with Kristin Burkholder, Ph.D. (School of Biological Sciences) to better understand antibiotic resistance. Lauren’s study looks at biofilms, which can form on medical devices such as intravenous catheters or materials used in joint replacements. The release of bacteria from these materials into the bloodstream of a patient can lead to potentially deadly infections. Lauren is investigating how biofilms of Staphylococcus epidermidis can evade an organism’s host defenses against such infections. A more thorough understanding of the mechanism by which biofilms lead to such severe infections will be important in future drug discovery. Holly Stone (Environmental Science ‘24) is spending her summer doing fieldwork in the hayfields and grasslands of Vermont, where she is tagging and monitoring nesting bobolinks using miniaturized tracking devices to assess their migration patterns. Holly will take the tracking data collected this summer and analyze and map it using GIS techniques this fall. This work, conducted under the mentorship of Noah Perlut, Ph.D. (School of Marine and Environmental Programs) will both contribute to understanding the migration behavior of the bobolink and toward conservation efforts for this species.
Virginia May (Environmental Science ’24) continues her work on the American Chestnut restoration project with her research advisor, Tom Klak, Ph.D. (School of Marine and Environmental Programs). Virginia‘s SURE project expands the development of transgenic, blight-resistant pollen and “speed-breeding” techniques for chestnut seedlings. This summer, Virginia will also manually apply the pollen to conservation orchards in bloom throughout Maine. Accelerating the natural process from years to months has the advantage of increasing both the number and the genetic diversity of the young American Chestnut population toward a robust, blight- resistant population and revival of the species. Anna Winkler (Marine Biology ’23) is spending her summer investigating how the removal of kelp farms after the winter growing season impacts the abundance and biodiversity of small invertebrates who use these farms as an “artificial reef” habitat. A change in the dynamics of the small invertebrate community during the summer months could impact the greater food web that includes larger finfish and crustaceans as well as other commercially fished species. Anna is carrying out her research under the mentorship of Carrie Byron, Ph.D. (School of Marine and Environmental Programs). The UNE SURE program is funded by the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office, Westbrook College of Health Professions Dean’s Office, the UNE Office of Research and Scholarship, the Marine Science Center, the Saint Francis Class of 1969, and the Maine Space Grant Consortium.
WCHP SURE students and their projects include: Allison Dresser (Applied Exercise Science’23). Ali is studying how vision training and/or neck strengthening can be used as a tool to improve neck reaction time and neck stiffness. If these interventions show positive results, perhaps vision training and/or neck strengthening can be utilized to reduce the incidence of concussions in athletics. Ali’s faculty mentor is Dr. John Rosene of the Department of Exercise and Sport Performance. Sarah Familia Castro (Applied Exercise Science’23). Sarah is working on analyzing how the combination of resistance training and non-weight bearing physical activity compares to weight bearing exercise. The purpose of her study is to determine if the addition of resistance training to non-weight bearing exercise would decrease the divide between these two forms of exercise, in regard to the benefits they can bring to bone mineral density and the prevention of bone pathologies such as osteoporosis. If the addition of resistance training to non-weight bearing exercise proves to have similar benefits to bone mineral density as weight-bearing exercise, then we can continue to implement and recommend resistance training to all non-weight bearing athletes. Sarah’s faculty mentor is Dr. Paul Visich of the Department of Exercise and Sport Performance. Nicholas Campbell (Applied Exercise Science’24). Nick is investigating how the use of surgical masks during exercise training sessions can affect physical performance and physiological parameters (i.e., heart rate, oxygen saturation, etc.). This study is in direct response to the COVID pandemic to examine how face masks might potentially impact exercise. Having a better understanding of this issue will allow individuals to adjust their exercise regimen during times or environments where face masking might be required. Nick’s faculty mentor is Dr. Paul Visich of the Department of Exercise and Sport Performance.
Samantha DeAngelo (Applied Exercise Science’23). Sam is busy in the Motion Analysis Lab on the Portland campus. She is currently involved in three separate projects which are at varying stages of completion. One project is investigating if a chiropractic technique performed on the thoracic spine has any effect on the activation and strength of inner thigh, midback and buttock muscles. Data collection for this project is ongoing. Secondly, she has been examining the validity of an instrument that measures vertical oscillation as a tool to help runners improve running efficiency and reduce the risk of injury. Finally, she is assisting in piloting a biomechanical system that will differentiate the spine into upper/lower thoracic and upper/lower lumbar. Isolating these areas of the spine will aid in future study designs relating to low back pain. Sam’s faculty mentor is Professor Michael Lawrence of the Department of Physical Therapy.
UNE Receives $1.5 million to develop rural physician assistant training program Dennis Brown, the M.S.P.A. program director, said the latest PCTE grant will use lessons learned from the previous one to enhance preceptors’ abilities to teach UNE’s PA students — in turn creating new and distinct learning opportunities for students. Read more Maine’s Advanced Nursing Education Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Training Grant (HRSA) In the past two years, the world has fundamentally changed. Nurses have been exposed to a spectrum of experiences. With the first emergence of coronavirus, there was a universal commitment to community care, which has transformed to burnout. There was an outpouring of public adoration for health care providers, to now, a previously unforeseen level of public scrutiny. Most nurses were first in line to receive vaccination to promote public health and encourage a solution to a problem. During it all, nurses held out hope. For one group of nurses, the experience of a public health crisis and burnout is an everyday acquaintance. This
specialty honors community care. They endure vicarious trauma, and persist. They encounter the realities of depravity, and remain steadfast. These extraordinary nurses are known as forensic nurses. They seek solutions to the public health problem that is sexual violence. The representation of forensic nurses in Maine is primarily identified under the title, ‘Sexual Assault Forensic/Nurse Examiners’ (SAFE/SANE). This cohort of nurses is dedicated to combating sexual violence within society and caring for survivors of interpersonal violence in a healthcare setting. Read more UNE receives funding for fourth year of grant to support programs for older adults “I am grateful to HRSA for this continuation award, which will allow us to build on our successes to date and further expand our efforts to create an age-friendly health system in Maine,” stated Susan Wehry, M.D., associate professor and director of AgingME at UNE's College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNECOM). Read more
“Effect of plastic nanoparticles on an in vitro model of the inflamed intestine” Zainab Jabor (PharmD 2025) and Steven C Sutton, PhD, FAAPS (Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Administration) During the summer semester of 2022, as part of the Dean’s Summer Fellowship, Zainab Jabor is working with Dr. Sutton on this project, developing skills in tissue culture and other basic laboratory techniques. The goal of this project is to add to the body of research showing the effects of microplastics on humans, animals, and on the environment, and to lend to the development of approaches to this worldwide problem. Read more \"Interprofessional Education: A 5-year Analysis of its Impact on Workplace Practice\". Recently, a team that included WCHP faculty, MSOT and UNECOM students, and a representative from CECE completed a mixed methods research study entitled This exploratory study examined knowledge and skill transfer from campus-based interprofessional education to workforce collaborative practice. The authors were interested in learning whether and how health professions graduates implemented IPE knowledge, values, attitudes, and skills gained during their time at university to their professional practices.
L-R – 1: Elizabeth Crampsey, Kira Rodriguez, Shelley Cohen Konrad, Stephanie DeCarvalho, L-R – 2: Kelsey Pelletier, Caroline Jaeger, Dakota Rogers, Kris Hall Findings from the study suggested four (4) common themes: 1) interprofessional competencies learned while at university readily transferred to workforce practice; 2) alumni appreciated having learned IPE competencies and skills to prepare for future employment; 3) awareness of others’ diverse perspectives and roles was advantageous to working on teams and with other professions; and 4) IPE aided in alumni’s value for patient-centered approaches. Overall, the study suggests that campus-based interprofessional learning was valued and brought university-acquired collaborative knowledge and skill into their work environments to the benefit of patients and practice teams. Read more
WCHP SUMMER RESEARCH Westbrook College of Health Professions (WCHP) faculty continue to engage in research activities examining a wide variety of issues both clinically and within the laboratory. Much of WCHP is grounded in the clinical preparation of future professionals in health care. WCHP faculty pursuing research investigate issues surrounding these clinical preparations, clinical interventions that inform practice, and bench research that aids in the growth of understanding of complex scientific questions. Summer research activities include: L-R: Deb Kramblich, Nancy Baugh “Nursing Students’ Experiences and Perceptions of Contract Grading: A Qualitative Study” Deb Kramlich and Nancy Baugh Traditional grading systems using points, percentages, and letter grades continue to be the focus of nursing education assessment. Faculty are learning more about social equity concerns of these traditional grading models and are exploring alternative evaluation methods that are equitable as well as accurate and reliable. Contract grading has been used in a variety of educational settings and is defined as a written agreement between faculty and students for how students will be evaluated during a course. Read more
“Content Analysis of Nursing Students’ ePortfolio Reflections and Design Choices: A Qualitative Study” Jen Gennaco and Deb Kramlich The aim of this study is to better understand the students’ metacognition of their skill set and sense of professional identity by the completion of their nursing program. ePortfolios from four graduated classes will be sampled (20%) to seek a better understanding of the impact of the use of reflection and application of skills categories on promoting metacognition. Students’ design choices and Read more “Association between methamphetamine and heroin use and suicide attempt” Stephanie Nichols This quantitative multivariate analysis examined the association between past year suicide attempt and past year heroin, methamphetamine, inhalants, and alcohol use. Control variables included age, gender, race, sexual identity, household income, and past year depression. Descriptive statistics and unadjusted suicide attempt association statistics were identified for each variable. After adjustment for confounding factors, variables that continue to have a statistical association with suicide attempt were identified using a multiple regression analysis. Read more
L-R: Stephanie Nichols, Kenneth McCall, Susan Woods, Brian Piper “Virtual Reality as a Tool to Increase Student Pharmacist Empathy” Stephanie Nichols, Kirsten Sullivan, Susan Woods, Kenneth McCall, Brian Pipe VR allows the user to experience diseases through fully immersive 360-degree, first-person views. In this qualitative analysis, student pharmacists used VR to embody a person with Alzheimer’s disease. After experiencing realistic sensory disturbances, language comprehension difficulties, confusion, and aphasia, students completed reflective prompts describing the experience, its impact on empathy, and resultant changes in patient care. Read more Erin Hartigan continues her work on an application (app) that summarizes best practices to promote standardized care among clinicians treating patients during anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rehabilitation.
Michele Polacsek was Principal Investigator on a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (December 2021- March 2022) to develop recommendations to limit harmful digital food and beverage marketing to students. Michele Polacsek, Ph.D., M.H.S. Professor and Director, Center for Excellence in Public Health, was Principal Investigator on a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (December 2021- March 2022) to develop recommendations to limit harmful digital food and beverage marketing to students. A report on the study which was co-authored by Cara Wilking, JD (consulting attorney) and Summer Moukalled (UNE COM student) will be published soon. Digital marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children and adolescents is pervasive and undermines healthy eating. Expanded use of electronic devices and remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic likely contributed to increased rates of childhood obesity, greatly impacted student learning, and exacerbated pre-existing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities. As schools continue using educational technology, policy interventions to limit digital food marketing in schools and on school-issued devices are needed. The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) policy for food marketing in schools provides little guidance for how to address digital food marketing, and federal and state privacy protections for children are inadequate.
The report highlights four areas where state and local education authorities can intervene to reduce digital food marketing through their own policies and provides model policy language for each. Almost all school districts conduct internet filtering for inappropriate content, and food-related content can be blocked on school networks and school-issued devices. School wellness policies and school-approved lists of digital instructional materials can exclude materials with unhealthy food marketing. Almost all high schools and middle schools have a cellphone policy governing the use of student-owned devices during the school day that can be expanded to prohibit device use during lunch to support healthy eating behaviors. Most schools have social media policies that can ensure that students and families are not obligated to use commercial social media platforms to access school-related information. These policy approaches leverage existing policy mechanisms and can be used to address digital food marketing from a variety of sources. Read more Link to page Polacsek’s previous research publications.
Focus on Research: Meet New Director of Research Integrity Name: Bob Kennedy, M.S. Hometown: Peoria, Illinois When did you join UNE? I started working at UNE in November 2021, right after the Thanksgiving holiday. How are you involved in research at UNE? In my role as the Director of Research Integrity, I coordinate and direct all aspects of UNE’s research integrity program which encompasses a variety of activities. These include compliance oversight of animal and human subjects research, IRB administration, institutional biosafety, research misconduct, educational outreach, and updating UNE policies and procedures to be congruent with federal guidelines for conduct of research. I am also a voting member of the UNE Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), and the Institutional Review Board. What brought you to UNE? The prospect of working for a local, medium-sized university where I could be involved with both animal and human subjects research was very appealing to me given my interest and prior work experience in both fields. Working at UNE has provided me the unique opportunity to be engaged in many different aspects of research integrity – something you are not often afforded when working for a larger institution. Additionally, I’ve enjoyed building close working relationships with the UNE research community.
What inspires you? I derive a great deal of personal satisfaction in my work by being able to successfully solve problems and streamline processes in an analytical and pragmatic manner. What impact do you hope to make in your role? i.e. how would you like to change the world? During the semester I review a large number of student research projects and I try my best to always provide thoughtful and directive feedback to each student. It is my hope that my limited interaction with our students will help to create a future generation of investigators who have a strong foundation in research ethics and the responsible conduct of research. What is a common myth about your job/field of expertise? Professionals in my field are sometimes viewed as the compliance police and/or an unnecessary impediment to obtaining approval to conduct research. It’s true that my role is to ensure proposed research conforms to applicable ethical standards, regulations, and institutional policies; however, I’d also like investigators to know that compliance professionals are here to assist you with your questions and provide guidance on how to conduct your research in a regulatorily compliant manner. I want to be viewed as a collaborative partner who is interested in your success. What question do you wish I had asked you and how would you have answered? Q: If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? Since I hate disorganization, my superpower would have to be creating order from chaos. It would be pretty cool to ‘Marie Kondo’ my in-laws cluttered basement using the power of my mind!
UNE Hosts Assembly of the UArctic and New England Arctic Network On June 2 and 3, UNE hosted the Assembly of the UArctic in Innovation Hall in Portland. The UArctic is a consortium of more than 165 institutions and universities focused on the sustainable and just development of the Arctic and the North. UNE became a member of the UArctic in 2018. The Assembly, which is the annual business meeting of the UArctic, was co-hosted by the University of Southern Maine, University of New Hampshire, the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine and Dartmouth College. UNE, through UNE North, has taken a leadership role within the UArctic, co- creating and leading to thematic research networks: Ocean Food Systems and Bioregional Planning for Resilient Rural Communities. UArctic Thematic Research Networks require the leadership of three UArctic member institutions, but are open to non- UArctic partners as well. These networks cover a broad range of topics from environmental and human health, to rural education, to governance and diplomacy. The complete list of
UArctic thematic networks can be found here. UNE faculty and students are encouraged to reach out to network leads for information about current projects and to build your research networks. As part of the programming for the Assembly, the New England Arctic Network hosted a successful research symposium on June 2. The symposium featured a multi-disciplinary display of research and scholarship from the arts and humanities to life and physical sciences. The full list of presenters can be accessed here. UNE was very well represented by student and faculty research. The symposium’s highlight was a emerging researcher panels of graduate students from UNH, UMO, USM and UNE. Lauren Hayden, a MSc candidate in Marine Science represented UNE. Moderated by Associate Provost for Research and Scholarship Dr. Karen Houseknecht, the panel discussion was vibrant and hopeful. All of the researchers shared their aspirations for their work and spoke to the challenges they see to move their work forward in an equitable and just way. This truly inspiring discussion can be viewed here. Finally, symposium keynote speaker, Dr. Trevor Bell of Memorial University, Newfoundland, spoke to his collaboration with Inuit communities in Nunavut to create a data-driven social enterprise, SmartIce, that combines traditional knowledge with technology to support the safe travel of Inuit peoples. Dr. Bell has been recognized by UArctic and the Arctic Circle Assembly with the inaugural Frederick Paulson Award for this work that not only creates immediate impact in terms of community safety and health, but also creates a transformative model for deep collaboration across cultures. His full presentation is available here.
Associate Provost Karen Houseknecht named a Fulbright Senior Scholar The University of New England is proud to announce that Karen L. Houseknecht, Ph.D., associate provost for Research and Scholarship and professor of pharmacology within the College of Osteopathic Medicine, will spend part of the 2022-2023 academic year in Spain as a Fulbright Senior Scholar. Read more Jennifer Tuttle awarded Sisters in Crime Academic Research Grant Jennifer Tuttle, Ph.D., Dorothy M. Healy Professor of Literature and Health in the University of New England School of Arts and Humanities and 2021-2022 Ludcke Chair of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was recently awarded a Sisters in Crime Academic Research Grant. Read more Link to page about Jennifer Tuttle's publications and presentation
LEADERSHIP APPOINTMENTS Amy Deveau was elected (4th consecutive term from June 2022- 2025) as a Councilor for the Chemistry Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). Kiernan Gordon was appointed as Chair of the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ (NABC) Research Committee. Karen Houseknecht has been appointed by Governor Janet Mills to serve on the Maine Innovation Economy Advisory Board (MIEAB)
Meghan May became the official chair-elect of the International Organization for Mycoplasmology. Tom Meuser has been appointed by Governor Janet Mills to serve on the Maine Commission for Community Service (MCCS) Dan Pierce (COM) has been appointed to the medical Advisory Board of the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) overseen by the Department of the Secretary of State.
UNE graduate Emma Tobin (BCH’20) awarded with NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP) Link to NSF Tobin is a PhD student at The Young Lab at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Link to WPI page. Katharina Roese’21 was awarded the MTI Innovation Prize for her research project “Microbiology | Pyrogallol impairs bacterial biofilm formation by inducing microbial oxidative stress” at the 49th Maine Biological and Medical Sciences Symposium (MBMSS) April 23, 2022. Read more UNE graduate Ariella Danziger co-authored an article with Zach Olson and Markus Frederich the article: published in the journal BMC Ecology and Evolution : “Limitations of eDNA analysis for Carcinus maenas abundance estimations” Read more
GSBSE student Zaid Al-Abbasi on receiving a Maine INBRE Core Access award to further his research in Dr. Derek Molliver’s lab on GPCR signaling in nociceptors! Zaid Al- Abbasi was selected by the BioME Conference Award to support his research project “Rapgef Family Members Expressed In Mouse Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons Contribute To Erk Phosphorylation Downstream Of Gs- coupled Receptors“, presentation at the virtual 2021 Society for Neuroscience meeting on November 8 - 11, 2021 Read more L-R: George Allen , Kristina Deao , Stephanie A. Hill , Sandra M. Schipelliti A new paper co-authored by George Allen with students was published in International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents: “In vitro evaluation of antimicrobial resistance selection in Neisseria gonorrhoeae” Read more
UNE student tracks down rare bird in Biddeford Maine birders, including several students at the University of New England, were ecstatic to discover a rare summer tanager in the waters near Biddeford Pool. The scarlet songbird, which is native to the American South, was spotted in a pool off Elphis Road in the seaside community, said Harry Wales (Environmental Science, ’22), who quickly alerted his fellow birders of the find. Read more Faculty and students track seldom seen species for Maine Big Night amphibian migration monitoring project On a recent raw and rainy night, about two dozen people, including UNE faculty members and students, came together on the Biddeford Campus to gather research data for the Maine Big Night amphibian monitoring project (MBN). Read more
Article written by School of Pharmacy student featured in national public health newsletter Michaela Myerson, president of the UNE School of Pharmacy Class of 2022, wrote about her experience for an article that appeared the University Point of Contact (UPOC) newsletter, a bi-monthly publication highlighting UPOC events and activities. Read more John Mohan and students deploy Maine’s first real-time shark detection buoy On a beautiful day, with a sun-filled sky and calm ocean waters, John Mohan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Marine and Environmental Programs, several graduate and undergraduate students, and a marine scientist from the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) set out from the UNE dock to deploy the state’s first-ever real-time shark detection buoy between Ferry Beach and Old Orchard Beach. Read more
Glenn Stevenson recently published a paper on gut microbiome modulation of inflammatory pain co-authored by 10 current and former UNE undergraduate students. (L-R) Philomena Richard, Sarah Couture, Emily Payne, Glenn Stevenson The paper, “Effects of vancomycin on persistent pain- stimulated and pain-depressed behaviors in female Fischer rats with or without voluntary access to running wheels,” was published in a high-impact, peer- reviewed journal, The Journal of Pain, which is the journal of The United States Association for the Study of Pain. Read more
L-R: Hannah LeCourse Francesca Asmus Two students in the pharmacology lab of Glenn Stevenson recently presented a poster at the annual meeting of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) in Philadelphia. Read more L-R: Emily Newborough, Aubrey Sahouria, Jennifer Stiegler-Balfour, Gracie Ouellette, Haley Enos Psychology and Neuroscience students present research at Eastern Psychological Association Conference in New York Read more
L-R: Hsini (Cindy) Chu, Marissa Lown, Joseph Daniel, Renate Meckl, Radwa Ibrahim John Williams and student researchers’ paper “Weaknesses in Experimental Design and Reporting Decrease the Likelihood of Reproducibility and Generalization of Recent Cardiovascular Research” published in Cureus. (Cureus 14(1): e21086. Read more OT students present research at international food studies conference A group of students in the University of New England’s Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (M.S.O.T.) program recently had their work featured in an international food studies conference, a rare but unique forum for research in the field of occupational therapy (OT). Read more
Members of the Crab Lab presented their research at a national conference, the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, SICB, in Phoenix, Arizona. L-R- Markus Frederich, Aubrey Jane, Emily Pierce Dr. Markus Frederich, Professor of Marine Sciences, and Aubrey Jane, MS student Marine Science, presented the poster “Defining thermal tolerances of lab-reared and wild caught Homarus americanus post larvae”. This work is part on a collaborative project with Bigelow Laboratory, Hood College, and Maine DMR, and is funded through a research grant from the National Science Foundation. Emily Pierce, PhD student Marine Sciences, presented her poster on “Environmental DNA to Detect Invasive Invertebrates; Case Study in a Tide Pool”. This project develops and applies molecular tools to monitor invasive species and is funded through the Maine eDNA EPSCoR grant from the National Science Foundation. Benjamin Rico presented his poster “Thermal thresholds: which one describes heat tolerance best? A case study in an invasive crab”. This work is the result of a CAS SURE summer project and was partially funded through an NSF grant.
Students from different health professions join forces to create an interprofessional pandemic playbook L-R: Elisabelle Bocal, Michaela Myerson, Katie Santanello Sean Callagy William Rinaldi Five strangers from different health professions programs, brought together randomly to conduct student research and presented their research at three national events. “It is a strategic priority of the University to engage students and to enhance their research and scholarship opportunities,” commented Shelley Cohen Konrad, Ph.D., LCSW, FNAP, professor in the School of Social Work and CECE director. Read more
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