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Daniel Dunaief

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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

If an amusement park suddenly changed the criteria that would allow visitors to ride on a roller coaster or log flume, the number of potential customers would suddenly climb.

The same holds true for the number of people whom doctors are diagnosing with autism.

Over time, health care professionals have changed the definition of autism, recognizing the heterogeneous nature of a diagnosis that is often different from one individual to the next.

Debra Reicher. Photo courtesy Stony Brook University

Recently, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the head of Health and Human Services, suggested that he planned to share a detailed analysis of autism by this September to explain the increase in the number of people who receive such a diagnosis.

Based on numerous reports, Kennedy indicated he would present research findings at the end of the summer that explains why and how the number of cases of autism and other childhood chronic diseases has risen.

“The biggest, most widely agreed reason for the increase in numbers is the broadening of the diagnostic criteria,” said Debra Reicher, Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.

Over her 35 years in the field of autism, Reicher said the definition of autism has changed.

“We are getting better at diagnosing people at the higher end of the spectrum,” she said.

When Reicher started in the field, about 80 percent of those diagnosed with autism also had an intellectual developmental disorder or cognitive delay. That is currently closer to 40 percent.

“We are getting better at identifying people who have good cognitive skills,” and who have autism, Reicher added.

Over time, the male-female gap has also narrowed. Historically, boys and men were more likely to receive an autism diagnosis.

Clinicians are getting better at understanding the presentation of autism in females, who have different symptoms that can fly under the radar.

Girls are more likely to “mask or camouflage” autism, which physicians might miss, Reicher added.

Matthew Lerner

People are also more aware of autism as a diagnosis.

“Young parents are tracking their child’s development and are asking their pediatricians questions,” Reicher said. That leads to earlier detection.

On a smaller but not insignificant level, some studies suggest that older ages of fathers can also contribute to autism. 

“Advanced paternal age is a statistically significant predicator of increased rates of autism,” said Matthew Lerner, Research Associate Professor and Research Director of the Autism Initiative at Stony Brook University. 

Premature babies, who are much more likely to survive today than they were even a few decades ago, can also receive an autism diagnosis as they develop.

More support

At the same time, health systems are not only more actively screening for autism, but they are also providing more support and benefits.

By offering people and their families services, these health care systems are providing people with autism care, making a diagnosis a potential starting point for more care.

“If somebody was diagnosed with autism in the 1980s, there weren’t a lot of things that folks could do,” said Lerner, who is also Associate Professor and Leader of the Life Course Outcomes Program Area at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University.

Some research also suggests a correlation between environmental exposure or pollutants and the incidence of the condition.

Researchers, however,  caution that a correlation doesn’t necessarily indicate a causation, which is a significant challenge in the world of science and medicine.

A correlation may or may not be relevant in the context of a disease or the treatment for it. Researchers who can conclude based on larger and statistically significant samples a cause between something like environmental exposure and a disease can reduce the likelihood of a condition.

To be sure, despite considerable chatter through online forums, the Internet and people who have limited or no medical expertise, people in the autism field have not seen any evidence that vaccines for diseases like measles have any connection with autism.

The studies that were done in the 90s and early 2000s that suggested a potential link between autism and vaccines were biased and were eventually retracted in a journal, Reicher said.

“Research shows no difference in the rates of autism between vaccinated and unvaccinated children,” she added.

Some new or expectant mothers are hesitating to give their children a measles, mumps and rubella shot.

Reicher urges parents to study the issue carefully and to provide the kind of protection that will prevent the spread of infectious diseases and the lifelong consequences of contracting measles.

Reicher suggested that some of the fear comes from the fact that MMR is given around the time physicians recognize the symptoms of autism.

“With vaccines, there’s no evidence to support” a connection with autism, Reicher added.

New research

Researchers and clinicians welcomed the possibility of new studies that might help the heterogeneous community of people with autism.

New work done with “rigorous science that have reputable approaches and ask meaningful questions” could be “fantastic” for people with autism and their support networks, Lerner said.

To be sure, Lerner doesn’t anticipate any major findings in the development of autism, particularly in the context of vaccines or any other speculation that researchers have tested for decades.

The notion that significant studies from around the world that thousands of researchers conducted over the course of decades would suddenly be overturned in the next four months “seems highly implausible,” he said.

Lerner hopes that any focus on autism research that the current administration conducts respects and adheres to the level of rigor necessary to make any changes in diagnosis, treatment or potential causes.

At this point, Reicher, who has spent decades working with a wide range of people with autism, has seen many people with autism live “wonderful, successful, fulfilling lives.” People with autism are “making huge contributions to the arts, to science and to everything in between.”

Understanding and enhancing an awareness of autism through well-documented and rigorous research could help some people with the diagnosis, although a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work for a larger population that has different symptoms and needs.

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Jillian Scully, state record-holder in discus. Photo courtesy Debbie Scully

By  Daniel Dunaief

Goal set. Goal accomplished.

Miller Place High School senior and track star Jillian Scully wanted to set a new record in the discus in her final season.

She accomplished her goal this past weekend at the Glenn D. Loucks Memorial Games in White Plains, breaking the 33-year old state record by over two feet when she threw the discus 174 feet, 2 inches away.

At the same time, Scully, 18, now owns the furthest throw by a high school girl in the country.

“I read 174, turned around, looked at my friends, said, ‘I broke the state record,’ jumped around a little bit, had our fun, took a couple of pictures, went home and made myself some cupcakes,” said the typically understated Scully. 

Scully also won the MVP award for the tournament, which reflects both on her remarkable throw and on her willingness to help tournament officials and other competitors.

Scully helped the referees retrieve the discuses and the shot put, a competition she also won on Friday, for other competitors.

An official told her that “you’re not only a good athlete, you’re a good person. This trophy is for special people like you,” Scully said.

After her record setting throw, Scully learned that NASF Nike wanted to provide her with merchandise and funding to support her when she goes to the sneaker and apparel sponsored event in Oregon.

“I’m very excited” about the support, as it is “my first offer of anything,” she said.

Jillian Scully, state record-holder in discus. Photo courtesy Debbie Scully

Scully’s father James shed a few tears when his daughter broke the record.

“It was pretty amazing, to be a parent watching it,” he said. “She’s pretty determined to do what she wants to do. She had it in her head.”

Indeed, Scully said his daughter has been itching to break the record for a while.

“We knew it was coming,” said Jillian’s mother Despina “Debbie” Scully. “She was throwing 170 in practice. We were waiting with bated breath.”

Jillian’s mother was so excited for her daughter that the family “couldn’t form sentences. It didn’t really settle in until we got home.”

That night, Scully returned home and baked the confetti cupcakes she had been saving for the day she claimed the state record.

The weekend wasn’t complete without Scully heading to a field and working with another athlete.

The day after the games, a discus thrower from Mount Sinai reached out to Scully to ask if she’d train with him.

She got up at 8 am, throwing with him for over two hours.

“She loves helping people,” her mother said.

A sunny day, some early fouls

Like many other Saturdays when she has competitions, Scully and her family woke up in a hotel on the day of the record-breaking throw and had an early breakfast.

She arrived at the meet early to watch her teammate compete in the pole vault. She then stood by the track and watched the boys’ discus throw.

One of the competitors threw a personal best, which gave Scully the sense that the conditions might be ripe for her and others.

“A bunch of people” had a personal record, said Scully. “People were up and happy.”

It didn’t hurt that the sun, which was hidden behind rain clouds during the previous day’s soggy shot put competition, was out.

She had a feeling Saturday would be the day for her to reach her goal.

In the preliminary rounds, Scully fouled on her first two throws. She walked over to her parents and told them she wasn’t even going to spin in the circle, minimizing the chance that she’d foul. She knew she’d throw far enough to make it to the next round.

Even without a spin, her deliberate throw was 145 feet, which was further than the second place finisher for the day.

In the finals, her clean throw not only put her in the record books for the state, but also has her ranked 81 in the country, including college students and Olympic athletes. This is the first time Scully has cracked the top 100.

After her record, she reached out to several coaches and to her brother Jimmy, who is a police officer in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Bill Hiney, Sully’s personal coach, sent her an image of an Olympic medal.

Hiney, the Assistant Track and Field Coach during the winter and spring seasons for Southold High School, attributed the record to the work she’s put in, to her passion and dedication to the sport, and to her athletic frame.

“I’ve been doing this for 36 years,” said Hiney. “Jillian is just on another planet.”

Ready for more

While Scully is pleased that she met one of her goals, she sees room for improvement in her form.

If she has her way, her current record may not stand for 33 days, as she hopes to use her 6 foot, 1 and 3/4 inch height, to reach or exceed 180 feet.

“I could fix some of the things I messed up,” she said about her throwing technique.

Hiney, who watched a video of her performance, said she didn’t drive all the way through the throw.

“Her right hip was prematurely stopped, when she could have continued putting more energy into the throw,” Hiney said. He believes it won’t be long before she sets another record.

Scully, who is committed to attending LSU in the fall, plans to compete in six more meets before she graduates, including counties, states, state qualifiers and nationals.

Still, even as she looks to build on this throw, Scully has learned to savor and enjoy the moment.

“I try to acknowledge the fact that I accomplished a goal before I start setting the next one,” she said. “I have a tendency to jump from one goal to the next, with nothing in the middle.”

Scully’s current and future achievements are a product of consistent hard work and sacrifice.

Practicing on a field she makes sure is clear in the landing zone of onlookers drawn to the sports of discus and shot put, Scully works on her form over and over again, videotaping as many as 80 throws in a day and critiquing her form.

All the work means that she “misses out on a lot of things,” said Debbie Scully, which includes the athletic awards dinner at school, the last day of school, and the senior class trip, to name a few.

“This is her passion and this is what she wants,” her mother said.

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Nursing students use mannequins and hospital equipment to train for various health care challenges for future patients. Photo by Jeanne Neville/Stony Brook Medicine
Using immersive virtual reality that simulate real-world healthcare settings in a simulated hospital room, emergency room, intensive care unit or patient homes, nursing students use technology to train in a low-stress setting. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine
Nursing students use mannequins and hospital equipment to train for various health care challenges for future patients. Photo by Jeanne Neville/Stony Brook Medicine

By Daniel Dunaief

 

Dr. Patricia Bruckenthal
Photo from Stony Brook School of Nursing

 

People put their lives in the hands of unseen airline pilots who have enhanced and sharpened their skills using simulators. These simulators can prepare them for a wide range of conditions and unexpected challenges that enhance their confidence on the fly.

The same approach holds true for nurses, who seek to help patients whose symptoms may change even as the nurse is working with several people at the same time.

In an initiative designed to provide in depth training to nurses throughout the state, while filling a shortage of these vital professionals, New York State recently announced a $62 million contribution to three nursing simulation centers: SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Canton and Stony Brook University. With $10 million of state funds that the university will match with $10.5 million of its own money, SBU will increase the number of nurses it trains.

“We are very fortunate here at Stony Brook that we get many, many qualified applicants for our nursing program [for whom] we have not, to date, been able to offer seats,” said Dr. Patricia Bruckenthal, Dean of the School of Nursing at Stony Brook. This will enable the school, as well as the other programs, to train more students.

Effective training

While Stony Brook offers nursing simulation training, the additional funds will greatly expand the size and scope of that effort.

The NEXUS-Innovation Center, which stands for Nursing EXcellence Using Simulation, will take about two years to build and will have a phased in enrollment approach. In the third year, the school will add 56 baccalaureate nursing students. In the fifth year, Stony Brook will have space for 80 more students.

The current simulation center is about 1,850 square feet, which includes a nursing skills lab, exam room and debrief/ flex room. 

The new center will add 15,000 square feet. 

The simulation center will have 16 hospital style beds, with all the equipment nurses would normally see in a hospital room, including suction, air, oxygen, otoscope, ophthalmoscope, monitoring, and a call bell system. The center will also have eight examination rooms.

The proposal also includes the design of an apartment with a laundry, kitchen, bathroom and shower, helping train nurses who will help people in residential settings.

Among other features, the center will have a control room where instructors and operators manipulate the AV equipment and patient simulations, observe and document performance, collect data and prepare for debriefing.

Bruckenthal is planning to hire a faculty member in the next few months to become simulation coordinator who will work with the Director of the Learning Resource Center.

Within the next two years, Stony Brook anticipates hiring one more nursing faculty Clinical Simulation Educator and one Simulation Operations Specialist, who will ensure that all technical aspects of the center are functioning correctly. This new hire will also troubleshoot equipment, while performing emergency repairs on equipment and arranging for vendor repairs.

All of this equipment and expertise provides opportunities to create scenarios that build expertise. The conditions can change, as a patient goes from an expected outcome to one in which the conditions rapidly deteriorate.

In addition to expanding capacity and giving nurses an opportunity to understand and react to patients who have a wide range of conditions they might not see during routine clinical training, the center will also enable these students to build their competence and confidence in a low-stakes environment.

“It provides for a safe learning environment,” said Bruckenthal. “Students can make mistakes without risking patient safety. It’s much less stressful.”

Future nurses can also continue to work in the simulation lab on a particular skill until they feel confident in their abilities.

Several studies have validated the effectiveness of educating and preparing nurses in a simulated setting.

A landmark study in 2014 conducted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing compared the clinical competence of nurses in training across three groups: one that had no simulation training, a group with 25 percent of their clinical training replaced by simulation, and a third group with 50 percent clinical training through simulation.

The nursing certification pass rate scores were the same for all three groups. Simulation trained nurses performed as well or better in areas like critical thinking and clinical judgment.

Additionally, follow up studies showed that employers found that nurses trained using high fidelity simulation were just as effective as those who were trained in the clinic in areas including patient safety, communication and evidence-based practices..

The center can also pivot to provide nurses with training for expanding local health threats, such as a simulated version of a measles outbreak, Lyme disease or a spike in other conditions that might cause a surge in hospital visits.

“We can build and design cases that meet those needs,” said Bruckenthal.

The center can build in disaster training, giving nurses a chance to interact with colleagues in other health professions during any of a host of other scenarios. When interacting with other healthcare professionals, nurses can practices the SBAR technique, in which they describe the Situation, provide Background, give an Assessment, and offer a Recommendation.

The expanded simulation center will incorporate design elements such as soundproofing, lighting and ventilation and will align with the university’s goals towards sustainability and green-oriented design.

Long term commitment

Bruckenthal has been contributing to Stony Brook for 44 years, ever since she graduated from the nursing school in 1981.

Her first job as a nurse was at the newly opened hospital. She and Carolyn Santora, Stony Brook Medicine Chief Nursing Officer, have worked together since 1981 and went through the Stony Brook master’s program together. They have established the Stony Brook Nursing Alliance.

Bruckenthal is energized by the opportunities ahead.

“Nursing is one of those careers where you can always keep yourself new and find new and exciting opportunities,” she said.

In the early days of her nursing career, she recalled that nurses weren’t exposed to all the types of conditions they might face in various settings.

“Having the opportunity to have nurses practice in this low risk environment and build that confidence and skills is a better way to prepare nurses to be ready for the work force,” she said

With nurses involved in so many aspects of patient care, Bruckenthal dreams of creating a nursing innovation incubator.

Nurses can offer insights into developing innovative ways to improve health care, whether working with biomedical engineers or biomedical informatics and can help design human-centered technology. Such a center could allow nurses to learn more about technology and business while enabling them to become leaders and entrepreneurs.

“Nurses have a problem-solving mindset,” Bruckenthal explained. “Sustainable and scalable solutions are really going to take a joint effort between educators, clinicians and industry partners.”

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Esther Takeuchi. Photo by Roger Stoutenburgh/Brookhaven National Laboratory

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Esther Takeuchi has won numerous awards and received plenty of honors for her work. 

In 2009, President Barack Obama presented her with a National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor possible for technological achievement in the country.

She has also been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,  received the 2013 E.V. Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry from the American Chemical Society and was selected as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, among others.

Takeuchi, who has over 150 patents to her name and is Distinguished Professor in Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook University and Chair of the Interdisciplinary Science Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory, spoke with Times Beacon Record News Media about a range of topics.

“In the long run, I think energy storage can significantly improve energy availability and affordability,” said Takeuchi. “We end up throwing a lot of [energy] away.”

Indeed, in a widely cited statistic based on a 2021 study, 65 percent of energy produced is thrown away. Energy from any source, whether it’s fossil fuels, sunlight, wind or nuclear, is inefficient, with losses from heat, limitations on technology, friction with machinery and incomplete combustion, among a host of factors.

“Let’s use it more effectively, where we can follow the load,” urged Takeuchi.

At the same time, Takeuchi recognizes the importance of ensuring the safety of energy storage, including for the proposed storage facilities in Setauket.

“The Fire Department and police need to be brought into the discussion,” she said. “A lot of these folks are extremely knowledgeable.”

Community education, involvement and awareness is necessary for any such project, ensuring that the appropriate people are informed and know how to respond to any crisis.

Energy needs

Future energy needs are considerably higher than they are today, thanks to the demands of artificial intelligence.

Large data centers that house the kinds of information necessary for AI are “incredibly power hungry,” Takeuchi said. If AI continues to expand at the current pace, it alone will use more energy than the world makes today.

“We need to have broader sources of energy” so it is available, she added. “Where is going to come from?”

Indeed, Takeuchi and her collaborators are working on energy storage that doesn’t use the kind of lithium-ion batteries that power much of consumer electronics. Lithium ion batteries are compact and are highly reactive, packing energy into a small volume. If something goes wrong, these batteries are flammable.

“We are working on a project at Stony Brook and Brookhaven National Laboratory where we’ve demonstrated electrolytes that don’t burn at all,” she said. “You can put a butane lighter on them and they won’t burn.”

To be sure, these batteries, which would be larger than the current systems, are a “long way” from commercialization, but it’s possible.

Still, Takeuchi is excited about rechargeable water-based batteries. She’s focused on making sure the materials are elements that are used broadly, instead of exotic materials mined in only one place on Earth. She’s also looking to create a cycle life that’s as high as possible.

Aqueous materials have a lower cycle life. She and her team are trying to understand why and overcome those challenges, which would enable these batteries to be recharged more times before degrading.

Funding environment

The current funding environment for science and technology has reached an uncertain time, Takeuchi said.

“One of the ways the United States has been so effective at competing economically on a global level is through science and technology,” she said. During many decades, the country has been an innovation leader as measured by the number of patents issued.

Driven by the Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb, by frenzied competition with the Soviet Union after the launch of Sputnik in October of 1957 amid the Cold War, and by the drive to send people to the moon in the 1960’s, the country has attracted top talent from around the world while making important discoveries and creating new technology. Realizing that science and technology is a driver of future commercial and economic growth, other countries have been actively recruiting scientists concerned about the future funding landscape to their countries. This creates the potential for a brain drain.

If the United States gives up its leadership position when other nations are charging ahead, it could take a long time to recover the current standing, not to mention to mirror the successes and personal and professional opportunities from previous generations, said Takeuchi.

“Science is critical to lead us to the future we all want to live in,” she added. 

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Emma Samghabadi at the New York Marine Rescue Center. Photo courtesy Jennifer Samghabadi

By Daniel Dunaief

The odds haven’t always been in favor of Emma Samghabadi.

The Comsewogue High School senior and Port Jefferson station resident was born under two pounds and spent over a month in the neonatal intensive care unit at Stony Brook Hospital.

After maneuvering through a period her parents Jennifer and Pedram Samghabadi described as “touch and go” for a while, she flourished and is poised to graduate from high school in June and enter college this fall.

Emma Samghabadi after singing with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra in 2022. Photo courtesy Brian Kacharaba

A gifted singer and performer, Samghabadi, who recently played Velma Kelly in a teen edition of “Chicago,” applied for the Live Más scholarship through Taco Bell, where she has been working since last summer.

Samghabadi spent close to three months putting together a two minute video describing her passions, which include performing, singing, and serving as a conservationist.

On April 25th, Samghabadi, 18, was working at the drive through window at Taco Bell and learned that she had won a $10,000 scholarship, which she will use at the University of Rhode Island.

“It was a complete surprise to me,” said Samghabadi, who was thrilled when her managers and coworkers celebrated her scholarship with balloons and congratulatory posters in the dining room of the restaurant. “All my managers were there and my regional managers were there as well.”

Indeed, Samghabadi called her mother, who works as a registered nurse and her father, who is a social worker, to celebrate.

Jennifer Samghabadi was “overjoyed, proud, grateful and also humbled” with the scholarship.

“The odds [of winning] are very, very low,” her father said. “This was her exhibiting her unique mix” of passions.

Out of 500 scholarship applications from New York, Taco Bell awarded 13 at this level, which is just over two a half percent of the state’s entries.

The Taco Bell Foundation has been awarding these scholarships for 10 years, with some notable past winners including Mato Standing Soldier, a film and TV composer who was named to Forbes 30 under 30 List for 2023 and Brooke Taylor, who is dancing on Broadway in Moulin Rouge.

Samghabadi gave her scholarship entry considerable thought. The scholarship is based on a student’s passions, social impact, personal presentation and educational goals and does not include any reference to a grade point average or standardized test scores.

“As soon as I started finding pictures, I was already thinking about what I wanted to talk about,” Samghabadi said.

Editing the presentation to under two minutes was a “struggle,” she added.

The work paid off, as a Taco Bell Foundation spokeswoman suggested that Samghabadi’s video embodied the key traits they seek in an applicant: strong passion, a focus on social impact, clear educational goals and compelling storytelling.

Samghabadi, who has a weighted grade point average above 100, has impressed her high school teachers.

Rosa Antelo, who teaches Samghabadi’s Advanced Placement Class and was also her instructor for Advanced Spanish in 10th grade, described her student’s potential as “unmeasurable.”

Antelo suggested that Samghabadi is “not just a great student, but she’s truly an amazing person.”

Antelo, who wrote a college recommendation for Samghabadi, recalled a time when her student helped her manage through the strain of a stressful situation.

“She’s so positive and is looking for the best of everything,” said Antelo, who has been teaching for 26 years and believes Samghabadi stands out among her many students.

An early curiosity

When she was five, Samghabadi found a large green caterpillar in a hibiscus bush, which she brought home.

She and her parents looked up how to care for it. The caterpillar formed a cocoon and emerged as a moth.

After that, Samghabadi was hooked, establishing a monarch butterfly way station where she has released over a hundred of the orange and black insects that, while not endangered are threatened by a loss of habitat, pesticide use and climate change.

Dedicated to conservation and marine biology, Samghabadi has worked as a volunteer at the New York Marine Rescue Center in Riverhead.

She tells visitors about the only effort in the state to rescue and rehabilitate sea turtles and seals. She has also helped with beach clean ups and, in 2023, became scuba certified.

Samghabadi’s favorite animal is the manta ray, which she hopes to study in college.

From ‘The Lion King’ to community theater

Around the same time that she found the green caterpillar, Samghabi, saw her first broadway show.

Watching “The Lion King” sparked an interest in performance and theater.

Samghabadi has been an extra in short films and commercials as well as in the movie “Uncut Gems.”

As a 10-year old, she spent a day on set as an extra, sitting behind Adam Sandler in a movie theater.

She has performed in several shows and goes through cycles of singing different Broadway songs in the house.

These days, she’s using her soprano voice to belt out “Sweeney Todd” in the house. 

Samghabadi is open to combining her interests in conservation and music. At some point, she would like to conduct research on bioacoustics. She could also envision using music as a part of public outreach for conservation.

Despite all her commitments, including working with second graders to help teach them Spanish, Samghabadi is able to enjoy leisure activities with her friends by organizing herself.

“I have a set plan for what I need to do each day,” she said.

Multiple scholarships

Samghabadi’s talents and dedication have earned her other competitive scholarships.

She will receive $84,000 over four years as a part of the inaugural Schilling Scholars Program at the University of Rhode Island. She will also receive $68,000 from the presidential scholarship at the university.

The New York Elks Association recently awarded her a $1,000 scholarship.

Samghabadi is the second generation in her family to work at Taco Bell, where her favorite meal is the Cantina Chicken Bowl.

When he was earning money for college, Samghabadi’s father Pedram worked at the restaurant chain.

Samghabadi’s parents are grateful for the life their daughter has lived and the energy and passion she brings to her interests.

“You can’t be thankful enough,” said Pedram Samghabadi. “We still cannot believe what we went through” in the first year of her remarkable life.

Their daughter. whose singing they will miss when she attends college, gave them a preview of what was to come early in life.

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Cookie the Pom. Photo from Unsplash

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Dear Paw Landers,

I’ve never written a letter like this before. Truth be told, I’ve never written a letter of any kind.

But I understand you live far away and that you dispense valuable advice that I could use in my everyday life with the guy and his family.

The guy spends most of his days sitting at this thing typing, so I guess I can do it for an hour or so, which, you know, is more like seven hours for him.

I was thinking of asking you about that rumbling noise that scares me so much when it gets incredibly dark out and when the ground gets wet. Those sounds make me want to find cover somewhere, but no matter where I go, I can still hear it and feel the terrible vibrations. It’s like if a pack of, you know, us were running around the neighborhood, growling so loudly outside the door that we caused the floor to vibrate a second or two after a flash of light.

No, no, I’ll save the questions about those noises for some other letter. This one is about the delicate social business of interacting in the neighborhood.

You see, my guy varies in his social energy and interests. Some days, he speaks with everyone we run into and bends down to pet other dogs.

That doesn’t bother me, the way it did with Fifi last week, when she complained that her owner pets other dogs more readily and happily than she pets Fifi. I’m fine if my guy wants to scratch other dogs behind their ears or rubs their back. Frankly, there are times when I think he needs a hobby to get out all of his scratching, squeezing and high-pitched voice energy that he reserves for me and, once in a while, for small people when they come to the house.

Other times, he barely waves or acknowledges people and their pets. He’s either staring into his phone and talking to himself or he’s making lists out loud and telling himself what he needs to do that day.

When he does stop to chat with neighbors and their companions, he often talks about me while the other human talks about their dog. I’m kind of tired of hearing about how I don’t like to swim, how I’m not that high energy and I don’t fetch.

Everyone doesn’t have to fetch or swim, right? But, then, he also talks about how sensitive I am and how supportive I am whenever anyone is feeling sad in the house. Hey, we all have our strengths, right?

When he’s chatting, sometimes about me and sometimes about the weather, I’m not always sure how long the pause in our walk will go.

I sometimes sit or lay down near him, while other dogs jump or sniff around me. Other times, I’m so happy to see one of my neighbors that she and I try to tie the two leashes into a knot in the shape of a heart. My guy and the neighbor never see it, but it’s so obvious to us.

Every so often, I meet someone intriguing and, you know how it is, right? I have to sniff them, the way they have to sniff me. The question is, how long can I sniff their butts before it becomes socially awkward, either for them or for the humans?

I mean, I can tell when my guy is in an intense conversation about something, when his voice drops or shakes and I want to help him. At the same time, I have this need to sniff.

Clearly, sniffing butts at the wrong time or for too long can become a problem for the guy and the other person.

If we do it too long, their conversation ends and he walks away, muttering and puling on me until we get inside.

So, what’s the ideal, allowable butt sniffing time? And remember that none of us is getting any younger, so, you know, if you could write back soon, it’d help. You can’t see me, but I’m looking up at you with my big brown eyes and wagging my tail. That usually works with the guy.

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Paul O'Connor. Photo by Roger Stoutenburgh/ BNL

By Daniel Dunaief

The Earth is way too noisy.

The far side of the moon, however, can act like enormous noise cancellation headphones, serving as a barrier to the kinds of signals from sources including Earth’s ionosphere, which carries electromagnetic noises from lightning, solar flares, radio signals, among others to look or, perhaps more appropriately, listen deep into the past.

On Wednesday, May 7, at Napper Tandy’s in Smithtown, three Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists will speak with the public about an unnamed mission expected to take off next year. The free event is part of BNL’s PubSci science café series (www.bnl.gov/pubsci/).

Paul O’Connor. Photo by Roger Stoutenburgh/ BNL

Senior Scientist Paul O’Connor, Mechanical Engineer Connie-Rose Deane and Physicist Anže Slosar will discuss a project called LuSEE-Night, which, like so many other efforts at BNL, is an acronym. LuSEE stands for Lunar Surface Electromagnetic Experiment-Night.

The Department of Energy project manager is Sven Hermann at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Slosar is the science lead, while O’Connor coordinated technical and systems aspects of the instrument development.

The scientists collaborated with researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Energy and included scientists at the University of Minnesota and at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Space Science Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley is leading the project. BNL is a collaborating member responsible for delivering hardware components of the payload.

LuSEE-Night, which is a radio telescope, is designed to gather information about the Dark Ages of the universe. This time period, from about 380,000 to 400 million years ago after the Big Bang, occurred before the first luminous stars and galaxies. 

Connie-Rose Deane. Photo by David Rahner/ BNL

As the only signals measurable from the Dark Ages, radio waves, recorded through LuSEE-Night provide a chance to learn how the first non-luminous matter evolved into stars and galaxies.

Over the last several years, scientists at the Department of Energy and NASA have shared their excitement about seeing something they had never seen before.

David Rapetti, Senior Researcher with Universities Space Research Association (USRA) at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, suggested the instrument was a “trailblazer for subsequent potential single telescope experiments for the global signal, also including the Cosmic Down signal at a somewhat higher frequency range.”

Rapetti, who has been with the project since its inception, suggested that this instrument could help with plenty of other science.

“In addition to studies of the sun, planets and exoplanets, the roadmap ahead for low frequency observations from the lunar surface represents a crucial resource to further our understanding of the evolution, content and first luminous objects of the early Universe,” Rapetti explained.

A potential measurement of the global Dark Ages signal could in principle reveal “undiscovered new physics or indeed further validate the current standard model of cosmology,” Rapetti added.

Challenging conditions

When looking for a landing site, the team searched for a flat, level surface that was free of large rocks and craters and that had an unobstructed view of the sky in all directions.

Anže Slosar. Photo by Roger Stoutenburgh/ BNL

They chose the Schrodinger Basin, which is about 250 miles south of the lunar equator at a point “almost exactly opposite the Earth-facing direction,” O’Connor explained. This will keep the telescope as “free as possible from electromagnetic interference from Earth,” he added.

Sending the telescope to the far side of the moon created particular challenges. For starters, the telescope had to endure the forces experienced during launch and landing. Once it was on the moon, it had to tolerate the harsh temperature that could drop as low as minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit, and radiation environment, while staying within the mass and power budgets. The instrument mass is less than 282 pounds.

While the landing site is ideal for minimizing electromagnetic noise, it’s difficult to send the information back to Earth with the moon blocking the communication.

Indeed, the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, which was led by Commander James Lovell and that orbited the moon without landing, was out of communication for about 25 minutes while it was on the far side of the moon.

To gather data from the telescope, the group is sending a satellite that will orbit the moon, enabling communication that has a 1.3 second time delay in each direction as the signal travels to the moon.

The signal processing chain required a state-of-the-art digital chip that could crunch the data as it comes through small antennas and produces a reduced data set small enough to send back to Earth, explained O’Connor, who worked with a core BNL team of six senior scientists and engineers and about a dozen other engineers, technicians and project staff on a final design that took about 16 months to complete

Additionally, the telescope will only generate solar energy during 14 Earth days a month. During another 14 days, the instrument needs to run without recharging its battery.

To protect the telescope against the harsh, cold environment of the moon, the scientists are wrapping the instrument in many layers of an insulating blanket. The heat from its operation should provide enough energy to prevent damage from the cold.

When the radio telescope launches, the four antennas are coiled into a compact spool the size of a soda can. After landing, the latch is released, allowing the antenna to deploy into self-supporting booms three meters long using their own spring force. At this point, several research and development missions are underway to learn more about the moon in preparation for the Artemis 3 manned mission currently planned for the middle of 2027.

LSST/ Rubin Observatory

O’Connor has also been involved for over two decades with the development of a project called the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope that is now called the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Cerro Pachón, Chile.

Rubin was an astronomer who provided the first evidence of the existence of dark matter.

The much anticipated activation of this observatory, which will allow researchers to look into billions of galaxies, asteroids and even dark matter, will start producing data in July.

O’Connor, who helped with the film part of the observatory’s camera, suggested that the BNL science team is “most interested in what LSST/ Rubin will tell us about the nature of dark energy and dark matter. This will come from analyzing the camera’s images which, paradoxically, reveal the location of dark matter as it ‘bends’ the light traveling towards us from distant regions in the universe.”

More information about the event on May 7 can be found here.

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Nobel Laureate Mario Capecchi being interviewed by Ludmila Pollock.

By Daniel Dunaief

Ludmila “Mila” Pollock isn’t a scientist, but she has made significant contributions to the field over more than a quarter of a century. In fact, the Executive Director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Library & Archives has contributed so meaningfully to sharing scientific information and celebrating scientists and their history that she was recently elected a fellow of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“It’s just a privilege to be among all the other fellows,” said Pollock, who calls herself a “keeper and promoter of knowledge and scientific legacies related to molecular biology and genetics.”

Pollock, who has been at CSHL since 1999, founded the lab’s History of Science Meetings in 2008 and created an oral history project in 2000 in which she has interviewed over 170 pioneers in molecular biology, genetics and technology.

People who have worked with Pollock praised her work, passion and dedication, suggesting that her energy and focus inspired them and will likely encourage future generations of scientists.

“The resources [Pollock] has brought to life offer a trove of educational material that can help inspire young students to explore and hopefully pursue an education and eventually a career in biomedical research,” said Kevin Davies, Editorial Director of Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News and author of Cracking the Genome and Editing Humanity. “She is a treasure!”

Davies and Pollock helped compile the Annotated Scholarly Guide to the Human Genome Project.

Davies suggested that Pollock “conceived and drove” the guide to completion and that it “simply would not exist without her energy and commitment.”

While Pollock appreciated the recognition, she suggested that the work she has done at CSHL has been a product of numerous collaborations.

At the History of Science meetings, most of the speakers are prominent researchers. One or two speakers can include a historian. Attendees are typically researchers, students, historians, journalists and others.

Pollock is delighted to share the historical scientific narrative and, in some cases, to have these gatherings become a part of the ongoing story.

Indeed, when Katalin Karikó won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2023 for work that laid the foundation for effective mRNA vaccines against Covid-19, she told the Nobel Prize committee she had just returned from a meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which celebrated 50 years of recombinant DNA technology.

“That was a very good promotion for us,” said Pollock.

As for the oral histories, Pollock spoke with four Nobel Prize-winning female scientists last year, including Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, who won the prize for creating the gene-editing tool CRISPR.

Scientists appreciate the opportunity to hear directly from the scientists through the oral history project. By cross referencing replies from researchers, viewers can compare what scientists said in response to the same question.

“The result is a much richer source of history than any one interview could provide,” Bruce Alberts, a biochemist who was president of the National Academy of Sciences from 1993 to 2005, explained in an interview.

A girl in a library

Pollock grew up in Vitebsk, Russia, a geographic origin now in Belarus that she shares with artist Marc Chagall.

When she was four and went to an adult library with her father, she was disappointed that only librarians could go behind the desk to browse through all the books. She told her parents she would become a librarian so she could browse through the books at any library.

As a librarian and archivist, she has been an advocate for open access. She sees many similarities between the hard work Nobel Prize winners and other scientists who haven’t received some of the top honors in their fields yet do.

Pollock appreciates the connections she has made with scientists. “Everyone I have spoken with is truly remarkable,” she said.

The scientists feel the same way about her.

Alberts recalled attending a tribute to the scientist Sydney Brenner in 2022, where Alberts was a speaker. Alberts had left his walking stick in a taxi on the way to the meeting. Pollock gave him a cane that he took back to San Francisco.

Pollock has “an outgoing, warm personality that makes every encounter with her a memorable event for me,” Alberts said.

Nancy Hopkins, the Amgen, Inc., Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, suggested the oral history project represents a “huge amount of work” from the archives.

“Imagine the excitement of a student who falls in love with the field and then discovers that they can listen to — almost talk with — key figures who shaped the science that is their passion!” Hopkins said. “I think this is a gift that will grow in value beyond what we can imagine today.”

Pollock has enjoyed many of the conversations she’s had with scientists over the years. The scientists have revealed a great deal about themselves and their lives. In particular, she found an interaction with former director John Cairns, who was discussing Nobel Prize winner Barbara McClintock, enlightening.

While many scientists shared their admiration for McClintock’s work on jumping genes and appreciation for her work, Cairns shared a different side of her.

“She was [an] immensely difficult person who specialized in being difficult,” Cairns recalled in the oral history. She specialized in being difficult with the director of the lab.

“She would always tell me how marvelous [Millislav] Demerec [the namesake of a building on campus today] was, and how awful I was, and one day, I got very fed up with this so I went to [the director of the Department of Genetics] Al Hershey.”

Hershey told Cairns that McClintock “hated him” and that he did not want to talk to her because he thought speaking with her would give him a stroke. 

‘Force of nature’

Collaborators and supporters inside and outside of CSHL recognized and appreciated Pollock’s contribution and the energy and passion she brings to her work.

Davies and CSHL CEO Bruce Stillman both described Pollock as a “force of nature.” Stillman nominated Pollock as an AAAS fellow.

“She absolutely deserves this recognition,” Stillman said. Pollock has advanced the CSHL archives to become one of the most valuable archives in genetics and molecular biology,” which includes archives of numerous Nobel Laureates. Stillman and former CEO James Watson hired her as a librarian in 1999.

The current CSHL CEO described the meetings Pollock coordinates and runs as “some of the most important discoveries in the history of the life and medical sciences.”

As far as the oral histories, Stillman suggested the scientists share their views on people and ideas in a way they would not if they had to write answers.

Indeed, the meetings and oral histories not only serve as valuable parts of the public record, but also provide material for college educators.

Dr. Stephen Buratowski, Hamilton Kuhn Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School, emailed Pollock to let her know that one of the video links on the website wasn’t working.

He indicated that he often used these videos for teaching PhD students “as the stories told breathe life into the papers we are reading,” he wrote. “These talks are a treasured historical resource.”

Sir Richard Roberts, a Nobel Prize winner and Chief Scientific Officer at New England Biolabs, believed the history of science meetings provide a “very good view of how science evolves from a small starting point into a major field. This can give ideas of both how to do things and sometimes how not to do things to young people just getting started.”

These meetings can also inspire would-be authors to write books and ensure a permanent record with expert comment, Roberts added.

“Best of all, they are great fun to attend,” Roberts wrote.

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By Daniel Dunaief

The federal government took them away and has, for now, returned them.

Amid a national crackdown on international students throughout the country, the federal government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program removed the visas of 11 international students at Stony Brook University on April 10, without providing any public information about the reasons for the decisions or the process that would follow.

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine

Early this week, the downtstate flagship university announced that the student visas, which are necessary for work and, in some cases, to remain in the United States, were reinstated.

“We are delighted to share that all 11 Stony Brook students whose immigration status was terminated by the federal government several weeks ago had had their status reinstated,” Provost Carl Lejuez, Vice Provost for Graduate Educate Celia Marshik and Senior Associate Provost for Global Affairs Lindsi Walker announced in an email to faculty, staff and students.

The 11 Stony Brook students were among the 1,500 students nationwide whose visa status was terminated. Most of those students have also had their visas restored, although the government indicated that it was creating a new system to review and terminate student visas.

At the University of North Texas, 28 international students had their visas restored on Tuesday, while Rutgers students also had their visas restored this week.

Judges in numerous juridsictions had temporarily restored student record amid lawsuits challenging the decision by Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the Student and Exchange Visitor Information Program (SEVIS) withdrawals.

District Judge Ana Reyes in the District of Columbia on Tuesday called the withdrawals “arbitrary and capricious” and suggested that the terminations “showed a lack of concern for human individuals,” according to ABC News.

In their joint email, Stony Brook officials expressed appreciation for the community support for these students.

“Stony Brook is deeply enriched by the perspectives and contributions of our global community, and we are proud to learn, teach and conduct research alongside exceptional international students and scholars,” the officials wrote in their email.

The reversal comes as litigation against the federal government mounts, with student arguing that the revocations were unconstitutional.

After Stony Brook University announced the visas had originally been removed, students gathered to express their support for the students affected and to urge the university to help defend against deportation and the loss of any work study efforts.

Stony Brook officials indicated that students had continued with their academic pursuits amid the shifting visa process.

“We are not aware of students missing classes as a result of their status being revoked,” Lejuez explained in a written message, “and now, with this restoration, they are able to simply continue in their studies without further distractions.”

Political support

Local politicians from both parties welcomed the administration’s decision to allow these students to continue with their educational programs.

“I am pleased that the visas of the international students at Stony Brook were restored,” County Executive Ed Romaine (R) explained in a written message. “Educating international students in the U.S. helps those around the world better understand our country and apprecaite the many good things and freedoms we enjoy.”

New York State Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay

Democratic State Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay, whose district includes Stony Brook, Setauket, Port Jefferson, Port Jeffferson Station, Mount Sinai and Coram, appreciated the support of the university and of the office of Sen. Charles Schumer (D).

As soon as she learned that these student visas were revoked, Kassay connected with Stony Brook University’s Associate Vice President for Government Relations Carl Mills and with Schumer’s office.

Once the students had legal representation, Schumer’s office was able to ensure that the appeals process proceeded fairly, Kassay said.

At the time, and as a part of her ongoing responsibility to the district, Kassay urged anyone with concerns to reach out to her office to “make sure you are getting the calls back” from any of the various entities involved in the process, she said.

Kassay suggested that her staff works to make sure constituents are getting service from all levels of government.

Kassay recognized that this visa issue could return for international students in the area.

“We stand at the ready to help navigate whatever might come about with issues resulting from federal executive orders or policies,” Kassay added.

To be sure, Kassay suggested that students on visas don’t have the freedom to break laws or to violate the terms of their time in the country.

“If individuals are found to have a criminal background, or to have cause for removal from our country and that is proven by due process, then so be it,” she said. “We all deserve due process. Now is the time to make that clear.”

Kassay suggested that she felt sympathetic to students who didn’t face any public charges and whose futures had suddenly become uncertain.

“My heart goes out to the individuals and their families,” Kassay said.

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Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

In the best of times, we have the prvilege of living with a lightness of being.

We can anticipate events, opportunities and interactions that we find satisfying or that give us pleasure, like an enjoyable meal, great company, or entertaining or rewarding activities.

In the worst of times, sunlight can seem unbearably harsh to our eyes, the smiles and laughter of other people can feel like they are mocking our misfortune, leaving us isolated, alone and untethered.

Recently, tragedy struck a family we know well, as a member of the family in his 20’s died unexpectedly.

The ripples of that loss spread quickly, affecting everyone who had the privlege of knowing that person far too briefly and who had shared blissful moments without realizing how transient they were. That included siblings who learned of his death while away at college.

The loss had echoes with my own life, as I received a call from my family in my sophomore year. When I returned to my room after studying for a physics midterm, my roommate told me to call home regardless of the time.

My fingers twitched as I dialed the phone. My father had died.

While the memory of the oxygen-sucking reality of that moment has stayed with me decades later, I recognize that my father, who died earlier than the parents of almost all of my friends, lived much longer than this young person who was preparing to graduate from college.

So many moments after that loss and the discomfort it created have stayed with me over the years, even as time has allowed me to focus more on the memories and experiences I had rather than on the agony of what I’d lost.

I remember looking at the happy, worried, excited and normal faces of people in dining halls as I grappled with the reality of a present and future without the possibility of interacting with my father.

Soon after his death, people who knew me or were in the broader circle of friends, gave me “the look.” Some of them said they were so sorry and told me how unfair it all was. Not knowing what to say or how to act, others walked in the other direction or turned around when they saw me. Of course, some of that likely had nothing to do with me, as they might have forgotten a paper they printed out on their desk or realized that it was too cold to walk outside without a heavier jacket.

Even mundane activities seemed to raise questions. Should I shave, should I take a walk or a run, how much did I really care about succeeding on a test, or taking any of the next steps in what felt like an unfamiliar life?

Even the few times I managed to smile in the days after his death, I felt guilty. Was I allowed to be happy so soon after his death?

In those awful first few weeks of pain and numbness, friends who took me to lunch, listened or stayed by my side while I stared out a window provided some measure of comfort and connection.

The shocking relief I felt at meeting someone new, who didn’t know my story and wasn’t still giving me “the look,” was extraordinary.

New people weren’t sorry and didn’t know or see the cloud that rained grief and dumped freezing rain over my head regularly.

Time helped, but so did unexpected moments of escape from the loss, a sense of purpose that came from knowing how my father would have wanted me to live, and an awareness that everyone isn’t living their happily ever after all the time.

Other people are persevering through their challenges, losses, and difficulties. My loss and grief weren’t any less real, but they also weren’t so exclusive or blatanlty unfair.

While I still feel the loss of all the things that would have given my father joy, like meeting my wife or making his grandchildren laugh or  the way he made me smile even when I was marinating in my moody teenager phase, I know that I and so many others, including our family friends, are not alone in living our fractured fairy tales.

The days ahead for the family will undoubtedly include difficulties. People who know them can help by checking in and offering ongoing support. At some point hopefully before too long, they may find themselves smiling. They may realize that they are not forgetting or being disrespectful, but they are allowing themselves to breathe in a moment of sunshine, which they can share, in their own way, with the memory of their loved ones.

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