studentnews

Students & COVID-19

April 13, 2020

COVID-19 Student Resources

This situation is unprecedented, and every day brings new information requiring our collective best efforts and flexibility. We know communication about campus updates is key. With that in mind, here is a collection of recent updates we’ve shared that you might have missed, as well as a summary of how to interact with most student services.
 

Science Podcasts

April 10, 2020

Science Podcasts

Hear directly from College of Science leadership and researchers.

>> Disturbance And Recovery

>> The Last Frontiers of the Forest

Coronavirus Research

March 23, 2020

Coronavirus Research

One of the biggest unknowns about the coronavirus is how changing seasons will affect its spread. Physicists from the University of Utah have received the university’s first COVID-19-related grant to tackle the question.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant to Michael Vershinin and Saveez Saffarian of the U’s Department of Physics & Astronomy to study the structure of the SARS-COV-2, the coronavirus strain at the center of the pandemic. The physicists will create individual synthetic coronavirus particles without a genome, making the virus incapable of infection or replication. The researchers will test how the structure of the coronavirus withstands changes in humidity and temperature, and under what conditions the virus falls apart.

The results will help public health officials understand how the virus behaves under various environmental conditions, including in the changing seasons and in microclimates such as air-conditioned offices.

“We’re making a faithful replica of the virus packaging that holds everything together. The idea is to figure out what makes this virus fall apart, what makes it tick, what makes it die,” said Vershinin, assistant professor of physics and astronomy and co-principal investigator of the grant. “This is not a vaccine. It’s won’t solve the crisis, but it will hopefully inform policy decisions going forward.”

The researchers searched the fully-sequenced SARS-COV-2 genome that was published in January and zeroed in on the genes responsible for the structural integrity of the virus. They are now synthesizing these genes in living cells and allowing their proteins to assemble into virus particles.

“Coronavirus spreads similarly to the influenza virus—as small mucus droplets suspended in the air. The predominate idea is that viruses lose infectivity because the particles lose structural integrity,” said Saffarian. “The physics of how the droplets evolve in different temperature and humidity conditions affect how infectious it is.”

The RAPID funding program allows NSF to quickly review proposals in response to research on urgent issues, such as global pandemics.

“This application of sophisticated physics instruments and methods to understand how the 2019 coronavirus will behave as the weather changes is a clear example of how our investment in basic research years later prepares us for a response to a crisis that impacts not only our society, but also the whole world,” said Krastan Blagoev, program director in NSF’s Division of Physics.

ONE FROM MANY

At the onset of the coronavirus, Vershinin and Saffarian dove deep into the scientific literature to learn as much as possible about corona and related viruses, such as influenza. They realized that many studies looked at the spread of influenza on an epidemiological level. There are fewer answers about how climate and specific conditions effect a single virus particle. Both researchers bring decades of experience working in the nanoscale. Vershinin lab’s specialty is using optical tweezers, a tool that enables him to probe individual molecules just a few atoms across.

“It’s often compared with the tractor beam from ‘Star Trek.’ You just use light to reach in and apply force to manipulate things,” Vershinin said.

Saffarian’s lab focuses on viruses that, like coronavirus, contain RNA strands. His lab utilizes many tools to track the behavior of individual virus particles, including HIV.

The researchers are members of the Center for Cell and Genome Sciences in the College of Science, where scientists who apply physics, chemistry and biology work alongside each other and can form collaborations rapidly—a key advantage in the fight against the virus.

“You don’t just gain the insight that you want by looking at the virus on a large scale. Looking at a single virus particle is the key to being able to tease out what’s going on,” Vershinin said. “Modern biology and biophysics allows us to ask these questions in a way we never could have before.”

Funding for this research was provided by NSF under award number PHY-2026657 for nearly $200,000.

 

by Lisa Potter

>> @theU - 03/18/2020

 

 

Math in Paris

October 14, 2019

Math in Paris

The need to take a summer math class evolved into an amazing summer in Paris for Avery Hazelbaker, a mathematics and pre-med major. “I needed to take a math class, so I just searched "learning abroad differential equations" on Google and the CEA Paris Engineering Program popped up.”

Hazelbaker had a “bucket list” of things she wanted to do before she graduated from the U, and studying abroad was one of them. “I had traveled to Europe with my family when I was younger,” she said, “but I’m not sure I appreciated it enough at the time. I wanted to go again, study math, and really dive into the culture.”

She gives high marks to the CEA program because of the math instruction and the opportunity to meet different kinds of people. “I absolutely loved my math professor—he was so much fun, very nice, and extremely knowledgeable,” said Hazelbaker. “He would spend 10-15 minutes of class going over some common French words and phrases to help us understand and become more comfortable with French culture.”

She liked the differences between the U.S. teaching and the French learning style. “In France, the teachers expect the students to write out what they’re doing for each step, so they can confirm that students know what they’re doing,” said Hazelbaker. “At the U, instructors assume students know why they're doing something if the work is correct.”

During her stay, she traveled on weekends to various cities in Europe. She also spent time getting to know the “arrondissements” in Paris. She was able to see a World Cup game, visit several chateaus in the Loire Valley, and attend quieter events, such as a classical music concert at L'église de la Madeleine.

Hazelbaker was fortunate to live in housing that included not only CEA students but also other students who were attending universities in Paris. “I became extremely close with three girls,” she said. “One was born in South Africa but has lived most of her life in France, another was from Germany, and a third had family in Africa but had been born in Lyon. These girls showed me what it was really like to live in Paris and how to make the most of the experience by immersing myself in the culture and not just seeing it from the outside. I didn’t know that I would be living with people who weren’t Americans, but it was the best thing that could have happened. I made the best friends and had experiences that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been living with people from another culture.”

She encourages her U classmates to consider learning abroad. “Everyone should try it if they have the chance,” said Hazelbaker. “It’s such an amazing experience. I know it sounds like a cliché, but you really do learn a lot about yourself, and you become a better person. I would love to return to Paris.”

Student Veteran

November 11, 2018

2018-19 Student Veteran of the Year, Craig L. Hanson 

“When I first came to the U, I didn’t have much discipline or respect for myself or others. I was fortunate enough to find both in the Navy and Marine Corps. After a year I realized I wasn’t quite ready for college even though I was a pretty good student in high school. So, I left.

I was looking for a challenge and became a certified commercial diver and a diver medic. I didn’t know then the combination of deep water and medicine was foreshadowing my future and what would make me who I am today. I joined the Navy in 2010 and became a corpsman. I really engaged with my training and became a distinguished graduate from both the Navy Hospital Corps School in Great Lakes, Illinois, and Field Medical Service School at Camp Pendleton, California.

In 2011, I was assigned to Golf Company “Joker” Second Platoon in 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment–The Magnificent Bastards–at Camp Pendleton. A month later I was deployed to Afghanistan. My Marines—who I miss all the time—called me “Doc.” We were assigned to an isolated Forward Operating Base in a notoriously dangerous area of operation in the mountainous area of the Helmand Province.

My platoon and I conducted hundreds of dismounted patrols over a seven-month period. In that time, I treated both wounded Marines and countless local nationals-even saving the life of a wounded enemy combatant. And I had the privilege of teaching first aid techniques to Afghan soldiers. Passing my knowledge on to them.

After my two-and-a-half-year tour I realized I had found my passion for medicine. I returned to the U in 2015 and majored in biology with minor in chemistry. Because of my background in emergency medicine, I’ve looked largely at continuing that training and would like to become a trauma surgeon. That being said, I know enough about medicine to know that I’ve barely grazed the surface and am still keeping an open mind about the exact course in medicine I’ll be taking.”