Category: News

Southern Research’s AIRS technology records spacecraft’s return for NASA

Posted on April 23, 2019

Southern Research’s unique high-altitude HD video recording system provided NASA with dramatic close-up images of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft as it descended through Earth’s atmosphere for a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean in March.

The Airborne Imaging and Reconnaissance System, or AIRS, mounted on a NASA WB-57F research aircraft flying at 18,000 feet, recorded the unmanned spacecraft on its March 8 return after a critical test mission to the International Space Station.

Tony Casey, engineering project leader for Southern Research, said the AIRS cameras filmed Crew Dragon’s descent for 12 minutes, capturing key moments such as when its drogue parachutes opened to slow the craft after reentry.

In addition, images recorded by the system’s infrared camera will allow NASA to estimate temperatures of various parts of the vehicle, he said.

“The high-definition video and infrared images captured by the AIRS platform on the WB-57 will help fill in the overall picture of how the spacecraft performed on a mission that could shape the future of the American space program,” said Casey, who is based in Houston, home of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Southern Research’s AIRS technology aboard a NASA WB-57 research plane captured the parachutes opening to slow the descent of the SpaceX Crew Dragon at the end of its mission to the International Space Station.

Since the AIRS technology debuted in 2005, it has played an important role in many missions for NASA and other government agencies, said Michael D. Johns, vice president of the Engineering Division at Southern Research.

“When it comes to the issues of space flight, there is no margin for error,” Johns said. “Over the years, our team working on the AIRS technology has responded to each new challenge with innovative solutions that have helped advance the WB-57 program.

“This mission for NASA is another illustration of the versatility and value of the AIRS platform in support of a great partner,” he added.

DEMOSTRATION MISSION-1

Last month’s mission, known as Demonstration Mission-1, or DM-1, was seen as a significant step for SpaceX, the private space flight company, and NASA. The agency wants to launch its astronauts to the orbital laboratory from the U.S. aboard an American-built spacecraft — something it has not been able to do since retiring the Space Shuttle eight years ago.

The first-of-its-kind mission was designed to test Crew Dragon’s equipment, including its docking gear, as well as its systems for life support and re-entry, in an overall demonstration of its capabilities.

DM-1 began March 2, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft docked autonomously with the orbital laboratory on March 3. Throughout the flight, it carried a sensor-filled mannequin named Ripley to provide data about conditions inside the cabin.

Following Crew Dragon’s splashdown off the coast of Florida, scientists from NASA and SpaceX will now review the systems and flight data, including the AIRS recordings, to prepare for crewed flight.

Before that can happen, there will be an inflight abort test – and NASA’s WB-57 aircraft equipped with Southern Research’s AIRS turrets will again play a role in recording the critical moments in HD video for analysis.

Southern Research AIRS — The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule traveled to the International Space Station on a demonstration mission. (Image: NASA)

The in-flight abort test will demonstrate the ability of Crew Dragon to safely deliver astronauts back on Earth in case of a problem after lift-off, Casey said.

After that, the AIRS cameras will capture images of Crew Dragon’s DM-2 mission, which will carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. The milestone mission is targeted to take place this summer.

“We consider it an honor to support NASA and advance its core mission of exploration and discovery because that is exactly what Southern Research is all about,” Casey said.

EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY

Southern Research provides ongoing support of the AIRS platform on the WB-57F research planes based at Johnson Space Center under a contract with NASA that stretches back to 2011.

Southern Research’s engineers began working on the AIRS technology in 2003 in an effort to develop a high definition video imaging system capable of monitoring the NASA STS-114 Return to Flight shuttle launch following the Columbia accident.

Since the AIRS-equipped WB-57s were first used to provide full motion video of that mission in 2005, they have since monitored numerous launches and re-entries for government agencies such as NASA, as well as commercial launches.

From a height of 50,000 feet, the AIRS technology aboard a pair of NASA WB-57s captured spectacular visible light and infrared images of the total solar eclipse over the U.S. in August 2017.

Don Darrow, a Southern Research communications engineer who operated AIRS in one of those planes that day, was on the support team for the DM-1 mission.

Southern Research teams with Ina Research to boost presence in Japan

Posted on April 10, 2019

Southern Research and Japan’s Ina Research announced today they have formed a partnership that calls for Ina to help connect Southern Research with potential new customers for drug development services in the country with the world’s third largest pharmaceutical industry.

Under an agreement finalized in March, Ina Research now represents Southern Research as a sales agent and distributor to promote the Birmingham-based organization’s research services and capabilities in Japan.

“As two organizations focusing on the development of novel therapeutics, Southern Research and Ina Research share many cultural similarities, so this alliance has the potential to drive synergies between us,” said Art Tipton, Ph.D., president and CEO of Southern Research. “The partnership we have forged together also opens the door to possible scientific collaborations in the future.”

Kenshi Nakagawa, president and CEO of Ina Research, said the collaboration with Southern Research will serve to advance the missions of both organizations.

“Our partnership elevates the possibility that, working as a team, we can make important contributions to new drug development,” Nakagawa said.

Southern Research drug development — Southern Research’s Drug Development division conducts research for commercial clients and government agencies.

The partnership gives Southern Research immediate access to Ina’s established Japanese customer network, which includes around 90 pharmaceutical companies, 40 academic institutions and 30 chemical companies.

To boost sales and support revenue growth for Southern Research in Japan, Ina has launched a marketing campaign to elevate awareness of its U.S. partner in the industry and raise its profile at top Japanese scientific conferences.

In addition, Ina is forming a sales support team to create business opportunities for Southern Research in Japan, whose pharmaceutical market is projected to approach $80 billion in value next year, according to consulting firm GlobalData.

RESEARCH SPECIALTIES

Founded in 1974, Ina Research’s headquarters is in the city of Ina, located in the Nagano prefecture, and it operates offices in Tokyo and the Philippines. The firm’s shares are traded publicly on the JASDAQ exchange.

Ina’s scientists primarily conduct analysis and safety and efficacy studies for customers in the pharmaceutical industry, though the organization also works with companies that produce agricultural chemicals and medical equipment.

Research specialties including drug dependence studies, efficacy studies for central nervous system therapies, cancer studies, reproductive and developmental toxicity studies, and animal models.

Today, Ina is collaborating with Shinshu University to establish a research center on Ina’s campus to conduct non-clinical safety studies for CAR-T therapy, a promising form of immuno-oncology treatment. The project is funded by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development.

Southern Research’s work in drug discovery and development in fields including cancer and infectious disease stretches back decades.

The organization’s laboratories conduct research for government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), as well as for commercial clients.

Southern Research’s Drug Development division provides clients with a wide variety of nonclinical and clinical trial support services. It conducts in vitro and in vivo testing of small molecule compounds, vaccines, biologics and other test articles in therapeutic areas including infectious diseases, CNS disorders and cancer.

Southern Research taps April Brys to lead Drug Development division

Posted on April 3, 2019

Southern Research announced today that April M. Brys, Ph.D., an experienced life sciences executive with a strong track record in research and leadership roles, has been named vice president of the non-profit organization’s Drug Development division.

Over a long and successful career, Brys has consistently achieved strategic, financial and operational goals, making her the ideal leader for Drug Development at Southern Research, according to Art Tipton, president and CEO.

“April’s strong scientific and business background brings to Southern Research the leadership we sought to continue to grow and expand our Drug Development division,” Tipton said. “Her experience will be invaluable as we seek to build new capabilities within the division while also forging new relationships and identifying new business opportunities.”

Brys, whose first day at Birmingham-based Southern Research was Monday, said she looks forward to directing growth strategies for the Drug Development division, whose wide-ranging work has included evaluating bioterror threats and combatting diseases including influenza and HIV/AIDS.

“With an impressive history of exploring how to make medicines safer, improve vaccines and develop new therapeutics, Southern Research is well positioned to continue making important contributions in these areas,” Brys said.

“I am excited to join the organization and lead the effort to expand the Drug Development division’s capabilities and reach this year and beyond.”

Southern Research’s Drug Development division provides commercial and government clients with a wide variety of nonclinical and clinical trial support services. It conducts in vitro and in vivo testing of small molecule compounds, vaccines, biologics and other test articles in therapeutic areas including infectious disease, central nervous system disorders, and cancer.

Drug Development works alongside Southern Research’s Drug Discovery division to extend the Birmingham-based organization’s rich heritage of helping bring novel therapeutics to market.

Southern Research scientists have discovered seven drugs used in cancer treatments and conducted critical evaluations on a large number of medicines now being used to treat patients suffering from a sweeping range of illnesses.

LEADERSHIP ROLES

Brys joins Southern Research after nearly 19 years at Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle Memorial Institute, a global non-profit applied science and technology development organization.

For the past four years, she served as director of Battelle’s Clinical and Nonclinical Business Line, where she directed large multi-disciplinary research programs, managed key customer relationships and identified critical technology growth areas. In this role, Brys had full responsibility for a $120 million enterprise with a 350-person workforce serving both government and commercial market sectors.

During her tenure at Battelle, Brys also served as director of biomarker services and as a senior research scientist who rose to lead the Immunology Group within the organization’s biotechnology product line.

Before joining Battelle, she spent nearly five years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Brys earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Rutgers and master’s of philosophy and doctorate degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University.

Registration deadline approaches on internships for STEM educators

Posted on March 20, 2019

Southern Research is gearing up to train a new class of teachers from high schools across Alabama.

The organization’s Summer Internship Program for STEM Educators, or SIPSE, is entering its second year, and big changes are on the horizon.

The program has expanded to include 14 intern spots, up from six last year. It’s also moving beyond Birmingham, said Kathryn Lanier, Ph.D., Southern Research’s STEM Education Outreach Director.

“The whole idea of SIPSE is to make it a statewide program and to find other entities to host a teacher. This year, we worked hard to find partner organizations to host teachers, and we will be able to place a teacher at both the University of Alabama and the University of West Alabama,” she said.

SIPSE Fellows spend six weeks learning first-hand how scientists and engineers approach problems, design experiments, interpret data, communicate findings and develop and implement workplace solutions.

The program offers the educators real-world applications of the subjects they teach, as well as practical examples of science, technology, engineering and mathematics studies they can pass on to their students. Participants receive a $4,500 stipend.

Applications for the 2019 class of interns are due Friday.

IGNITING PASSION

Twelve positions will be located at Southern Research’s Birmingham campus, where they will be assigned specific projects and paired with researchers from the Drug Discovery, Drug Development and Energy and Environment divisions.

Project topics include bioprinting a 3-D tumor environment, identifying environmentally friendly production methods for commodity chemicals and studying the development and treatments for chronic sepsis and Parkinson’s disease.

The fellows at UA in Tuscaloosa and UWA in Livingston will work with professors at the schools, and their projects are tailored for those regions.

For instance, the UWA project is titled “Tapping into Microbial Diversity of Alabama’s Black Belt.” It involves identifying the microbial community in Black Belt soil to discover antibiotic-producing bacteria, as well as beneficial microbes for improvements in farming practices.

By the end of the summer, the fellows must devise a strategy to improve the way STEM subjects are taught in their classrooms, based on their internship experience. The program then provides $500 worth of supplies to implement the strategy.

STEM Southern Research — Kathryn Lanier directs STEM education outreach for Birmingham-based Southern Research.

Lanier said SIPSE has drawn a wide range of participants, from teachers with doctorate degrees to those who have never worked in a lab.

But for all of them, the program’s goal is the same: to ignite a passion for discovery that they take back to their students.

“The more teachers we can get in here and actually experience real science, the better,” Lanier said. “Maybe some of them majored in education, and the lab setting is new to them. Or maybe they’ve been doing this for a long time.

“Like anything you do in life, once you’ve been at it for a while, you just fall into a routine. We really want to get teachers in here and spark that love they had for science 20 years ago.”

EMPOWERING STUDENTS

Hoover High School teacher Janet Ort, who participated in last year’s SIPSE program, called it an amazing opportunity to delve into a subject, project or process far beyond the everyday classroom.

“Science teachers are a curious bunch,” she said. “We want to understand why and how things work. We want to investigate the world around us. We want to make it relevant and exciting for our students.”

But, she continued, classroom teaching rarely allows the freedom and support to truly explore.

Ort, inspired by how pollution issues in Birmingham and beyond impact people, developed a handheld, inexpensive environmental sensor to help local communities as part of her SIPSE project.

Her dream is for these sensors, both handheld and stationary, to be available across the state and around the globe, collecting data acquired by cell signals.

At Hoover High, Ort leads a team of students — the BioBucs — who last fall chose to focus on particle pollution and its human impact. The group tested sensors and compared methods of data visualization. They gathered data that proved particles were present, as well as the potential mitigating effect of trees.

They then submitted the project to the Lexus Eco Challenge, a national STEM competition, and won the Southeastern Regional High School section, which meant scholarship money and grants for the school. Last week, they entered an extension of the project to the Grand Challenge to compete with 15 other projects for four top prizes.

Ort said the students are excited about teaching others how to create the sensors, and they hope to put them into action across Birmingham and Alabama.

“The Southern Research SIPSE program quite literally changed my teaching and life by pushing me into directions I had never thought possible,” she said. “To empower students of all ages and really try to change the world is no small feat.”

EXPANSION GOALS

Lanier said she hopes SIPSE continues to expand in the coming years, by adding partners in Mobile, Huntsville, Auburn and other areas of Alabama.

The program complements Southern Research’s ongoing STEM education outreach efforts, including the new Birmingham STEM lab that hosts field trips and other events for students across the state.

SIPSE is a multiplier of those efforts, since it trains teachers who are then able to train students in STEM subjects more effectively and continue doing so with new students year after year.

The firsthand experience the program provides is a powerful teaching tool, Lanier said.

“When kids are in science and math class, and they’re asking, ‘When are we going to use this?’ a teacher can just point to Southern Research and talk about the things we do. But it’s an entirely different story when that teacher can say, ‘I was on the team that created this cancer drug, and that’s how you can use this.’

“It makes it more personal and more impactful, and they will be able to share the experience with their students for as long as they teach,” she said.

Southern Research team to design and model hybrid energy storage system in Department of Defense project

Posted on March 12, 2019

Southern Research is leading a team developing and implementing a hybrid energy storage system in a project funded by a Department of Defense (DoD) program that identifies innovative, cost-effective technologies and methods.

Southern Research’s Energy and Environment division, in collaboration with Arizona State University (ASU) and Bankable Energy | XENDEE will develop a microgrid energy storage modeling and design platform with integrated analytics and controls capability.

The primary objective of the project is to demonstrate the value of integrating multiple storage technologies and advanced controls to provide defense-ready microgrids that cost-effectively improve energy security and resilience performance compared to small-scale power delivery systems without storage.

Southern Research microgrid — A microgrid stands at the Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar, California, developed as part of a demonstration project. The Defense Department is interested in microgrids to allow operations to continue if the utility power grid is compromised.(Image: National Renewable Energy Laboratories)

The project is being funded by DoD’s Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), which demonstrates and validates environmental technologies. Its goal is to promote the transfer of innovative technologies that have established proof of concept to field or production use.

“The overall potential economic advantages of an optimized hybrid energy storage system revolve about reduced costs, improved payback potential, better system efficiency, enhanced reliability, and longer equipment lifetimes,” said Bill Chatterton, program manager for energy technology demonstrations at Southern Research.

UNLOCKING THE MARKET

The platform being developed by Southern Research and its partners will enable custom system design and control of a fully integrated, optimized hybrid energy storage system, or HESS. It will use a modular energy storage approach that’s economical and provides system flexibility and improved critical load coverage probability.

XENDEE’s modeling and design approach enables a reduction in microgrid design time of up to 90 percent. “When our team created the XENDEE platform, it understood the influence it would have in unlocking the microgrid market. We’re delighted to partner with Southern Research and ASU’s LEAPS team on the HESS platform,” said Adib Naslé, Founder and CEO of Bankable Energy | XENDEE.

Model predictive control techniques developed by ASU’s Laboratory for Energy and Power Solutions (LEAPS) will reduce system operational costs by as much as 35 percent and extend mission assurance out to 14 days for critical loads.

“Our analytics capability is coupled with hardware-level expertise gained in our Microgrid Test Bed that helps us connect simulations to practice and design microgrids that meet expectations,” said Nathan Johnson, Ph.D., director of LEAPS.

This core HESS approach, combining smaller systems of different technologies, has been demonstrated to provide a reduction in capital expenditures of 10 to 20 percent, with 30 percent lower operating costs. It’s also been shown to essentially double the expected equipment lifetime compared to a traditional energy storage system.

The initial microgrid design model considers four core energy storage system technologies that might be used in specific cases, based on their optimal charging/discharging rate, or C-rate. These technologies are ultra capacitors, Li-ion batteries, flow batteries, and sodium sulfur batteries.

ASU’s model predictive control techniques allow flexible, adaptive and market-aware dispatching of all energy storage and other generation sources on the microgrid. This control software is implemented on an industrial computer that connects with the storage system and the local utility using Schneider Electric’s ClearSCADA platform.

Southern Research expects to complete the design and modeling of the HESS platform this month and to apply for Phase II ESTCP funding to deploy and demonstrate system performance at a DoD installation in 2020.

Example XENDEE Optimization Report

3 new members join Southern Research Advisory Board

Posted on March 4, 2019

The Southern Research Advisory Board, comprised of emerging leaders in the Birmingham business community who are committed to enhancing the organization’s mission of scientific and engineering advancement, has added three new members.

Key Foster of McWane Inc., Angele Monconduit of Alabama Power, and Beeland Nielsen of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. UNITED joined the Advisory Board during its first quarter meeting on Feb. 21.

“Southern Research is making great strides in its endeavors today, and we are pleased that these three outstanding leaders have elected to contribute their time and talents to help support the organization’s mission of solving the world’s hardest problems,” said Advisory Board Chairman David Perry, vice president of Corporate Strategy at Protective Life Insurance Co.

KEY FOSTER

Foster joined McWane in 2011 and has responsibility for operating divisions focusing on high-tech companies and commercial real estate investments, as well as corporate development initiatives. Previously, Foster helped lead the turnaround of two public companies, advised Lehman Brothers during its bankruptcy, and executed $13 billion in mergers and acquisitions, financing and real estate transactions.

Foster has held senior management roles in public and private companies and has a successful track record leading early stage growth companies, corporate turnarounds, principal investments and corporate development. He was co-founder of Redmont Hospitality and served in senior roles at Gaylord Entertainment and the Trust Co. of Sterne, Agee & Leach.

Foster received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Washington and Lee University and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

ANGELE MONCONDUIT

Monconduit serves as the assistant to the executive vice president of External Affairs for Alabama Power. Since 2002, Monconduit has served in a variety of leadership roles responsible for ensuring the safe, reliable, and cost-effective operation and maintenance of the company’s generating power plants.

She is engaged with several civic and charitable organizations, including the Women’s Fund of Birmingham and the National Society of Black Engineers, where she co-hosts an engineering camp for over 200 Birmingham students every summer. She has been recognized by the Engineering Council of Birmingham for her service to the community and is a Distinguished Service Award recipient.

Monconduit graduated from the University of Evansville with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

BEELAND NIELSEN

As corporate senior director of Commercial Leadership at Coca-Cola Bottling Co. UNITED, Nielsen has responsibility for all commercial leadership and capability functions. He previously served as director of Commercial Leadership-Retail for the company, with responsibility for leading project development and implementation focusing on Go-To-Market processes, strategic route planning, commercial capabilities, and sales force automation.

Prior to joining Coca-Cola UNITED in 2004, he worked for Regions Bank as a management trainee and retail branch manager. He completed a comprehensive management training rotation in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and served as retail sales manager for Coca-Cola UNITED’s Tennessee Valley Division.

Nielsen received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from The University of the South, Sewanne and later completed an MBA at Vanderbilt University.

“The addition of these new members will enhance Southern Research’s relationship with the Birmingham business community,” said Watson Donald, the organization’s senior director of External Affairs. “They will join with the other Advisory Board members to provide us with valuable feedback on our multifaceted activities as they move forward in their own business careers.”

In addition to Perry, existing Advisory Board members are:

Alexia Borden, senior vice president and general counsel, Alabama Power
Jay Brandrup, principal, Kinetic Communications
Deon Gordon, president, TechBirmingham
Danny Markstein, managing director, Markstein;
Liz Pharo, managing partner, Featheringill Capital
Shannon Riley, president and CEO, One Stop Environmental
Elizabeth Scribner, analyst, Model Risk Management & Validation,
Regions Financial Corp.
Mitesh Shah, vice president and assistant general counsel, Vulcan Materials Co.

The Southern Research Advisory Board was established in 2015.

Southern Research’s GEMS event inspires students to explore STEM careers

Posted on February 22, 2019

High school and middle school girls from communities around Alabama visited Southern Research on Friday and left inspired about their future studies and possible careers in STEM fields.

The Birmingham campus hosted Girls Engaged in Math and Science, or GEMS, and its 2019 Project Showcase, “Ignite the Light in STEM!”

Southern Research STEM — Southern Research hosted high school and middle schools girls from around Alabama for a Girls Engaged in Math and Science (GEMS) event on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019.

Students showed off their projects that demonstrated STEM knowledge and skills. They also participated in interactive educational activities and experiments in the Southern Research STEM lab facilitated by Kathryn Lanier, Ph.D., STEM education outreach director, and Liz Johnson, Ph.D., STEM education specialist.

GEMS Coordinator Hailey Ridgeway said Lanier and Johnson are great female role models, one of the strategies the group uses to encourage girls in STEM.

“We hope the main impression they leave with is they can do anything they can put their mind to and they won’t be intimidated by math and science,” she said.

The students’ project expo covered a wide range of topics, including human blood types, the laws of motion and linear equations and slopes.

‘GIRL ON FIRE’

One project, called “Girl On Fire,” turned common electric circuits into modern fashion. Students from Chilton County High School adorned two prom dresses with LED lights that responded to motion and noise.

“I love to be creative, and I love designing things,” said Grace Tuell, a 17-year-old Chilton County High School student. “Having this project to work on for these last few months has been really fun and exciting.”

Tuell, who wants to be an electrical or mechanical engineer, plans to attend Jefferson State Community College and then transfer to Auburn University. The GEMS event offers an outlet for her and her peers to explore their interest in engineering and science, she said.

Jay LeCroy, STEM director for Chilton County Schools and a teacher at the system’s STEM Academy, said the dress project involved programming, soldering circuit boards and making circuits.

Those tasks have previously been identified by Southern Research as necessary for today’s high school students entering STEM studies, said LeCroy, a former fellow in SIPSE, Southern Research’s professional development program for high school educators.

In fact, Southern Research helped design the Chilton County course that formed the basis for the dress project.

ELEVATING INTEREST

GEMS, which Chilton County has participated in for 11 years, helps his students dive deeper into their STEM studies, LeCroy said. Over the years, his students’ GEMS projects have covered topics such as underwater robotics, hydrogen fuel cells, solar cells and physics of roller coasters.

Visiting Southern Research for this year’s event was a special treat for students, he added.

“Being in a small, country county, they don’t have a chance to network often with scientists and researchers, and coming here gives them the opportunity to do that,” he said.

Offered by the Alabama Department of Education, GEMS supports the national need to close the STEM gender gap, using teaching strategies to encourage girls’ self-confidence and elevate interest in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math.

Participating schools in Friday’s event included those in Anniston, Chilton County, Cullman County, Florence, Hoover, Montgomery and Shelby County.

GEMS has held previous events at The Birmingham Zoo and Dauphin Island. This year, kindergarten through second-grade girls went to McWane Science Center, while sixth- through 12^th-graders visited Southern Research.

BUILDING THE FUTURE

Lanier on Friday encouraged the students to pursue their interest in STEM and to not be discouraged by failure.

“The cool thing about being a scientist is failure,” she said.

She asked them to imagine themselves working on a complex project for years with experiments that keep failing. But late one night, the experiment finally works, and the feeling that follows is indescribable.

“Not only are you the only person in the world who knows that answer, you’re also the first. That’s a powerful feeling. You’ve got to embrace failure, and you’ve got to be brave,” she said.

Lanier told the students they could help build a movement of girls who are brave.

“Each and every one of you need to know that not only can you do this, but we need you to do this. You’re the key to building that future.”

Anniston Middle School students Adrianna Fitten and Miasia Dennis, who are both eyeing careers in the medical field, said the GEMS event has helped inspire their future plans.

“You are around other girls who are interested in science,” Fitten said. “It helps get you out of your comfort zone, and you make friends.”

Southern Research teams with UAB to launch 3 pilot studies

Posted on February 20, 2019

How certain bacteria may make people more prone to asthma is one topic of three research grants jointly funded by Southern Research and the UAB School of Medicine.

These new research pilots are the latest effort to harness synergies between researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Southern Research, a Birmingham-based nonprofit research institute with nearly 400 scientists and engineers.

The two other pilots seek an improved way to develop new vaccines and a new mouse model for a potentially dangerous, hereditary deficiency shared by 400 million people worldwide.

The cooperation began with a July 2018 research retreat, sponsored by Art Tipton, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Southern Research, and Etty “Tika” Benveniste, Ph.D., senior vice dean for Basic Sciences in the UAB School of Medicine.

“While our researchers work together in many areas, we strongly suspected there would be additional ones that would be possible if both sides knew the research capabilities of each side better,” Tipton said. “And we were correct.”

“We announced at the end of it that we would fund some joint pilot programs,” Benveniste said. “Proposals were submitted and reviewed, and now three programs have been funded.”

This program parallels one held for the UAB School of Engineering, the College of Arts and Sciences, and Southern Research that was announced last July. That symposium was so successful it was repeated this month, and it will have additional funded programs to be announced later this year.

The one-year, $25,000 pilots were selected for intellectual merit, originality, potential to win major research funding and ability to foster collaborations between Southern Research and UAB.

Here are brief descriptions of the three pilots.

Javier Campos-Gómez of Southern Research and Beatriz León of UAB (Image: UAB)

ASTHMA STUDY

This study is based on the observation that human lung infections with the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa are associated with more severe chronic cases of asthma and allergic sinusitis.

This suggests that the bacteria make people more susceptible to allergic airway inflammation, and that treating the lung infection could prevent severe asthma attacks. However, P.aeruginosa is often resistant to antibiotics.

The study is led by Southern Research principal investigator Javier Campos-Gómez, Ph.D., research associate biologist in the Department of Infectious Diseases, Drug Discovery Division, and UAB principal investigator Beatriz León, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology

Campos-Gómez and León will investigate a different way to stymie P.aeruginosa, by probing the molecular basis for increased susceptibility to allergic inflammation and asthma in infected patients. They have preliminary evidence that a certain metabolite of P.aeruginosa may affect the immune response to allergens, and this could offer a new path to treatment therapies.

VACCINE DEVELOPMENT

Braden McFarland of UAB and Raj Kalkeri of Southern Research (Image: UAB)

This study starts with the understanding that the bacteria found in the human gastrointestinal track are necessary for the development of our immune system. However, 85 percent of bacteria found in the guts of laboratory mice are not found in the guts of humans, implying that vaccine efficacy evaluation with regular laboratory mice might not translate to humans.

The study is led by Southern Research principal investigator Raj Kalkeri, Ph.D., MBA, subject matter expert for infectious disease research in the Drug Development division, and UAB principal investigator Braden McFarland, Ph.D., instructor in the Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology.

Kalkeri and McFarland hope to bridge the knowledge gap through vaccine evaluation in humanized microbiome mice — mice that have human donor bacteria in their gastrointestinal tracts. This might be a better model to test potential human vaccine efficacy, as well as help reveal how gut microbes affect vaccine protection.

SAFETY OF THERAPEUTIC DRUGS

Babu L. Tekwani of Southern Research and Robert P. Kimberly of UAB (Image: UAB)

This study involves the hereditary condition called glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, or G6PD, enzyme deficiency that affects more than 400 million people worldwide.

This enzyme deficiency can make people susceptible to drug-induced hemolytic anemia, and it can also limit use of several important drugs in public health. Yet development of safer drugs for these 400 million people has been hampered by lack of suitable experimental models for the enzyme deficiency.

The study is led by Southern Research principal investigator Babu L. Tekwani Ph.D., distinguished fellow and chair of infectious diseases in the Drug Discovery division, and UAB researchers in the Center for Clinical and Translational Science, Jennifer A. Croker, Ph.D., director of Administration, and Robert P. Kimberly, M.D., director.

Tekwani and colleagues will establish a model for the enzyme deficiency in humanized-immunocompromised mice, and then investigate the mechanism of drug-induced hemolytic anemia. This mouse model also should be useful to develop safer drug alternatives. Tekwani and his group are working on improving the safety of antimalarial drugs in populations with G6PD deficiency.

New bacterial signaling language offers pathway to treat infections

Posted on February 19, 2019

Scientists at the microbiology lab led by Javier Campos-Gómez, Ph.D., in Drug Discovery at Southern Research discovered that Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium responsible for severe, drug-resistant infections in humans, uses a family of fatty acids, known as “oxylipins,” in a cell-to-cell signaling language critical for its virulence.

The Campos-Gómez team was established to explore novel ways to fight infectious disease, so when Campos-Gómez’s long-standing colleague and team member, Eriel Martínez, Ph.D., suggested that oxylipin molecules could represent the “words” of a new type of P. aeruginosa bacterial language, the laboratory immediately began investigating that hypothesis.

While bacteria use other chemical molecules in signaling systems, the scientists say this is the first time that oxylipins, which are commonly recognized signaling factors in animals, plants and even fungi, have been shown to play a part in cell-to-cell communication in any bacterium.

Pseudomonas Southern Research — Southern Research scientists Eriel Martinez, left, and Javier Campos-Gómez have discovered a new cell-to-cell signaling language in a bacterium blamed for dangerous infections.

“Bacteria talk to each other using chemical signaling molecules,” Martinez said. “This allows bacteria to work together to achieve functions that couldn’t be achieved as individuals. Our study reports a new bacterial language that uses oxylipins as words.”

The researcher’s findings suggest that disrupting oxylipin production by P. aeruginosa will defend against a bacterial infection the World Health Organization (WHO) has named a serious threat to human health.

“This is important because we can design a new generation of antibiotics that target this oxylipin pathway,” Campos-Gómez said.

A paper titled “Oxylipins mediate cell-to-cell communication in Pseudomonas aeruginosa,” published this month in Communications Biology, a new peer-reviewed, open-access journal of the Nature group, outlines the new findings.

Read the paper published by Communications Biology.

BIOFILM FORMATION

Bacteria mainly communicate via what’s called “quorum sensing,” which involves the production of various small molecules that function as “words” of the bacterial language. In P. aeruginosa, oxylipins function as new “words” in a novel quorum sensing system, the Southern Research scientists found.

This system controls the changing roles of genes in a bacteria community, turning some on and others off. In P. aeruginosa, the oxylipins are synthesized from oleic acid, a specific fatty acid, which is abundant in the tissue of a host organism, including humans.

The scientists previously found that these oxylipin molecules play a key role in the formation of the biofilm that acts as a shield to protect P. aeruginosa from attack by the human immune system and from antibiotics. (See original publication here).

“This is a step forward. Now, we know more about how oxylipins function in P. aeruginosa. They are signaling molecules involved in regulating biofilm formation and virulence,” Campos-Gómez said.

‘DISARMING THE BACTERIA’

Southern Research pseudomonas — Eriel Martinez is a research scientist in the Campos-Gómez lab at Southern Research.

In 2017, the WHO included P. aeruginosa in its first-ever list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health. P. aeruginosa was listed in the most critical group of multidrug resistant bacteria in need of a new therapeutic treatment option.

The WHO has warned the bacteria in this group pose a particular threat in hospitals, nursing homes, and among patients whose care requires devices such as ventilators and blood catheters. They can cause severe and often deadly conditions such as bloodstream infections and pneumonia.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 51,000 health-care associated P. aeruginosa infections occur in the United States each year. More than 6,000 of these, around 13 percent of the total, are multidrug resistant, with roughly 400 deaths, according to the CDC.

“P. aeruginosa is one of the toughest bacterial infections to cure because it is able to form this biofilm that makes it very resilient against antibiotics,” Campos-Gómez said.

The Southern Research scientists have already developed a high throughput assay to identify small molecules that block the production of oxylipins in P. aeruginosa and have identified a couple of promising compounds.

“We are trying to develop a new generation of antibiotics that do not directly kill the bacteria, reducing the odds that it will develop resistance to the drug,” Campos-Gómez said. “We want to disarm the bacteria, so that the immune system takes care of the bacteria itself.”

Southern Research to host 65 students for statewide STEM GEMS event

Posted on February 18, 2019

A statewide program that encourages girls to pursue careers in STEM fields will hold its annual expo at Southern Research this week, highlighting the ingenuity and creativity of students from across Alabama.

Girls Engaged In Math and Science, also known as GEMS, will hold “Ignite the Light in STEM!” Friday at the Birmingham campus. The event will feature female role models from Southern Research: Kathryn Lanier, Ph.D., STEM education outreach director, and Liz Johnson, Ph.D., STEM education specialist.

There’s a full slate of STEM-related activities planned for about 65 students, including a project showcase, interactive educational activities, breakout sessions, experiments in the Southern Research STEM lab and a keynote address by Lanier.

Lanier said she’s a big supporter of the current push to draw more girls into STEM fields, but she wants to make it clear to students that it’s not about promoting their gender.

“A lot of times, when girls apply for something competitive and they get it, there’s this automatic thought, ‘Oh it’s because I’m a girl.’ And that’s not the case here. It’s not that we want girls to go into STEM to promote women’s rights, it’s because these fields need the unique perspective a female can offer.

“It’s not just that we want girls in STEM, it’s that we need girls in STEM,” she added.

CLOSING THE GAP

Participating schools include those in Anniston, Chilton County, Cullman County, Florence, Hoover, Montgomery and Shelby County.

This is the 11^th year for the annual GEMS expo, which has been previously held at Birmingham’s McWane Science Center. This year’s event for the younger girls is still being held at McWane, but the older girls will be at Southern Research.

“The whole Martin Library will be full of Alabama teen and tween girls, showing off projects they have been working on all year,” Lanier said.

Project cover a wide range of topics, such as electric circuits, laws of motion and the makeup of human blood types.

Hands-on projects facilitated by Southern Research that day will include the making of Harry Potter wands. The students will learn about circuits, using a wooden dowel, LED light, battery, copper tape and binder clip.

In other projects, students will build their own wind turbines using 3D printing technology and study ocean acidification using cabbage juice as a universal indicator.

“We are excited and honored to partner with GEMS and support the important mission of closing the gender gap in STEM fields,” said Art Tipton, Ph.D., Southern Research President and CEO. “This aligns perfectly with our own goal of building the pipeline of future researchers and scientists who will tackle the world’s hardest problems for generations to come.”

STEM OUTREACH

Southern Research STEM education — Southern Research expanded its STEM education program to introduce students to careers in science and engineering.

Lanier said she believes the continued efforts toward girls in STEM will have a lasting effect.

“I am the ultimate STEMinist,” she said. “For my generation, being a woman in STEM means you don’t look like everybody else. I don’t fit in with the average STEM person. But I believe our little girls will someday.”

Lanier joined Southern Research in 2017 and has been actively increasing the organization’s STEM outreach efforts across Alabama.

Two or three schools visit the Birmingham campus each week on field trips, getting hands-on experience in the Southern Research STEM lab.

In addition, the application period for SIPSE opened last week. This is a professional development program for high school teachers and provides paid summer internships for 9^th through 12^th grade educators.

SIPSE is expanding this year, from six participants in Birmingham last summer to 12 or 13 in Birmingham this summer, along with one to be placed at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Meanwhile, high school students can apply to participate in the Drone Academy Program, a free weeklong summer camp where they will be able to 3D print their own drone.

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