August 2016

Associate professor Alejandro L. Briseño, polymer science and engineering, has been selected to receive the 2017 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award by the American Chemical Society (ACS), an honor that recognizes and encourages “excellence in organic chemistry.”

Dong Wang and Li-Jun Ma, M2M and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, were recognized for their research at the 17th International Congress of the International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions held July 17-21 in Portland, Ore. Wang received the inaugural MPMI Young Investigator Award and Ma presented a plenary talk at the meeting.

John M. Clark, M2M and Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, says a new study that finds the majority of head lice in the U.S. are now resistant to more over-the-counter treatments, confirms what scientists have observed in recent years. “What it is telling us is that, right now, these over-the-counter products aren’t nearly as effective as they used to be,” he says. This is because the lice have developed mutations to fight off the treatments.

Catrine Tudor-Lock, kinesiology, says the use of pedometers to measure how many steps a person takes each day is a good idea. “I think everyone should wear one,” she says. “They build awareness and help people understand their behavior.” Tudor-Locke also says wearable devices that measure physical activity have been proven to help people be more active.

In June, last year, Anika Therapeutics entered into an agreement with the Institute for Applied Life Sciences to collaborate on research to develop a therapy for rheumatoid arthritis that could begin to move towards commercialization as early as 2017.

A columnist from the Huffington Post writes about why small business owners need to get enough sleep cites research conducted by Rebecca Spencer, psychological and brain sciences, that shows that sleep enables the human brain to integrate learned information. Research shows this process helps in decision making.

Rebecca Spencer, psychological and brain sciences, and Barbara Z. Pearson, linguistics and Office of Research Development, write about the STEM family travel initiative (SFTI) at UMass Amherst that helps faculty parents travel and attend career-building events such as conferences.