$4.8 million NIH grant to fund IUSM research on drug abuse and juvenile justice

Youth who enter the juvenile justice system are at a high risk of becoming drug users, according to a researcher at Indiana University School of Medicine. That researcher, Matt Aalsma, a professor of pediatrics at the IU School of Medicine, wants to change that dangerous course for at-risk offenders.

Aalsma has received a nearly $4.8 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to study justice-involved youth experiencing substance use disorders. The five-year grant will allow Aalsma’s team to continue work that is part of IU's Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenge.

Among youth who have been involved in the criminal justice system, drug overdose is a leading cause of death, second only to homicide. Although a number of practices have been shown to be effective in helping teens avoid or overcome substance use disorder, they are rarely provided to justice-involved youth, and this population is less likely than other teens to access any type of substance use services.

"Our academic team is excited to collaborate with Indiana state court and treatment partners, as well as county-level court and communal health system collaborators, to improve the health of justice-involved youth," Aalsma said.

He and his team have been working with caseworkers and probation departments in Indiana to implement screening for drug use at the time a youth enters the juvenile justice system. Aalsma says that precise moment is when the young offenders are most motivated to make a change.

Aalsma has been working in Tippecanoe and Wayne counties and has trained dozens of mental health practitioners. The grant will allow his team to expand that work across eight counties over the next five years. It also allows the team to be a part of the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network, established by the National Institutes of Health to support research on quality addiction treatment for opioid use disorder in criminal justice settings nationwide.

"Indiana juvenile courts and communal health systems are at the front line of providing care for youth," Aalsma said. "We anticipate our project will improve access and utilization of needed substance use treatment for vulnerable youth involved in a complex justice system. We also hope this effort will create closer partnerships between the court and community mental health systems."

Open-access policy makes IUPUI research available to the world

IUPUI's open-access policy, which makes research by IUPUI scholars available for free, started as a grassroots effort led by faculty, and October 7 marked the fifth anniversary of it being approved by the IUPUI Faculty Council.

Roughly 70 percent of all articles produced by IUPUI faculty are part of the institutional repository, IUPUI ScholarWorks, because of the open-access policy. In the five years since the policy went into effect, more than 10,000 journal articles and conference papers have been made available, and readers from around the world have downloaded those articles a million times. Those articles vary across fields and include topics like the ethics of drones, ESL writing, and downsizing prisons.

And according to the Leiden Ranking, which tracks university performance, IUPUI is second only to California Institute of Technology at 72 percent.

Aimed at reducing economic barriers to research and with the idea of spreading knowledge far and wide, the open-access policy was authored by faculty and modeled off of a similar policy at Harvard University, said Jere Odell, scholarly communication librarian at University Library. Odell worked with faculty on crafting the policy and manages IUPUI ScholarWorks and the policy's implementation.

And while there are many broader social benefits, it's also helpful to the authors, Odell said. For example, recent studies have found a citation bump of 33 percent for works shared in an open-access repository. This potential citation increase can be especially appealing for authors who are looking for promotions and want to see their work matter.

Plus, participation aligns with the open-access requirement typically set by many sources of federal funding, Odell added.

"The IUPUI authors are scholars, and part of being a scholar is creating knowledge that other people might benefit from," Odell said.

He added that making scholarly knowledge available to a broad audience aligns with IUPUI's mission as a public educational institution. Scholarly literature can be expensive for readers; Odell said that access to a single paywalled article can cost a reader over $40. Likewise, many universities struggle to meet the increasing price of journal subscriptions.

The open-access policy reduces some of the economic barriers. The policy creates a way to make scholarly knowledge free by asking faculty to submit a pre-published draft to the repository. More often than not, however, the library is able to find a version that can be openly and legally shared in IUPUI ScholarWorks without asking the faculty author for help.

Ease of use was a major factor in encouraging faculty to participate in the open-access institutional repository, said Brian Dixon, an associate professor in the Fairbanks School of Public Health who was part of the committee that helped roll out the policy after it was implemented.

Sometimes Dixon will learn that he's been cited in another scholar's work -- only to go to read the abstract and find out it's in another language. He's received email requests from as far away as South America and Africa for copies of articles that he's written. Dixon says he’s definitely noticed an increase in citations, and that having his work in the repository has really helped him gain exposure, especially for his articles in specialized publications.

And for associate professor of history Jennifer Guiliano, the connections she's built from other scholars reading her work have led to speaking opportunities and new professional connections. "It's happening over and over," Guiliano said. "When people reach out, that means they are aware of you and the work you are doing."

Guiliano believes the policy has also helped in her work, stating, "I'm working on a book in my office, and 90 percent of what I'm using is from open-access repositories," adding that being able to download articles speeds up her ability to research and give other scholars credit for their work. And the connections she's built from sharing her work are numerous.

While it's possible to search ScholarWorks to find what's there, the repository also makes the works by IUPUI authors available on academic search engines like Google Scholar. So it's possible that someone could download an article and not even know that ScholarWorks made it available, Odell said.

Having an article widely available also helps catch the attention of the media. Once such article, " Is Downsizing Prisons Dangerous? The Effect of California's Realignment Act on Public Safety." by Jody Sundt, a professor in the O'Neil School of Public and Environmental Affairs along with Emily J. Salisbury of the University of Nevada Las Vegas and Mark G. Harmon of Portland State University, has been downloaded nearly 5,000 times. The article has been a major piece of debates about correctional reform, including in The Washington Post.

IUPUI's most-downloaded author is Michelle Salyers, whose 61 articles have been downloaded 13,472 times. Salyers is a professor in the Department of Psychology whose work includes ways to address burnout in the mental health profession.

NIH Grants & Funding – Podcasts “All About Grants”

The Office of Extramural Research (OER) talks to National Institutes of Health (NIH) staff members about the ins and outs of NIH funding. Designed for investigators, fellows, students, research administrators, and others just curious about the application and award process, we provide insights on grant topics from those who live and breathe the information. Podcast episodes are available as mp3s for download here, via iTunes, or via RSS feed. Get to know NIH and the grants process by clicking here: Information on RSS and Podcasts.

2020 Business Outlook forecast to be presented November 7 at IUPUI

Kelley Outlook: Indianapolis will be presented on November 7 at IUPUI’s Hine Hall. Indiana University Kelley School of Business will be joined at the Indianapolis presentation by Ian Nicolini, vice president for economic development at the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.

The 2020 economic forecasts for Indiana and the nation are based on research and insights by a select panel of Kelley faculty members from its Indiana Business Research Center and draw upon econometric models developed by the Center for Econometric Model Research.

Cathy Bonser-Neal, associate professor of finance, and Kyle Anderson, clinical assistant professor of business economics, will present Kelley's annual forecast at IUPUI.

• When: 7:30 a.m. Nov. 7
• Where: IUPUI's Hine Hall, 875 W. North St.
• Cost: $30 for individuals. A table for 10 people can be reserved for $250, and half tables are available for $125.
• Contact: Danielle Judin in the Kelley School of Business Office of Development and Engagement at 812-856-0513 or djudin@indiana.edu
• Registration: Register for the Indianapolis event online Advance registration is encouraged and should be done by Nov. 1. Call 812-856-0513 after the deadline.

Regenstrief and IUPUI researchers use EHRs to identify cancer symptom clusters

Patients with chronic diseases such as breast cancer or colorectal cancer often experience fatigue, pain, depression and other symptoms which can lead to distress and functional impairment if left untreated. With the ultimate goal of helping clinicians manage and treat symptoms that negatively affect health and quality of life, researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and IUPUI have devised and tested novel methodologies to extract data on symptoms from electronic health records (EHRs) and have successfully investigated associations between symptom clusters and disease.

"Our novel methods can be generalized beyond breast and colorectal cancer to analyze symptom clusters of other chronic diseases where symptom management and treatment is critical," said Regenstrief Institute investigator Kun Huang, PhD, senior author of the study and an internationally recognized leader in translational bioinformatics. "Identifying and understanding symptom clusters -- which symptoms tend to go together - fatigue and depression, for example -- and when these symptoms occur during the course of treatment - provides critical information to a patient's care team, especially as we look forward to precision health and try to find the right treatment for the right patient at the right time.

"This information is also important to researchers as they explore whether biological reasons behind these co-occurrences exist and, if so, determine why," Dr. Huang said. In addition to his appointment as a Regenstrief Institute research scientist, he is assistant dean for data sciences, Precision Health Initiative professor of genomics data sciences and professor of medicine at Indiana School of Medicine.

"Identifying Symptom Clusters in Breast Cancer and Colorectal Cancer Patients using EHR Data," won the Best Paper Award at the 10th Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Health Informatics and is published in the conference proceedings. This prestigious prize is presented for a paper that represents groundbreaking research. Through the Best Paper Award, the ACM highlights theoretical and practical innovations likely to shape the future of computing.

Detecting and tracking symptom severity and frequency in an EHR are not easy. Language often varies. For example, fatigue may be recorded in an EHR as listless, exhausted, tired, no energy or worn out. Depression may be indicated as sad, unhappy, hopeless or discouraged. To mitigate the terminology problem, the research team designed methodology to enable the analysis of free text clinical notes in EHRs in addition to extracting information from structured entries in the medical record.

"EHR data has not been extensively used to understand patient-reported symptoms for individuals with chronic diseases," said study author Xiao Luo, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer and information technology in IUPUI's School of Engineering and Technology. "Utilizing EHR data obtained from the Indiana Network for Patient Care, we developed a framework that employs components of data mining, NLP (natural language processing) and machine learning to explore clinical information accumulated throughout the course of these diseases," she said. Dr. Luo, who designed the study's methodology, specializes in predictive data analytics and intelligent data integration.

The researchers looked at symptoms during two time periods - the first year of chemotherapy and the 48 to 54 months following chemotherapy. Age, smoking history and whether the individual had diabetes were also considered. Symptom clusters were identified based on severity and combination of symptoms.

Using algorithms they developed, the researchers found that the symptom clusters were not the same for breast cancer patients and colorectal cancer patients. They also noted varying symptom clusters at different time frames following chemotherapy. Breast cancer patients had slightly more symptoms than colorectal cancer patients during the first year after chemotherapy. Colorectal cancer patients had slightly more depression 48 to 54 months after chemotherapy. The researchers also were able to identify linkages. For example, if a high-stage colorectal cancer patient had no fatigue symptom, he or she was also unlikely to experience depression.

Cancer patients present with multiple, co-occurring symptoms related to the disease and its treatment. "Typically clinicians identify, measure and treat patient's symptoms such as -- fatigue, depression, anxiety -- individually, rather than as co-occurring" said study author Susan Storey, Ph.D., R.N., assistant professor at IU School of Nursing and a member of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center and the Diabetes Translational Research Center. "This new methodology sets us firmly on the path to better understand symptoms, the way they cluster and how they are related to disease outcomes and quality of life. As we expand this work it will have significant implications for patients and the clinicians who treat them because it will help us understand why and how these symptom clusters interact with each other in order to develop strategies to counter them." Dr. Storey has 25 years of experience as an oncology certified advance practice nurse.

IUPUI Researcher Develops New Technologies and Methods for Mapping RNA

Sarath Chandra Janga, associate professor of bioinformatics and data science in the Department of BioHealth Informatics at the IU School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI, was awarded a $299,698 NSF Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) grant. EAGER funding is used to support exploratory work in its early stages on untested, but potentially transformative, research ideas or approaches.

Janga’s project, “EAGER: Algorithmic frameworks and resources for mapping RNA modifications from single molecule direct RNA-sequencing data,” will enable discovery of all the messenger RNA molecules expressed from the genes of an organism and the code that allow RNA and related proteins to operate in real time at a single-molecule resolution. Little is known about the molecular players that are involved in the numerous steps that govern expression patterns, including localization, splicing, stability, and folded structure of the RNA.

Ribonucleic acid, or RNA, is one of the three major biological macromolecules essential for all known forms of life. A central tenet of molecular biology states that the flow of genetic information in a cell is from DNA through RNA to proteins: “DNA makes RNA makes protein”.

Janga and his lab propose to detect, identify, and quantify RNA modifications using the Oxford Nanopore platform, and results will be analyzed for robustness in precision and accuracy. Experiments will utilize synthetic calibration as well as newly-developed algorithms.

Janga is also Co-PI on a Software Hardware Foundation (SHF) grant awarded in tandem by the National Science Foundation, titled “Automated Algorithm/Hardware Co-design for Accelerating Nanopore Base-calling,” with Principal Investigator Lei Jiang, assistant professor in the IUB department of Intelligent Systems Engineering.

Significantly, nanopore genome sequencing is becoming the cornerstone to enabling personalized medicine, global food security, and wildlife conservation, says Janga. “Base-calling,” the process of assigning bases to signal peaks generated by the gene sequencer, is time consuming. Although current approaches reduce computing overhead, they increase systematic errors, which results in lower accuracy in base-calling. Jiang and Janga propose to develop a novel algorithm and hardware co-design methodology to make base-calling more power efficient, scalable, and accessible.

Janga says that improvements to nanopore base-calling at both at the DNA and RNA levels, supported by these two grants from the NSF, “could offer on-demand rapid genome and transcriptome sequencing solutions, thus making real-time, in-home diagnostic tool kits for several infectious and complex diseases a reality.” He believes that overcoming base-calling limitations of the current computational frameworks -- coupled with developments in nanopore sequencing -- would pave the path for day-to-day use of sequencing technology to realize the dream of in-home clinical care in the 21st century.

Acknowledgement
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1940422 and Grant No. 1908992. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.

IUPUI students devise innovative concepts to help people who are homeless, hungry in Indianapolis

Twenty-one IUPUI students gathered Oct. 11 in the mayor's conference room on the 25th floor of the City-County Building to present their solutions after researching a difficult social problem: How do you reconnect people to society who have become homeless or are unsure when they will eat next?

The students selected for a “design sprint” workshop divided into six teams ranging from two to four people. They chose a particular reconnection to focus on, engaged in extensive research and brainstormed their solutions.

As Jeff Bennett, Indianapolis deputy mayor for community development, slipped into a seat next to the students, Steven Mannheimer, a media arts and science professor, and Lou Lenzi, a professor of practice in the School of Informatics and Computing, set the stage.

"The problem so many of these people have, whether it's food insecurity or homelessness, is that they've lost their connection to the fabric of society that sustains the rest of us without our even thinking about it," Mannheimer said.

Mannheimer and Lenzi were co-managers of the two-week design sprint workshop titled "Designing the Reconnected Community", which culminated in the students' presentations.

A conversation between Mannheimer, Lenzi and Bennett sparked the idea for the design sprint workshop. The 21 students who presented their concepts were selected from among a larger group of students who applied to participate in the design sprint.

The term "design sprint" stems from the use of design thinking -- a solutions-based, creative process used to address challenges -- and the speed at which the workshops proceed, in this case, just two weeks instead of months.

Lenzi said the point of the exercise was to "sensitize students to the needs of the community, when it comes to the homeless and those who face food insecurity, and have them begin to think about ways to approach those needs.

"We didn't expect them to design a silver bullet to solve a particular problem in two weeks," he continued. "But their work may provide a trigger for the mayor's office or a community organization to pursue these concepts further."

And the students walked away with more than cash in their pockets. They took away a set of creative problem-solving skills to address other challenges as well.

Bug Appétit: IUPUI researchers showcase the future of food in plan for a new Center for Insects as Feed and Food

In an event held September 18 by IUPUI School of Science, researchers showcased their plan for a new Center for Insects as Feed and Food, which could be funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The event kicked off two days of meetings and speakers on the edible insect industry.

Partnering with Texas A&M and Mississippi State University, the center will bring together researchers and industry leaders to identify major issues and questions of raising insects for human consumption.

Researchers will then work to answer those questions. The plan for the national research center will be pitched to the foundation in December, but IUPUI won't hear back until next fall.

IUPUI associate professor Christine Picard, also director of the Forensic and Investigative Sciences Program, said they received a small, internal grant 2½ years ago to explore the possibility. They then applied for the National Science Foundation's Industry University Collaborative Research Center program. The sustainability of insects as food and feed is on the brink of blowing up, said IUPUI researcher Picard, who organized the event.

"If what's happening with the plant protein market is any indication," Picard said, "there's such a huge need for the world to have sustainable agriculture to increase the amount of protein that is produced without destroying the environment."

The world's population will likely hit 9 billion people by 2050, a United Nations 2013 report says, and edible insects provide one way of addressing food insecurity in a world where more than 820 million people go hungry.

Around two billion people in the world already eat insects. And many in the western world consume bugs, or insect products, without knowing. The Food and Drug Administration allows for specific amounts of insects — parts, filth or whole — in food.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations report, insects need less feed to create food, emit significantly fewer greenhouse gases (10-100 times less than pigs), use less water and take up less space.

Insects, Picard said, are poised to be the answer. And bug farming can be as advanced or as simple as needed.

Cockroaches, which were not served at the event tasting, offer one of the top protein percentages of edible insects with 57 grams, according to a 2013 study, the "Nutritional composition and safety aspects of edible insects." That said, roaches aren't exactly loved in most U.S. households.

Beetles and grubs are next on the protein list, averaging a 41% protein makeup. Highest on the protein list, however, are grasshoppers and crickets, at 61% protein.

In fact, insects like crickets have comparable protein levels to cows and pigs, sometimes even exceeding that level.

The Center for Insects as Feed and Food would address the perception most Americans have of insects. The distaste for insects sticks mostly with the U.S. and Europe. Yet eating bugs in most other countries is normal.

Andreas Baumann, head of research and development at a Switzerland-based company that provides machines in the industry, said that while the country's two main retailers carry insect products, "it's still a niche of a niche." See more on this story at IndyStar.com.

SEIRI presents National Science Foundation (NSF) Day Workshop - November 4, 2019, 9am – 3pm

STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute (SEIRI) is pleased to present this NSF workshop and will provide a light breakfast and lunch. See the tentative agenda below.

The guest speakers are NSF Program directors from the Division of Undergraduate Education at the NSF who will lead an interactive workshop discussing evaluation and research, Broader Impacts and Intellectual Merit, CAREER, IUSE, NOYCE and S-STEM grant programs. The activities will also include a mock review panel, an NSF Awardees panel, and plenty of time for discussion and questions. Individual appointments will be available for people to meet with the NSF Program Directors from 3:00 – 4:00 pm, on a first-come basis.

The location for this NSF workshop is IUPUI University Tower Ballroom, 911 W North St, Indianapolis IN 46202. More information can be found at SEIRI events.

Guest Speakers:
Dr. Karen Allen Keene Keene is a program Director in NSF’s Division of Undergraduate Education and an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at North Carolina State University. She is currently in her third year at the National Science Foundation where she serves as a program officer in several programs, including Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE), the Robert Noyce Teachers Program, Scholarships for STEM students (S-STEM) and EHR Core Research (ERC). Karen has taught high school mathematics in public and private schools in Indiana, served as an instructor at Saint Mary’s College, Valparaiso University and Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities.

Dr. Steve Turley received a B.S. in physics from Brigham Young University and a PhD in physics from the Massachusetts Institution of Technology. After graduating from MIT, Dr. Turley worked for 11 years at the Hughes Aircraft Company Research Labs in Malibu, California. He then spent 23 years at Brigham Young University where he has been a Professor of Physics, Department Chair, and Associate Dean. He has been a temporary program officer in the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation since the beginning of 2018.

Dr. Stephanie E. August is a program director in NSF’s Division of Undergraduate Education and a professor of computer science at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She is an active member of the working group for the Future of Work at the Human Technology Frontier. She has served as department director of graduate studies and special assistant to the chief academic officer for graduate studies at LMU. Stephanie is interested in the online interactive and virtual learning environments, infusing other disciplines with computing concepts, and understanding how STEM education will evolve in the coming years.

Light breakfast and lunch included.
Register SEIRI NSF Workshop

Office of Academic Affairs offers “Excellence in Research” Workshop

Presenter: Rachel Applegate
Organizer: The Office of Academic Affairs
Date: Monday, December 2, 2019
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. EST
Where: CE 409 and Online via Zoom

This workshop is designed for faculty with research as the area of endeavor. All of the material from the first session on October 16 is covered in this session, so there is no need to sign up for both sessions. This workshop is available in-person and via Zoom. You can select your method of participating by clicking the registration button below.

Register Office of Academic Affairs Workshop

You are cordially invited to the 9th Annual IUPUI Center for TRIP Community Showcase

Join us for a chance to interact with several of IUPUI’S distinguished faculty scholars as they present their translational research and illustrate how they improve people’s lives at the IUPUI Center for Translating Research into Practice (TRIP) Fall 2019 Community Showcase. TRIP scholars have partnered with community and business partners to translate their research into viable practices that improve our communities. Come see how their work is making life better in our city, state, and world.

The Showcase will also feature a presentation by Dr. Brad Ray, the 2019 Bantz-Petronio TRIP Faculty Award recipient. Dr. Ray will present on "Community-Engaged Research and the Overdose Epidemic."

After the brief presentation, there will be an opportunity to interact with all of the scholars about their research.

Date: Monday, November 4, 2019
Time: 5:00 p.m.– 7:00 p.m.
Where: IUPUI Campus Center Yale Pratt Room 405

See Center for TRIP event details and RSVP

View all and to apply

Bridge Funding

• Financial support for faculty research and scholarship during times when externally funded research programs are between grant cycles.
• Maximum amount: $30,000 grant, $15,000 school match; $45,000 total project
• Deadline: Open

Equipment Funding

• Provides matching support for the purchase of major equipment that is not currently available at the campus level and will be shared by several faculty members from different departments and schools.
• Maximum amount: $25,000 grant, $25,000 school match; $50,000 total project
• Deadline: Open

Funding Opportunities for Research Commercialization and Economic Success (FORCES)

• Projects that facilitate the commercialization of university-owned intellectual property, address important national and global needs, and support the economic development of Indiana and the nation.
• Maximum amount: $35,000
• Deadline: Coming January 2020

IUPUI Arts and Humanities Internal (IAHI) Grant

• Supports campus-wide attainment of excellence in research and creative activity in the arts and humanities.
• Maximum amount: varies by category
• Deadline: Category A and B – Open; Category C, D, E – February 15

Release Time for Research (RTR)

• Allows a buy-out of teaching time to adequately prepare competitive proposals for quality research and scholarly activity.
• Maximum amount: $10,000
• Deadline: February 1

Research Support Funds Grant (RSFG)

• Provides seed funding for research projects and scholarly activities that are sustainable through external funding.
• Maximum amount: $35,000
• Deadline: April 1

Enhanced Mentoring Program with Opportunities for Ways to Excel in Research (EMPOWER)

• EMPOWER sustains mentorship opportunities for IUPUI faculty who are historically underrepresented and/or excluded populations in their disciplines or areas of scholarship to support achievement of excellence in research and scholarly activity.
• Maximum amount: $2,000 for mentors, $10,000 for mentees
• Deadline: November 15

Many other IU schools and units may offer internal funding support to their faculty, and other individual centers and institutes may offer internal faculty funding as well. All are encouraged to seek funding for their research interests. For university-wide opportunities, contact Sarah Mosier at semosier@iu.edu.

Significant Grants and Awards – September 2019