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Press Releases in May, 2011

Warren Alpert Medical School

One hundred medical students set to take the oath

Griffin Rodgers, M.D. ’79: Rodgers, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, will give a Medical Convocation address titled “What has Brown done for you?”
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University will graduate its Class of 2011 on May 29 at at 11:15 a.m. in the First Unitarian Church. Speakers include Griffin Rodgers, M.D. ’79, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (Distributed May 19, 2011)

Researchers create nanopatch for the heart

Beating heart: Engineers at Brown University have created a nanopatch for the heart that tests show restores areas that have been damaged, such as from a heart attack.
Engineers at Brown University and in India have a promising new approach to treating heart-attack victims. The researchers created a nanopatch with carbon nanofibers and a polymer. In laboratory tests, natural heart-tissue cell density on the nanoscaffold was six times greater than the control sample, while neuron density had doubled. Results are published in Acta Biomaterialia.  (Distributed May 19, 2011)
Questions For...

Eli Adashi: Stem cell research struggles to deliver technology’s promise

Eli Adashi: "There’s substantial human suffering out there that could in principle be alleviated or eliminated if human embryonic stem cell research, or related research, proves successful. But we do have to acknowledge that as we speak today there is no specific breakthrough therapy that can at this point be attributed to stem cells."
An ongoing battle in the federal courts over the legality of federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research makes it hard for researchers to work. At the same time, they need a breakthrough to help convince the public and Congress that the work is worth supporting, says Brown’s former dean of medicine and biological sciences. (Distributed May 18, 2011)

Four students selected for Mellon Mays Fellowship

Ana-Irma Patete, Raillan Brooks, Kyle Wynter-Stoner, Le Tran
The dean of the College recently announced that four sophomores have been selected for Mellon Mays Fellowships. The Mellon Mays Fellowship Program aims to increase the number of individuals from underrepresented minority groups in faculty positions at colleges and universities. (Distributed May 18, 2011)
Heart Health

Study: Dairy consumption does not elevate heart attack risk

Good for you: Though high in saturated fat, dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt and buttter didn't contribute to heart attack risk in a study of thousands of people in Costa Rica, researchers said. They suspect that beneficial ingredients in the products offset the risk from the fat.
Analysis of dairy intake and heart attack risk found no statistically significant relation in thousands of Costa Rican adults. Dairy foods might not harm heart health, despite saturated fat content, because they contain other possibly protective nutrients, researchers say. (Distributed May 18, 2011)
The 243rd Commencement

Senior orations: Taking classroom lessons beyond Brown

Senior Orators: VyVy Trinh and Jacob Combs will carry on the centuries-old Brown Commencement tradition of having student orators address the graduating class.
Jacob Combs of Los Angeles, Calif., and Elyse VyVy Trinh of Fremont, Calif., have been selected as senior orators, a traditional highlight of Brown’s Commencement Weekend. They were chosen from more than 225 nominations by a group of faculty, deans, and graduating seniors. (Distributed May 16, 2011)
Partnering for Urban Education

Brown University and Teach for America partner in urban education program

New Partnership: Teach for America corps members can now earn a Master's degree at Brown while teaching full-time in Rhode Island’s highest-need public schools.
A new partnership between Brown University and Teach for America will allow corps members to enroll part time in Brown's Urban Education Policy Master's Program. Seven Teach for America corps members will begin the program this summer.   (Distributed May 16, 2011)
On Pangaea, the supercontinent

Latitude and rain dictated where species lived

Pangaea, the supercontinent: More than 200 million years ago, nearly all the land on Earth was part of Pangaea. Animals could roam freely, yet they appear to have sorted themselves into regions.  Researchers at Brown are figuring out why.
More than 200 million years ago, mammals and reptiles lived in their own separate worlds on the supercontinent Pangaea, despite little geographical incentive to do so. Mammals lived in areas of twice-yearly seasonal rainfall; reptiles stayed in areas where rains came just once a year. Mammals lose more water when they excrete, and thus need water-rich environments to survive. Results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Distributed May 12, 2011)

CS robotics lab unpacks its new partner

New arrival: Brian Thomas, Chad Jenkins, and Chris Crick welcome PR2 to its new home in the robotics lab. The robot is designed to help researchers explore the capabilities of robots and refine the quality of their interactions with humans.
Say hello to PR2, the latest in robot test beds, now ready to participate in whatever research projects the Computer Science robotics lab might wish to send its way. (Distributed May 12, 2011)
Brown in Haiti

Brown doctors develop a pediatric partnership in Haiti

Rebuilding Haiti: Medical relief is necessary, but for the longer term, Haiti must rebuild its capacity for in-country medical education.  The Alpert Medical School has started to help with that.
In Haiti, the urgent needs of patient care often leave little time for academic medicine, yet teaching and research are key for long-term public health. After years of outreach, the  Alpert Medical School has begun a new partnership with the Universite Notre Dame d’Haiti and St. Damien Hospital. A team of five Brown doctors returned to Haiti in March to demonstrate the follow-through they had promised at a key meeting a year before. (Distributed May 12, 2011)
Decision Day

College Guides and Providence students celebrate future plans

College-bound: Carolina Gomez celebrates during an assembly for seniors with post-graduation plans. She’s off to URI — exactly where she dreamed she’d be.
Students at the Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex celebrated “Decision Day” — the day most college-bound students inform schools of their enrollment plans — with the College Guides who helped get them there (Distributed May 10, 2011)
National Children’s Study

Officials hail research effort to solve childhood health mysteries

A commitment to biomedical research: Alan Guttmacher of the NIH, left, speaks with Edward Wing, dean of medicine and biological sciences at Brown. Brown and Women & Infants Hospital are key participants in the National Children’s Study.
The National Children’s Study will recruit 1,000 babies and their families in Providence County as part of a huge national effort to understand how environment and genes influence health and disease throughout childhood. Officials said the study will improve health around the nation and already is a benefit to Rhode Island. (Distributed May 10, 2011)