UGA Columns June 30, 2014 by UGA Columns

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The University of Georgia

Organic Twilight Tour to be held July 10 at Durham Horticulture Farm CAMPUS NEWS

Georgia Museum of Art exhibition to feature Hitchcock-inspired art Vol. 41, No. 38

June 30, 2014

www.columns.uga.edu

UGA GUIDE

$3.15M grant aims to improve chronic disease management By Rebecca Ayer alea@uga.edu

Sue Myers Smith

Arthur, a cat that underwent a kidney transplantation surgery in May at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, sits with, from left, Tony Lacaria, Arthur’s co-owner; Jennifer Washburn, a fourth-year student from St. Matthew’s University School of Veterinary Medicine; Frederick Petrick Jr., Arthur’s co-owner; and Dr. Chad Schmiedt, Arthur’s surgeon.

Cat’s meow

UGA veterinary surgeons use feline adult stem cells in kidney transplant By Kat Yancey Gilmore kygilmor@uga.edu

Surgeons in UGA’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital successfully performed a kidney transplant in a domestic cat, using stem cells harvested from the patient to optimize the cat’s acceptance of the new kidney. The surgery, performed in May, is the second successful feline kidney transplant using feline adult stem cells performed at the hospital. “To the best of our knowledge, UGA is the only veterinary facility in the world to use adult stem cells in feline kidney transplantation,” said Dr. Chad Schmiedt, a boardcertified small animal surgeon who heads UGA’s feline kidney transplant program. The transplant patient, Arthur, is

a nearly 4-year-old flame point Siamese male.The cat’s owners brought him from Virginia to undergo the procedure at UGA. Arthur was diagnosed with chronic renal failure about a year ago. Two other veterinary teaching hospitals declined to perform Arthur’s surgery due to possible complications. Cyclosporine is a drug that suppresses the immune system so that the donated organ is less likely to be rejected. Tests showed Arthur’s body did not absorb as much cyclosporine as desired. In his initial meeting with Arthur’s owners, Schmiedt suggested using feline adult stem cells, otherwise known as mesenchymal stem cells or MSCs, as part of Arthur’s immunosuppressive protocol. “We used feline adult stem cells

in one other transplant that we did last year,” said Schmiedt, who noted a growing body of studies detailing the successful use of adult stem cells in human renal transplants. A study published in 2012 found the use of MSCs during renal transplant surgery in humans lowered the risk of acute organ rejection and decreased the risk of infection. The study also found patients had better estimated renal function one year after surgery. The first cat to receive mesenchymal stem cells during a kidney transplant at UGA’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital in 2013 is still doing well. “We closely follow all of our transplant cases and stay in touch with both the referring veterinarians

See TRANSPLANT on page 4

College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

UGA researchers collaborate with scientists to unlock common bean’s genetic makeup By J. Merritt Melancon jmerritt@uga.edu

Beans are a staple crop and primary protein source for millions of people around the world, but very little has been known about their domestication or nitrogen-fixing properties until now. Recently, UGA researchers worked with a team of scientists to help sequence and analyze the genome of the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris. Black beans, pinto

beans, kidney beans, green beans, pole beans and others are varieties of the common bean. Scott Jackson, director of the UGA Center for Applied Genetic Technologies in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Dan Rokhsar of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Jeremy Schmutz of the DOE JGI and the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and Phil McClean of North Dakota State University led the team. Their

work appeared in the June 8 issue of Nature Genetics. The project was supported by the DOE Office of Science, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the National Science Foundation. “Unlocking the genetic makeup of the common bean is a tremendous achievement that will lead to future advances in feeding the world’s growing population through

See BEAN on page 4

Researchers in the College of Public Health received a fiveyear, $3.15 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The grant is aimed at improving opportunities for individuals to better manage their chronic illness in the workplace. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer are the leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. These diseases often can be prevented or better managed with early detection, improved diet, exercise and interactions with health care professionals. Dual principal investigators leading the grant are Mark Wilson, associate dean and a professor, and Matthew Lee Smith, an assistant

Matthew Lee Smith

Mark Wilson

professor, both in the health promotion and behavior department. “It is estimated that the number of workers between the ages of 65 and 74 will increase by 83 percent from 2006 to 2016, and those ages 75 and older will increase by 84 percent,” Wilson said. “Many of these older workers will have one or more chronic diseases.” Obesity is also a major concern, Wilson said. The rates for obesityrelated chronic conditions are

See GRANT on page 4

academic affairs

Deputy university librarian named head of UGA Libraries By Sam Fahmy

sfahmy@uga.edu

Toby Graham, who has served in a variety of leadership roles at the UGA Libraries for more than a decade, has been named university librarian and associate provost following a national search. His appointment is effective Sept. 1. “Toby Graham is an outstanding choice to lead the University Libraries,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “He has the background, personality, drive and dedication to move the libraries forward in the coming years.” Graham has served as deputy university librarian since 2009, a role in which he supported strategic planning, administration

and resource allocation for the libraries and oversaw fundraising. He also directs the university’s Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Toby Graham Library and oversees the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries, which holds 70,000 cubic feet of archives, 200,000 volumes and 200,000 media items. “Dr. Graham has been at the forefront of making the resources of our libraries—both in physical and digital forms—available to support our teaching,

See LIBRARIAN on page 4

Office of the Vice President for Research

New seed funding program to strengthen GRU-UGA research ties By Sam Fahmy

sfahmy@uga.edu

Georgia Regents University and UGA will expand their research collaborations through a new program designed to help inter-institutional teams of faculty successfully compete for externally funded research grants. Up to $250,000 will be available to inter-institutional teams of faculty through the GRU-UGA Seed Funding Program, with a maximum award of $75,000 per team.The seed

funding comes from state funding provided for expansion of the Medical College of Georgia at GRU to create a medical partnership with UGA through an Athens campus. It will enable faculty to generate preliminary data that give them a competitive edge as they seek funding from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and private foundations. “This is yet another terrific opportunity resulting from

See FUNDING on page 4

June 30, 2014 columns.uga.edu

Digest UGA Trial Gardens to host visitors at 32nd annual open house July 12

The UGA Trial Gardens will host its 32nd annual open house July 12 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Every year at the Trial Gardens’ open house, visitors get an up close view of a new class of vetted ornamentals—ranging from brilliantly colored flowers to hardy shrubs. Dozens of new perennials should be in bloom during this year’s open house, in addition to an array of roses and the gardens’ 2014 rotation of annuals. Located between Snelling Dining Commons and the R. C. Wilson Pharmacy Building, the gardens display hundreds of annuals and perennials from plant breeders around the world. Plant nurseries and breeding companies send hundreds of new plants each year and fund the gardens by paying to have their plants evaluated. Their goal is to see if their plants can survive in the hot and rainfall-variable Southeast. The money goes toward the gardens’ upkeep and a team of student workers who keep the gardens running. The Trial Gardens also serve as a teaching and research facility for the horticulture and other academic departments. The open house will be held rain or shine. The gardens staff requests a $5 donation to help offset the cost of the event and support the gardens. Parking will be available in the South Campus parking deck. For more information, see ugatrial.hort.uga.edu or email contact@ugatrialgardens.com.

UGA Obesity Initiative

Conference highlights latest in imaging, musculoskeletal health By James Hataway jhataway@uga.edu

Researchers from academia and industry gathered in Athens June 12 for a conference hosted by the UGA Obesity Initiative to discuss medical imaging technologies and how they might be used in the ongoing battle against obesity. “The goal of the conference was to increase knowledge among scientists from multiple disciplines using imaging to assess fat, bone and muscle in clinical and basic research,” said Richard Lewis, a UGA Foundation Professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences’ department of foods and nutrition. The meeting drew attendees from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Regents University, the Morehouse School of Medicine, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Delaware and UGA. “This conference presented an excellent opportunity for imaging experts working at UGA’s Bioimaging Research Center to meet and discuss techniques with other research experts contending with an ever growing obesity problem,” said Stephen Miller, director of BIRC and a professor of psychology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. “BIRC is a strong supporter of the development and use of noninvasive imaging techniques of multiple types

of body tissues including bone, muscle and fat,” said Miller, who took guests on a tour of the BIRC laboratory to showcase the technologies available at UGA. Panel discussions included presentations by UGA graduate students Joseph Kindler from the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Qingying Meng from Franklin College and Hui-ju Young from the College of Education. They discussed their research projects involving imaging of visceral adipose tissue, bone architecture, brain development and intramuscular fat. Attendees also heard from three speakers who detailed how they are using imaging techniques in a variety of obesity-related projects. Mark Punyanitya, president and CEO of the Image Reading Center in New York City, began the afternoon session by discussing the technical aspects of imaging for body composition assessments, including the use of different imaging techniques to determine levels of visceral, muscle and bone marrow fat. Christopher Modlesky, an associate professor of kinesiology and physiology in the University of Delaware’s College of Health Sciences, described how he uses MRI to study the skeletal structures and fat deposits in children with cerebral palsy. They often have weakened

division of public affairs

UGA Food Services listed as part of ‘Healthy 15’ by food service magazine

WUGA-TV to air ‘Music for the Tsars’

UGA Food Services is one of 15 food service operations in the U.S. featured in FoodService Director magazine for promoting healthy food. The magazine’s “Healthy 15” list highlighted UGA Food Services’ ability to provide nutritional standards even with more than 300 menu options. These standards include nutritional labeling, vegetarian and vegan options, and menus that cater to specialized diets. The magazine also mentioned Food Services’ use of registered dietitians who educate students on nutritional principles. According to the article, UGA Food Services has been a resource for the U.S. Olympic Team’s nutrition research assistant, the U.S. Navy and five major universities. Other food service providers on the list of 15 included North Carolina State University, the University California San Francisco Medical Center and West Virginia University Healthcare.

Why I Give Name: Cheri Hoy

Georgia Fund 2014

Position: Associate dean for faculty and finance in the College of Education Cheri Hoy

At UGA: 31 years

Beneficiary of her gifts to the university: Various funds in the College of Education Why she contributes: “I love supporting students and recognizing fellow faculty. Some students really struggle to meet the cost of an education. I especially like to support scholarships that support those students. Many times the departments of retiring faculty will establish a scholarship in the faculty member’s name. Supporting these scholarships is a great way to fund students and recognize longtime colleagues.”

To make your contribution to the Georgia Fund, please contact the Office of Annual Giving at 706-542-8119.

bones due to a lack of physical activity, which can lead to painful breaks. Modlesky’s team is investigating the use of botulinum toxin and vibration therapy as a way to boost bone and muscle development in children with spastic cerebral palsy. Timothy Nagy, a professor of nutrition sciences and director of the Animal Physiology Core at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, discussed how animal models help scientists understand the various mechanisms regulating energy expenditure and body weight. He showed a number of unique imaging devices designed specifically for small laboratory animals like mice and rats, which his laboratory uses to examine the health effects of excess body fat. Nagy emphasized the use of advanced imaging techniques to understand the roles of different fat types and how they affect health. “These new imaging technologies will help pave the way as we continue to explore the role of obesity on disease progression and prevention,” Lewis said. In addition to the Obesity Initiative, the conference was sponsored by BIRC; UGA’s Office of the President, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, the Office of the Vice President for Research; and Georgia Regents University’s Institute for Regenerative and Reparative Medicine.

Robert Tate

Organic Twilight Tour to be held July 10

UGA organic and sustainable agriculture experts will host the annual Organic Twilight Tour July 10 from 6-8 p.m. at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Durham Horticulture Farm, 1221 Hog Mountain Road, Watkinsville. Admission is free, and a rain date has been set for July 17 from 6-8 p.m. The open house will be a chance for farmers and gardeners to learn about some of the newest research being conducted on the 90-acre farm, where the college’s organic research plots are located. Researchers and students will give talks and describe demonstration plots where the latest organic cultivation practices are tested. “There’s always new research at the horticulture farm that farmers, gardeners and the community will be interested in,” said Kate Munden-Dixon, a program assistant with Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education housed in the college’s crop and soil sciences department. “This is a great chance to come learn directly from the researchers and see the plots.” Past Organic Twilight Tours have attracted more than 100 visitors to the Durham Horticulture Farm. The 2014 Organic Twilight Tour is sponsored by Southern SARE, the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Georgia Organics and the Piedmont Beginning Farmers Development Partnership.

Music for the Tsars is now being shown on WUGA-TV, the public television station owned and operated by UGA. Broadcast dates and times are available at wugatv.org. “The 90-minute documentary reveals one of the little-known treasures of the music world and, for the first time, brings a performance of that thrilling music from Russia to UGA,” said Jimmy Sanders, station director. Music for the Tsars follows three UGA graduate students, George C. Foreman, director of the university’s Performing Arts Center, and John Lynch, UGA director of bands, on a trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia, as they bring a rediscovered set of band marches, once performed for the Russian tsars, to the UGA campus. It is believed those band marches had never been performed outside of Russia, according to Sanders. The UGA group traveled to St. Petersburg to study the manuscript scores of three marches written by the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. He composed the marches in honor of Tsar Nicholas I in the early 1800s. The graduate students edited and prepared the marches so they could be performed using modern-day instruments. The UGA Wind Ensemble performed the rediscovered music in a concert on campus in the fall of 2013. Portions of that performance are included in Music for the Tsars. The documentary was videotaped against the backdrop of Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral, the Hermitage and other historical sites that bring to life the rich history of Russia. “This documentary explores how UGA faculty and students uncovered works that were later performed in America,” said Melissa Jackson, executive producer-writer for WUGA-TV. “It incorporates the cross-cultural partnership that brought those ancient musical treasures to the University of Georgia.”

For a complete listing of events I 7 8 5 at the University of Georgia, check the Master Calendar on the Web (calendar.uga.edu/). The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified. Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.

GUIDE UGA

The short film “Sick Building” is part of the exhibition Bernd Oppl: Inhabited Interiors on view through Sept. 16 at the Georgia Museum of Art.

Georgia Museum of Art to show Hitchcock-inspired video art By Jess Hennenfent jesslh21@uga.edu

The exhibition Bernd Oppl: Inhabited Interiors is on display through Sept. 16 in the Georgia Museum of Art’s Alonzo and Vallye Dudley Gallery, which focuses on new-media art. The exhibition was organized by Laura Valeri, associate curator of European art. It consists of three short films inspired by the work of Alfred Hitchcock and horror film aesthetics: Hotel Room, Flock and Sick Building. Oppl builds miniature architectural models, then introduces an unpredictable element into the scene and films the result, often rotating the model to produce visual effects. For example, Flock features a home inhabited by a strange, dark dust cloud, while in Sick Building a gelatinous substance drips from floor to ceiling. “Oppl’s painstaking process

Campus construction Baxter street at Lumpkin Street Through July 18. The blocks of Baxter and Lumpkin streets adjacent to the new Bolton Dining Commons construction site will be repaved. This will be preceded by resetting of the manhole covers in the area through July 11. Motorists should expect delays. The dates for this work could shift due to weather. Bolton Dining Commons Through July 31. Construction is nearing completion on the new Bolton Dining Commons on Baxter at Lumpkin streets. Intermittent lane closures on the adjacent streets may be necessary from time to time. The pedestrian bridge over Tanyard Creek at the site is closed during construction as are sidewalks adjacent to the site along Baxter and Lumpkin streets. Pedestrians should follow signage and use crosswalks to move to the opposite sides of

is especially interesting to me,” Valeri said. “He spends a lot of time watching films to ‘collect samples’ to synthesize into one model, which he sketches on a computer. Then, he searches for the perfect material to invade the space—in the case of Flock, poppy seeds—and finally builds and mechanizes the model. In the final product, the model looks like a life-size interior, and the poppy seeds look like dust or a shadow.” By having the moving images seem to defy the laws of physics, Oppl attempts to make the viewer question reality. “In the end, the video camera is the middle man, and it completely changes our perception, ” Valeri said. “Oppl calls it ‘the displacement of the eye by camera.’ ” The films themselves range from four to seven minutes. Oppl’s art has appeared in film festivals all over the world, including Croatia and the Netherlands.

June/July

Science Learning Center Through Aug. 25. Preparatory work for construction of the Science Learning Center is underway. The site is bounded by Carlton Street, D.W. Brooks Mall, Pharmacy South and the McPhaul Center parking lot. The central crossdrive in the current parking lot was fenced off May 19, and two rows of parking spaces closest to Carlton Street between the greenhouses and the Coliseum Training Facility were closed off. The remaining parking spaces between the greenhouses and the Coliseum Training Facility are available only from the Sanford Drive entrance. On July 25, the entire area will be fenced in for the duration of the SLC construction project, which is scheduled to be completed by July 31, 2016. Foley Baseball Stadium Through Jan. 31, 2015. East Rutherford Street adjacent to Foley Field will be closed to all traffic from June through August. Pinecrest Drive adjacent to Foley Field is closed to all traffic in June. One lane of East Rutherford Street will open, and the lane closest to the stadium will be closed September through October. Sidewalks adjacent to the stadium will be closed throughout the construction period. Veterinary Medical Learning Center Through Jan. 31, 2015. Minimal disruptions for traffic and pedestrians are expected at the project site on College Station Road at Barnett Shoals Road. Correll Hall Through May 31, 2015. The site is bounded by Lumpkin, Baxter and Hull streets. Pedestrian access from the area of Lumpkin Street at Baldwin Street will be re-routed.

EXHIBITIONS Natural History of Georgia. Through June 30. Hargrett Library Gallery, Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. 706-542-7123, mebrooks@uga.edu.

Lumpkin and Baxter streets away from the construction site. The facility will be open for the start of fall semester, and a dedication ceremony is set for Sept. 4 at 10 a.m.

Picturing America: Signature Works from the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. Through Aug. 24. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

Stegeman Coliseum Through Aug. 7. There will be intermittent lane and sidewalk closures on Carlton and Smith streets on either side of Stegeman Coliseum weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Some access points along the perimeter of Stegeman Coliseum will be closed temporarily at times.

Women, Art and Social Change. Through Aug. 31. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

Hull Street Through Aug. 8. The portion of Hull Street immediately adjacent to the Correll Hall construction site will be closed to allow for utility and infrastructure work that will serve Correll Hall. Vehicle and pedestrian access to the Hull Street Parking Deck will be maintained.

Shapes That Talk to Me. Through Oct. 19. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by the Division of Public Affairs. Notices are published here as space permits, with priority given to items of multidisciplinary interest. The Master Calendar is available online at calendar.uga.edu/.

columns.uga.edu June 30, 2014

Bernd Oppl: Inhabited Interiors. Through Sept. 16. Alonzo and Vallye Dudley Gallery, Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu. (See story, above left).

TUESDAY, JULY 1 Classes End for Summer Short Session I

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Midterm, Withdrawal Deadline for Thru Term Sir James Galway Flute Festival Closing Concert A performance by the Festival Flute Choir under the direction of Sir James Galway. Free but tickets are required. 7 p.m. Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4400.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 2 Registration for Summer Short Session II Summer Short Session I Final Exams Tour at Two 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

THURSDAY, JULY 3 Add/Drop period for Summer Short Session II Through July 8.

Randall Bramblett to give acoustic performance July 8 By Kimberly Parks kimparks@uga.edu

The second performance in the Sunflower Concert Series at the State Botanical Garden will take place July 8 and feature Randall Bramblett. Bramblett will deliver an intimate acoustic performance.Dodd Ferrelle will open the concert. The Sunflower Concert Series features an array of musicians performing on Tuesdays this summer from 7-9 p.m. in the terraced Flower Garden. Tickets are $15 each or $5 for children ages 6-12. Season tickets for all concerts are $50, $15 for children ages 6-12. The remaining concerts in the series include: • Aug. 26-Grogus; Steve Dancz opening. Grogus returns to the garden to perform upbeat Latin jazz, traditional Cuban and Caribbean styles and funk versions of jazz standards. • Sept. 30-Klezmer Local 42; Mary Sigalas opening. Klezmer Local 42 will perform toetapping Eastern European style dance tunes packed with emotion. Saint Francis, with Rachel O’Neal opening, performed June 10. For more information or to purchase tickets, see botgarden. uga.edu or call 706-542-9353.

Classes Begin for Summer Short Session II

FRIDAY, JULY 4 Independence Day Holiday No classes; offices closed.

TUESDAY, JULY 8 concert Randall Bramblett will deliver an intimate acoustic performance. $15; $5 for children ages 6-12. Part of the Sunflower Concert Series. 7 p.m. Terraced Flower Garden, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-9353, mmccoy1@uga.edu. (See story, below left).

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9 Tour at Two 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu. Staff Council Meeting Guest speaker: Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. 2:30 p.m. 207 Miller Learning Center.

THURSDAY, JULY 10 Blood Drive 11 a.m. Memorial Hall. Organic Twilight Tour 6 p.m. Durham Horticulture Farm, 1221 Hog Mountain Road, Watkinsville. Rain date: July 17, 6-8 p.m. 706-542-9724, jmerritt@uga.edu. (See photo, page 2). Film Screening Young Mr. Lincoln. Part of the Picturing America Film Series sponsored by UGA Parents and Families Association. 7 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

SATURDAY, JULY 12 Trial gardens Open House John Ruter, the director of the Trial Gardens and a UGA professor of horticulture, will lead garden tours. $5 donation requested. 9 a.m. Trial Gardens. 770-298-9151, trial-gardens@uga.edu. (See Digest, page 2).

SUNDAY, JULY 13 Spotlight Tour 3 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

coming up Midterm, Withdrawal deadline for Summer Short Session II July 17 Film Screening July 17. Native Land. Part of the Picturing America Film Series sponsored by UGA Parents and Families Association. 7 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

To submit a listing for the master calendar and columns: Use the Master Calendar website: calendar.uga.edu/ or send by campus mail to Master Calendar, Public Affairs, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.

Send additional information, beyond Master Calendar listing, directly to Columns. Email is preferred (columns@uga.edu); or mail to Columns, News Service, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.

Next Columns copy deadlines: July 2 (for July 14 issue), July 16 (for July 28 issue).

BEAN from page 1

June 30, 2014 columns.uga.edu

TRANSPLANT from page 1

FUNDING from page 1

as well as the owners for the life of the patient,” Schmiedt said. Mesenchymal stem cells can be derived from fat, bone marrow and neonatal tissues such as placenta or umbilical cord. Schmiedt harvested fat cells from Arthur, and the UGA Regenerative Medicine Service grew the stem cells from the fat sample prior to Arthur’s surgery. The service laboratory is managed by research professionals Merrilee Thoresen and Jenny Mumaw, who is enrolled in the college’s doctor of veterinary medicine program and will graduate in 2016. The service is headed by Dr. John Peroni, a boardcertified large animal surgeon and associate professor whose research focus includes stem cell therapeutics. Arthur’s transplant surgery was conducted May 15. The renal transplant process involves two surgeries: one to harvest a kidney from the donor cat and the other to transplant the donated kidney into the recipient. Each surgery is a two- to three-hour procedure, Schmiedt said. Arthur’s new kidney was donated by a cat named Joey, who had been part of a research program in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The feline transplant program at the UGA Veterinary Teaching Hospital requires that the donor cat be adopted by the recipient cat’s family—so Joey and Arthur will become lifelong playmates. Joey’s new owners have contacted the teaching hospital’s Behavior Medicine Service for advice on helping Joey transition to his new home. Arthur will continue to receive stem cell treatments. His initial treatment was given during the transplant surgery, and additional stem cells will be shipped to Arthur’s veterinarian, who will then give repeated doses to him. “Cat owners who seek kidney transplants for their sick cats have to be very dedicated,” Schmiedt said. “They will give their cat medication twice a day for the rest of its life.They also must be willing to take their cats to the veterinarian for frequent medical checkups. A significant amount of time and expense is involved in keeping the recipient and donor cats healthy. But cat lovers who will go to this extent typically are willing to extend this kind of care to all cats they own.”

our partnership with UGA,” said Dr. Peter F. Buckley, MCG dean. “When we began our discussions about collaborative educational efforts years ago, one of our many goals was increased joint research endeavors as well, another logical point of synergy for two great research universities. Particularly at this time when external research funding is so competitive, this seed funding from our medical school will enable new research partnerships and the generation of findings that help secure external funding and strengthen the economic and physical well-being of our state and our nation.” “This new program builds on the long history of collaboration between the University of Georgia and Georgia Regents University, and it strengthens both institutions and the state we serve,” said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “By bringing some of Georgia’s greatest minds together, we’re creating new opportunities for advances across a myriad of health challenges that will ultimately improve the quality of life for those in Georgia and beyond.” The program is open to faculty from all disciplines and interdisciplinary projects. Proposals that translate findings from basic research to clinical practice are encouraged. Proposals will be reviewed by a team of UGA and GRU faculty and administrators jointly assembled by the Office of the Vice President for Research at UGA and the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research at GRU. Proposals will be judged on the basis of their competitiveness for the indicated funding opportunity. Criteria will include the strength of the team and its leadership, the extent of outreach to the funding agency and the quality of the plan leading up to proposal submission. Only meritorious proposals will be selected for funding. Teams seeking funding must submit a brief letter of intent by Aug. 1 that lists the project title, the principal and co-principal investigators and provides a brief description of the project.

ON THE WEB

http://www.ovpr.uga.edu/iga/grants/

Bulletin Board Parking registration

Registration for 20142015 parking permits is now open at www.parking.uga.edu. The deadline to register and be considered in the first and largest round of permit assignments is July 11 at 5 p.m. Fewer permit assignments will be available after July 11. Faculty and staff can continue to stay on the waiting list and upgrade their lot assignment throughout the year as assignments are made weekly, based on space availability. Employees who do not register will not have a lot guarantee or “grandfathering.” Parking registration assistance is available in the Parking Services Office weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contact parking@uga.edu or 706-542-7275 with any questions.

Chancellor’s Award nominations

The University System of Georgia Service Excellence Program Recognition Committee is now soliciting nominations for the 2014 Chancellor’s Service Excellence Awards. The program was created to honor employees who have gone “above and beyond” their normal job responsibilities in helping their internal and external customers and consistently promoting customer service excellence. Nominations should be submitted to http://www.usg. edu/service_excellence/ recognition_programs by July 1. Questions or requests for additional information on this program may be directed to Catherine K. Shircliff at cks@uga.edu.

improved crop production,” said Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. “While we have much to learn about the application of genomics in agriculture, this study is groundbreaking. I applaud the work of this team of scientists and look forward to their continued work in this important area.” The common bean ranks as the 10th most grown food crop worldwide, and it is an important agricultural tool. “The common bean is an integral part of a sustainable agricultural system due to its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen to enrich the soil,” Jackson said. All plants require nitrogen to thrive. However, many agricultural lands are deficient in nitrogen, leading farmers to rely on fertilizers to supply the nutrient. Legumes—such as the common bean and soybean—form symbiotic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which maximize the amount of usable nitrogen plants can extract from the soil. Understanding how such symbiotic relationships are formed and sustained is crucial to improving agricultural practices as increasing crop yields are desired both for fuel and food production.

Grant from page 1

rising among the younger adult population, which means they will live with chronic diseases and related symptoms for longer periods of time. “All of these problems can lead to job loss or premature departure from the workforce,” Wilson said. “As a result, disease management is becoming an increasingly important part of maintaining a productive, competitive and ultimately healthy American workforce.” To address this public health issue, Wilson and Smith will lead a team of UGA researchers to translate Stanford University’s Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, or CDSMP, for increased use in workplace settings. Offered in more than 30 countries, the CDSMP is one of the best known and highly regarded self-management programs for people with chronic conditions. The highly interactive small-group workshops are six weeks long and focus on problems common

LIBRARIAN from page 1 The team sequenced and assembled a 473-million basepair genome of the common bean. Thought to have originated in Mexico more Scott Jackson than 100,000 years ago, the common bean was domesticated separately at two different geographic locations: the Andes and Mesoamerica, home to the early civilizations of Mexico and Central America. The team compared sequences from pooled populations representing these regions, finding only a small fraction of shared genes. This indicated that different events had been involved in the domestication process at each location. The team then compared the high-quality common bean genome against the sequence of its most economically important relative, the soybean. They found evidence of synteny, in which a gene in one species is present in another. They also noted that the common bean’s genome had evolved more rapidly than soybean’s since they diverged from the last common ancestor nearly 20 million years ago.

to individuals dealing with any chronic condition, such as pain management, nutrition, exercise and medication use and communicating with doctors. Wilson and Smith will examine how CDSMP workshops specifically adapted to workplace settings can influence health outcomes, work performance and productivity. The UGA project will estimate the costs of implementing the program as well as assess cost-effectiveness and return on investment for employers and communities. The newly tailored programs will be implemented at seven work sites in Colquitt County. The Moultrie YMCA, led by director Greg Coop, has partnered with the UGA project to deliver the workshops and foster a sustainable presence in the community.

research and service mission,” said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “He brings an outstanding record of leadership to the position of university librarian, and I am confident that he has the skills to make the UGA Libraries a national leader among academic libraries.” Graham came to UGA in 2003 as director of the Digital Library of Georgia, which provides free and open access to educational materials. “I am thrilled by the opportunity to lead the UGA Libraries, a strong organization with an excellent staff, extensive print and digital collections and a network of supporters who care deeply about our part in fulfilling the mission of the University of Georgia,” Graham said. “It is an exciting time to work at UGA under the leadership of President Morehead and Provost Whitten and a key period in the ongoing transformation of the modern research library.” As university librarian, Graham will oversee the four principal facilities of the UGA Libraries: the main library, the science library, the Miller Learning Center and the Russell Special Collections Building. The director of the UGA Press, which was founded in 1938 and is the state’s oldest and largest book publisher, and the editor of The Georgia Review, the quarterly literary journal founded in 1947, also report to the university librarian.

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Hunker Down with Housing volunteers

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University Housing will welcome all new and returning students Aug. 12-13 during Hunker Down with Housing, a program to streamline the move-in process for students and their families. Faculty, staff, students and community residents are invited to help welcome approximately 8,000 new and returning students and their parents during Hunker Down with Housing. Volunteer assignments range from giving directions to area parking lots to directing traffic to serving as a resource for residents and their families. For more information about Hunker Down with Housing, visit http://housing.uga.edu/ hunker-down or email hunkerdn@uga.edu. To sign up

The course reserve guarantee date for fall semester is July 29. More information on using course reserves including guidelines, submission forms, processing priorities, deadlines and other important dates is at http://www.libs.uga.edu/access_ services/reserves.html. Lists received will be processed as quickly as possible according to processing priorities. Questions can be directed to Mollie Armour, reserve supervisor at the main library, at mainresv@uga.edu or 706-542-2081 or to Brenda Robbins, reserve supervisor at the science library, at sciresv@ uga.edu or 706-542-4535.

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