| Metroplex Day showcases = research=20 from area schools |
| Written=20 by Erika Rizo | |||
| Monday, 09 March = 2009 10:23 PM=20 | |||
|
Bioengineering postdoctoral fellow =
Jennifer Seifert,=20
left, speaks to bioengineering doctoral student Jennifer Stearns =
and=20
mathematics professor emeritus Irinel Dragan on Friday at =
Metroplex Day=20
poster session in the University Center Bluebonnet Ballroom. =
Seifert is=20
supervising Stearns on her research regarding the evaluation of=20
neuroprotective treatments. (The Shorthorn: Monica=20
Lopez) Hundreds of research posters were displayed = Friday=20 in the University Center Bluebonnet Ballroom for the third annual=20 Metroplex Day. The goal was to stimulate thoughts about = scientific=20 opportunities and establish collaborations among UT Arlington,=20 UT-Dallas and UT-Southwestern Medical Center, according to the = Metroplex Day Web site. President James Spaniolo said the = annual=20 event is an opportunity to share ideas. =93Lawmakers are = stunned when=20 I tell them about the powerhouse of intellectual wealth here,=94 = he said=20 during the opening address. =93The optical imaging lab at = UT-Southwestern is=20 a prime example of that collaboration.=94 The day included = a research=20 poster contest and research-related lectures. Biology = assistant=20 professor Cedric Feschotte lectured on the evolutionary history of = transposable elements found in humans=92 and other mammals=92 = genomes, pieces=20 of DNA that can move and replicate within the cell. He explained = how=20 people determine the impact they have had on shaping the = architecture and=20 function of the genome over the past 100 million = years. =93The talks=20 and poster session provided a great opportunity to showcase the = exciting=20 research carried out on the three campuses and to foster future=20 collaborations among these institutions,=94 Feschotte = said. Other UT=20 System professors also gave lectures. Psychology Department = chairman=20 Robert J. Gatchel said about 275 people registered, and there was = a record=20 120 posters. He said judges indicated the scientific posters were = the most=20 they=92ve had. The posters were judged on the research and = the=20 display, with a $200 cash prize awarded to each of the top=20 three. The winners were: psychology senior Samara Bobzean = for =93Sex=20 Differences in Molecular Changes and Behavioral Effects of Cocaine = in Long=20 Evans Rats,=94 bioengineering doctoral student Jennifer Stearns = for=20 =93Evaluation of Neuroprotective Treatment Using Multielectrode = Arrays and=20 an Animal Model of Spinal Cord Injury=94 and bioengineering = graduate student=20 Aydin Farajidavar for =93Real-Time In-Vivo Recognition and = Inhibition of=20 Pain.=94 Bobzean=92s poster was with psychology assistant = professor=20 Linda Perrotti. Their poster summarized a possible molecular = mechanism and=20 the behavioral effects of cocaine in labratory rats under a = conditional=20 place reference paradigm. The dose-dependent changes in = areas of=20 the brain associated with reward could be a mechanism by which=20 environmental cues have an effect on drug relapse, she = said. =93I=20 could not have done it if there was nobody there to teach me the=20 techniques,=94 Bobzean said. =93It=92s an area where it takes a = big team of=20 people to do it correctly.=94 Farajidavar=92s poster was = with=20 electrical engineering professor Jung-Chih Chiao and psychology = associate=20 professor Yuan Peng. It was about pain management and was a result = of=20 collaborations between the Bioengineering, Electrical Engineering = and=20 Psychology departments. =93Clinical studies have shown that = spinal or=20 brain neurostimulation could significantly relieve pain,=94 = Farajidavar=20 said. =93Many existing neurostimulators work as an open loop, = hence they=20 depend on the patients=92 or physicians=92 comprehension of = pain.=94 He=20 demonstrated a system that can recognize pains from spinal cord = recording=20 and control pain by brain stimulation. Recording, stimulating = and=20 signal processing were integrated in a real-time = loop. College of=20 Science Associate Dean Krishnan Rajeshwar said the event was a=20 success. =93The name of the game here is collaboration = rather than=20 competition. After all, all three campuses belong to the = UT-umbrella=20 system,=94 Rajeshwar said. =93We like to foster an atmosphere in = the college=20 where both undergrads and grads can engage in high-quality = research. The=20 undergrads especially get to spend quality time with their faculty = research mentors.=94 Views: 60 | = E-mail
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