Celebrating the Class of 2017/ Pg. 5

uicnews.uic.edu

May 17

2 017

Volume 36 / Number 32 uicnews.uic.edu

For the community of the University of Illinois at Chicago

Celebrating the
Class of 2017/ pg. 5

Photo: UIC Creative & Digital Services

Faculty groups foster ideas

Legendary

East Meets

Softball team

crowned

restaurant

West highlights

collaborations

for discoveries

remembered in UIC archives league champs

12

3 6-7

8

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Twitter / uicnews

YouTube / uicmedia

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Instagram / thisisuic & uicamiridis

UIC News | Wednesday, May17, 2017

2

Speech team ﬁnds success in ﬁrst year

By Tim Goldrick — [email protected]

Left to right: Brittany Neloms, Meghna Peesapati, Sunil Dommaraju, Jacob Krol, Damon Horn, Michael Martinez, Nidhi Khare and Kristen Trandai. UIC’s Speech and Forensics team is making a name for itself during its ﬁrst year on campus. “I feel like our team has a new sense of conﬁdence because of how we’ve done this season,” says Dommaraju.

Great collegiate programs aren’t built overnight. But the inaugural year for UIC’s Speech and Forensics team can be characterized as a step in the right direction.
With only 10 undergraduate students and limited funding, the team placed 22nd out of 80 universities at the National Forensic Association’s National Tournament last month in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
It was a pleasant surprise, even for the club’s founders.
“When this first started, I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into,” said Michael Martinez, president of the team and a sophomore in finance and biological sciences. “I just wanted to compete. Now, this has turned into 10 individuals that almost consider each other family.
“When we stepped on to that national stage, I never imagined that this could happen.” performances and discuss upcoming tournaments. Each opportunity for competitive exposure was vital, given that the team consisted of individuals ranging from zero to a lot of experience.
“I’ve never done speech before,” said Sunil Dommaraju, a sophomore in bioengineering.
“It’s a learning process. Just by watching competitors and picking up the subtle techniques, you grow a lot.” much that doesn’t have a speech team?’” Martinez said. “They tweeted back at me, ‘Well, start one.’ My complaint ended up turning into something where UIC almost challenged us to start a team.”
Martinez and fellow undergrads answered the call in a clear way. nez said. “You’re not going to be able to have ownership of such success like that if you go to an already established program because all that infrastructure is already built out. We’re building it as we go.”
Next season is dedicated to taking another competitive step.
“I feel like our team has a new sense of confidence because of how we’ve done this season,” Dommaraju said.
“We entered not knowing what we were doing, and now that we’ve placed at this national tournament, I feel like next year we just want to show up at tournaments and be known as a recognizable force.”
Although it may seem cut and dried, speech competitions are much more complex than standing up and talking in front of judges. There are three different genres of speech: public address, interpretation and limited preparation. Individuals must be ready to perform one of the forms on contemporary topics that affect society.
With all these nuances, UIC achieved its first-year success through intensive preparation.
For the entire school year, the team met weekly to draft new speeches, evaluate past
Now, they are looking to grow the program into one of the nation’s best. Team members are recruiting Chicago high school students using a pitch centered on leaving a legacy.
The team wouldn’t have formed if it wasn’t for Martinez taking to social media to question why there wasn’t already the infrastructure to compete.
“I was upset and I tweeted at
UIC asking, ‘Why are we the only college in Illinois pretty
“If high school students come to our program, they will get the chance to shape this program into something that is going to be incredibly competitive on the national scale,” Marti-
For more information, visit

uicspeech.wixsite.com/home

Want to contribute a story? E-mail Christy Levy at [email protected]

UIC News | Wednesday, May17, 2017 uicnews.uic.edu

3

UIC Red aims to create consistent look for campus websites

By Francisca Corona — [email protected]

A new campus initiative is improving the look and feel of all UIC websites. and they can be trained in a couple of hours,” said Jodi White Jones, assistant dean for communications for the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA). The college’s new website, available at cuppa.uic.edu, is one example of how the platform can be used to create
The UIC Red multisite network, a WordPress resource, allows university departments to build and manage customized websites that also meet standards set by the university’s ongoing branding efforts.
The goal is to “provide a consistent and recognizable brand to prospective students, faculty, staff and the public,” Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan Poser wrote in a campus announcement.
Two presentations on UIC
Red, led by the Ofﬁce of Digital Communications, are scheduled: 2 p.m. May 24 in the Molecular Biology Research Building auditorium, and May 31 during the IT Pro Forum in Student Center East.
UIC-branded websites that are tailored to the needs of each unit.
“Within the structure of the website, there are different components that you can add or remove,” Jones said. “You’re able to use text, photos, graphics to communicate your message and there’s a wealth of components to choose from that can be structured to your audience.”
Technical support, provided by Digital Communications, is also readily available. Training sessions for individuals

The new website for the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs was created using the UIC Red multisite network. Two presentations are planned to provide an overview of the UIC-branded sites.

needed, and group training sessions are planned for the future. together to provide a really helpful, cost-effective process,” Jones said. ing consultations should email

[email protected]

For more information, visit

red.uic.edu

“Anybody can come in who

has never worked on a website

“All those things have come

Units interested in schedul-

and units can be scheduled as

Faculty foster ideas for discoveries

More than 200 faculty members across campus are engaging in enthusiastic discussions about their research in the hopes of forming new collaborations and developing innovative ideas for discoveries.
Workshops hosted by the
Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) began this spring, but all faculty members are invited to participate in the working groups, which will continue this summer and fall.
The groups focus on areas related to UIC’s research strengths and priorities: social justice and community disparities, urban infrastructure, functional and regenerative materials, the brain, personalized medicine/genomics and big data.
“We negotiate finding funding and give [faculty] whatever support they need to develop large, multidisciplinary proposals,” Dutta said.
In 2016, Dutta helped UIC researchers secure a two-year, $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to fund a STEM education program called INCLUDES, Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science.
“It’s small and it’s a pilot [program], but it allows us to apply for a $12.5 million award down the road,” Dutta said.
University leaders hope the groups will help shape the direction of UIC’s future research.
“We’re looking to help researchers get the car moving,” said Anthony Halford, director of sponsored projects in the Office of Research Services. “But ultimately, this has to be driven by them.”
For more information on the groups or to sign up, visit

research.uic.edu/research_ workshops

Faculty members across campus are participating in workshops to talk about their research and form new

At the request of Chancellor
Michael Amiridis, the research themes were identiﬁed by the OVCR, with help from the university’s Research Advisory Council, Dean’s Council, Senate Research Committee and faculty.

collaborations, says Mitra Dutta, vice chancellor for research (Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin)

research, brainstorm and problem-solve, which could potentially lead to cross-campus collaborations, said Mitra Dutta, vice chancellor for research.
“[Faculty] might not know on in another college or on another side of campus that may impact their own,” she said. “We are a full-service university. We have so many different disciplines in our different colleges. It’s easy to put people of all different kinds of expertise together. We need to take advantage of what we have.”
Dutta’s ofﬁce helps participants identify and pursue a variety of funding opportunities, too.
Working groups allow faculty

to come together, share their

about related work that’s going

4

University initiative aims to recruit exceptional faculty

By University Relations

The University of Illinois System will embark on a three-year, $60 million initiative to recruit world-class faculty to its universities in Chicago, UrbanaChampaign and Springfield.
$10 million each year, and the three universities will collectively match a total of $10 million per year for three years.
The funds are to be used for new faculty start-up costs, such as purchase of equipment, renovation of space, graduate student support, and other needs associated with supporting research and teaching of prominent faculty. Faculty salaries will not be covered. The goal is to recruit 10 to 15 “star faculty” each year, for a total of 45 system-wide in three years.
The objective is to attract tenured, high-achieving faculty of national and international distinction in a broad range of academic and research disciplines who can help transform the three universities because of their exceptional scholarship and teaching.
“This investment in exceptional faculty will, over time, pay dividends multifold by building up and reinforcing our ranks of world-class scholars and educators,” University President Tim Killeen said. “We must — and shall — remain a magnet for stellar academic talent and this new effort reconfirms our longstanding commitment to continued excellence for the University of Illinois System.”
The program is contingent on fullyear state funding of an appropriation for the U of I System for fiscal 2018 and subsequent years.
The universities may apply for matching funds to support the recruitment of rising star associate or full professors who are engaged in cutting-edge scholarship or creative activities, who are working in areas of high or emerging student demand, and who are able to provide transformative excellence to university missions. Emphasis also will be placed on faculty who enhance the diversity of departments and colleges at the three universities.
The President’s Distinguished Faculty Recruitment Program will be funded by System Offices with matching funds from each of the universities. The offices of the president and the executive vice president will provide a total of

University President Tim Killeen (Photo: UIC Photo Services)

UIC to host disaster drill

Make insurance changes during Beneﬁt Choice

UIC employees can change health and dental plans and enroll in flexible spending accounts through May 31 during the Benefit Choice period.
Employee and dependent health, dental and life insurance premiums remain the same as the current plan year, which ends June 30. cause of the company’s acquisition.
All changes during the Benefit
Choice period — the only time employees can make adjustments without qualifying events such as childbirth or marriage — must be made on the CMS MyBenefits Mar-

ketplace website, MyBeneﬁts.illinois. gov

The carrier will change for the
Quality Care Health Plan from Cigna to Aetna. The Aetna network includes 98 percent of the providers and facilities covered by the current Cigna network. The name of the Coventry HMO plan will change to Aetna be-
All changes will be effective July 1. Employees who want to enroll in a flexible spending account must re-enroll each year.
For more information, call 312-
996-6471.
Emergency response vehicles and personnel will be on campus May 19 for Operation Power Play, a statewide disaster preparedness drill. task forces, command posts, generators, trucks, an unmanned aerial system, a flying fixed-wing aircraft and other equipment near parking lot 1B, 1139 W. Harrison Street.
Two more exercises near UIC — close to the Chicago River and inside a ComEd substation — will simulate other catastrophic events.
The drill will test areas such as safety and health, emergency operations center management, critical logistics and resource management, interoperable communications and restoration of lifelines.
After the exercises, participants will identify areas for improvement.
For more information about Operation
Power Play 2017, visit bit.ly/2qWpcJN
Sponsoring agencies — including
UIC, ComEd, Ameren Illinois, the DuPage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Reserve — will work together to manage disasters more effi- ciently. The exercise will simulate a large storm damage scenario, where response teams would be pre-positioned to restore critical services. The event is scheduled to take place from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
People on campus should expect to see first responders, restoration teams,

5

CONGRATS

More than 5,300 degrees were awarded to the Class of 2017

CLASS OF 2017

during commencement ceremonies May 3–7.

WATCH THE VIDEO

youtube.com/uicmedia

Photos: UIC Creative & Digital Services

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East Meets West is a collaboration of Provost Susan Poser and Vice Chancellor of Health Affairs Robert Barish

meets

Engineering, dentistry collaboration leads to new biomaterials

By Bill Burton — [email protected]

Biomaterials optimally suited as scaffolds for tissue regeneration and reconstructive surgery have remained an elusive goal for material scientists and bioengineers. A collaboration between researchers in the College of Engineering and College of Dentistry has led to a breakthrough cal ﬁbrous substrate,” said Arghya Bishal, a doctoral student in the Richard and Loan Hill Department of Bioengineering, who is ﬁrst author on a paper published earlier this year in the Journal of Vacuum

Science & Technology A.

“We had to work at lower and lower temperatures — until we finally got to room temperature ALD of titanium dioxide.”
Together, could they find a way to modify and enhance the surface properties of a biological substrate? It would be Takoudis’s first foray into biomaterials. technique to improve the properties of one of the oldest — and widely used — structural biomaterials, collagen.
They imagined that the biocompatibility and bioactivity of commercially available collagen
The surprising achievement of room-temperature ALD was reached using a custom apparatus the researchers devised, and a new bit of chemistry: tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium as the titanium metal source, and ozone as the oxidizing agent, to generate titanium dioxide. The two components were introduced one after the other — with an argon purge in between — into a low-pressure chamber that held the collagen-membrane ALD substrate. The researchers repeated the ALD cycle 150, 300 and 600 times to grow titanium oxide films of increasing thicknesses that could each be compared to uncoated collagen membranes.
Collagen, the most abundant protein in mammals, has been employed as a biomaterial since sutures made from cat-gut were used to close the wounds of Roman gladiators. Strong, flexible, and unlikely to provoke an immune response, collagen membranes could be improved by coating them with an ultrathin layer of titanium dioxide, a compound widely used in cosmetics, sunscreens, food additives and dental/orthopaedic

Micrographs of control collagen and cycles 150, 300 and 600. Cycles were repeated to grow titanium oxide ﬁlms of increasing thickness.

membranes are used today in many medical applications, including tissue engineering, and dental bone grafting.
Seven years ago, bioengineering and chemical engineering professor Christos Takoudis met Cortino Sukotjo, an associate professor of restorative dentistry, at a campus social function.
“We realized we had common interests,” Takoudis said. “One from the clinical side, and one from the implants. They envimaterial-science and engineering side.”
Takoudis was working on atomic-layer deposition, or ALD — a workhorse technique of nanotechnology in the semiconductor industry that allows nanometer-thin layers of a metal or metal oxide to be uniformly and conformally applied to a substrate’s surface with two or three dimensional complex topography. Sukotjo was interested in improving dental implants materials. sioned using the ALD process to apply a nanolayer of the metal oxide to these complex nanostructured membranes.
But the challenge is that biological materials like collagen cannot withstand the heat of industrial ALD treatment — often higher than 200 degrees Celsius, or nearly 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Seventy degrees ‘C’ is the lowest others had gotten, especially for the ALD process of Titanium dioxide on biologi-
The researchers now plan to begin pre-clinical in vivo experiments, Sukotjo said, and try to create or modify new materials using other metals and/or ALD metal oxides to cater to the speciﬁc needs of different clinical applications.

“We had to work at lower and lower temperatures — until we ﬁnally got to room temperature,” says graduate student Arghya Bishal (center). (Photo: Jenny Fontaine)
UIC researchers Cortino Sukotjo and Christos Takoudis formed their collaboration after meeting at a campus social function. (Photo: Jenny Fontaine)

Are you involved in an east-west collaboration? Email [email protected] and we may feature your story!

7

Undergrads focus work on Latina breast cancer survivors

When Karina Reyes began her research on Latina breast cancer survivors’ adherence to anticancer medication, she thought about herself and her mom.
“I could relate,” said Reyes, a junior in LAS.
She looked over at her research partner, Jackelyn Cantoral, a kinesiology student, before adding that they are both Latinas. “It hit home for me,” she said.
Their research focuses on Hispanic women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. Their research subjects, who had already undergone active treatments such as chemotherapy, surgery or radiation, were prescribed an oral anticancer medication known as endocrine
— or hormonal — therapy.
“The medicine is supposed to prevent the cancer from coming back and keep them from dying,” said Reyes, a neuroscience major.
Research has found that in patients diagnosed with early breast cancer, treatment reduced recurrence within a ﬁve-year timeframe by 40 percent and started asking questions for an initial study.
“What are some of the barriers to adherence? Why aren’t they taking their medication? What things help them take their medication?” Reyes said.
After screening study participants — recruited from the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Latina Association of Breast Cancer in Chicago and Rush University Medical Center — the students asked women open-ended questions in separate hour-long interviews and transcribed their answers.
The results were used to create questionnaires that were implemented in the second part of the study, which gathered quantitative information from more

Karina Reyes presents her research on Latina breast cancer survirors’ adherence to anticancer medicine at the UIC Research Forum in April. (Photo: Vibhu S. Rangavasan)

Health Sciences.

test run will follow.

women about themes of nonadher-

ence.
The students found that Latina breast cancer survivors were unsure of the medication’s purpose and how it worked.
“Negative side effects didn’t really encourage them to take the endocrine therapy, either,” said Cantoral, a junior in the College of Applied

MINORITY POPULATIONS

REPORT POORER OUT-

COMES AFTER BEING DIAGNOSED, AND EVEN AFTER BEING TREATED FOR BREAST CANCER.

“Women would be like, ‘It feels terrible, so I’m just going to stop taking the medicine in general,’ not knowing that they were risking something much larger than just them feeling hot ﬂashes or joint pain,” Reyes said.
There were many cultural factors, too.
Faith and family motivated patients to follow through with medication regimens. Ineffective communication between doctors and
Contributions on all fronts have been helpful for the app’s advancement.
“I think that team science is always important,” said Joanna Buscemi, an adjunct faculty member with the UIC Institute for Health Research and Policy.
As a clinical psychologist, she hopes to help women participating in the pilot project use the app regularly.
“I have the behavioral intervention or evidence-based intervention expertise,” she said, adding that students keep the lab running.
Collaborator Betina Yanez, an assistant professor from Northwestern University, has extensive experience working with Latina women, and associate professor Alejandra PerezTamayo, who is also participating in the project, is a board-certiﬁed surgeon at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System. mortality by one-third.
But minority popula-

tions report poorer

patients, sometimes because of

language barriers, presented a barrier. Other themes were costs of treatment, lack of insurance coverage and transportation issues. outcomes after being diagnosed, and even after being treated for breast cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, the disease is still the leading cause of cancer-related death among Latina women.
Reyes and Cantoral worked on two projects to improve Latina women’s breast cancer outcomes.
The results are informing a larger pilot study that’s using a mobile-based application as an interventional tool for breast cancer survivors. The app, called Mi Guía or My Guide, is linguistically and culturally tailored to serve Hispanic women completing active treatment for breast cancer by improving
“If we were not all working together, there would be a really important piece

missing,” Yanez said.

Data suggests that

low medication adherence among non-white minorities could be one reason for the poorer outcomes, so the pair symptoms and quality of life. Research teams are about halfway done with the feasibility trial of the electronic tool. An improved version and larger
Research was funded in part by the
American Cancer Society and the Chicago Cancer Equity Collaborative.
For more information about Mi Guía,