Current Issue
November 2019 – Vol. 9, No. 11
Table of Contents
Cover Story / Page 6
From Agent Orange to the burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, the members of the U.S. Armed Forces have seen their share devastating environmental health hazards. It’s Rebecca Patterson’s job to make sure that service members, veterans, and their health care providers learn more about toxic exposures related to the military and their consequences. The mission is a personal one; in addition to being a UWM chemistry graduate, Patterson is also a Navy veteran.
Page 2
Movie stars make millions, but even so, a female actor makes an average of $1.1 million less per movie than a male actor, even accounting for popularity, box office success, and a host of other factors. That’s according to new research by distinguished professor of economics John Heywood, who has some theories as to why there’s a big disparity in Tinseltown paychecks.
Page 4
Fish have a unique ability to regenerate damaged parts of nerve cells in the eyes – if their eye is injured, they can repair the injury and regain their eyesight.
That’s not the case for humans. Now, Ava Udvadia, an associate professor of Biological Sciences, has pinpointed the genetic programming that allows fish their regenerative abilities, with hopes of unlocking the same potential in mammals.
Page 8
Timothy syndrome is a fatal disease caused by a single genetic mutation, and one of the symptoms of the disease is autism. Associate professor of Biological Sciences Christopher Quinn is studying how the mutation affects brain circuitry – and he was just awarded a $1.7 million grant to aid his research.
Page 9
The subject of Darian Dixon’s photography is millions of miles away. The geosciences graduate is a missions operation specialist at Malin Space Science Systems, a company that operates some of the cameras for NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover. Essentially, Dixon said, he’s a “space camera operator.”
Page 10
For a refugee fleeing violence and persecution in their home country, resettling in America can be a huge culture shock. Even something as simple as riding a city bus can be a foreign concept. It’s psychology major Aiden Woolsey’s job to make it less mystifying. As a refugee resettlement intern working with the International Institute of Wisconsin, Woolsey helps refugees navigate their new lives in America.
Page 11
Professors Carol Hirschmugl and Marija Gajdardziska-Josifovska are the founders of a startup called SafeLi LLC, a company that develops lithium-ion battery parts made from their patented material, graphene monoxide. They’ve just been awarded a Small business Technology Transfer grant to help further commercialize the material they’ve created in their labs.