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Lifeline Online  RESEARCH IN ACTION Department of Ed grants support multi-investigator work on weight loss, ADA Several LSI researchers are involved in two recent grants from the Department of Education that will study weight loss in people with physical disabilities and the ability of college students to access ADA accommodations. Read full story and more Research in Action stories. ADMINISTRATIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS AAAS invites researchers to apply science to serve society The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is inviting applications for its Science and Technology Policy Fellowships, which provide an opportunity for scientists and engineers to apply their expertise to the federal policy realm. Read full story.HONORS Kemper awards go to LSI investigators Two LSI scientists won Kemper teaching and advising awards this fall, an honor that is considered one of the most prestigious for KU faculty. Read full story and more Honors stories.MILESTONES Two LSI staff honored for years of service Two long-time members of the LSI family were honored for 40 years of service to the University at a ceremony held September 4 in Topeka. Read full story.PROJECT DEVELOPMENT NEWS Late summer saw several new grant awards to LSI investigators and a long list of new submissions. See the complete list. IN THE NEWS Talk of the Nation talks to Ann Turnbull Ann Turnbull distinguished professor and co-director of the Beach Center on Disability, was the special guest August 11 on the National Public Radio program “Talk of the Nation” to discuss the legacy of the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Read full story. |
FEATURED Work Group awards mini grants for Latino health projects in KCK 
Work Group investigators pose The project came about as a result of an ongoing partnership between the Work Group, the KU Medical Center and El Centro, Inc., which is a family-focused organization in Kansas City, Kan. Grants will be used to test a model designed to reduce the incidence of diabetes and heart disease in a demographic group where rates of these ailments are higher than in the majority population. The endeavor is part of the Work Group’s longtime efforts to improve the capacity of urban neighborhoods to solve local problems by partnering with community groups. Made possible by funding from the NIH National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Latino Health for All Coalition will award $100,00 over the next five years, about $10,000 annually. Jerry Schulz, co-director of the Work Group, is project director and Blanca Mendoza-Perez is the community mobilizer. The first year’s projects include:
 Registration is underway for a major statewide conference on autism that has been in the planning stages for more than a year. Autism Across the Life Span: A Conference for Families, Teachers and Service Providers set for November 6-7 in Wichita will feature nationally known keynote speakers, panel presentations, breakout sessions and opportunities for networking. Keynoters are: Paul Wehman, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and director of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Workplace Supports at Virginia Commonwealth University, who will discuss autism and transition to adulthood; Susan Wilczynski executive director of the National Autism Center in Randolph, Mass., who will report on the National Standards Project; and Phil Strain, professor of educational psychology at the University of Colorado at Denver, who will trace “lessons learned” from 30 years of inclusive services for children with autism. Several Life Span researchers are among the nearly 60 presenters. About 300 attendees are expected. The conference is sponsored by K-CART, the Center for Child Health and Development at the KU Medical Center, and the KU Life Span Institute at Parsons. Discounts also are still available for family members and students. For more information and to register, see the conference website or contact K-CART.
Yo Jackson An LSI scientist has received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institutes of Mental Health to improve treatment for children exposed to trauma or abuse. Another LSI-affiliated scientist, Todd Little, professor of psychology, is also working on the project with Jackson. See the full story at KU News. Higuchi honor goes to Steven Barlow 
Steven Barlow Steve Barlow, director of LSI’s Communication Neurosciences Laboratories, received the Dolph Simons Award in Biomedical Sciences. A member of the speech-language-hearing faculty since 2000, Barlow is internationally recognized as a scholar in orofacial and laryngeal neurophysiology and biomedical aspects of speech sensorimotor processing across the life span. His work with at-risk premature newborns led to a new treatment to promote the development of a normal pattern of sucking behavior. A device he invented, the NTrainer system, is now available through KCBiomedix, Shawnee, Kan., to medical centers and hospitals throughout the country. Charles Greenwood, director of the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project, received a Higuchi award in 2008. The Higuchi awards program was established by Takeru Higuchi, a distinguished professor at KU from 1967 to 1983, and his late widow, Aya. Four individual awards are given annually. Each award comes with a $10,000 grant for ongoing research efforts. The award money can be used for research materials, summer salaries, fellowship matching funds, research assistants or other support related to research. The 2009 Higuchi Award winners will be recognized at a ceremony and reception November 2 at the Adams Alumni Center on the KU campus. K-CART will be regional site for national town hall meeting on autism The Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training (K-CART) will be one of 16 sites for a virtual town hall meeting on autism held across the United States on November 13. Sponsored by Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism (AFAA), a national consortium that includes Autism Speaks, the meeting will focus on developing a national policy agenda by soliciting the input of caregivers, advocates, elected officials, family members and adults with autism. K-CART and Children’s Mercy Hospital are co-sponsoring the only remote site of the meeting in the Midwest, which will be orchestrated from a central hub in Chicago. More than 1,000 persons are expected to participate across the country, about 50 of them in Kansas City. Thirty of the invited Kansas City attendees will be adults with autism and their family members. The webcast will be at the Ewing Kauffman Foundation, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, Mo., 10:15 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Representatives are expected to attend from the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurological Disorders at the University of Missouri. K-CART convenes Community Advisory Council K-CART has formed a Community Advisory Council, which met for the first time on June 25 at the K-CART Resource Center on the Edwards Campus. The purpose of the council is to provide feedback to K-CART on projects, to help establish an ongoing vision and to reach out to the community for fundraising projects. Members include parents, community leaders, school representatives and K-CART staff. K-CART advisors are: Debbie Beeler, parent, KC Young Matrons K-CART awards second round of pilot discovery grants K-CART has announced the recipients of this year’s discovery grants for pilot research projects to advance scientific knowledge of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The discovery grants provide support for original empirical research projects at KU and KUMC that will contribute to the overall competitiveness of K-CART for external funding. This year’s recipients are Qian Li, research assistant professor of pharmacy and toxicology at KU, and Merlin Butler, professor of psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at KUMC. They will each receive approximately $40,000 to pursue their projects. Li’s research will explore whether or not epigenetic alterations and ASD-like behaviors caused by environmental factors early in life (such as prenatal exposure to viruses, stress and drugs) can be inherited. Increasing evidence suggests that epigenetic alterations can be transmitted to the next generation. An epigenetic alteration is something that affects a cell, organ or individual without directly affecting its DNA. Her proposal represents the first study of its kind on the trans-generational effects of epigenetic alterations and autism. The outcome will have a significant impact on the understanding of the causes of ASD and the development of therapeutic approaches for the disorder. Butler and a multidisciplinary team that includes a geneticist and molecular biologist will study the immune profiles of children with ASD and, specifically, their cytokine levels. Evidence indicates that children with autism show an altered immune response to environmental antigens. An antigen is any substance (for example, chemicals, bacteria, viruses, or pollen) that causes the immune system to produce antibodies against it. Cytokines are substances that carry signals between cells and, as a result, have an impact on other cells. Higher cytokine levels may contribute to immune and neuroinflammatory abnormalities in children with ASD. Butler and his team will correlate clinical information (such as family history) with cytokine levels to identify whether the immune system of children with ASD is altered or disturbed. The findings could lead to early recognition and possible treatment for immune dysfunction for some children with ASD. Funding for the grants is made possible by a combined KU/KUMC $1 million contribution. This is the second year of the program. Boresow memorials benefit K-CART  Elizabeth Boresow Elizabeth’s father, Mark Boresow, died suddenly on August 11, and the family suggested that memorial gifts benefit K-CART. To date, more than $2,000 has been received in memory of Mark. According to Debra Kamps, K-CART co-director, the gifts will be used the support an upcoming town hall meeting on autism (see related story) and to provide scholarships for family members to attend and to purchase materials for the Autism Resource Center at KU’s Edwards Campus. A profile of Elizabeth on the KU Endowment Association web site describes the impression this extraordinary woman made on her high school classmates. She is now a KU sophomore and a member of the Marching Jayhawks. Children’s Campus receives gift from area bank  Children's Campus under construction Brotherhood Bank and Trust has donated $25,000 to assist with completion of the new 72,000-square foot Children’s Campus of Kansas City, Kan. Representatives of the bank presented a check on September 2 to Martha Staker, director of Project EAGLE, a division of the Department of Pediatrics at the KU Medical Center, and chief executive officer of the Children’s Campus. Brotherhood Bank has branch offices in Wyandotte and Johnson counties and a main office at 756 Minnesota Avenue, close to the Children’s Campus. The Children’s Campus is inching visibly toward completion on its 3.5-acre site on the corner of State and Minnesota Avenues in Kansas City, Kan. Walls are up and the $15.5 million project is on schedule. The Children’s Campus is scheduled to open June 8, 2010 and will serve approximately 1,200 children and families annually. Beyond bugs and lanyards: Summer camp for girls with disabilities scores again at KU 
Camp KU participants Students ages 15-21 participated in the second annual Camp KU sponsored by the Girls at Work Project, which is part of the KU Center on Developmental Disabilities (KUCDD). The grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Women’s Educational Equity Act. Participants, along with their teachers, stayed in a residence hall, toured the Natural History Museum and heard presentations on goal setting, body image college, and starting a business. They also toured Lawrence businesses and facilities that treat animals or serve animal owners to learn about animal-related career opportunities. This was the second summer for the program. Border war benefits K-CART Tapping into the (sometimes) good-natured rivalry between the Kansas Jayhawks and Missouri Tigers, K-CART and the MU Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders held a “border challenge” in May to raise money for autism research. Participants pledged to either center, based on whether their blood ran crimson and blue or gold and black. According to Debra Kamps, K-CART director, the event raised $4,000 for K-CART and drew a sold-out crowd of 250 people. |
