Stony Brook University

A humpback whale with propeller scars in inshore waters of the New York Bight. A humpback whale surface feeding in inshore waters of the New York Bight. Image taken under NOAA Permit No 26260. Credit: Thorne Lab, Stony Brook University

By Daniel Dunaief

Concerns about the connection between offshore wind farms and whales strandings are likely just a lot of hot air.

Pictured from left, Lesley Thorne with lab membersChelsi Napoli, PhD candidate; Nathan Hirtle, PhD candidate; and Josh Meza-Fidalgo, Research Associate.

In a recent study published in the journal Conservation Biology, Lesley Thorne, Associate Professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, and David Wiley, Research Coordinator for NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, pointed to vessel strikes as an important driver of the increase in humpback whale strandings.

To address concerns about whether the development of offshore wind farms led to the death of these cetaceans, Thorne and Wiley compared the distribution and timing of humpbacks between 1995 and 2022 relative to anthropogenic factors, such as vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, as well as elements associated with wind farm development.

“We know that there is a narrative out there suggesting that the surveys used for site assessment and characterization are factors” in these whale strandings, said Thorne. “Studying strandings, mortalities and injuries of large whales is important as it can provide information” about the relative impact of different threats.

The researchers found that New York and Virginia were hotspots of mortalities and serious injuries, with a subset of strandings confirming that vessel strikes were the cause of serious injuries or death.

A number of parts likely played a role. Beginning in 2016, vessel traffic in New York and New Jersey increased at the same time that observers noticed an increase in humpback whales.

These whales have also expanded into new foraging areas in recent years, regularly using inshore New York waters as a foraging ground starting around 2011.

The increase in the population of menhaden, which are a fatty, energy-rich forage fish, in the mid 2010s also expanded humpback whale feeding ground.

Menhaden tend to form dense surface schools in shallow coastal waters in mid-Atlantic states such as New York. These cetaceans often use surface foraging behavior to feed on menhaden, which could make them more vulnerable to vessel strikes.

Understanding and appreciating the causes of these strandings could lead to informed decision-making, in developing offshore wind farms and in creating responsible regulations for various vessels around the time whales might be foraging.

Wind farm activity

During the time these scientists studied humpback whale strandings, seven wind turbines were constructed and then operational. 

Looking at humpback strandings, the highest number of strandings in Rhode Island and neighboring states during the unusual mortality event occurred in years following construction, including 2017 and 2022, and not in the year when construction occurred. 

In Virginia, the highest number happened years before construction.

Their assessment of these patterns did not suggest a link between strandings and site assessment and characterization surveys for offshore wind development. Survey authorizations increased over the course of the unusual mortality events and primarily occurred between New Jersey and Massachusetts, whereas elevated patterns of strandings did not follow this pattern.

In the year 2016, Massachusetts had one survey authorization related to offshore wind.  Massachusetts, however, showed a lower number of strandings relative to other years, while the area from North Carolina to Rhode Island had higher strandings.

Thorne and Wiley are not involved in the stranding response. They used the data from the National Marine Mammal Strandings Database, which provides standardized data on marine mammals strandings collected by strandings responders.

They studied changes in the location and timing of humpback whale strandings, and of humpback whale mortalities and serious injuries that were caused by vessel strikes and entanglements.

To be sure, Thorne emphasized that their study focused on humpback whales, which are the species that strand most frequently. Other large whale species have different distributions, foraging and habitat preferences, which clouds the picture for any broader analysis.

Vessel strikes

The biggest increases in strandings occurred from Rhode Island to Virginia.

In the waters near New York and Virginia, strandings had some of the highest increases. Stranding responders confirmed the prominent role of vessel strikes in mortalities and serious injuries near these states.

As for the whales, they have also changed their spring and summer feeding ranges. Until more recently, the southern feeding range extended much further north, to the Gulf of Maine as well as areas farther north, such as Iceland and Greenland.

While humpbacks have foraged in New York waters periodically in the past, they have been consistently feeding in these waters during the summer since 2011.

The whales are following one of their food sources, as the population of menhaden has increased off the south shore of Long Island and in other mid Atlantic states.

Juveniles have also used the waters off the coast of Virginia as a supplemental feeding ground.

“We know that vessel strikes, along with entanglement in fishing gear, are the major threats to large whales around the world,” said Thorne.

When boats are moving more rapidly and whales are feeding in regions with a higher density of vessel traffic, such mortality events are more likely.

Possible solutions

For starters, the scientists urge further study to add to the body of research, including a more thorough understanding of the movements and habitat use of humpbacks and other large whales. 

Additionally, assessing the abundance and distribution of prey species will contribute to an understanding of habitat use and the health of large whales.

She also suggested further work to analyze feeding and feeding in shallow coastal habitats with the risk of vessel strikes.

Slowing ships down reduces the risk from a vessel strike.

“There’s a lot of interest in how we can better use dynamic management instead of management that is focused on fixed areas and times,” said Thorne.

Yi-Xian Qin

Yi-Xian Qin, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Biomedical Engineering Department at Stony Brook University, was recently elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He is also Director of the Orthopaedic Bioengineering Research Laboratory and Co-Director of the Institute for Engineering-Driven Medicine.  

Professor Qin’s expertise and contribution in science are in the areas of biomechanics and mechanobiology in musculoskeletal tissue adaptation and cellular regulation, space medicine, and nanomaterials. His research has been focused on developing novel approaches for promoting tissue engineering and regeneration and translation through physical regulation and characterization of tissue quality, as well as evaluating the mechanisms responsible for tissue remodeling and their translation. 

Andrew Singer, Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences said, “This is a well-deserved recognition for Professor Qin who is a brilliant and dedicated researcher, an alumnus of our mechanical engineering program and a leader in our College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.”   

The East Setauket resident is among the pioneers who discovered bone’s ability to rapidly adapt to its functional environment, bone fluid flow, and regeneration to dynamic signals. He has published more than 180 peer-reviewed articles, and related books and chapters, as well as several US patents. Some of his patents include ultrasound diagnostic imaging and therapeutics, as well as mechanical stimulation, technologies for musculoskeletal diseases like osteopenia and fracture with the potential of bone loss prediction in microgravity in long-term space mission and clinical impacts. 

He earned both his MS degree and PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering from Stony Brook University.

The ASME Committee of Past Presidents confers the Fellow grade of membership on worthy candidates to recognize their outstanding engineering achievements. Nominated by ASME Members and Fellows, an ASME member has to have 10 or more years of active practice and at least 10 years of active corporate membership in ASME.

In addition to this recent honor, Professor Qin is also a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE), and International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).

Dr. Michael Kinch Photo courtesy of Washington University in St. Louis

Stony Brook University has announced that Michael Kinch, PhD, has been appointed as the inaugural chief innovation officer (CINO) for the university. Kinch brings extraordinary experience at the highest levels of industry and academia, including roles at Yale and Washington University—two institutions known for their cultures of innovation and demonstrated success translating knowledge into marketable solutions. He will report to the new incoming vice president for research, Kevin Gardner, beginning August 1, 2024 and will be a member of the president’s university council. He will also hold a faculty position in the university’s Department of Pharmacology.

As CINO, Kinch will lead the Office of Economic Development and provide direction and oversight of campus-wide initiatives related to accelerating innovation and economic development, including incubation and technology transfer. His efforts will focus on technology-based entrepreneurship, venture capital, and other sources of startup investment, as well as the research commercialization and economic development programs from faculty and student research and initiatives. In addition, Kinch and his staff will collaborate with departments and colleges/schools across campus to amplify the university’s service to advance Stony Brook’s economic impact on the region and develop partnerships with external entities that benefit the university and help advance economic development interests of these external entities.

 “As a leader who brings people together and who knows that research, scholarship and discovery are a universal language, Michael is an excellent leader to help the university realize its boldest ambitions to make a profound, positive impact on society for generations to come,”said Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis.

Kinch has worked extensively in higher education including in his most recent role as the executive dean of sciences at Long Island University where he creates and deploys innovative approaches to improve biomedical translation and entrepreneurship. He founded and directed the Center for Research Innovation in Biotechnology, which analyzes the sources of biomedical innovation.

Previous to that position, Kinch served as associate vice chancellor, founder of the Centers for Research Innovation in Biotechnology and Drug Discovery and professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Washington University in St. Louis. There he helped lead entrepreneurship activities and founded the Centers for Research Innovation in Biotechnology (CRIB) and Drug Discovery (CDD), which analyzes innovation in the science and business of medicines. At Yale University, he founded and led the Yale Center for Molecular Discovery. He has been a lecturer at the Krieger Program in Biotechnology at John Hopkins University; associate professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine, West Lafayette Campus at Purdue University; and served as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kinch has worked in the private sector overseeing Research and Development as Vice President for Research and Development/Chief Scientific Officer at Functional Genetics, Inc. and Head of Cancer Biology & Translational Sciences at Medimmune, Inc. He is also the author of six books, has published extensively in peer-reviewed publications and participated in national media appearances and interviews about his research.

Kinch earned his PhD in Immunology from Duke University Medical Center and his BS in Molecular Genetics.

“I am excited by the incredible potential for innovative commercial development on Long Island in general and Stony Brook University in particular,” said Kinch. “The university has incredible expertise in key aspects of science and technology that are needed to address looming challenges, including but not limited to affordable and sustainable energy to biomedical applications.”

Stony Brook University Hospital

Money magazine has ranked Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) as the #2 Best Hospital for Pediatric Care in the country. These services are provided by Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, the leading children’s hospital on Long Island, with more than 180 pediatric specialists in 30 specialties delivering cutting-edge research, technological innovations, clinical trials and breakthrough techniques.

Money evaluated over 6,000 hospitals and narrowed it down to just 74 based on a rigorous analysis of 13,500 data points. The rating is based on five key factors; mortality, safety, readmission, patient experience and timely and effective care. Ranking scores are then translated into a letter grade. SBUH received an overall grade of an “A,” the highest of any New York and Long Island hospital.

“I’m delighted that Stony Brook University Hospital has been recognized by Money magazine for providing world-class pediatric care,” said William A. Wertheim, MD, MBA, Interim Executive Vice President for Stony Brook Medicine. “This ranking is a testament to the exceptional care and dedication of our pediatric team, who work tirelessly to ensure the health and well-being of our youngest patients, who understand that children are not simply small adults but have unique health and social needs, and remain committed to ensuring our community receives the highest quality healthcare services.”

“As Suffolk County’s first and only children’s hospital, we understand the needs of caring for a child affect the entire family,” says Carol Gomes, MS, FACHE, CPHQ, Chief Executive Officer of Stony Brook University Hospital. “I am extremely proud of our team of compassionate and experienced pediatricians, pediatric surgeons and specialists who devote themselves to delivering the best possible outcomes for children on Long Island.”

This past April, Stony Brook University Hospital also received an “A” ranking for General Practice and was ranked number 19 on Money magazine’s prestigious “Best Hospitals of 2024” list.

 

As summer arrives so too does the inevitable surge in tick activity. Our beautiful region, with its lush landscapes and thriving wildlife, provides the perfect habitat for these tiny, yet potentially dangerous, parasites. It’s crucial for residents to stay informed and vigilant to protect themselves, their families and their pets from tick-borne diseases.

Ticks, particularly the black-legged or deer tick, are more than just a nuisance. They are vectors for several diseases, including Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, hard tick relapsing fever and Powassan encephalitis. Each year, numerous cases of these illnesses are reported, with Lyme disease being the most common. Early symptoms can range from a rash and flu-like symptoms to more severe complications if left untreated.

Prevention is key

To minimize the risk of tick bites you can dress for the occasion, when venturing into wooded or grassy areas, wear long sleeves, long pants tucked into socks and closed-toe shoes. Light-colored clothing makes it easier to spot ticks. 

Tick and bug repellents are also another way to minimize risk, a repellent that contains picaridin or permethrin is most effective. Avoiding tick habitats, staying on marked trails and avoiding tall grasses and leaf litter where ticks are likely to be found are good practices. Be cautious around areas where deer are common, as they often carry ticks.

After spending time outdoors, be sure to conduct thorough tick checks on yourself, your children and even your pets. Pay special attention to areas where ticks like to hide, like under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, behind the knees, in the hair and around the waist.

For pets, particularly dogs, check around the ears, neck and between the toes, as ticks usually like to hide somewhere warm on the body. Regular grooming and the use of veterinarian-recommended tick prevention products can greatly reduce the risk for your furry friends.

What to do if you find a tick

If you find a tick attached to your skin, don’t panic. You can use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible and then pull upward applying even pressure without twisting or jerking, as this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin.

After removing the tick, be sure to clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub or soap and water and to dispose of the tick properly — submerge the tick in alcohol, place it in a sealed bag/container, wrap it tightly in tape or flush it down the toilet. Never crush a tick with your fingers.

Monitor the bite site for any signs of a rash or flu-like symptoms. If you experience these symptoms, contact your health care provider promptly.

Preventing tick-borne diseases requires community-wide efforts. Local authorities and health organizations should continue to educate residents about tick prevention and control. Programs to manage deer populations and reduce tick habitats are essential in controlling the spread of ticks. 

Since 2015, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s Regional Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center has been operating a free tick helpline at 631-726-TICK (8425). Also, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, has a tick-borne clinic at Lake Grove. 

A little precaution goes a long way in protecting against the dangers of ticks.

Day of fun for kids supports blood cancer research at Stony Brook Cancer Center

Urban Air Lake Grove raised more than $10,000 at the first annual David Wolmetz Memorial Fundraiser honoring the late co-founder of the popular indoor adventure park on the first anniversary of his passing, June 11.

Admission to the park for kids of all ages included access to the most popular attractions including the 30-foot tall Sky Rider zipline, Climbing Walls, Bumper Cars, and more. Local vendors were also on hand for face painting, balloon animals, temporary tattoos and more.

Proceeds from the event will support blood cancer research at the Stony Brook Cancer Center, where Wolmetz received treatment from 2019 to 2023.

“Dave was dedicated to Urban Air Lake Grove and giving back to his community, and he really loved the second family at Stony Brook Cancer Center that took care of him over the last four years,” said Keith Handler, Co-Founder of Urban Air Lake Grove. “Dave was a force of nature. When he set his mind to something you could not stop him. We miss him greatly.”

In October of 2018, Dave was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He was admitted to Stony Brook Hospital’s 19th floor, where his treatment started immediately. The wonderful staff at the Cancer Center and hospital treated him throughout his cancer journey, COVID, and subsequently several hospitalizations over the years due to his compromised immune system. Dave never lost hope and trusted his entire Stony Brook Cancer team immensely. Unfortunately, Dave lost his battle on June 9, 2023.

“He loved this place so much,” said Carrie Wolmetz, wife of Dave Wolmetz. “Even in the days that he was physically unable to walk around, he would come here. He never gave up. He focused on the positive and the people he was grateful for. The people in his life who meant a lot to him gave him strength.”

Donations to Stony Brook Cancer Center can be made here.

About Urban Air Lake Grove

With 50,000 sq. ft. of active play space, Urban Air Lake Grove is home to the popular Sky Rider, a zip-line style attraction with a winding track that carries young thrill-seekers flying along 30 feet in the air, the tallest on Long Island. Urban Air Lake Grove also offers a High Ropes obstacle course, Spin Zone bumper cars, and a full set of rock-climbing walls, wall-to-wall trampoline adventures, and Urban Air’s exclusive Urban Warrior Course™ and Battle Beam.  Urban Air Lake Grove is located at 3147 Middle Country Road, Lake Grove, NY 11755. Phone: (631) 861-4125.

The four person MSU crew Patricia Babiam, Kristofer Martin, patient Bill Rothmeier, Anthony Papaleo and Frank Time, reunite for a reunion.

By Daniel Dunaief

Ralph Sabatino, a lawyer and St. James resident, was in his bedroom, sitting at his computer when he fell out of his chair.

Ralph Sabatino of St. James. Photo courtesy Stony Brook Medicine

When his sister Maria, who was visiting from New Jersey in April of 2023, came into the room, she immediately called his wife Claire, a registered nurse, to come check on him. 

“I noticed his left arm and left leg were paralyzed,” said Claire Sabatino, who has been married to Ralph for almost 44 years. “HIs speech was garbled.”

Claire called 911 and told the dispatcher that her husband was exhibiting the signs of a stroke. Within minutes, an EMS ambulance and one of the two Mobile Stroke Units from Stony Brook hospital arrived.

In the mobile stroke unit, technicians conducted a CAT scan, forwarding the results to Dr. David Fiorella, Director of the Stony Brook Cerebrovascular Center and Co-Director of the Stony Brook Cerebrovascular and Comprehensive Stroke Center at Stony Brook Medicine. When he arrived at the hospital, Sabatino bypassed the emergency room and went directly into an operating room.

Fearing the worst, Claire Sabatino called their adult daughter Gabrielle and told her to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.

“I never saw anybody with the symptoms my husband was exhibiting that fully recovered in the past,” she said. “When I saw him on the floor, I thought that would be the way he’d live for the rest of his life, if he survived. I wasn’t sure he would.”

After the stroke and the operation, Sabatino, who is now 68 years old, has no symptoms following what is far too often a life-altering condition.

“It’s sometimes hard for me to fathom how massive the stroke was because I have had no lingering effects,” he said.

Indeed, Sabatino estimates that the time between when he had the stroke until he was wheeled in the recovery room was about an hour and a half.

“Stroke is an emergency,” said Fiorella. “Although it’s not painful, numbness, weakness involving one side of the body, difficulty with speech, understanding speech, difficulty with vision, anything that presents acutely shouldn’t be ignored. It needs prompt attention.”

As a way to recognize the signs of stroke and the urgency to get help, doctors in this field suggest that people remember the acronym BE FAST, which stands for balance, eyes, face, arm, speech, time.

With seniors representing the fastest growing population on Long Island, residents and their families and caregivers need to be aware of stroke symptoms and, in the event of a stroke, to have an action plan in place.

“We have an aging population and the prevalence of stroke is increasing,” said Fiorella.

In Suffolk County, Stony Brook has two mobile stroke units, positioned on the Long Island Expressway at Exits 57 and 68. These units are located within 10 miles of 46 EMS territories.

Since Stony Brook started deploying these mobile stroke units in April of 2019, these specialized and life-saving ambulances have responded to about 8,000 stroke calls.

During those years, the hospital has demonstrated a significant reduction in time to treatment, with more patients receiving clot busting medications while in transit, and lower rates of mortality and morbidity, Fiorella explained.

A workup and diagnosis at other hospitals can take three or more hours, which a mobile stroke unit can perform with a CAT scan.

Additional benefits

David Fiorella, MD, PhD stand for photo at Stony Brook Hospital on Monday Sept. 12, 2022. (9/12/22)

Fiorella explained that the technicians in the ambulance share considerable information about the patient while in transit, including whatever contact numbers they could collect from family members on site.

Stony Brook Hospital can then begin a dialog with those family members, preparing them for any potential procedures and, if the patient is a candidate for a new treatment, receiving authorization.

A well-established and industry leading stroke unit, Stony Brook is involved in several experimental protocols designed to improve treatment.

“Whenever we can, we offer newer and better technologies,” said Fiorella. By participating, patients not only benefit from advances in the field, but also help the thousands who come after them. Patients can “make tremendous contributions to their own care and to medicine” amid developments and advanced technologies, he said.

In cases where patients or their representatives prefer not to use any advanced or newer technology, Stony Brook provides other life-saving services.

Fiorella added that the mobile stroke unit doesn’t only bring patients to Stony Brook, but also takes them to other comprehensive stroke centers for advanced treatment.

While strokes disproportionately affect the elderly, with the Medical University of South Carolina estimating that 75 percent of strokes occur in people 65 and older, certain conditions can increase the risk of strokes, such as smoking, vascular or heart disease, high blood pressure and peripheral vascular disease.

Another success story

The four person MSU crew Patricia Babiam, Kristofer Martin, patient Bill Rothmeier, Anthony Papaleo and Frank Time, reunite for a reunion.

Bill Rothmeier, who lives in Oakdale, was coming back from upstate in 2019 when his wife Eileen recognized that he was driving strangely.

She asked him to pull over so she could use the restroom. When she returned, she took over the driving. By the time they got home, Rothmeier’s ability to speak had declined.

Eileen Rothmeier spoke to a next door neighbor, who was involved with a community ambulance in Sayville. He had heard about the stroke unit.

“The next thing I knew, two ambulances were in front of my house,” said Bill Rothmeier, who is now 68. The MSU did a CAT scan and gave him a shot on the way to the hospital.

When he was in the recovery room, Rothmeier said Fiorella came in and told him he put in a stent and pulled two blood clots out of his brain.

“He said it like I was going out to a deli to get lunch,” said Rothmeier, who, as it turns out has owned the Lake Grove Deli for 29 years. “If it wasn’t for those guys,” including the MSU crew and Fiorella, “I could be in a nursing home or worse right now.”

Rothmeier was one of the first to receive life saving treatment through the mobile stroke unit and at the hospital.

A rewarding job

While the mobile stroke unit provides an important service for people battling a stroke, it doesn’t add any cost for the patient.

Stony Brook provides the units “free of charge,” because the “outcomes are so much better,” Fiorella said.

Patients who have untreated strokes or whose strokes are treated much later can have an irreversible brain injury, which could involve hospitalizations that last for months.

Stony Brook receives the same flat rate from Medicare for stroke victims, which helps provide financial support for the ambulance and is a “home run” for the patient, Fiorella added.

From Fiorella’s perspective, the opportunity to help people more than compensates for the 2 am calls he sometimes gets when he needs to come in for emergency surgery.

In the 25 years he’s been involved in stroke care, Fiorella has “never lost the fascination in how great the technology has become and how quickly it’s advanced,” he said. After treatment, people who couldn’t speak or understand speech and who couldn’t move the dominant side of their body can return to normal activities.

“It’s such a wonderful experience being involved with this,” he said. “I wouldn’t be able to do this without the support of Stony Brook.”

As for Claire Sabatino, who had never heard of the mobile stroke unit before the ambulance was parked on her driveway last April, the benefit of the rapid transit and the Stony Brook team is “nothing short of a miracle.

Lucille Betti-Nash demonstrates the pencil technique at the workshop.

By Daniel Dunaief

Their illustrations, which have graced the pages of journals for decades, tell tales that move and inspire people, emphasizing and recreating the beauty, power, elegance and fine structures of living and long extinct creatures.

Invited by Zooreach to join a workshop that employs a combination of story telling, theater and art, Stony Brook residents Stephen Nash and Lucille Betti-Nash, who are both successful scientific illustrators and have been married since 1990, recently traveled to Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu State in Southern India for two weeks to share their talents with local artists focusing on conservation and climate change.

The Nashes believe India is “poised to become a superpower and yet, one of the greatest challenges it faces is climate change” as well as population control, said Stephen Nash, Scientific Illustrator for the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Art at Stony Brook University.

Indeed, during their fortnight in India, the Nashes experienced temperatures that were over 100 degrees every day. At the same time, a lighter monsoon season last year, which runs from June through September, meant that the reservoirs, which provide cities with water, were depleted and local wildlife was struggling to find places to drink.

Stephen and Betti-Nash, who had worked at Stony Brook and is now retired and doing freelance work, had hoped to see elephants during their trip, but the animals had retreated to more remote regions to find water. The Nashes did, however, see plentiful cows wandering. People practicing Hinduism consider cows sacred.

With support from the workshop provided by the US Consulate General, Chennai that is part of the Art for Conservation Program of Zoo Outreach Organization, the Long Island illustrators enjoyed their trip, made meaningful connections with local artists, and appreciated the amenities their hosts provided, including air conditioned rooms.

The Nashes continue to be in contact with the artists and appreciate how their hosts, Payal and Sanjay Molur, who is the Executive Trustee of Zooreach, took care of them “as though we were family.”

First steps

Before they traveled to India, the Nashes, who have done workshops in Peru in 2016 and Brazil in 2017, provided google drives with a set of folders including copyright free books on natural history that revealed various rendering techniques. They also shared United States government slides that revealed how artists depicted statistics of climate change.

Once the three-day class they taught began, the Nashes started their presentation with an introduction to the field of scientific illustration, including medical, forensic, technical, biological, archaeological, and paleontological areas, among others.

They discussed various illustrating techniques, from rendering various forms of wildlife to organizing and presenting scientific data. They communicated the importance of sticking to the scientific facts when producing art related to climate change and conservation.

The class, which was comprised of educators and artists in their 20’s and 30’s, were most intrigued by pen and ink illustrations. Using a pen dipped in ink, each artist could control the darkness and width of any mark by applying different pressure and changing the angle at which the pen crossed a page.

“We were pleasantly surprised by how well they took to pen and ink,” said Nash.

The Nashes didn’t bring any India ink, figuring that they could readily find it in the country that bears its name. “We were thinking it would be widely available, but we could not find it,” said Betti-Nash. “We had to settle for fountain pen ink, which was not waterproof.”

The Nashes and the students in the class discussed Manga, which are Japanese comics and graphic novels as a way of using the power of art as a sequential medium.

Betti-Nash demonstrated one of her technical strengths with water colors.

The students were “enraptured” when Nash created one of his illustrations, “watching every move with colored pencils,” Betti-Nash said.

Nash suggested they were hoping to inspire their students to come up with “their own local way of pictorially rendering data that would be more meaningful for them and for the people in their immediate village or community.”

To create illustrations that address the challenges of climate change and conservation, Nash takes what he described as a “Bing Cosby” approach, in which he tries to “accentuate the positive.” Optimistic by and about nature, Nash has seen how ecosystems can recover if allowed by humans. He prefers to show the beauty of an endangered animal rather than show a landscape denuded of trees with a lonely gibbon siting on a tree stump.

“I wouldn’t want an image with that negativity on my own walls,” Nash said. “It’s better to help people appreciate [nature] than to show the possible” cataclysmic results of climate change.

Betti-Nash urged the artists to draw their favorite animals, recreating whatever was their spark animal that led them to the field of conservation. Some chose endangered sharks, which are a part of the bycatch when commercial fishing vessels hunt for more valuable fish. Local students shared their appreciation for snakes, who perform an important role in Indian ecosystems.

Face to face with the real thing

Nash met the Molurs, who invited them to visit India, in the mid 1980’s, when he had done a drawing for a conservation education campaign on the lion-tailed macaque.

When he arrived in India, Nash saw three species of primates in the hills alongside the road in a protected area, including the lion-tailed macaque. Nash thought the animal was the size of a German shepherd, but realized it was closer to the dimensions of a domestic cat.

Nash focuses on capturing the character as well as the characteristics of an animal and suggested artists needed to be aware of the goals of their illustrations.

Betti-Nash likes to demonstrate the interaction of the animals she’s illustrating with the environment, including what they eat and what they provide to the ecosystem.

As for the workshop, Betti-Nash suggested the purpose was to “draw people in” and to get the artists to learn ways to be creative in their messages about conservation and climate change.

Nash added that they wanted to “open the students’ eyes to the possibilities and the vastness of scientific illustration” and to improve their analytic observational skills.

Dr. Suzanne Fields, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Chief of the Division of General, Geriatric and Hospital Medicine. Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Medicine

By Daniel Dunaief

A year after its formation, the Center for Healthy Aging has not only brought groups of scientists and doctors across the Stony Brook University campus together, but has also funded several early-stage projects.

An initiative started by SBU President Maurie McInnis and that received financial support from the Stony Brook University Presidential Innovation and Excellence Fund, the CHA is currently jointly run by interim co-directors Dr. Suzanne Fields, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Chief of the Division of General, Geriatric and Hospital Medicine and Dr. Christine DeLorenzo, Professor of Psychiatry and Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Center for Understanding Biology using Imaging Technology.

The CHA has several themes, including helping people live longer and healthier lives. In addition, it will serve as a research center that will include basic science, translational, clinical and health services research.

McInnis spoke with Dr. Peter Igarashi, the Dean of the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, to create this initiative.

Dr. Igarashi wanted to make it a center where people from different departments in the university, the five Health Sciences Schools and the Program in Public Health, as well as affiliated institutions such as the Northport VA and the Long Island State Veterans Home collaborated on innovative projects related to aging.

Fields and DeLorenzo anticipate the collaborative research with bioinformatics, pharmacology and bioengineering, for example, will help clinical providers prescribe effective medications for older patients safely through special alerts/ suggestions, identify patients at risk for falling through mobility sensors, and assist clinical providers with AI diagnostic tools.

‘Shark Tank’

Last June, the CHA held a workshop in the style of the “Shark Tank” television show.

Over 100 faculty members attended that meeting from different parts of the university, where they formed groups with other attendees to pose research questions and address challenges people face as they age.

“There was so much enthusiasm there,” said DeLorenzo. “We have so much expertise on campus. We have brilliant researchers who are working on everything from age-related effects at the cellular level all the way through to lifestyle interventions for elderly folks.”

After that meeting, the CHA provided $40,000 to two projects, hoping the support could help ideas get off the ground enough that the principal investigators could then apply to larger funding agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging, for additional funding.

Led by Adam Singer, the chair of the Emergency Room department, one group of faculty developed ideas to help people who suffered from falls.

“When people who are elderly come into the ER and they’ve fallen, the chances” of them falling again doubles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” said DeLorenzo. “What I love about that pitch the table gave, which was a mixture of clinicians, biomedical engineers, a respiratory therapist, and a physical therapist is that people were coming at this question from all angles.”

The group pitched an idea to create an intervention program that helps explain how to change a person’s lifestyle to prevent another fall.

Senescent cells

Markus Riessland, an Assistant Professor in the Empire Innovation Program in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, led the other funded pitch.

Riessland’s project looks at a particular type of cell that can become problematic as people age.

Older cells sometimes get stuck in a senescent state, where they don’t die, but give off signals that cause an inflammatory response.

Riessland’s group “got together and asked, ‘How can we intervene to clear away these senescent cells?’” said DeLorenzo.

Young immune systems typically recognize senescent cells and remove them. As people age, the immune system has a diminished ability to detect and remove these cells, causing inflammaging, which describes a build up of inflammation during the aging process, Riessland explained in an email.

“If you remove senescent cells from an old mouse, these mice show improvements in the function of virtually all tissue” including heart, liver, lung and brain and the lifespan increases by 30 percent, Riessland added.

Researchers have hypothesized that there is also a threshold number of senescent cells a human body can tolerate. If a person exceeds that threshold, it “causes inflammaging and age-related symptoms,” he wrote.

Based on his laboratory work, Riessland found that specific neurons in the brain become senescent and that these neurons secrete proinflammatory factors.

Riessland and his colleagues aim to ameliorate this inflammation and have found a molecular regulator that could be a drug target.

Based on the work Riessland did through the CHA study, he and his colleagues are writing a grant proposal for the National Institutes of Health. In the future, he, DeLorenzo and Dr. Carine Maurer will perform a clinical trial on Long Island that will assess the feasibility to ameliorate the inflammaging process in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Fall awards

In the fall, the center gave out six awards for $40,000 each and six for $100,000, many of which were in basic science, according to Dr. Fields.

“There was a broad array of topics, with some translational and some basic,” said Fields. “We’re following up with those people.”

Nancy Reich, a Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, received support as a part of the fall round.

The funding from CHA has “allowed us to begin to investigate the development of pancreatic cancer in the older population versus the young using a mouse cancer model,” Reich explained in an email. “Our hypothesis centers on the immune defense response.”

Search for a new director

Now that the center has made some headway and brought various teams together, the university is searching for a permanent director.

“It’s a real joy and pleasure to see this center start up,” said DeLorenzo.

DeLorenzo urges anyone interested in learning more to check the center’s web site, Center for Healthy Aging | Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.

“We have events, and we would love for the community to go to them,” said DeLorenzo.

DeLorenzo encourages community members to reach out to Fields and her with any questions.

Riessland added that the CHA-funded projects will “have an impact on the understanding of the aging process itself.”

Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis celebrates with Class of 2024 graduates on May 17. Photo courtesy Stony Brook University

By Daniel Dunaief

The New York public university that could is looking for a new president.

Maurie McInnis, who started her tenure as president of Stony Brook University four years ago, is resigning to become the president of Yale University, effective July 1st. She will become the first permanent female president of Yale.

McInnis, who earned master’s degrees and a doctorate at Yale, is leaving Stony Brook after important wins and achievements for the university, several of which the Simons Foundation helped make possible.

The State University of New York plans to oversee the leadership transition until the downstate flagship university can find its seventh president.

“It has been a pleasure working with Maurie McInnis these past few years,” Marilyn Simons, chair of the Simons Foundation, said in a statement. Her “leadership at Stony Brook has left it in a strong position” and she is “confident that Stony Brook’s supporters will continue to invest in and build upon its successes.”

Maurie McInnis is the sixth President of Stony Brook University. Photo courtesy Stony Brook University

Reached by the Times Beacon Record Newspapers on the day of the announcement, some faculty expressed appreciation for McInnis’s contribution and for the positive momentum for the university.

“It’s a huge loss for Stony Brook University,” Heather Lynch, IACS Endowed Chair of Ecology & Evolution, wrote in an email. “President McInnis has been an effective advocate for our institution and has led a number of major initiatives that will pay dividends in the years to come.”

Governors Island win

During McInnis’s tenure, which started in March of 2020 just as the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic was causing dislocation in communities and universities around the world, Stony Brook was named the anchor institution of the New York Climate Exchange research center on Governors Island.

Competing against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University and a group co-led by CUNY and The New School, Stony Brook University won the rights to develop the project with the support of a $100 million donation from the Simons Foundation and $50 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The exchange will house a 400,000 square foot, state-of-the-art campus dedicated to research, education and public programs that address climate change.

The center, which will cost $700 million to construct and is expected to open in 2028, will run solely on electricity generated on site and will generate enough power to provide some energy to the city. It will also be one of the first sites in the country to achieve True Zero Waste, and will meet all of its non-potable water demand with rainwater and treated wastewater.

“President McInnis inspired Stony Brook students, faculty, and staff to be bold and to confront global challenges like climate change,” Kevin Reed, Associate Provost for Climate and Sustainability Programming explained in an email. The Climate Exchange will provide a path for the development of local solutions to climate impacts in New York and beyond.

“The impact of her leadership at Stony Brook will be felt for years to come,” Reed added.

Simons Foundation donation

Last year, the Simons Foundation agreed to donate $500 million over the course of seven years to Stony Brook University. The university plans to use the gift, named the Simons Infinity Investment, for student scholarship for a diverse student body, endowed professorships, research initiatives, development of new academic fields and clinical care.

The gift from the Simons Foundation and the Climate Exchange win are “outstanding achievements at Stony Brook,” said Shirley Kenny, who was president of Stony Brook University from 1994 to 2009. “She is certainly to be congratulated for these and other achievements.”

During McInnis’s tenure, Stony Brook also reached its highest ever rankings among U.S. News and World Reports Best Colleges listing. The magazine named SBU the top ranked public university in New York, the 26th highest ranked public university in the United States, and the 58th highest rank in its 2024 Best Colleges guide. The University was ranked 93rd in 2022.

“We congratulate [McInnis] on this prestigious appointment, merely the latest in her series of extraordinary professional accomplishments,” SUNY Chancellor John King Jr. said in a statement. Her “election is a testament to both her exceptional ability and the esteem with which Stony Brook is viewed by its peers. I know that we will have superbly talented candidates to choose from as we begin this search for [her] successor to lead one of the nation’s most prestigious public universities and a true engine of research innovation and social mobility.”

McInnis, like other college presidents, contended with challenges during this time, including protests related to Israel’s military action after Hamas’s attack on October 7.

McInnis “dealt with the recent demonstrations on campus in an effective manner,” Bruce Stillman, president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and an Adjunct Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Stony Brook, explained in an email. He congratulated her on her appointment at Yale.

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY1) added that McInnis “deftly handled the Stony Brook protests and I am confident she will bring a needed dose of common sense to the Ivy League.” In an email, LaLota added that he has been “working with her for the last two years to ensure Congress is doing everything we can to support Stony Brook and I appreciate her fierce advocacy for the university.”

McInnis shared some thoughts on her tenure.

“I have been so proud to lead Stony Brook during this exciting time in its history,” McInnis said in a statement. “When I talk with other leaders in higher education, it is clear that they recognize Stony Brook is an institution on an upward trajectory, combining groundbreaking research with expanded opportunities for students from all backgrounds. I want to express my appreciation to all the faculty, students, and staff who are achieving great accomplishments. I am confident that Stony Brook’s best years lie ahead.”