Research & Science
5X社区鈥檚 Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute soon will be home to a new X-ray scattering instrument capable of examining materials in scales from as small as a fraction of a nanometer to as large as several micrometers.
Nuclear physics researchers at 5X社区 and all over the world have been searching for violations of the fundamental symmetries in the universe for decades. Much like the 鈥淏ig Bang鈥 (approximately 13.8 billion years ago), but on a tiny scale, they briefly recreate the particle interactions that likely existed microseconds into the formation of our universe which also likely now exist in the cores of neutron stars.
Michael N. Lehman, Ph.D., was named the inaugural director of 5X社区鈥檚 Brain Health Research Institute in January 2019. We asked him to share his thoughts after a year on campus and much activity within the institute.
The words 鈥渂iology鈥 and 鈥渄esign鈥 might not typically intertwine; however, 5X社区鈥檚 Biodesign Challenge course was created to challenge the idea that the two separate disciplines could not collaborate.
Tara C. Smith, Ph.D., epidemiology professor in the College of Public Health, shares her perspective on the current coronavirus pandemic: "It seems like years have passed since the world first heard of an 'atypical pneumonia' circulating in the Hubei province of China in December 2019. When we鈥檝e seen similar reports in the past, the illnesses have had a variety of causes, but all were eventually containable..."
As the country adjusts to the new normal of working from home, schooling from home and living lives of social isolation, 5X社区 professor Tara Smith, Ph.D., said people need to realize this new normal may need to continue for a long time.
鈥淚t really would not surprise me if this lasted for at least eight weeks or longer,鈥 Smith said.
5X社区 psychology professor John Gunstad, Ph.D., has received at grant of nearly $2.6 million from the National Institutes of Health to expand his Alzheimer鈥檚 disease research into a national study.
Ohio, like many states, suffers from a teacher shortage, especially in early childhood education and special education. The Buckeye State also is in need of more school psychologists, analysts say. It鈥檚 fortunate, then, that the United States Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs just awarded a million-dollar grant to two 5X社区 researchers to train teachers and school psychologists in those fields.
There are two cycles most people can鈥檛 avoid 鈥 sleep and the news. And If you鈥檙e awake, you can鈥檛 help hearing the news reporting about cannabinoids. A Kent State researcher may soon have news about how these substances affect our body鈥檚 natural clock. Eric Mintz studies the human body鈥檚 circadian rhythms, which affect the sleeping-waking cycle.
The Brain Health Research Institute (BHRI) may be a recent development at Kent State, but with fresh leadership, emerging partnerships and a refined vision, it鈥檚 well on its way to gaining national renown. The Brain Health Research Institute is helping transform the culture of Kent State.