Front Page News at Indiana University

Front Page News at Indiana University

Dogs, maybe not, but old genes can learn new tricks -- A popular view among evolutionary biologists that fundamental genes do not acquire new functions was challenged this week by a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Indiana University Bloomington biologist Armin Moczek and research associate Debra Rose report that two ancient genes were "co-opted" to help build a new trait in beetles -- the fancy antlers that give horned beetles their name. The genes, Distal-less and homothorax, touch most aspects of insect larval development, and have therefore been considered off-limits to the evolution of new traits. Read the complete story.

Komen Continues Grant Funding To Tissue Bank At IU Simon Cancer Center -- Researchers with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center will continue their unique work thanks to a second $1 million grant from the Komen organization. Susan G. Komen for the Cure awarded this grant, enabling researchers to continue to collect and share healthy breast tissue samples with researchers worldwide to better understand how breast cells turn cancerous. Komen for the Cure provided an initial $1 million research grant to help start the tissue bank about one year ago. The tissue bank -- the nation's first and only healthy breast tissue bank - currently has tissue from more than 450 women and blood samples from more than 4,500. Read the complete story.

IU Bloomington faculty member named National Humanities Center Fellow -- John Hanson, an associate professor in the Indiana University Bloomington Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a National Humanities Center Fellow for the 2009-10 academic year. Hanson will use the fellowship to complete a book, tentatively titled Islam, Schooling and the Public Sphere: The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Ghana, West Africa. Hanson's research examines how the Ahmadiyya Muslim movement has been an important force for education and progress in Western Africa, particularly in Ghana. Read the complete story.

It's English, but how do children perceive all those foreign accents? -- With one in five people in the U.S. speaking a language other than English when they are at home, Tessa Bent's research into how children perceive so many different varieties of foreign-accented English has never been more timely. Recognizing the importance of understanding how children may or may not overcome foreign-accented speech variables, the National Institutes of Health has made Bent, an assistant professor in the Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, one of the first IU faculty members to receive grant funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Read the complete story.

IU researcher receives federal grant for postpartum depression study -- Heather Rupp, assistant scientist at The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, has received a $423,500 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to study the mechanisms behind postpartum depression, a condition that can interfere with a new mother's ability to care for her baby. The birth of a child for many couples and families is a time of celebration. Yet, 10-15 percent of new mothers are overwhelmed with negative emotions and anxiety and may have trouble sleeping or lose their appetite for an extended period of time. Read the complete story.

International study shows that herpes drug does not reduce HIV transmission -- An international multi-center clinical trial has found that acyclovir, a drug widely used to safely and effectively suppress herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), the most common cause of genital herpes, does not reduce the risk of HIV transmission when taken by people affected by both HSV-2 and HIV. Five preliminary studies had showed that it is possible to decrease the amount of HIV in the blood and genital tract when patients are treated with acyclovir for HSV-2, but these studies did not measure whether this meant that acyclovir reduced transmission of HIV. Researchers conducted the trial to find out if the drug would reduce the likelihood of HIV being transmitted from a person infected with both HIV and HSV2 during sexual intercourse. Read the complete story.

New IU report: Life sciences accounted for nearly a fourth of new Indiana jobs this decade -- During a period when auto industry employment in Indiana and elsewhere has been in decline, the Hoosier state's life sciences firms have accounted for nearly a quarter of the jobs created during this decade. Total payroll employment in Indiana increased by 33,000 between 2001 and 2007 -- or 0.2 percent average annual growth -- while life sciences expanded by 7,600 well-paying jobs -- representing 23 percent of Indiana's total growth during the period. That's one finding in a new 28-page report, "Indiana's Life Sciences Industries," prepared by the Indiana Business Research Center of Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. The benchmark study was commissioned by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. Read the complete story.

Riley Hospital - IU study finds booster car seats not being used appropriately -- While child booster car seat use has increased across the United States, many seats are improperly installed, leading to increae risk of serious injury for their little passengers. Researchers from the Automotive Safety Program at Riley Hospital for Children and Indiana University School of Medicine have found that an alarming two-thirds of the booster seats observed in a study conducted throughout Indiana were not being used appropriately. The analysis of the survey of 564 children in booster seats, conducted at 25 fast food restaurants and discount stores appears in the May 2009 issue of the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention. Read the complete story.

IU Kelley School's executive education programs ranked 11th nationally by 'Financial Times' -- Indiana University's Kelley School of Business remains one of the top-rated executive education providers worldwide, as ranked by The Financial Times May 11 in its annual survey of international non-degree programs. Of the 65 business schools ranked worldwide -- including 43 schools from outside the United States -- the Kelley School was ranked fourth among U.S. public institutions, 11th nationally and 26th overall. Read the complete story.

Top neuroscientists receive awards from IU's Gill Center -- Neuroscientists from the University of Texas at Austin and the California Institute of Technology will be honored at the annual Gill Symposium of the Linda and Jack Gill Center for Biomolecular Science at Indiana University Bloomington next week. Daniel Johnston, Karl Folkers Chair in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research and director of the Center for Learning and Memory and Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Texas, will receive the 2009 Gill Award. Linda Hsieh-Wilson, associate professor of chemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at the California Institute of Technology, will receive the 2009 Gill Young Investigator Award. These awards recognize exceptional scientists who have emerged as international leaders in cellular, membrane or molecular neuroscience. Read the complete story.

IU receives NIH grant to study HIV risk, prevention among bisexual men -- The Center for Sexual Health Promotion in Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation has received a $425,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health for a study designed to begin filling important gaps in HIV research involving bisexual men. The study will specifically involve bisexually active men in Indianapolis, taking special care to include participants of diverse ages, ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses. Read the complete story.

Luzar appointed Founding Dean of the IUPUI Honors College -- Dr. E. Jane Luzar has been appointed as the founding dean of the IUPUI Honors College, subject to approval by the Board of Trustees, announced Chancellor Charles R. Bantz. Her term as dean starts July 1, 2009. "As the founding dean of Honors College, Jane Luzar will build on IUPUI's success in recruiting talented students," Bantz said. "By expanding our Honors Program, Dean Luzar will launch an honors College that recruits even more talented students, facilitates greater student faculty-interaction, offers the best possible urban research experience, and stimulates the greatest possible success of our students." Read the complete story.

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Indiana University Bloomington Scoreboard

Results from Friday, May 8:
Men's and Women's Track: The Hoosiers closed out the non-championship season with a bang, getting national-level performances out of several athletes despite a two-hour lightning delay. Read the meet notes.

Results from Saturday, May 9:
Softball: The Hoosiers lost both canes of a doubleheader on Saturday against Purdue. Read the first game notes. Read the second game notes.
Baseball: The Indiana baseball team got outstanding pitching and timely hitting to sweep both ends of a doubleheader from Northwestern on Saturday, 3-2 and 5-2. Read the game notes.

Results from Sunday, May 10:
Baseball: The IU baseball team took a 11-2 win over Northwestern on Sunday. IU finished off the series sweep of the Wildcats to improve to 25-24 overall and 14-6 in Big Ten action. Read the game notes.

Results from Tuesday, May 12:
Baseball: Indiana hit four home runs but it was late-inning heroics and the pitching of Matt Igel that lifted the Hoosier baseball team to a 10-8 victory over Evansville in 10 innings on Tuesday. Read the game notes.

Schedule for Thursday, May 14:
Baseball: Michigan State, 3 p.m., Bloomington

Schedule for Friday, May 15:
Baseball: Michigan State, 3 p.m., Bloomington
Men's and Women's Track: Big Ten Championships, Columbus, Ohio
Women's Tennis: NCAA Championship, College Station, Texas

Schedule for Saturday, May 16:
Baseball: Michigan State, 1 p.m., Bloomington
Women's Rowing: Aramark NCAA South/Central Region Sprints, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Men's and Women's Track: Big Ten Championships, Columbus, Ohio

Schedule for Sunday, May 17:
Women's Rowing: Aramark NCAA South/Central Region Sprints, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Men's and Women's Track: Big Ten Championships, Columbus, Ohio

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IU in the news

Looking at new research on skin cancer
News-Sentinel, May 11 -- Overall, skin is the largest organ of the body, and cancer of the skin is the most common cancer, accounting for more than 50 percent of all cancers, according to the American Cancer Society. Yet melanoma, the deadliest of skin cancers, accounts for less than 5 percent of skin cancers. Dr. Lawrence Mark, assistant professor of dermatology at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, explains how melanoma happens this way: UV light breaks down DNA in cells; sometimes those changes to the building blocks of the DNA don't get repaired completely and cause mutations in the DNA. Full story.

How Kevin Bacon sparked a new branch of science
BBC News, May 5 -- The thought that all 6.9 billion people on the planet could be closely connected to one another through their network of friends has a long-held fascination. For decades, scientists have tried to prove that the world is made up of social networks that are ultimately interconnected. Professor Alex Vespignani, of Indiana University, says network theory is having a huge impact on predicting how swine flu will spread. His work is being used by the European Community and authorities in the US. How people go from one place to another - what he calls mobility networks - is at the heart of his predictions, and involve long-range journeys (such as by plane), short-range commutes, and how we move around small spaces like the workplace or the home. "We can identify the pathways along which the disease will spread and therefore the next places to observe the cases." Full story.

Baby sleep deaths on the rise, county officials say
Indianapolis Star, May 13 -- Marion County is seeing more infants die each year because of unsafe sleeping practices. From July 2007 to July 2008, 19 Indianapolis infants died while sleeping in an adult's bed, on a couch or in a cluttered crib. So far this year, there have been 16 of these preventable deaths, said Dr. Frank Lloyd Jr., Marion County coroner. "This is the highest we've ever seen," said Hibbard, a professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. "These children did not have to die." "Babies sleep safest alone, face up in their own beds, not in your bed, but in your room," Hibbard said. "It's better to have a crying baby than one who never cries again." Full story.

3 generations to graduate same day
Chicago Tribune, May 10 -- One southern Indiana family will be cheering three times at Indiana University Southeast's commencement when a mother, daughter and granddaughter claim their diplomas on the same day. Seventy-one-year-old Loretta Rife, her 41-year-old daughter Trezenda Moran and Moran's 21-year-old daughter Kristi Goodwin will graduate Monday along with more than 1,000 others during the commencement on the New Albany campus. School spokeswoman Erica Walsh said the school has had other families with three generations who have attended and graduated, but not in the same year. "As far as we know this is the first," she said. Full story.

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