Research
News for and about the people whose discoveries, inventions, designs and scholarly achievements bring UT Dallas toward its goal of becoming one of the nation’s best public research universities.
Study Links Alzheimer’s Marker to Deficits in Healthy People
Researchers from the Center for Vital Longevity at UT Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center have completed a large-scale neuroimaging study of healthy adults that measured beta-amyloid protein—a substance whose toxic buildup in the brain is a diagnostic marker for Alzheimer’s disease. The findings, published in the February 1, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, mark a crucial step toward being able to predict who may be at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease long before symptoms appear. read more
Training Video Game Designed for Army Wins New Award
For the third time in two years, the First Person Cultural Trainer, a research project from the UT Dallas Arts and Technology program, has won a major national award for serious gaming. FPCT received the Best Game award in the Government Category of the 2011 Serious Games Showcase and Challenge. FPCT is sponsored by U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command G-2 Intelligence Support.
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Book Explores the Adolescent Mind as It Changes
UT Dallas Center for BrainHealth's chief director Dr. Sandi Chapman was part of an interdisciplinary team that wrote and edited a new book, The Adolescent Brain: Learning, Reasoning and Decision Making. read more
Lectures to Offer Developmental Insights on Children’s Health
UT Dallas’ Center for Children and Families welcomes parents and professionals to campus this spring for its fourth annual series of lectures examining different aspects of children’s health and development. The series kicks off on Jan. 27 with a talk by Dr. Noah Sasson of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences on the “Evolving Diagnosis of Autism.” He will discuss how and why the definition of autism has changed over the past several decades.
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BrainHealth Director Recognized for Research Impact
Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, chief director of the UT Dallas Center for BrainHealth, was recently presented with the 2011 Honors of the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders & Sciences. The Academy congratulated Chapman for her “enormous contributions to the area of pediatric traumatic brain injury” and cited her for “an unprecedented impact on its research and clinical work.” The award is the association’s highest honor. read more
Doctoral Student Lauded for Materials Research
UT Dallas doctoral student Muge Acik was recently named a silver award winner at the Materials Research Society’s meeting for excellence in academic achievements and materials research. Acik’s research focuses on the engineering and chemistry of carbon materials, including graphene oxide sheets. It is hoped that new materials can be created to improve electronic devices and energy storage. read more
Wanted: High-Quality Jobs and a Skilled Workforce
As the United States slowly recovers from the Great Recession, it needs to focus on creating not just more jobs but more high-quality jobs and providing workers with the skills necessary to perform those jobs, according to an article in the Winter Issues in Science and Technology. Because too many U.S. workers lack the education and skills required for high-paying jobs, employers often choose to compete based only on low costs rather than on better worker performance, writes Harry Holzer of Georgetown University. read more
Prof's Theory Could Improve Shelf Life of Electronics
Research by UT Dallas engineers could lead to more efficient cooling of electronics, which would pave the way for quieter and longer-lasting computers, cell phones and other devices. Much of modern technology uses silicon as semiconductor material. But research recently published in the journal Nature Materials shows that graphene conducts heat about 20 times faster than silicon. read more
Tiny Quantum Dots Hold Promise in Prof's Research
UT Dallas researchers are making strides in understanding the workings of quantum dots – nanosized particles that have immense potential in several industry applications. Quantum dots could be used in a variety of ways ranging from illuminating the human body in high-tech medical imaging to increasing the efficiency of energy sources. read more
Callier Center’s Bruton Conference to Focus on Grief and Hearing Loss
UT Dallas’ Callier Center for Communication Disorders will host a full-day workshop for area hearing and speech professionals focusing on strategies for helping families deal with grief arising from hearing loss. read more
Symposium to Explore Transition from Neural Health to Alzheimer’s Disease
Changes in the brain that occur during normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease will be the focus of a symposium to be held at the UT Dallas Center for Vital Longevity on Jan. 20. Fragile Minds: Understanding the Transition from Neural Health to Alzheimer’s Disease is a half-day symposium co-sponsored by the UT Dallas Center for Vital Longevity and the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center. read more
Study Seeks Ways to Help Young Diabetics Help Themselves
A National Institutes of Health grant will fund a UT Dallas professor's new study of the factors affecting young people's ability to effectively treat themselves for diabetes. The NIH grant, which totals $2.7 million and runs through 2016, will fund research activities across multiple sites, including UT Southwestern and UT Dallas.
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Profs Earn Award for Article on Employment Issue
Two public affairs professors in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at UT Dallas received an award for their article examining attitudes about employment at will among state human resource managers in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas. The award was presented at the business meeting for the Public Administration Section of the American Political Science Association’s annual conference in Seattle. read more
NSF Grant Funds Search for Ways to Ensure Data Authenticity
Researchers at UT Dallas are part of a $3 million collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation to study ways to ensure the authenticity and confidentiality of data—which can include everything from patient information to financial records. The grant will fund a multi-university investigation that includes researchers from UT San Antonio and Purdue University. read more
Pretrial Release Study Seeks Ways to Curb Jail Costs
A UT Dallas study seeks to find the most efficient, safe and cost-effective ways to handle Dallas County defendants who are released from jail before their cases go to court. Dr. Robert Morris, an assistant professor of criminology in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, will lead the study which will use county data to answer key questions, such as how release practices affect court appearance rates. read more
UT Dallas Professor Presents Findings to UK Security Officials
A UT Dallas professor recently presented her research on biometric security technology to officials of the United Kingdom’s Home Office, which oversees the nation’s anti-terrorism and crime-fighting efforts. Security leaders were particularly interested in how biometrics might be used to protect against terrorism or other types of crime when the Olympics are held in London next year.
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UT Dallas Researchers Help Measure Child Poverty
Nearly 30 percent of children in Dallas County are living in poverty, according to a Children’s Medical Center report compiled by the Institute of Urban Policy Research at UT Dallas. The report, Beyond ABC 2011: Assessing Children’s Health in Dallas County, examines the quality of life of area children. read more
Research Scholar Grants Awarded to 70 Undergrads
Recipients of the 2011 Undergraduate Research Scholar Awards make up the biggest class in the program’s five-year history. In all, 70 students will receive funding for 69 projects that cover a wealth of topics, including facial recognition, online communities, flexible electronics, public investment, energy transfer and social media marketing. This is almost a 50 percent increase from the 46 awards made last year and more than triple the 21 awards made when the program began in 2007. read more
$7 Million in Awards Fund Research to Help Veterans
Revolutionary research by the Center for BrainHealth aims to help vets recover from brain injuries, deal with post-traumatic stress disorder and improve physical mobility. The research team has begun screening service men and women who are interested in participating in the innovative studies. read more
Grants Helping Fund Cancer Research at UT Dallas
UT Dallas researchers in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science have been awarded more than $2.8 million in three grants for cancer research from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. The researchers will collaborate on these three grants with peers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Two of the grants are funding research into ways to characterize and disrupt a specific protein that is associated with aggressive breast cancer. read more
Fair to Showcase Children and Family Research
UT Dallas’ Center for Children and Families invites community members to the Richardson campus on Nov. 3 to learn about research advances and opportunities to participate in ongoing study projects. The center’s second annual Research Fair will showcase the center’s research examining different areas of psychological development from infancy through adulthood.The research showcased at the fair will examine many different areas of psychological development from infancy through adulthood. read more
Breakthrough Holds Promise for Hydrogen’s Use as Fuel Source
Imagine your car running on an abundant, environmentally friendly fuel generated from the surrounding atmosphere. Sounds like science fiction, but UT Dallas researchers recently published a paper in the journal Nature Materials detailing a breakthrough in understanding how such a fuel – in this case, hydrogen – can be stored in metals. read more
Vanishing Act Creates a Stir in the Nanotech World
Dr. Ali Aliev, a research scientist at UT Dallas, and his colleagues recently demonstrated that transparent carbon nanotube sheets, which can have the density of air and the specific strength of steel, can be used to make objects invisible. This invisibility for light oblique to the nanotube sheets is caused by the mirage effect, in which a thermally generated refractive index gradient bends light array from a hidden object. The paper was published in a recent issue of the journal Nanotechnology. read more
Project Studies Role of Soil in Landmine Damage
UT Dallas has joined with four other universities in a research project aimed at pinpointing the effects of soil ejected by buried landmines and improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. These findings could lead to design of armored vehicles and body armor that are better able to withstand such blasts. UT Dallas’ effort is headed by Dr. Hongbing Lu, holder of the Louis Beecherl Jr. Chair in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. read more
Grants Advance BrainHealth Center Alzheimer's Research
Researchers at the Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas will use $475,000 in research funding to study early cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease in hopes of proactively maximizing cognitive potential. “Treatable versus untreatable cognitive decline is one of the greatest public health concerns today,” said Dr. Sandi Chapman, founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth. “Estimates suggest that Alzheimer’s disease will afflict 15 million Americans by mid-century. Our goal is to discover scientifically demonstrated ways to stave off cognitive decline in at-risk aging populations.” read more
Vital Longevity Leadership Nets $4.6 Million in NIH Funding
Drs. Denise Park and Michael Rugg, co-directors of the Center for Vital Longevity at the University of Texas at Dallas, have each been awarded a five-year research grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to further their studies on how aging affects the brain and memory. read more
‘Issues’ Article Urges Bold Action on Natural Disasters
Although natural disasters are becoming more common and more expensive, human and financial losses can be greatly reduced through incentives to purchase insurance and install protective measures, according to an article in the Fall 2011 Issues in Science and Technology. Despite increasing losses from natural disasters in recent years, few property owners in hazard-prone areas have purchased adequate disaster insurance, write authors Howard Kunreuther and Erwann Michel-Kerjan of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. read more
Lectures to Explore Strategies for Living Long and Well
Two UT Dallas public lectures will explore issues surrounding aging and life quality this month. Aging Well: Creating a Vital Life is a collaboration between two UT Dallas centers: the Center for Vital Longevity and the Center for Values in Medicine, Science and Technology. “Science, technology, and medicine give us the knowledge that has allowed us to live longer and longer lives, presenting new medical and social challenges,” said Dr. Matthew J. Brown, director of the Center for Values. read more
Corporate Leaders Urged to Embrace Tech Changes
As smart phones get smarter, connections get faster and technology further redefines our world, corporate executives and board members must replace long-held business models with next-generation strategies designed to leverage emerging and “disruptive” technologies and succeed. This was the message delivered by corporate executives and other experts to C-suite officers and board members at the UT Dallas School of Management for the ninth annual corporate governance conference, held by the school’s Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance’s (IECG) on Sept. 29. read more
New Center to Help Nurture Research Spinoff Companies
Entrepreneur-minded researchers at UT Dallas now have a space where they can further develop technologies that may one day be manufactured or produced. The newly opened Venture Development Center is a dedicated space for spinoff companies that are affiliated with the University. This 8,000-square-foot space will facilitate the launch of UT Dallas enterprises that are founded on technology developed here by students and faculty. read more
Atmospheric Research Team Wins NASA Praise
Rod Heelis and a group of scientists and faculty at UT Dallas have received a Group Achievement Award from NASA for their study of the Earth’s upper atmosphere. The project, the Coupled Ion-Neutral Dynamics Investigation or CINDI, examined the role of ion-neutral interactions within small and large-scale electric fields. read more
Teen in Contest Rides Wild Market to 43% Gain
Looking for some advice on how to make money in a topsy-turvy stock market? Some area high school students who participated in a UT Dallas stock market competition might be able to help. As investors across the globe watched their stock portfolios plummet in recent months, the Wall Street novices celebrated big returns in the Top Performer Stock Competition. The driving idea was to improve high school students’ financial literacy and teach them about financial markets and investing. read more
Criminology Profs Study Perceptions Via NFL Case
A study of how race affects perceptions of justice found that nonwhites believed NFL player Michael Vick was punished too harshly for his role in a high-profile dogfighting case and whites thought his treatment was too lax, three UT Dallas criminologists recently reported. read more
Terrorism Study Questions Immigration Policies
A study of immigration trends and terrorism threats finds that nations could benefit from taking a proactive approach to controlling immigration of non-skilled workers from countries that harbor terrorists. Dr. Todd Sandler, Vibhooti Shukla Professor of Economics and Political Economy in UT Dallas’ School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, said many nations clamped down substantially on the influx of highly trained workers following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Several of the hijackers involved in that event were college-educated, seemingly successful professionals. read more
Awards to Help Undergrads Pursue Research Ideas
The Office of the Vice President for Research has set Oct. 3 as the application deadline for the 2011 Undergraduate Research Scholar Awards, a program that gives undergrads a chance to conduct scientific inquiries on topics of their choosing. The program, now in its fifth year, funded 46 research projects by undergrads last fall. Theawards offer undergraduates an opportunity to interact with faculty at a level usually reserved for graduate students, said Dr. Bruce Gnade, vice president for research. read more
Study Links Mental Health Issues to Youth Violence
Serious mental health issues in childhood may predict future youth violence, according to a UT Dallas study sponsored by a grant from the National Institute of Justice. Criminal justice experts and psychologists have long debated the role that mental health problems play in influencing violent behavior in teens and adults. Dr. Denise Paquette Boots looked at how various mental health problems corresponded with violence among participants in a longitudinal study involving inner-city Chicago residents. read more
NSF Funds Search for New Computer Virus Defense
The battle against computer viruses is nothing less than an arms race, according to UT Dallas computer scientist Kevin Hamlen, but he may have hit on a decisive advantage: What if you could identify the enemy not just by analyzing its appearance but by anticipating its actions? That's the idea behind a five-year, $500,000 project funded by a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation. read more
Research Explores Dynamics of Online Networking
Birds of a feather flock together, in cyberspace. At least that’s what Dr. Cuihua (Cindy) Shen, assistant professor of Emerging Media and Communication, has shown in a research article that explored the social drivers that shaped the collaboration dynamics among a group of users from SourceForge, the largest open source community on the Web. read more
Clark Program Immerses Undergrads in Research
For the 21 students taking part in the Anson L. Clark Summer Research Program at UT Dallas, the last few months have been a whirlwind of research, lab work and theory development. This year’s Clark Scholars included 17 incoming freshmen and four current students. They studied topics ranging from tinnitus treatments to environmental monitoring systems to improving socioeconomic conditions in Colombia. read more
Teen Scientists to Present Research Conducted at UT Dallas
The Science and Engineering Education Center has teamed up with the Plano Public Library System for “Meet a Teen Scientist,” which will feature high school students talking about the research they have conducted this summer in UT Dallas labs.
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Team Triumphs With Clean-Water Technology
A UT Dallas-Texas Christian University student team has won one of the top prizes in an international competition to design a solar-powered water-purification system for use in Third World countries. The International Future Energy Challenge sought to not only enlist undergraduate teams to improve upon current technology but also call attention to the 900 million people worldwide who lack safe drinking water. read more
TI Program Energizes Science and Math Teachers
Eighteen teachers from school districts across North Texas took advantage of a two-week summer enhancement program sponsored by Texas Instruments to improve the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Teachers receive state-required development credits and a stipend for their participation. Three students in the UTeach program at UT Dallas also participated. read more
Prof Says Tech Entering the Age of the Algorithm
Software professionals may soon have a whole new category of colleagues: algorithm developers. That’s the conclusion of a UT Dallas researcher who speculates that as algorithms increasingly become the differentiator in software, algorithm developer jobs and algorithm engineering degrees may not be far behind. read more
Doctoral Student Has a Winning Research Formula
UT Dallas graduate student Prakash Sista ticks off his accomplishments with the same low-key demeanor one might use to describe a morning commute. He is modest about his research work in the Chemistry Department, which includes authoring or co-authoring eight scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals – an impressive feat for anyone, much less a graduate student. read more
NanoTech Director Makes List of Top Researchers
UT Dallas scientist Dr. Ray Baughman has been ranked one of the decade’s top 100 material scientists in a list compiled by Thomson Reuters. Baughman is an expert in the field of nanotechnology, having pioneered the development of fuel-powered artificial muscles based on carbon nanotubes.
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Expert Gauges Psychological Impact of Fatal Ballpark Accident
In the aftermath of Thursday’s tragedy at The Ballpark in Arlington, Dean of Behavioral and Brain Sciences Bert Moore explains why the incident is provoking such a strong emotional response from so many people, and he also offers helpful ways for witnesses to respond positively to address their own grief. read more
Study of Women Execs to Test ‘Glass Ceiling’ Issues
UT Dallas researchers are studying whether a rise in the number of women holding corporate executive jobs has helped improve gender opportunity in all ranks of business. Dr. Sheryl Skaggs will use a $59,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to spend the next year reviewing employment data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Catalyst Foundation, a nonprofit group that tracks gender-equality issues.
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Program Hosts Undergrad Researchers From Mexico
Ten undergraduates from Mexico have worked in UT Dallas labs this summer as part of a program designed to prepare them careers in science and engineering research. UT Dallas Summer Research Program participants lead their own projects under the supervision of mentors in active research environments on campus. They conduct their own data analysis and present their findings at a formal scientific session at the end of the program. read more
Apprenticeships Touted As Viable Career Route
Largely overlooked by policymakers, educators, and the public, apprenticeships offer a promising route for preparing large numbers of students for high-skilled jobs and professions, according to an article in the Summer 2011 Issues in Science and Technology. read more
Magnetic Imaging Researcher’s Work Recognized
Dr. Dean Sherry, professor of chemistry at UT Dallas, has been elected as a Fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Sherry is one of only a handful of scientists chosen by the Society each year to receive the fellowship status. read more
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