Research at Boston University 2007

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RESEARCH AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY 2007

From the University Provost and Associate Provost and Vice President for Research RESEARCH AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Welcome to Research at Boston University 2007. This year we are delighted to present an expan- 2007 sion of the scope of the magazine to include research, scholarship, and creative activity in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. As in years past, you will also be introduced in these pages to researchers working in the natural sciences, medicine, engineering, and technology.

Given the extent of the scholarly activities in our seventeen schools and colleges, as well as 2 The Conversation: Hearing and Speaking dozens of centers and institutes, we realize it is impossible to provide a complete overview of research efforts at Boston University in one annual publication. But we hope the newly broad- ened scope will offer a more comprehensive and balanced perspective than in previous years. 8 Engaging with Islam

Uniting researchers in all disciplines at Boston University is the conviction that research and David K. Campbell 14 Biology Becomes Electric teaching are complementary and that new discoveries augment and sustain our work as edu- University Provost cators. Disce ut doceas—learn in order to teach. We hope this conviction is also reflected in the magazine. 20 Bringing Research to the Community

Apart from the remarkable breadth and depth of traditional disciplinary research at Boston 24 Sights and Sounds: Explorations in the Arts University, the articles demonstrate the many connections—some quite unexpected—across disciplines. As you will see, “Sights and Sounds: Explorations in the Arts” highlights collaborations between artists and scientists, while “Talking about Religion and Culture” looks at the 32 Answering the Biggest Questions about the ways in which faculty members from five very different academic disciplines—classics, Smallest Matter economics, law, religion, and sociology—explore issues of faith. All of the articles illustrate the talent and ingenuity of our faculty and students and their engagement in the world 38 Defending Innovation: Intellectual Property in around us. the 21st Century While encouraging interdisciplinary, collective efforts, Boston University is also committed to fostering an environment that nurtures individual researchers. Our newly appointed 42 Talking about Religion and Culture Andrei E. Ruckenstein Associate Provost and Vice President for Research, Andrei Ruckenstein, will seek to promote Associate Provost and and advance this dynamic balance between strategic research initiatives and individual Vice President for Research creativity. He will play a central role in enabling and enhancing research, scholarship, and 46 Raising the Game: FIRST Robotics inquiry throughout the University. In his own research—which extends across physics, molecular biophysics, and structural and computational biology—Dr. Ruckenstein has proven to be 48 Graphene: Particle Physics at Your Fingertips? an influential and visionary leader. We are delighted to welcome him now and to entrust future issues of this magazine to him. 49 Award-Winning Faculty

Like any publication of this nature, Research at Boston University is necessarily a snapshot in time. For the most up-to-date research news, please visit our website at www.bu.edu/research. 52 Boston University at a Glance THE CONVERSATION: HEARING AND SPEAKING

Although most of us take our ears for granted, the information that comes in through them goes a long way toward making us human. Even in the womb, we’re eavesdropping on the world around us, and, from the first day of life, we prefer the sounds of the language we’ve heard our parents speak to an unfamiliar tongue. Our alertness as babies to the sounds of familiar words turns us into the facile communicators we’ll be as toddlers. As adults, we need to hear ourselves to speak properly, and we often struggle in a world full of mechanical noise simply to listen to the words of the person sitting across from us.

It is the auditory system that makes possible the great conversation that is human life—and that system is almost fantastically intricate, involving not just our ears but a number of highly specialized brain structures whose functions scientists are only beginning to understand. Throughout Boston University, researchers are doing pio- neering work to illuminate the ways in which we turn the universe of sound into an intelligible map of information and ideas.

Language Acquisition Before “Mama” and “Dada”

Leher Singh, assistant professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences at Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, studies language acquisition at its very earliest stages and quickly points out the irony of the way her target population is labeled: “Infant,” she explains, “comes from infans, which is a Latin term for ‘without language.’” Singh has done much to prove the contrary. Her work has demonstrated that babies as young as seven months are able to recognize and remember words they cannot yet say—and that this is an important prerequisite for speech. A recently completed longitudinal study found that children who were better at tracking words as babies had substantially bigger vocabularies at age three. Above: Presenting visual stimuli to a one-year-old Next page, from top: A three-year-old responds to Clearly, it is not easy to evaluate word recognition in a population that cannot yet child, infant language specialist Leher Singh studies stimuli; Singh discusses results with Sarah Nestor, do more than burble. However, Singh and her research assistants are able to do it by how the child attaches meaning to words. Her work left, a graduate research assistant in her lab, and has shown that children who track words at very Ashley Yull, a graduate student in psychology; sub- training a baby to look at a flashing light while listening to a particular word over and early ages will have substantially larger vocabularies jects are observed through a one-way window; over. Then, when the word is used in a sentence, the baby’s gaze will be directed as toddlers. Nestor administers a test. toward the light measurably longer if he or she recalls the word.

2 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 3 Singh explains what’s most interesting about her results. “We “If babies did better on our memory found that differences in vocabulary weren’t due to IQ. Demographic factors—parenting styles, whether the children were in day care, tests at seven, nine, or ten months, household income—had no reliable effects. What was predictable was that if babies did better on our memory tests at seven, nine, or they had bigger vocabularies at age ten months, they had bigger vocabularies at age three. Clearly, we are picking up on something developmental.” three. Clearly, we are picking up on A number of the infants identified in Singh’s study as being at something developmental.” risk for language delays were indeed independently flagged by their pediatricians at between 18 and 20 months. Singh points out, “Language delays are not just about vocabulary, but vocabulary is clearly a big part. It’s important to identify the risk markers as early as possible, because language acquisition becomes more difficult the She admits that working with a pre-verbal population prone to older a child is.” crankiness when sleepy or hungry can be challenging. “Babies are Helping Singh uncover the ways babies master language is not sympathetic to the fact that you need the data for some dead- undergraduate Chandni Parikh, a human physiology major. “As a line,” she laughs. “But the value of the questions you can ask with sophomore, I wanted research experience,” Chandni explains, “and them outweighs everything else.” Leher Singh was very welcoming. Fortunately, I love kids.” For more information, see http://people.bu.edu/leher. Over the course of the last three years, she assisted Singh with the longitudinal study of infants’ word recognition. Thanks to a grant from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), Three Dimensions from Two Ears Chandni was able to spend all of last summer in Singh’s lab, helping to finish the study. “It was an amazing experience for an undergradu- If language is an extremely complex system, hearing is another. ate. My sister is a senior in high school and has friends applying to BU. H. Steven Colburn, professor of biomedical engineering and director of I tell them all, you have to do UROP.” BU’s Hearing Research Center, emphasizes, “Even putting aside the biol- She recently helped Singh conduct a study on affect. Chandni ogy and just trying to solve it from a pure engineering standpoint, the explains, “We played certain recorded words to babies, with either a interpretation of sound is a messy problem.” high or a low affect—in other words, with a happy or neutral tone. “The auditory system,” he explains, “has no spatial dimension, Then we gave them the same words, in the context of a sentence, a other than the fact that we have two ears. Sound arrives in the form day later. The children who had heard the words in a happy tone rec- of two pressure waves that vary in time. We have to create a sense of ognized those words far better the next day, even when they were space from these two temporal wave forms.” now said in a neutral tone. The children who’d heard those words in a Colburn’s work focuses on the ways in which we exploit the neutral tone couldn’t recognize them a day later, even if they were two reception points of our auditory system—our binaural hearing— now said in a happy tone.” to interpret a three-dimensional universe. Our pair of ears help “It seems that it’s better for kids to learn language in ‘mother- locate a sound in space in two ways. First, if a sound is on one side of After listening to a binaural simulation of sound pro- Colburn explains that modern life is organized in such a way ese,’” says Chandni, referring to the slow, musical, hyper-inflected, us or the other, our head “shadows” the sound, making it less intense cessing with two cochlear implants, H. Steven that a sophisticated task is made even more difficult. “We’ve struc- and emotional style of speech adults tend to use with babies. from the more distant ear. Second, there is also a slight timing differ- Colburn discusses the experiment with Kelli Bechly, tured our environment today—with traffic noise, manufacturing Singh is currently interested in seeing whether the lack of such ence between the moment that the sound arrives at the closer ear a senior who spent the summer conducting research noise, mechanical noise—so that our expectations are at the limits of a preference for “motherese”—or other early indicators that lan- and the moment it arrives at the farther one, which allows us to in the Biomedical Engineering Department through what we can do,” he says. guage acquisition is not progressing normally—can be used to predict determine where the sound lies in the horizontal plane. the NSF-sponsored Research Experience for In his lab, Colburn tests the limits of the auditory system in particular disorders. For example, collaborating with the Autism “We can perceive a five or ten micro-second difference. That Undergraduates program. people with normal hearing, as well as in those with impaired hear- Center at the University of California-Davis Medical Center, she has blew my mind when I learned it,” says Colburn, who, as a graduate ing. His work has important implications for people whose hearing found that the six-month-old siblings of autistic children—who are student, arrived at the study of hearing from an interest in signal loss requires a cochlear implant. “Most people with a single cochlear at a high risk for autism themselves—tend to prefer more neutral processing in the field of electrical engineering. implant do pretty well in simple environments, but they still have speech to “motherese.” Eventually, Singh’s work may allow autism to Colburn points out how challenging such fine analysis is in a great difficulty in noisy environments.” be identified months or years earlier than it generally is today and noisy environment, where we not only have to “slice up” the pressure Colburn’s work may eventually offer a strong argument for allow therapies to be initiated in infancy. wave to identify the sources of various noises, but we also have to two implants and may also illuminate ways in which implants need Singh seems to be inspired by the mystery at the heart of regroup the relevant parts of the sound in order to pay attention to, to be improved in order to function together with something human speech. “Language is an incredibly complex system,” she says. for example, one particular conversation. “This ability to sort out the approaching the finesse of two ears. “Just as we have better depth “Most of us can’t characterize its grammar until we learn a second sources of sound and control which one you listen to has long been perception with two eyes,” he says, “we have better spatial localiza- language in school. Yet we have an implicit knowledge of the sys- described as ‘the cocktail party effect.’ It’s the challenge I’m inter- tion with two ears.” tem’s rules and use them before we can tie our shoelaces.” ested in, but I don’t mean to imply that it’s the only major challenge

in hearing. However, it is the one hearing-impaired people complain For more information, see www.bu.edu/dbin/bme/faculty/?prof=colburn. about most.”

4 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 5 )

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H Pre-CI Post-CI Eavesdropping on the Conversations “At one time, the literature sug- ( l 1500 1500 l 2 L L l Between Neurons l ll llll F l llll l l

gested that the dorsal cochlear - l l l l l 3 1000 l l 1000 Herbert Voigt, professor of biomedical engineering, also studies the lrlll l ll l l nucleus was vestigial in F r l ll rrrl r ways in which our brain localizes sound. However, his interest lies in a l r l 500 R rrr rrr 500 R r rr part of the brain that interprets sound when our binaural hearing r rr r rrrrrr r r r r rrr rr offers no clues, because the sound is equidistant from both ears in the humans. Now we know it does r 0 0 medial plane either overhead or beneath us. -500 0 500 1000 1500 -500 0 500 1000 1500 spectral notch detection, and F3 transition (Hz) F3 transition (Hz) Here, “spectral notches” are the localizing information—the fact that thanks to the shape of our outer ear, energy is pulled out of a sound possibly much, much more.” at certain frequencies, depending on its elevation. This spectral notch Left: Melanie Matthies explains the connection between auditory analysis is done in the dorsal cochlear nucleus, part of a brain-stem struc- feedback and speech. The computer behind her shows a spectrogram ture that is the first stop in the brain for information the auditory nerve (an acoustic analysis of speech showing frequency and pitch) of a has brought from the ear. spoken sentence. Above: Acoustic analyses of a subject speaking the consonants “r” and “l” both before and after receiving a cochlear “When I was a graduate student,” Voigt points out, “the literature Voigt’s research uses gerbils to unravel the neural architecture of implant. The overlapping ellipses in the chart on the left indicate diffi- suggested that the dorsal cochlear nucleus was vestigial in humans, a the dorsal cochlear nucleus, because gerbils, like humans, hear very well culty differentiating between the two consonants in articulation. The meaningless leftover. Now we know it does spectral notch detection, and at low frequencies. Working with graduate student Han Zheng, Voigt has second chart shows greater differentiation between the two conso- possibly much, much more. It may even be involved in the preliminary developed a computational model of the gerbil’s dorsal cochlear nucleus nants and thus greater clarity of speech in the subject. analysis of speech. Thanks to resonances of the vocal tract, there are that predicts the ways that key neurons will react when they are stimu- spectral peaks and notches that characterize vowel sounds, too.” lated by particular sounds—as well as the ways different kinds of neurons converse with each other, either to excite or inhibit each other, depending on the qualities of the sound stimulus. Currently, Voigt is recording the ultrasonic vocalizations of gerbil Matthies is the audiologist in this group, and the subjects of their pups calling for their mothers. These are then played back for adult ger- studies are people with normal hearing as well as those with hearing bils, so Voigt and his team can record the neural activity caused by this loss, including some people whose hearing loss is severe enough that behaviorally significant sound. they are given cochlear implants. Working with graduate student Rapeechai “Pom” Navawongse, “A replacement cochlea is a very sophisticated electronic substi- Voigt has developed a head stage implant that allows an electrode to be tution,” she explains. inserted into a single neuron in the dorsal cochlear nucleus without anes- The cochlea is the part of the ear that transduces sound waves thesia or a decerebration that destroys the feedback from the upper to electrical signals that are sent to the brain. It has a tonotopic organ- brain. Voigt emphasizes that the neural responses of an awake and intact ization: particular frequencies go to particular spots. “With an animal are likely to give a far more illuminating picture of the ways that To Speak, We Have to Hear implant,” she continues, “since there are a limited number of chan- the brain processes sound. Melanie Matthies, associate professor in Sargent College’s nels, it’s a tricky thing to divide up the signals in an intelligent way.” “Most studies of the central auditory system,” says Voigt, “have Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and associ- In the lab, she’s been able to use software that simulates differ- been in the anesthetized brain, so we really have no clue what’s ate dean for undergraduate programs at Sargent, focuses on the ent kinds of cochlear implant signals to help pinpoint what informa- going on yet.” relationship between hearing and speech. tion is most important for optimal speech production. Working with

For more information, see www.bu.edu/dbin/bme/faculty/?prof=hfv. “We’re constantly monitoring our speech,” explains Matthies. the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, she’s also followed the “Even people with normal speech who experience significant hearing developing articulation of people first given implants. Using contrast- loss as adults may wind up with imprecise articulation. They can have ing vowel sounds, as well as consonant pairs such as “r” and “l,” trouble modulating pitch and loudness.” Matthies has documented significant improvement with a cochlear Matthies says that people with hearing loss may speak loudly implant in people whose speech had previously deteriorated due to simply because they are not aware of their volume. “Another theory is hearing loss. that we’re desperate to hear our own voices. So we raise the volume or “And with cochlear implants,” Matthies emphasizes, “there are stress to get more auditory feedback—or even just to get the feeling huge improvements in people’s lives far beyond the detailed articula- we get when we’re speaking.” tion that we study. They’re less tired by communication. They don’t Matthies’ work has done much to illuminate this connection withdraw from society. They continue talking.” between auditory feedback and speech production, though she is “People want to be intelligible,” she says. “They want to be A head stage implant developed by Herbert Voigt is poised quick to point out that she’s worked with a long-time team of collabo- understood.” to shed new light on the central auditory system by allowing rators, who include speech scientist Joseph Perkell of MIT, cognitive an electrode to be inserted into a single neuron without For more information, see www.bu.edu/sargent/about/faculty/speech/ and neural systems expert Frank Guenther of Boston University, and anesthesia or a decerebration that would destroy feedback matthies. from the upper brain. psychologist and linguist Harlan Lane of Northeastern University, allowing her to come at the problem from many different angles. —Michele Owens

6 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 7 Historian Herbert Mason and sociol- ogist Nazli Kibria among materials in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center’s Islamic Book Collection. The collection comprises the libraries of several noted scholars, including Richard N. Frye and Muhsin Mahdi, and contains more than 42,000 books and approximately ENGAGING one hundred mostly complete runs of important journals in the field of Middle Eastern studies. WITHISLAM

When Aaron Spevack began his doctoral work in Islamic studies at Boston University in the early fall of 2001, he considered his field to be somewhat esoteric—culturally and historically rich, but off the radar of the majority of Americans. Then came September 11, and suddenly the questions Spevack was examining—what is Islam, and what do Muslims believe?— became profoundly relevant. As the field was transformed by events on the world stage, scholars of Islamic studies began to expand the purview of their research. “Are we looking at Islam through a broad enough lens to be able to teach undergraduate classes, to write the popular texts on the shelves of Barnes & Noble?” Spevack asks. “Are we getting beyond the question ‘Why do they hate us?’ to understand Islam, and Muslim culture, more fully?”

In considering these questions, Spevack joins a community of more than 50 Boston University scholars from departments across the University and from nations around the globe who are engaging with topics of Muslim history, society, and culture. With the founding last year of the Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations (SMSC), the University has established a gathering place for these researchers, who share a common goal: not to define Islam but to explore, and then to teach about, the diversity of voices that together make up the Muslim world.

Understanding Islam

Islamic studies at Boston University has a long and distinguished history, but for many years researchers scattered across departments worked more or less independently. Since the for- mation of the new Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations, these faculty and graduate students have been brought together as members of an extraordinary community of scholars at BU. The 29 faculty members and 25 graduate students affiliated with the SMSC study Muslim societies from a variety of angles: political science, anthropology, international relations, sociology, archaeology, women’s studies, literature, law, and art, among many others. They research and write about cultures and peoples who speak Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Turkish, and Bengali—as well as Chinese, French, and American English. “We truly are global in our interests and our expertise,” says SMSC director Herbert Mason, a University Professor and the William Goodwin Aurelio Professor of History and Religious Thought. “We have professors who are experts on Indonesia—which has the largest Muslim population in the world—as well as India, South Asia, and Central Asia. We have experts on Islam in America. And we didn’t

Research at Boston University 2007 9 The notion of under- plished. There is a lack of a general sense of accomplishment in Though Haqqani hopes his message will reach Muslim listen- modern times.” ers, he believes that his research has something to teach Western standing, with its dual He reels off a series of surprising statistics in support of this policy makers as well. “Basically, I am saying that this is an entire sec- argument: The GDP of the world’s 57 Muslim-majority countries tion of the world that is reeling from the trauma of its decline,” he meanings of learning combined is less than that of France. Those 57 countries contain says. “How can the United States and other Western powers build about 500 universities, compared to more than 5,000 in the United relationships with the Muslim world without understanding what and of appreciation States and 8,000 in India. There are only 230 scientists per million happens in the Muslim mind?” and acceptance, is at Muslims. Fewer new book titles are published each year in Arabic, the language of 300 million people, than in Greek, spoken by only 15 For more information, see www.bu.edu/ir/faculty/haqqani.html. the heart of the insti- million. More books are translated into Spanish each year than have been translated into Arabic in the last century. tute’s goals. From these hard facts, Haqqani draws a startling conclusion. Engaging with the Qur’an He argues that a lack of economic, intellectual, cultural, and techno- Whether we speak of understanding or use a vocabulary of terrorism logical productivity in the Muslim world has left a vacuum that has and war, the words we choose can be as important as the message we been filled by paranoia and inflammatory rhetoric, fueling “a culture seek to convey. Our leaders may be talking about building relation- of political anger, rather than political solutions.” This rhetoric, he ships “between the Muslim world and the West,” but their very phras- maintains, keeps Muslims in a constant state of fear that Islam and ing betrays a tacit difference between two disparate entities. His research sparked by years of wondering “why the Muslim world is in the eye of virtually every storm,” Islamic culture are in danger of being snuffed out by the West—and, As a scholar of literature and Arabic language in the Husain Haqqani, a former journalist and diplomat in Pakistan, is trying to change attitudes and rhetoric in in turn, a cycle of violence persists as Muslims respond to the per- Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature, Shakir both the Middle East and the West. ceived threat posed by both external and sectarian enemies. At the Mustafa is attuned to the significance of language’s nuances. In same time, this culture of outward-directed anger prevents Muslims recent years, he has heard in the conversations of contemporary have to recruit to make this possible; the professors were already The State of the Muslim World from examining the internal problems that plague the Islamic world, Muslim intellectuals the language of the Qur’an—not only in religious here. We simply brought them together.” such as repressive governments, sectarian conflict, and a lack of and political discourse, but in the arts as well. And together they are working to build a world-class center for In speaking about the origins of his current research, Husain Haqqani democratic representation. “Muslims must rise and peacefully mobi- For his current project, Qur’anic Negotiations: Contemporary scholarship and teaching. In its first year, the SMSC has become the recalls a Newsweek cover from October 2001. Across a photo of a lize against sectarianism and the violence and destruction in, say, Muslim Writers and the Holy Book, Mustafa is studying the varied ways point of origin for a variety of initiatives at Boston University, from Pakistani child brandishing an automatic weapon were inscribed four Iraq,” he wrote in an op-ed for the Gulf Times, a popular English- in which Muslim authors use the Qur’an in their literary writings to developing new graduate programs that foster the study of Islam troubling words: “Why They Hate Us.” language newspaper in Qatar. “But before that can happen, Muslim critique political and social issues, to examine issues relevant to and Muslim cultures across the University curriculum to creating new The director of BU’s Center for International Relations, discourse would have to shift away from the focus on Muslim victim- Muslims’ lives, and to spark dialogue about religion that might other- graduate and postgraduate fellowships. Under the direction of Haqqani came to the United States after a career as a Pakistani jour- hood and towards taking responsibility, as a community, for our own wise be censored. Shakir Mustafa, the Arabic division of the recently restructured nalist and statesman. He is a former ambassador and advisor to situation.” These dialogues are happening worldwide: Mustafa’s study Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature is Pakistani prime ministers Benazir Bhutto, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, and includes writers from Europe, West Africa, the Middle East, and thriving. More than 120 students are currently studying Arabic at BU, Nawaz Sharif. He is also a practicing Muslim who studied in a and enrollments in Persian, Turkish, and Urdu language courses have madrassa, or traditional Islamic school, in Pakistan. But throughout his distinguished career, one question has also been increasing. What unites the Underscoring the broader University commitment to support haunted him. “I have always wondered why the Muslim world is in research in Islamic studies and related topics, the Howard Gotlieb the eye of virtually every storm, in my lifetime at least,” he says. “The authors who tell these Archival Research Center has recently acquired four major libraries Middle East is a cauldron. The India/Pakistan conflict has a Muslim of Middle Eastern and Central Asian primary and secondary texts. As dimension. In Russia, there’s Chechnya, another Muslim dimension.” stories is an interest in the foundation of a major Islamic studies collection at BU, these Why is the Muslim world plagued by instability, undemocratic gov- libraries will enhance the institute’s scholarly resources as well as its ernments, and sectarian violence? As Bernard Lewis asked in the title using an ancient holy ability to attract top-level faculty, graduate students, and other of his 2001 book about the seemingly unending conflict between researchers. Islam and the West, What Went Wrong? text as a lens through In support of its growing scholarly community, the institute has Haqqani has set out to seek answers to these questions. He which to examine the become a vital home for collaboration, both between faculty and calls the project a “State of the Muslim World,” and his research graduate students and across disciplinary lines. As Mason explains, draws broadly from such fields as anthropology, sociology, history, challenges of modern “There’s no more crucial subject on the world stage today than Islam. economics, and demography. Despite the diversity of the Islam- And there is no greater need than understanding Islam.” influenced world, he says, Muslims everywhere share membership in life. That notion of understanding, with its dual meanings of learn- the Ummah, or community of believers. “There are many differences ing and of appreciation and acceptance, is at the heart of the insti- among Muslims, but there are also common streaks running from tute’s goals. “Our mission here is very simple,” Mason says. “We seek Egypt to Indonesia, and there is a sense of belonging together,” he to study, to teach, and—most importantly—to learn from these says. “And yet, in the last few centuries, it has been a belonging- cultures.” together in decline. The Kuwaitis may be rich, but they know it is coming from oil in the ground, not from something they’ve accom- The books in Shakir Mustafa’s office showcase his wide range of scholarly interests, including Irish For more information, see www.bu.edu/smscinst. drama, English poetry, Jewish-American fiction, and Iraqi fiction and poetry.

10 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 11 Southeast Asia. And he writes from a global perspective informed by Muslims in Diaspora his own experience as a scholar whose work is unconstrained by national or cultural boundaries. Born and raised in Iraq, he came to Nazli Kibria has described her work as “part of a larger scholarly proj- the United States in 1990 to study Irish literature at Indiana ect of unraveling the ‘Islam versus the West’ framework, of digging University, and his scholarly publications include writings on Irish beneath the polarizing rhetoric to uncover the complex realities of drama, English poetry, Jewish-American fiction, and, in recent years, people’s lives.” Like Shakir Mustafa, Kibria, an associate professor in Iraqi fiction and poetry. But it was only after September 11, 2001, he the Department of Sociology, is interested in understanding how indi- says, that he became aware of how essential the Qur’an was becoming viduals construct a sense of self in the context of the ideas and condi- “People who are in Muslims’ lives. tions that shape the lives of today’s Muslims. “What I have to teach is He soon found the text’s significance reflected in the literature one very simple idea,” she says. “People who are Muslim, and who claim Muslim, and who a Muslim identity, are not all the same. They have very different he studied. And in delving more deeply he discovered that Muslim claim a Muslim iden- writers have used the Qur’an for a wide range of purposes in their views—that’s true even among those who have orthodox views.” works. Some of these are deeply subversive, as in the case of female Kibria’s forthcoming book, Muslims in Diaspora: Bangladeshis at tity, are not all the Home and Abroad, is the product of several years of fieldwork, incorporat- ing more than a hundred interviews with Bangladeshis who have left their same. They have very “People do believe in the centrality of home country either to work temporarily in the Middle East or to settle permanently in the United States or Britain. In her research she sought to different views— their faith, but they are not afraid to explore how these immigrants’ identities are shaped by Islam and Muslim identity, both internally, in terms of their relationships to their culture and that’s true even think about and examine it.” their faith, and externally, in terms of how they are treated by others in the wider communities in which they live and work. She also gained among those who insight into the recent rise of “Islamization,” a society-wide shift toward a have orthodox authors’ use of the Qur’an to critique the status of women both in more stringently fundamentalist practice of Islam. She calls this new, Muslim societies and in the Qur’an itself. In the story “My World of the orthodox form of religion “revivalist Islam,” because it frequently repre- views.” Unknown,” for example, the religiously observant author Alifa Rifaat sents a change from the Islam with which its adherents were raised. “I depicts two women who consummate a lesbian relationship by read- want to show how people understand themselves and what it means to ing the Fatiha chapter of the Qur’an; according to tradition, the Fatiha be a Muslim,” says Kibria, who is herself a Muslim of Bangladeshi origin. chapter is read by males as a means of sealing contracts, whether of “A lot of the discussions I see in the popular media here, when they talk business or marriage. about radical Muslims, there’s this sense that ‘They were just born like Still, the scope of his research is not limited to literary acts of that,’ as though it’s an innate, almost a biological, quality.” resistance. Even novels and stories that are critical of orthodox read- But in reality, Kibria’s research shows, the adoption of revivalist ings of the Qur’an, Mustafa argues, can affirm the text’s central place Islam is a social process shaped by changes in the course of people’s lives within Muslims’ lives—as in the novel Brick Lane, in which Monica Ali and the lives of the community. In some contexts, her respondents iden- shows her characters engaging with the Qur’an as they make their tify their conversion to orthodox Islam as a reaction to what they perceive way through their daily lives amidst changing attitudes toward Islam as Western culture’s immorality or materialism; others describe finding a in the post-9/11 West. Mustafa sees literary works as a model for the sense of community—and a haven from the stigmatization of Muslims in ways in which individuals use the texts and doctrines of their faith to the West—as members of the global Ummah. But she found that in fact interpret the internal and external contexts that color their own real- people’s reasons for turning to revivalist Islam differed from place to life experiences. place and from individual to individual. For example, she spoke to young “One of the messages I want to communicate is that discourse people who looked to an Islam different from that of their parents as a in the Muslim world about the Qur’an, about religion, is much more means of establishing an identity which distinguishes them both from extensive than we think—more radical and more innovating—and, at their immigrant families and from the dominant society. the same time, more Muslim than we think,” Mustafa says. “People do In Muslims in Diaspora, Kibria explains that the worldwide rise of Top: The front of a public elementary Above: Bangladeshi companies, believe in the centrality of their faith, but they are not afraid to think Islam—and particularly of orthodox Islam—is far from the monolithic school in East London, named after including a travel agency, doctor’s global movement it’s often portrayed to be. And she finds in her work a about and examine it.” What unites the authors who tell these stories Kobi Nazrul Islam, one of the office, and currency exchange, lesson of hope: “In my research you see people grappling with very com- is an interest in using an ancient holy text as a lens through which to national poets of Bangladesh. East advertise on a wall in Jackson examine the challenges of modern life—though the means by which plicated questions, and responding differently to different circum- London is home to one of the largest Heights, Queens, a neighborhood in they do this, and the lessons they have to teach, are vibrantly diverse. stances,” she says. “Rather than this sense that Muslims are somehow Bangladeshi settlements in Great New York well known for its South ‘different’ from the rest of the world, you get a sense of the human condi- Britain. Asian businesses. For more information, see www.bu.edu/mfll/people/mustafa.html. tion that everyone shares.”

For more information, see www.bu.edu/sociology/fac-kibria.html.

—Tricia Brick

12 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 13 BIOLOGY BECOMES ELECTRIC

From respiration to muscle movement, biological processes beneath the surface of all living things literally pulsate with electricity. By studying bioelectric activity—or by using electrical devices to probe biological systems—researchers at Boston University are discovering a lot about how everything from microbes to men function and malfunction. As a result, they’re sparking advances in fields as diverse as early disease detection and sustainable energy technology.

Tapping the Power of Microbes

Alternative energy proponents tout the hydrogen fuel cell as a new technology that could help reduce global warming and dependence on foreign oil. While hydrogen shows great promise as a cleaner, greener fuel source, refining it into a usable state can be expensive, and accessing supplies may be difficult in some geographic areas. There is, however, a much cheaper and more ubiquitous source of energy for a fuel cell: bacteria. A microbial fuel cell resembles any other electrochemical fuel cell, except the conversion of the fuel source into electricity is transacted by one of several common species of bacteria. Feed a microbial fuel cell anything the bacteria can grow on, and the bacteria will split it into electrons and protons. As the protons flow through the cell on one side and recombine with oxygen on the other, an electric current will flow across the device and power whatever is attached to it. Such bacteria are called electrogens. One promising microbial electrogen, a novel species of bacteria called Shewanella oneidensis, can convert glucose and other sugars into electrons during respiration and transfer those electrons to metals or electrodes. Unfortunately, the current produced is insufficient for practical applications beyond a single lightbulb. The maximum current output by electrogenic bacteria in the fuel cell is approximately 100 watts per cubic meter. That’s about one-tenth Biomedical engineer Timothy S. Gardner and the input electrical energy contained in the sugars upon which the bacteria feed. But biomed- MD/PhD candidate Josh Thaden sterilize an ical engineer Timothy S. Gardner believes this energy can yet be captured and exploited. inoculation loop in preparation for sampling and “We’re trying to tweak the genetics of these organisms to direct as close as possible to analysis of cultures of Shewanella oneidensis A microfluidic microbial fuel cell developed 100 percent of the fuel (sugar sources) to respiration and therefore to current production, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Both organisms by the Gardner Lab in collaboration with rather than to generate more cells or go to waste,” says Gardner, whose research is supported have the ability to generate small amounts researchers at Oak Ridge National by the U.S. Department of Energy. “If you can produce power outputs at 1,000 watts per of electrical current when grown in a microbial fuel cell, though Shewanella is considered the Laboratory. Inside the fluid chamber, elec- cubic meter, you can light up a house or power a cell phone. Our goal is to generate as much more likely candidate for practical devices. tricity-generating bacteria grow and adhere power as we can from the smallest possible device.” to gold electrodes, which are only a few To achieve that goal, Gardner and eight graduate research assistants mapped the meta- microns across, enabling real-time current bolic gene regulatory circuits of Shewanella representing about 800 to 1,000 genes, and iden- measurement and microscopy. The prototype shown above may lead to bacterial tified some of the most important controlling “valves” of those circuits. “The cell is essentially power sources for microelectronic devices. a series of pipes,” he explains. “You push fuel in one side, it flows through these pipes and reacts and either becomes waste products or electricity. If you delete or mutate certain genes

14 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 15 (valves), you can shut down pipes leading to waste products or maxi- determined the level of RNA-binding activity at each DNA fragment mize the number of pipes that lead to electricity production, and based on the intensity of the light produced. Applying bioinformatics thus boost electrical output.” techniques, Spira converted those fluorescent intensities to data and Gardner is now trying to identify more genes involved in regu- identified patterns of activity in 80 genes that could distinguish lating Shewanella metabolism and to develop a genetic engineering smokers with and without lung cancer. This study is described in the strategy for key valves in the entire cellular “circuit board.” If he suc- March 2007 edition of Nature Medicine. ceeds in boosting the bacteria’s electrical energy production tenfold, In a subsequent experiment this year, Brody and Spira applied the microbial fuel cells that result could be used, for instance, to the same procedure to sample epithelial cells obtained non- feed off of—and detoxify—sewage at a sewage treatment plant or invasively from the noses and mouths of smokers and nonsmokers. waste at an agricultural dump while powering nearby houses or “We have generated preliminary data to suggest that the epithelial household appliances. cells lining the nose and mouth respond in a very similar way to ciga- rette smoke at a gene expression level as bronchial epithelia,” says For more information, see http://gardnerlab.bu.edu. Spira. “This allows the nose and mouth cells to be used as a surrogate for cells deeper within the airway inside the chest.” Brody and Spira next plan to conduct a 600- to 800-patient Detecting Lung Cancer Early clinical trial to validate that their biomarker in airway epithelial cells Above: A visualization of the code used by the brain to control muscle The electronic circuit board analogy not only describes biological can robustly distinguish the presence or absence of lung cancer and fibers. Each train of impulses represents sequential contractions of a par- processes, but also some experimental equipment used to investi- to evaluate the ability of nose and mouth cells to serve as screening ticular muscle fiber during a contraction that generated the force profile gate those processes. Using a DNA microarray whose wafer-like tools for disease. of the white trace. The electrical pulses detected within the muscle to characterize each train are shown on the left. Below: Biomedical engi- platform resembles that of a computer chip and an electric laser For more information, see www.pulmonomics.com. neer Carlo De Luca inserts a special needle sensor containing four elec- scanning microscope to “read” genetic patterns on the platform, trodes near the tip. The sensor, which was developed to test astronauts two NIH-funded biomedical researchers in BU’s Pulmonary Center, returning from Space Shuttle missions, detects an electromyographic Jerome Brody and Avrum Spira, have devised a promising method Gauging Muscle Dysfunction (EMG) signal, which is then processed with a complex artificial intelli- to detect lung cancer in its early stages. gence algorithm to yield the data shown above. Researchers in the NeuroMuscular Research Center (NMRC) have And not a moment too soon. Lung cancer remains the most developed an electronic device that measures electrical signals from lethal form of cancer in both men and women. The disease has a contracting muscle and may also help to diagnose diseases early. mortality rate of about 85 percent, in large part because it is often Known as an electromyographic (EMG) signal detector, it enables diagnosed at a late stage. No effective diagnostic test yet exists to researchers and clinicians to assess the extent of neuromuscular indicate its presence at an early stage. injury or disability and monitor the progress of rehabilitative thera- The sensitivity of bronchoscopy, the standard noninvasive lung pies by tracking changes in muscle fiber control. The EMG detector cancer diagnostic currently in use, is about 30–60 percent—too low acts as an early warning system that may ultimately allow physicians to determine the presence of early stage lung cancer and avoid to slow or halt diseases of the central nervous system, such as ALS potentially unnecessary biopsy and surgery. In the last year Brody and Parkinson’s, before overt symptoms arise. and Spira have developed a new test that examines a pattern of gene That’s the vision of biomedical engineer Carlo De Luca, who expression in epithelial cells that line the large airway, which they directs the NMRC and heads a 14-year-old spin-off company called believe react the same way to inhaled substances as those deeper in Delsys. To realize this vision, De Luca and his NMRC colleagues— the lung. This test—coupled with bronchoscopy, which draws sam- physical therapist Serge H. Roy and electrical engineer S. Hamid ples from deeper tissues—could detect lung cancer at an early stage Nawab, along with four graduate students—are working to improve with 95 percent accuracy. the accuracy of EMG signal processing algorithms for both clinical “Our hypothesis was that if we could sample relatively easily and research applications. accessible epithelial, or surface, cells from the conducting airways of The EMG signal consists of a superposition of electrical pulses individuals and measure the expression of thousands of genes in which propagate along the muscle fiber every time it contracts. As those cells, we could learn something about the presence and type of more muscle fibers are stimulated by the brain, more force is gener- cancer inside the lung,” says Brody. ated and the amplitude of the EMG signal increases. “EMG signals To zero in on a biomarker for cancer in airway cells, Brody and have small amplitude but radiate and reach the surface of the mus- Spira gathered epithelial samples from 200 smokers with and with- A study by Jerome Brody, top, shown inspecting an airway specimen with cle,” says De Luca. “If you apply special sensors on or below the sur- out cancer via bronchoscopy of the large airways. They then dumped research coordinator Martine Dumas, and Avrum Spira, above, used face of the skin, it’s possible to detect the sum of all these pulses and messenger RNA from the airway epithelial cells onto a DNA micro- epithelial samples from 200 smokers to identify patterns of activity in 80 to determine whether the muscle is firing in a normal or abnormal array—a glass slide with millions of short DNA sequence fragments genes that could distinguish smokers with and without lung cancer. fashion, but it’s a noisy, complex signal.” representing the entire human genome, each with fluorescent dye The firing behavior of healthy muscle fibers follows well- attached. Using an electric laser scanning microscope that causes the established rules, some of which were discovered by researchers at fluorescent dye at all the fragments to light up, the researchers next the NMRC. In several investigations, De Luca has shown that firing behavior remains unchanged even during fatiguing tasks or extended

16 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 17 bed rest, but is altered in elderly subjects, acute cerebellar stroke Morgan believes she and her co-investi- Upgrading Kidney Stone Treatment patients, and returning Space Shuttle astronauts. For the past three decades, he and his colleagues have devel- gators have identified the long-elusive Mechanical engineer Robin Cleveland uses an electrical device to inter- oped and refined two types of sensors and algorithms to decompose vene in another unwanted biological process: the passing of enlarged the EMG signal into individual pulses, which reflect how individual molecules and processes that allow kidney stones. Since 1984 American physicians have routinely broken muscle fibers are controlled within the muscle to perform particular up kidney stones deemed too large to pass easily by firing thousands of functions. Intended for clinical purposes, the first sensor is attached electrical activity to remain uncoupled pulses at them with an electric-powered, acoustic shock wave device to a needle that gets inserted into muscle, and has achieved 85 per- from mechanical activity for the normal called a lithotripter. While the treatment is noninvasive and typically cent accuracy. The second sensor, developed by Delsys, is used for results in minimal side effects, scientists have determined that it occa- motor control studies. It works on the surface of the skin and has duration of pregnancy. sionally causes significant soft tissue damage in the kidney, with side achieved 65 percent accuracy. effects including kidney failure and hypertension. Over the next five years, De Luca aims to boost those figures “Even after 20 years of study, we still don’t have exact mecha- to 95 percent and 85 percent, respectively. “We have shown this level nisms on how the shock waves break up stones and cause side of accuracy is sufficient to provide a good estimate of parameters molecule, myosin—which, along with the protein actin, forms the contrac- effects,” notes Cleveland. “This makes it difficult for lithotripter needed to extract information that describes how the muscle is con- tile element of muscle—from causing a contraction. “All contraction pretty designers to improve them.” trolled,” says De Luca. much comes down to myosin and actin interacting like a motor moving He and a network of other NIH-funded collaborators are edu- Developing and commercializing De Luca’s NMRC research, down train tracks,” says Morgan. “Caldesmon prevents the myosin from cating physicians about more effective lithotripter techniques aimed Delsys provides electromyography equipment, physiological sensors, moving down the tracks laid by actin and causing a contraction.” at improving fragmentation efficiency and decreasing tissue injury. and data analysis programs for educational, research, and medical In an NIH-funded study published in the August 2004 edition of the These include ensuring good coupling to the body, reducing shock markets across the globe. The company serves clients in 55 countries American Journal of Physiology, Morgan and her co-investigators gave the wave delivery rates, and using fewer shock waves at lower settings. and attributes its rapid growth to funding from the Small Business abortion pill RU486 to rats. As a result, ERK inhibited the action of In the long term the researchers aim to provide guidelines on what Innovation Research program, sponsored by the Small Business caldesmon, thus leading to contractions and early labor. The researchers shock waveforms will result in good fragmentation and reduced tis- Administration (SBA). Delsys received the SBA Tibbetts Award in next gave the rats a combination of RU486 and another drug, U0126, that sue damage. “The ultimate goal would be to take a CT image of a 2006. inhibits ERK activity. The animals did not go into labor. To learn whether stone and specify a designer shock waveform that would efficiently inhibitors of ERK might be used in the treatment of preterm labor in fragment a stone while leaving the surrounding soft tissue intact,” For more information, see http://nmrc.bu.edu. humans, Li has obtained tissue samples from consenting BIDMC patients says Cleveland. undergoing cesarean section. To identify the mechanisms by which shock waves damage tis- One critical problem remains: ERK is not considered to be easily sue, he is currently investigating a number of promising hypotheses. Preventing Premature Labor “druggable” because it resides deep inside the uterine muscle cell. “In sig- One suggests that the deformation of the tissue builds up over hun- nal transduction you have signals being transmitted to effectors through a dreds of shock waves until the small capillaries in the kidney rupture, Like De Luca, biomedical scientist Kathleen Morgan is deciphering electri- cascade of molecules,” says Morgan. “We’re going upstream to look at sig- which then leads to more serious kidney trauma. cal activity in the muscle, but in an entirely different sphere: the uterus. nals that are physically closer to the surface of the cell, which would be To better understand how shock waves pass through kidney Morgan’s research aims to better understand how uterine electrical signals more accessible to therapeutics.” Eventually the researchers aim to collab- tissue and break kidney stones, Cleveland trains electric-powered- trigger premature contractions, and ultimately to facilitate the develop- orate with a drug company to tweak the chemistry of U0126 to better tar- lithotripters on artificial and human stones and animal kidneys in a ment of a drug that could delay them. While medical science has improved get the uterine ERK molecule. large tank. One such device, an electrohydraulic lithotripter, sends its track record for keeping premature infants alive over the past three 20,000 volts across the two tips of an electrode, producing a big decades, there remains no truly effective way to halt preterm labor and the For more information, see electrical spark that generates an acoustic shock wave underwater. potentially serious lifelong disabilities that can go with it. http://people.bu.edu/kmorgan/MorganLabHomepage.html. The electrode is placed within an ellipsoidal reflector that focuses The growing fetus builds up stress on the uterus, which increases the sound waves to where the kidney stone is positioned. electrical activity in uterine smooth muscle cells—activity that tends to Above: Biomedical scientist Kathleen Right: An immortalized cell line of the Cleveland’s research recently revealed the prominent role of cause contractions. In humans, these electrical signals are uncoupled from Morgan inspects a protein gel con- sort of smooth muscle cells that shear waves in the fragmentation of artificial stones. When the any contractile activity until days before delivery. The mechanism that taining collections of proteins called make up the wall of the uterus. incoming shock waves pass into the stone, they generate two kinds of allows electrical activity to be uncoupled from mechanical activity for the “adhesion plaques,” which link actin Postdoctoral researcher Susanne waves in its interior: compression waves (similar to sound waves) and normal duration of pregnancy has eluded scientists for many years, but to potentially druggable therapeutic Vetterkind, a member of Morgan’s lab, used immunofluorescence to transverse waves (similar to the waves on a rope when you excite it Morgan now believes that she and her co-investigators have identified the targets at the cell surface. visualize actin (green), a myosin with a snap of the wrist). The shear waves propagate through the molecules and processes responsible. binding protein (red), and DNA in the stone and generate larger destructive forces within than the acoustic In collaboration with Yunping Li of Harvard University Medical nucleus (blue) of each cell. waves. “We identified this with our numerical model and confirmed it School, a practicing obstetrical anesthesiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess with experiments using artificial stones,” says Cleveland. “The next Medical Center (BIDMC), and with the support of their research assistant step is to apply the same model to human kidney stones.” Maya Reznichenko, Morgan has spent the last five years homing in on the primary molecules and interactions that trigger premature labor. By exper- For more information, see www.bu.edu/paclab/litho. imenting with rats, whose gestation period is only 21 to 23 days, the scientists identified two of the key molecules: extracellular regulated kinase —Mark Dwortzan (ERK) and caldesmon. Until labor, ERK causes caldesmon to prevent a third

18 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 19 Addressing Inequalities with Creative Strategies

When Edward Bernstein, professor of emergency medicine at the School of Medicine (BUSM) and professor of social and behavioral sciences at the School of Public Health (SPH), and his wife, Judith Bernstein, associate professor of maternal and child health at SPH and associate professor of emergency medicine at BUSM, put an older method of treating substance abuse into a new context the results were so successful that emergency departments around the country followed their lead. For more than a decade, the Boston Medical Center has used the Screening, Brief Intervention to Referral and Treatment (SBIRT) strategy in its emergency department (ED). Long used as part of routine health care, this technique—which is designed to encourage substance abusers to seek appropriate treatment—had not previously been applied in an emergency medicine setting. Now, thanks to a grant from the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, seven hospitals around the state are implementing SBIRT in order to take advantage of the unique environment EDs provide. It started with the Bernsteins’ realization that, somewhat counterintuitively, a visit to the emergency room can be a good time to start a conversation about controlling drug and alcohol use. Individuals are more likely to self-report substance abuse when they enter treatment than when they exit, so a patient who has been recently admitted to the ED is likely to be receptive to SBIRT. Moreover, individuals admitted to an emergency department are one and a half to three times more likely to report substance abuse than those seeing primary care physicians. Edward Bernstein credits the success of the SBIRT approach to the unique conditions present in an emergency department as well as to the commitment of ED staff. “Massachusetts offers some of the best conditions for improving quality of care for ED patients,” he says. “It’s not only that we have a real commitment to medical innovation and advanced technology. This is also a state that is using creative strategies to address inequalities in access and to promote quality in health care services.”

BRINGING COMMUNITY RESEARCH TO THE The laboratories where discoveries are made, new drugs are developed, and diseases are brought one step closer to eradication can sometimes seem very far from the men, women, and children whose lives these discoveries are Facing page: For more than a decade, Judith and Edward meant to improve. Even when breakthroughs receive media attention, Bernstein have provided training to researchers can seem distant, hard at work in their ivory towers. Not so at the health care professionals from across the country in how to use a Boston University School of Medicine, the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental “brief, nonjudgmental conversation” Medicine, and the School of Public Health, where faculty have partnered with to identify and begin treating substance abuse in patients admitted to a number of local, state, and federal organizations to translate their research emergency departments. They are into direct and immediate community engagement. By bringing their expertise currently working with staff at seven hospitals in Massachusetts. and the fruits of their scholarship directly to hospitals and classrooms in Boston and surrounding areas, these researchers are improving the health and well-being of community members who are disproportionately at risk from preventable addiction, disease, and illness.

20 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 21 The Bernsteins instituted Project ASSERT at the Boston Medical MassBioEd to provide high schools with professional equipment and Center in 1993 to provide training for health care professionals from resources to promote biotechnology education. Another benefit of across the nation in the SBIRT model. Today, they continue to train MobileLab, he says, is that it “provides an equal opportunity for stu- professionals in this simple yet effective technique through the Brief dents in all schools to experience effective hands-on investigations in Negotiated Interview and Appropriate Referral to Treatment (BNI- molecular biology regardless of socioeconomic factors.” ART) Institute, which recently received a three-year, $2.25 million In addition to the needed resources that CityLab and grant from the Massachusetts Department of Health. Twenty-six hos- MobileLab supply for schools in Massachusetts, CityLab provides a pitals applied to participate in the first round of funding, with seven dose of educational fun to students and educators. Both CityLab and selected to receive training. MobileLab, Franzblau says, are designed to show students that sci- Edward Bernstein is not surprised by the interest in SBIRT, ence can be interesting and exciting—a message that strikes a chord which “involves a brief, respectful, nonjudgmental conversation about with children of all ages. “With enough resources,” he adds, “we the risk of unhealthy alcohol and other drug use and the negotiation could reach down into kindergarten.” of low-risk drinking limits or abstinence.” Person-to-person inter- In the meantime, Franzblau and DeRosa are capturing the views have resulted in a measurable drop in levels of substance abuse. imaginations of older elementary school children by turning science “Transnational research,” Edward Bernstein says, “including our own lessons into mysteries. One recent lesson saw students trying to recent multi-center ED study, has demonstrated a reduction of 3.25 track down missing stuffed animals—and the identity of the person drinks per week among excessive drinkers.” Michelle Henshaw, deputy director of the Center for Research to who nabbed them. Second and fourth graders completed blood cell Evaluate and Eliminate Dental Disparities, estimates that more than one typing and solubility testing and found that it was a teacher who had in five children in the Greater Boston area have untreated dental For more information, see www.ed.bmc.org/sbirt/index.htm. swiped the lions. decay—a statistic she hopes to change through her work with Smart Smiles and the Chelsea Dental Program. Franzblau’s ambitions do not end with CityLab and MobileLab. He has also created a summer camp, already filled to capacity, and is Addressing Inequalities in looking into extending the summer sessions. Additionally, CityLab Nontraditional Settings Academy was created in 1996 as a free nine-month training program fluoride varnish applications, and oral health education to help treat in biotechnology and biomedical science for high school graduates. Michelle Henshaw, associate professor and assistant dean for com- and prevent dental decay. The program is overseen by Connie Phillips, director of both CityLab munity partnerships and extramural affairs in the Goldman School of Both partnerships are founded on the understanding that den- Academy and the Biomedical and Clinical Science Program at BUSM, Dental Medicine, has also set a national example. Her outreach tal health is an important prerequisite to learning: a child in pain and Carla Romney, associate professor and chair of the Science and brings dental care and education to the Boston-area schoolchildren from a cavity is a child who will have a difficult time listening and Engineering Program in BU’s Metropolitan College, which offers who need it most. Henshaw is the deputy director of the Center for taking in the day’s lesson. CREEDD’s research has revealed that 21 Inside MobileLab, top, a biotechnology lab in a converted bus, children extended education. Students take academic and lab courses and Research to Evaluate and Eliminate Dental Disparities (CREEDD). The percent of children in the Greater Boston area have dental decay, discover that science can be fun. MobileLab, shown in front of the receive credits from Metropolitan College. center was created in 2001 with joint funding from the National with an even higher percentage of untreated decay in the city itself. Massachusetts State House, above, and its partner program CityLab CityLab sees 7,000 students every year, and has reached Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and the National Again, dental health has larger implications for students’ lives than it reach approximately 7,000 students each year. approximately 300,000 children at BU and satellite campuses over Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities and is one of five might first appear. Part of what CREEDD is doing, Henshaw says, is the last 15 years. Teachers who visited CityLab or used MobileLab NIH-funded programs to reduce oral health disparity. What makes looking at the clinical burden of tooth decay in order to “measure the were extremely satisfied with the labs’ effective teaching of funda- CREEDD innovative, according to Henshaw, is not only its creation of Franzblau was struck by the dearth of American students impact on the overall health of the family.” mental concepts and the promotion of a positive attitude about sci- new models of research, but also the implementation of these mod- choosing the biomedical sciences as a profession and looked to science, according to surveys completed in the spring of 2006. Similar els in nontraditional settings. For more information on CREEDD, see http://creedd.org/henshaw.html; for Smart ence training in K–12 as the first step toward addressing this aca- programs have been created throughout the country and in Europe, One of the most recent components of CREEDD’s research is a Smiles, visit www.boston.k12.ma.us/Pashaw/2004-05/dental.htm. demic imbalance at the college and university level. From a series of modeled on CityLab’s innovative and effective science outreach. partnership with New England Research Institutes (NERI) to com- Saturday morning meetings where he and his colleagues debated the Even now, Franzblau is always looking for new ways to expand plete an oral health survey of 10,000 children in kindergarten, third, best ways to deliver material to students, CityLab was born. They K–12 outreach in science and medicine. He envisions a Science Corps and sixth grades in Massachusetts, a one-year project that Henshaw Addressing Inequalities by Making decided to open a laboratory where teachers could bring middle and in the United States, similar to the Peace Corps, which will eventually hopes will be funded every three to five years so that the data can be high school students to learn about the biotechnology industry, and it Boston University Mobile recruit young teachers and educators to bring labs to “the hills of updated. “The survey is a means to an end,” she says, with the ulti- wasn’t long before the lab’s success led to the creation of many other Like Boston University’s dental outreach program, CityLab—an edu- South Dakota and the inner city of Chicago.” mate goal being the reduction of dental health disparity and the programs. A second laboratory was added, and these two labs are cational outreach program created by Carl Franzblau—brings the Like Edward and Judith Bernstein and Michelle Henshaw, building of a new partnership with the community. Henshaw and her now filled with resources available to all teachers and students in the University’s resources and knowledge directly to the community. Franzblau and DeRosa conceive of their outreach projects as a fun- colleagues also expect that “the oral health survey will allow us to Boston area. Chairman and professor of biochemistry, as well as associate dean for damental part of their academic goals, as the foundation for educat- make more informed public policy decisions.” When the waiting lists grew long, Franzblau created MobileLab graduate biomedical science studies and director of the Division of ing and analyzing the community so that Boston University’s In addition to her work surveying and assessing the state of to bring resources to ever-greater numbers of students. A Blue Bird Medical and Dental Sciences at the School of Medicine, Franzblau economic and intellectual resources are intertwined with the welfare dental care, Henshaw helps the Massachusetts community through bus was converted into a biotechnology lab that could go directly to started CityLab in 1991 with a grant from the National Institutes of of Boston and the Greater Boston area and eventually with the Smart Smiles, a Boston citywide sealant program, and through the the schools. Donald DeRosa, clinical assistant professor in the School Health’s National Center for Research Resources. The first students national and global community. continued partnership between Boston University and the Chelsea of Education and director of the School of Medicine’s CityLab and entered the program in 1992. Today, CityLab is still funded by NIH MobileLab, calls it “by far the most innovative combination of the Dental Program to offer education, dental screening, and referrals to For more information about CityLab, MobileLab, and CityLab Academy, see and is the longest ongoing grant for projects geared toward K–12 children in the Chelsea area. First formed in 1991, the program has scientist-educator partnership for educational outreach that CityLab www.bumc.bu.edu/citylab. education and outreach. grown over the past 16 years and includes dental sealant programs, has created.” DeRosa notes that MobileLab works closely with —Meredith Bartron

22 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 23 SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: EXPLORATIONS IN THE ARTS

Equipped with a navigation device similar to a Playstation controller and a pair of 3-D vision glasses, The word research generally evokes images of lab coats and petri dishes, or archives filled the viewer—or, more accurately, the participant— with musty volumes. Rarely would one associate research with the final creative product— a polished musical performance, finished script, or exhibited work of art. But research enters the virtual realm. plays a vital role in the fine and performing arts, as demonstrated by the recent activities of five professors in the College of Fine Arts. The fruits of their labor only appear effort- less. Careful scholarship, planning, and practice are needed to ensure that a finished work of site-specific art suits its environment, for instance, or that the performance of a long- unheard baroque composition sounds exactly as the composer had intended.

Art Meets Computer Science

As scientists hasten to assess the impact of climate change on our physical environment, scholars in the humanities and the arts have begun to ponder how global warming will affect human culture. Such is the inquiry posed by Surge, a collaborative multimedia artwork by Deborah Cornell, associate professor of art in the School of Visual Arts, and her husband Richard Cornell, associate professor of composition in the School of Music. Surge—which the Cornells describe as “an exploration of the reciprocal influence of environmental change on human culture”—was created with software developed by Boston University programmers and intended for exhibition in the Scientific Computing and Visualization group’s Computer Graphics Laboratory. In April, the Cornells premiered the work for the 2007 Boston CyberArts Festival, a biennial festival of international artists working in cutting-edge computer-based media. Surge was projected onto the lab’s 15' x 8' Deep Vision Display Wall, equipped with an eight-speaker sound system. Concerned by the various effects climate change has on the world, Richard and Deborah Cornell began working on Surge through research that was largely experiential, informed by visits to Venice, Argentina, and other places where rising sea levels pose a distinct threat. The couple first collaborated in 1999 and have since presented three joint projects in venues such The profound effect of climate change on human life as the High-Speed Access Grid, concert halls in the United States and Taiwan, and galleries plays out in images from Surge and Acqua Alta by and museums both stateside and abroad. A sabbatical leave during the 2006–2007 academic Deborah Cornell. In virtual reality and large-scale year enabled both professors to spend a month in Buenos Aires, where they presented their digital prints, cultural expressions combine with joint project Acqua Alta at Proyecto’ace, a contemporary art center. Consisting of nine 3' x 5' images of natural forces. Clockwise from top left: Still images from Surge, including a global view of digital prints and an original soundtrack, this installation also explored changes in sea level. the Surge environment and a Venetian mask with Engaging with similar themes and imagery, the virtual environment in Surge consists of dice; details from Memory, City of Dust, and Faces a luminous spherical shape floating in black space. Equipped with a navigation device similar Vanish—large-scale digital prints with transparent to a Playstation controller and a pair of 3-D vision glasses, the viewer—or, more accurately, the overlays from the installation Acqua Alta; viewers participant—enters the virtual realm. Inside, he or she meets a variety of objects and crea- navigate through the 3-D immersive environment of tures, each symbolic of humankind’s impact on the natural environment. Three “lifeboats” Surge using the Deep Vision Display Wall in BU’s Computer Graphics Laboratory.

24 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 25 containing images of human chromosomes float in the center of the crowd-pleasers—Don Giovanni, for example, was radio broadcast by sphere, while a colorful jester’s head and Venetian Carnivale masks WGBH—Pearlman particularly enjoys performing pieces that con- remind the audience of the threat Venice faces from rising water lev- temporary audiences rarely hear, such as the Vivaldi oratorio and els. Hovering nearby, a quotation from The Tempest takes on a new Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor, one of the previous season’s high- connotation in the context of global warming: “Nothing of him that lights. Most audiences are acquainted with Vivaldi’s concertos, but doth fade / But doth suffer a sea-change.” not with his vocal music. Juditha Triumphans, Pearlman says, is “not Surge’s soundtrack, carefully synched to one’s movement only one of the biggest, but also one of the best Vivaldi pieces that through the virtual space, enhances the journey. Running water, a people haven’t heard.” rumbling thunderstorm, and other nature noises combine with The preparation and performance of little-known music pre- sounds evocative of human culture, such as a Monteverdi choral pas- sents a distinct challenge to the conductor, especially if he or she sage and the ringing of the Lutine bell, recovered from a sunken wishes to re-create the music exactly as the composer himself had British vessel of the same name. imagined it. Because instruments and methods of musical notation Boston University students in Laura Giannitrapani’s 3-D have evolved over time, Pearlman’s historical interpretation of a Animation and Design class also participated in the CyberArts Baroque piece may differ considerably from a standard modern Festival. As the manager of graphics consulting for BU’s Scientific interpretation. In order to perform a work like Vivaldi’s oratorio, Computing and Visualization lab, Giannitrapani has collaborated with Pearlman must first find a suitable score, and then check it against the Cornells on several of their virtual artworks. Her students’ piece, the original manuscript, if it still exists, and against reproductions Interactions, uses technology similar to that of Surge and also made over a period of nearly three centuries. Compiling variants and addresses humankind’s effect on the environment. Zoom in on a choosing the best among them involves a great deal of painstaking polar bear, for example, and watch it lumber across an iceberg while detective work and considered judgment. Because Vivaldi did not a chunk of the mass breaks off and falls into the water below. Both include cadenzas or ornamentation in his scores, Pearlman must also entertaining and educational, Interactions presents an innovative decide whether, and how, to ornament the music. method for instructing young children about climate change. Determining the piece’s instrumentation can also be an ardu- “Cyberart can be anything from an examination of complex ous task. Contemporary instruments differ—often quite drastically— ideas about the nature of reality to sheer unadulterated fun,” wrote from their Baroque predecessors, and some manuscripts refer to BBC reporter Rachel Rawlins of the 2007 CyberArts Festival. “And if instruments that no longer exist. Ensembles that wish to perform you’re lucky,” she added, “both at the same time.” Surge and music in its historical form must determine what sorts of instruments Interactions fulfill these criteria in encouraging playful exploration of the composer originally wrote for—is a salmo, for example, related to the virtual realm, as well as serious reflection upon our relationship the Baroque chalumeau, an ancestor to the modern clarinet? with the natural environment. Pearlman’s investigations might continue with a review of recent literature by music historians to determine whether a similar instru- For more information, see http://people.bu.edu/rcrnl ment exists, or whether it has to be specially constructed. Last but and http://scv.bu.edu/SCV/cgl.html. Pearlman must determine not least, he must find performers who are proficient with these nearly obsolete instruments. what sorts of instruments Bringing Baroque Music to Life Graduate students in the Historical Performance program not only learn to play such instruments, they also observe and engage in the composer originally When Martin Pearlman joined the faculty of the College of Fine Arts the research process leading up to a performance. By understanding wrote for—is a salmo, for as professor of music and director of the Historical Performance pro- how a conductor decides to assign a certain instrument to a specific gram in 2002, he offered the College more than his expertise as a part, or why he might add a cadenza at the end of an aria, students instance, related to the renowned conductor. Boston Baroque, an acclaimed orchestra and prepare for careers in ensembles like Boston Baroque. chorus founded by Pearlman in 1973, also joined the School of Music In re-creating music of the 17th and 18th centuries, Pearlman Baroque chalumeau, an as a resident professional ensemble. This innovative collaboration aims to avoid presenting audiences with a mere “history lesson.” “In allows graduate students in the Historical Performance program to the end,” he says, “a performance can’t be about the research.” The ancestor to the modern work alongside professional musicians. audience should be captivated, oblivious to the months of prepara- Boston Baroque has received wide recognition for both its live tion needed to perform a piece of music in its historical form. A suc- clarinet? performances and its many recordings. The most recent season fea- cessful performance brings the music to life, making it a part of our tured two Beethoven symphonies, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Don contemporary world. Above: The orchestra and chorus of Boston Giovanni, and Vivaldi’s only surviving oratorio, Juditha Triumphans, Baroque perform Monteverdi’s Vespers in For more information, see www.bostonbaroque.org. composed in 1716. While works by Mozart and Beethoven are certain Jordan Hall, Boston. Conductor Martin Pearlman is a professor at BU’s School of Music, and soloist Kristen Watson (in purple dress) is an alumna. Right: During a recording session, Pearlman conducts Boston Baroque in Bach’s Orchestral Suites.

26 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 27

Hugh O’Donnell in front of Seeds of Life, a 72" x 120" digital print he created for the Life Science and Engineering Building. Students in his Site-Specific Art class have received funding and approval to install 17 works of art on the Boston University campus.

Beautifying the BU Campus: as well as from music. These works highlight a clever parallel in the Students in O’Donnell’s Site-Specific Site-Specific Art work of geneticists and that of jazz musicians—they both strive to assuage our “blues,” whether physically or emotionally induced, Art course demonstrate an aware- Observant visitors to the Boston University campus will notice works through innovation. of art in surprising places: a painting of a swimmer in the hallway of Students in O’Donnell’s Site-Specific Art course demonstrate a ness of the spaces that their works the Fitness and Recreation Center, pinhole photographs dotting the similar awareness of the spaces that their works might inhabit, as Photonics Center. For these unexpected touches of creativity, we can well as the people who use those spaces. After conducting research might inhabit, as well as the people thank Hugh O’Donnell, professor of painting in the School of Visual on public art, students develop their projects with the input of their Arts, as well as the students in his Site-Specific Art class. community—primarily the faculty and staff in the building where the who use those spaces. O’Donnell’s course introduces students to the process of con- work is to be installed—and, in the final stages, University adminis- ceiving, creating, and installing a commissioned work of art. During trators. Some, though not all, projects are realized and installed on the semester, and often after its end, students work alone or in small the campus. groups to develop works of art for the BU campus, such as Ryan As undergraduates, Brienne Rosner and Holland Dieringer cre- Kenny’s painting and Gao Jin’s photographs. While O’Donnell is best ated a work entitled Visual Entanglements for the Metcalf Science known for his paintings, he has created several site-specific digital Center. Faculty and graduate researchers in the sciences helped the “The key to getting ambitious projects realized is works for a variety of clients, including the Army Research two students collect images related to their work on entangled pho- collaboration,” says Hugh O’Donnell. “This is com- Laboratory and the headquarters of the Deloitte corporation. His tons, which the artists then used to create a series of 12 collage pan- mon in engineering but not so common for the fine current project is an ambitious digital print and video installation els, hanging from the ceiling in two rows. Another pair of students, artist. Artists are very protective of their privacy, commissioned by Verizon. Rachelle Reichert and Kristie Eden O’Donnell, took their projects but when they team up with multidisciplinary extensions to their art they often thrive and reach In 1997, when Boston University opened its Photonics Center, a beyond the BU campus when they received commissions from Red new heights of creativity.”Clockwise from above: state-of-the-art facility for the study of light and energy, O’Donnell Bull for the company’s office in Quincy, Massachusetts. Visual Entanglements by alumnae Holland The course allows students to experience the reality of cre- was a natural choice to help decorate the building’s lobby. He worked Dieringer and Brienne Rosner in the Metcalf closely with Donald Fraser, the center’s first director, and other fac- ative production, which O’Donnell claims is becoming increasingly Science Center; O’Donnell’s First Light in the ulty and staff to design a work of art reflective of the innovative collaborative and interdisciplinary. And when his students need guid- Photonics Center; Under My Skin and Birth of the research taking place there. The result was an abstract digital print ance, they know where to go for advice. Says O’Donnell, “The same Blues, also by O’Donnell, in the Life Science and enhanced with backlighting, which amplifies the work’s vibrant col- thing I teach, I do.” Engineering Building. ors while alluding to the center’s research on light particles. For the For more information, see www.hughodonnell.com. To view a slideshow of site- Life Science and Engineering Building, which opened in 2005, specific art, visit www.bu.edu/alumni/buforward/archives/Apr_2007/articles/ O’Donnell created a set of prints that evoke evolution and growth campusart.html. through a visual language of forms borrowed from the life sciences

28 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 29 According to Jim Petosa, professor and director of the School of Theatre, students of all disciplines might view the University as a large laboratory—a place where new knowledge is gained through experience and experiment. “Works of art have to gestate,” he states, “but not in a library.” When creating a new play, a writer should ideally have an opportunity to see the work-in-progress staged. Just as researchers in the sciences refine their hypotheses through repeated experimentation, playwrights can best revise their works after seeing them performed. Petosa hopes to make the development of new plays a major part of the School of Theatre’s mission by working closely with emerging playwrights.

Theatre as Laboratory: Developing New Plays

One of the most important aspects of training in the School of Clockwise from top left: Set and costume Theatre is students’ interaction with professionals in the field, designs begin as sketches on the draw- enabled through collaborative programs with several professional Just as researchers in the sciences refine their ing board; students in the stage carpentry theatre companies. Petosa is most enthusiastic about the opportuni- certificate program construct a set; Nicky ties that these professional affiliations provide for creating and hypotheses through repeated experimenta- Moody, a graduate student working workshopping new plays. Universities offer the ideal environment for toward her MFA in design, puts the fin- this sort of experimentation, he explains, due in part to their relative tion, playwrights can best revise their works- ishing touches on a mask; dancers per- freedom from the economic constraints that professional theatre form Aurora Borealis; Peter Weiss’s groups often face. in-progress after seeing them performed. Marat/Sade at Studio 210, directed by Clay Hopper. The School of Theatre’s collaborative programs date to 1982, when the Huntington Theatre was founded in-residence at BU. Although the Huntington now functions independently, it is still affiliated with the University and remains a cornerstone of training at the School of Theatre by involving students in the preparation and staging of its productions. In 2002, the Professional Theatre Initiative expanded this collaborative approach, affiliating the School of Theatre with several other professional groups, including the Actors’ Shakespeare Project, the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, and the Olney Theatre Center near Washington, DC.

Alumna Kira Lallas provides a striking example of the benefits that this professional workshopping model provides to young playwrights. She originally wrote Translations of Xhosa—an exploration of her experiences studying abroad in South Africa—for her senior thesis project in 2002. The play was subsequently staged at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, and Lallas was then invited to participate in the prestigious National College Theater Festival at the Kennedy Center in 2003. This fall, BU students and Huntington Theatre staff will present another original work by a graduate of the program—Ronan Noone’s Brendan.

These collaborations with professional theatre companies comple- ment the University’s commitment to providing students in all areas of study with a broad liberal arts education. In breaking with the old model of conservatory training, which sequesters young performing artists and steeps them in their chosen discipline, the School of Theatre provides the ideal environment for students to think beyond the classroom or the stage. According to Petosa, performing artists must not only be skilled in their art form, they also need to strive for broader intellectual development. Art never exists in a bubble, cut off from the world around it, he says: “Contextualization of the art form is everything.”

For more information, see www.bu.edu/but and www.huntingtontheatre.org.

—Amy Chmielewski

30 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 31 One way to talk about what particle physicists are up to when they smash together beams of subatomic particles is to say that they are probing the structure of matter at infinitesimal distances. Another way to describe it is to say that they’re going back in time, creating energies that existed a fraction of an instant after the big bang, when the universe’s fundamental forces and particles were forming. And in the summer of 2008, when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located in a 27-kilometer circular tunnel deep beneath the Franco-Swiss border At the LHC, two beamlines carrying protons traveling in opposite directions near Geneva, starts colliding two beams of protons trav- will be made to intersect at several points called interaction regions. Clockwise from above: One of the 1,200 dipole magnets used to pull particle eling at nearly the speed of light, physicists will be able beams into a circular trajectory; an aerial view of CERN, with particle detec- to look back farther than ever before. tors shown as ellipses on the larger ring comprising the LHC tunnel; part of ATLAS, one of two large, “general purpose” particle detectors at CERN. ANSWERING THE BIGGEST QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SMALLEST MATTER

The massive LHC is the flagship project of CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire), a joint venture now officially called the European Organization for Nuclear Research and recognized by the scientific community as the world’s largest particle physics center. The LHC could help resolve theoretical disputes about the structure and evolution of the universe that have gone unresolved for years, or even decades, because of a shortage of the kind of experimental evidence that could determine a winner. And when the proton smashing begins, several Boston University scientists will be in the middle of the fray. Some are the developers or refiners of the competing theories. And some will be there as experimentalists who helped build and operate the massive particle detectors within the LHC to sift through mountains of data looking for signs of new particles—either those predicted by theories or, more likely, something totally unexpected. Whether involved in theory or experimentation, LHC anticipation for most particle physicists has been career-long. The long-standing mysteries revolve around shortcomings in the Standard Model of particle physics, which lists the simplest particles known to exist (such as electrons, muons, and quarks) and describes how three fundamental forces—electromagnetism, the strong force that holds together the nuclei of atoms, and the weak force that underlies radioactive decay—act on them. But the Standard Model neglects gravity, and it offers no explanation for “dark matter,” a phenomenon indicating that most of the universe’s mass is invisible because it doesn’t emit light. In addition, experiments have validated a theory developed in the 1970s by BU physics professor and Nobel laureate Sheldon Glashow (then at Harvard) and other theorists, that at the high energy levels of the early universe, the electromagnetic and weak force would have behaved simi- larly, both mediated by massless elementary particles. The Standard Model does not satisfactorily explain why, as the universe cooled, this symmetry disappeared: the particles of the weak force (the W and Z bosons, discovered in the 1980s by BU physicist James Rohlf, then at Harvard, and others at CERN) acquired mass, while the particle of electromagnetism (the photon) did not.

32 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 33 Top: Physicist Kenneth Lane stands in front of the ATLAS particle detector in early July. Physicists Andrew Cohen and Sheldon Glashow, on previ- With him is Lane’s former student Adam Martin, now a postdoctoral researcher at Yale. ous page, discuss competing theories that go beyond the Above: Two diagrams show simulated collisions. To the left is a cross-section of an event, Standard Model. One such theory developed by Cohen in with the beamline at the bottom. Different kinds of particles react differently at particular collaboration with Martin Schmaltz, above, involves the regions of the detector, allowing physicists to identify particles based on the tracks that are possibility of a fourth dimension. produced. The image on the right shows a simulated proton collision in which a mini black hole is produced. The mini black hole immediately decays, with different types of particles “The LHC is a big microscope,” says Andrew Cohen, professor of (distinguished in the diagram by color) emerging from the collision at the center. physics. It is seven times more powerful than today’s highest energy “We know at what energy scale we particle collider, the Tevatron at the Fermilab in Illinois. And the should start seeing the physics associ- higher the energy, the more types of particles that can be created, particles predicted by the competing theories that go beyond the ated with this,” says Cohen, “and that’s Standard Model to explain how the W and Z acquired mass. “We know A newer theory than technicolor is known as supersymmetry. ity, is due to extra dimensions beyond the three we know, which are at what energy scale we should start seeing the physics associated where the LHC is going to get us.” This idea posits that every particle in the standard model has a curled up into such short distances that we remain unaware of them. with this,” says Cohen, “and that’s where the LHC is going to get us.” “superpartner” with opposite spin that cancels out the high-energy Cohen explains the idea using the analogy of an ant walking The Standard Model’s explanation for how the W and Z bosons instabilities which give the Higgs theory so much trouble. Electrons across a piece of paper that’s been rolled into a tight cylinder. “The got their mass is called the Higgs mechanism, developed in the 1960s. One of the oldest such theories, called technicolor, was devel- are paired with super electrons (or selectrons), for instance, while ant doesn’t know it’s on a two dimensional sheet,” he says. “It just A nonscientific explanation of the mechanism, offered by physics pro- oped partly by physics professor Kenneth Lane in the 1970s. In place quarks have super quarks (or squarks), and so forth. In fact, a few of thinks it’s on a line.” fessor Steven Ahlen, begins with the notion that “mass is associated of the Higgs particle, technicolor proposes that particle masses are these superpartners have been proposed as candidates for the elusive According to this theory, the apparent weakness of gravity com- with the difficulty of getting things moving.” Thus, says Ahlen, one conferred by a fifth force carried by a spectrum of techni-particles. dark matter. These particles, none of which has yet been seen, should pared to the other known forces, a puzzle ignored by the Standard can think of subatomic particles affected by the Higgs field as mar- All of these techni-particles should be within reach of the LHC, says be visible in experiments at the LHC, says physics professor Martin Model, stems from the fact that gravity must leak over from another bles moving through molasses, making them harder to move, giving Lane, who has been waiting a long time for experiments that could Schmaltz, who has spent many years working to refine super- dimensional plane. It’s possible, says Cohen, that the LHC will have them the appearance of mass. comprehensively put his theory to the test. In the early 1980s, he symmetry. enough energy to probe the extremely short distance scales where But experiments have been unable to find the new elementary coauthored a paper for Reviews of Modern Physics outlining the energy “It’s not just energy that counts,” Schmaltz says of the LHC. The effects of these extra dimensions would be visible. particle predicted by the Higgs theory, the Higgs boson. Indeed, the range particle beam density needed to investigate the mystery of how new machine will also have a denser proton beam, meaning more fre- Nevertheless, Cohen points out that the tighter these dimen- hunt for this boson will be one of the LHC’s first tasks. In addition, particles got their mass, parameters adopted in the proposed quent collisions (about 800 million per second), and hence more data sions are curled, the higher the energy of any physics associated with the Higgs theory runs into trouble at higher energies. The laws of Superconducting Super Collider that was under construction in Texas to mine for evidence of new particles. “The things that we’re looking them. And here the same energy/mass constraints that complicate the physics impose definite limits on a Higgs boson’s mass, but at higher when the project was killed by a cost-wary Congress in 1993. All eyes for are rare. They probably only happen once in a billion collisions,” he Higgs theory come into play, making extra dimensions, in Cohen’s energies the mass would have to exceed these limits to counteract in the physics world then turned to the proposed LHC at CERN. explains. opinion, look “not so terrific” for explaining the break in electroweak instabilities caused by other particles. It’s called the “hierarchy prob- “I’ve basically spent my whole career on this,” says Lane. Schmaltz, along with Cohen, has also worked on another set of symmetry. lem,” and most of the theories to be tested at the LHC are attempts “So I’m definitely anxious for it to start working and for physics to theories that goes beyond the Standard Model—the notion that the Indeed, when it comes to what “new physics” theories the LHC to deal with it. come out of it.” divergence of fundamental particle masses and forces, including grav- experimental data might support, Cohen is fond of one he helped pio-

34 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 35 neer a few years ago along with two Harvard physicists. It’s called the More frequent collisions mean more Little Higgs, and like supersymmetry, it predicts the existence of new particles to accompany and stabilize the particles known to the data to mine: “The things we’re looking Standard Model. While the hypothetical particles of supersymmetry have a different spin from their conventional partners, an arrange- for are rare. They probably only happen ment that Cohen terms “exotic,” the Little Higgs predicts a “perfectly conventional symmetry” between particles of the same spin. once in a billion collisions.” Nevertheless, while physicists may like some theories better than others, nobody is completely satisfied with any of them. “None of these models that we know about actually seems to be particles are absorbed by the calorimeters, looking at muon data for fitting the data all that well,” says Schmaltz, which makes it a real signatures of new particles offers “a very clear signal, a very clean way possibility that the LHC data will hint at new particles that no one has of looking for fundamental physical processes.” yet anticipated. Back in the 1980s, Ahlen was working with James Rohlf on “It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack when you don’t even detectors for the ill-fated Superconducting Super Collider. Today, know what the needle looks like,” says Ahlen. “But that’s what makes Rohlf is among those working on the LHC’s other detector, called CMS the LHC a very exciting experiment.” (Compact Muon Solenoid). Rohlf’s expertise is in calorimetry, and his Ahlen is one of several BU physicists, among nearly 2,000 col- team, which includes three people stationed permanently at CERN, has spent several years designing, building, and testing the digital laborators worldwide, working on ATLAS, one of the LHC’s two large, Above, left to right: A section of the CMS particle detector weighing sev- “general purpose” particle detectors. The detector, which is the size of electronics that will allow the CMS calorimeter to deduce the energy “It’s like looking for a needle in a eral thousand tons is lowered 100 meters underground into the experi- a five-story building about 100 meters underground, contains super- of unstable particles that decay quickly after they’re created by the mental cavern. In the CMS underground electronics room, physicist conducting magnetic cables, kept colder than space, that create a proton collisions. haystack when you don’t even know James Rohlf inspects some of the thousands of channels of digital elec- strong magnetic field to focus and guide the proton beams. Closest to Typically, new, more massive particles are discovered by search- tronics that were designed and fabricated at BU. These electronics are used to measure the energy deposits of particles that enter the CMS the proton collision point is the silicon inner tracker, which measures ing for the lighter particles into which they decay, what’s known as a what the needle looks like. But that’s detector and can process data from the collisions 40 million times per the tracks of resulting charged particles as they fly by. Outside of this particle’s signature. When the LHC experiments begin, the first task second. Below, left to right: A simulated proton-proton collision in the will be creating particles that are known to exist and are well under- what makes the LHC a very exciting are two instruments called calorimeters that measure the energies of CMS detector, as viewed along the beamline. Two magnets are electri- stood (such as W and Z bosons) in order to calibrate the CMS and these particles. The calorimeters capture most particles with the experiment.” cally interconnected in the LHC tunnel. exception of neutrinos and muons (particles like electrons, but heav- ATLAS detectors to ensure they are reading the particle signatures ier) whose trajectories and energy are measured in a system of cham- accurately. Then experimenters will begin sifting through billions of bers that Ahlen helped design. He says that because most other collisions in search of the tell-tale signs of new particles, a process sometimes called “bump hunting,” because researchers look for an excess, or “bump,” in the type of events characteristic of a new particle’s decay that stand out from meaningless “background” events. “This is not an experiment where you’ll turn it on and it’ll all be over,” says Rohlf. “This experiment will run for 20 years. It’s how the field will sustain itself.” As the scheduled May 2008 start-up of the LHC nears, the BU physicists talk about an excitement in their field unmatched for many years. “We’ve had these theories for decades. We haven’t had an experiment capable of testing those theories, and that’s what we’re about to get,” says Cohen. “Chances are we’ll find something we’ve never thought of before. It’ll be totally puzzling and wonderfully infuriating.”

For more information, see http://physics.bu.edu/research. —Chris Berdik

Physicist Steven Ahlen, who worked on detectors for the proposed Superconducting Super Collider in the 1980s, is one of nearly 2,000 collaborators worldwide working on the ATLAS detector at CERN, where experiments are slated to begin early next summer.

36 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 37 She notes that many of the inadvertent legal changes wrought INTELLECTUAL by technology add new twists to an old problem—the question of how broadly rights should be crafted, given that every grant of rights to one person will simultaneously limit the liberties of other people. PROPERTY IN THE “Fundamental issues will recur over and over again,” she says. “We must continually address the limits of and justification for the whole system.” 21ST CENTURY Gordon also thinks that the field has been and continues to be so exciting because of the commingling of utilitarian and economic perspectives with moral arguments, such as the natural-law thinking Patent law and copyrights were created to provide of John Locke. A person’s right to his or her creation, according to Locke’s theory of property, is conditional on that person not depriv- incentives for innovation, in order to encourage the ing others of “enough, and as good,” thus framing the law’s compul- creative and economic growth of the country. But sion in moral terms. Copyright, then, is not just about protecting what if these laws do the opposite in practice? What ownership of individual “authors’ rights,” but ultimately also about encouraging free thought and the interchange of ideas. Gordon if some intellectual property claims can actually locates the real-world stakes of intellectual property in economics, “chill further innovation,” as Robert Bone, professor moral philosophy, and the free speech debate. of law and Richard L. Godfrey Faculty Research Her work has placed her, in the words of one online commen- tator, “at ground zero in the IP wars.” Gordon examines the many Scholar, suggests. ways in which copyright affects the connections between the individual and the community. “Often markets can serve the interests of While debates over intellectual property are not new, they have both copyright owners and users,” she says. “In such instances, a evolved along with changes in America’s information-based econ- market in the copyrighted work can simultaneously further the well- omy. Federal legislation for intellectual property (IP) is divided into being of both the author and the audience, fostering both incentives three primary categories: patent, copyright, and trademark. The first and dissemination.” But sometimes a market doesn’t exist or is two categories promote what the Constitution calls “the progress of flawed, or an alternative institutional arrangement (informal reci- science and the useful arts”; the third, trademark law, fosters accu- procity, for example) is better suited to inducing the creation and cir- racy in marketplace communication. Additional regimes such as culation of the works at issue. “After all,” says Gordon, “artists don’t trade secret law and rights of publicity are based in the laws of the usually thrive in bureaucracies.” various states. These categories have never been mutually exclusive, It may also be the case that non-monetizable interests like free with plenty of gaps and overlaps between them. But all of them can speech are at stake, making a commercial market an inappropriate require people to obtain licenses before copying or making certain way to decide what uses of copyrighted work should or should not be artifacts, affecting a broad range of commercial and creative activity, permitted. In such cases, Gordon says, “The claims of the copyright both pragmatic and purely artistic. owner can conflict with the claims of the public and of downstream authors. Often the claims of the copyright owner need to be reformu- lated to give greater scope to the public interest. And we cannot rely Fundamental Questions on industry practice to tell us what the public interest requires.” In a 2007 article in The Yale Law Journal Pocket Part she argued, Law faculty interested in One of Wendy Jane Gordon’s interests is the way technology has com- the premise underlying “Any licensing done out of fear of liability—whether reasonable or plicated the law’s approach to creativity. “Copyright has always pro- intellectual property as excessively risk-averse—is a poor guide to what a community hibited much ‘copying’ of expression,” she says, “but it has never well as its present-day believes.” Gordon holds that the divide between behavior and belief purported to restrain people from glancing through texts or reading application include, left to creates a ripe area for analysis and debate. “It’s a divide,” she adds, right, Michael Meurer, their favorite books over and over, whether for entertainment or “that results in large part from the failure of copyright legislation to Wendy Jane Gordon, and learning or as part of their making new works.” truly reflect the public interest and the public’s needs.” Robert Bone. But now that the Internet has placed a machine between our In the last 25 years, changes in technology have made it more eyes and the texts we read, the potential impact of the statute has difficult to navigate the already-complicated waters of licensing and changed, even though the statutory language has not. “Some courts copyright. “Technology provides new questions, not answers,” see browsing the Internet as involving ‘copying,’” explains Gordon, a DEFENDING Gordon says. It is fascinating, she admits, but it is only “the icing on law professor and Paul J. Liacos Scholar in Law. “Back in the 1990s, the cake” made of underlying intellectual property issues. prescient commentators like Jessica Litman and Richard Stallman feared copyright owners would assert an exclusive right over our For more information, see www.bu.edu/law/faculty/profiles/bios/full-time/ reading, and the law may indeed be heading in that unfortunate gordon_w.html. INNOVATION direction.”

38 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 39 Looking at the Numbers

Megan MacGarvie, assistant professor of finance and economics in the School of Management, is one of the scholars at Boston However, firms holding software patents related to a market are Seeking Substantive Reform University looking at technology issues. Since the creation of the more likely to enter, possibly because holding patents helps in inter- Michael Meurer, professor of law and Michaels Faculty Research United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1790, patents company negotiation. Therefore, predictions of the ultimate net Scholar, has boiled down his recent research to one question: Do have historically been the avenue for innovation. Inscribed above effect of increased patents depend on assumptions about the distri- Patents Work? That’s also the tentative title of his forthcoming book the entrance to the Patent Office’s original headquarters is bution of patent ownership among small and large firms. Based on with coauthor James Bessen. The answer, Meurer believes, is no. Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote, “The patent system adds the these assumptions, increased patents will either decrease the rate of His research has led him to the conclusion that patents are fuel of interest to the fire of genius.” But as technology has entry or have no effect. flawed for several reasons. “They do not give a positive right to prac- evolved, so have patents, and some fear not for the best. MacGarvie noticed, in work with Bronwyn Hall of the tice technology, just a negative right to stop it,” says Meurer. Nor do MacGarvie hopes her research will inform the debate over the University of California-Berkeley, when looking at stock prices in an they work as property, he claims. The inability of patents to clearly validity of software patents by providing a needed dose of event study, that the market perceived that firms without patents or provide notice to the world of property boundaries for new technol- empiricism to serve as a foundation for already circulating firms in downstream sectors would not benefit from software ogy hinders the demarcation of strong property rights that would theories. patents, while middleware firms were expected to benefit. Her encourage investment. Meurer’s findings show that in 1984 patents MacGarvie notes that although the Patent Office has research is informing the debate over intellectual property by picking provided a subsidy to industry, but by 1999 the patents’ net effect been issuing patents since the 18th century, only in the last out the subtleties and the paradoxes of the patent system’s relation- was to discourage innovation by the typical firm. decade or so has software been part of this office. In 1996 new ship to software. guidelines for software patenting went into effect, resulting in For more information, see http://people.bu.edu/mmacgarv. an increase of software patents at a rate much higher than that While economists and patent lawyers of any other field. Controversial “bad patents” such as the Amazon One-Click case have been the subject of much media Historicizing the Present usually think that those who infringe on debate, but MacGarvie is researching a more subtle contro- versy—the “anticommons” phenomenon resulting from the Robert Bone’s research into trademark and trade secret law also patents are pirates, Meurer has found cumulative nature of software innovation. tries to answer the central question, “How big should intellectual that the typical defendant in a patent She has looked at broad patterns in software patent data property law be?” He approaches this question from the perspective to evaluate the effect of patents on entry by software firms into of history and theory. In articles such as “Enforcement Costs and case actually has more R&D and patents new markets and the effect on the market value of companies. Trademark Puzzles” and “Hunting Goodwill: A History of the Concept MacGarvie’s research reveals that patent effect is not black- of Goodwill in Trademark Law,” Bone takes a hard look at claims that than the typical plaintiff. and-white. trademark law is overbroad and traces the historical reasons behind In joint work with BU School of Management professor recent expansions. He argues that some expansions others have criti- He is quick to point out that the negative effects of patents are Iain Cockburn, MacGarvie discovered that after accounting for cized are actually sensible ways to reduce potentially high litigation not applicable to all companies. “Patents on old, obvious technology a variety of factors affecting the rate of entry into a market, costs. However, he also finds that some expansions are not justified are not as big a problem as patents on new and non-obvious technol- markets with more software patents have lower rates of entry. and traces their origins to the role that the vague and highly elastic ogy,” he says. The pharmaceutical industry, for instance, benefits (Article continues on next page.) concept of goodwill played in trademark law’s development. from the current patent system. Meurer explains, “Pharmaceutical A major goal of Bone’s trademark research is to provide a bet- companies invent products that can be clearly defined and patented ter understanding of the theoretical foundations of trademark law more effectively than the products of information technology firms, and the history of trademark doctrine. Theoretical and historical such as Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Intel.” A chart compiled by Megan analysis, in turn, can identify the causes of current problems and Meurer’s empirical research is the first to provide a compre- MacGarvie, above, displays the ultimately lead to sensible reform. hensive accounting of the impact of patents as well as what he calls number of patents granted over Bone’s research into trade secret law also takes a critical bent. time by the U.S. Patent and the “fuzzy boundary problem.” While economists and patent lawyers He carefully examines the policy underpinnings and shows that the Trademark Office in selected usually think that those who infringe on patents are pirates, Meurer law’s current scope is too broad to function properly in our informa- software-related classes. The has found that the typical defendant in a patent case actually has issuance of new guidelines on the tion-based, technologically driven economy. “Secrecy begins with a more R&D and patents than the typical plaintiff. And often the patentability of software in the late kind of taint,” he says, making the whole body of trade secret law ini- defendant and plaintiff are not very close in terms of industry and 1990s led to a marked increase in tially suspect. Encouraging secrecy chills future innovation by keeping technology, which suggests that firms are not always able to deter- the number of software patents information from others and increases litigation costs by complicating mine all the parties with whom they need to negotiate in order to granted. enforcement proceedings with adverse effects on competition and obtain the necessary licenses. Meurer places the blame in part on the creativity. In the end, Bone recommends that most of trade secret law specialized appeals court created by Congress 25 years ago, which should be limited to contract-based liability principles. expanded patents to include software and business methods. Bone believes that sound IP policy must be based on carefully When discussing his findings, he expresses a sentiment echoed developed theory, which is informed by a firm grasp of history and by other scholars at Boston University working on intellectual prop- guided by reliable empirical work shedding light on how IP law actu- erty: “I’m glad that people feel a desire to reform.” ally works in practice. His research illustrates what can be accom-

plished with this approach. For more information, see www.bu.edu/law/faculty/profiles/bios/full- time/meurer_m.html. For more information, see www.bu.edu/law/faculty/profiles/fullcvs/ —Meredith Bartron full-time/bone_r.html.

40 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 41 Traveling the Middle Ground

Religion’s place in education, politics, and law is a contentious subject, but, luckily, First Amendment scholar Jay Wexler has little fear of engaging with controversial issues. An associate professor at the School of Law, Wexler writes about such volatile issues as the constitutionality of teaching intelli- TALKING gent design in schools and of displaying religious symbols on government property. But his conclusions may be surprising to those who see ABOUT these issues in black-and-white. For Wexler argues that the Supreme Court has both wrongly stripped religions of the protections promised by the Constitution and wrongly chipped away at the necessary bar- RELIGION AND CULTURE rier between church and state. In staking out a position in the middle ground, Wexler has raised the hackles of the most vocal parties in the debate over church-state issues, the extremists—on both sides. In the book he is working on now, Free Exercise, Expensive Gas: A Church-State Road Trip, Wexler discusses the nuances of American church-state law through the stories of the people and places the laws affect. He plans to travel to the sites that sparked landmark What do we talk about when we talk about religion? court decisions, like the notorious Ten Commandments monument at Teaching Americans about Religion the Texas State Capitol, to collect interviews and anecdotes to help International relations, public education, the next Americans are among the most religious people in the world, but in engage his readers in the complex legal, political, and cultural ques- presidential campaign—it’s almost impossible to terms of knowledge about religion we have lost our way, Prothero tions the book will explore. talk about current events without touching on reli- says. “Religion is a conversation stopper of sorts, because when These are combustible politicians appeal to religion in making an argument against abortion topics, to be sure. But gious issues. And yet, precisely because religion is so or for environmentalism, way too many of us go mum because we Wexler’s goal is not to stoke important to so many people in so many different don’t know enough about religion to engage the debate,” he says. the fires of us-against-them. ways, dialogue on the subject can be difficult. What we don’t know about religion—both other people’s and our Instead, he strives through own—can hurt us as a society: we don’t ask hard questions of our his research to encourage “Richard Rorty famously argued that religion is a politicians and pundits because we don’t feel we know enough to do “Lots of public policy debates impli- people on both the secular ‘conversation stopper’—that because religion so. “Democracy works only when citizens are informed,” Prothero cate religion nowadays. We need to left and the religious right “to appeals to God or the transcendent, you just can’t continues. “And since lots of public policy debates implicate religion listen more openly to what nowadays, we need to know something about religion in order to be know something about religion in members of the other ‘side’ argue with it,” says Department of Religion Chair effective citizens.” think and say about the Stephen Prothero. “I disagree with that view.” In his new book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs order to be effective citizens.” issues that concern them.” He’s not alone. In disciplines as diverse as to Know—And Doesn’t, Prothero proposes a solution to the problem of Though the book will religious ignorance: he argues that religion does indeed belong in our chronicle a distinctly sociology, economics, theology, classics, and law, public schools—not as theological training or indoctrination but as a Due to a misunderstanding about the meaning of those American journey, Wexler’s Boston University researchers are studying, teach- means of providing Americans with basic information about the decisions, many Americans now believe that religious studies interest in promoting dia- ing, and talking about religion. And in doing so, world’s religions. His reasons are persuasive and multifold, ranging can’t be taught in schools. Prothero argues that this notion is logue about law and religion from the importance of better understanding the current political both mistaken and damaging to a population that’s increas- doesn’t end at the U.S. bor- they’re exploring how our beliefs shape our ideas, situations in the Middle East to the civic responsibility to compre- ingly ignorant about religion. And he goes on to propose that der. He spoke last winter at our worldviews, our societies, and our daily lives. hend court cases on intelligent design in schools—or even to know we remedy that ignorance by integrating the study of religion the Conference on Law and what President George W. Bush was getting at when, in his first inau- into public school and university curricula. Religion in Transitional gural address, he promised that “When we see that wounded traveler His ideas may be unorthodox, so to speak, but people Societies in Oslo, Norway—a on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side.” are paying attention. He’s been profiled in Newsweek and has conference sponsored, in In Religious Literacy, Prothero traces the history of religion’s spoken about the book on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, part, by the Chinese govern- place in American education from its roots in the 17th century, when The Oprah Winfrey Show, and numerous other television and ment—and is currently Protestant theology was a central part of children’s education, radio broadcasts. Legislators and school administrators, preparing a paper and presentation for the Religion and Rule of Law through a series of turning points in American religious literacy, such including those at BU, are taking his recommendations into in Southeast Asia conference, to be held this fall in Hanoi, Vietnam. as the Second Great Awakening of the early 1800s and the Supreme consideration as they reappraise their curricula. And, per- “The U.S. church-state stuff is really interesting,” he says, “but it’s a Court decisions that in the 1960s banned prayer and Bible reading haps most importantly, the book has jump-started a national little bit small and subtle compared to the big religious issues hap- from public schools. conversation on these issues, engaging Americans in thinking pening in the world, like in places where people actually don’t get to and learning about what we—and others—believe. practice their religion.”

For more information, see www.stephenprothero.com. 42 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 43 “A polytheistic religion looks to questions That’s not to say that he’s leaving behind the subtle, stormy— Humans themselves are all but absent from the Theogony, but and often strange—realities of church-state law in our own incredi- readers do learn that the Muses give a sacred gift to the Zeus- of harmony among the gods.... bly religiously diverse nation. As he explains in his proposal, “I want nurtured human kings: “honeyed voices” to quell quarrels and dis- to write a book that will entertain readers and make them laugh, not pense justice, bringing social harmony to a discordant civic sphere. And of course that’s human beings’ only because it makes for a more user-friendly book, but also “That’s the divine gift: this new capacity for harmony in the civic concern, too: How do we share power?” because I think that learning to laugh at oneself makes it easier to structure, the agora,” Scully says. tolerate and respect others, something that is quite crucial to achiev- Polytheism, he argues, is an excellent model for the building of ing civil peace on issues of religion and government.” That goal, at a city-state, because the main concern of a polytheistic theology is In their research Botticini and Eckstein challenge the standing least, is one that we can all agree on. the distribution of authority. In monotheism, the relationship theories that Jews primarily worked in skilled, urban occupations between God and man is primary; it is a hierarchical domain in which either because they were barred from agricultural work due to their For more information, see www.bu.edu/law/faculty/profiles/fullcvs/ questions of obedience are all-important. But central to a polytheis- religion or because they sought to sustain their shared cultural and full-time/wexler_j.html. tic world are the potentially conflicting relations among power- religious identity by banding together in certain locations or profes- hungry beings. “Each of the gods and goddesses of the earth and sky, sions. Farmers to Merchants looks instead to a cultural transformation A Divine Model and all the realms in between, wants to know how his or her share of that unfolded following a shift in Judaism’s focus from ritual and cer- power will be realized,” Scully explains. “So a polytheistic religion emony, which were concentrated in the Temple, to Torah study, which Educating ourselves about religion is an important step toward looks to questions of harmony among the gods—that is, of the inte- could be carried out in every Jewish home. By the end of the second achieving civil peace in a theologically diverse world. But do religious gration of power.” century C.E., every Jewish father was expected to educate his sons. texts themselves provide a model for a harmonious society? In his In his book, Scully examines the Theogony in the context of Botticini and Eckstein trace the effects of this transformation current research, Stephen such texts as the Babylonian creation poem Enuma Elish, the Book of on several important developments in Jewish history. For example, Scully, an associate professor Genesis, Plato’s Republic, and Milton’s Paradise Lost. In doing so, he the lives of Jewish subsistence farmers left scant time and resources in the Department of Classical seeks to open readers’ eyes to how the study of a polytheistic culture for book learning, and literacy, in turn, provided little economic bene- Studies, finds just such a par- can give us new ways of thinking about our own societies. “The fit to those who made their living in the fields. Correspondingly, con- adigm in the Theogony of the Greeks don’t provide the answers, but they can reorient us; they can version rates from Judaism were high among poor farmers, who could The result of her questions is a project called “Spiritual ancient Greek poet Hesiod. sharpen our questions,” he says. “Hesiod’s Zeus creates a generous not afford to educate their sons as their religion demanded. Literacy Narratives in Everyday Life,” funded by a grant from the Templeton The Theogony, written around and inclusive, though problematic, way of sharing governance. And of proved to be of far greater economic value in urban areas, where Foundation. For the project, Ammerman and her team of researchers 700 B.C.E., is believed to be course that’s human beings’ concern, too: How do we share power?” educated Jews found work in crafts, finance, and trade. These have asked people from different spiritual traditions—Catholics, the oldest of the Greeks’ ori- changes contributed to both the urbanization of the Jewish popula- Mormons, Jews, and atheists, among others—to participate in inter- For more information, see www.bu.edu/classics/faculty/profiles/scully.html. gin myths. Its story traces the tion and the expansion of the Diaspora, as Jews traveled widely in views, record audio diaries, and take photographs of places they find birth of the gods from their search of opportunities abroad. spiritually meaningful. Ammerman and her researchers also attended beginnings in Chaos and Earth Though the timeframe she examines in Farmers to Merchants services and other events at their subjects’ places of worship. By May, to the ascendancy of Zeus, the The Economics of Faith ends in 1492, Botticini emphasizes that the findings of this interdis- midway through their research, the team had already made some king of the gods, and his many The influence of religious doctrine on societies and cultures is also a ciplinary study need not be confined to the historical past. She hopes eye-opening discoveries. children. But in an upcoming focal point for the work of Maristella Botticini, an associate professor that her research will make “academic and non-academic readers “We were a little bit surprised by the degree to which the peo- book, Hesiod’s “Theogony”: in the Department of Economics. In a series of journal articles and a think about the importance of religion and social norms in our daily ple who are involved in standard, ‘name-brand’ religious organiza- From Babylonian Creation forthcoming book, Farmers behavior.” tions don’t necessarily talk about their lives in ways that are, shall we Myths to Milton’s “Paradise to Merchants: Human Capital say, orthodox,” Ammerman says. She’s found that while her subjects For more information, see http://people.bu.edu/maristel. Lost,” Scully presents the and Jewish History, 70–1492 do use stories and symbols from their religious traditions to talk argument that within the C.E., Botticini and her coau- about their lives, they also talk about finding meaning in spending mythological story of the ori- thor, Zvi Eckstein, an econ- The Stories We Tell time in nature or setting aside quiet, personal time to reflect. gin of Olympus can be found a omist at the University of “They’re not necessarily talking about praying or doing standard reli- paradigm for the human Tel Aviv and a past visiting Like Botticini, Nancy Ammerman understands that a religion’s influ- gious practices,” she continues, “but they’re nevertheless doing polis—the city or society. Zeus professor at BU, have ence on its followers’ lives is not limited to certain spheres. But things that are spiritual.” creates, in Olympus, a civic examined how Judaism’s Ammerman, a professor and the director of graduate programs for The narratives of the project’s title—the stories people tell— space free from the elements of conflict, as represented by Night emphasis on universal edu- the Department of Sociology, as well as a professor of the sociology are key. By asking open-ended questions, Ammerman allows her sub- and Discord (Eris) and their children, who include Quarrels (Neikea), cation (among males) in of religion at the School of Theology, says that her field has lost sight jects to describe religion’s place in their lives in their own words, Lies (Pseudea), and Bad Governance (Dysnomia). the early centuries of the of the degree to which religion is intertwined with family, work, and rather than trying to fit their experiences into any predetermined Scully’s earliest academic interest was urban studies—as an first millennium shaped other areas of our lives. “Over time I’ve become less and less con- framework. This, she says, has made all the difference. “If people undergraduate at New York University, he intended to become a civic Jewish social and economic vinced by the secularization paradigm, which posits that religion is had been asked a battery of standard survey questions about what planner—and his fascination with cities is evident in his current history. In doing so, they confined to a specifically religious institutional domain—that the they believe about heaven and hell, they might look fairly orthodox,” work. “The Theogony is a city-state creation myth,” he says. “These explore a broader question: logic of religion is not applicable to action in other parts of people’s she says. “But that might not tell you anything really about what’s stories both map out and explain, in their mythic form, the necessity In what ways can religion lives,” says Ammerman. “If I know, for instance, that who I am as a going on in their lives.” of separating the human and the divine from the biological and shape such non-theological family person influences how I think about work, why should I For more information, see www.bu.edu/sth/faculty/staff/nammerman.html. nature, of taming and socializing anarchic eros to create places of matters as demographics believe that who I am as a religious person doesn’t bleed over and harmony.” and economics? influence other aspects of my life?” —Tricia Brick

44 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 45 Clockwise, from below left: BU Academy students Jacob Magid and Laurel Desrosier prepare RoboRhett for the first day of the regional competition; Brandon Mensing leans over the controllers used to direct RoboRhett’s movements while BU Academy student Benjamin Wilsker (foreground), BU Academy alumnus and MIT undergraduate Samuel Duffley, and BU Academy student Charles Waite look on; an aerial view of the colorful displays and uniforms in the pit, where team spirit and RAISING THE GAME: FIRST ROBOTICS teamwork go hand in hand.

When students from 49 high schools in and around form is lifting unevenly and, if it is, to adjust the flow of pressure in the pneumatics to compensate.” Boston filled the stands at BU’s Agganis Arena for Three weeks into the competition, Michela Meister, a freshman the FIRST Robotics Regional Competition in March, at BU Academy, found that her hobby of making jewelry translated the atmosphere had more in common with a rock into a knack for electronics. By the end of the project, she’d learned to solder and use a drill press, applied concepts about electricity concert than a science fair. In front of an enormous before she’d formally covered them in class, and even used her new screen surrounded by flashing lights lay the compe- skills to help the small, first-year team at William McKinley tition area. Referees watched and students cheered as two rotating teams of three robots apiece scram- Most students who participate once are bled to hang as many colored, donut-shaped bal- hooked, and many go on to serve as loons as possible—preferably in a row, for scoring undergraduate mentors after graduating purposes—onto a giant metal structure with three levels of hooks. Behind the scenes in “the pit,” from high school. where teams tweaked and repaired robots between Preparatory School build and wire their robot when they needed an matches, a rowdy camaraderie prevailed. extra set of hands in the final week. The BU Academy team, which participated in the FRC for the The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) gives each school only six eighth time this year, has a strong tradition of mentoring rookie weeks to design, prototype, test, and construct a robot. Students teams by offering workshops for teachers and hands-on help with learn as much about teamwork in that brief period as they do about projects. When McKinley Prep students won a spirit award on the science and engineering. Twenty-seven Boston University Academy first day of the competition, Team 246 gave them a standing ovation. students and five BU undergrad mentors comprised Team 246 this Ultimately, scoring is secondary at the FRC—building lasting part- year, with additional guidance from two BU Academy teachers, Gary nerships is what counts. “In the pit,” says Garber, “one school will Garber and Nicholas Dent, as well as manufacturing engineer make an announcement over the speaker system that they need a Michael Gevelber and computer integrated manufacturing (CIMLAB) certain solenoid, and five teams will rush up with it.” specialist Robert Sjostrom, both of the University’s Department of Most students who participate once are hooked, and many of Manufacturing Engineering. Some BU Academy students worked on them, like Brandon Mensing, go on to serve as undergraduate men- publicity, fundraising, and banner and T-shirt design. Others worked tors after graduating from high school. Dean Kamen, who founded on the robot itself, named RoboRhett after BU’s mascot, Rhett the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in Boston Terrier. 1989, attributes the competition’s popularity to its inclusivity and its Brandon Mensing, a Boston University junior studying com- emphasis on gracious professionalism. “Every stakeholder is a win- puter science, estimates that he devoted 200 hours to this year’s ner,” he says, including students, teachers, mentors, and sponsors. competition. What makes RoboRhett unique, he says, is its lifting “Everybody who touches FIRST gets more out of it than they put into platform. Judges awarded bonus points at the end of each two- it.” minute match to teams whose robot could support other robots 12 When asked whether she would compete again next year, inches above the ground. “Most teams achieved this by building Michela Meister gives a typical response: “Definitely! That’s not even large ramps that fold out,” explains Brandon, but these can be diffi- a question.” cult for other robots to maneuver. “RoboRhett actually lifts other robots. The lifter uses two gyroscopic sensors to detect if the plat- For more information, see www.burobotics.org. —Cassandra Nelson

46 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 47 Elaine Alpert (Social and Behavioral Sciences) received the Massachusetts GRAPHENE: PARTICLE PHYSICS Medical Society’s Henry Ingersoll Bowditch Award-Winning Faculty Award for Excellence in Public Health. For several decades, she has been at the van- AT YOUR FINGERTIPS? guard of the movement to train medical professionals in identifying and asking patients It took a while for scientists to turn their attention to graphene, a tance, says Castro about family violence. She is the author of strange and immensely promising carbon material that is only one Neto, there would be Abu Abdullah (International Health) was named a Fellow of the Partner Violence: How to Recognize and Treat atom thick and exists in the form of a honeycomb lattice. After all, says very low heat. Faculty of Public Health by the Royal College of Physicians and Victims of Abuse, now in its fourth edition. Antonio H. Castro Neto, a professor of physics in the College of Arts And there are received an Outstanding Health Promotion Project Award from the and Sciences, graphene can be made by running a graphite crystal over other applications. government of Hong Kong. a piece of paper, so it has been around at least since the pencil was Graphene’s unusual Allison Blakely (History) was elected presi- Sachiko Akiyama (Visual Arts) received the Joan Mitchell Award and invented in 1564. No doubt, explains the physicist, it was the material’s electrical properties, an Artist Resource Trust Grant. dent of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest extreme slenderness that kept it literally out of sight—until a few says Castro Neto, can academic honor society, in recognition of his years ago. Since then, however, it has been getting an awful lot of signal the presence of Lynne Allen (Visual Arts) received a Whiting Foundation Award. service and his lifelong work advancing the press. Last year alone, roughly 200 scientific papers were written a single molecule of a society’s goal of excellence in the liberal about the bizarre properties and potential applications of graphene. foreign substance. George Annas (Health Law) was awarded the Pellegrino Medal in arts and sciences. A member since 1962, “It’s amazing,” says Castro Neto, who was part of the team “Imagine you have a Bioethics from Samford University. Blakely will lead Phi Beta Kappa for a three- that first imagined some of the strangest behavior of the material. terrorist who is carry- year term. Theodore Antoniou (Music) was awarded the distinction of “At this point, there are thousands of people around the world trying ing an explosive,” he Several well-known forms of carbon derive from Commander of the Order of Honor, Greece. to figure out the full potential of something that almost no one was says. “There are graphene, top left, which consists of a two-dimen- researching a couple of years ago.” always some residual sional hexagonal lattice of carbon atoms. Graphite, Caroline Apovian (Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition) received Paula Friedman (Geriatric Dentistry) was Castro Neto’s interest in graphene was piqued in 2005, when molecules in the top right, famous for its use in pencils, is simply a the American Society of Clinical Nutrition’s Physician Nutritionist named a fellow of the Pierre Fauchard he read a paper written by Andre Geim of the University of vicinity, and if just stack of graphene layers; carbon nanutubes are Specialist Award. Academy, an international organization that Manchester in England, where physicists had found a way to isolate one of those mole- rolled-up cylinders of graphene, lower left; and a recognizes outstanding work in dentistry, for buckminsterfullerene molecule consists of the unique carbon lattice. At the time, Castro Neto was collaborating cules hits the surface Emily Barman (Sociology) was awarded the Association of her contributions to the profession. Friedman graphene which has been balled into a sphere by on other projects with physicists Francisco Guinea of Spain and Nuno of graphene, it will be Fundraising Professionals’ Skystone Ryan Research Prize for her is a former president of the American Dental introducing pentagons as well as hexagons into book Contesting Communities. M. R. Peres of Portugal, both of whom had come to BU as visiting detected.” Education Association and is one of three the lattice, lower right. researchers under the Quantum Condensed Matter Theory Visitors He finds it professors in the Goldman School of Dental Ethan Baxter (Earth Sciences) was honored with the F. W. Clarke Program. Together, the three researchers took what Geim had ironic that so much Medal of the Geochemical Society. Medicine who have been invited to join the shared about graphene and developed a theory that predicted some- excitement has been Fauchard Academy. thing truly extraordinary: if graphene were subjected to a magnetic unleashed on something that other researchers had been throwing Jeffrey F. Beatty (Strategy and Policy) won the Boston University field, scientists would be able to observe effects that only occur with away, until physicists in Geim’s lab decided to take a closer look. For Metcalf Cup and Prize for Excellence in Teaching. particles moving at a velocity close to the speed of light, although years, Castro Neto says, researchers have used Scotch tape in their Maurice Lee (English) was awarded a Charles (Nephrology) received a Junior Faculty Award from the electrons in graphene propagate at velocities 300 times slower attempts to cleave graphite crystals, and having done that, they Laurence Beck A. Ryskamp Research Fellowship from the Amgen. than that. If the three BU researchers were correct, it would mean would throw the tape in the trash can. American Council of Learned Societies. The that graphene could be used as a kind of tabletop particle physics fellowship, designed to help junior faculty “What Andre Geim did,” says Castro Neto, “was look at what was John Bernardo (Pulmonary Center) received the Massachusetts lab, a controlled environment in which scientists could test new advance their research, will allow Lee to left over on the Scotch tape. Until then, no one had done that, because Thoracic Society’s Henry D. Chadwick Medal. physics ideas. Castro Neto contacted Geim and asked if their theory when people are familiar with something, they don’t look at it closely.” explore how changing notions of chance in the could be verified. He thought it could. This year, Castro Neto’s entire research group is hot on the Azer Bestavros (Computer Science) was elected chair of the 19th century influenced American literature “At that point,” says Castro Neto, “if you look at the number of graphene trail, working with funding from the National Science Technical Committee on the Internet for the Institute of Electrical and to situate the works of writers such as publications about graphene, you will see an explosion. Everyone was Foundation. “We are trying to understand the basic electronic prop- and Electronic Engineers Communications Society. Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, and Henry very excited.” Bennett Goldberg, chair of BU’s physics department, was erties of this material,” he says. “We are thinking about how we can David Thoreau within the shifting cultural and Shalender Bhasin (Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition) was not surprised by that excitement. “One of the great attractions of tailor the properties so it can be used in other applications. For philosophical landscape at that time. listed as one of the Best Doctors in Boston by the National Guidelines graphene,” says Goldberg, “is that Castro Neto and colleagues have example, can we make this material into a magnet? If so, we can use Committee. discovered entirely new physics and new materials science from some- it for lots of applications involving magnetism. Can we make Bahaa Saleh (Electrical and Computer thing so commonplace—the scratch of a pencil on paper. This elegance graphene a superconductor? We are looking at ways to modify it both Jag Bhawan (Dermatology) received the Walter R. Nickel Award for is now coupled with tremendous technical and economic potential.” structurally and chemically to change its electronic properties.” Excellence in Teaching from the American Society of Engineering) received the 2006 Kuwait Prize An example of that potential, says Castro Neto, is in the manu- There is, says Castro Neto, one more thing about this unique Dermatopathology. in Basic Sciences from the Kuwait Foundation facturing of computer chips, now made of silicon. Graphene can be lattice of carbon atoms: even though it is only one atom thick, it can for the Advancement of Sciences. The award Gregory Binus (Psychiatry) received the Exemplary Psychiatrist fashioned into chips that are much smaller than those made of silicon. actually be seen, appearing under a microscope as a strange violet- recognizes Saleh’s contributions to the field Award from the National Association for the Mentally Ill and the More importantly, chips made of graphene would have the enormous of optical science, including his extensive blue hue. That’s because when it is applied to a silicon oxide sub- American Psychiatry Association. advantage of generating almost no heat. Castro Neto explains that strate that is exactly 300 nanometers thick, its wavelength is, research in squeezed and entangled light. computer circuitry heats up when electrons meet resistance while coincidentally, a near-perfect match for the most sensitive cones in Penelope Bitzas (Music) and Eric P. Widmaier (Biology) received the passing from one material, such as a transistor, to another material, the human eye. “It is,” says Castro Neto, “the thinnest thing human Boston University Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching. such as the metal pathways that connect one transistor to another. eyes will ever see.” With the graphene model, both the chips and connecting circuitry could be literally “carved out” on graphene. With such very low resis- For more information, see http://physics.bu.edu/~neto. —Art Jahnke

48 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 49 AWARD-WINNING FACULTY AWARD-WINNING FACULTY

Brooke Blower (History), Sucharita Chandran (Marketing), John Wendy Coster (Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Counseling) Judith Jones (Dental Medicine) received the International Thomas Ryan (Cardiology) received the Distinguished Fellow Award Connor (Microbiology), and Marah Curtis (Social Welfare Policy) received the Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship Award from the Association of Dental Research’s Distinguished Scientist Award. from the American Heart Association’s Council on Clinical were awarded Peter Paul Career Development Professorships. American Occupational Therapy Association. Cardiology. Shiro Kamachi (Dental Medicine) received an Outstanding Faculty Zvi Bodie (Finance and Economics) was named the Norman and Ralph D’Agostino (Mathematics and Statistics) was named the Award from Procter & Gamble. Vivien Schmidt (International Relations) was named Chaire Adele Barron Professor in Management. Remington Lecturer by the American Heart Association. Francqui Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Spencer Kemp (Dental Medicine) was named a Diplomate of the Université Catholique de Louvain. Donald Booth (Oral Surgery) was inducted into the Royal College of Carlo De Luca (NeuroMuscular Research Center) and his company, American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology. Surgeons. Delsys, received a Tibbetts Award from the Small Business Bruce Schulman (History) received the Nancy Lyman Roelker Award Administration. Fred Kleiner (Art History) received the Text and Academic Authors from the American Historical Association. Steven Borkan (Nephrology) received the Massachusetts Medical Association’s Text Prize for A History of Roman Art. Society’s Grant V. Rodkey Award for outstanding contributions to Isabel Dominguez (Hematology/Oncology); Haralambos Gavras Barry Shauck (Visual Arts) was elected President of the National Art medical education. (Hypertension); Albena Halpert, Brian Jacobson, Robert Lowe, Nancy Kopell (Mathematics) received the Weldon Memorial Prize Education Association. Satish Singh, Diane Song, and Michael Wolfe (all of from the University of Oxford and was selected to be the John von Lewis Braverman (Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition) received Gastroenterology); and Yuqing Zhang (Epidemiology) were named Neumann lecturer by the Society for Industrial and Applied Michael Shwartz (Operations and Technology) was named the the Endocrine Society’s Robert Williams Distinguished Service members of the National Guidelines Committee. Mathematics. Richard D. Cohen Professor in Management. Award. Thomas Einhorn (Orthopedics) received the Dr. Marian Ropes Lev Levitin (Electrical and Computer Engineering) was named a Donald Small (Physiology and Biophysics) was named a Frederic Brunel (Marketing), Jonathan Hibbard (Marketing), and Award for Excellence from the Massachusetts Arthritis Association. Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. Distinguished Scientist by the American Heart Association. Peter Russo (Strategy and Policy) each received the Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship Teaching and Pedagogical Innovation Sean Elliott (Chemistry), Emanuel Katz (Physics), Christopher Don Lucas (Music) was elected President of the International Jeffrey Spiegel (Otolaryngology) received the Honor Award and Big from the National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers. Passaglia (Biomedical Engineering), Leonid Reyzin (Computer Trombone Association. on Goals Award from the American Academy of Otolaryngology— Science), Joshua Semeter (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Head and Neck Surgery. James Burns (Danielsen Institute) was honored with the Early and Joan Walker (Geography and Environment) each received a Robert Margo (African American Studies) received the Clio Award Career Psychologist Award from the National Register of Health National Science Foundation Career Award. Emanuel Katz also for exceptional service in cliometrics. Steve Stecklow (Journalism) received the Gilbert and Ursula Farfel Service Psychologists and the American Psychological Association. received a Sloan Fellowship and Leonid Reyzin was named a Fellow Prize for Investigative Journalism and the Philip Meyer Award for of the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics. Cathie Jo Martin (Political Science) was named a Fellow of the Precision Journalism. William Carroll (English) and James Winn (English) received Radcliffe Institute. Fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies. Terry Everson (Music) led the BU Trumpet Ensemble to second place Casey Taft (Psychiatry) received the Danieli Young Professional in the 2007 National Trumpet Competition. Norman Mazer (Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition) received Award from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Christos Cassandras (Manufacturing Engineering) and David the North American Menopause Society and Procter & Gamble’s Castañón (Electrical and Computer Engineering) were named Fred Foulkes (Organizational Behavior) received the American Pharmaceutical Androgen Research Award. Murad Taqqu (Mathematics and Statistics) was honored with the Distinguished Members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Compensation Committee’s Lifetime Achievement Award. ACM/SIGCOMM Test of Time Award. Engineers Control Systems Society. Michael Meurer (Law) received the David Saul Smith Scholarship Alan Geller (Dermatology) received the Environmental Protection Award. Selim Ünlü (Electrical and Computer Engineering) was elected a Suzanne Chapin (Curriculum and Teaching) received the 2006 Agency’s Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award. Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. Award for Exemplary Curriculum in Mathematics for Gifted and Hamid Nawab (Electrical and Computer Engineering) was elected a Talented Students from the National Association for Gifted Children. Barbara Gilchrest (Dermatology) was awarded the Stephen Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Rosanna Warren (English, Romance Studies) was appointed a Rothman Medal by the Society for Dermatologic Investigation. Engineering. Visiting Scholar by the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Aram V. Chobanian (Medicine) and Ha Jin (Creative Writing) were elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Michael Grodin (Health Law) delivered the Cabot Lecture at Patricia Nemec (Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Carolyn Wehler (Dental Medicine) received the Dental Hygienist of Harvard Medical School as well as the University Holocaust Lecture Counseling) received the John Beard Award from the U.S. Psychiatric the Year Award from the Massachusetts Dental Hygienists’ Cutler Cleveland (Geography and Environment) received the and Dean’s Lecture at Vanderbilt University. Rehabilitation Association. Association. Adelman/Frankel Award from the United States Association for Energy Economics. Linda Heywood (African American Studies) received a fellowship Frank Perna (Mental Health and Behavioral Medicine) received the James Wolff (International Health) was named Community Physician from the W. E. B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Walter Peach Award from the Association of Applied Sport of the Year by the Massachusetts Medical Society. Alan S. Cohen (School of Medicine) was recognized with an out- Studies. Psychology. standing achievement award at the International Symposium on Donald Wroblewski (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering) Amyloidosis. Ariel Hirsch (Radiology) received the Nathan Smith Award from the Jean E. Ramsey (Ophthalmology) received the American Academy of received the Senior Research Associate Award from the National New England Surgical Society. Ophthalmology Achievement Award. Research Council and Air Force Research Lab. Herbert Cohen (Nephrology) was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Alice Jacobs (Cardiology) received the American Heart Association’s Amy Rosen (Health Services) received the Career Scientist Award Gary Young (Health Services) received the Investigative Award in Paul Dudley White Award. from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Health Policy Research from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Hannah Cole (Visual Arts) received the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Award and the Platte Clove Artist-in-Residence Fellowship. Zhimon Jacobson (Dental Medicine) received an honorary doctorate Ronald Roy (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering) was named from the University of Bucharest. George Eastman Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Theodore Colton (Epidemiology) was selected by the American Oxford. Public Health Association to deliver the 2006 Lowell Reed Lecture. Peggy Johnson (Psychiatry) was named Clinical Psychiatrist of the Year by the Massachusetts Psychiatry Society. Jeffrey Rubin (History) received an American Philosophical Society Fellowship.

50 Research at Boston University 2007 Research at Boston University 2007 51 Boston University at a Glance

Robert A. Brown, President Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease Students: David K. Campbell, University Provost Communication Research Center 16,511 undergraduate, 12,838 graduate, Karen H. Antman, Provost, Medical Campus Danielsen Institute 2,863 non-degree Editorial Institute Research Centers and Institutes Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies Faculty and Staff: African Presidential Archives and Executive Development Roundtable 2,680 full-time faculty, 1,176 part-time faculty, Research Center Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing 4,992 full-time staff, 362 part-time staff African Studies Center Innovation Alcohol and Drug Institute for Policy, Training, Gerontology Center The Campus and Research Harold Goodglass Aphasia Research Center 133 acres, 324 buildings, 474 classrooms, Research at Boston University is published annually by the Office of the Provost. Alzheimer’s Disease Center Health and Disabilities Research Institute 2,006 laboratories, 10,686 total residence The publication draws from the enormous range of current research at Boston American Schools of Oriental Research Health Policy Institute capacity University, comprising diverse projects supported by more than $302 million in Amyloid Treatment and Research Program Hearing Research Center external funding in FY 2007. Opinions expressed do not reflect the official view of the University. Use of trade names implies no endorsement by Boston Anna Howard Shaw Center Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center Computing Facilities University. For permission to reprint text from Research at Boston University, Archaeological Institute of America Human Resources Policy Institute Supercomputers contact the Office of the Provost at 617-353-2230, [email protected],or Arthritis Center Institute for Astrophysical Research IBM BlueGene/L supercomputer with 1,024 One Sherborn Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215. Association of Literary Scholars and Critics Institute for Economic Development nodes For more information about research at Boston University, please see Biomolecular Engineering Research Center Institute for Geriatric Social Work IBM pSeries 690 with 112 processors www.bu.edu/research. Cancer Research Center Institute for Human Sciences IBM pSeries 655 with 48 processors University Provost Center for Adaptive Systems Institute for Leading in a Dynamic Economy IBM xSeries Linux Cluster with 108 processors David K. Campbell Center for Addictions Research and Services Institute for Philosophy and Religion Center for Advanced Biotechnology Institute for Sexual Medicine Specialized High Performance Computer Associate Provost and Vice President for Research Center for Advanced Genomic Technology Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship Laboratories Andrei E. Ruckenstein Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders and Commercialization Deep Vision Display Wall Editor Center for Applied Research in Language Institute for the Advancement of the Social Access Grid Conference Facility Cassandra Nelson Center for Archaeological Studies Sciences Computer Graphics Laboratory Center for BioDynamics Institute for the Classical Tradition LIVE: Laboratory for Virtual Environments Cover Center for Biomedical Imaging Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology, Seeds of Life by Hugh O’Donnell, front-lit digital print, 72” x 120,” 2006. Center for Biomedical Mass Spectrometry and Policy High Performance Networking Reproduced with the artist’s permission. Center for Chemical Methodology and Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies Fiber Optic Metro Ring interconnecting Library Development and Civilizations Boston University, Harvard, and MIT Photography Principal Photography: Boston University Photo Services: Vernon Doucette, Center for Computational Science Institute of Jewish Law Northern Crossroads (NoX) Fred Sway, and Kalman Zabarsky. Center for Congregational Research and Institute on Culture, Religion, and Internet2 Abilene Development World Affairs Additional images: Center for Defense Journalism International Center for East Asian Computing Labs Martin Pearlman photo courtesy of Boston Baroque (page 1) Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology Archaeology and Cultural History UNIX, Windows, and Macintosh labs Leher Singh research images taken by BU Productions (page 3) Graphs courtesy of Melanie Matthies (page 7) Center for Energy and Environmental Studies International History Institute ResNet Computer Labs Photos of London and New York courtesy of Nazli Kibria (page 13) Center for Human Genetics Learning Resources Network More than 30 additional departmental Background image and inset photo courtesy of Timothy Gardner (page 14) Center for Information and Systems Management of Variability Program computer laboratories Graph of muscle fiber activation pattern courtesy of Carlo De Luca (page 17) Engineering Memory Disorders Research Center Images of immortalized cell line courtesy of Kathleen Morgan (page 19) Center for Integrated Space Weather Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law Libraries Photos copyright Lisa Kessler (page 20) Photos courtesy of Carl Franzblau, Boston University School of Medicine Modeling NeuroMuscular Research Center 23 libraries and special collections, 2.4 million (page 23) Center for International Health and New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury volumes, 40,757 periodicals, 4.6 million Photos courtesy of Deborah and Richard Cornell (page 25) Development Center microform units Photos courtesy of Martin Pearlman, Boston Baroque (page 27) Center for International Relations Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer- Photo, lower right, courtesy of Hugh O’Donnell (page 29) Center for Nanoscience and Range Future Research Photos courtesy of the College of Fine Arts (page 31) Aerial photo copyright CERN, used with permission; dipole magnet photo Nanobiotechnology Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Sponsored Programs Revenue 2006/2007: courtesy of James Rohlf; ATLAS photo courtesy of Steven Ahlen (page 32) Center for Neurorehabilitation Center $302,404,078 Top right photo courtesy of Kenneth Lane; simulated collision images copy- Center for Philosophy and History of Science Partners in Health and Housing Prevention right CERN, used with permission (page 35) Center for Polymer Studies Research Center Financial Resources: Photos and research image courtesy of James Rohlf (page 37) Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Photonics Center Endowment: $946 million Chart courtesy of Megan MacGarvie (page 40) Graphene image courtesy of Antonio H. Castro Neto (page 48) Center for Reliable Information Systems and Pulmonary Center Total assets: $3.1 billion Cyber Security Science and Mathematics Education Center Center for Remote Sensing Sherr Laboratory Enrollment and staffing figures as of fall 2006. Designed and produced by the Boston University Office of Creative Services. Center for Science and Medical Journalism Slone Epidemiology Center All other figures as of June 30, 2006, unless Member of the University Research Magazine Association (URMA). Center for Space Physics Superfund Basic Research Program otherwise specified. Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems Research Center Boston University’s policies provide for equal opportunity and affirmative Systems Tanglewood Institute action in employment and admission to all programs of the University. Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute 0907 899049 Character Center for Transportation Studies For a complete list of centers and institutes at Copyright © 2007 by the Trustees of Boston University. Boston University, with links to their websites, All rights reserved. see www.bu.edu/academics/centers/index.html

52 Research at Boston University 2007