Volume 53, Number 8 TechTalk Wednesday, November 5, 2008 S e r v i n g Th e MIT Co mm u n i t y Graybiel named Institute Professor Neuroscientist receives MIT’s highest faculty honor

Greg Frost major depression.” News Office “Ann is admired among her colleagues for incorporating the most advanced approaches in Ann Graybiel, the Walter A. Rosenblith molecular biology and systems neuroscience for Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of answering fundamental questions about the brain Brain and Cognitive Sciences, has been named and opening up new avenues for the treatment Institute Professor, the highest honor MIT can of many devastating disorders,” said Bish Sanyal, bestow on a member of the chair of the MIT faculty. faculty. “In addition to admiring Graybiel, who is also an her research, all of us on the investigator in the McGovern ❞ MIT faculty respect Ann for Institute for Brain Research, Even by the very high her broad intellect, dynamic has been a member of the standards for appointment personality, endless energy, MIT faculty since 1973. She remarkable commitment to is the 14th current Institute as an Institute Professor, teaching and training, and Professor and the second to unyielding commitment to receive the honor this year. Ann Graybiel stands out. MIT.” “Even by the very high “By any measure, Ann standards for appointment as Susan Hockfield Graybiel has made scholarly an Institute Professor, Ann MIT president contributions of exceptional Graybiel stands out. Her distinction and demonstrated work has been profoundly an unusual, interdisciplin- important, both in terms ary breadth of interest and accomplishment,” of fundamental science and consequences for said Provost L. Rafael Reif. “During her time at human health,” said MIT President Susan Hock- MIT, she has been an outstanding scientist and field. “Professor Graybiel’s research has contrib- made key contributions as a founding member uted profoundly to our understanding of the of the McGovern Institute. She has displayed functional anatomy and physiology of the brain, personal qualities of friendship and collegial- particularly the brain regions involved in the ity, while serving as a role model for the next control of movement. Her work has provided generation of neuroscientists.” new insights to the neurobiological basis of a range of disorders, from Parkinson’s disease to uPlease see GRAYBIEL, PAGE 8

Graybiel the second Institute Professor this year This past July, Associate Provost for Faculty Equity Barbara Liskov was also named an Institute PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Professor. See the coverage of Liskov’s announcement on PAGE 8. Institute Professor Ann Graybiel Setting the pace MIT finds mechanism that allows two pacemakers to control breathing

Anne Trafton News Office Two pacemakers in the brain work together in harmony to ensure that breath- ing occurs in a regular rhythm, according to new research from MIT scientists. That cooperation provides critical backup during respiratory stress, from the early trauma of birth to intense exercise and oxygen shortages, said Chi-Sang Poon, principal research scientist at the Harvard- PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST). Seeing the big picture “The two-pacemaker system provides A new high-resolution digital screen in the will help visualize things — such as global maps and folded robustness and redundancy that protects proteins among others — in a way that can’t be done on a small monitor. Surveying the screen, made possible by a us against a number of challenges from generous gift from the Moore Foundation, are Research Scientist Oliver Jahn and Principal Research Scientist Chris Hill childhood to adulthood,” said Poon, senior who got this project off the ground and working. Senior Research Scientist Michael Follows of the Department of Earth, author of a paper on the work appearing in Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences heads up the project. the online edition of the Proceedings of the uPlease see PACE, PAGE 6 PEOPLE RESEARCH NEWS DoE’s Dehmer at MIT today Mending broken hearts Planning a birthday bash

Patricia M. Dehmer, deputy director for science Novel scaffold developed by MIT researchers and Preparatory work is underway for the Institute’s programs at the U.S. Department of Energy, visits MIT. their colleagues could help heal heart injuries. celebration of its 150th anniversary, taking place in 2011.

PAGE 3 PAGE 5 PAGE 7 PAGE 2 November 5, 2008 u NEWS / PEOPLE MIT Tech Talk

S M T WT Events F S Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab students � at MIT win Microsoft Dream-Build-Play Competition

A video game developed by the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT players wielded training whips as ringmasters in the circus world Game Lab has won first prize in the 2008 Microsoft XNA Dream- of CarneyVale. In Showtime, players return to CarneyVale as Thursday, Nov. 6 Build-Play game development competition. a circus acrobat performing acrobatic tricks and death-defying The winning game, “CarneyVale: Showtime,” was developed stunts through increasingly complex arenas. • “Reflections and Projections from by a team of seven Singaporean students working in the Singapore “This is one of the first games where we attempt to combine 20 Years of LFM Leadership,” a office of the international game lab. The prize includes $40,000 rag-doll physics, platforming genre and player performance all panel discussion. In 1988, MIT Sloan and consideration for publication on the Microsoft XBox LIVE into one single game,” said Showtime programmer Bruce Chia. School of Management, MIT’s School service. “It was definitely no easy task to innovate from well-established of Engineering, and industry created This year’s global Dream-Build-Play competition garnered platform games like Super Mario Brothers while still keeping true the Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) more than 350 games from 100-plus countries, nearly doubling to the genre. However, I believe we managed to pull it off. We are program to help American manufactur- the number of community members who enrolled in and submit- extremely happy to hear the good news and look forward to bring- ers compete more effectively and address ted Dream-Build-Play titles in last year’s ing the game to the public.” the erosion of competitiveness experi- competition. “We are delighted by Showtime’s enced by many industries. Over the past “I am very pleased with the results that success,” said William Uricchio, lead 20 years, LFM alumni have risen to lead- have been shown by the interns from principal investigator for the GAMBIT lab ership positions in manufacturing and ❞ GAMBIT,” said Teo Chor Guan, executive [The win] proves that Singapore at MIT. “It stands as proof of GAMBIT’s operations around the globe. Today they director of the Singapore lab. “It proves concept and is a testament to the Singapore apply LFM principles and practices on that Singapore students have the capability students have the capability side of the operation.” the factory floor, along the supply chain, to produce a game that is of international “CarneyVale: Showtime” was devel- and in other arenas such as dot-com to produce a game that is of stature.” oped by Chia (programming), Hansel enterprises, health care and the Human In “CarneyVale: Showtime,” players Koh (programming), Lee Fang Liang Genome Project. 4:15 p.m. in the Wong international stature. can manipulate a wide variety of props to (programming), Adrian Lim (program- Auditorium. Open to the entire MIT guide an acrobat through a circus arena, Teo Chor Guan ming), Desmond Wong (artist), Joshua community. including trapeze-like grabbers and flying executive director, Singapore lab Wong (producer), and Guo Yuan (audio). rockets. Points are collected by bursting More information on Showtime is available • authors@mit: Sherry Turkle, “The trails of balloons and performing special at http://gambit.mit.edu/loadgame/show- Inner History of Devices.” 6 p.m. in acrobatic tricks; players can earn star ratings for completing level time.php. More on the Microsoft Dream-Build-Play competition 35-225. objectives and rising up the ranks. The game includes 12 unlock- can be found at http://www.dreambuildplay.com. More on the able achievements, 18 regular levels and a built-in map editor Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab is available at http://gambit. • Center for 21st Century Energy with nine slots for players to share custom maps with family and mit.edu. Fall 2008 Seminar Series. Emman- friends. The Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab is a five-year uel Kasseris will speak on the topic of “CarneyVale: Showtime” is a follow-up to “Wiip,” a game research collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of “Knock Limited Performance in Direct developed by a team of U.S. and Singaporean students in the Technology and the Interactive Digital Media R&D Programme Injected Spark Ignited Engines Using GAMBIT summer 2007 game development program. In “Wiip,” Office hosted by the Media Development Authority of Singapore. Gasoline/Alcohol Blends.” 4-5 p.m. in 37-212.

Friday, Nov. 7 • Deadline to submit proposals for 2008 MIT ‘Kick Butt’ contest. The goal of this contest is to build a deliberately overengineered mechanical apparatus that will perform the simple task of extinguishing a cigarette in an extremely indirect and convoluted fashion. Screenshots URL: http://medweb.mit.edu/about/news/ from the smokeout.html game “CarneyVale: Showtime.” Continued on PAGE 3 IMAGE COURTESY OF THE GAMBIT GAME LAB No Tech Talk on Nov. 12 Because of the Veterans Day holi- day on Nov. 11, there will be no Tech Talk next week. For updated coverage of MIT news, please see our web site at web.mit.edu/newsoffice. Awards&Honors

CORRECTION Dedon paper named top author Lianrong Wang, a visiting graduate ments and who is known for her mentor- student in the Department of Biological ship of other women in science. Graybiel A story in last week’s Tech Talk scientific achievement Engineering; Shi Chen, a postdoctoral delivered a lecture, titled “Our Habitual incorrectly stated that there had been scientist in the Department of Chemistry; Lives: How the Brain Makes and Breaks a possibility of six MIT alumni being A paper co-authored by Peter Dedon, Koli Taghizadeh, a research scientist in the Habits,” on Oct. 30 at Vanderbilt. in space at the same time this Novem- professor of biological engineering, has Center for Environmental Health Sciences; ber, if the Hubble Telescope servicing been named one of the top 10 global scien- and John Wishnok, senior research scien- AgeLab director mission had flown as planned. In fact, tific achievements of 2007 by Scientific tist in the Department of Biological Engi- if the Hubble mission had not been American China. neering and the Center for Environmental wins GSA award delayed, it would have flown instead Dedon, in collaboration with researchers Health Sciences. of the actual STS-126 mission that from MIT and China’s Shanghai Jiaotong MIT AgeLab Director Joseph Coughlin will carry two MIT alums to space on University, found that a group of bacte- has been named as the 2008 recipient of Nov. 14, and thus there still would rial genes gives them the ability to modify Graybiel wins Vanderbilt the Gerontological Society of America’s have been just four alumni in space at DNA by adding sulfur to the sugar-phos- Prize in Biomedical Science (GSA) Maxwell A. Pollack Award for the same time. Also, the story stated phate DNA backbone as a phosphorothio- Productive Aging. The Pollack Award that six previous shuttle missions have ate. Such a modification had never been Institute Professor Ann Graybiel has recognizes mid-career researchers whose had two MIT alums aboard; actually seen before in nature. won the Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical visionary work has demonstrated excel- there were seven such missions. The paper was published in Nature Science, which honors and recognizes a lence in translating research into practical Tech Talk regrets these errors. Chemical Biology in November 2007. woman scientist of national reputation who application or policy improving the lives of Other MIT authors of the paper are lead has a stellar record of research accomplish- older people.

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S M T WT DoE’s Dehmer to discuss science’s role in energy challenges Events F S � Patricia M. Dehmer, deputy director for Office of Basic Energy Science, and under with more than 125 peer-reviewed publi- science programs at the U.S. Department her leadership that office’s budget more cations. She earned her PhD in chemical at MIT of Energy, will give a talk at MIT today than doubled to $1.2 billion a year. She led physics from the University of Chicago in titled “Facing Our Energy Challenges in a five-year effort there to tie basic energy 1972. a New Era of Science.” Dehmer is the research more closely to real-world energy In her daylong visit to MIT, Dehmer senior science official in the third-largest problems. will visit several energy research projects • The Siemens Competition in Math, federal sponsor of basic research in the Before beginning work at the DoE’s on campus and meet with President Susan Science, and Technology: Reception country, which funds research at 300 Office of Science in 1995, Dehmer already Hockfield and with MIT Energy Initiative and Viewing of the Student’s Research colleges and universities as well as at DoE had a distinguished career in atomic, Director Ernest J. Moniz. Projects. 5-6:30 p.m. in Twenty Chim- laboratories. molecular, optical and chemical physics at Her talk, which is open to the general neys, Stratton Student Center, Building Dehmer previously directed the DoE’s Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, public, will begin at 4:30 p.m. in 34-101. W20, 3rd Floor. The Siemens Competi- tion in Math, Science, and Technology is the nation’s premiere math and science research competition for high school students. Monday, Nov. 10 • Evening of Opera at . 6-7:30 p.m. in N25, White- head Institute for Biomedical Research (9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge). A special evening of operatic performance by Andrea Matthews, soprano; Philip Lima, baritone; William Merrill, pianist.

Wednesday, Nov. 12 • BCS Special Colloquium: Translat- ing Basic Science Advances into a Safe and Effective Treatment for Alzheim- er’s Disease. Speaker: Richard Wurt- man, MIT. 4-5:30 p.m. in 46-3002. This lecture series, held weekly during the IMAGE / AURORA FLIGHT SCIENCES academic year, features a wide array of speakers from all areas of neuroscience Into the wild blue yonder and cognitive science research. Social An MIT-led team recently won a $2 million contract from crucial need in this era of rising fuel prices. events that follow these colloquia bring NASA to develop concepts for commercial airliners that Eight MIT faculty members from the Department of together students, staff, and faculty to could go into service beginning around 2030. This sleek- Aeronautics and Astronautics, including professor Edward discuss the talk, as well as other research looking airplane is among the team’s preliminary concepts. Greitzer as principal investigator, as well as several activities within BCS, at MIT and around the world. Armed with the grant, the team will conduct an students, will be working on the project in collaboration 18-month study of ways to make passenger planes of with engineers from Aerodyne Research, Aurora Flight • Neuroscience Drug Discovery and the future quieter, greener and more energy efficient — a Sciences, Boeing Phantom Works, and Pratt & Whitney. Development: The Route to Disease- Modifying Therapies. Speaker: Darryle D. Schoepp, PhD, Senior Vice President and Franchise Head, Neuroscience, Merck Research Laboratories. 5:30-9 New center prepares students for global success p.m. in 32, Kirsch Auditorium. Earlier this fall, three MIT juniors for students and faculty, they will also a more holistic and competency-based walked into the new Global Education operate as a one-stop organization, provid- career development program that incorpo- Office (GEO) in Building 12 and asked: ing more expanded and unified programs rates a global perspective. Sunday, Nov. 16 “Is this the office that knows about all and services. Their mutual goal is to help In bringing together GEO and the • “Open Chantey Sing.” Come sing things global?” These students were students and alumni develop the self- CDC as a more integrated and collabora- sea music and chanteys with a room full looking for help in understanding what awareness and skills to become effective tive organization, the GECDC will lever- of maritime enthusiasts, professional and global opportunities exist at MIT. With leaders in a diverse society and prepare for age the natural synergy between global amateur. Free and open to the public. the formation of the Global Education the globalized world of work. educational experiences and holistic career Bring your voice and join in! This is a and Career Development Center, which The Global Education Office incor- development services. Through global monthly event, starting Nov. 16 from 1-4 incorporates the GEO, the response to porates the programs and services of the education and internship experiences, p.m. at the MIT Museum. the students was “yes.” In the past, the Study Abroad and Distinguished Fellow- counseling, workshops, classroom instruc- URL: http://www.nechanteysings.com students would have visited several offices ships Office but is broader in scope. The tion, events, pre-professional advising, and to get the answers they needed. Now, mission of GEO is to advance global connections to employers and graduate GEO can be a first point of contact for education at MIT. The office, in concert school, the GECDC will help students Tuesday, Nov. 18 students who are exploring the possibilities with the diverse international programs at prepare to meet the challenges of the to go global. MIT, will support a seamless experience competitive global economy. • “The Edge of Heaven” (“Auf der In July, the Office of the Dean for for our undergraduates as they prepare If you have any questions, please contact anderen Seite”). Directed by Fatih Undergraduate Education announced the for, proceed on, and return from a global Melanie Parker (617-253-7519, mlpark- Akin, followed by panel discussion with formation of the Global Education and experience. At the same time, the Career [email protected]), executive director of the Nilüfer Göle (professor of sociology, Career Development Center (GECDC), Development Center continues to provide GECDC. For question specific to GEO, EHESS, Paris), prominent expert on the which comprises the GEO and the Career career planning and employment search please contact Malgorzata Hedderick European public culture in its encounter Development Center (CDC). While GEO services similar to the MIT Career Office. (617-253-9358, [email protected]), associate with Islam; Leslie Adelson (professor of and the CDC will offer distinct services Moving forward, the CDC will develop dean, Global Education Office. German, Cornell), leading scholar in the field of Turkish-German literature; and Kurt Fendt (research director, MIT), digital media and culture specialist, director of the MIT European Short News in brief Film Festival. Panelists will engage in a reading of the film from the perspec- tive of their intellectual and personal trajectories. These intersecting voices 2009 Benefits Open Enrollment To enroll in your 2009 benefits, visit http://web.mit.edu/ will highlight the in-between-ness of the sapwebss/PS1/benefits_home.shtml, starting Nov. 10 at 9 a.m. film that cannot be grasped by any single starts next week cultural point of view. Open to the public free of charge. Screening at 6 p.m., panel You voted on Election Day, but don’t forget the next election: MIT Federal Credit Union seeks at 8 p.m., Rm. 6-120. For additional, MIT Benefits Open Enrollment, where you make your benefits candidates for its Board of Directors information call 617-253-4771. elections for 2009. This year, Benefits Open Enrollment takes place from 9 a.m. on Nov. 10 until 4 p.m. on Nov. 21. This two- MIT Federal Credit Union, as a member-owned, not-for-profit week period provides the opportunity for all benefits-eligible financial cooperative dedicated to improving its members’ lives, is faculty and staff to enroll or make changes to their medical and seeking credit union members who are interested in serving on its dental coverage, enroll in flexible-spending accounts, and review volunteer board of directors. Three three-year terms on the board all benefits at MIT. will be open for the 2009 election in the spring. The good news is that in 2009, dental, vision and supplemental Members of credit unions elect a volunteer board of direc- Submit your events! life insurance benefits — and their costs — will be unchanged. tors to oversee the credit union, which makes decisions with the One focus during this year’s open enrollment is on wellness. members’ best interest at heart, unlike bank directors and employ- Log on to events.mit.edu to Improving our overall health and wellness helps stabilize health ees of the banks who are legally bound to make decisions that add your events to MIT’s online care costs for you and for MIT. Check out the many resources benefit stockholders, not customers. calendar. Select events will be MIT offers, which are listed in the open enrollment newsletter If you are interested in serving on the MITFCU Board of selected from the online calendar sent to all faculty and staff; the newsletter can also be accessed Directors, please contact Maura Lavalle at mitfcu-nominate@mit. to be published in Tech Talk each at http://hrweb.mit.edu/benefits/. If you have questions, e-mail edu. The application submission deadline is Wednesday, Nov. 19, Wednesday. [email protected] or call 617-253-6151. 2008. PAGE 4 November 5, 2008 u RESEARCH MIT Tech Talk

eteorites that are among iron-rich material sank down to Too much Magnetic the oldest rocks ever the core, where it began swirl- Mfound have provided ing around to produce a magnetic new clues about the conditions dynamo. The researchers were fields record that existed at the beginning of able to study traces of the magnet- of a good the solar system, solving a long- ic fields produced by that dynamo, standing mystery and overturning now recorded in the meteorites the early some accepted ideas about the way that fell to Earth. planets form. “The magnetism in meteorites thing? The ancient meteorites, like disk has been a longstanding mystery,” histories of drives salvaged from an ancient Weiss said, and the realization Cells with extra computer, still contain magnetic that such small bodies could have records about the very early histo- melted and formed magnetic dyna- chromosomes share planets ry of planets, according to research mos is a major step toward solving detrimental traits; findings by MIT planetary scientist Benja- that riddle. David Chandler min P. Weiss. Until relatively recently, it was could help fight cancer News Office Weiss, the Victor P. Starr Career commonly thought that the plane- Development Assistant Profes- tesimals — similar to the asteroids Anne Trafton sor of Planetary Sciences in the seen in the solar system today — News Office Department of Earth, Atmospher- that came together to build planets Mammalian cells with extra chromo- ic and Planetary Sciences, and his were “just homogenous, unmelted somes share some common traits that could five co-authors examined pieces of rocky material, with no large-scale be exploited to develop cancer treatments, three meteorites called angrites, structure,” Weiss said. “Now we’re according to MIT biologists. which are among the most ancient realizing that many of the things Having too many chromosomes, a rocks known. The results of their that were forming planets were condition known as aneuploidy, wreaks study were published in Science on mini-planets themselves, with havoc on an organism, usually resulting in Oct. 31. crusts and mantles and cores.” birth defects or death. However, it seems to The analysis showed that That could change theorists’ confer an advantage on tumor cells, which surprisingly, during the forma- picture of how the planets them- are nearly always aneuploid. “Now we can look for compounds that tion of the solar system, when dust selves took shape. If the smaller specifically kill aneuploid cells, or look for and rubble in a disk around the bodies were already molten as genes that, when you sun collided and stuck together to they slammed together to build knock them down, form ever-larger rocks and even- up larger planet-sized bodies, that kill aneuploid cells,” tually the planets we know today, could “significantly change our said Angelika Amon, even objects much smaller than understanding” of the processes professor of biology planets — just 160 kilometers that took place in the early years and senior author of a across or so — were large enough of the nascent planets, as their paper describing the to melt almost completely. internal structures were forming, work, which appeared in the Oct. 31 issue of PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY This total melting of the Weiss said. This could have impli- planet-forming chunks of rock, cations for how different miner- Science. Professor Benjamin Weiss, of the Angelika Amon and her called planetesimals, caused their als are distributed in the Earth’s department of Earth, Atmosphere Amon colleagues have and Planetary Sciences, holds a constituents to separate out, with crust, mantle and core today, for started screening such sample of the vesicular basaltic lighter materials including silicates example. compounds and already identified one meteorite named D’Orbigny that floating to the surface and eventu- “In the last five or 10 years,” promising candidate. he analyzed as part of his study. ally forming a crust, while heavier Weiss said, “our understanding In this study — the first to systemati- of the early history of the solar cally examine the effects of aneuploidy in system has undergone a sort of mammalian cells — the researchers looked mini-revolution, driven by analyti- at aneuploidy of four different mouse cal advances in geochemistry. In chromosomes (mice have 20 pairs of this study we used a geophysical chromosomes). They found that in addition to specific technique to independently test detrimental effects of each extra chromo- many of these new ideas.” some, aneuploidy seems to provoke a “Events happened surprisingly generalized response in all cells. fast at the beginning of the solar The aneuploid cells all divided very system,” he said. Some of the slowly, grew too large and displayed other angrite meteorites in this study metabolic changes that indicate the cells formed just three million years are under stress and need extra energy to after the birth of the solar system cope with protein imbalances. itself, 4,568 million years ago, and “We propose that these cells are show signs that their parent body chronically stressed,” said Amon, who is a had a magnetic field that was 20 member of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. to 40 percent as strong as Earth’s That finding creates a paradox. Aneu- today. “We are used to thinking of ploidy seems to give cells a proliferative dynamo magnetic fields in rocky disadvantage, yet aneuploid tumor cells bodies as uncommon phenom- tend to proliferate rapidly. ena today. But it may be that There are multiple theories that could short-lived planetesimal dyna- explain this apparent paradox, Amon said. mos were widespread in the One is that even though aneuploid cells early solar system.” don’t grow very well, they may still grow The paper was better than the normal cells surrounding co-authored by Mitsui them. As Amon explains it, “the one-eyed man is king in the country of the blind.” Career Development Another view, which is Amon’s preferred Assistant Professor of theory, is that aneuploidy puts so much Geology Linda Elkins- stress on the cell that it starts generating Tanton, research scientist more mutations than normal, eventually Eduardo A. Lima, postdoc- driving it to become cancerous. toral researcher Laurent Lastly, it’s possible that aneuploidy Carpozen, student James doesn’t play a role in how cancerous cells S. Berdahl, and Sabine develop — it’s just a byproduct of tumor Stanley, assistant professor generation. of physics at the University Lead author of the paper is Bret of Toronto. The work was Williams, a postdoctoral associate in the Koch Institute. Other authors are Vineet supported by a grant from the Prabhu, a graduate student in biology; National Science Foundation’s Karen Hunter, a 2006 MIT graduate and Instrumentation and Facilities former technician in Amon’s lab; Christina Program. Glazier SB ’07, a technician in Amon’s lab; Charles Whittaker, a research scientist in the Koch Institute; and David Housman, ILLUSTRATION / DAMIR GAMULIN a professor of biology and member of the New research by Benjamin Weiss and colleagues indicates that many Koch Institute. planetesimals larger than about 160 kilometers (270 miles) in diameter likely The research was funded by the Howard formed molten, convecting metallic cores and planetary magnetic fields. In Hughes Medical Institute, the Curt W. and many respects, planetesimals were essentially short-lived mini-planets. Kathy Marble Cancer Research Fund, a David Koch Research Award and a David Koch Graduate Fellowship. MIT Tech Talk u RESEARCH November 5, 2008 PAGE 5 Immunity, from the cell’s point of view a small drop of blood). Chemical engineers In their PNAS study, the research- study immune cells in ers took B cells from mice that received a series of protein injections mimicking unprecedented detail vaccination. They positioned the cells into individual containers, arranged in a dense Anne Trafton lattice, molded into a soft rubber. Borrow- News Office ing from an artistic engraving technique used for printmaking, the researchers use MIT engineers have painted the most that array of cells to “print” the antibodies detailed portrait yet of how single cells produced by the cells onto the surface of from the immune system respond to multiple identical glass slides. vaccination. Each of those slides is exposed to differ- The work, reported in the online ent concentrations of the protein used for edition of the Proceedings of the National the model vaccine, allowing the research- Academy of Sciences this week, could help ers to measure how strongly each antibody researchers develop and test new vaccines binds to the target. They can then map for diseases including HIV, fungal infec- those results back to the original immune tions and antibiotic-resistant bacterial cell, pinpointing precisely which cells infections. produced which antibodies and how strong “We’re building a toolkit, which we can the cell’s response was. use to look at how an immune response In addition to vaccine development, develops successfully. Then we aim to use the technique could be used to build a that information for reverse engineering PHOTOS / JUSTIN KNIGHT/ WHITEHEAD profile of a patient’s immune system and vaccines that would invoke that same type J. Christopher Love, Craig Story, Chih-Chi Andrew Hu and Eliseo Papa designed and its response to treatment for allergies, of response,” said J. Christopher Love, tested a system that “prints” the antibodies created by immune cells onto a glass cancer or infectious diseases. “You could assistant professor of chemical engineering slide coated with capture antibodies (photo below), producing protein microarrays. potentially track how the immune system and senior author of the is responding over time,” Love said. paper. ity to fight off infection, antibodies, the type of antibody they Lead author of the paper is Craig Vaccines usually consist Love said. produce (for example, those that promote a Story, former postdoctoral associate at of an inactivated virus or “We don’t know the long- or short-term response), the specific- the Whitehead Institute, now associate bacterium that provokes diversity of antibod- ity (for a target such as a protein from a professor of biology at Gordon College. B cells from the immune ies generated, and we virus or bacterium), and affinity (strength Other authors are Eliseo Papa, a graduate system to generate don’t know how well of binding to the target). student in the Harvard-MIT Division of antibodies that attack the they’re responding to the “This is the first time that it’s possible to Health Sciences and Technology; Chih- infectious agent. pathogen. We don’t know look at the diversity of antibody responses Chi Andrew Hu, a postdoctoral fellow at Currently, the only how poised the immune from primary cells and measure a full set the Whitehead Institute; Jehnna Ronan, way to test whether a system is to respond to of their molecular characteristics directly,” a former Harvard undergraduate at the vaccine has worked is to challenges it might face,” Love said. “This really does give you a Whitehead Institute; and Hidde Ploegh, examine a patient’s blood he said. snapshot.” professor of biology and member of the sample for the presence His team’s new Currently, three different lab tests are Whitehead Institute. of antibodies. However, approach generates infor- needed to get all of that information, The research was funded by the Broad such tests do not offer a mation, including the and one of the tests requires a very large Institute of MIT and Harvard, the Nation- comprehensive picture of number of B cells present, number of cells. The new method works al Institutes of Health, and the National the immune system’s abil- whether they produce with as few as 100,000 cells (the number in Academies Keck Futures Initiative. Mending broken hearts with tissue engineering

New scaffold approach could also aid IMAGES / G.C. ENGELMAYR JR. engineering of other tissues LEFT: Confocal micrograph of an accordion-like Elizabeth Thomson honeycomb scaffold with News Office cultured rat heart cells Broken hearts could one day (scaffold is colored blue; be mended using a novel scaffold seeded, living heart cells developed by MIT researchers and are colored green with colleagues. blue nuclei). The idea is that living heart RIGHT: Scanning electron cells or stem cells seeded onto micrograph of an such a scaffold would develop accordion-like honeycomb into a patch of cardiac tissue scaffold for cardiac tissue that could be used to treat engineering. congenital heart defects, or aid the recovery of tissue from nature’s lessons,” as they Freed said (in 2004, Freed was part of another MIT team damaged by a heart attack. write in Nature Materials, that showed that heart cells cultured on a traditional scaf- The biodegradable scaf- might lead to a tissue with fold could also be coaxed into alignment, but only with fold would be gradually properties closer to the real electrical stimulation). absorbed into the body, thing. So, using a laser similar The researchers note that the scaffold used in the leaving behind new tissue. to that used for eye surgery, experiments described above has some limitations. For The accordion-like they created a scaffold with example, they write, it is “too thin to address reconstruc- honeycomb scaffold, reported directionally dependent tion of full-thickness myocardium.” However, as they in the Nov. 2 online edition of structural and mechanical report in Nature Materials, they have already begun Nature Materials, is the first to properties. addressing those problems by creating new honeycomb be explicitly designed to match The scaffold has three scaffolds that, among other things, allow much thicker, the structural and mechanical principal advantages over multilayered tissue structures. properties of native heart tissue. its predecessors. First, its Other authors of the Nature Materials paper are MIT As a result, it has several advantages mechanical properties closely Institute Professor Robert Langer; Mingyu Cheng, over previous cardiac tissue engineer- match those of native heart currently at Children’s Hospital Boston; Christopher J. ing scaffolds. tissue. For example, it is Bettinger, ’03, MNG ’04, PhD ’08, currently at Stanford Further, the MIT team’s general stiffer when stretched circum- University; and Jeffrey T. Borenstein of the Charles Stark approach has applications to other types of ferentially as compared to Draper Laboratory. engineered tissues. “In the long term we’d like longitudinally. This work was sponsored by the National Institutes of to have a whole library of scaffolds for different tissues Engelmayr found that he could Health, NASA, and Draper Laboratory. in need of repair,” said Lisa E. Freed, corresponding essentially “dial in” specific mechanical author of the paper and a principal research scientist in the properties for the polymer scaffold by varying the time it is allowed to set, or cure. He noted that with this ability, PHOTO / DONNA Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technolo- COVENEY gy (HST). Each scaffold could be tailor-made with specific coupled with the flexibility of the laser technique, “we structural and mechanical properties. “We’re already on might be able to come up with even better pore shapes MIT’s Lisa the way to a few other examples,” Freed said. with better mechanical properties.” Freed, George With respect to the current work, “previous scaffolds In a second advantage, the team found that a patch of Engelmayr Jr. did not necessarily possess structural or mechanical prop- tissue created from neonatal rat heart cells cultured on and colleagues erties consistent with the native myocardial [heart muscle] the scaffold showed directionally dependent electrophysi- report a new structure,” said George C. Engelmayr Jr., lead author of ological properties similar to native tissue. In other words, scaffold (shown the paper and an HST postdoctoral fellow. Heart muscle, when an electrical field was applied the engineered patch on monitor) he explained, is “directionally dependent” — meaning its contracted more readily in one direction than in another. for tissue cells are aligned in specific directions. In a third advantage, “the scaffold itself has an intrinsic engineering of The researchers reasoned that “borrowing more closely ability to guide the orientation of cultured heart cells,” the heart. PAGE 6 November 5, 2008 u NEWS / RESEARCH MIT Tech Talk Soros: crisis underscores need for regulation Stephanie Schorow market … you don’t want to regulate more News Office correspondent than you have to. But I think you have to regulate credit as well as money.” Financier, philanthropist and political During an audience question and answer activist George Soros told an MIT audi- session, Soros was questioned about his ence on Oct. 27 that the current financial financial past as well as his analysis. MIT crisis underscored the need for regulation, Sloan School of Management student Gary even while he warned of the pitfalls of Cao asked Soros about his role during regulation and insisted on the impossibility “Black Wednesday” in 1992, when the of predicting the economic future. financier made $1 billion as the British “The prevailing perception of the pound collapsed. market actually affects the so-called funda- “I played by the rules. I was a key mentals that market prices are supposed to member of the market. I was doing what impact,” Soros said during a wide-ranging other people in the market were doing, conversation moderated by Ricardo Cabal- with no negative moral implications,” lero, the Ford International Professor of Soros replied. “At the time, as a citizen, Economics and head of the Department of I was concerned about making the rules Economics. “That is the nature of financial better. And I’m still concerned.” systems. Bubbles are a particular manifes- Another questioner noted that Soros had tation of this.” written other books predicting economic Because financial markets are not a doom. Yes, Soros said amid laughter, he natural but a human phenomenon, “the made such predictions in 1987 and 1997 idea that you should be able to predict the and “the third time the wolf came.” future is nonsense,” he told a packed audi- PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY In response to a question about the ence in . International financier and philanthropist George Soros, right, had a conversation with impact of the financial crises on nascent “I don’t get the market right,” admitted Ford International Professor of Economics and head of the Department of Economics democracies in volatile areas of the world, Soros, later adding, “The reason I do well Ricardo J. Cabellero at Kresge Auditorium on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Soros sounded a hopeful note, saying that is I learn from my mistakes.” the United States could play a positive role Soros said the recent meltdown of global small event but it was a “detonator that Caballero also asked the question that but “for that we have to change funda- financial markets — something the former set off a much bigger explosion. And that was on the mind of many in the audience: mentally what we stand for and recognize hedge fund manager described in dire superbubble has been growing for at least “How do we fix the system?” that … we have an obligation to the world terms — undercut the belief that markets 25 years.” Certainly, financial markets will always which we have absolutely abandoned.” could be entirely self-regulating. That Soros, whose new book is titled “The undergo bubbles and bursts, but “unless Yet, Soros also said that the United misconception arose, ironically, from the New Paradigm for Financial Markets,” the United States leads an international States would cease to be the world’s undis- resolution of past financial crises: “These criticized former Federal Reserve Chair- effort to stabilize the system, the system puted dominant force. “The veto power periodic financial crises served as success- man Alan Greenspan for keeping inter- will not continue,” Soros asserted. that we have in the International Monetary ful tests of the misconception of market est rates “too low for too long” and for While Soros argued that “the ideol- Fund will disappear. We will be downsized. fundamentals,” he said. holding fast to the idea that it was better ogy that markets are perfect is wrong,” At the same time, hopefully, we will have a The burst of the housing bubble in the to “pick up the pieces” rather than impose he added, “regulations are also imperfect, better working system and opponents will United States was, Soros said, a relatively regulations on the market. in fact they are more imperfect than the be more downsized than we will.”

PACE: MIT discovers breathing Human genes sing different pacemaker mechanism tunes in different tissues Continued from Page 1 National Academy of Sciences this week. Biologists find almost all genes produced is often highly tissue-dependent. Certain Abnormities of the two pacemakers may be related to protein isoforms that are common in heart tissue, for some cases of “crib death” in babies and some forms of express multiple messenger RNAs example, might be very rare in brain tissue, so that central sleep apnea, which can affect premature infants and the alternative exon functions like a molecular switch. the elderly, Poon said. Anne Trafton Scientists who study splicing have a general idea of Scientists have known that two areas of the brain, the News Office how tissue-specificity may be achieved, but they have pre-Botzinger complex (preBotC) and the parafacial much less understanding of why isoforms display such tissue specificity, Burge said. respiratory group (pFRG), control breathing. However, Scientists have long known that it’s possible for one Scientists have also observed that cells express researchers have hotly debated how these two regions work gene to produce slightly different forms of the same different isoforms during embryonic development and together and which one plays a greater role in setting the protein by skipping or including certain sequences at different stages of cellular differentiation. Burge’s pace. from the messenger RNA. Now, an MIT team has team is now studying cells at various stages of differ- The new MIT model, which Poon has dubbed the shown that this phenomenon, known as alternative entiation to see when different isoforms are expressed. “handshake model,” reconciles several different views. splicing, is both far more prevalent and varies more Isoform switching also occurs in cancer cells. In Poon’s model, developed with graduate student Stef- between tissues than was One such switch involves fen Wittmeier, lead author of the paper, both brain regions previously believed. a metabolic enzyme and work together to regulate respiration during infancy, but Nearly all human genes, contributes to cancer cells the preBotC takes control during adulthood. about 94 percent, gener- burning large amounts of Early in life, both pacemakers are needed. After birth, ate more than one form of glucose and growing more and throughout infancy, the pFRG triggers preBotC, their protein products, the rapidly. Learning more about resulting in strong, rhythmic breaths. Without pFRG, team reported in the Oct. such switches could lead to breathing can be weak and erratic, Poon said. 22 online edition of Nature. potential cancer therapies, However, after childhood, the preBotC region takes over Scientists’ previous estimates Burge said. as the dominant pacemaker. Only under respiratory stress, ranged from a few percent 10 Until now, it has been such as during shortage of oxygen, does pFRG kick in and years ago to 50-plus percent difficult to study isoforms help regulate breathing rhythm. more recently. on a genome-wide scale The new model is called the “handshake model” because “A decade ago, alterna- because of the high cost the two pacemakers send signals back and forth to trigger tive splicing of a gene was PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY each other. “It’s not just a one-way street,” Poon said. considered unusual, exotic … of sequencing and techni- The fail-safe network provides critical backup and but that’s not true at all, it’s Graduate student Eric Wang and associate cal issues in discriminating appears to be evolutionarily conserved, as it is also found in actually a universal feature of professor Christopher Burge used a gene- similar mRNA isoforms reptiles, birds and amphibians. human genes,” said Christo- sequencing machine to find that nearly all using microarrays. The team During infancy, when both pacemakers are regulat- pher Burge, senior author of human genes undergo differential splicing. took mRNA samples from 10 ing breathing, the pFRG takes the lead role, exciting the the paper and the Whitehead types of tissue and five cell preBotC to initiate inhalation. During inhalation, the Career Development Associate Professor of Biology lines from a total of 20 indi- preBotC inhibits pFRG but the pFRG rebounds at the end and Biological Engineering at MIT. viduals and generated more than 13 billion base pairs of inhalation. The process starts over when pFRG excites Burge and his colleagues also found that in most of sequence, the equivalent of more than four entire preBotC again at the end of exhalation. cases the mRNA produced depends on the tissue human genomes. Later on, in adulthood, pFRG becomes less important where the gene is expressed. The work paves the way The sequencing was done by researchers at biotech and preBotC becomes more independent. The exception is for future studies into the role of alternative proteins firm Illumina, using a new high-throughput sequenc- during respiratory stress, such as a shortage of oxygen. In in specific tissues, including cancer cells. ing machine. those situations, the system becomes a “reverse handshake,” Human genes typically contain several “exons,” Lead authors of the paper are graduate student with both pacemakers functioning and preBotC taking the or DNA sequences that code for amino acids, the Eric Wang, of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health lead. building blocks of proteins. A single gene can produce Sciences and Technology, and former MIT postdoc- “This is a beautiful example of a yin-yang relationship,” multiple protein sequences, depending on which exons toral fellow Rickard Sandberg, now at the Karolinska said Poon, with pacemakers exciting and inhibiting one are included in the mRNA transcript, which carries Institutet in Sweden. Other authors are Christine another. “You want to be stable so you can have harmony.” instructions to the cell’s protein-building machinery. Mayr, a postdoctoral associate at the Whitehead Insti- Other authors of the paper are Gang Song, research Two different forms of the same protein, known as tute; Stephen Kingsmore of the National Center for scientist in HST, and James Duffin of the University of isoforms, can have different, even completely opposite Genome Resources; and Shujun Luo, Irina Khrebtu- Toronto. functions. For example, one protein may activate cell kova, Lu Zhang and Gary Schroth of Illumina. The research was funded by the National Institutes of death pathways while its close relative promotes cell The research was funded by the National Institutes Health. survival. of Health, the Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation The researchers found that the type of isoform and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research. MIT Tech Talk u NEWS November 5, 2008 PAGE 7

IMAGES / MIT LIBRARIES, NEWS OFFICE MIT planning for 150th in 2011 R.J. Tyler underway, all committees will be staffed and begin The class of 2011 was designated the Sesquicenten- Institute Events working by December 2008. nial Class, and a representative will be part of the steer- Professor David Mindell, director of the Program in ing committee. While there are still many activities and Planning has begun in earnest for MIT’s sesquicen- Science, Technology, and Society, will serve as faculty events to be determined, some key events and initia- tennial in 2011, when the Institute will celebrate 150 director of MIT150. He will oversee the direction of tives have begun. They include books, expansion of the years of education and research. the planning and chair the steering committee. The Cambridge Science Festival during April, an arts and MIT150 planning began in the fall of 2006. From sesquicentennial’s senior director is Gayle Gallagher, sciences festival, an oral history project, an external and that autumn until June 2008, who will conduct all initiatives, public web site, and the Global Service Challenge. Kathryn Willmore, former vice programs and administration. She Mindful of the mission of MIT, the planning president and secretary of the will be assisted by Ted Johnson in committee developed the Global Service Challenge in Corporation, chaired a plan- MIT150 steering the role of director of planning conjunction with the Public Service Center, the Edger- ning committee that defined the committee members and operations, and supported ton Center, and the Lemelson-MIT Program. The principles, scope, central events, by staff in Institute Events, the IDEAS Competition is the model that will be scaled up and theme of the celebration. The Information Center, Conference over the next two years to accommodate the antici- planning committee comprised Richard Amster Services and Community Services. pated size of the Global Service Challenge. Challenge faculty members from all five Paul Baranay ’11 (UA designate) teams will seek solutions to specific problems they have schools, students representing the Cynthia Barnhart Planning activities observed: Whether the problems are abroad or at home Undergraduate Association, the Dedric Carter in Cambridge, the solutions must bring a measurable Graduate Student Council, and Erich Caulfield and initiatives improvement to the quality of human life. The name the class of 2011, and staff with John Durant of the project was chosen to emphasize that this is less related expertise or administrative Stephen Graves Celebrations will start with a of a competition than responsibilities. Paul Gray kickoff event during IAP, include a it is a collective effort Sesquicentennial planning Mark Jarzombek capstone event during the found- to serve humanity. principles were developed and Philip Khoury ing week in April, and culminate Community members adopted by the planning commit- Kirk Kolenbrander on Commencement and alumni (alumni, faculty, staff tee in January 2007. They include Daniel Li ’11 weekend. A web site that will assist and students) who creating a celebration that will be Kathryn Liede MIT groups in planning associ- may be interested distinctive and participatory, will Jeff Newton ated activities is under develop- in participating in focus on demonstrating the values Oaz Nir, G (GSC designate) ment and will be made available the Global Service of MIT, celebrating the past and Hazel Sive to the community in the next 12 Challenge should envisioning the future, breaking Blanche Staton months. A theme — or tagline start thinking now stereotypes, communicating to Ann Wolpert — for the sesquicentennial has about the composi- the world, and being as “green” been approved by the president; tion of their teams as possible. The top priorities in it will be made public in 2010, and what problem programming events and activities are to be reflec- along with an official logo. Community members are they would like to tive of history, to look to the future and to cement asked to remember these resources when making plans: solve. For more science and engineering as the cornerstones of an MIT images, graphic element downloads, and a style sheet information, education. for MIT150 “umbrella” activities will be available on please contact There are two branches to the planning going the internal planning web site. Any groups or DLCs the MIT150 forward: programming and operations. A steering that will celebrate anniversaries in 2011 will have a office at committee will guide and advise active programming particular interest in coordinating with MIT150 and 617-253-2011. and operations subcommittees that will execute all may start to plan soon; please contact Ted Johnson for stages of planning. While some projects are already more information or counsel in how to get started.

Refining open education: new book free online CLASSIFIED ADS Members of the MIT community may submit one ad each is- In the spirit of open educa- in open education: technologists, needed now more than ever, in sue. Ads should be 30 words maximum; they will be edited. tion, MIT Press and the Carnegie content creators and educators. “My part to keep education relevant to Submit by e-mail to [email protected] or mail to Classifieds, Foundation for the Advancement of personal motivation is to bring these a new generation of students. A lot Rm 11-400. Deadline is noon Wednesday the week before Teaching have published a new book three communities together to find of informal learning is going on via ­publication. about the movement and made it common issues and build on each social networks and they should be available online, free of charge. other’s work,” he said. Readers have leveraged through open-education FOR SALE The book, “Opening Up Educa- already submitted a number of ques- programs. There are also growing tion,” contains a collection of essays tions to the book’s online discussion communities of students who wish Small counter top microwave, $20. [email protected] or (781) 893-3377. about the benefits and challenges of forum. to learn but cannot be supported by creating open-education programs. A hard copy of the book can be traditional infrastructure. In India, 1996 Ford Explorer XLT $2,000 or best offer. Four-wheel drive, au- Such initiatives typically put purchased, but those who prefer for example, Kumar said there tomatic, 4 door 4.0L V6 engine 161,000 miles, excellent running course content online, in the form an electronic copy can access the simply aren’t enough secondary condition, well maintained, towing package included, exterior of lecture notes and multimedia book for free online. “We wanted schools. color white, interior grey, working heat, a/c, power locks power presentations. “But it’s not about to stay true to the spirit of open But developing open-education windows power mirrors power seats, keyless entry, cruise con- just making things freely available,” access,” said Vijay Kumar, co-editor programs can be difficult. One of trol, anti-theft system. Contact Stefanie home: 978-887-0961, said Toru Iiyoshi, one of the book’s of the book and director of MIT’s the key challenges addressed in the cell: 978-790-7710. editors and a consulting scholar Office of Educational Innovation book is sustainability. “It’s impor- for the Carnegie Foundation. It’s and Technology. The two versions tant to ensure that material created HOUSING also about “making things more should appeal to different markets, with one set of technology is not transparent ... so that people can he said. The digital version can be rendered useless to the next wave of Camb./Watertown: Need 1 roommate, share 2 bedr. apart. Partial furnished/washer/dryer. 5 min to shopping & bus (10 min to Harv. better understand how to improve searched by keyword and contains technology,” said Kumar, who also Sq.). Very safe area. $500/mo + util. Call Gayle (617) 868-0128. education.” extensive links, while the paper copy sits on the advisory committee for Ultimately, Iiyoshi hopes the will be particularly handy for those MIT’s OpenCourseWare project, Waltham: rooms share available in 2 family house. Newly reno- book promotes conversation with slow Internet connections. which has made a wealth of content vated. High ceiling, hard floor, washer/dryer, close to shop, bus between the three groups who work Kumar said open education is freely available online. and rail, half hour driving to MIT, rent from $500 to $800, utility included, no pets, no smoking. Contact [email protected]. PAGE 8 November 5, 2008 u INSTITUTE PROFESSORS MIT Tech Talk

ware upgrades in large-scale distributed systems. As associate provost for faculty equity, Twice Liskov has focused on faculty diversity and gender issues across the Institute, includ- ing the recruitment, retention, promotion and career development of minority and women faculty. as nice “Barbara is a role model for younger faculty members in the way she is able to do outstanding research, teach very Liskov’s appointment in July important courses, and still serve the Insti- marks two new Institute tute through her participation in various important committees,” said Bish Sanyal, Professors in one year chair of the faculty. “I was very impressed with the letters of support for her from Ann Graybiel is the second professor named across the Institute, including from all an Institute Professor this year. In July, Barba- five schools. People who nominated her ra Liskov was named an Institute Professor; included faculty from all levels — deans, below is the official announcement from the past presidents, department heads and lab MIT News Office. directors just to name a few.” Liskov is a member of the National arbara H. Liskov, the associate PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Academy of Engineering and a fellow provost for faculty equity and Professor of Management Lotte Bailyn, left, stands with Institute Professor Barbara of the American Academy of Arts and Ford Professor of Engineering, Liskov and her husband, Nate Liskov, during the celebration of Liskov’s promotion to Sciences and the Association for Comput- was named an Institute Profes- Institute Professor in July. er Machinery (ACM). She received the Bsor in July, the highest honor awarded by Society of Women Engineers’ Achieve- MIT’s faculty and administration. “I am overwhelmed and extremely Reif also described Liskov’s legacy in ment Award in 1996 and the IEEE Liskov, who also heads the Program- pleased to receive this great honor,” educating and inspiring students: “Barbara John von Neumann medal in 2004. She ming Methodology Group in the Liskov said after receiving the honor. “I has taught countless undergraduates and received the ACM SIGPLAN Program- Computer Science and Artificial Intel- am very grateful for the support of my graduate students who have gone on to ming Languages Achievement Award ligence Laboratory, has been an MIT wonderful colleagues and to MIT for help lead top universities, research labs in 2008, where she was cited for having faculty member since 1972. making it all possible.” and IT companies. As a computer scien- “changed the way that a generation of “Barbara is revered in the MIT commu- “Barbara’s appointment as Institute tist, she has made a tremendous impact engineers thought about and constructed nity for her role as scholar, mentor and Professor recognizes her central role as not only through her groundbreaking large software systems.” leader,” President Susan Hockfield said. both an esteemed researcher and a leading research, but through the legions of those In 2002, Liskov was named by Discover “Her pioneering research has made her citizen in the MIT community,” Provost she has taught along the way.” magazine as one of the 50 most important one of the world’s leading authorities on L. Rafael Reif said. “We all respect her Liskov’s research interests lie in women in science. computer language and system design. In ability to find elegant solutions to the programming methodology, programming Liskov received her BA in mathematics addition to her seminal scholarly contri- most complex problems, whether in the languages and systems and distributed at the University of California at Berkeley butions, Barbara has served MIT with classroom, in the lab or in her committee computing. Her current research focuses in 1961, and was the first American female great wisdom and judgment in several work. Her quick mind and penetrating on Byzantine-fault-tolerant storage awarded a PhD from a computer science administrative roles, most recently as asso- questions always point the discussion in systems, peer-to-peer computing and department — which she earned in 1968 ciate provost for faculty equity.” the right direction.” support for automatic deployment of soft- at Stanford University. GRAYBIEL: Neuroscientist awarded MIT’s highest faculty honor Institute Continued from Page 1 Professorships

The process for selecting Institute Professors involves an ad hoc faculty committee convened by the chair of the faculty and the president. That committee evaluates each nominee, in part by soliciting opinions from professionals in the nominee’s field. The committee’s recommendations are reviewed by the Academic Coun- cil and approved by the Executive Committee of the Corporation. In addition to the prestige associ- ated with the title, an Institute Professor has a distinct measure of freedom to define the scope and nature of his or her responsi- bilities. Reporting directly to the provost, an Institute Professor does not have regular departmental or school responsibilities. As a result, the appointment provides a special opportunity to work across depart- mental boundaries. In addition to Graybiel and Liskov, the other current Institute Professors and their traditional areas of study are Emilio Bizzi, brain and cognitive PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY sciences; John M. Deutch, chemis- Head of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Paul E Newton (1965) Professor of Neuroscience Mriganka Sur, left, try; Peter A. Diamond, economics; led a toast to newly named Institute Professor Ann Graybiel, alongside Robert Desimone, director of the McGovern Institute, John H. Harbison, music and theater during a party given in Graybiel’s honor on Monday. arts; Robert S. Langer, chemical engineering, biological engineering, tion deficit disorder — and why, for members of the MIT faculty. mechanical engineering; Barbara Unlocking the brain’s secrets example, good habits are so hard to make In 2004, Graybiel received the Woman Liskov, electrical engineering and Graybiel has revolutionized scientists’ and bad habits so hard to break. Leader of Parkinson’s Science award computer science; John D.C. Little, understanding of the functional anatomy “It’s a great puzzle,” Graybiel said in from the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, management; Thomas Magnanti, and physiology of the brain and, more a 2006 interview, commenting on the and in 2006, she was named the Harold management and electrical engineer- specifically, of the large forebrain region remaining mysteries of the basal ganglia. S. Diamond Professor by the National ing and computer science (EECS); known as the basal ganglia. “Somehow the same or related circuitry Parkinson Foundation in recognition of Joel Moses, EECS and the Engineer- When Graybiel started out, it was that gets damaged in Parkinson’s disease is her contributions to the understanding and ing Systems Division (ESD); Phillip known that Parkinson’s and Huntington’s also involved in habit formation, addiction treatment of Parkinson’s disease. A. Sharp, biology; Isadore M. Singer, diseases were caused by malfunctions and procedural learning.” “Ann has been a giant in neuroscience mathematics; Daniel I.C. Wang, of the basal ganglia. Many researchers Graybiel received her PhD in 1971 from for many years, and she remains at the chemical engineering; and Sheila E. assumed that the basal ganglia controlled MIT. She is a member of the National top of her field,” said Robert Desimone, Widnall, aeronautics and astronautics only physical motion and gesture. Academy of Sciences, the Institute of the Doris and Don Berkey Professor of and ESD. It is in large part thanks to Graybiel’s Medicine, and the American Academy of Neuroscience and director of the McGov- The 10 Institute Professors research, however, that scientists have Arts and Sciences. Graybiel was named a ern Institute for Brain Research. “I cannot Emeriti are , come to see the basal ganglia as play- recipient of the 2001 National Medal of stress enough how Ann incorporates the Mildred S. Dresselhaus, Jerome I. ing a key role in a much broader scope Science, the nation’s highest science and most advanced approaches in molecular Friedman, Morris Halle, Chia-Chiao of activities, including learning, memory technology honor. biology and systems neuroscience for Lin, Mario Molina, Paul A. Samuel- and formation of habits. Her insights have In 2002, Graybiel was awarded the answering fundamental questions about son, Nevin S. Scrimshaw, Robert M. helped further researchers’ understanding James R. Killian Faculty Achievement the basal ganglia and their role in Parkin- Solow and John S. Waugh. of disorders such as Tourette Syndrome, Award, which recognizes extraordinary son’s disease, addiction, learning disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder and atten- professional accomplishment by full-time and schizophrenia.”