SCIENCE = ART A REASON TO SMILE BLAST FROM THE PAST A new exhibit proves the two A treasure in your teeth A musician is bringing can be one and the same may someday save your life baroque sounds back

InnovationTHE RESEARCH MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS RESEARCH for a REGION

From health disparities to social injustices, UNLV researchers are tackling some of the toughest challenges our community faces

PERSPECTIVE: SIX DECADES OF RESEARCH UNLV INNOVATION

Future Forward

UNLV celebrates its 60th anniversary this academic year. Milestones like UNLV Innovation this tend to put everyone on campus in a reflective mood as we think back to our Fall 2017 Vol. 10, No. 1 beginnings, take stock of where we currently stand, and look toward our future goals. Editor-in-Chief Although much has changed since those early days—just check out some Raegen Pietrucha [email protected] campus pictures from the 1960s—we still celebrated many firsts this year: a new Consulting Editor Baroque Fest that brought a unique musical experience to the community, a new Cate Weeks exhibit that showcased science and math imagery as art, the inaugural class of Editorial Interns students in UNLV’s new School of Medicine, and more. Alexandra Karosas We’re also celebrating the arrival of a new key member of our leadership team: Rachel Glaze Mary Croughan, UNLV’s new vice president for research and economic develop- Contributing Art Director ment. Croughan is a seasoned administrator and researcher from the University of S. A. Lien California system with more than 30 years of experience in higher education, and Photographers we look forward to seeing where she will take our current research and economic Josh Hawkins development efforts. R. Marsh Starks Aaron Mayes So many of those efforts require an integration into and collaboration with our community. This connection enables UNLV research, scholarly, and creative Contributing Writers Tony Allen Len Jessup activities to stimulate diversification in our community; enrich our region’s cultural Marian Alper UNLV President vitality; create synergistic partnerships, collaborations, and pipelines; produce a Afsha Bawany powerful STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) Shane Bevell Vaneh Darakjian workforce; and bring new products and services to market. Kevin Dunegan I can’t say for sure exactly what the next 60 years will bring in the way of UNLV Caroline Funk innovations, but I have every faith that these innovations will impact the lives of Sara Gorgon Matt Keleman those in our community for the better. In the meantime, I hope that you will Sean Kennedy celebrate with us what we’ve already accomplished together; that you will enjoy this Kelly McDonough cross-section of research, scholarly, and creative activity happening in each of our Kristen Peterson Angela Ramsey colleges and schools in response to the issues our community faces today; and that Jason Scavone you will continue to share with us your goals for and vision of tomorrow. Chelsea Sendgraff Stan Smith Pashtana Usufzy Dr. Len Jessup Proofreaders UNLV President Liam Frink, David Hatchett Zach Miles, Lori Olafson Robin Toles, Jill Zimbelman As UNLV’s new vice president for research and economic development, I’m UNLV Vice President for delighted to share the latest issue of Innovation magazine with you. Research and Economic Development Our 2017 issue focuses on a subject that’s close to my heart: community-centered Mary Croughan research. As an epidemiologist, I have studied health issues such as infertility, UNLV Executive Vice pregnancy, and primary care in the hopes of improving the lives of those around me. President & Provost That goal continues as an administrator at UNLV, where I’m working to improve the Diane Chase research infrastructure and support so we can increase the quality and quantity of UNLV President research conducted at UNLV. The better the research that we conduct, the better we Len Jessup will be able to address issues in our community, the state, and the nation. NSHE Board of Regents One type of support that is mission critical for achieving this goal is mentorship. UNLV appreciates the Mentorship has made a tremendous difference in my life, from the social justice and leadership and support of our Nevada System of Higher service components of my parents’ careers to the dozens of mentors in teaching, Education Board of Regents. Mary Croughan career development, research, and administration who helped me grow toward the UNLV Vice President Kevin J. Page, Chairman for Research position I hold today. Jason Geddes, Vice Chairman and Economic I plan to pay it forward here at UNLV through creating and building upon programs Andrea Anderson Patrick Carter Development that foster strong mentoring relationships among our researchers. With increased inter- Cedric Crear disciplinary collaboration, grant-writing partnerships, and improved research infrastruc- Carol Del Carlo ture, we become more competitive for the funding required to conduct impactful Mark W. Doubrava Trevor Hayes research and build a stronger campus even better equipped to address the issues of Sam Lieberman our larger Nevada community. Cathy McAdoo Please feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] to share your John T. Moran Allison Stephens thoughts on what our community needs as well as your ideas on how we can work Rick Trachok together to address those needs from a research perspective and beyond. There is Dean J. Gould, Chief of Staff and much we can accomplish through collaboration. Special Counsel to the Board To learn more about our goals and our latest research endeavors, visit unlv.edu/ UNLV Innovation is published research. by the Division of Research and Economic Development, 4505 Dr. Mary Croughan S. Maryland Pkwy., Las Vegas, Nevada, 89154-1092. UNLV Vice President for Research and Economic Development unlv.edu/research UNLV is an AA/EEO institution. n s H awki Josh table of contents

Features Departments

10 DENTISTS GET CRACKING ON THE STEM CELL 2 RESEARCH BRIEFS Bad news for astronauts headed FRONT A new gadget gave one team the break it needed to to Mars, breast cancer survival rates in Southern Nevada, advance stem cell research. the esports trend, and more.

14 SCIENCE COMES TO THE CANVAS Experience the 34 HARRY REID SILVER STATE RESEARCH beauty of science displayed at an inaugural UNLV exhibit. AWARD UNLV engineer Kwang Kim studies both energy and matter to solve sustainability and health care 22 our region’s Helping Hands UNLV researchers conundrums. work to brighten the future for Nevada, its neighbors, and beyond. 40 Books Authors explore atomic testing, sexual harassment 38 BEYOND THE BAROQUE How one musician’s research led and discrimination in the workplace, and more. to a new festival for Southern Nevada. 48 Research Report An annual accounting of research and economic development activity over the last fiscal year.

52 PERSPECTIVE ESSAY Professor emeritus Stan Smith reflects on the research progress UNLV has made in its 60-year lifetime.

A severe shortage of health care providers. A high domestic violence fatality rate. Unequal access to education. Poor mental health care. Inadequate support for people with autism. Nevada faces all these challenges and more. Find out what UNLV researchers are doing about it in our cover story on page 22. research.unlv.edu innovation / 3 UNLV RESEARCH BRIEFS

Epidemiologist Paulo Pinheiro and his team discovered that the survival rate for Southern Nevadan women with breast cancer stands nearly 5 percent below the national rate and is Breast Cancer especially low for the state’s black and Deaths Are Filipina women. Higher in Southern Nevadans

ccording to the American Cancer So- ciety, breast cancer is the second most Acommon cancer after skin cancer and the second most deadly cancer after lung can- cer. Largely due to increases in screening and improvements in treatment, mortality rates have declined overall by 36 percent since their peak in 1989, but these gains have not been realized uniformly across all regions or all ra- cial/ethnic groups in the U.S. Paulo Pinheiro (associate professor of epi- demiology in UNLV’s School of Community Health Sciences) and students Karen Callahan (recipient of the Stacy Darling Scholarship), Nevena Cvijetic, and Rachel Kelly collaborated with the Nevada Central Cancer Registry and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine to produce a telling study on breast cancer rate disparities among women in Ne- vada. The researchers obtained registry data on women diagnosed with breast cancer be- tween 2003 and 2010, making linkages with the National Death Index as well as the Social Security Administration Masterfile to mini- mize the number of missing deaths, thereby improving the accuracy of survival data. A survival rate was then calculated for the entire state and stratified by race/ethnicity. Of the 11,111 cases of breast cancer identi- fied from 2003 to 2010 in the Nevada Central survival is stage at diagnosis, which has been survival rates primarily because they are more Cancer Registry, most cases were from South- linked to mammography screening. Nevada is likely to have aggressive tumors and are typi- ern Nevada (68 percent). Almost one-third of in the lowest quartile for state mammography cally diagnosed at later stages. The disparity all cases occurred in women under the age of rates at 73 percent, compared to the U.S. aver - for Filipina women was largely attributable to 55. The overall five-year survival rate in Ne- age of 80 percent. late-stage diagnosis as well, though Filipinas vada was 84.4 percent, significantly lower than By race/ethnicity, survival was highest for also are more likely than other Asian groups the U.S.’ overall survival rate of 89.2 percent. Asian (non-Filipina) women, at 89.5 percent. to experience obesity, which is linked to lower Women from Southern Nevada with breast Filipinas and blacks showed a disadvantage breast cancer survival. JOSH HAWKINS cancer had a 16 percent higher risk of death in survival compared to all other racial/ethnic The researchers’ results were published in than women from the state’s second highest groups analyzed, at 76.6 percent and 76.0 per- “Worse Breast Cancer Outcomes for Southern population center, northwestern Nevada. cent, respectively. The researchers found that Nevadans, Filipina and Black Women” in Spring- The strongest predictor of breast cancer black women are likely to suffer from lower er’s Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.

2 / INNOVATION 2017 UNLV Students Take the … Cup?

n search of relief from achy joints? Wish Iyou could architect the perfect vacation experience? Interested in combining your love of video games and winning big money by exploring the emerging esports industry? Student entrepreneurs from UNLV have got a business plan for that. Of the more than three dozen teams competing in the 2017 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition, which is designed to foster economic develop- Esports ment and creative learning by encourag- ing multidisciplinary student teams from Nevada universities and colleges to use Experts their ideas and talents to create tomor- ccording to a report from research row’s businesses, eight finalists emerged from UNLV’s Lee Business School. group Newzoo, there are about 148 Ultimately, one UNLV undergraduate Amillion esports enthusiasts, and the team and two graduate-level teams took industry is expected to generate $1 billion in home three of the contest’s seven awards, revenue by 2019. walking away with more than $55,000 in The UNLV International Gaming Institute cash and prizes to be used to bring their (IGI) is on the front line of the trend, helping stu- ideas to market. Teams RAD and Window dents, faculty, and the gaming and resort industry Magic placed first and second at the learn about esports and capitalize on it. graduate division, respectively, and Last fall Robert Rippee, director of IGI’s GameTrainer placed second at the UNLV International undergraduate level. Gaming Institute’s The Resilient Arthroplasty Device offered of its kind focusing on the business elements of the phenomenon. The Hospitality Lab, launched the Esports Lab, the first class that any university has Robert Rippee (RAD) is a new and patented technology Esports Lab focuses on designing and developing hypothetical business models (top left), that will revolutionize how the orthopedic to show how esports can work in a modern resort-casino setting. Students are Jennifer Roberts (top right), and community treats and approaches knee Brett Abarbanel pain and total knee arthroplasty Rippee expects esports to revolutionize casinos as it has his classroom, part (bottom) take the (replacements). Window Magic is a oftasked which with will exploring be converted events, to aprofitability, permanent loyalty,multiuse and esports customer facility engagement. soon. lead in researching custom experience developer with a esports, a new “Esports is the hottest topic in every board room on the Strip,” Rippee said. trend that turns focus on the hospitality industry that “It just made sense to me that UNLV should play a leading role in advancing video-game playing enhances or completely alters the view knowledge-based research and economic modeling to support the industry and into a spectator out of any resort suite window using sport. allow them to make better decisions.” current OLED technology. GameTrainer is an esports website where users learn how Speaking of leading roles, Brett Abarbanel (IGI’s director of research) and to improve at video games and get Jennifer Roberts (associate director of IGI’s International Center for Gaming trained and coached by top-ranking - competitive players. chairmanRegulation) of foundedthe Downtown the nonprofit Grand) Nevada and Chris Esports Grove Alliance (of Narus (NVEA) Advisors this andFebru Ei- lersary along& Krejcik with Gaming). founding The members NVEA is Seth educating Schorr the (CEO region of Fifth about Street the esportsGaming phe and- nomenon, providing relevant research and resources that promote the develop- ment of best practices at the intersection of the esports and regulated gambling industries, such as casino integration of esports, legal and regulatory processes, game development, and competition infrastructure.

foster Nevada’s role in this domain by bringing together stakeholders from all areas“Esports of esports, has hadincluding significant industry, global regulatory, impact,” Abarbanel academic, said.and more.” “We’re aiming to And this October, Abarbanel contributes her esports expertise to Gaming Law Review and Economics’ (GLRE) dedicated esports issue, for which she’ll serve as guest editor. This special issue of GLRE, a peer-reviewed journal The Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup addressing important regulatory and economic issues facing today’s gaming awarded more than $55K in seed money to three UNLV teams for their health care, hospitality, and industry, will be among the first to take an in-depth look at esports through esports business ideas. scholarly articles, opinion pieces, and more. GOVERNOR’S CUP: COURTESY TAHOE CREATIVE; ESPORTS: UNLV PHOTO SERVICES PHOTO UNLV ESPORTS: CREATIVE; TAHOE CUP: COURTESY GOVERNOR’S

research.unlv.edu INNOVATION / 3 UNLV RESEARCH BRIEFS

A new research tool spearheaded by the UNLV University Libraries’ Cory Lampert (left) and Silvia Southwick (right) helps the world discover more connections among the region’s Jewish community.

ormer U.S. Congresswoman Shel- links between people, organizations, Closing the Fley Berkley is the daughter of and communities; allowing users to George Levine, who was captain of physically see relationships as well as Degrees of the Sands Copa Room in the Rat Pack observe how those connections have days, which “Mr. Entertainment” Jack evolved over time. Separation Entratter indelibly infused with Ve- “When you use online search en- gas-style glamour as an executive at gines to conduct an internet search, you the Sands Hotel and Casino. And the get a long list of search results without linkages go on … any context,” said Cory Lampert, head You may not have been able to de- of UNLV University Libraries’ digi- termine these connections, however, if tal collections. “With nonproprietary it weren’t for UNLV University Librar- linked open data, there is no ambiguity

ies’ new Navigator tool. Navigator is and connections between people, orga- JOSH HAWKINS an online research browser that uses nizations, and communities are auto- linked data embedded in the Libraries’ matically linked for users, which leads Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Proj- to richer discovery of information.” ect digital collection to create visualized Linked data is created when

4 / INNOVATION 2017 UNLV engineer previously isolated or inaccessible Drumroll, Please ... Robert Schill takes the guesswork out of information trapped in online documents deactivating explosive and databases is cracked open and The NASA Award devices. transformed into an open web data Goes to UNLV! format that computers can organize automatically. Linked data extends the n February NASA reach of information, enabling it to Iannounced the express the interconnectedness of people, winners of its Fiscal Year places, and things more thoroughly, 2016 Small Business Industry Awards at its frequently, accurately, and—in the case of Washington headquar- the UNLV University Libraries—visually. ters, naming UNLV and “This will be the way that people Teledyne Brown search for information going forward,” Engineering as the Lampert said. “Smarter results sets winner of the Mentor- Protégé Agreement of can save users the Year award for their The UNLV time and provide partnership. University Libraries them with new The award stems from ranks as the 15th ways to dive into the successful collabora- tion between UNLV and most productive just the aspects academic library for Teledyne Brown academic research of the data that Engineering through in the nation, are meaningful to NASA’s Mentor-Protégé FPO according to a their research.” Program—the first of its study published in Lampert and kind between a Marshall the May issue of Space Flight Center recently retired D69352_01 College and (MSFC) prime contractor Research Libraries, metadata librar- and a minority-serving the bimonthly ian Silvia South- institution. The agree- scholarly research wick have led ment was entered into by UNLV, NASA, and journal published UNLV University by the American NASA large prime New Patent Covers Library Libraries’ linked contractor Teledyne Association’s data charge, us- Brown Engineering in ‘Explosive’ Subject Association of ing the Southern 2015. College and Nevada Jewish The program iven how commonplace the use of explosive devices has Research Libraries. provided two UNLV Heritage Project Gbecome in fields such as construction, mining, demoli- The ranking is students and a based on the total as the pilot project postdoctoral candidate tion, and more, the need for an effective method to deactivate number of to build Naviga- with the opportunity to such devices—particularly in a safe and controlled fashion— peer-reviewed tor. In addition to work with NASA and becomes clear. Teledyne Brown academic research making it easier Robert Schill—director of the Center for Energy Materials articles published Engineering in Hunts- by library faculty for researchers to ville, Alabama, on Interaction Technology Initiative of Nevada (EMITION), pro- between 2003 explore the digi- multimedia training fessor of electrical and computer engineering, and an expert and 2012. tal collection and development for in areas including electromagnetics and plasma physics—has visualize findings, International Space been working on this problem and was awarded a patent for Station Payload Ground Navigator connects the collection to li- Support Personnel and his solution to it. braries, universities, and other informa- Payload Developers on Many of today’s explosive devices are triggered electri- tion repositories so anyone anywhere the Mission Operations & cally or electronically and can be difficult to transport or ma- can access the information anytime. Integration (MO&I) nipulate. Schill’s patent, “Diminishing Detonator Effectiveness contract. Upon Materials in the Southern Nevada Jew- Through Electromagnetic Effects” (#9,448,042), covers the ap- graduation, one of the ish Heritage Project digital collection students joined the paratuses and methods for deactivating or hindering the per- are discoverable through a quick key- MO&I team to continue formance of these sensitive detonation devices, thereby reduc- word search via its local website, linked this exciting work. ing intentional and accidental triggerings of detonators. His data search engines, linked data brows- UNLV was nominated solution takes the guesswork out of disabling explosive devic- by Teledyne Brown ers, and topical or regional aggregators. Engineering as the Small es that can employ any number of activation methods, such as “The project opens up our data for Business Subcontractor movement or timing, by attacking the heart of the problem— further discovery,” Southwick said. of the Year for FY2016 the detonator element itself—and reducing its functionality. “The true realization of this project’s at NASA’s MSFC and “When we talk about explosives, we’re talking about po- previously received a success will come as we continue to tentially life-or-death situations,” said Zach Miles, UNLV’s as- Small Business connect to other repositories with Subcontractor Excel- sociate vice president of economic development. “Explosives more of our data published online and lence Award as well as a safety is mission critical, and Schill’s patented work is a com- NASA Mentor-Protégé

R. MARSH STARKS made easily discoverable.” pelling addition to UNLV’s portfolio.” Program Participation Award from NASA.

research.unlv.edu INNOVATION / 5 UNLV RESEARCH BRIEFS

Life on Our Planet and Beyond

hen most of us venture out into our Wnatural surroundings, we’re busy simply enjoying it. UNLV’s geoscientists, on the other hand, see something much deeper when they look at the rocks and trees around them. UNLV geoscientists Christopher Adcock, Oliver Tschauner, Elisabeth Hausrath, Arya Udry, Minghua Ren, and a team of interna- tional researchers looked at the shock-induced dehydration of minerals in meteorites, includ- ing those from Mars, and have concluded that our early solar system may have had more water than previously thought, which has important implications for the origins of our solar system and the possibility of life out- UNLV geoscientists and students like undergraduate Amber Turner (left, with alumna Lisa Danielson) are studying our planet and others to understand the impacts humans are having on Earth and the possibilities of life beyond it. side of Earth. The article detailing their find- ings, “Shock-Transformation of Whitlockite to Merrillite and the Implications for Meteoritic able to live on planets like Mars in the future. are expected to continue heating up. Phosphate,” was picked up by the prestigious That possibility may be more critical to In the meantime, the signing of a new five- academic research journal Nature Communi- our long-term survival than we’ve thought. year funding agreement awarding $1.5 million cations this spring. UNLV geoscientist Matthew Lachniet, Ph.D. per year from the U.S. Department of Agricul- Speaking of the possibility of life on other student Jonathan Baker (recipient of the Ber- ture Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Anal- planets, Amber Turner, a first-generation UNLV nada French Scholarship), and other research- ysis (FIA) program to UNLV means good news senior majoring in geology, began working ers recently found evidence of nearly con- for forests across the United States, which help alongside Lisa Danielson, UNLV Graduate Col- tinuous warming from the end of the last Ice reduce the effects of climate change. Led by lege Alumna of the Year and geoscientist, at Age to the present in the Ural Mountains in James Pollard, UNLV’s program director for the Jacobs/NASA this spring to explore whether or central Russia, contradicting the current be- partnership, the joint venture ensures that 16 not humans might someday have a relocation lief that northern hemisphere temperatures UNLV researchers can continue studying and option. As a high-pressure experimental petrol- peaked 6,000 to 8,000 years ago and cooled developing the best information-management ogy intern, Turner studies what happens to min- until the pre-Industrial period. Their research, systems for collecting, compiling, and distrib- erals when they are exposed to high pressures published in the top geoscience journal Nature uting data to policy makers, researchers, inter- and temperatures in magmatic (magma-related) Geoscience, also indicates that winter tem- est groups, industry, and the general public. systems on the moon and Mars. These experi- perature variations in continental Eurasia are The data informs forest-product economics, ments reveal insights on petrogenesis, the geo- warmer today than any time in the past 11,000 wildlife habitat modeling, efficacy and sustain- logic history of rocks, which will ultimately help years. Along with human-caused warming ability of management practices, threat assess- scientists determine whether humans will be from greenhouse gases, summers and winters ment, conservation education, and more.

stature in five areas: teach- Corman suggested that She’s spent the last decade The UNLV Executive Vice Super ing, academic advising, Menendez write and direct researching the evolution of President and Provost’s Of- creative activities, research, a film that Corman could the human diet and how it fice selected four standout Six and early-career (or “rising”) serve as executive producer affects family development faculty members for Barrick hat do a heist thriller, research. on. The feature Stealing Las to forward our understand- Scholar Awards, which rec- Wthe evolving human Artistic director and Vegas is now in commercial ing of how we evolved and ognize UNLV faculty mem- diet, water quality, consumer professor of filmFran - distribution in countries what makes us unique. She’s bers who have produced behavior, literature, and Mars cisco Menendez received a around the world. Several received several grants, a significant amount of have in common? All were Regents’ Creative Activities UNLV faculty and students including funding from the high-quality, interdisciplinary the foundation of research Award, which came with a appear in the credits for the National Science Foundation. research or creative output awards UNLV faculty gar- $5,000 stipend and a medal. film, whose proceeds return Her work on the gut mi- recognized by scholars and nered this year. Menendez joined UNLV to UNLV. crobes of Tanzania’s Hadza journals within and outside The Nevada System of in 1990 and has received Lincy Assistant Professor hunter-gatherer group has their primary disciplines. Higher Education (NSHE) two Charles Vanda Awards of Anthropology Alyssa garnered worldwide atten- Seyhmus Baloglu, profes- Board of Regents selected for excellence in the arts. Crittenden received a tion and has been featured sor and Harrah Distinguished JOSH HAWKINS two high-achieving UNLV In 2008, Menendez was Regents’ Rising Researcher in media outlets including Chair in the William F. Harrah faculty for Regents’ Awards, approached by Academy Award, which came with National Geographic, College of Hotel Adminis- which honor accomplish- Award-winning producer a $2,000 stipend. Critten- Science, New York Times, tration, received a Barrick ments that increase NSHE’s and director Roger Corman. den joined UNLV in 2011. Wired, NPR, and more. Distinguished Scholar Award,

6 / INNOVATION 2017 Collateral Damage From Cosmic Rays Increases Cancer Risk for Mars Astronauts

n 2014, UNLV scientist Francis Cucinotta, a leading scholar on radiation and space Iphysics, first shared his research with Innovation magazine on astronauts’ cancer risk. This summer, his findings from a related project were published in Scientific Reports. They predict a dramatic, nearly twofold increase in cancer risk for astronauts traveling to Mars or on long-term missions outside the protection of Earth’s magnetic field. “Exploring Mars will require missions of 900 days or longer and includes more than one year in deep space, where exposures to all energies of galactic cosmic ray heavy ions are unavoidable,” Cucinotta explained. “Current levels of radiation shielding would, at best, modestly decrease the exposure risks.” Previous studies have shown the health risks to astronauts from galactic cosmic ray exposure include cancer, central nervous system effects, cataracts, circulatory diseases, and acute radiation syndromes. Conventional risk models used by NASA and others have assumed DNA damage and mutation are the cause of radiation cancers, based on studies employing high doses of radiation where all cells are traversed by heavy ions one or more times within much shorter time periods than will occur during space mis- sions. Cucinotta’s new findings reveal that a nontargeted effect model—where cancer risk arises in bystander cells close to heavily damaged cells—would result in a twofold or more increase in cancer risk compared to the conventional risk models. “Galactic cosmic ray exposure can devastate a cell’s nucleus and cause mutations that can result in cancers,” said Cucinotta, who recently received a five-year, $3.02 mil- Scientist Francis Cucinotta developed a lion grant from the National Cancer Institute for a project studying radiation cancer new predictive model therapy. “We learned the damaged cells send signals to the surrounding, unaffected showing that radiation cells and likely modify the tissues’ microenvironments. Those signals seem to inspire from cosmic rays extends from damaged the healthy cells to mutate, thereby causing additional tumors or cancers.” to otherwise healthy Cucinotta said his findings demonstrate a tremendous need for additional studies “bystander” cells, focused on cosmic ray exposures to tissues that dominate human cancer risks. He also effectively doubling astronauts’ cancer risk. recommended that such studies begin prior to long-term space missions outside the Earth’s geomagnetic sphere.

which provided $5,000 in Distinguished Scholar Award. Arts, won a Barrick Scholar including The Atlantic and environmental implications recognition of his lengthy He joined UNLV in 2006. An Award, which acknowledged The Huffington Post, for her of homelessness; and service in academia after elected fellow in the American the achievements she made groundbreaking research innovations at the nexus receiving his terminal degree. Academy of Microbiology, in her academic career in race and cultural studies, of food, energy, and water Baloglu came to UNLV in 1996 Bazylinski researches a bacteria and carried a stipend of and she collaborated with systems. He’s produced 30 and is one of the college’s most that orient themselves with $2,500. She joined UNLV acclaimed novelist Jamaica peer-reviewed journal articles frequently cited authors, with the Earth’s magnetic field, in 2013. Lee studied the Kincaid on two projects. with 858 citations. His work more than 10,000 citations which has implications in intersection of African- Daniel Gerrity, professor has opened the door to to date. One area of Baloglu’s the debate about life on Mars. American, Caribbean, and of engineering in the Howard numerous interdisciplinary research focuses on con- His interdisciplinary work has British literature, exploring R. Hughes College of collaborations with peers on sumer behavior in hospitality resulted in several publications, the boundaries of race and Engineering, won a Barrick campus, at other institutions, and tourism; little was known including articles in Science culture. Her research agenda Scholar Award. He joined and in the private sector in about consumers’ perceptions and Nature. An internationally included a mix of peer- UNLV in 2012. A former the areas of engineering, of hotel brands or customer recognized scientist, reviewed books and articles, postdoctoral researcher life sciences, nursing, film, loyalty prior to the late 1990s. Bazylinski’s work has been essays, interviews in public for the Southern Nevada education, and sociology. Dennis Bazylinski, cited more than 10,000 times. venues, and conference Water Authority, Gerrity All of these professors professor of microbiology in Julia Lee, former presentations. She has studies water reuse; the were recognized at UNLV’s the School of Life Sciences, professor of English in the been featured in national rise of antibiotic resistance; Academic Achievement also received a Barrick UNLV College of Liberal and international media, water quality; the social and Awards Ceremony in April. AARON MAYES

research.unlv.edu INNOVATION / 7 UNLV RESEARCH BRIEFS

Sarah Tanford’s research through simulated online review sites demonstrates the impact consumer opinion can have on the service industry.

That’s where UNLV Harrah College of Hospitality pro- Placing Faith in fessor Sarah Tanford comes in. A well-known expert in the area of hospitality consumer behavior, Tanford’s research Virtual Strangers has been featured in several journals, at conferences, and in news outlets such as the New York Times. Over the past ’ve heard good things,” a friend says after learning of “Iyour tentative vacation plans at a certain beachside review sites, examining a number of elements to evaluate resort. You smile, but you’re still gripped with doubt. After five years, she’s been plumbing the depths of online travel all, this is your one big trip this year, and it needs to be constructing mock review sites that allow customers to pro- postcard-perfect. how various options might influence customer decisions. By Refusing to leave your booking decision to chance, you able to test how prospective travelers react when choosing take to your laptop to consult a more reliable friend: your fa- wherevide feedback to stay andon fictional what to hotelseat. and restaurants, Tanford is vorite travel review site. Here, you scrutinize amenities and “Simulating the online travel review space means that

weigh the opinions of a mostly anonymous lot whose experi- I can control the variables, which cannot be done using JOSH HAWKINS ences may very well become the blueprint for your vacation. real sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp,” Tanford said. In the But while we consumers are empowered by online travel virtual world she’s created, Tanford can control the way reviews, the service industry continues to struggle with try- photos appear; test the effectiveness of different styles of rating systems; and experiment with the way sustainability,

ing to figure out just what, exactly, we want.

8 / INNOVATION 2017 reputation, location, price, and more are communicated and promoted. Having previously worked as a man- ager in the casino industry and a se- nior analyst in travel distribution mar- keting, Tanford knows the stakes are particularly high in the self-conscious world of hospitality. “There’s a thing called the negativ- ity bias,” said Tanford, whose work is heavily rooted in social psychology theory. “Even a single negative review in a series of positive reviews can cause someone to choose a different hotel or restaurant.” Positive reviews, on the other hand, have a measurable effect when it comes to price: “People are actually willing to pay more for a resort with positive re- views while remaining hesitant to book a negatively reviewed resort, even at a steep discount,” she said. But why, in light of your friend’s glowing endorsement of the beach- side resort, would you feel the need UNLV @ CES to seek the opinions of strangers in the first place? BE Fthe Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which regu- larlyor attracts the first more time than in 175,000 its history, techies UNLV from exhibited around the at INFORMED, interaction, Tanford said—one of the world. UNLV students, faculty, and administrators got to mostIt’s persuasive our affinity forms for word-of-mouth of communi- STAY show off just how the Rebel spirit drives innovation. cation, according to research she and On display was an engineering student team’s inven- others have conducted. “Even though INVOLVED tion: a smart microwave that works through technology these reviewers are strangers, we designed to read a special QR code on food packaging, think of them as just regular people For the latest on UNLV’s which in turn instructs the device on how to prepare like you and me. Their word-of-mouth research, creative, what’s inside. advice is viewed as more objective scholarly, and economic Although a love of technology initially inspired attend- than advertisers or professional travel development activities, ees to come to CES, UNLV’s kinship with the community experts. Like you, these travelers have please visit us online: deepened as handshakes were extended, conversations invested time and money selecting an began, and food was shared. President Jessup made many Website: experience that matches their expecta- new connections … and might have even found a couple unlv.edu/research tions. Their perspectives feel like free of future UNLV students along the way. advice, a glimpse behind the curtain.” Facebook: That being said, Tanford’s research UNLVresearch shows that the online review is just Twitter: one of many tools in a consumer’s de- @unlvresearch cision-making arsenal—though she YouTube: does admit that sometimes custom- UNLV RED ers fall into the trap of blindly follow- ing the pack. For your free “The bottom line is, consumers subscription to UNLV’s research magazine, when making travel choices,” Tan- Innovation, and fordshould said. consider “Online their reviews specific are needs just e-newsletter, please email us at one piece of the puzzle.” After all, that [email protected]. will be yours, not theirs. trip—however terrific or terrible—

research.unlv.edu INNOVATION / 9 10 / innovation 2017 Dentists Get Cracking on the Stem Cell Front

UNLV researchers developed a method for extracting tooth root pulp that quadruples the number of stem cells that can be harvested and replicated to treat a variety of medical conditions.

Stem cells. Few research discoveries hold as much promise of single-handedly expanding medical treatment options as they do. Miraculously able to act as transformers—either re-creating or morphing into a variety of cell types found within the organisms they originate from—stem cells offer humanity hope for new, more effective therapies against a number of chronic and terminal diseases. And finding them is surprisingly easy. “Stem cells can be extracted from nearly any living tissue,” said Dr. James Mah, director of UNLV’s courtesy pouya momtaz advanced education program in orthodontics, doctor of dental surgery, and dental researcher. “In fact, stem cells can even be found in tissues of the deceased.” But in spite of all their potential, there’s a catch: “The biggest challenges with stem cells are gathering enough of them to work with and keeping them

research.unlv.edu innovation / 11 viable until they are needed,” Dr. Mah said. He and UNLV biomedical sciences professor Karl Kingsley—along with a handful of under- graduate, graduate, and postdoctoral dental stu- dents—decided to take on this challenge, cutting their teeth in stem cell research by exploring those pearly whites in new ways. In the process, they de- veloped a new method for extracting large num- bers of stem cells they could then preserve from a surprisingly abundant source: wisdom teeth. “More and more adults—approximately 5 million throughout the country—have their wisdom teeth, or third molars, removed,” Kingsley said. “Extracting teeth is relatively common among patients undergoing orth- odontic treatments. And the majority of those teeth are healthy, containing viable tooth root pulp that offers opportunities for reproducing cells that have been damaged or destroyed by injuries or disease.”

A tough nut to crack Tooth root pulp is home to two types of prized stem cells. The first, pluripotent stem cells, have the ability to become any cell in the organism from which they’re drawn. The second, multipotent stem cells, transform into specific types of cells within that organism. Knowing where to find these cells was one thing. Recovering them, the researchers knew, “Happy had reviewed fracture mechanics Excavating for success would be another. literature and decided on a technique that scored Now that the researchers had cracked the Common methods for extracting root pulp the tooth to enable a clean break, similar to the challenge of accessing the root pulp, it was on to involve drilling into, removing the top of, or process for custom-cut glass,” O’Toole said. After determining how many viable stem cells they shattering the tooth. Each method has its a few discussions, some of Engineering’s could recover from the fractured teeth. Average detriments, Dr. Mah said, all of which lead to a personnel helped Ghag fabricate the device. pulp recovery rates employing common low stem-cell recovery rate: damaging heat from The completed instrument, which the extraction methods (e.g., shattering, drilling, etc.) drilling, corrosive elements in the water teeth research team facetiously dubbed the “Tooth come in at around 20 percent, Dr. Mah noted. are rinsed in, contaminating enamel particulates, Cracker 5000,” uses a clamp to hold a tooth in It was time to test the mettle of their new and more. So the researchers sought to discover position for a cutting tool to score the surface fracture method. Dr. Mah and Kingsley dyed 31 how to extract pulp in a manner that consistently and a blade to crack it. The result: a perfectly fractured teeth pulp samples to highlight any produced a higher yield. halved tooth, with immediate access to viable stem cells the teeth contained. Dead cells “Initially, the answer seemed simple: crack undamaged and uncontaminated root pulp. would turn blue when exposed to the dye. Living the tooth in half like a nut and remove the pulp,” For O’Toole, this was just another successful cells would appear clear. Dr. Mah said. collaboration between the two units, as They looked under the microscope. Eighty Unfortunately, teeth have irregular surfaces Mechanical Engineering had been interacting percent of their extracted cells remained clear and nonuniform shapes, so cracking teeth usually with the School of Dental Medicine’s orthodontic after the dye was introduced. produces the same shattering effect as a hammer, program for a few years. “Saying the test results were promising is a thereby reducing the number of viable stem cells. “Orthodontics, by definition, is a gross understatement,” Dr. Mah said. “We Alumnus Happy Ghag, then a dental student bioengineering topic,” O’Toole said. “They design realized we’d invented an extraction process working with Dr. Mah and Kingsley on the and place mechanisms in people’s mouths that that produced four times the recovery success project, thought he might have a solution to the help move teeth into optimum position. The rate for viable stem cells. The potential dilemma. He approached Mohamed Trabia interaction between our departments makes a application is enormous.” (UNLV Howard R. Hughes College of lot of sense.” Engineering’s associate dean for research, With the Tooth Cracker 5000 complete, Dr. Replicating for a rainy day graduate studies, and computing) and Brendan Mah and Kingsley tested the fracture rate of 25 After mastering fracturing and extraction, it O’Toole (Mendenhall Innovation Program teeth, achieving a 100 percent rate of success. was time for the team to determine what kind of director and mechanical engineering researcher) The fracture idea and design prototype had stem cells could be harvested and how best to to discuss fracture analysis. worked perfectly. store them.

12 / innovation 2017 EXTRACTING HOPE UNLV researchers James Mah (left) and Karl Kingsley (center) sought and found a unique method for extracting and preserving large quantities of dental stem cells, which they hope will someday be used to treat a number of illnesses. The Tooth Cracker 5000 (above), a device invented by School of Dental Medicine alumnus Happy Ghag (not pictured) and UNLV engineering researchers, cracks source teeth in a way that ensures the stem cells inside remain undamaged and uncontaminated.

Normal cells within the body typically die for additional tests, Kingsley indicated that the and freeze teeth for future studies and use, but after 10 replications or passages, whereas stem next logical step in this research would be to there is no evidence about the long-term effects cells can replicate indefinitely, Kingsley test stem cells in humans to treat any number of cryopreservation. We can’t answer yet just indicated. To isolate the stem cells from the rest of chronic illnesses people face. how long the cells will survive.” of the root pulp, the researchers harvested cells “There are potential applications of stem cells In 2011, alumna Allison Tomlin (then a stu- from the pulp and cultured them on a petri for multiple diseases, including cancer, arthritis, dent) studied different populations of stem cells dish. Once the cells covered the dish, they split and lung disease,” Kingsley said. “The next and their viability after being thawed. Every the culture in half and repeated the process challenge is reliably collecting the stem cells year since, Kingsley and his team have thawed a between 10 and 20 times. early enough and storing them successfully so portion of Tomlin’s sample and evaluated the vi- By the end of the culturing, all nonstem cells they can be used when needed.” ability of remaining stem cells. Initial find- had expired. Kingsley captured the remaining ings—which Kingsley, Tomlin, and R. Michael stem cells and collected their ribonucleic acid Preserving the prize Sanders (clinical sciences professor in the dental (RNA), which is converted into proteins that According to multiple studies, the number of school) published in their Biomaterials and Bio- become biomarkers his team could use to pluripotent stem cells found in teeth decrease mechanics in Bioengineering article “The Effects characterize each stem cell type and its dramatically after adults reach the age of 30, of Cryopreservation on Human Dental Pulp-de- respective rate of replication. Kingsley said. However, people could donate rived Mesenchymal Stem Cells”—indicate that “Scientists around the world are trying to stem cells found in their teeth much like they rapidly dividing cells have higher rates of viabil- figure out what type of stem cells can be may donate their blood prior to a surgical ity year after year compared to slower dividing coaxed into becoming new cells or different procedure or preserve their umbilical cords. If cells. If these results remain constant, the stem tissue types,” Kingsley said. “We already know people elected to have their wisdom teeth cells could be sorted before the freezing process some populations of dental pulp stem cells removed or were having a root canal performed, based on when they might be needed. can be converted into neurons, which could their stem cells could be harvested at that time “The work Dr. Kingsley and I are doing is part become therapies for cognitive diseases such and stored for future use. of a paradigm shift,” Dr. Mah said. “Our as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.” Creating that possibility has led Dr. Mah and fracturing process could hasten the collection Kingsley noted that teams of scientists Kingsley to the next step in their research: the and cryogenesis process, thereby preserving a around the world are working with animal cryogenic process. high stem-cell count that furthers research into models to test using stem cells to treat “There is no standard cryogenesis, or freezing how using these cells can aid healing and neurological conditions. Early indications, he process, for storing stem cells,” Kingsley said. potentially cure diseases.” n said, are positive. Although there is still a need “There are multiple organizations that collect —Kevin Dunegan tooth cracker: courtesy pouya momtaz; tooth cracker: courtesy pouya momtaz; mah and kingsley: josh hawkins

research.unlv.edu innovation / 13 UNLV’s inaugural scientific art exhibit, Inquiry: The Art of Scientific Discovery, displayed the beauty of science and the artistic Science Comes vision of even the most lab-bound of scientists.

By Shane Bevell to the Canvas Photography by JOSH HAWKINS

14 / innovation 2017 PRIME MOVER Jason Steffen, Inquiry curator and UNLV physics and astronomy professor, steps back from the action for a moment to enjoy the science-driven spectacle.

research.unlv.edu innovation / 15 here is tremendous T beauty in our world, from the birth of distant galaxies to the smallest details of life on Earth. Often, though, it can be overlooked because of the technical nature of science. This spring, however, researchers from the UNLV College of Sciences had the opportunity to showcase the artistic side of science through an exhibit of captivating images they’d collected or created as part of their academic work. Here, we revisit some of the pieces that were on display in Inquiry: The Art of Scientific Discovery, which ran from the beginning of February through the end of March, to enjoy their beauty and learn more about the science behind them.

16 / innovation 2017 Martian Meteorite, Nakhlite Miller Range

Arya Udry geoscience professor

Udry researches Martian meteorites—more specifically, nakhlite meteorites, a type of Martian meteorite similar to terrestrial volcanic rocks on Earth. Nakhlite meteorites are 1.3 billion years old, and although they originate from an unknown location on Mars, they are our only window into understanding how the Martian crust and mantle evolved. They can also be rendered quite colorfully, as you can observe here in this 30-micrometer-thick slice of a nakhlite meteorite, on loan from the NASA Johnson Space Center, that was discovered in Antarctica’s Miller Mountain Range in 2009 during NASA’s Antarctica Search for Meteorites expedition. Nakhlites are made of several minerals, including pyroxenes— black minerals that are abundant in basalts like Hawaii’s volcanic rocks. Through a microscope’s polarizer lens, however, these dark rocks can be depicted colorfully to help researchers more easily distinguish all the different minerals composing the meteorite. This sample is part of a comprehensive study that aims to understand how these Martian rocks formed.

research.unlv.edu innovation / 17 Starry Night: A circles such that any three mutually tangent (or van Gogh-Inspired touching) circles in the configuration will also be Collage of mutually tangent to a fourth circle in two different ways. The sky of Baragar’s Starry Night Mathematical Objects is a two-dimensional cross section of a four- dimensional generalization of the Apollonian Arthur Baragar packing involving tangential hyper-spheres— mathematics professor spheres that inhabit more than three dimensions. To understand the three-dimensional cross Baragar, an expert in arithmetic and algebraic section pictured in Baragar’s sky, imagine that geometry, has a particular fondness for studying each circle represents a sphere. The largest surfaces with a large amount of discrete spheres are laid out in an infinite, cannonball-like symmetry, or features that remain unchanged stack. Where the circles converge to a point, like during some type of transformation within a at a star, we’re observing a point of tangency system. To better understand the complexities between two spheres: one in front of the picture of these symmetries, he studies objects that and the other behind it. exist in multiple dimensions. Several two- Besides taking us on an artistic and dimensional cross sections of these objects are mathematical journey, Baragar’s Starry Night assembled here in a whimsical tribute to illustrates this intriguing generalization of the Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece Starry Night. Apollonian packing once thought not to exist. Here, the patterns of the moon, detail in the Baragar’s continuing work has demonstrated foreground, and tree visually represent the math that the properties observed in a three- behind a type of four-dimensional cone. In the dimensional Apollonian packing are similar in foreground on the right is an object studied by the fourth, fifth, and sixth dimensions as well. He René Descartes called an Apollonian packing, is currently exploring the properties of which is an infinite configuration (or fractal) of Apollonian packings in the seventh dimension.

18 / innovation 2017 The Molecular Aharonov-Bohm Effect

Bernard Zygelman physics professor

Physicists like Zygelman have known for some time that nature, at the microscopic level, is governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, the branch of physics that studies atomic and subatomic behavior. To understand the topology (the global properties of a physical system) for atoms and molecules as well as how those atoms and molecules interact with each other, researchers often resort to lab experiments. But for extreme environments like the emptiness of intergalactic space that are impossible to re-create in a lab setting, computer simulations are necessary. Zygelman’s image is a computer- generated, color-coded contour map/ visualization of numerical data obtained with the help of the UNLV National Supercomputing Institute’s Cherry Creek II supercomputer. It depicts the Schrodinger wave function, an expression of how a wave function for a physical system evolves over time, for an atom that has collided with and scattered off of a molecule. The zipperlike pattern on the left side portrays a phase dislocation line, which is a one-dimensional curve embedded in three-dimensional space. This pattern is evidence of the Molecular Aharonov-Bohm (MAB) effect, a unique topological effect of molecules in scattering situations that has been widely contested in the field because of how difficult it has been to prove through experiments. Zygelman’s numerical simulation, illustrated through his art, offers proof of these topological features. Researchers believe that such topological properties of matter can be exploited by computer manufacturers to build gates, the building blocks of digital circuits, in quantum computers. Zygleman’s figure was the cover photo of the Jan. 28, 2017, issue of Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics.

research.unlv.edu innovation / 19 Polyurethane Foam

David Hatchett chemistry professor Gayani Kodippili alumna of UNLV’s graduate program in chemistry

Hatchett and Kodippili worked with mechanical engineering professor Brendan O’Toole and his group on a collaborative project evaluating the physical and chemical properties of shock-isolating foams from the nuclear stockpile. Hatchett and Kodippili observed the chemi- David Hatchett cal properties of various foams using microscopy, while the engineering team measured physical parameters such as density, rigidity, and strength of the materials. Shown is a polyurethane foam sample used to encapsu- late nuclear warheads, one of more than 1,000 images taken of various foams during the course of this research. This foam was prepared using in- ject-molding equipment, and the image of it was taken using an optical microscope set on a black-and-white scale. Samples such as the one presented here helped the researchers evaluate chemical changes in foam due to in- creasing temperatures associ- ated with a nuclear warhead’s thermal decay. Their finding: A decrease in chemical linkages correlates with losses in a foam’s structural rigidity.

20 / innovation 2017 Five questions with Jason Steffen, Inquiry’s curator and UNLV physics and astronomy professor

What was your inspiration for Once the idea came, we just regard to proper file sizes and spearheading Inquiry, and started working on it. Spring types, printing materials, etc. why was 2017 the right time? 2017 was the first time that The rest of the process went Someone had come by my there was a gallery available to quite smoothly, thanks to Jer- office and said, “I had no idea display our art. ry Schefcik, the galleries direc- that this research was going tor at UNLV. on here.” I’ve heard similar How were the final pieces sentiments from people I’ve chosen? What feedback did you re- given physics department We had several interesting ceive on the exhibit? tours to. Outsiders are often submissions, and many people The feedback was very posi- amazed by the research going submitted more than one tive. The amazing artwork was on across the College of Sci- piece. Eventually we narrowed responsible for that. I particu- ences when they hear about it. it down by selecting pieces larly liked that everyone I On campus, many science and that showcased a wide variety spoke with had a different math classes don’t provide of research and pushing some favorite. students with the opportunity of the tough decision-making to see just how cool this stuff to professors, asking them to Will we be seeing an exhibit really is. I wanted to create a pick a single piece they found like this again at UNLV? forum where everyone could compelling. The plan is to do this every learn how UNLV is expanding few years—often enough that human knowledge through Any surprises along the way? there’s some memory of the our research and see some of Next time we will take a more last show and a chance for the amazing stuff that we see streamlined approach, espe- most students to participate, as we work. I thought an art cially with respect to printing but not so frequently that it exhibit would be a perfect way the pieces. We faced a bit of a gets old and boring. to do so. learning curve this year with —Raegen Pietrucha

research.unlv.edu innovation / 21 Our Region’s Helping Hands UNLV researchers work to brighten the future for Nevada, its neighbors, and beyond.

22 / innovation 2017 Did you know that from 2014 to 2015, Nevada had the second highest percentage of English language learners in the nation—students who participated in language assistance programs to better meet learning standards—but ranked last in the nation for K-12 public school quality? Did you know that in this same time period, 11.1 percent of children ages 3-21 with disabilities who received special education services in Nevada had autism? Did you know that in 2016, Nevada ranked third to last for mental health care? In fact, Nevada currently ranks 37 in the nation in health care overall and, to complicate matters, has a comparably low rate of funding from the National Institutes of Health compared to other states. And consistently, Nevada ranks first in the nation for domestic violence fatalities. These challenges need to be addressed and solutions found. While Nevada faces several challenges, there also are exciting opportunities. In my new role as UNLV’s vice president for research and economic development, I already see how united we are as a community in our desire to find solutions to these and other social, educational, and biomedical challenges we face as a state. I believe that some of the most valuable research we can do is the kind that is in service of others: our family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and community. UNLV is listening, looking for these opportunities, and actively engaging in community-centered Our research—asking what you really need and seeking answers to the questions you have. I’m proud to report that UNLV researchers from many disciplines and at all levels, from faculty to undergraduates, are studying subjects like education, domestic violence, and health care as well as the comprehensive set of factors that can be undertaken at a societal level to reduce disparities and address social injustices in Nevada and beyond. Like a huge puzzle, each researcher is bringing Region’s their piece—their unique perspective—to the table. Through collaboration, everyone is coming to see the different pieces that make up an eventual whole: a solution to the problem at hand. Before you flip the page to learn more about some of the community-centered Mary Croughan research taking place at our university, please know that we hope to be the organization UNLV Vice President for Research —Mary Croughan Helping and Economic Development you point to and say, “UNLV is the reason my life is better.” Hands inside

Backpacking WHERE THERE’S JOINING INSIDE THE Strengthening Breaking the Through New SMOKE FORCES FOR CLINICAL Support Language Research OUR HEALTH SIMULATION Strategies for Barrier Territory Two economics CENTER Domestic researchers capitalized The Mountain West Violence Doctoral candidate A new project spurred on a dynamic that Clinical Translational Step into a custom- Survivors Eshani Lee’s research by UNLV Graduate occurs organically in Research Infrastructure designed training ensures college nature to illustrate how Network helps 13 chemistry knowledge College’s Rebel center in Southern New research highlights infants’ proximity to universities support the doesn’t get lost in Research and Nevada where manikins the complexity of wildfire smoke faculty and research translation. Mentorship Program talk, blood is made by communication pollution while in utero that will improve explores how this piece the gallon, and life- between domestic affects birthweight. human health in seven of gear might help saving skills are violence survivors and states. children with autism. researched and shelter staff, providing mastered. insights that can further improve these relationships. J O SH H A WK IN S

research.unlv.edu innovation / 23 DID YOU KNOW? According to Easter Seals, 5,946 (or 11.1 percent) of children ages 3-21 with disabilities who received special education services in Nevada in 2014-2015 had autism. UNLV researchers Janet Dufek, graduate student Jeff Eggleston, and undergraduate Mieko Mamauag are studying how a simple piece of school gear—a backpack—might assist in the therapy of children with autism. And in October 2016, the UNLV School of Medicine and the Grant A Gift Autism Foundation joined forces to open the UNLV Medicine Ackerman Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment Solutions, which offers a broad range of autism and neurodevelopmental care, including diagnostics, treatment, behavioral support, and more.

24 / innovation 2017 RAMPing Up Research

Backpacking Launched in the spring of 2016, RAMP teams a UNLV faculty member, graduate student, and undergraduate student Through New together on a research, Mieko Mamauag (left) and scholarly, or creative Jeff Eggleston (right) project. RAMP’s 2016- 17 cohort included six Research pairings of graduate and undergraduate students with a faculty member. with autism may experience trips or stumbles more Along with the frequently when faced with walking obstacles like stairs, benefits gained from Territory working side-by-side with curbs, and unfamiliar surfaces. Through their research, the their faculty mentors, group hopes to determine if the added weight of a backpack graduate students gain can help these children walk more safely and efficiently. mentorship skills, as A new project spurred by UNLV Graduate Employing weighted objects in therapeutic treatment they are also responsible College’s Rebel Research and Mentorship for serving as mentors plans for children with autism is nothing new. Weighted to their undergraduate Program explores how this piece of gear vests, blankets, and more have been utilized by children counterparts, and might help children with autism. undergraduates gain with autism, under the assumption that the added mass new research skills and benefits them from a behavioral perspective, encouraging an additional adviser calmness and focus. How weighted wearables might affect by participating in the program. hile millions of children begrudgingly lug hefty their motor skills, however, is largely uncharted territory. Dufek, Eggleston, and W backpacks filled with school supplies, snacks, and “In the biomechanics world, there’s no other group that Mamauag have found their research together other belongings, one group of UNLV researchers is asking is examining these data the way we are,” Eggleston said. rewarding in a number whether those same bulky sacks could someday serve a higher “If we can use a backpack to mitigate potential walking of ways. purpose: aiding in the therapy of children with autism. hazards—the tripping, the stumbling—and in turn [the “I’m very passionate about research and Through the UNLV Graduate College’s Rebel Research children’s] behavior improves too, we address two issues getting students and Mentorship Program (RAMP), Janet Dufek, associate with one intervention.” involved in it,” Dufek dean and professor in the School of Allied Health Sciences; Additional perks of the object they’ve placed their said. “Certainly the most rewarding part for me Jeff Eggleston, a doctoral student in the Kinesiology and hopes in: Most children already use backpacks (versus is seeing the research Nutrition Sciences department; and Mieko Mamauag, weighted vests, which could draw attention to a wearer), growth—seeing that light bulb come on for an undergraduate student in the same department, have and anything already lying around the house can be placed the undergraduates and teamed up to find out. inside a backpack to weigh it down, saving families money. observing the maturation Their research project, “Examining the Influence of A total of 11 children with autism between the ages of of a doctoral student’s research.” Backpack Weight on Trunk and Stride Kinematics Among 5 and 17 participated in the project’s initial data collection Eggleston noted Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder,” explores phase, which spanned four months. The researchers began by the direct impact the whether children with autism experience movement weighing the children. Next, the researchers placed reflective RAMP team’s research has already had on the challenges when walking with a backpack on. But the word markers on the children’s trunks and lower extremities. Then, parents of the children “challenges” may be a bit of a misnomer. Such challenges the children walked—first without weight in the backpack who participated in the project. “We hear a lot of, may prove harmful, but they may also prove helpful, should they were wearing, then while carrying 7.5 percent of their ‘We’ve been on waiting they make children with autism more efficient walkers. body weight in the backpack, and finally carrying 15 percent lists and waiting lists, and “In the scientific community, there are two schools of of their body weight in the backpack. Ten infrared cameras we appreciate that you’re doing research and trying thought with this clinical population: One is that if you give placed around the laboratory captured the children’s steps to learn more,’” he said. them a more difficult task, they will focus on it and improve and produced three-dimensional representations of their “For me, it’s rewarding performance,” Dufek said. “The other is that it is so foreign movement patterns that the researchers will later analyze [to know] the parents of these kids are so grateful to them that they’re all over the place with their movements. using computer software. that we’re actually doing But if we can direct the focus of a child with autism, that Whereas current autism therapy approaches are based something.” Mamauag pointed to could be a great thing.” primarily upon psychologists’ observations, the RAMP the practical application According to 2014 data from the Centers for Disease team’s work has the potential to serve as a quantitative of what the RAMP Control and Prevention, about 1 in 68 American diagnostic tool—one that could enable early intervention. project has provided her. “Learning the children has autism. In 2004, just 10 years earlier, the Mamauag, who hopes to open a physical rehabilitation research process from prevalence was 1 in 125. This growth, the Autism Speaks center of her own one day, is particularly excited about the the beginning has been organization indicates, makes it one of the fastest-growing project’s promise. “Hopefully, in the future, I can utilize very rewarding,” she said. “What I learn in developmental disorders in the United States. what I learn from this research project in my practice and class, I’m actually using The RAMP team’s research not only raises awareness better treat patients,” she said. in research.” about a disorder whose prevalence is rapidly escalating but Eggleston and Mamauag presented the RAMP team’s also tackles it from a biomechanics angle that to date has findings at the Northwest Biomechanics Symposium in rarely been studied. According to the researchers, children May at the University of Oregon. —Vaneh Darakjian J O SH H A WK IN S

research.unlv.edu innovation / 25 Where There’s Smoke

Two economics researchers capitalized on a dynamic that occurs organically in nature to illustrate how infants’ proximity to wildfire smoke pollution while in utero affects birthweight.

hen researchers seek to determine a single W or primary cause for a human health problem, they know they’re battling uphill. Our environments are complex, multifaceted, and permeated by a seemingly infinite number of factors that could shape us. Rare is the circumstance that is so ideal, at least from a researcher’s perspective, that one can sift through the noise and emerge with a definitive root of an issue. That is, of course, unless nature is on your population will be exposed to the smoke.” McCoy and Zhao’s research. Wildfire smoke is side—as was the case for UNLV economics Several studies have established correlations similar to other sources of ambient air pollution; professor Shawn McCoy and his University of between pollution sources and negative public its particulate matter can be so small that it Pittsburgh economics colleague Xiaoxi Zhao. health outcomes, McCoy said. However, prior passes through the heart and lungs, disrupts It’s hard to imagine anything positive coming research hasn’t entirely been able to clearly fetal nutrition, and slows fetal growth. Within out of wildfires. They’ve become six times demonstrate a direct causal relationship. One this framework, birthweight becomes a useful more likely to occur and four times as large reason for this, according to McCoy, is the metric to track because of its link to short-term since the 1980s, McCoy said, due to climate and number of factors that could be involved in past outcomes, such as one-year mortality rates, as population changes. And yet for his research, research scenarios. well as long-term outcomes such as educational which demonstrates that proximity to smoke “Suppose we build an industrial plant,” attainment and earnings, McCoy said. pollution causes lower infant birthweight, McCoy said. “Once that plant is built, we need McCoy and Zhao leveraged geographic wildfires proved to be a sort of equalizer. to think about the economics of that problem, information systems (mapping software) to “Wildfires are a meaningful topic to research which is that people don’t like to live next to identify ignition sources and smoke paths in and of themselves, but they also help solve plants. Holding everything else constant, home and plotted the home addresses of infants this causality problem that is difficult in our prices will drop in the surrounding area because born during a time that would place them in studies of pollution,” McCoy said. “Two features of that, which could induce geographical the smoke’s path while in utero. They then make fire pollution different from that of, say, sorting, wherein households with lower income compared the birthweight of those infants to a an industrial plant: the random timing of fires might migrate into the areas surrounding the control group outside of the smoke’s path. and their random location, in that wind patterns plant, and households with higher incomes may The researchers’ results indicate that wildfire on any given day drive the direction and leave. When that happens, it becomes harder smoke leads to a 4 to 6 percent reduction

concentration of smoke. This sets up a quasi- to determine if changes in health outcomes in birthweight, and these effects are most J O SH H A WK IN S experimental research design wherein a fire occurred because of plant pollution, geographical pronounced among mothers exposed to smoke happens randomly and by chance and randomly sorting dynamics, or even something else.” during the second or the third trimesters of and naturally assigns treatment and control The random timing and location of wildfires pregnancy. They also found that these effects groups, because only a certain segment of the mitigate these dynamics, making it ideal for attenuate (or diminish) with respect to distance

26 / innovation 2017 from a wildfire, becoming ineffectual three miles and further from the burn source. In contrast, the researchers found that even if infants had been close to a wildfire while in utero, there was no statistically significant effect on their birthweight if they were outside the smoke’s path. DID YOU KNOW? In 2016, Nevada ranked “One really neat thing about this research is third to last on the that I can do more than tell you what the effect nonprofit organization of being exposed to the Mental Health America’s DID YOU KNOW? mental health care scale, Birthweight is linked to smoke is or not,” McCoy indicating both a higher short-term outcomes (such said. “I can tell you how prevalence of mental as one-year mortality that effect varies based on illness and a lower rate rates) as well as long- of access to mental term outcomes (such as where an infant is relative health care in the state. educational attainment to the source of pollution. Postdoctoral scholar and earnings), said UNLV Stephanie McLaughlin economics researcher Beyond that, we now helps Las Vegas’ Shawn McCoy. And as have the evidence that underserved client he’s discovered through reinforces earlier findings population. his research, wildfires can affect birthweight. Although on the effects of ambient California might be the first pollution at large and can state to spring to mind when say that these effects are people think of wildfires, for Research, Assessment, understanding whether and Nevada has its fair share. In very likely real, not just Meet the Counseling, Therapy and why clients get better, worse, or stay the same fact, two of the state’s most loosely correlated or tied Innovative Clinical Education— massive and devastating Postdoc: also known as The during a course of treatment. wildfires occurred in July up with other economic PRACTICE—a community 2013 in Southern and issues like household mental health center that How do you see your Stephanie provides affordable, evidence- postdoctoral position at Western Nevada. The migration dynamics.” Carpenter 1 Fire on Mt. based mental health care to UNLV helping you reach Charleston, just west of Las McCoy’s hope is that McLaughlin the Las Vegas community. My your goals? Vegas, consumed more than this research will help work includes co-leading In so many ways, and for psychotherapy groups, that, I’m grateful! My supervi- 43 square miles that year, inform policymakers of This scholar’s according to the National supervising master’s and sors Michelle Paul (director of Incident Management Team. the potential economic psychotherapy doctoral-level students, The PRACTICE) and Noelle Western Nevada’s largest research inspired monitoring client outcomes in Lefforge (a UNLV psychology and health consequences treatment, and consulting with professor) and my colleagues recorded wildfire, the Bison her to pursue mental Fire, consumed more than of wildfires, the magnitude other providers to help at The PRACTICE have been 40 square miles, according of this type of disaster, and health care maximize treatment incredibly supportive of my to NBC. improvements effectiveness. training experience and ideas. the mechanism behind Also, the dedication of the wildfires—all of which in Las Vegas. What are your long-term staff and clinicians to provid- enable people to better target the problem. goals? ing quality services to clients tephanie McLaughlin is My long-term goals include has been invigorating. “There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that Sone of more than 40 continuing to develop as a This fellowship has given homeowners don’t fully acknowledge the risks postdoctoral scholars who clinician, particularly for group me the opportunity to collect currently call UNLV home. therapy. The more therapy information about outcome- associated with natural disasters—in particular, These recent Ph.D. graduates groups I have been involved in monitoring systems that can the risks associated with wildfire,” McCoy said. come from universities and research I have reviewed, be used at community mental “One way to address this problem is to inform around the world to work the more I am convinced of health centers like The PRAC- with UNLV’s faculty and the utility of the group format TICE. This has given breadth the public of risks through information-based continue to build their for psychotherapy. For in- to my knowledge surround- regulation, such as posting billboards of people resumes and publication stance, I have observed the ing how clinicians can opti- standing on cars during floods to discourage them records in preparation for benefit clients experience as mize patient care. the eventual transition into they offer each other support Also, I work with a diverse from attempting to drive through inundated full-time research positions and new ways of approaching and underserved client popu- areas in the future. The idea is, if you give people within or outside academia. stressors they are managing in lation at The PRACTICE, McLaughlin came to UNLV their daily lives, offering per- which has been a rewarding this information, it can affect how they evaluate from Brigham Young spectives I may have never and thought-provoking en- disaster risks, and it will likely have a spillover University to work in the thought of on my own. deavor. The learning and effect in terms of how they manage those risks.” clinical psychology I have thoroughly enjoyed personal growth I have re- department, with a focus on the program-development ceived from the clients I work That being said, McCoy noted that a one-time group psychotherapy. and teaching components of with cannot be overstated. exposure to this type of information likely won’t my fellowship, and I hope to The experience has moti- be enough to have a lasting impact, so regulators What are you working on at perform similar tasks at a vated me to continue to en- UNLV? future position. I would also gage in efforts to increase should share this type of messaging often. My primary responsibilities like to stay involved in the Las Vegas community’s McCoy and Zhao’s research findings have surround the development of research. I have an interest in access to quality mental the adult group psychotherapy monitoring outcomes in health care. been detailed in their article “Wildfire and Infant program at The Partnership psychotherapy—better —Vaneh Darakjian Health: A Geo-Spatial Approach to Estimating the Health Impacts of Ambient Air Pollution and In-Utero Stress,” currently under review by a top industry journal. —Sara Gorgon

research.unlv.edu innovation / 27 How has a CTR-IN pilot grant helped you?

Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Joining “The CTR-IN is providing unique op- Blakely Brown Susan Tavernier portunities for junior faculty at our part- Title: Professor, Title: Assistant professor ner institutions to develop their clinical Department of Health of nursing, Idaho State and translational research programs to and Human Performance, University University of Montana Forces for the level of national competitiveness,” said UNLV Senior Vice Provost Carl Reiber, who CTR-IN pilot was instrumental in the development of CTR-IN pilot grant project: the program, now led by UNLV School of grant project: The patient voice in Developing and pilot- health care Our Health Medicine Senior Associate Dean for Clini- testing an after-school cal Research and cancer program director and home-based childhood obesity Parvesh Kumar. Impact beyond prevention intervention The Mountain West Clinical “Having toured many of our institutions grant project: Led to involvement in more Translational Research with Dr. Kumar, it is apparent that the CTR- research projects Infrastructure Network helps 13 IN funds are supporting highly competitive Impact beyond grant project: Better universities support the faculty and science projects that will play an important “The CTR-IN grant has prepared to obtain allowed me to build my research that will improve human role in the lives of many people across the additional research research portfolio. I was health in seven states. United States,” Reiber added. funding awarded funding for a As the host university, UNLV is respon- companion study through “The CTR-IN grant the Institute of sible not only for ensuring the primary re- program has increased Translational Health here’s a reason for the phrase “There’s search objectives are met, but for fiscally my skills in managing Sciences Rising Star awards and working Award. The two studies T strength in numbers,” and it’s especial- managing and administering the grant as more closely with my combined provide the ly true with respect to research. In the last well. The opportunity is massive on sev- Office of Sponsored preliminary data I need to four years, UNLV and 12 other universities eral levels, given it is the largest federally Research Programs. submit an R01 grant During the last phase of application. I’m also the in seven Mountain West (MW) states have funded grant UNLV has received to date the CTR-IN grant, we evaluator on a $1.5 million had the opportunity to team up in new ways and involves awarding funds to multiple applied for an NIH R13 Health Resources and and find out how much they could accom- universities. grant titled ‘Communities Services Administration at Play,’ which we were grant now. As a direct plish together, thanks to a five-year, $20 mil- The benefits of the CTR-IN have been awarded. It’s a three-year result of a conversation lion multistate grant from the National In- as broad and widespread as the program grant that helps us build about my CTR-IN pilot capacity and more work that I had with a stitutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute intended. In addition to supporting several community collaborations colleague who leads the of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Insti- pilot grants for in-depth research projects, for the ‘Generations nursing subcommittee of tutional Development Award (IDeA) pro- the funding has enabled the development Health Project: An after- the Southwest Oncology school and home-based Group, I was invited to be gram for the MW Clinical Translational Re- of new multisite research projects, a childhood obesity the nursing coordinator search Infrastructure Network, or CTR-IN. mentoring program, educational training prevention intervention’ for one of their studies.” The year 2013 marked the beginning videos, biostatistical support, and more to as well as enhance academic and community of the MW CTR-IN, which has three faculty members within the participating partnerships for primary objectives: First, work together universities. UNLV has been the proud host preventing obesity in native and non-native to further build the type of infrastructure of several CTR-IN-sponsored grant-writing children on the Flathead and culture at all of the participating workshops, which teach faculty throughout Indian Reservation. Since universities that leads to improved the MW region how to write grants for the grant, our UM- Flathead Indian research output. Next, increase the quality NIH and other federal funding agencies. Reservation partnership and quantity of NIH grant applications The CTR-IN also facilitates an “Advance has received a two-year in clinical and translational research to to Funding” (ATF) program, which is a USDA strengthening grant titled ‘Growing improve the rate of success in obtaining mock study section that provides specific Strong Generations.’” this funding—traditionally lower in the expertise and written feedback on how MW region compared to other regions of to improve NIH and other federal grant the U.S. Finally, use the obtained funding applications prior to submission. to accelerate research discoveries that will “The CTR-IN offers the unique result in the improvement of human health opportunity to positively and significantly across all seven participating states: Alaska, impact the careers of faculty members at 13

28 / innovation major MW state universities by providing support not just for their research, but Jacqueline Snow Xiaomeng also for their professional and career “Mona” Xu development,” Kumar said. Title: Assistant professor of psychology, University Title: Assistant professor The success rates of the CTR-IN have been of Nevada, Reno of experimental tremendous thus far. The ATF program has psychology, generated a 13 percent NIH funding rate Idaho State University Parvesh Kumar and a 27 percent NIH scoring rate on the CTR-IN pilot grant project: submitted grants, both of which are higher How human food CTR-IN pilot than the national average funding and scoring Mary Croughan, UNLV’s vice president for decisions are influenced grant project: research and economic development. “Pilot by real object versus Understanding the role rates. And the 69 pilot grants awarded so far image displays of self-expansion in totaling about $4.33 million have generated grants like those offered through the CTR- physical activity 35 extramural awards totaling an additional IN enable researchers to obtain the critical $13.9 million in extramural funding—a rate preliminary data and evidence of productive Impact beyond collaboration that demonstrate proof of grant project: Practice Impact beyond grant of return of 320 percent! with grant administration project: Mentorship that “Faculty members’ ability to secure such concept, which is why these types of grants and management resulted in higher a large amount of extramural funding are so critical.” productivity “CTR-IN has helped our health research- “The CTR-IN has helped demonstrates the difference the CTR-IN is me become better at “The mentorship piece of making at the participating universities,” ers in so many ways,” said Carolyn Yucha, operating and managing CTR-IN was something I Kumar said. “It’s spurring further research dean of the UNLV School of Nursing. projects—from navigating wasn’t particularly aware “The infrastructure and educational pro- UNR’s Office of of when I applied, but it infrastructure development, which is one Sponsored Projects to was profoundly impact- of our major objectives of this grant. The gramming has changed UNLV’s research calculating F&A (facilities ful. CTR-IN provided the opportunity to help junior faculty obtain this culture and increased our ability to apply and administrative costs), funding for my distance purchasing equipment, mentor, Claudio Nigg extramural grant funding so their research for larger federal funding. These benefits and annual reporting. from the University of can make an impact on the residents of the have extended across all of our 13 partner This has highlighted the Hawaii, to come to ISU universities as well, whom we’ve enjoyed importance of effective and meet in person. Mountain West region is truly a privilege time management to Because our mentoring and a noble cause.” collaborating with in new ways, thanks to maintain research relationship was working At UNLV specifically, the grant has this program.” productivity along with so well, we ended up On the docket for year five of the CTR- my other academic doing a poster and sym- boosted campus research, as eight of those responsibilities. As a posia talking about that 69 pilot grants awarded so far have gone IN grant, which ends its current run in result of the funding from mentoring experience. to the university. Among the recipients is June 2018: several more pilot grants— the CTR-IN, I now have a I’ve been incredibly pro- well-functioning lab ductive since I received assistant professor Yu Kuang in the School these ones focusing on health disparities consisting of five PhD this pilot grant, produc- of Allied Health Sciences. An award of research—and an additional multisite students and two ing a lot of publications research project, Kumar says. postdocs. In sum, the and presentations and $82,500 over roughly nine months bolstered CTR-IN has provided receiving some internal Kuang’s research, which aims to determine And once this CTR-IN grant has con- critical support that has grants that have helped which combination of molecular imaging cluded? In addition to resubmitting for allowed me to extend our me keep my research another CTR-IN grant in the fall of 2017, research into the going. I will be going up and biomarkers can provide early insight translational domain, and for tenure this fall, five into a patient’s response to chemotherapy. Kumar is considering co-funding opportu- we wouldn’t be where we years into my first faculty Other pilot grant beneficiaries include nities with the NIH’s Centers of Biomedi- are without it.” position.” —Raegen Pietrucha Qing Wu of the UNLV Nevada Institute of cal Research Excellence and IDeA Net- Personalized Medicine and Department of works of Biomedical Research Excellence, Environmental and Occupational Health, who with the goal of expanding further into was awarded $70,389 in funding from the translational research. “CTR-IN is an opportunity for all of the DID YOU KNOW? MW CTR-IN program. Wu’s work, titled “A The CTR-IN is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pilot Study to Develop Personalized Reference involved universities to really help their Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Program. States that Values of Bone Mineral Density,” is a precursor communities,” he said. “The objective of all qualify for the IDeA Program have comparably low rates of NIH funding compared to other states. The $20 million in CTR-IN to a larger NIH grant proposal regarding the this research funding has always been to funding the Mountain West IDeA states received will accelerate development of a more accurate predictor of improve the health of people living in the research discoveries that can improve human health across all osteopathic fractures in white women. Mountain West region, and we will continue seven participating states: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. “Larger federal awards are really working toward this goal.” contingent on having proof of concept,” said —Pashtana Usufzy r . m a rsh s ta rks

research.unlv.edu innovation / 29 DID YOU KNOW? Nevada currently ranks 37 in the nation in health care, according to U.S. News and World Report. The Clinical Simulation Center of Las Vegas (CSCLV) is working to help change that, training health care students within the UNLV School of Nursing, the Nevada State College School of Nursing, the University of Nevada School of Medicine, and now UNLV’s new School of Medicine. Outside health- focused organizations schedule training and recertification sessions at the CSCLV for their employees as well.

30 / innovation 2017 Inside the Clinical Simulation Center

Step into a custom-designed training center in Southern Nevada where manikins talk, blood is made by the gallon, and life-saving skills are researched and mastered.

elcome to the Clinical Simulation Center of Las Vegas W (CSCLV), which opened in August 2009 to serve the UNLV School of Nursing, the Nevada State College School of Nursing, and the University of Nevada School of Medicine. Since CSCLV’s doors opened, students have conducted nearly 4,000 simulations, exploring 76 different health scenarios in the dynamic 31,000-square-foot space. “In addition to the schools that send their students here, outside health-focused organizations schedule training or recertification sessions for their employees, some of whom are former students,” said Jackie Kinsey, director of operations and finance for the CSCLV. “Many of them have shared stories about how their CSCLV educa- tion well-prepared them for the actual emergencies they handled.” While the CSCLV is a critical training tool, it also serves an im- portant research function, spurring new knowledge that informs and improves nursing practices. Jessica Doolen, assistant professor of nursing and educational director of the CSCLV, has been part of six research studies involving the CSCLV since she began champi- oning clinical simulation in 2008, several of which have confirmed the importance of teamwork in health care environments. As the primary investigator for one such study, “Simulation Team- work and Observation for Procedural Safety,” which examined how a checklist might help nursing and medical residents and students decrease the potential for central-line insertion infections, Doolen discovered that communication among colleagues went a long way toward preventing illness. After introductions were made among the simulation’s various participants, the medical resident was asked to insert a central line into a manikin while the nursing student fol- lowed along with the checklist. Faculty remained outside the room, maintaining the realism of the scenario but observing participants’ behaviors. Doolen’s findings supported prior studies that identified good communication as key to positive patient outcomes; as it turns out, that basic introduction at the beginning of the simulation re- duced the potential for medical errors to occur along the way, which could dramatically decrease negative patient outcomes if implement- ed in real-world health care settings. STUDYING THE “The key advantage to the CSCLV during skills training and STUDIOUS research studies is the fabrication of a health care environment,” UNLV faculty Doolen said. “Each element, from the smallest Demo-dose vial to research the the construction of an exam room, mentally places students in sce- effectiveness of the various simulation narios they will encounter as professionals. Complementing the re- center training alism is the absence of an instructor during the scenario, which en- scenarios seen here. courages the students to take action rather than look for approval.” Tour more of the This fall, students from UNLV’s new School of Medicine joined Sim Center online CSCLV’s ranks, where they too train for success. by visiting unlv. exposure.co.

J O SH H A WK IN S —Kevin Dunegan and Raegen Pietrucha

research.unlv.edu innovation / 31 DID YOU KNOW? Nevada consistently ranks first in the nation for domestic violence fatalities, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic they perceived they were falling short, how- Violence. UNLV ever, they sensed that others would be less researcher Jennifer helpful to them. They weren’t entirely mis- Guthrie hopes that improving taken in these beliefs, Guthrie indicated. communication “Staff may be more sympathetic and no- between survivors tice the women who are picking themselves and shelter staff could save more lives. up by the boot straps,” Guthrie said. “If you see a survivor who appears unwilling to help themselves, then you may be less likely to help them as well. However, survivors face countless barriers when trying to es- cape an abusive relationship.” Communication challenges also arose due to staff burnout. Shelters across the nation are understaffed, Guthrie noted; and employees female survivors of domestic violence. are overworked, underappreciated, and un- Strengthening It’s difficult for many people to know derpaid—sometimes funded solely through what to say or how to provide effective grants they write themselves, which detracts support to survivors, Guthrie said, but the from their primary role in the shelter. Support Strategies most surprising finding to emerge from the Guthrie and Kunkel made several recom- research was that communication barriers mendations to shelter staff based on their re- exist between survivors and the trained search. Faith leaders, friends, and co-workers for Domestic shelter staff hired to help them. of survivors can also benefit from the find- In the interviews, survivors revealed that ings. First, Guthrie and Kunkel suggested that they sometimes didn’t feel comfortable talk- shelter staff understand that survivors’ coping ing to staff about their feelings and needs. strategies vary. The researchers recommended Violence Survivors “In one way, the staff member was another that staff humanize their relationships with the difficult relationship the survivor had to women and children by engaging in common- navigate,” Guthrie said. place activities like play with the children. They New research highlights the This upended the researchers’ initial as- also advised that shelters create roles dedicated complexity of communication sumption that residents would naturally feel specifically to listening to survivors’ stories— between domestic violence comfortable connecting with shelter staff, who which, although often nonlinear in nature survivors and shelter staff, are trained to help women gain independence and therefore more challenging to follow, help providing insights that can further from their abusers. These relationships, howev- facilitate survivors’ healing processes. Addi- improve these relationships. er, sometimes mirrored the power struggle that tionally, the researchers suggested eliminat- many women were just getting out of, Guthrie ing the standard 30-day stay policy whenever said. The survivors struggled to balance the financially feasible. Finally, Guthrie and Kunkel or survivors of domestic violence, hav- need to stand on their own but also rely on recommended that employees and volunteers F ing a network of people to turn to is im- staff to help manage their situations. reframe their perceptions of survivors and perative in the healing process. But how can The fact that survivors go through sever- abusive situations. For instance, shelter staff such a network best provide support? al stages of physical and emotional trauma can often feel they have failed when a survivor Jennifer Guthrie, a communication stud- and recovery at different rates contributed chooses to return to an abusive partner, only to ies professor in UNLV’s Greenspun College to the tensions they experienced with staff come back to the shelter. of Urban Affairs, trained as a shelter advo- members, Guthrie said. Some women im- “It’s not a failure,” Guthrie said. “It’s ac- cate and immersed herself in field research mediately find resources to get back on tually a success that people came back and to answer that question. their feet and regain control of their lives, recognized they needed help.” Guthrie began exploring the dynamics while others have a hard time adjusting Guthrie and Kunkel recently shared their of interpersonal relationships as a graduate to living independently and must relearn findings in “Survivor: Women’s Stories student under University of Kansas commu- those steps, she noted. of Navigation and Tensions in a Domestic nication studies professor Adrianne Kunkel, Survivors felt the need to prove their in- Violence Shelter,” published in the West- spending nearly three years on the shelter dependence in order to obtain more help ern Journal of Communication. In February, study. For about four hours a week over a and validate that they deserved a space their analysis won the journal’s Outstand- J O SH H A WK IN S 15-month period, Guthrie and Kunkel an- in the shelter, Guthrie said. If they made ing Journal Article Award. Guthrie is con- swered the crisis hotline at a Midwest shelter, strides—such as lining up job interviews— tinuing this research to develop and im- cared for and spoke with shelter residents, the survivors thought that they’d receive prove programs for shelter staff in the Las and conducted in-depth interviews with 28 more assistance from the shelter staff. If Vegas area. —Afsha Bawany

32 / innovation 2017 Breaking the Language Barrier

Doctoral candidate Eshani Lee’s research ensures college chemistry knowledge doesn’t get lost in translation. DID YOU KNOW? The National Center for Education Statistics reports that in 2014- 2015, Nevada had the second ne of the great promises of higher highest percentage (17 percent) O education is its potential to help of English language learners— students someday achieve the American students who participate in language assistance programs dream. College is intended to be a great to attain proficiency in order to equalizer, offering students from even the better meet learning standards. And Nevada’s public school most challenging backgrounds and system currently ranks second circumstances a chance for upward mobility. to last in the nation, according to But this promise doesn’t come without its the Annie E. Casey Foundation. But Eshani Lee’s research could obstacles. For students whose native language improve one area of education isn’t English, it isn’t just the subject matter for our state’s English language of a course that can prove challenging. The learners once they reach college, helping them thrive in that setting. very act of learning can be problematic when the language upon which learning relies is unfamiliar. And it’s not only writing and literature classes that create roadblocks. It’s math and science courses, too. when she was 12. She dreamed of being (science, technology, engineering, and “The largest attrition rates in the sci- a doctor, but the academic frustrations math) degrees,” Lee said. “In order for (any ences are among nonnative-English-speak- of being a nonnative speaker of English institution) to be a top research university, ing students,” said Eshani Lee, a doctoral nearly convinced her that she wasn’t every student needs a fair chance to succeed.” candidate at UNLV whose research focuses intelligent enough. While similar studies have been on chemistry education—more specifically, Lee did, in fact, get into medical done with younger students, research at how nonnative-English-speaking students school. She completed two semesters at the postsecondary level is rare—and for learn in college chemistry courses and the Ross University School of Medicine before such research to focus on a hard science like specific challenges they face taking exams realizing that her passion was scientific chemistry, even rarer. and quizzes. At issue, Lee said, isn’t how research and not patient care. At that point, “Lee’s research has the potential to smart students are, but how scientific infor- she matriculated to UNLV, where she earned make a significant impact on a growing mation is presented to them and how their a master’s degree in biological sciences. number of college students throughout the knowledge is assessed. While working as a graduate assistant, country,” said MaryKay Orgill, associate “Many people think that if you can Lee came to realize that she loved to teach, so professor of chemical education and Lee’s figure out a mathematical formula, you she combined her passion for science with dissertation advisor. “This is especially true don’t need language skills,” Lee said. “But her love of teaching and decided to pursue at UNLV, where, for many of our students, for a student to be successful in the sciences, a doctoral degree in chemistry education. English is a second language.” it’s important that they understand not Lee hopes her research in this field will lead Lee is a recipient of the prestigious just numbers, but the language that the to strategies that will enable teachers and President’s Fellowship, funded through gifts numbers are imbedded in.” students to improve learning in chemistry to the UNLV Foundation. A new mother, she Lee knows what it’s like to be a smart and, ultimately, help nonnative-English- is profusely grateful for the support. “The student whose language skills create speaking students thrive in all sciences. fellowship helps me afford child care so I can barriers. Born in India to non-English- “On a personal level, bright students are devote time to my research,” she said. “It is speaking parents, she moved to California being discouraged from achieving STEM truly a blessing.” —Marian Alper

research.unlv.edu innovation / 33 HARRY REID SILVER STATE RESEARCH AWARD

Mastering the Material Kwang Kim, winner of the 2016 Harry Reid Silver State Research Award, designs substances that propel us into a cleaner, healthier future.

The objects in Kwang Kim’s lab seem with health problems and disabilities. random to a layperson—gray rubbery flaps, Having dedicated more than 25 years in white plastic pieces, misshapen scraps. But the academia and the private sector to these endeavors, NV Energy Professor of Energy and Matter in perhaps it’s unsurprising that Kim has garnered UNLV’s Howard R. Hughes College of UNLV’s most prestigious accolade, the 2016 Harry Engineering knows just how all these materials Reid Silver State Research Award, which recognizes make—and even sometimes break—our world. a researcher whose work not only addresses real- Kim’s business is researching the substance of world needs and advances the field but also structures and energy systems, and without him, contributes to Nevada’s growth and development. there’s much in the way of solutions, careers, and However, Kim—no stranger to recognition, as companies that may have never materialized. he is also a Fellow of the American Society of As multifaceted as the materials he studies, Mechanical Engineers and the recipient of the 2015 Kim’s research accomplishments span a variety Regents’ Researcher of the Year Award from the of seemingly disparate specialties. He’s invent- Nevada System of Higher Education, the 2016 ed a water-repelling substance that modifies the Distinguished Barrick Scholar Award from the surface of steam-power plant condensers and, UNLV Executive Vice President and Provost’s in the process, improves the rate of heat trans- Office, and several other honors—remains humble. fer by 200 percent in some environments. In- “This award is more than I deserve,” he said. stead of forming a steam film as they work, the “I’m just doing my job.” condensers form droplets of condensation. This “dropwise condensation” process could some- The Unlikely Engineer day move beyond its current application with Kim hadn’t initially set his sights on an engi- condensers and reshape how entire power neering career. In fact, he hadn’t married himself plants are built. to any particular path for most of his young Kim is also investigating a novel composite adulthood, even when he was actively pursuing material that could be leveraged in a battery academic degrees. At his parents’ behest, Kim system’s electrochemical cell. Such a device had applied for and was accepted to a school promises to reduce the maintenance associated where he was to pursue medicine. At the last with conventional batteries while expanding minute, he decided against going and instead at- energy capacity and extending the battery sys- tended South Korea’s Yonsei University with his tem’s life cycle. friend, who was interested in engineering. Kim His most recent research calling: advancing the wasn’t familiar with the subject. josh hawkins soft robotics field by creating artificial muscle “I didn’t plan to become an engineer,” he from materials that can bend, twist, oscillate, and said. “It just turned out that way.” (Incidentally, more. This work has the potential to help millions Kim’s friend didn’t end up an engineer, taking

34 / innovation 2017 SIGNS OF (ARTIFICIAL) LIFE Engineering researcher Kwang Kim examines an electroactive polymer (i.e., artificial muscle) sensor array as part of his soft robotics research.

research.unlv.edu innovation / 35 on an automotive business instead.) Even as he finished his master’s in chemical FOSTERING engineering at Arizona State University, Kim FUTURE wasn’t sure if he would continue his studies in RESEARCHERS Kim has the field. An interest in a faculty member’s mentored projects kept him on for a Ph.D., and then Kim more than 120 was off to the University of Maryland, College researchers at Park, for postdoctoral training. all levels thus far in his career, “Even at that time, I wasn’t quite sure what I some of whom was going to do,” Kim admitted. “So I joined a have moved on small R&D company, Thermal Electric Devices to successful Inc., with the hope that it would grow.” careers of their own in Although Kim was enjoying studying metal academia and hydrides there—compounds formed between private industry. metals and hydrogen, the likes of which are most commonly used in batteries—the idea of president [then Neal Smatresk] and Engineering comes to smaller passages in the neurovascular working for a larger company continued to Dean Rama Venkat, I decided to come to Vegas system. But Kim developed an artificial muscle call to him. and build my Active Materials and Smart micro-catheter with controllable features that He moved on to Environmental Robots Inc., Living Lab here. Now that I’m regular faculty, I could serve as a robotic biomedical platform in where he began investigating electroactive have time to expand my program. I have a very treating cardiovascular diseases, strokes, and polymers—substances composed of large, energetic group of undergrads, grads, and more. Thus far, Kim’s artificial muscle research complex molecules that change when electrically postdocs; and I’m trying to keep them busy.” has generated three U.S. patents and 150 stimulated. There, Kim had his first taste of publications, including three books. robotics work, collaborating with the Defense The Endless Quest for Answers “Without any doubt, (Dr. Kim) has been Advanced Research Projects Agency (more There is certainly no shortage of work in one of the most productive and successful commonly known as DARPA) on a project Kim’s lab, which is a reflection of his diverse researchers at UNLV,” Venkat said. “His developing soft underwater robots. He also got research interests as well as his myriad contributions to the science and engineering the chance to work alongside the late French relationships in the public and private sectors. community have not only resulted in his physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Pierre-Gilles “As an engineer, I don’t normally pick the recognition worldwide but have promoted de Gennes. project; I go talk to people and find out what the reputation of UNLV.” Although their time together was brief—only their problems are,” Kim said. “In other words, Although solving complex research problems a few days—de Gennes continues to influence I’m not trying to sell my ideas; I’m trying to is difficult enough, Kim recognizes that his and inspire Kim, who kept a notebook they’d solve their problems.” success has depended upon more than just his scribbled research notes to each other in. Take Kim’s dropwise condensation coating as engineering background. “I had been looking at physics in a very so- an example. Kim had heard from the condenser “You have to build relationships, because phisticated manner at that point,” Kim said. “I industry for some time that steam was people won’t tell you their problems until was relatively young, and my Ph.D. training presenting a problem for steam-power plants. they’re comfortable with you,” Kim said. This instilled that in me. But de Gennes taught me He wrote a proposal to the U.S. Department of rule applies to the 120 research trainees—grad how to sort out the few important factors Energy, which gave him roughly $68,000 in 2013 students, postdoctoral research fellows, visiting from the complicated, to look at things in a to develop a solution, which Kim then patented. scholars, undergrads, and professors—Kim has more global and simplified manner. I was a In 2014, Boston-based venture company NBD mentored thus far in his career, three of whom late learner just doing things, but finally it Nanotechnologies licensed Kim’s technology currently hold faculty positions nationally. started to click. That was a tipping point for and hired postdoctoral scholar Bong June Zhang, “Some of my former students are working for me academically.” who’d worked on the coating with Kim. Kim Apple now, some are in academia, and some of Kim joined the University of Nevada, Reno, wrote 30 technical papers on the subject. them I have to make appointments with to see shortly thereafter to work alongside his Ph.D. And thanks to a $3.8 million grant received in them,” Kim said. “I don’t think I taught them, advisor and then-UNR professor and chair of 2015 from the National Science Foundation’s but I had the privilege of working with them. mechanical engineering, Byard Wood. Kim Partnerships for International Research and They still call me here and there. That’s what I became chair himself in 2007 and UNR Education (PIRE) program, Kim, UNLV enjoy the most.” Foundation Professor in 2011, a title he held engineering professor and colleague Paul Oh, The rule also applies to his peers, who admire until joining the University of Nevada, Las and several other researchers around the world him greatly. And with 170 journal articles, more Vegas, in 2012. are working to develop artificial muscle than 160 papers in conference proceedings, 15

“Both my children had moved on to college, materials that can address a number of human book chapters, nine edited volumes, and three josh hawkins so I’d started thinking to myself, ‘What am I health concerns and soft robotics-related books to his name cited between 800-900 times going to do with this empty nest?’” Kim problems. For example, conventional methods a year, there’s certainly plenty to commend. laughed. “I started looking at other schools, for dealing with catheters currently put patients “Kim is an outstanding individual who has including UNLV, and when I talked to the at risk for damaged vessels, particularly when it shown great leadership both nationally and

36 / innovation 2017 HARRY REID SILVER STATE RESEARCH AWARD

internationally in the area of bio-inspired material work? We eat, which is chemical energy, and him I knew of a material that could be made in design, a field with enormous potential to change some part is converted into energy that’s such a way that it could be embedded outside many aspects of our lives,” said George Lauder, controlled by electricity—your brain. Eventually, the eye.” Undergraduate researcher Michelle Henry Bryant Bigelow Professor of Organismic I’d like to have a chemo-mechanical material I Quizon is currently working on the project, and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. can control with electric, but I haven’t been able which her Honors thesis centers around. And, of course, there’s the bunch of funding to find any materials yet.” “There’s so much we can improve with agencies and private partners that have taken One more item on his agenda: Having research,” Kim said. “And if I make a little notice of Kim’s research. As an academician, he happened to meet Harry Reid, Kim was inspired progress, then someone who follows could take has received $15.6 million in external support by the award namesake’s health challenge, and it to the next level, and we can change people’s (more than $1.7 million annually since he being the type of researcher that he is, Kim lives for the better. Someday, we could make an joined UNLV in 2012) from the National couldn’t help but think of solutions that could artificial heart. Or we could make a dropwise Science Foundation, Tesla Motors, NASA, the come from materials science and engineering. condensation coating last longer, helping to save U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department (Reid has no involvement in the award selection the environment. I can’t make all those things of Defense, and more. To say his contributions process and is the namesake only.) on my own, but I am part of the journey, and I’m to his field—not to mention Nevada’s growth “I met (Reid) a year or two ago,” Kim said. proud of that.” n and development—are significant is a “He told me about his eye problem, and I told —Raegen Pietrucha tremendous understatement. “The types and variety of partnerships that Dr. Kim has been able to foster are evidence of his talent for building impactful relationships Q&A With a Protégé: Michelle Quizon and for connecting the research endeavor to The undergraduate researcher; Honors student; and recipient of the CSUN Tom Weisner tangible outcomes that help our communities Academic Scholarship, Multicultural Engineering Scholarship, and O’Rourke Plumbing Scholarship spoke with Innovation about her experiences working with Kim. and further develop our economy,” said Carolyn Yucha, dean of the UNLV School of Nursing. “It’s impossible to calculate the value of his How did you get involved in feasible alternative for cur- Is there anything in addition efforts, but they are of tremendous benefit to Dr. Kim’s artificial eye rent assistive eyelid blinking to improved eye functionality UNLV and beyond.” muscle project and select it options. Our IPMC material that could be gained from as your thesis topic? can work efficiently in a wet your research? The Future, Materializing One I joined Dr. Kim’s lab in 2016. environment, which will im- Compared to other parts of Project at a Time He was recruiting students as prove reliability. It also re- the body, eyelid muscles With as massive and mind-boggling a record part of the PIRE program to quires a low voltage, making require relatively lower of accomplishments as his, it’s easy to wonder go to South Korea over the it more biocompatible. Our amounts of force. However, how Kim has achieved all he has. So, what’s his summer of 2016 and study solution is also customiz- if this IPMC artificial muscle secret for success? artificial cilia. My friend had able, in that we can person- works, I do foresee “I write everything down in my notebook and him as a faculty advisor and alize the geometry of every application on a larger on my project board, and I go through the list. told me about his work, so I IPMC artificial eye scale—for It’s organization. That’s it,” he said. “Also, I just reached out to him about the muscle. example, with keep trying. Rejections are natural. If you worry opportunity. After two facial about failure, you care too much.” weeks, I knew I wanted to What’s the most paralysis. On his list right now: 3-D-printing materials keep working on the artificial interesting that mimic portions of mammals and fish muscle research he was aspect of this How would you whose purposes we don’t understand, such as a doing, so I asked if I could do research to you? describe Dr. Kim flying fish’s fin. my Honors thesis with him. The interdisciplinary as a mentor? “3-D printing technology has made really good feel of it. I initially came Dr. Kim is a great progress recently,” Kim said. “It became a new What is the specific eyelid to UNLV being a mechanical mentor. He lets you be you, tool for me that I can use to put together 3-D muscle research you’re engineering major, and that which I appreciate a lot. He’s shapes of the active materials I’ve been conducting? will be my degree when I very much a people person. developing. The only challenge is that the Our research is associated graduate in the spring of 2018, He has a broad range of selection and usability of the materials are pretty with eyelid muscle paralysis. but through these projects, I research interests, so he limited, so I’ve been spending some time creating My job is to find an extrane- get to see just how applicable collaborates a lot with products in my lab that can be printable.” ous, or external, support engineering is to biology. This people within and outside Also on his list: developing materials that can system that can enable eye project solidified my aspirations his discipline and strives to be animated with chemical or thermal energy blinking. We are trying to to pursue bioengineering, connect his work with theirs. but controlled by electrical or other external find ways to use ionic poly- which is the integration of the Because of my work with Dr. fields—in other words, substances that will be mer-metal composites two. I want to get my Ph.D. Kim, I was able to land an able to operate as animal muscles do. (IPMC), the material Dr. Kim in bioengineering, specifically internship at Stanford this “Animal muscle is probably the best actuator specializes in, to facilitate biomaterials and therapeutic summer. I owe many of my eye blinking and serve as a deliveries. successes to him. courtesy sophia phan we know of,” he said. “But how do we make it

research.unlv.edu innovation / 37 38 / innovation 2017 research.unlv.edu innovation / 39 Beyond the Baroque

Inspired by her research on the period’s music, flutist Jennifer Grim created a first-of-its-kind festival for UNLV and the community.

Driven by a curiosity innate to the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, taking private lessons researchers and artists, Jennifer Grim recently—and and sitting in on classes. Grim not only learned the traverso happily—found herself at the edge of a new realm within along the way but also dug into music she hadn’t yet her discipline. Although an accomplished soloist and experienced—mostly French baroque repertoire—as well ensemble performer with several accolades under her belt, as some of the more unfamiliar literature of the time. the flutist and UNLV associate professor of music had one For Grim, who holds a master’s and DMA (Doctor of specialty she’d yet to take on: the traverso, or baroque flute. Music Arts) from Yale, the trip was invaluable. With a sound softer and darker than contemporary “Experts opened my ears,” she said. “The range and flutes produce, this wooden keyless instrument was sound and color of an instrument shapes how you play it. played during the time baroque music was written and Learning the historical instrument gives a better provides an authenticity that takes today’s listeners perspective. Playing on that opens up to the sounds you’d back centuries. hear in Bach’s time.” From 1600 to 1750, baroque composers tapped into the Grim’s interest in the baroque didn’t end with her Greco-Roman concept that music could communicate trips or her traverso lessons. Upon her return, she directly and powerfully to the senses. The baroque era sought to bring the baroque experience to the campus gave birth to opera, new instruments, and highly and community. Hence, Las Vegas’ first-ever Baroque emotional works. Cantatas, concertos, and sonatas became Festival was born. part of the musical landscape. Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel Jonathan Rhodes Lee, a harpsichordist and musicologist composed their way into history. Harmony came to the specializing in baroque-era music who was considering fore, and performances that once only triumphed in joining UNLV as an assistant professor at the time, said churches and aristocratic halls reached the public realm. Grim’s research and festival idea piqued his interest in Grim set out to study baroque music and the traverso the university, as it signaled to him that UNLV was a place with some of the world’s top baroque flutists, using an where new ideas and efforts like it would be supported. $18,000 Faculty Opportunity Award (FOA) she received in Lee came aboard in 2016 and helped plan the Las Vegas 2015 from the UNLV Division of Research and Economic Baroque Festival, which opened with his lecture “What Is Development to assist in her quest. Never before had she ‘Baroque’ About Baroque Music?” on April 18. Lee also applied for funding of the magnitude she received or played harpsichord during Grim’s performance of immersed herself so deeply in the baroque experience. Francois Couperin’s work on April 22. The opportunity not only influenced Grim’s approach “We wanted it to be a multidisciplinary event,” said to baroque, whether playing on traverso or contemporary Grim, who also used part of her FOA funding to purchase flute; it allowed her to quench her thirst for new two baroque flutes—one for the student body and one for knowledge once again. herself. “We wanted to reach out through the music as “After teaching for a decade, I had an entire six months much as we could.” to become a student,” she recalled, “and use that The festival on April 18-23 brought the Bay-area Archetti knowledge toward teaching, taking in what I learned Baroque String Ensemble, prize-winning Notre Dame from (others’) teaching styles.” University organist Craig Cramer, faculty and student The intense immersion in 17th and 18th century music performers, and even musicians interested in joining in a took Grim to cities on both coasts and beyond. She traveled baroque play-along together to share and celebrate the to Northern California to study with renowned baroque unique musical experience. flutist Stephen Schultz. Then she was off to New York City, “The expectation of the era’s composers is that you will where she studied with Sandra Miller, a flutist teaching at add to the music, ornament it, and make each performance The Juilliard School, which has a historical performance unique,” Lee said, noting that the Las Vegas Baroque program. In Boston, Grim studied with soloist and Festival seeks to capture and honor this sentiment. “It ensemble performer Christopher Krueger. Then she went was such a period of explosive creative fervor.” to Amsterdam, where she studied with Wilbert Hazelzet at —Kristen Peterson J O SH H A WK IN S

38 / innovation 2017 research.unlv.edu innovation / 39 BOOKS

Atomic Testing, PHOTOS: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY; One Panel at a Time GRAPHIC ART: KRISTIAN PURCELL DOOM TOWNS TAKES A GROUND-LEVEL VIEW OF GROUND ZERO AND PRESENTS IT IN THE FORM OF A GRAPHIC NOVEL ABOUT LAS VEGAS’ POSITION IN THE ATOMIC FIRMAMENT.

40 / INNOVATION 2017 A Brief History of the A-Bomb

1942 Creation of Manhattan Project; first nuclear chain reaction, University of Chicago

1943 Los Alamos Laboratory established

1945 TRINITY, first nuclear explosion (21 kt); atomic bombings of Hiroshima (15 kt) and Nagasaki (21 kt), Japan; WWII ends

1946 OPERATION CROSSROADS begins U.S. postwar atomic testing in Pacific

1947 Atomic Energy Commission established; Doomsday Clock announced

1949 First Soviet atomic test, Joe 1 ixty-five years ago, the exercises at Camp Towns: The People and Landscapes of Atomic Testing, 1951 Nevada Proving Desert Rock called for soldiers to charge into an ambitious graphic history from history professor Grounds Sground zero seconds after an atomic bomb Andrew Kirk published by Oxford Press. selected as was detonated. Kirk served as a principal investigator for the continental atomic test site In all, some 6,500 troops were sent running toward Nevada Test Site Oral History Project from 2003 fire and haze as the ground melted to glass atthe to 2008. It zeroed in on the lived experience of test 1952 MIKE, first Nevada Proving Grounds, 65 miles northwest of Las site workers, those living in the area outside the full-scale Vegas. From Oct. 22-Nov. 22, 1951, bombs went off gates, and others affected by atomic testing—not thermonuclear three times during the round of testing, known as necessarily high-ranking personnel normally found test (10.4 mt) Operation Buster-Jangle. Among other things, the in academic works. 1957 RAINIER, first tests were to determine the psychological effects Kirk’s primary research field is environmental contained on military personnel. Would troops still be able to history, so the chance to write about desert dwellers underground function after seeing the bomb? who offered a rebuttal to the idea of the Mojave as an test; HOOD, highest yield And then, after they went into the middle of the empty wasteland made Doom Towns a natural fit. U.S. atmospheric devastation, the radiation? They were swept off with a Originally, though, Kirk hadn’t intended to write a test at Nevada broom. “Looked like it came right off the rack at Sears book after helping bring the oral history into being. Test Site (74kt) Roebuck,” one soldier described it. An editor at Oxford talked him into it with an unusual For your nuclear decontamination needs: Sears! pitch: marry his past research with a graphic novel 1958 Temporary testing Somehow, the slogan didn’t catch on. approach. The idea resonated. Just as the oral history moratorium That kind of story is part and parcel of Doom project had given voice to those seldom asked, this

research.unlv.edu INNOVATION / 41 1961 Temporary book could honor the art that had come from the era. conditions, so they weren’t waxing poetic about testing “During the oral history project, I realized that history. They were living it.” moratorium ends; Soviet art and visual representation of work and life in It’s New York Times reporter Gladwin Hill that Kirk TSAR bomb atomic regions was very much a part of the historical poses as a kind of Virgil of this nuclear era. Hill was most powerful experience and part of the culture that emerged from the Los Angeles bureau chief for the Times and began in history living in secrecy, doing this kind of extraordinary covering the tests in 1951. He documented much of (50 mt) work, and living around that kind of extraordinary the era until becoming one of the first environmental 1962 Cuban Missile experimental landscape,” Kirk said. “It was part of the reporters in the country, for the Times, in 1969. Crisis historic record people didn’t really look at.” “One of the things as an environmental historian Kirk identified U.K. artist Kristian Purcell, who had I noticed was (that Hill’s) perceptions of the people 1963 Limited Test specialized in paintings of the intersection of people around Las Vegas and the nuclear testing region was Ban Treaty bans atmospheric and technology in militarized landscapes but had never pretty simple in the beginning but became more atomic tests done anything in a graphic novel format. sophisticated and thoughtful as he got to know them,” “I had to restrain my lecturing and instead really rely Kirk said. Hill, in Kirk’s opinion, managed to be both 1968 BOXCAR, on Kristian to convey themes and tone through the art. in the action around him while standing a bit apart to highest yield I think he did an amazing job doing that,” Kirk said. observe. “It enabled him to articulate some of the same underground test conducted “One of the things that was challenging was he was in things I was interested in as a historian.” (1.3 mt) England. I’m in the United States. I think it all really More than 40 graduate students worked on the came together when we decided we would Skype. He project, both on the oral history and afterward. One 1970 Nuclear would literally sometimes draw while I was looking. I offshoot even included middle- and high-school Non-Proliferation Treaty really got a sense of his process as an artist, and I think students from Clark County School District who were he got a good sense of my process as a scholar. It was a selected in 2013 to travel to the National Atomic Testing 1974 Threshold Test collaboration to make the art and scholarship cohesive.” Museum’s Kazakhstani counterpart, the EcoMuseum, Ban Treaty The result is a collection of rare primary source on a U.S. State Department grant. signed documents and a traditional history of the era It wasn’t just students who worked on the oral history 1976 Peaceful anchored by a 100-plus-page graphic representation project and the book that helped out. Kirk used some Nuclear of the age of atmospheric atomic testing, starting with of his undergrad students as a test site of his own. “I Explosions the Manhattan Project Trinity test in 1945 through did do some beta testing of some of the draft chapters treaty signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963. The treaty forced with several sections of History 102, and they gave 1977 U.S. Department nuclear testing underground until 1992, when the me excellent feedback that was as useful to me as the of Energy United States fired Operation Julin’s Divider, the final extensive academic peer review I got,” he said. established nuclear test on U.S. soil. Four years later, the door was “This was a fantastic project for student participation,” 1979 Strategic Arms closed on the testing era through 1996’s Comprehensive he added. “There were at least eight different classes Limitation Test Ban Treaty. participating in some way in the research that led to Treaty signed Doom Towns tells the story through the lens of the creation of the book, or on an aspect of the book 1982 Nevada Desert the people who were on the ground, like Dorothy itself. It was a fabulous opportunity to teach about Experience Grier Whitcomb, one of the clerical workers for the method and about working with (UNLV’s Office of begins annual Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory during Operation Sponsored Programs) on grants toward an end that protest Ranger in 1951; and Donald English, the Las Vegas was clearly going to have an impact academically but program News Bureau photographer who captured some of the would also matter to the community.” 1988 Largest anti- most iconic images of the testing era, including the —Jason Scavone nuclear protests mysterious Miss Atomic Bomb photo. at NTS “At the time, there were a lot of people who were 1991 Russian passionate and who thought it was right, and there Unilateral Test were protestors who were passionate and thought it Moratorium was wrong,” Kirk said. “But the bulk of the people Announced were doing jobs. They worked long hours in arduous 1992 1,030th U.S. nuclear test conducted PHOTOS: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY; at NTS; U.S.

approves GRAPHIC ART: KRISTIAN PURCELL Nuclear Weapons Testing Moratorium

1996 President CREATIVE CHRONICLER Historian Clinton signs Andy Kirk decided to show and tell in Doom Towns, a graphic novel that Comprehensive takes readers on a visual journey Test Ban Treaty through the history of nuclear testing (CTBT) in Nevada and beyond.

42 / INNOVATION 2017 A Brief History of the Making of Doom Towns

2003 Nevada Test Site Oral History Project launched funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, with Andy Kirk & Robert Futrell as co-principal INNOVATIVE investigators ILLUSTRATOR 2006 Completely Artist Kristian Purcell produced digital archive each graphic for of research Doom Towns, from results with full photograph to online access sketch to finished launched panel. with the help of UNLV University Libraries

2010 Oral History Project wins National Council on ‘PICTURING’ THE ATOMIC AGE Public History Best Research MOVING BEYOND HIS PREVIOUS WORK AS A PAINTER, KRISTIAN PURCELL TOOK ON Project Award UNCHARTED ARTISTIC TERRITORY TO PRODUCE AN ENTIRE GRAPHIC NOVEL. 2012 Kirk publishes “Rereading How did you first get interested in atomic history as an 28. The ink drawing on the opposite page is a slightly the Nature of artistic subject? more worked-up version of what I’d create. We tried to Atomic Doom I think it started with my historical interests and being get as close to the original experience as possible. We Towns in Environmental somebody who’s just fascinated by images. Part of the way had a massive amount of photographic information, History” I process what I see in photos is by working with them and I would look for things from the photos to render as paintings. You learn what makes an image when you graphically. I was quite conscious that we were portraying 2013 U.S. State study it this way, through an extended period looking and real events in recent history, so I knew whatever colors Department grant sends interpreting. Trying to pass some of that information on is I chose would have an impact. Examples from artists 12 UNLV what interests me as an artist. Emmanuel Guibert and Eric Ravilious guided my researchers decisions on the final color palette. and students to How did you come to work with Kirk on Doom Towns? Soviet Test Site I based a couple of my paintings in 2007 off of photos from a What’s the impact of this collaborative project? in Kazakhstan book called 100 Suns by Michael Light, which is about atomic We wanted to ensure that our presentation wouldn’t slant the to create new testing. I wasn’t deeply attached to the atomic subject at that story in one direction or the other, and I think we accomplished archive of oral stage; I was drawn to the people watching the tests rather that. That was one of the things Andy picked up on in my histories than the subatomic sublime of the explosions. It’s always paintings. In other atomic art he’d come across, the artist 2015 U.K. artist how people interact with these technologies that fascinates seemed to have taken a side in the debate. My paintings, he felt, Kristian Purcell me. Andy found my work from 100 Suns and contacted me to just let the story sit with all the shades of gray in there. Our book joins project, work on Doom Towns. simply says, “Here are the events,” and once you’ve read it, then completing you can start making your own judgments. 800 pieces of How did the process of working on this book go? You can imagine the classroom discussions that can and original art for Most of my work before this was oil paintings. Doom Towns took have come out of reading Doom Towns. Graphic novels are graphic section of book me into uncharted territory because I’d never done graphic art accessible and immediate, and you can get students straight before in that kind of detail and depth, so I didn’t know how into constructing meaning and asking questions: How do 2016 Doom Towns: long it would take. I spent a couple of months just drawing, we interpret this history? Was it right? Was it wrong? You’d The People and learning how the graphic format worked. potentially have as many different points of view as you Landscapes of Atomic Testing Andy produced scripts for every page. He put a nice would people in the class. published by example of what he would send me in the book on page —Raegen Pietrucha Oxford University Press

research.unlv.edu INNOVATION / 43 BOOKS

lower courts say this—based on someone’s sexual orientation,” McGinley said. “So we’re at this really weird murky point: How do you know the difference between whether someone’s discriminating because of your sexual orientation or because you’re just not masculine or feminine enough?” One goal of masculinities theo- ry—which draws on humanities and both social and natural sciences to focus on the range of behaviors, definitions, and identities that in- form contemporary concepts of manhood—is to clear up some of those opaque areas that en- able miscreant “men being men” behavior. “I show through the research of masculinity that men engage in these behaviors not only because of the sex of the victim GENDER SPECIFICS but also because of their own sense of masculinity,” ANN MCGINLEY AIMS TO INFLUENCE LEGAL McGinley said. In short, DECISIONS IN DISCRIMINATION CASES BY when perpetrators harbor APPLYING MASCULINITIES THEORY. insecurities about their own gender and come face n the not-too-distant past, the idea that a straight man could to face with individuals Isexually harass another man was unthinkable. Men who who don’t present or engaged in “roughhousing” or “hazing” in a physical or sexual perform their gender way were just being men. according to standards acceptable to perpetrators, it can be a William S. Boyd Professor of Law and pioneering recipe for a discriminatory disaster. multidisciplinary masculinities theory scholar Ann McGinley “Most men don’t know that gender even matters to them,” illustrates how much times—and perspectives—have said Michael Kimmel, distinguished professor of sociology changed in her latest book, Masculinity at Work: Employment at Stony Brook University in New York and author of a Discrimination Through a Different Lens. Sexual harassment foreword to Masculinities and the Law: A Multidimensional and discrimination happen for reasons beyond the familiar Approach, a 2012 collection McGinley co-edited with Suffolk scenario in which a perpetrator has a sexual interest in the University law professor Frank Rudy Cooper. “But that’s victim, she said. where … the conversation starts, and that’s why I think As a starting point for examining discrimination because (McGinley’s) work is valuable.” of sex from a masculinities theory perspective, Masculinity at Articulating masculinities theory is one thing. Changing Work zooms in on the case of Miami Dolphins player Jonathan attitudes within the legal system is another. While McGinley Martin, who was harassed in emasculating and sexually predicts judges will be resistant to masculinities theory at intimidating fashions by teammates. McGinley goes on to first, she’s confident that testimony from social scientists can explore how gender affects behavior between men as well as bring the new ideas into the courtroom. between men and women, noting a case involving a female “(My colleagues will) use my book as a research tool,” she R. MARSH STARKS plaintiff who was told by male supervisors at an accounting said, “but I’m hoping lawyers and judges will also use this firm to be more feminine in order to get a promotion. book in order to take advice on how to decide cases based on “The Supreme Court agreed that it was discrimination, looking at masculinity research.” but it’s not discrimination to discriminate—at least the —Matt Keleman

44 / INNOVATION 2017 TEXTS AND TESTIMONIES TELL THE TALE

OFF THE SHELF DRAWING ON COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS DEVELOPED Plums, Peaches and Pears of WITH YUP’IK ESKIMO Education, Volume 1 VILLAGERS, A NEW BOOK Satish Bhatnagar, professor of mathematical sciences COMBINES RESEARCH WITH College of Sciences INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES Trafford Publishing, 2016 TO CREATE A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF Plums, Peaches and Pears COLONIALISM IN ALASKA. of Education, Volume 1, is a personal story (in 98 independent reflections) of Editor’s note: Bhatnagar’s life in education as iam Frink is an anthropology pro- a lifetime student and a full-time Lfessor; executive director of the teacher at age 77. It is his ninth UNLV Office of Undergraduate Re- nonfiction book. search; and author of A Tale of Three Vil- lages: Indigenous-Colonial Interactions Rock ‘n’ Roll Origins & in Southwestern Alaska, 1740-1950, pub- Innovators, second edition lished by The University of Arizona Timothy Jones, professor of Press in 2016. He researches Arctic pre- percussion and history of rock, history and colonial history, exploring communities. Frink employed participatory and Jim McIntosh, history of technological changes and the socioeco- field research, oral history, ethnohistory, rock music professor nomic contexts in which such changes and archaeology to create nuanced College of Fine Arts take place. A Tale of Three Villages de- interpretations of social, economic, and Kendall Hunt, 2016 tails how and why Yup’ik culture in cultural shifts during this dynamic period The second edition of Rock three villages in the region—Qavinaq, of Yup’ik history that link more broadly to ‘n’ Roll Origins & Innovators Kashunak, and Old Chevak—changed the history of colonialism on a global scale. by Jones and McIntosh is a over a 200-year period that includes life In the process, Frink set a new standard for full-color edition with several prior to and through Russian and North holistic research, challenging all in the field updates, including a new American involvement. The book ex- to equitably include Native perspectives chapter and a pairing with plores trade, religion, warfare, and social and community partnerships as part of the Napster for 320 recorded negotiation from a comprehensive inter- research process and scholarly outcome. examples of significant music in disciplinary perspective that employs Frink identified and systematically ex- rock ‘n’ roll history. archaeological, ethnological, oral histori- plored interdependent, complex histori- cal, and archival source materials. The cal processes as he tracked intersections Ethics for Managers: book also examines interactions be- between Yup’ik Native Alaskan cohorts Philosophical Foundations tween indigenous Yup’ik and colonists and colonial pressures. Frink focused and Business Realities, second as well as intra-Yup’ik relationships. particularly on women and young peo- edition Frink’s colleague Caroline Funk, re- ple in his study, recognizing the power Joseph Gilbert, emeritus search assistant professor of anthropology of these social groups to respond to and associate professor in the at SUNY University of Buffalo, reviewed enact change. As a result, A Tale of Three Department of Management, Frink’s contribution to the field. Villages provides a deeper understand- Entrepreneurship, and ing of the dynamic negotiations and Technology *** Lee Business School competitions for social, political, and Routledge, 2016 LIAM FRINK’S A TALE OF THREE economic benefits to individuals, fami- Villages is a contribution of theoretical, lies, lineages, and groups during the pro- Ethics for Managers: methodological, and regional signifi- cess of colonialism. Philosophical Foundations and cance. Frink partners academic scholar- A Tale of Three Villages provides new Business Realities explains the ship with indigenous voice to create an insight into Yup’ik culture specifically but theory behind and practical important advancement in anthropologi- also relates to today’s social negotiations. applications of business ethics cal approaches to colonial encounters in Frink explored family- and community- for managers. The second the Arctic and more universally. scale adaptations to global processes, and edition incorporates new Few scholars have made the effort to the patterns and systems he describes information on the financial downturn, ethical sustainability, establish the necessary breadth of may serve to inform us about the funda- and global ethics. knowledge that spans multiple fields of mental life processes we too negotiate in anthropological inquiry while also our increasingly connected lives. developing relationships with local —Caroline Funk

research.unlv.edu INNOVATION / 45 BOOKS

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

NEW BOOK ON 19TH CENTURY MEXICAN COMMUNITY PROVES A WRITTEN TRADITION, PREVIOUSLY ASSUMED TO HAVE ENDED AROUND THE BATTLE FOR INDEPENDENCE, CONTINUED BEYOND.

Editor’s note: iriam Melton-Villanueva is an assistant pro- Mfessor of history at UNLV and the author of The Aztecs at Independence: Nahua Culture Makers in Central Mexico, 1799-1832, published by The University of Arizona Press in 2016. Her research explores Latin-American indigenous writing and culture. The Aztecs at Independence uses new primary source documents Melton- Villanueva collected from central Mexican Nahua indigenous communities to explore a written tra- dition previously thought to have ended prior to the Nahua’s 19th century fight for independence from Spain. The book allows readers a glimpse into the Nahua experience from their perspective during a transitional time in their history. Kelly S. McDonough, assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese and faculty affiliate for the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin, read Melton-Villanueva’s work and shared her thoughts on this contribution to the field. eyes and language of indigenous people, fiscales come from a wide variety of backgrounds, *** Melton-Villanueva educates readers about the but they also rotated through positions in a MELTON-VILLANUEVA’S METICULOUSLY Nahua’s local cultures of writing through the highly organized succession, which disrupts researched and highly accessible book, The Az- identification and analysis of schools/lineages of an old narrative that framed Nahua culture as tecs at Independence: Nahua Culture Makers in indigenous scribes. Melton-Villanueva’s careful dominated by closed elite factions. Central Mexico, 1799-1832, takes us down a path study of the changes and continuities in language Melton-Villanueva also teases out women’s we thought to be impossible to trace: a journey to- use across the collection of texts she used to important contribution to indigenous self-deter- ward understanding Nahua life in the 19th centu- write this book draws attention to the scribes’ mination in the Toluca Valley during this period. ry, utilizing sources created by indigenous people crucial role as multilingual intermediaries— Through her astute mining of the texts, Melton- themselves. This much-needed book is the result indispensable interpreters of “language, laws, and Villanueva shines light on the pivotal role wom- of the author’s surprising discovery, transcription, devotions” (page 65)—between native peoples en played in maintaining and adapting ritual translation, and painstaking analysis of more than and Spaniards. both within and outside the home. The book 150 Nahuatl-language testaments that essentially Melton-Villanueva’s work discards any provides evidence that the majority of property “weren’t supposed to exist,” since the previous gen- remaining vestiges of the notion that the holders in the community were women who eral consensus was that Nahuatl-language writing Nahua passively submitted to Spanish designs. wove culture-keeping and culture-making into had ceased by the turn of the 19th century. The archival materials following the lives of pacts of land inheritance. Melton-Villanueva’s exploration of the civic indigenous men who participated in the fiscalía One of the major strengths of The Aztecs cultures of ritual and writing in four altepetl (the governing body of the parish churches) paint at Independence is Melton-Villanueva’s refusal (city-states) in the Toluca Valley offers an unprec- a new picture of indigenous fiscales, previously to fetishize indigenous continuity or change edented glimpse into the creative ways in which considered inconsequential assistants to priests. by discussing only resistance to or only Nahua culture in fact survived and adapted over Instead, we find that these indigenous men assimilation into dominant culture. Instead, three centuries of colonization and, later, its inde- were important protagonists in church activities, she lets the newly discovered archive tell us pendence from Spain. laboring from inside the Catholic institution about a dynamic community that retained and Demonstrating the interpretive power of to carve out a space that supported the needs innovated aspects of its culture as best served it New Philological methods for understanding and survival of their community. Additionally, in its specific space and time. day-to-day human experience through the Melton-Villanueva reveals that not only did the —Kelly S. McDonough

46 / INNOVATION 2017 EXCERPT FROM THE CHAPBOOK GHOST IN GIRL COSTUME: “ghost in girl costume”

she is allowed to cut two eyes out of a pale sheet slip it over her solid body as if there is nothing in skin to pinch

she is allowed to wander musty corridors at night making “ooooo” sounds

everyone will be terrified at first but then giggle because silly, spirits aren’t real

but the minute I try to be something other than slinking pastel ectoplasm suddenly, I’m a jerk my sad songs are ear sores STUDENT-TURNED-AUTHOR solidified that writing is what I love and brushing an icy want to do. tendril across a blood-warmed cheek RECENT UNLV GRADUATE unimaginable MANUELA BOWLES BEGAN What impact do you hope your BUILDING HER WRITING writing will have? I tried CAREER LONG BEFORE I hope my work will inspire people to use a long time ago COMMENCEMENT. writing as a tool to address whatever they the most odd shade of murder red lipstick may be struggling with. I think writing but when I pressed the color to my lips, anuela Bowles (also known by and literature can have a big impact on my non-flesh Mpen name Manuela Williams) has society in that way. For me, writing is a swallowed it whole managed to accomplish in a few short years mechanism of survival. The female body, at UNLV what many writers hope to achieve the relationships we have with our bodies, for eight years I existed over the course of a lifetime—and all and mental health issues are all of interest with random bits of makeup before receiving her undergraduate degree to me as an author. floating around in my body: in English in May. In addition to the 11 the strange lipstick, a clumpy mascara wand, individual poems and stories various literary What’s next on your to-do list? and a whole palette of plum eyeshadow journals have scooped up for publication, I’d like to go to graduate school for creative independent press Birds Piled Loosely writing and get an education certificate. I I try to be a little more recently published a short collection (or want to work with kids to teach them than what I am on a daily basis: chapbook) of Bowles’ poetry, Ghost in Girl about literature and writing because it’s irrelevant fog Costume—placing her work alongside that important to build that appreciation of the tapping on a girl’s windshield or dust of long-established poets with full-length craft early and support them in their living under a sagging bed collections under their belts. interests. I also want to start my own I like to think When did you start writing, and when literary magazine someday. My goal is to one year, one century did you realize you wanted to pursue it discover new writers and showcase their I will walk into a trendy craft store and as a career? work, which I already do a little bit of as a I’ve written stories and poems since I guest reader for the literary journal Carve use all my collected coupons to buy was a kid and was always encouraged by Magazine, where I review and recommend pretty felt and hair-colored yarn my parents and teachers. I actually my peers’ work for publication. I will make myself a costume started college as a biology major, but and then I, too, will make “ooooo” sounds during sophomore year, I decided to What advice would you give aspiring reevaluate my career path. I switched writers? everyone will wonder who the ghost girl is Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t JOSH HAWKINS my major to English after I took a couple and where they can get one of courses with English professor Amy write. Work hard, have faith in yourself, Green, who really values students’ and know that your writing will eventually how they can be one writing and viewpoints. She helped me find its reader. see the value in my own work, which —Alexandra Karosas This poem originally appeared in The Blue Route.

research.unlv.edu INNOVATION / 47 UNLV RESEARCH REPORT

2017 Annual Report on The Division of Research and Economic Development shares data on UNLV’s research activity to help educate our community about UNLV’s UNLV Research Activity productivity and growth in this area. UNLV celebrated one of its largest funding years on record with respect to Division of Research awards. Sponsored program awards reached $68 million in fiscal year 2017 and Economic Development (FY17), increasing 27.6 percent from FY16 and 67 percent over the last five years (i.e., since the downturn in 2012 following the elimination of congressional appropriations). Proposals increased about $46 million—nearly 20 percent— from FY16. Total sponsored program expenditures grew 7.6 percent from FY16, reaching nearly $53 million in FY17. The various schools of health sciences, including UNLV’s new School of Medicine, received the largest amount of funding this fiscal year ($17,561,488 combined). The Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering received the largest number of awards (127) in FY17, nearly doubling the funding amount of $7,609,823 that it received in FY16. 67% UNLV’s economic development activities continue to grow. Startups quadrupled from one in FY16 to four in FY17. Nondisclosure agreements also Increase in nearly quadrupled from FY16. Licensing revenue increased nearly 16 percent sponsored from FY16 to $292,526.25. program Another measure of university research activity is the number of doctoral Josh hawkins awards over degrees conferred, as doctoral programs include a strong research component the last that culminates in a dissertation. UNLV conferred 154 doctoral degrees in FY17. five years

48 / innovation 2017 $68M Amount of Sponsored Program Activity total sponsored program awards Expenditures FY11-FY17, in millions Expenditures in FY17 $80 sponsored Research nsf Reported programs* R&D $70 FY11 $50,210,861 $32,581,329 $ 39,526,000 $60 FY12 $42,924,520 $27,072,642 $34,543,000

FY13 $44,593,471 $27,649,163 $35,935,000 $50

FY14 $48,144,405 $31,027,377 $39,448,000 $40 FY15 $49,262,898 $31,641,467 $42,000,000 $30 FY16 $49,202,054 $30,530,900 $62,825,000

FY17 $52,929,528 $34,329,627 ** $20

$10

* Sponsored programs expenditures include research, instruction/training, and other sponsored activity (e.g., public service, student services, etc.). FY 11 FY 12 FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 FY 16 FY 17

** NSF reported R&D expenditure data will be available February 2018. SPONSORED PROGRAMS* RESEARCH NSF Reported R&D

Awards FY11-FY17, in millions

Awards $70 Sponsored Programs* Research

FY11 $56,090,962 $40,398,054 $60

FY12 $40,772,216 $22,565,629 $50 FY13 $43,204,579 $26,585,099

FY14 $59,636,152 $41,477,222 $40 FY15 $50,658,340 $32,082,224

FY16 $53,357,694 $34,493,983 $30

FY17 $68,095,941 $44,924,000 $20

* Sponsored programs funding includes awards $10 for research, instruction/training, and other sponsored activity (e.g., public service, student services, etc.).

FY 11 FY 12 FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 FY 16 FY 17

SPONSORED PROGRAMS* RESEARCH

Proposals FY11-FY17, in millions

$350

Proposals $300

FY11 $210,857,602 $250 FY12 $281,270,704

FY13 $203,337,011 $200

FY14 $286,087,223 $150 FY15 $226,756,850

FY16 $232,302,785 $100

FY17 $278,257,596

FY 11 FY 12 FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 FY 16 FY 17

research.unlv.edu innovation / 49 UNLV RESEARCH REPORT

UNLV Award Data FY17

Funding by College/Unit # Awards Total Dollars Federal Agency # Awards total Dollars $17.5M Sciences 80 $11,104,918 Education 33 $14,984,791 Student Life 33 $15,156,419 Health & Human Services 27 $9,496,683 Total dollars Engineering 127 $13,712,561 from awards Health Sciences 77 $17,535,890 National Science Foundation 26 $5,058,459 VPRED 11 $1,748,770 Agriculture 3 $1,945,623 received by Education 29 $3,781,352 Energy 19 $3,630,212 health sciences Urban Affairs 12 $2,371,287 Defense 15 $7,763,274 combined Liberal Arts 16 $1,447,266 NASA 6 $574,633 President’s Office 3 $364,739 NEH 1 $210,000 Provost 5 $230,357 Department of Interior 11 $640,711 Fine Arts 6 $134,248 Transportation 1 $1,402,200 Business 6 $179,561 Homeland Security 1 $62,500 Library 1 $210,000 Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1 $66,667 Law School 2 $26,856 Hotel Administration 1 $18,920 VPEO 1 $45,000 Grand Total 144 $45,835,753 VPF 1 $2,199 School of Medicine 2 $25,598

Grand Total 413 $68,095,941

SPONSORED PROGRAM FUNDING BY source FY17

Federal Funding by Source Sources of Funding # Awards total Dollars Pass-through: 19.2%

Federal 144 $45,835,753 Federal Pass-through 156 $13,105,596 State 49 $5,237,037 Industry/Foundations 52 $2,977,947 Local 12 $939,608

Grand Total 413 $68,095,941 Federal: 67.3%

State: 7.7%

Local: 1.4% Industry/Foundations: 4.4%

Doctoral Degrees Conferred AY11/12 - 16/17 doctoral degrees conferred, ay10/11-15/16

180

160

Academic Year Number Conferred 140 2011-12 153 120

2012-13 156 100 2013-14 124 80 2014-15 147 60 2015-16 166 2016-17 154 40

20 0 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

50 / innovation 2017 63 Nondisclosure Research Disclosures, Patent Activity & Startups FY11-17 agreements in FY17 number of research disclosures submitted vs. patent applications filed, fy11-17

Disclosures issued Patents 60 Submitted patents filed startups 50 FY2011 6 2 3 0

FY2012 9 1 5 0 40 FY2013 18 3 14 0

FY2014 37 1 32 0 30 FY2015 34 1 47 3

FY2016 57 5 61 1 20

FY2017 57 5 58 4 10

0 FY 11 FY 12 FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 FY 16 FY 17

DISCLOSURES SUBMITTED PATENTS FILED

Agreements and Licensing Revenue FY11-17 number of AGREEMENTS EXECUTED, fy11-17

140 Nondisclosure mtAs, IIAs options & total total Agreements & MOUs License licensing 120 Agreements Revenue

FY2011 4 1 2 7 100 FY2012 5 0 0 5

FY2013 10 1 6 17 $32,281 80

FY2014 41 10 10 61 $57,986 60 FY2015 33 15 24 72 $126,242

FY2016 17 30 28 75 $252,309 40

FY2017 63 30 38 131 $292,526 20

0 FY 11 FY 12 FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 FY 16 FY 17 MTA — Material Transfer Agreement IIA — Inter-Institutional Agreement NONDISCLOSURE MTAs, IIAs, OPTIONS MOU — Memorandum of Understanding AGREEMENTS MOUs, & OTHER & LICENSE AGREEMENTS AGREEMENTS

INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVALS FY11-17 number of institutional review board Approvals, fy11-17 400 Biomedical social/ total behavioral 350 FY2011 93 230 323 300 FY2012 75 214 289 250 FY2013 77 184 261

FY2014 122 200 322 200

FY2015 108 187 295 150 FY2016 151 227 378 100 FY2017 124 239 363 50

FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 BIOMEDICAL SOCIAL/BEHAVIORAL TOTAL

research.unlv.edu innovation / 51 PERSPECTIVE

funding in the mid-1990s to around $60 million between 2005 and 2010—a quadrupling in only 15 years. How Far Has UNLV Then the recession hit. UNLV’s funding dropped to $40 million by 2012. However, what is often forgotten about this time period is that about 40 percent of UNLV’s research funding Research Come? came from direct congressional appropriations (i.e., earmarks) then; our downturn was directly tied to the elimination of those earmarks in 2012. UNLV’s research efforts have consistently grown Despite this, UNLV actually saw a steady increase in over its 60-year life span, setting us on track to competitive grant funding through the recession years—versus someday becoming one of the premier research noncompetitive funding such as the aforementioned earmarks, universities in the nation. generally delegated without rigorous peer review. In By STAN SMITH university-ranking circles, competitive grant funding is the primary signifier of excellence. And now that we’re post- Anniversaries call to mind destinations we’ve recession, these kinds of annual increases are becoming more reached, and this fall, UNLV celebrates reaching its 60th year. pronounced at UNLV. While we can be proud of all the milestones and successes we’ve The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research achieved together over six decades, I’d also like to look more (EPSCoR), which enhances research capabilities in underfunded closely at the journey that’s brought us here, as it lights the way states, was a key catalyst in my research career. Large, multiyear toward the next great destination we seek before our 70th. grants like this provide important infrastructure in key research We are on an excellent trajectory toward joining the ranks of focus areas, with the goal of helping interdisciplinary teams the nation’s top research universities—what you’ll often hear sustain the original investment through competitive grants those of us at UNLV refer to as the “Top Tier.” I believe we’ve beyond the initial support. After an initial $2 million Department actually been on the path to becoming this type of research of Energy (DOE) EPSCoR grant that built a free-air CO2 university all along, even if we didn’t have this goal in mind enrichment site at the Nevada Test Site, we were able to acquire from the start. another $10 million in competitive grants from the DOE and One of the most defining characteristics of a top research uni- National Science Foundation over the next decade to continue the versity is the amount of research funding it generates from ex- long-term experiment. ternal sources each year. In general, top research institutions garner at Obviously, UNLV needs to continue to leverage EPSCoR and least $100 million to $120 million in research funding annually. similar programs, and our new School of Medicine will increase At about $60 million this year, UNLV admittedly will need to our research portfolio eventually, but I believe the real key to approximately double its funding to become one of the nation’s becoming a premier research university by our 70th birthday is top research universities. But considering UNLV received to continue a hybrid approach of spearheading faculty-driven between $10 million and $15 million in research funding in the initiatives from our departments and executing on a 1990s, we’ve already come a long way. campuswide strategic plan in which we identify key focus areas Research funding was even lower than that when I arrived in and make targeted, midcareer hires in those areas. Hires like 1985. At that time, the biology department had two research Malcolm Nicol, whom UNLV recruited from UCLA to form the “stars” who went on to become distinguished professors: animal High Pressure Science and Engineering Center (HiPSEC)—an physiologist Mohamed Yousef, who studied animals’ reaction to interdisciplinary lab that studies nuclear testing, stockpiles, and heat and water stress, including how heat and dehydration their alternatives—resulted in what is now one of the most could impact Air Force pilots; and biologist/activist Jim Deacon, productive and well-funded centers on campus. who was responsible for the Devils Hole pupfish making its way We also need more research space. The Science and onto the endangered species list. Most of the remaining biology Engineering Building dramatically increased UNLV’s collective faculty didn’t conduct funded research. But by the time I was ability to do cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research; at least one hired, every person we hired was expected to be an active more building like this is essential to keep us on the up and up. researcher with grant support. Where there is a will and a good hybrid strategy, there is a We also didn’t have dedicated research labs back then, way. And if how far we’ve already come in our journey is any conducting research in our teaching labs instead. This meant indicator, UNLV is speeding its way to the top. that there were times during the school year when I couldn’t

keep my research equipment on the lab benches because my r. marsh starks students were using the space to work on their assignments and Stan Smith has served UNLV for 32 years and counting—first as experiments. However, once dedicated research labs that could a research-active faculty member in the School of Life Sciences, house equipment and sustain continuous experiments were then as associate vice president for research for 10 years, and carved out across campus, UNLV’s research productivity really finally as the acting dean of the College of Sciences before took off. This is how we got from $15 million in research becoming professor emeritus this summer.

52 / innovation 2017 Sharang is developing new mathematical models for noninvasive brain mapping.

His research will help us better visualize how the brain is wired, which is essential for understanding traumatic brain injuries and diseases like Alzheimer’s.

To learn more about how your gifts are helping us invest in a healthier future, visit us at unlv.edu/foundation. Sharang Chaudhry UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees Fellow College of Sciences

University of Nevada, Las Vegas Nonprofit UNLV Innovation US Postage Box 451092 Paid 4505 S. Maryland Parkway Las Vegas NV Las Vegas, NV 89154-1092 Permit No. 200

facebook.com/UNLVresearch We hope you enjoy this complimentary issue of Innovation magazine and share it with your clients, @UNLVresearch colleagues, students, family, and friends. UNLV RED

UNLV engineer SJ Kim and undergraduate students Martin Jaime-Viveros and Taewoong Lee revolutionized drone research by bringing a Vegas flair to it. Their Flying Orchestra drones “dance” to the beat together, creating a new form of entertainment.

Research That’s Different. Daring. Diverse.

unlv.edu/research