Communications

President Wente walks and talks with Dr. Tao Ma, professor of internal medicine, about his neuroscience research on the molecular mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease and Down Syndrome. His goal: finding a cure. “The future is exciting and bright,” Ma said. Students – graduate students and undergraduates – are a key part of his research. “Many times, people think of science as just one person doing it alone…These days, especially for biomedical research, it’s really teamwork.”

President Wente walks and talks with Professor of Chemistry Patricia Dos Santos about biochemistry, enzymes and current research that could help develop better technologies for natural fertilizers to mitigate the environmental damage caused by artificial fertilizers. “Enzymes are present in all aspects of metabolism and can help us understand human disease and nitrogen fixation in plants,” Dos Santos said. She has seen many of her students go on to graduate school and successful research careers. “As faculty, we are forever learners,” she said. “It is a privilege to be a mentor to undergraduate and graduate students.”

President Wente walks and talks with Errin Fulp, professor of computer science, about his research on computer network systems and what ant colonies can teach us about cybersecurity. “We’d like to have that same sort of resilience, adaptiveness and self-healing in networks,” Fulp said. He encourages his students to take courses outside of computer science and think about how they can integrate ideas from other disciplines to solve complex problems. “Computer science is a field that really touches every aspect of our lives.”