Research, Scholarship and Creative Achievement at UTSA
Abstracts
Biology researchers demystify war zone bacterium
Tao Weitao, a researcher in the Department of Biology, is making great strides in a project funded by the San Antonio Area Foundation. The professor in the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases is researching Acinetobacter baumannii, a soil-dwelling bacterium that threatens the health of military personnel in the Middle East and also can infect their family members once the soldiers have returned home following battle.
The symptoms of Acinetobacter infections are mild to severe and present in a variety of ways, but are mostly found in immunocompromised individuals. Signs may include postsurgery urinary tract infections and respiratory infections, pneumonia following health care treatment, bacteria in the blood, deep wound infections, bone and bone marrow infections, or skin and soft-tissue infections.
A year ago, little was known about A. baumannii. Treatment of infected individuals was exceedingly difficult because the bacterium was able to develop multidrug resistance. Treatment also was impaired by the bacterium’s ability to form biofilms, highly resistant communities of bacteria, which are a breeding ground for microorganisms that infect people.
Recently, however, Weitao’s collaborative research team has isolated proteins they believe help the bacterium form its biofilm. As the biologists continue their research, they hope to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms by which each protein helps A. baumannii propagate its deadly infections. Such an understanding will help develop effective therapeutic strategies to disrupt biofilm formation and diminish the risk of antimicrobial resistance emergence.
The San Antonio Area Foundation awarded funding to Weitao, in part, because San Antonio has such strong ties to the military.
“San Antonio has a proud history as a military city,” said retired Air Force Col. Clarence R. “Reggie” Williams, president and CEO of the San Antonio Area Foundation. “The San Antonio Area Foundation is equally proud to partner with area donors in funding new medical research efforts impacting our military personnel and their families. Through innovative research and advancement, The University of Texas at San Antonio has successfully addressed many of the military community’s most challenging health care needs. We’re proud to support their efforts to make better lives for everyone.”
“Acinetobacter baumannii is an extremely threatening microbe that researchers desperately need to better understand,” said Weitao. “Ultimately, we hope our research leads us to pathways we can target for the development of therapeutic or preventative strategies, that is, effective antibiotics or vaccines, to keep the infection rate low.”
Plant biologists win $690K from National Science Foundation
Jurgen Engelberth, assistant professor of plant biochemistry, and Valerie Sponsel, associate professor of biology, collectively were awarded $690,000 in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to further their research in plant biology. Their respective studies will offer a better understanding of how plants can be manipulated to live longer and increase harvests.
Engelberth has received $540,000 from the NSF for three years to research the effects of plant chemicals called green leafy volatiles. Plants release green leafy volatiles when they are cut or wounded by harmful agents such as herbivores or pathogens. Neighboring plants receive the green leafy volatiles from the damaged plant as an odor, which triggers a complicated biological pathway that allows the neighboring plants to subtly prime themselves for future damage.
Specifically, Engelberth will study how OPRs (12-oxo-phytodienoate reductases), a family of proteins that appears to integrate various stress-signaling pathways, are involved in the regulation of priming plant defense responses to insect herbivores and fungal pathogens. Ultimately, his research will contribute to the development of environmentally sound strategies to control pests.
Sponsel will receive $150,000 to research the genes responsible for the biosynthesis of plant hormones called gibberellins. The one-year interdisciplinary research project will be conducted by Garry Sunter, associate professor of biology, and Jianhua Ruan, assistant professor of computer science, and will include biochemical, molecular and computational approaches. This award brings Sponsel’s NSF support into its 20th year.
Using Arabidopsis thaliana, the first plant to have its genome sequenced, Sponsel will study internal factors regulating the production of gibberellin. These hormones affect a plant’s life cycle from seed germination to flowering and seed production.
Specifically, she will investigate how particular enzymes are regulated by gibberellins and other plant hormones. There are 136 gibberellins in plants, many of which are important intermediates in the production of biological active hormone or its deactivation.
To be effective signaling molecules, hormones must use elegant molecular means to generate on-off signals. Sponsel’s research will contribute to a better understanding of how scientists can modify a plant’s genetics to manipulate the plant to produce a larger harvest.
“This research is extremely important. It is instantly translatable. Ultimately, plant biologists are finding ways to make plants live longer and produce more crops, and those are things that affect our food supply,” said George Perry, dean of the College of Sciences.
Doctoral student publishes findings in Nature magazine
Joseph Westlake, a student in the physics Ph.D. program, and Westlake’s adviser, J. Hunter Waite, an adjoint professor, co-authored a paper in Nature magazine that claims liquid water may exist on Saturn’s sixth-largest moon, Enceladus. The new data sets the stage for more discoveries about Saturn’s moons and could open doors to finding water on other planets.
“Hopefully this excites the planetary science community and provides a compelling argument for further exploration,” said Westlake.
The data, collected by NASA’s Cassini mission during five fly-bys of the moon, shed light on the possible composition of its inner core. Cracks in the surface near Enceladus’ south pole allow plumes of gas and other particles to escape into space. As it flew by, the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer on Cassini collected data about the gas escaping the surface. Researchers then analyzed the data and compared it to known compounds.
The team identified a number of compounds also found on comets, and radiogenic argon, which is a product of decaying potassium, indicates interactions between water and rock under the moon’s icy shell. Also found was ammonia, which some scientists argue works like antifreeze to raise the temperature at which liquid will freeze.
In the hope of discovering more information, NASA has scheduled another fly-by. Cassini will fly directly through the plume at a speed slow enough to reduce the collision force between the plume and the instrument, allowing a more pristine spectrum to be detected.
Westlake followed Waite to Southwest Research Institute and the joint space physics program at UTSA in 2006. Previously at the University of Michigan, he wanted to gain more experience performing experimental physics. Although his dissertation, which he hopes to defend next year, focuses on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, Westlake was happy to work on the Enceladus project.
“There are so many fundamental questions about this little moon that we don’t have answers for,” he said.
Westlake’s contributions to the project included researching current theories about the interior of Enceladus and speculating what implications their findings would have on each. Also, he used standard mass spectrometry data to identify a number of compounds and compare known compounds to the data from Cassini.
New Venture Incubator to nurture technology start-ups
The New Venture Incubator (NVI), a facility with laboratory, office and meeting spaces to support technology start-ups in the San Antonio region, has opened on the Main Campus. The incubator will serve as a bridge between San Antonio entrepreneurs and the region’s research and development community.
The NVI provides a mechanism to connect world-class research in its labs with business partners that will take the innovations forward through commercialization. NVI will support companies that are commercializing UTSA intellectual property or sponsoring research in UTSA labs that can lead to the generation of new intellectual property. The facility will fit into the broader technology commercialization environment of San Antonio as an earlyphase source of new ventures.
As part of this connection to a broader entrepreneurial ecosystem, UTSA established the Commercialization Council that includes an influential group of top executives who meet monthly to advance the region’s status in technology entrepreneurship.
“The goal of the Commercialization Council is to develop the linkages between organizations that can play a key role in the region’s technology-based entrepreneurship,” said Cory Hallam, director of the UTSA Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship. “Ultimately, we want tech entrepreneurs to look at San Antonio the same way they look at Austin or Silicon Valley. We want them to know they are welcome here, and we have strong partners who can help them grow their businesses.”
The council includes representatives from UTSA, Southwest Research Institute, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, Startech Foundation, Biomed SA, South Texas Technology Management, Small Business Development Center and AT&T.
“UTSA recognizes the potential of establishing a campus-based technology incubator for San Antonio entrepreneurs that have direct ties to the university,” Hallam said. “By working with promising new companies that are aligned with the university’s research strengths, we create a win-win partnership that benefits the university through increased research funding and IP licenses while providing start-ups with connections to the support they need to become successful free-standing enterprises.”
Bio-pharmaceutical ViroXis Corp. will be the first start-up in the tech incubator. The company aims to identify and patent botanically derived compounds for use in infectious disease and cancer therapies. Over the next two to three years in the incubator, ViroXis will work to develop a rapid, cost-effective and proven botanical prescription drug targeting human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV, which causes skin and genital wart infections, is the leading cause of cervical cancer. Approximately 20 million people in the United States between ages 15 and 49 are infected with HPV.
South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases
awards scholarships
The UTSA South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID) awarded its inaugural $21,500 doctoral scholarships to students Madhulika Jupelli and Gregor Weber. The funding will help Jupelli and Weber, who are both studying cellular and molecular biology, to complete their doctoral thesis research.
“The South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases is committed to attracting and training talented Ph.D. students interested in infectious disease research,” said Karl Klose, professor of microbiology and STCEID director. “Given the time commitment and cost to complete a doctoral degree, we believe this new scholarship program will help support UTSA students interested in infectious disease research. We congratulate Ms. Jupelli and Mr. Weber on earning these inaugural awards.”
Jupelli is researching the development of abnormal lung function in adults who had chlamydial infections at birth. She is conducting her research under the direction of biology professor Bernard Arulanandam. When Jupelli graduates, she plans to continue her research on lung physiology and development in the context of infectious diseases. Specifically, she is interested in learning how neonatal pulmonary infections alter lung development and function in adults.
“I am really happy to receive this scholarship,” said Jupelli. “Up until this point, I have worked in the undergraduate biochemistry laboratory to help fund my education. While that has been a valuable experience, this scholarship will allow me to leave my teaching position so I can spend more time in the laboratory and focus on the completion of my degree.”
An Honors College alumnus (B.S. ’05) of UTSA’s undergraduate biology program, Weber is in his fourth year of the biology Ph.D. program. His research focus is the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which causes cholera infections.
“I chose to pursue my Ph.D. at UTSA because of the rapid growth of research on campus, the positive energy displayed by the faculty and the quality of the Ph.D. program in cellular and molecular biology,” said Weber.
Working under the supervision of Klose, Weber is researching how V. cholerae regulates and expresses certain genes leading to the onset of disease. Ultimately, he hopes to design effective treatments for cholera, including pathways that could lead to the development of a vaccine.
UTSA wins $5 million in stimulus funds for new interdisciplinary center
A collaborative team of researchers won a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish the Simulation, Visualization and Real-time Prediction (SiViRT) Center for interdisciplinary computer-based research, education and training. The five-year grant was funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
“The SiViRT Center will offer a platform for engineering, science, statistics, biology and medicine experts from across the university and South Texas to conduct fundamental and collaborative research with realworld applications,” said Efstathios (Stathis) Michaelides, the grant’s principal investigator and professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. “In addition, by offering lectures, scholarships and the opportunity to work on serious research projects, the SiViRT Center will attract students of all levels from those attending high school on up to those pursuing their doctorate degrees.”
Because of its interdisciplinary nature, the SiViRT center will not be housed in one location. Its group of senior and junior researchers will be assigned to one of three teams, each led by a member of the engineering faculty. Those teams include the imaging team led by Sos Agaian, Peter Flawn Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering; the real-time prediction team led by Yusheng Feng, associate professor of mechanical engineering; and the uncertainty quantification team led by Harry Millwater, associate professor of mechanical engineering.
Operationally, the SiViRT Center imaging team will create new theory and efficient methods and procedures to advance the center’s overall imaging capabilities. Simultaneously, the center’s real-time prediction team will establish a framework for realtime control and prediction that can be applied to cancer treatment modeling, surgical control, intelligent unmanned vehicles and other areas. Finally, the uncertainty quantification team will establish a framework to calculate the level of uncertainty of various engineering systems including bone fractures, nanofluid heat transfer systems, structural elements and nanoparticle transport systems.
“Not only will the SiViRT Center enhance the research capabilities of UTSA faculty by encouraging collaboration between our colleges, but it will provide support to the talented students who will become the next generation of researchers and university educators,” said Robert Gracy, vice president for research.
The UTSA SiViRT Center aims to
- Integrate the computer simulation research that UTSA currently conducts in the College of Engineering and College of Sciences
- Provide infrastructure and leadership to develop interdisciplinary programs in computational research and education
- Develop collaborative relations within UTSA, with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and with other regional, national and international institutions
- Attract minority and graduate students to engineering and science careers
- Enhance the diversity of UTSA graduate programs by improving the retention of underrepresented minorities
- Prepare the next generation of engineers and scientists to solve scientific and engineering challenges using computer- based methods, systems and simulations.
Biologists win $940,000 in stimulus funds to advance research
Robert Renthal, professor of biochemistry in the College of Sciences’ Department of Biology, and José Lopez-Ribot, professor of microbiology and a member of the university’s South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, have received a combined $940,000 in stimulus funding from the National Institutes of Health to further their research.
An expert in insect sensory perception, Renthal received UTSA’s first stimulus funding award of $390,000 to study the purpose and function of four parts of an insect pheromone receptor’s structure. Pheromone receptors detect the chemical communication signals insects use to attract a mate, signal danger or identify a food trail. Renthal expects his research to give scientists a better understanding of how to use pheromones to attract beneficial insects or repel harmful insects to protect the nation’s food supply and to control insect-borne diseases.
Renthal has served on the faculty since 1975 and credits the South Texas Technology Management (STTM) Proof of Concept: Roadrunner (POCrr) grant he received in April 2008 with helping him to obtain stimulus funding. The $25,000 STTM grant funded Renthal’s background studies on the insect pheromone receptor, giving him preliminary data to include in his proposal to the NIH.
Lopez-Ribot, a medical mycologist specializing in the fungus Candida albicans, was awarded a $550,000 grant to study biofilms formed by the fungus that causes infections called candidiasis. Candidiasis can be life-threatening for immuno-suppressed patients and is the third most frequent infection in hospitals in the United States and abroad. Biofilms are microbial communities attached to surfaces that help an infection progress by providing microorganisms a safe place from which to invade tissue, start new infection sites and resist treatment efforts. These surfaces can include medical equipment such as catheters and other types of implanted biomaterials.
UTSA receives NSF funding to build visualization wall for
research, education
You’ve seen them on TV on 24 and American Idol, and soon you’ll see one in San Antonio. The College of Engineering is building a sophisticated visualization wall (Vis-Wall), funded by a $482,600, three-year National Science Foundation grant. The Vis-Wall will display computational models developed in UTSA’s new Simulation, Visualization and Real-Time Prediction (SiViRT) Center and by other faculty in the course of research and teaching. The system will enhance engineering and technology-related education and community outreach by faculty.
“A significant part of the research we do in the College of Engineering is based on computational modeling,” said Mauli Agrawal, dean of the college. “In putting together this proposal, we initially found 13 projects that could benefit greatly from having a large-scale visualization system. This grant will give our researchers a place to display their data, test their models and draw conclusions with extreme accuracy.”
Yusheng Feng, associate professor and director of the Computational Bioengineering and Nanomechanics Lab in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, is the principal investigator of the proposal for the Vis-Wall system. Co-principal investigators Ruyan Guo, Harry Millwater, Brent Nowak and Heather Shipley—all faculty members in the College of Engineering—contributed to the proposal.
“Visualization is now so vital to almost all engineering and scientific disciplines that it can greatly enhance our ability to understand physical phenomena by building up digital representations—mathematical and computer models—and displaying complex experimental data in a comprehensible fashion,” Feng said. “In my current area of computational cancer research, this new visualization system will be able to display physical and biological systems from nano- and micro- scale level objects such as nanoparticles and DNA molecules up to meso- and macroscale entities like cells, tissues and tumors, all at the same time.”
Sixteen faculty members in the College of Engineering and College of Sciences are involved and have expressed interest in using the Vis-Wall, which will boast ultra-high resolution and interactivity. Initially, the hardware will be used to simulate cancer treatments using image-guided laser or other thermo therapies and visualize predicted outcomes; investigate an underwater robot’s design and its performance in an interactive graphical environment; and quantify and display complex data sets to test system reliability or chaotic motions involving nano materials.
The 15-foot wide and 4.5-foot tall Vis-Wall comprised of 24 30-inch monitors is one of three hardware components in the system which will include 25 high-end, graphics-enhanced workstations using the Linux operating system and integrated as a cluster to drive the Vis-Wall.
The system will include a multifunctional robotic arm serving as a joystick. The component will provide human-machine interaction emulating touching and control over a position that is sensed as it performs rolling, pitching and yawing motions.
Marketing professor researches time perception
While most people will agree that it feels like time is passing them by, according to marketing professor Rajesh Bhargave, the perception of the passage of time is variable.
Bhargave’s co-authored research in the area of time perception was published recently in the journal Psychological Science and appeared in the New York Times.
“We looked at why events or activities from the past were perceived as more recent or more distant, even when they occurred at around the same time,” said Bhargave, assistant professor of marketing in the College of Business. “Why does the sensation of the passing of time differ?”
According to his research findings, a time interval that is punctuated by a greater number of accessible intervening events related to the target event, or event markers, will make the target event feel more distant.
For instance, the time since a child’s birth is marked regularly by subsequent, related events such as birthdays and child development. So, the child’s birth would feel more distant when these markers are brought to mind. On the other hand, for events with fewer markers, such as the death of a celebrity, the time since the event would have less markers and the event itself would feel more recent.
“Time perception provides a crucial input into consumers’ behavior, and these findings have a direct impact for marketers,” said Bhargave, who received his doctorate from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. “By creating event markers for a triggering incident, such as a gift made to a charity or a visit to a hotel or restaurant, marketers can help determine how consumers perceive the time since the event.”