UGA Faculty, Graduate Students Honored For Research Achievement

Exceptional faculty and graduate students were honored March 31 at the University of Georgia’s 25th Annual Research Awards Banquet. Sponsored by the non-profit University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc., the event also celebrated the research foundation’s quarter century of service to UGA.


 CREATIVE RESEARCH AWARDS

The Creative Research Awards are presented to UGA faculty who have achieved national and international recognition for outstanding scholarly or creative work. This year Steven R.H. Beach received the William A. Owens Award for research in the social and behavioral sciences and David J. Benson received the Lamar Dodd Award for research in the sciences. The Albert Christ-Janer Award for the humanities was not awarded.

Steven R.H. Beach, director of the Institute for Behavioral Research and psychology professor, studies the relationship between marital discord and depression. Beach has shown that marital relationships can play a role in recovery from depression and his research highlights how marriage can help preserve physical and mental health. He has written two books based on his research, Depression in Marriage and Marital and Family Processes in Depression. Beach also studies physical aggression, defensiveness and forgiveness in relation to marriage and the family. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and has received more than $1.8 million in research funding.

David J. Benson, Distinguished Research Professor of Mathematics, has made important contributions to basic mathematical research. In addition to investigating representation theory and algebraic topology, Benson studies cohomology of finite groups – a branch of algebra that has applications in chemistry and physics. Among the four books he has published related to his research, Benson’s two-volume series on representations and cohomology has become a standard reference tool. Benson, who is currently working on a book about music and mathematics, was awarded the London Mathematical Society’s Junior Whitehead Prize in 1993 and a UGA Creative Research Medal in 1998.

INVENTOR’S AWARD

One award is presented annually to an inventor who has made a unique and innovative discovery that has had a beneficial impact on the community.

Richard B. Meagher, a genetics professor, received the Inventor’s Award for his contributions to molecular biology and to the field of phytoremediation – the use of plants to clean up the environment. Meagher developed the first genetically engineered plants to remove mercury from contaminated soil by inserting mercury detoxifying genes, merA and merB, into a plant’s genome. He conducted the first field test of trees containing these genes at a mercury-contaminated site in Danbury, Conn., where a hat factory once stood. Meagher co-founded three biotechnology companies, two of which apply his phytoremediation technology. His work has garnered numerous awards including UGA’s Creative Research Medal in 1987 and the Lamar Dodd Award in 2001. Meagher’s phytoremediation work will be included in a 2004 National Geographic special on the environment.

CREATIVE RESEARCH MEDALS

Creative Research Medals are given to faculty for outstanding research or creative activities on a single theme while at UGA. This year’s recipients are Gary A. Dudley, Uwe Happek, Dino J. Lorenzini, Robert J. Maier and William H. Quinn.

Dudley, Distinguished Research Professor and director of UGA’s muscle biology laboratory, has found that the high rates of diabetes, heart disease and obesity that often plague individuals with spinal cord injuries may be related to a loss of skeletal muscle mass. His studies show that electrical stimulation can restore inactive muscles to pre-injury size. Dudley is currently examining whether electrical stimulation to restore these muscles can improve overall health and reverse diabetes in both spinal cord-injured patients and able-bodied individuals. Dudley works closely with the nation’s largest hospital for spinal cord injuries, the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.

Happek, a physics professor, conducts research on condensed matter, an area of physics that investigates materials and their properties. Happek studies the light-emitting properties of phosphors, which are materials widely used in fluorescent lighting, TV screens and medical imaging equipment. Phosphors, made of a “host” material interspersed with rare earth or transition metal ions, emit visible light following exposure to UV light. Happek has developed two new methods to measure energy levels of rare earth ions and host materials. Such information may contribute to developing better phosphors. Happek collaborates with researchers in the United States, Europe and Asia and has working ties with industry.

Lorenzini, a mathematics professor, is a leader in the field of arithmetic geometry, the study of polynomial equations and their solutions. His research involves equations that can elucidate the structure of curves and related objects. In collaboration with Professor Siegfried Bosch of the Universität Müenster, Lorenzini found a relationship between the model of a curve and an associated geometric object. His research also has provided insight into Thue equations –polynomial equations whose solutions have been sought by mathematicians for almost a century. Lorenzini published two papers in the prestigious mathematics journal, Inventiones Mathematicae, in the same year.

Maier, GRA-Ramsey Eminent Scholar in Microbial Physiology, studies hydrogenases, which are enzymes that play a role in bacterial energy metabolism. Maier has shown that a stomach-inhabiting bacterium possesses a specific hydrogenase that enables it to use hydrogen as an energy source. The bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, is common in the human stomach and is linked to peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. This is the first demonstration of the role of hydrogen gas in disease-causing organisms. The hydrogenase does not occur in humans and could be a target for future drug development. Ongoing work may link hydrogen gas with other pathogenic bacteria, such as those associated with liver cancer, typhoid fever and food poisoning.

Quinn, a child and family development professor, directs the Family Solutions Program. The non-profit organization draws on UGA research findings to help juvenile first-offenders choose a different life path. Of the 750 program graduates, only 24 percent have been charged a second time compared with 59 percent of a control group who did not participate. The UGA-developed program is currently in use in Georgia, Illinois, Kansas and Texas, among other states and is effective for males, females, blacks, whites and pre-teens through older teens. Quinn and several colleagues received a multimillion-dollar grant from the CDC to implement this and other programs to reduce middle school violence. He has presented his work at numerous meetings and in several book chapters and journal articles.

DISTINGUISHED RESEARCH PROFESSORS

This designation is awarded to professors whose work is nationally and internationally recognized as being of the highest caliber. The five faculty honored this year are Casimir C. Akoh, Valery Alexeev, Francis B. Assaf, Gary D. Grossman and Randy W. Kamphaus.

Akoh, a food science and technology professor, creates structured lipids, such as low-calorie fats, by breaking apart plant and animal fatty acid chains and recombining them into simpler, more nutritious fat substitutes. His work contributed to Olean, the fat substitute used in some potato chips. Akoh is currently expanding his research to develop infant formulas, snack foods, salad dressings and margarines. He has published more than 120 peer-reviewed articles including a popular 2002 review article on structured lipids. Akoh has secured three patents and more than $2.7 million in research funding and has received numerous awards including a UGA Creative Research Medal in 1999 and the Future Leader Award from the International Life Sciences Institute for 1996-97. In May, he will receive the American Oil Chemists’ Society Stephen S. Chang Award.

Alexeev, a mathematics professor, focuses on issues in algebraic geometry. Alexeev published an extensive, 97-page work in the Annals of Mathematics in 2002 that covered a new branch of research in algebraic geometry. He shares his mathematical expertise with the community by helping to organize high school math competitions and preparing high school students for the
American Regional Mathematics League. He has been awarded the Sloan Foundation fellowship and a 2002 UGA Creative Research Medal. Alexeev collaborates with leading mathematicians, such as Shigefumi Mori, a Fields Medalist, and has been called “a brilliant and original mathematician.”

Assaf, a French professor, studies the literature and culture of 17th and 18th century France and has written extensively on the intellectual environment of the early 18th century. He has published two books on King Louis XIV, La Mort du roi: une thanatographie de Louis XIV and more recently, 1715: Le Soleil s’éteint. In an earlier book, Lesage et le picaresque, Assaf investigated the work of a French novelist, Alain-René Lesage, whose writings influenced modern realistic fiction. Assaf founded SE17, an international society to further studies of 17th century France. He was awarded the title Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French government in 2001.

Grossman, an animal ecology professor, studies the effects of species interactions and the environment on freshwater fish community structure and resource use. Grossman conducts his long-term research in Coweeta Creek, N.C., where his observations help detect the impact of global climate change on fish communities. He has developed models that predict fish habitat selection and has contributed to understanding the role of competition in community structure. Recent research includes studies of invasive freshwater fish and population analyses using molecular genetics. Grossman’s combination of basic and applied research may yield information that benefits stream management.

Kamphaus, professor and head of the department of educational psychology, has developed a student assessment tool, called the Behavior Assessment System for Children, that evaluates behavior based on a range of characteristics. The system helps teachers group children into seven distinct types of behavioral adjustment ranging from well adapted to disruptive. One of the world’s most recommended evaluation systems, the assessment system helps educators determine the needs of individual students. Currently, Kamphaus is using the system to assess 5,000 children in a CDC-funded study of middle school violence. Kamphaus has written or edited nine books including the Clinical Assessment of Children’s Intelligence, a popular text used by top universities.

ROBERT C. ANDERSON MEMORIAL AWARDS

This award is given to a recent graduate who exhibits outstanding research while at UGA and immediately thereafter. It is named for the late Robert C. Anderson, UGA’s former vice president for research and former president of the University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc. This year’s award was given to two recent graduates: Iris A. Junglas and Weiwei Zhong.

Junglas, a recent graduate in management information systems, explores “ultimate commerce” or u-commerce. This emerging way of doing business may someday enable people and businesses to interact “anytime, anywhere” about “anything” via mobile devices. U-commerce would also provide information about a user’s identity, geographical position and preferences.
Junglas established an experimental wireless network on campus and developed software to track an individual’s location using mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants. Her work has been featured in The New York Times and International Herald Tribune.

Zhong, a recent doctoral graduate in cellular biology, studies proteins that regulate cell cycles. Using the nematode C. elegans, Zhong discovered that the proteins CUL-2 and CUL-4 regulate key processes in cell division, including S phase when DNA is synthesized. CUL-2 facilitates the beginning of S phase and ensures equal distribution of DNA between two daughter cells upon cell division; CUL-4 prevents over-replication of DNA in S phase. Zhong’s work has applications in basic cell cycle studies as well as in cancer research.

JAMES L. CARMON AWARD

This award is named for the late UGA faculty member James L. Carmon who was a leader in computer research and development. Eric R. Rochester and Qin Zhang were presented with the James L. Carmon Award for their novel use of computers.

Rochester, a doctoral candidate in English, works in the field of computational lexicography, or dictionary writing, and has developed a computer program called “Schwa.” The program stores and formats massive amounts of pronunciation data to meet specific dictionaries’ requirements, a capability that surpasses that of the Oxford English Dictionary. Rochester also has reconstructed the Linguistic Atlas Web site, which houses dialect data acquired by interviewing people from across the United States.

Zhang, a doctoral candidate in physics, is developing a “virtual nano-lab” to study tiny clusters of atoms called nanoparticles. Zhang already has used his virtual lab to investigate metal-carbide nanocrystals, microscopic complexes of metal and carbon with potential applications that range from sensitive chemical detectors to superior heat-resistant materials. Once refined, a simpler form of his virtual lab will be available for undergraduate physics courses.

GRADUATE STUDENT EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AWARDS

These awards are presented to graduate students who have exhibited exceptional scholarship in humanities and letters, professional and applied studies, fine arts, life sciences, and mathematical and physical sciences. This year’s recipients are Rebecca L. Childs, Ajit M. Menon, Cynthia A. Payne and Kathryn P. Sutherland. The award for mathematical and physical sciences was not given this year.

Childs, a doctoral candidate in linguistics, examines the vowel pronunciation of African Americans in Texana, N.C. Her work has shown that Texanans often rotate their vowels, a characteristic associated with the whites who inhabit the Smoky Mountains. With a grant she obtained on behalf of the community, Childs also is compiling and preserving Texana’s oral histories.

Menon, a doctoral candidate in the College of Pharmacy, studies ways to improve patients’ access to medication information. He is examining the effectiveness of marketing pharmaceuticals directly to consumers through television, print and Internet ads. His research shows that consumers often ignore the fine-print information regarding a drug’s side effects. This finding could lead to stricter advertising guidelines.

Payne, a recent doctoral graduate in art history, studied a High-Renaissance mosaic in a small chapel of a church in Rome, Italy. Associated with the early Christian period’s True Cross veneration, the Spanish-sponsored mosaic uses an antiquarian medium to express contemporary ideas. Payne’s research suggests that Queen Isabel was the rightful heir of the first Christian emperor and the prophesied leader who would trigger the events described in Revelations.

Sutherland, a recent doctoral graduate in marine sciences, has identified the disease agent responsible for the decimation of corals in the waters surrounding Florida and the Caribbean. She found that the source of white pox disease is Serratia marcescens, a common strain of human fecal coliform bacteria. The discovery has prompted Florida officials to raise more than $100 million to improve wastewater treatment.

For more information, visit the Web site www.ovpr.uga.edu/creativeresearch/index.html.

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

WRITER:  Sara Drake, (706) 583-0599, rcomm@ovpr.uga.edu
CONTACT: Judy Purdy, (706) 583-0599, jbp@ovpr.uga.edu