Spring 2005/06
Computer science professor reviews proposals to the NIH
March 1, 2006: Bruce MacLeod, associate professor of computer science, has been invited to review proposals at the National Institute of Health Conference in Washington, DC in March, 2006 under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The SBIR is a set-aside program for domestic small business concerns to engage in Research/Research and Development R/R&D) that has the potential for commercialization.
Dr. MacLeod has been instrumental in developing the HRS (Household Registration System) software system that allows health researchers and demographers to construct data monitoring systems for longitudinal studies of populations. His research has included intensive work with overseas organizations including the British Medical Research Council, the Farafenni research site in Gambia, and the Hanoi School of Public Health in Vietnam. The latest overseas site that Dr. MacLeod has been working with is the School of Public Health at the University of Kampala, Uganda.
Having developed an international reputation in the field, Dr. MacLeod's work includes projects involving computer science research and development, contributing to important health research problems in the developing world. He primarily reviews proposals that cross the boundaries between computer science and health, and has done this for the NIH several times for the past two years.
News from Wise Laboratory of Environmental and Genetic Toxicology:
In September, 2005, Dr. John Wise traveled to Patagonia on the Atlantic coast of southern Argentina to meet colleagues from Ocean Alliance, who are conducting a long-term study of the Southern Right Whale. The Southern population of Right Whales is much larger and enjoying greater reproductive success than the Northern Right Whales, which are considered endangered because of environmental hazards that include entanglement in fishing gear.
Dr. Wise consulted with colleagues from several international whale advocacy groups and carried supplies for the field station to use in collecting tissue samples from whales. He was able to visit the whales by boat as they nursed their young and witness the harmless collection of biopsies from the whales. This resulted in valuable samples of whale skin and blubber returning to the Wise Laboratory at USM, where they are cultured to develop a resource of cells for testing, and where they can be evaluated for the presence of a number of environmental pollutants.
Patagonia is a wild and remote place where a diversity of wildlife is protected and appreciated. Large populations of Elephant Seals, Southern Right Whales, penguins and sea birds populate the area. Dr. Wise hopes that these connections will continue to be useful to his program and that he will be able to make another trip. Visit the Wise Laboratory on the Web.
Advanced Seminar Series in Biomedical Science
This week's Advanced Seminar in Biomedical Science (AMS 691) is Thursday, 1/26/06 at 2:00 PM in Rm 7 in the Science Building on the Portland campus. The speaker will be Joseph Lynch, Doctoral Student in Wise Laboratory. The title of her his will be “Soluble Depleted Uranium Induced Neoplastic Transformation of Human Lung Epithelial Cells” For more information about this seminar, or about the series, contact Deborah Schock in the the Department of Applied Medical Sciences, 207-780-8250 or dschock@usm.maine.edu.
NEWSFLASH! Mechanical Engineering at USM
Jan 23, 2006: The University of Maine System Board of Trustees has approved the new USM Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree program. Students currently enrolled and who are interested in the new program may change majors to Mechanical Engineering immediately. Applications for admission into the new program for the Fall 2006 semester are being accepted. More information...
Back to Top |
