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Press Releases in All, 2007

Excellence in Elder Care

Brown Named Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine and Training

Bracing for the “silver tsunami”: The U.S. geriatric population will double by 2030, to 71 million. Demographers predict a national shortfall of 26,000 geriatricians. Richard Besdine and colleagues are working on that looming problem.
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University has been designated a Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine and Training by the John A. Hartford Foundation. The designation is accompanied by a major new grant for Rhode Island Hospital. The Hartford Centers of Excellence program is a $38-million initiative to help medical schools train geriatrics faculty, which are in critically short supply. By training teachers, the foundation aims to better prepare medical students to care for the growing “silver tsunami” of older Americans. 07-077 (Distributed December 19, 2007)
HIV/AIDS Prevention

Brown Researchers Create First-Ever HIV Rapid Test Video

Researchers at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University have created a first-ever educational video on rapid HIV testing. The video – available for free online – is aimed at increasing testing rates and slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS, one of the deadliest epidemics in recorded history. 07-076 (Distributed December 12, 2007)

Anthropologist Awarded Fulbright to Study Masculinity in Mexico

Matthew Gutmann, associate professor of anthropology, was awarded a 2007-08 Fulbright fellowship to document and analyze perceptions and opinions in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca regarding democracy, the armed forces, and masculinity. The program also brings three international scholars to Brown this year: Alfredo Edmundo Huespe of Argentina, Nam Gyun Kim of Korea, and Qing Liu of China. 07-075 (Distributed December 7, 2007)
December 11, 2007, through May 30, 2008

Treasures on Display in From A.A. to Zouave: Collections at Brown

Not just any coffee pot Alcoholics Anonymous co-founders Bill W. and Dr. Bob – Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith – used this coffee pot for sober meetings at Smith’s home in 1935. Those gatherings were the forerunners of what became AA meetings. Brown acquired Dr. Bob’s archives, including the coffee pot, in 1999.
From A.A. to Zouave: Collections at Brown, an exhibition featuring more than 150 materials from Brown University’s libraries, museums, and galleries, is on view from Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007, through Friday, May 30, 2008, in the Annmary Brown Memorial, 21 Brown St. The exhibition is free and open to the public. 07-074 (Distributed December 6, 2007)
Alpert Medical School

Adashi to Step Down as Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences

Eli Y. Adashi, dean of medicine and biological sciences at Brown University, has announced his intention to step down at the end of the current academic year. Following a possible sabbatic leave, Adashi may return to full time teaching and research. 07-071 (Distributed December 5, 2007)
Presidential Primaries

Early Voters Hold Most Power in Primaries, Say Brown Economists

As voters in Iowa and New Hampshire prepare to head to the polls for the 2008 presidential primary season, new research by two Brown University economists shows just how much power these early voters hold. In a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, Brian Knight and Nathan Schiff demonstrate that early voters have up to 20 times the influence of voters in later states when it comes to candidate selection. 07-073 (Distributed December 5, 2007)

Seed Funding Supports Brown’s Internationalization Effort

Six seed fund grants totaling $85,000 have been awarded to Brown faculty to support diverse and unique international collaborations. This seed funding furthers the University’s effort to stimulate research and education on a global scale. It is the first funding of this kind at Brown. 07-072 (Distributed December 4, 2007)

Museum Loan Network Finds New Home at Brown University

Dragon, 5th -6th century Chinese, Northern Wei dynasty (424-534)Museum Appropriation Fund
The Museum Loan Network, an innovative program facilitating collection sharing among museums and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration with communities, will relocate to Brown University after 12 years at MIT. At Brown, the network will be based at the John Nicholas Brown Center’s Public Humanities Program, where it will continue its work fostering partnerships among cultural organizations and launch new programs to connect museums with the next generation of museum professionals. 07-069 (Distributed December 4, 2007)
World AIDS Day

AIDS Activist and Former U.N. Official To Speak at Symposium

International AIDS activist Stephen Lewis will take part in a World AIDS Day symposium at Brown University on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007, from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 117 in Starr Auditorium at MacMillan Hall. The public event is free, but space is limited. 07-070 (Distributed November 29, 2007)
Center for Environmental Health and Technology

Drinking and Smoking Do Not Boost HPV-Related Cancer Risk

New Brown University research shows that alcohol and tobacco use does not increase the risk of cancers of the mouth and throat for people infected with human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16), a common sexually transmitted virus in the United States. The findings are the strongest evidence yet that head and neck cancers have two distinct causes and may require different prevention and treatment methods. 07-068 (Distributed November 27, 2007)
New Frontiers in Quantum Mechanics

Cooper Pairs Found in Insulators as Well as in Superconductors

Fifty years ago, three physicists unveiled the BCS (Bardeen, Cooper, Schrieffer) theory of superconductivity, which explained how currents of electrons can flow perpetually if they join in pairs. Those physicists, including Leon Cooper at Brown University, won a Nobel Prize for their work. Now Brown physicists have shown something surprising: the formation of Cooper pairs can not only help electric current to flow but it can also block that current. Their research appears in Science. 07-067 (Distributed November 22, 2007)
National Institute on Aging Award

Brown To Create Most Comprehensive Long-Term Care Database

A new database for long-term care research: Vincent Mor will lead a team of researchers and developers to create the nation’s first research database in support of long-term care policy and practice. Mor plans to finish work in the project within five years.
The National Institute on Aging has awarded members of Brown University’s Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research a major grant to create the first national database that will allow researchers to study the impact of state policies and market forces on the quality of long-term care. The award comes at a time of increasing demand for the services of nursing homes and other long-term care providers. By 2020, an estimated 12 million U.S. elderly will need some form of long-term care. 07-066 (Distributed November 15, 2007)

Optic Flow: A Step in The Right Direction

Navigating outside the optic flow: Without the constant stream of visual information and feedback that comes with movement, subjects in a virtual reality lab had a very difficult time finding a virtual door.
The way objects appear to stream by us as we move through the world is a phenomenon called optic flow. Think of the street signs and storefronts that sail across the car windshield as we drive. That’s optic flow in action. Brown University cognitive scientists have now shown, in research to be featured on the cover of Current Biology, that optic flow plays a critical role in continuously recalibrating our steps as we walk. 07-065 (Distributed November 15, 2007)
Top Prizes for Young Scientists

Two Brown Scientists Receive Top White House Awards

Two Brown professors have garnered the highest honors given by the U.S. government to scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. Odest Chadwicke (Chad) Jenkins, assistant professor of computer science, and Pradeep Guduru, assistant professor of engineering, received Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) during a ceremony at the White House. 07-063 (Distributed November 9, 2007)