Matt Farr, pictured with the mouse spinal implant he invented, worked with colleagues to develop surgical techniques and imaging procedures that enable long-term, time-lapsed imaging in the mouse spinal cord. An advanced online version of the paper on this work appeared in Nature Methods in late January and the paper will appear in the print version of the journal later this year. The new procedure will enable researchers to study the dynamic interaction among spinal cord axons, inflammatory cells, and other components of the spinal cord after spinal cord injury with unprecedented detail. The approach may also prove useful in studying other diseases of the spinal cord. An article highlighting this new work also appeared in the Cornell Chronicle. A second article discussing the impact of this work appeared in the Cornell Daily Sun. The Alzheimer Research Forum also highlighted the work.

 

 

Several Schaffer Lab members participated in Cornell's Commencement Ceremony this year. Nate Rosidi, John Nguyen, and Flor Cianchetti (see photo!) all participated in the Ph.D. ceremony in the Biomedical Engineering department. All three will defend their thesis and complete their Ph.D.'s this summer. In addition, Bennett Rummel and Bong Kyo Seo completed their Master of Engineering degrees in Biomedical Engineering. Finally, four undergraduates from the lab graduated: Evan Bander, Gabe Otte, Sally Dimiduk, and Francesca Minale. Congratulations to all the graduates!

Cornell's new Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) program, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was profiled in Science Careers. One track in Cornell's BEST program focuses on science policy and is led by Chris Schaffer.

A blog post on the AAAS Member Central website describes the goals of Chris Schaffer's new science policy course, BME 4440 Science Policy Bootcamp: From Concept to Conclusion. This course is being offered for the first time this Fall, with an enrollment of about 20 undergraduate and graduate student scientists.

There are too few scientists who understand how they might contribute to public policy. In an effort to address this problem, Prof. Chris Schaffer and Dr. Catharine Clark were recently awarded a faculty fellowship from the Cornell Center of Engaged Learning and Research. This award will be used to support a new and innovative course entitled “Science Policy Bootcamp", slated for implementation in the Biomedical Engineering Department in Fall 2013. In addition to academic and administrative support from the Center of Engaged Learning and Research, Faculty Fellows will receive a stipend of $2500.

To celebrate the month of March as National Women's History Month, the Scientista Foundation at Cornell University wanted to highlight some of our favorite women in STEM. Many times the achievements of women are overshadowed by those of their male counterparts or credited to the work of their male colleagues. We wanted to take the time to celebrate, a scientist a day, their achievements and their lasting contributions to not only the scientific world, but also the world we live in today. Today's post is our first faculty interview video featuring Scientista's current faculty advisor, Dr. Nozomi Nishimura.

Link to the Facebook Post

Chris will spend his sabbatical next year in Washington, DC working as a Congressional Science Policy Fellow. This program is organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the fellowship Chris received is jointly funded by the Optical Society of America and SPIE. Chris will be placed in the office of a representative or senator and will provide advice, from the perspective of a professional scientist, on science policy issues, education, health care, climate change, energy, and other pressing policy problems. An article in the Cornell Chronicle and a press release from the OSA each discuss Schaffer’s upcoming fellowship.