In this issue

Research highlights  |  Innovation spotlight  |  New awards  |  Unsung heroes
Faculty kudos  |  Recognition roundup  |  Research development  |  Nuts & bolts

Anthony Fehr (molecular biosciences) and Gibum Kwon (mechanical engineering) were among 400 people chosen as recipients of the 2024 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists & Engineers — the highest honor given by the U.S. government to early-career researchers who show great potential for leading scientific advancements in the 21st century. They are the first two researchers to receive the prestigious award as KU faculty members since 2008. 

When KU students designed and built a shade structure in a Lawrence park in 2019, they did more than fulfill their architecture course requirements. They also helped realize a vision for sustainable university-community partnerships that the city has since replicated in other neighborhoods. Now the project is inspiring a new audience through its inclusion in a special collection of articles about university-community partnerships that center the arts and design. 

Barrett-Gonzalez directs KU’s Adaptive Aerostructures & Aircraft Design Laboratories, which support the design, research, development and flight testing of a variety of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) ranging in speed from hover through hypersonic. The lab has pioneered the world's fastest micro quad-copters, known as QuadRockets, which can reach up to 130 mph. 

Carbon fiber — strands of carbon atoms bonded together in an epoxy matrix — is found in everything from hockey sticks to passenger airliners, but it's difficult to recycle. Berl Oakley, Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology, co-developed a genetically modified fungus that can make the process more financially feasible.

KU philosophy professor John Symons co-authored a paper with KU School of Medicine-Wichita colleagues suggesting that perceptions of benefits, trust, risks, communication barriers, regulation and liability issues influence health care professionals’ intention to use artificial intelligence, regardless of their technological familiarity. 

Jim Bever, Foundation Distinguished Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and senior scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, is studying whether perennial polyculture — planting multiple crops in the same field year-round — can combat pathogens that kill crops. 

Dan Rockhill, J.L. Constant Distinguished Professor of Architecture, developed a way to finance teaching and research in sustainable design practices. Click the link above to watch the video and read the Q&A.

The KU Center for Technology Commercialization is committed to enhancing the innovation experience for KU inventors. To support this goal, we’re pleased to announce the launch of our new Online Invention Disclosure Portal, a tool designed to simplify and accelerate the process for faculty and researchers to submit their innovations directly to KUCTC. 
 
This user-friendly platform allows inventors to easily provide detailed information about their discoveries, making it faster and more convenient to initiate the technology transfer process. While we encourage using the online tool for its efficiency and ease, we will continue accepting PDF disclosure forms for those who prefer traditional methods. 
 
You can find the portal on our website. We invite you to begin using it today, and we look forward to collaborating with you throughout the year as we work together to drive meaningful progress and innovation.

KU researchers are estimating the economic impact of the Kansas health care sector; developing force-sensing insoles for gait monitoring; testing treatments for prostate cancer; evaluating hurricane housing loss-reduction methods, and more — all with the aid of external funding awarded in November and December. 

Behind every successful award are teams of KU research support staff who help investigators identify opportunities, prepare and submit complicated proposals under strict deadlines, help manage finances and compliance for funded projects, and more. They are the unsung heroes of KU research, greasing the wheels of innovation and discovery.

In each issue of KU Discoveries, we shine a spotlight on a research support staff member deemed particularly outstanding by colleagues. Click the button below this month's story to nominate a deserving candidate from any unit on campus.

Brett Bias | Research Development Specialist | Hall Center for the Humanities

International education at KU is made possible both by expert faculty teaching foreign languages in the classroom and research support staff who help secure the resources needed to hire those educators. Brett Bias is one such staff member.

Bias is a research development specialist at the Hall Center for the Humanities, one of KU’s 11 designated research centers. He began his time at the center as a graduate intern in the summer of 2018 before accepting a position in KU’s Office of Research Pre-Award Services unit. In May 2020 Bias returned to the Hall Center.

As a research development specialist, Bias provides support for KU faculty and staff before and after they submit proposals for external research funding. This includes helping review application materials, drafting budgets and managing funds after they have been received.

“He takes pride in his work and gets it done on time — as is critical, since granting agencies have hard deadlines,” said Kathy Porsch, research development officer at the Hall Center.

One especially important funding proposal Bias influenced was KU’s U.S. Department of Education Title VI application. The Title VI National Resource Centers program provides grants to establish and strengthen academic centers throughout the country that teach modern foreign languages, as well as provide instruction about the history and cultures of the regions where the languages are used.

“These applications — which include a 50-page project description as well as complex budget and detailed supporting materials encompassing course enrollments during the previous Title VI cycle, bios for every faculty member affiliated with the center, partnership descriptions and confirmation letters, and much more — are the most complex and intensively compressed applications we deal with,” Porsch said.

“Despite the lingering COVID restrictions that kept us working in our home offices and his lack of experience with this type of grant, he was able to help the two centers win the National Resources Center (NRC) and Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) grants that are critical to their missions in that cycle.”

Bias was specifically involved with the Title VI applications for the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies (CLACS) and the Kansas African Studies Center (KASC), which both help educate the next generation of Jayhawks about these parts of the world.

“The 2022-26 NRC grant provides $227,000 per year for teaching Latin American & Caribbean courses, faculty and administrative travel at home and abroad, outreach programs to KU and the public at large, organizing and hosting international conferences, and supporting the library collections.  The FLAS provides $260,000 per year in student fellowships for the learning of Less Commonly Taught Languages,” said Brent Metz, CLACS director and professor of anthropology. “Brett contributed critical editing for CLACS’s NRC and FLAS grant applications.”

“Brett was incredibly helpful, particularly in ensuring that the grant outline was well-organized,” said Doreen Siilo, KASC education program coordinator. “He was very attentive to our concerns and provided thorough answers to our questions.”

Sudip Parikh, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and executive publisher of the Science family of journals, will visit KU’s Lawrence campus on Wednesday, March 26. All faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and academic leaders are invited to attend his talk at 10 a.m. in the Burge Union, Forum C.  

Parikh will provide an early glimpse of the science and technology goals identified by the Vision for American Science & Technology Task Force, which he chairs. The group of more than 60 of the nation’s most influential leaders in science, industry, education and philanthropy includes KU Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara Bichelmeyer. The task force recently completed a roadmap guiding the science and technology enterprise to support America’s leadership on an increasingly competitive world stage. The plan will be presented to the incoming administration and Congress in February. 

The AAAS leader also will discuss his organization’s work to achieve four strategic goals: advance scientific excellence and achievement, foster equity and inclusion for scientific excellence, build trust among scientists and communities, and catalyze progress where science meets policy.   

If you plan to attend Parikh’s talk, please RSVP online to assist in planning. For more information, contact Robin Lehman.   

INTERNAL FUNDING

The New Faculty Research Development Awards awards are designed to help new faculty accelerate their scholarship and start building a sustainable research program soon after their arrival on campus. 
 
Congratulations to the Fall 2024 recipients:

Amount: $10K | Next deadline: Feb. 21 (notice of intent); March 1 (full proposal)

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Science Collective webinar series was established in 2023 by MRIGlobal to serve the scientific community by facilitating the sharing of great science. In collaboration with the University of Kansas and Kansas State University, the platform aims to create collaborative “collisions” between entrepreneurs, researchers, academics and others from across the Midwest and beyond, sharing work and seeking partnerships and opportunities.

The featured speaker for the Jan. 31 webinar at noon is Dr. Mary Markiewicz, associate professor microbiology, molecular genetics, and immunology at the KU Medical Center and member of The University of Kansas Cancer Center’s cancer biology research program. Her laboratory is focused on determining the role of the NK cell activating receptor NKG2D and its ligands in various types of immunity, with a particular interest on the function of this receptor-ligand system in CD8+ T cell responses.

Learn more and register via Teams

RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION

The IRS increased the standard mileage reimbursement rate to 70 cents per mile for travel that occurs on or after Jan. 1, 2025.  The Office of Research follows the IRS standard mileage reimbursement rate for KU Center for Research (KUCR) funds unless otherwise directed by the sponsoring agency. 
 
Visit the Office of Research Travel webpage for details, forms and policies.  

RESEARCH INTEGRITY

Final Fridays resumes in January with the launch of a “Back to Basics” series, and the Human Research Protection Program is offering a completion certificate for anyone who attends all 5 monthly sessions.

Researchers commonly ask, “Do I need IRB approval?” The answer is not always simple and depends on many factors. The “Back to Basics” series will cover the foundation of human subjects protections, why IRBs exists, differences between federal regulations and KU policy, and basic requirements for IRB approval.

IRB: Back to Basics Part 1
Friday, Jan. 31
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Register on Zoom

The Belmont Report, which is a set of ethical principles for research involving human subjects — Respect for Persons, Beneficence, Justice — is the foundation of the regulations designed to protect of human subjects. This series will consider each principle, reviewing the regulations and requirements in place to ensure the principle is followed.

Researchers who are new to human subjects research would benefit from this in-depth review of human subjects protections. This series could also benefit seasoned researchers due to continuing changes and updates to federal and institutional requirements. The series will run through May.

Questions? Comments? Content suggestions?
Mindie Paget  |  Office of Research  |  mpaget@ku.edu

KU Office of Research
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