University Profile
real world and have people benefit from this is exciting,” says Lach, who specializes in wireless body sensory networks and cyber-physical system design. “This is an indirect approach to understand family eating dynamics related to obesity. Other direct methods have been less successful.” The two professors are part of a vast
research complex at
U.Va. seeking ways to improve the human condition.
U.Va. School of Medicine research-
ers discovered last year that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist. The discovery could affect the study and treatment of neurological diseases ranging from autism to Alzheimer’s disease to multiple sclerosis. The discovery was cited as one of the
biggest scientific breakthroughs of 2015 in year-end lists compiled by Scientific American, Science and the National Insti- tutes of Health. When the discovery was announced
in June, Jonathan Kipnis, professor in the
U.Va. Department of Neuroscience and director of
U.Va.’s Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG), said it
“changes entirely the way we perceive the neuro-immune interaction. We always perceived it before as something esoteric that can’t be studied. But now we can ask mechanistic questions.”
Sponsored research
U.Va. research is growing. The uni-
versity received $311 million in sponsored research awards during the past school year — an increase of almost 10 percent over the previous year. Faculty at four
U.Va. schools led
the way: 58 percent of the money was awarded to School of Medicine projects; 16 percent to the School of
U.Va. researchers set up a monitoring system in homes to track a family’s eating behavior.
Engineering and Applied Sciences; 12 percent to the College of Arts and Sci- ences; and 8 percent to the Curry School of Education. “Research is important for a number
of reasons,” says Phillip A. Parrish,
U.Va.’s interim vice president for research. “There are complex societal issues without easy solutions for which research is imperative in order to progress.” Research in the fields
Parrish
of health and life sciences for example — especially in cancer, diabetes, neuro- logical and cardiovascular diseases — has led to significantly longer life expectancies and quality of
life, he says. Environmental research is focusing
more on “resilience to environmental change, water and air quality, and strate- gies and policies to mitigate impacts upon coastal and urban regions,” Parrish says. Meanwhile, science and engineering
research supports national security initia- tives, including projects for high-perfor- mance aircraft and naval applications, as well as efforts addressing terrorism and cybersecurity threats. “By and large, research is awarded
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in an intense competition among faculty from universities from across the United States,” Parrish adds. “Sponsored research awards come from a number of sources, but primarily from federal and state governments, from industry and from foundations.” There is an immediate, practical
side to research, too. “Public universities, including
U.Va., have the responsibility to bring the fruits of their research to the marketplace, thereby enabling growth of jobs for citizens,” says Parrish.
New patents and products In the last year,
U.Va. has set school
records in patents filed with the U.S. Patent Office by faculty (187), and commercialization through deals with industry (70), as well as starting seven new companies, says Parrish. Examples of the benefits of research
include:
• Faculty research in the medical and engineering schools led to develop- ment of an “artificial pancreas”
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