Congratulations to James (JT) Van Leuven, who was recently awarded the U of I’s Outstanding Post-Doctoral Scholar/Fellow Award!
JT has been a postdoc at the Center for Modeling Complex
Interactions (CMCI) for 3 years. CMCI is a highly collaborative and
interdisciplinary endeavor where JT successfully utilizes his wide breadth of
scientific skills. He is a member of several working groups, has given numerous
oral presentations and is frequently involved in writing grant proposals and
research publications. JT also coordinates CMCI’s weekly Brown Bag Lunch events
and helps schedule seminar speakers.
“He is an important contributor to both the hands-on research / data analysis and the intellectual design and interpretation of experiments,” says Holly Wichman, CMCI Director. “A next-gen scientist.”
In addition to scholarly research, JT contributes to the
university community by sitting on Staff Council and co-chairing the University
of Idaho Postdoc Association.
The University Awards for Excellence recognize and encourage excellence in all forms at the academic level. Recently, the 2019 Interdisciplinary Award was presented to the Flow Ventilators Team for their collaborative efforts for working to improve treatments for asthma and other lung diseases.
Provost & Executive Vice President John Wiencek (center) poses with the 2019 University Awards for Excellence Interdisciplinary Award recipients.
Team members include 4 researchers from 2 colleges: Tao Xing, associate professor of mechanical engineering, Gordon Murdoch, associate professor of physiology in animal and veterinary science, Gabriel Potirniche, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Nathan Schiele, assistant professor of biological engineering.
The Flow Ventilators Team aims to significantly improve the fundamental understanding of mechanics of respiration and physiological mechanisms of ventilation through interdisciplinary research. Their goal is to use research to promote respiratory health through the development of next-generation flow ventilators for better prevention and treatment of various lung diseases. This will improve the quality of life and extend the lives of those with lung diseases. The team began in 2016 with Xing, Murdoch and a Center for Modeling Complex Interactions pilot grant for a multiscale model of interaction between lung and pulmonary ventilation. They then realized the importance of performing fluid-structure interaction computer simulations that required the knowledge of not only fluid but also solid mechanics and accurate tissue properties, which are the expertise of Potirniche and Schiele, respectively. The team’s success in its interdisciplinary and collaborative efforts was shown not only by the amount of funding it secured in a short amount of time, but also by its strong publications, number of citations and number of post-graduate and graduate students that have been involved in the enterprise. The interdisciplinary team and the industry partner network that the team has been developing have the potential to grow even further as they energize a wider circle of collaborators across campus, and as they continue to attract the interest as well as the respect of external constituents.
Group members: Yusuf Omoson (Morehouse School of Medicine), German Enciso (UC Irvine), Ming Tan (UC Irvine), Scott Grieshaber
Originated: April, 2019
Description:
This working group is interested in using mathematical modeling to understand the association of microbial dynamics in the genital tract of female mice with Chlamydia infection. They will analyze sequencing data when it becomes available and plan to submit a manuscript. They would also like funding to continue the project and plan to submit a proposal.
CMCI participants presented 24 posters at the Science Expo on Friday. The poster session and lunch buffet are part of CMCI’s annual meetings with External Advisory Committee (EAC).
In addition to attending the poster session, EAC members Irene Eckstrand, Harmit Malik and Fred Adler met with project leaders, CMCI modeling fellows and staff, U of I executives and heard reports Collaboratorium leadership.
Afterwards, the EAC concluded:
We commend the U of I’s commitment to CMCI even as senior leadership at the university is changing. Like you, we believe that CMCI is the shape of the future, and we offer our continued support.
CMCI is one of many organizations on the U of I campus that offers research opportunities to undergraduate students. David Pfeiffer, Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research says:
“Why would you pick a career without taking it out for a spin? Whether a student wants to go into the hard sciences or the creative arts, we encourage all University of Idaho students to get real-world experience in their fields of study.”
Vandals in Focus is a magazine created by undergraduate students about undergraduate student research. And the 2019 edition has just been released.
