News

MSI PI Michael McAlpine (associate professor, Mechanical Engineering) is the lead researcher on a recent project to use 3D printing technology to create artificial models of organs. These models can be used by surgeons to plan and practice for surgery. The paper can be read on the website of the journal Advanced Materials Technologies: 3D Printed Organ Models With Physical Properties of Tissue and Integrated Sensors.

Several MSI users are participating in a multidisciplinary project to create maps that show key traits in plants, such as leaf nitrogen concentration, leaf phosphorus concentration, and specific leaf area. The high-resolution maps show a great deal of local variability in plant traits. This information will be extremely useful as input to algorithms that are used to model carbon cycles.

MSI PI Bill Arnold (Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering) was interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) recently about a study that discovered that antibiotics can be found in the sediment in Minnesota lakes. Researchers tested sediment in Lake Pepin, Lake Winona, and Duluth harbor, and found that the sediment contained several different antibiotics. All of the test sites receive water from wastewater treatment plants. These results have implications for researchers fighting antibiotic resistance in microbes.

In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers have found that plant respiration causes more carbon emissions than was previously thought. As the climate warms, this could reduce the ability of the earth’s surface to absorb carbon emissions from fossil fuels.

Five MSI PIs have been named as 2017 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows. Two of the PIs are have been recognized by the AAAS Section of Engineering and three by the Section of Biology: Section of Biology: David A. Bernlohr (Head, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics)

MSI PI Laura Gagliardi (Chemistry) is part of a new National Nuclear Security Administration Actinide Center of Excellence. The Center, which is led by the University of Notre Dame and includes scientists from several universities including the University of Minnesota, will conduct research supporting nuclear weapons security and operations.

Air pollution in urban environments causes many premature deaths each year, and that number will grow as urban populations increase. MSI PI Anu Ramaswamy (Humphrey School of Public Affairs) led an international research team that recently published a study showing that using the heat generated from industrial processes for heating and cooling other buildings in a city. This re-use would result in fewer pollutants being generated by cities.

The second phase of the Grand Challenges Awards, part of the University’s Driving Tomorrow strategic plan, have been awarded, and several MSI PIs are among the faculty members leading projects. The interdisciplinary projects funded this year focus on two categories of the Grand Challenges Research initiative, “Fostering Just and Equitable Communities” and “Assuring Clean Water and Sustainable Ecosystems.” Two projects address the intersection of those categories.

MSI PI Jakub Tolar, a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, has been named the new Dean of the Medical School. Professor Tolar begins his new responsibilities this week; the official appointment is subject to Board of Regents approval. The announcement appears on the Medical School website: Dr. Jakub Tolar Named Dean of the UMN Medical School.