Obesity Solutions announces winners of seed funding competition

Mayo Clinic-ASU program supports obesity-related pilot studies

January 13, 2016

Mayo Clinic-ASU Obesity Solutions has announced the 2016 winners of its seed funding competition. The seed funding program supports obesity-related pilot studies that will develop new collaborative teams or push forward highly innovative ideas with potential to receive significant external funding in the future.

“The array of innovative proposals we received speaks to the breadth and depth of obesity research happening across ASU,” said Alexandra Brewis Slade, Obesity Solutions co-director. “We had a very strong pool to choose from, and are excited to see where these pilot projects go.” Students write the word "solutions" on a whiteboard in different colored markers. Download Full Image

Applicants were asked to propose projects related to obesity risk and suffering, health and health disparities in vulnerable populations, the patient experience, and technology and behavior change.

The winners, listed below, include ASU faculty and graduate students. Postdoctoral fellows were also eligible for funding.

Next-generation sequencing approach to the interaction of DNA methylation and alternative splicing in lean and obese participants
Samantha Day, PhD candidate, School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Association of infant feeding, maternal and infant microbiota, and obesity
Elizabeth Reifsnider, associate dean for research, College of Nursing and Health Innovation

Nuanced perceptions of fat: Implications for stigma, valuation, and long-term health
Steven Neuberg, professor, Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Removing barriers to women’s physical activity in Latino barrios through rapid community assessment of neighborhood environments: A pilot study
Francisco Lara-Valencia, associate professor, School of Transborder Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Combining mobile and isotopic analyses for determining metabolic change during exercise
Gwyneth Gordon, research scientist, School of Earth and Space Exploration, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The lived experience of male bariatric patients
Cindi SturtzSreetharan, associate professor, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Aesthetics: An innovative approach to obesity prevention
Cori Lorts, PhD candidate, School of Nutrition and Health Promotion, College of Health Solutions

Establishing new definitions of sarcopenia using muscle quality index
Chong Lee, Associate Professor, School of Nutrition and Health Promotion, College of Health Solutions

Insulin sensitivity and high/low muscle contractions in sedentary obese adults
Catherine Jarrett, PhD candidate, School of Nutrition and Health Promotion, College of Health Solutions

New regional transit service and marginalization of vulnerable segments of the population
Punam Ohri-Vachaspati, associate professor, School of Nutrition and Health Promotion, College of Health Solutions

Yellowstone supervolcano talk kicks off 2016 New Discoveries Lecture Series

ASU geologist to discuss "When Will the Yellowstone Supervolcano Erupt Again?"

January 13, 2016

A talk on the Yellowstone supervolcano by Christy Till, a geologist and assistant professor with Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE), will kick off the Spring 2016 New Discoveries Lecture Series. Till’s talk, “When Will the Yellowstone Supervolcano Erupt Again?” is at 7:30 p.m., Jan 21 in the ISTB4 building on the Tempe campus.

Till will explore the history of the Yellowstone supervolcano, the new tools scientists use to uncover events leading to past eruptions, how much magma resides below the volcano today and its likely future behavior. ASU geologist and assistant professor Christy Till. Photo credit: Abigail Weibel Download Full Image

“Thousands of years ago, the continental U.S. was blanketed by a layer of ash from the eruption of a supervolcano that now lies dormant beneath Yellowstone National Park. A logical question is, when will it erupt again?” Till said

The SESE New Discoveries Lecture Series brings exciting scientific work to the general public in a series of informative evening lectures, which are free and open to the public and each given by a member of the SESE faculty once a month throughout the spring.

Additional lectures in this spring series will be presented on Feb. 18, by Laurence Garvie, research professor and curator for the Center for Meteorite Studies; on March 17, by Hilairy Hartnett, associate professor and biochemist; and on April 28 by Ariel Anbar, President’s Professor and astrobiologist.

Lectures begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Marston Exploration Theater, located on the first floor of ASU's Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 4 (ISTB4) on the Tempe campus. RSVP to reserve a seat. Parking is available at the Rural Road parking structure just east of ISTB 4.