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Daniel Dunaief

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Stephen Post

By Daniel Dunaief

Thieves come in all shapes and sizes, robbing people of valuable possessions or irreplaceable personal keepsakes.

Diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and forms of dementia also rob people, taking away their memories, connections to their past and even their sense of themselves.

At times, however, people who are battling these conditions can emerge from its clutches, offering a fleeting, or even longer, connection to the person their loved ones knew, the passions they shared, and the memories that helped define a life.

In a study published in November in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Stephen Post, Director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care and Bioethics at Stony Brook University, gathered information from surveys with 2,000 caregivers who shared their reactions to unexpected lucidity from forgetful people.

“Caregivers can find inspiration in these fleeting moments,” Post wrote in a summary of the conclusions of the study. “The research aims to guide caregivers and enhance the understanding of the enduring self-identify of deeply forgetful people, promoting compassionate care and recognizing the significance of our shared humanity.”

Such moments of clarity and awareness, at levels that can be more engaging than the typical behaviors for people suffering with various levels of forgetfulness, can be rewarding at any point, but can offer a particular gift to caregivers and families around the holidays.

Possible triggers

Post suggested that these moments of lucidity can be purely spontaneous and surprising. They  can also arise during an intervention, when a caregiver or family member provides some specific stimulation or memory trigger.

“Caregivers can sing a song that their loved ones identify with from earlier in life,” said Post. “We’ve done that here at the Long Island State Veterans Home on the Stony Brook campus.”

Several years ago, Post wrote about a room of 50 veterans, many of whom spent a good part of their days in a haze without acting or interacting with others.

When they heard “The Star Spangled Banner” or other patriotic music, as many as 70 percent reacted and started to sing the song. The duration of participation varied, with some saying a few words or a line, others singing a verse, and still others making it through the entire song, 

After the song, people who might have seemed out of reach could react to closed-ended questions. This could include choices such as whether they preferred toast or cereal for breakfast.

“A good half of them were able to respond and sometimes even carry on a brief conversation,” Post said.

Art can also help draw out forgetful relatives. Groups around the country are taking forgetful people and their caregivers to art museums in small groups. Looking at a famous or particularly evocative piece of artwork, people might express appreciation for the magnificence of a painting.

Poetry can also serve as a stimulus. Forgetful people who listen to the poems of Robert Frost or other familiar writers can respond with the next line to words deeply ingrained in their memory.

“Their affect picked up,” said Post. “They were smiling, they were excited and enthusiastic. That’s great stuff.”

These moments can provide a connection and offer joy to caregivers.

Other possible triggers include smells, such as the familiar scent of a kitchen; interactions in nature, such as the feel of snow on someone’s face; or playing with pets.

The forgetful can “respond joyfully to dogs,” said Post. “It can remind them of [a particular] dog from 30 years ago.”

Additional research

Caregivers who help forgetful people through their daily lives sometimes struggle with the question of whether “grandma is still there,” Post said. That metaphor, however, can miss the “hints” of continuing self identity.

The National Institute on Aging has funded Post’s study on what’s happening with the brain during these moments of lucidity. 

A challenge in that research, however, resides in doing PET scans or collecting other data when those moments are spontaneous and unpredictable.

The work from Post’s recent study indicates that these periods of clarity are important for the morale of caregivers, with many of them feeling uplifted from the interaction.

Post sees further opportunity for study. In his next project, he hopes to cover how to operationalize this information into an intervention. “It’s very practical, very real and can do a heck of a lot” for the forgetful and their caregivers, he said.

To be sure, some forgetful people may not respond to some or all of these cues, as the damage from their diseases may have made such outreach and actions inaccessible.

When these moments, fleeting though they may be, occur, they can be rewarding for caregivers, family members and the forgetful themselves.

Jean Mueller with her late mother Geraldine and her father Daniel.
Photo courtesy of Jean Mueller

Jean Mueller, Assistant Director of Nursing/ Project Manager in the Department of Regulatory Affairs, Patient Safety & Ethics at Stony Brook, recently spent time with her father Daniel, 95. The elder Mueller lost his wife of 74 years Geraldine several weeks ago and is in an assisted living facility.

Taking her father out was too difficult, as it could cause agitation and confusion.

“We went and had Thanksgiving dinner with him there,” Mueller said. “He seemed to really enjoy it, in the moment. He knew the food and he knew it was a holiday. He didn’t ask me where my mom was.”

The interactions can be challenging, as she sometimes feels like she’s pulling “all the strings and you don’t know what you’re going to get” when she interacts with him, she said.

Still, Mueller suggested that it doesn’t matter whether he remembers her visits.

“In the moment, he matters, it matters and he’s still a person,” she said. ‘When you get to the point where everything has been taken away from you, and you lost your independence, even if it’s for a short period of time, you can feel valued again.”

She considers it an honor to be able to share that with her father.

A former inspector in the Suffolk County Police Department and a commander of homicide, Mueller’s father has a well-known sweet tooth.

When she visits, Mueller brings an iced coffee with hazelnut syrup and half and half, a crumb cake, croissant or donut. “He’s in seventh heaven,” she said.

When he sees his family, his face “lights up,” said Mueller. 

“Even if the memories of our visit is fleeting, for those moments in time, he’s a devoted father and a valued father and grandfather who still feels our love.”

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Brookhaven National Laboratory Director JoAnne Hewett. Photo by Jessica Rotkiewicz/BNL

By Daniel Dunaief

Instead of flying a plane through clouds and gathering data during a three to five second window of time, researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory are one of three teams proposing constructing a cloud chamber.

This new research facility would allow them to control the environment and tweak it with different aerosols, enabling them to see how changes affect drizzle formation.

“This is fascinating,” said JoAnne Hewett, Director of BNL and a self-professed “science geek.”

Hewett, whose background is in theoretical physics and who came to BNL from SLAC National Accelerator Lab in Menlo Park, California, has been the director of the Upton-based lab since April of 2023.

In a celebrity podcast interview, which will be posted on TBR News Media’s website (tbrnewsmedia.com) and Spotify, Hewett addressed a wide range of issues, from updates on developing new technologies such as the Electron Ion Collider and the construction of buildings, to the return of students to the long-awaited reopening of the cafeteria.

The U.S. Department of Energy is currently considering the proposals for the cloud chamber and has taken the first steps towards initiating the project.

Hewett, who is the first woman to lead the national lab in its 77-year history, is hoping the winner will be announced this year.

More x-ray tools

In a discussion about the National Synchrotron Lightsource II, which is a circular electron accelerator ring that sends x-rays into the specialized beamlines, Hewett described a study at the recently opened High Energy X-ray Scattering beamline, or HEX.

The state-funded HEX, which is designed for battery research, recently hosted an experiment to examine the vertebrae from Triceratops.

The NSLS-II, which opened a decade ago and has produced important results in a range of fields, will continue to add beamlines. BNL recently received approval to build another eight to 12 beamlines, depending on available funding. The lab will add one beamline in 2025 and another two in 2026.

Electron-Ion Collider

BNL, meanwhile, is continuing to take important steps in planning for an Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), an ambitious $2.8 billion project the lab won the rights to construct.

The collider, which will reveal secrets of the quarks and gluons that make up atoms, will start construction in 2026 and is expected to generate data sometime in the early 2030’s.

As groups of scientists develop plans for the EIC, they apply to the government to reach various milestones.

In March of this year, the lab met a hurdle called CD3A, which provided $100 million in funding for long lead procurements for some of the parts for the 2.4 mile circumference particle collider.

The next review, called CD3B, will be in early January and will involve $50 million in funding.

The funding for these steps involves ordering parts that the lab knows will be necessary.

The EIC will address five key questions, including how does a proton acquire its spin, what is the nature of dense gluon matter, how do quarks and gluons interact within a nucleus, what is the role of gluons in generating nuclear binding energy, and how do the properties of a proton emerge from its quark and gluon constituents.

Researchers expect the results to have application in a wide range of fields, from materials science, to medicine, to creating tools for complex simulations in areas including climate change.

Return of students

After the Covid pandemic shut down visits from area primary schools, students are now returning in increasingly large numbers.

In 2023, around 22,000 students had a chance to find scientific inspiration at BNL, which is starting to approach the pre-pandemic levels of around 30,000.

School buses come to the science learning center on the campus almost every day.

In addition, BNL hosted a record number of student internships, which are typically for college-age students.

In addition to inspiring an understanding and potentially building careers in science, BNL is now opening a new facility. The science users and support center, which is just outside the gate for the lab, is a three-story building with meeting room space.

“It’s going to be a one-stop-shop” for visiting scientists who come to the lab, Hewett said. Visiting scientists can take care of details like badging and lodges, which they previously did in separate buildings.

Additionally, for staff and visitors, BNL reopened a cafeteria that had been closed for five years. The cafeteria will serve breakfast and lunch with hot food.

“That’s another milestone for the laboratory,” Hewett said. With the extended time when the cafeteria was closed, just about everything will be new on the menu. The reopening of the facility took years because of “all the legalese” in the contract, she added.

A new vision

Hewett spent the first nine months of her tenure getting to know the people and learning the culture of the lab.

She suggested she has a new vision that includes four strategic initiatives. These are: the building blocks of the universe, which includes the Electron-Ion Collider; leading in discovery with light-enabled science, which includes the National Synchrotron Lightsource II; development of the next generation information sciences, including quantum information sciences, microelectronics and artificial intelligence; and addressing environmental and societal challenges.

As for the political landscape and funding for science, Hewett suggested that new administrations always have a change in priorities.

“We’re in the business of doing science,” she said. “Science does not observe politics. It’s not red or blue: it’s just facts.”

She suggested that generally, traditional basic research tends to do fairly well.

The BNL lab director, however, is “always making a concerted effort to justify why this investment [of taxpayer dollars] is necessary,” she said. “That’s not going to change one bit.”

After a recent visit to Capitol Hill, Hewett described her relationship with the New York delegation as “great.” She appreciates how the division that affects people’s perspectives in different parts of the world and that has led to conflicts doesn’t often infect scientists or their goals.

In the field of particle physics, “you have Israelis and Palestinians literally working together side by side,” she said. “It all comes to down to the people doing the science and not the government they happen to live under.”

Hewett also continues to believe in the value of diverse experience in the workplace. “We need the best and the brightest,” she said. “I don’t care if they’re pink with purple polka dots: we want them here at the laboratory doing science for us. We want to develop the workforce of the future.”

Adding key hires

As Hewett has settled into her role, she would like to fill some important staff functions. “This is really two or three jobs that I have to get done in the time it takes to do one job,” she said. “A chief of staff is very much needed to help move some of these projects along.”

Additionally, she is looking for someone to lead research partnerships and technology transfer. “As you do the great science, you want to be able to work hand in hand with industry in order to do the development of that science,” she said.

She said this disconnect between research and industry was known as the “Valley of Death.” Institutions like BNL “do fundamental science and industry has a product, and you don’t do enough of the work to match the two with each other.”

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Richard McCormick

By Daniel Dunaief

Richard McCormick wants more.

The interim president of Stony Brook University, whose tenure started in August and is set to end in June, wants more students, more buildings, more funding for science, more interdisciplinary collaborations and, to help make much of that possible, more money from the state.

An aerial view of Stony Brook University

In a recent celebrity spotlight podcast interview, McCormick shared a vision that addressed everything from identifying scientific priorities for the next decade, to adding sufficient wastewater treatment for proposed new buildings, to ensuring sufficient funding for student education and research.

McCormick, who has had more than four decades of experience in higher education, and said he is “enjoying this position more than any other I’ve had in my whole life,” is thinking well beyond June.

This winter, McCormick is asking New York State for $1.2 billion, split evenly over the course of the next four years, to add new buildings. He will also request additional funds to upgrade buildings with deferred maintenance.

“We’re seeking significant resources from the state of New York for deferred maintenance,” McCormick said. Stony Brook has an estimated $2 billion in deferred maintenance, including buildings that house the College of Business in Harriman Hall, the School of Social Welfare and the School of Dental Medicine.

“We also need new facilities, particularly interdisciplinary research facilities,” he added.

McCormick has shared a proposal, which SUNY Chancellor John King, Jr. supports, that seeks resources for these new interdisciplinary buildings on the West and East Campuses.

“It’s going to be my main focus of effort during the winter, to obtain support for that capital facilities plan,”said McCormick.

In addition to a request for buildings, the interim president will seek funds for an operating budget and staff that can support a larger student body.

This year’s freshman class of 4,040 students is the largest to date. That makes Stony Brook stand out amid the average decline of five percent in first year enrollment at universities and colleges across the country.

“We’re a hot school right now,” McCormick said, particularly after Stony Brook climbed the 2024 ranks of colleges in US News and World Report to 58th among national universities and 26th among public universities.

The operating budget for Stony Brook, which declined in the decade that ended in 2020, has been rising. “Another pitch I’ll be making in Albany during the legislative session will be to maintain that increase,” McCormick added. The higher budget will support limiting factors such as housing, wastewater, dining and faculty.

More faculty

Stony Brook has been adding faculty recently, and would like to ensure that any increase in student enrollment doesn’t affect class sizes. “The aim will be to keep the pace of faculty appointments in line with the growth of students,” McCormick said.

The interim president plans to continue to invest in research, as well. He is making more investments in shared facilities and equipment, is providing faculty with more support in applying for federal grants, and administering those grants, and is bolstering the high powered computing capacity such research demands. Those efforts are underway under the direction of Vice President for research Kevin Gardner, who also joined Stony Brook at the beginning of August.

New initiatives

At the same time, the interim president has added several new efforts.

He has appointed a task force that is charged with exploring opportunities for greater collaboration across Nichols Road. In addition, McCormick has convened a science futures committee that will come up with the developments the university should contribute to over the next decade. 

He does not want to dictate this focus from the president’s office and is relying on this panel to “paint a bold picture of where science is going and what are the cutting edge fields Stony Brook should be investing in,” McCormick said. The group will share its vision in a public document.

McCormick is also bringing an effort he created when he was president at Rutgers University from 2002 to 2012. Called a Future Scholars Program, Stony Brook will identify about 100 students in five Southampton School Districts, who will be entering eighth grade next fall.

“We are going to put our arms around them, promise to support them with peer tutoring and mentoring, and with academic visits during the summer or the year,” he said.

In addition to ensuring that these students take college prep courses, Stony Brook will promise these students that “if you get a C in your math course, you’re going to get a call from us and you’re not going to get another C in math.” For students in this program who gain admission to Stony Brook on their merits, the university promises free tuition.

The Southampton schools are working on the process to identify these students. In the following year, the future scholars will come from five schools in the Stony Brook area. The primary criteria to find these students is promise and not grades.

A college town

McCormick would also like to develop a college town with businesses like pizza restaurants and bars.

This could be on the campus side of the railroad station and would be conceived of and created in collaboration with the private sector. The idea, he suggested, is to create a commercial district that’s within easy walking distance and which is particularly receptive to college students. McCormick would want those places to be “student friendly in every sense of the word, including their hours of operation,” he added. This, like some of his other ideas, is a longer term project that wouldn’t be completed within a year.

Concerns

McCormick shared several concerns in connection with Stony Brook and higher education.

He mentioned his worry about any future cuts in financial aid either for students in need or for scientific research. “It would be very, very hurtful not just to Stony Brook but to every university of our kind if there were significant reductions in student support or support for ongoing research, so we’re keeping an eye on that,” he said. When he speaks to members of Congress, he plans to discuss the importance of basic research, which can lead to advancements in health care and economic growth.

The interim president also believes in creating opportunities for talented students who come from a wide range of experiences and backgrounds. He recognizes that diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have become a political hot button. Still, he is not going to give up on opportunities for men and women to get college educations.

He also recognizes that some students are undocumented immigrants. “We want to do everything we can to protect our students,” he said. While he believes none of these threats are imminent, he plans to remain vigilant.

As a history professor who, at one point, taught a class jointly with his father at Rutgers, McCormick hopes and prays the country can become reunited amid heated rancor. He sees the lead up to the Civil War as the closest historical parallel to the current climate.However, McCormick does not anticipate that history will repeat itself.

Despite the tension, he remains optimistic about the future of the United States based on his faith in the country.

Next president

When Stony Brook tapped McCormick as its interim president, he indicated that he would not be a candidate for the permanent role. Indeed, the announcement of his role indicated he would have this position only through June 2025.

“I agreed to that,” McCormick said. “I signed that letter,” indicating that he wouldn’t be a candidate.

Still, he would be willing to stay on as president, if that opportunity arose.

Based on his experience at Stony Brook, where he has found the culture warm, receptive and supportive, he would like to see the next president, no matter who it is, “be a nice person.”

“It is absolutely critical to the culture.”

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Pexels photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

You can’t win.

I don’t have to tell you that. One way or another, in one context or another, you already know.

You see, I floss my teeth religiously. I mean, I don’t do it while praying or to some funky weird sounding music that you might hear in a massage parlor, where they speak in whispers and the room smells like scented candles.

No, my wife and I, and sometimes a good friend or two, will take out floss and work through our teeth. I’m not sure how it became a social activity, but we enjoy it and feel virtuous at the same time.

I’ve become so good at it and it’s become so routine that I know the space, or lack thereof, between my teeth better than I know the back of my hand, which, at the moment is cracking and dry because of the cold air and the dry weather.

I try to suppress a smirk when I go to the dentist and a hygienist tries to work floss between my teeth. I could tell them, like a tooth GPS system, where to go, how hard to push and at what angle.

Sooner or later, they get that piece of floss in between my teeth.

So, now to the you-can’t-win-part. You see, I was flossing my teeth in bed the other day, sitting next to my wife as we navigated back and forth between TV stations, one with a Knicks game and the other with a game show.

Like a concert pianist, I worked the top teeth, gliding along the keys and opening my mouth just enough to get my fingers into position. I use much more floss than my wife, as I wrap rows of floss around my fingers and try not to reuse the same piece between teeth.

After moving to a new section of floss, it was on to the bottom, weaving around the misaligned center of the bottom teeth, which, despite a general straightening thanks to Invisalign from a few years ago, is still unwilling to form a perfect line.

As I got to the bottom left, I gave a tug and, poof! Out came half of a tooth. I thought it might be some larger piece of food that was hiding back there, but, no, the density, size and sharpness on my tongue suggested I shouldn’t swallow it.

“Hey,” I said to my wife, “I just broke a tooth.”

On further review with the piece in my hand, it was clearly a broken tooth.

Flossing, which should be as healthy and helpful as sit ups, stretching or overall general maintenance, shouldn’t be hazardous.

Then again, the previous week, a friend told me he had to have surgery because he brushed his teeth too vigorously. He described how a dentist took a piece of the roof of his mouth and transferred it to his gums. Fortunately, I don’t have the same aggressive brushing technique.

So, the next day, I called my dentist and described the problem. She fit me into her busy schedule.

When she came in the room and asked me to open my mouth, she flinched.

“Yup, that’s going to need a crown,” she offered, trying to keep her voice from reflecting the surprise at the size of the missing piece.

While she was numbing my mouth, a TV next to me was showing a food network competition. That seemed ironic. With a numbed jaw, eating even hours afterwards wasn’t much of an option. Watching people prepare food and hearing critiques of the way the food exploded in their mouths was like driving by a field of magnificent flowers with a bad head cold.

So, now that I’m back from the dentist with a temporary crown and numbness that spreads from my cheek around my lower jaw, I am left to wonder whether flossing is all it’s cracked up to be. Then again, I have had root canal for gum problems. That’s no picnic, either.

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Bruce Stillman, CEO of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Photo courtesy of CSHL

By Daniel Dunaief

The Oscars could learn a thing or two from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The facility, which conducts research in cancer, neuroscience, genomics, quantitative biology and plant biology, hosted its 19th annual Double Helix Award Dinner on Nov. 14.

Front row from left, 2024 Double Helix Medals honorees Dr. Katalin Karikó, Daniel and Alisa Doctoroff.
Back row, from left, CSHL Chair Marilyn Simons, President & CEO Bruce Stillman, and Grace Stillman. Photo courtesy of Patrick McMullan Company

Held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and emceed by CBS journalist Lesley Stahl, the dinner, so named for the twisting ladder structure of the genetic material DNA, raised $7 million while honoring Nobel Prize winner Katalin Karikó, and Daniel and Alisa Doctoroff, a husband and wife team who are leaders of Target ALS.

Bruce Stillman, CEO of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, recently discussed the awards dinner, an innovative and potentially revolutionary study on aging, science funding, and a host of other topics in an exclusive interview.

The honorees at this year’s dinner were “really fantastic,” Stillman said.

Originally from Hungary, Karikó thrived in work that helped lead to BioNTech and Pfizer’s work using messenger RNA to create a vaccine for COVID-19 despite setbacks including four demotions while a scientist at the University of Pennsylvania.

Her experience shows how “a scientist can do Nobel prize winning research despite adversity,” Stillman said. She had an “idea she wanted to stick with.”

Through Target ALS, the Doctoroffs have helped generate progress in research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Daniel Doctoroff, who has ALS, had been Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding and CEO and president of Bloomberg LP.

The dinner has raised over $67 million since its inception and has honored scientists and public figures, including the late boxer and inaugural winner Muhammad Ali, baseball Hall of Fame right fielder Reggie Jackson and Nobel Prize winner and co-discoverer of gene editing tool CRISPR Jennifer Doudna.

As a part of the celebration, the lab produces videos of the honorees, who have made significant contributions to philanthropy or to research or who have been advocates for health.

A week after the dinner, Stillman had written a letter to potential honorees for next year.

“It’s a lot of work to do this properly,” said Stillman. “We have a time limit on the evening. We want everyone out by 9:30 p.m. We timed this whole thing down to the minute and it worked out very well.”

An important aging discovery

While the lab produced a large volume of research studies that could have implications in a range of fields during the year, Stillman highlighted the work of Corina Amor Vegas as being “probably the most impactful down the road.”

Corina Amor Vegas. Photo ourtesy of CSHL

Amor Vegas used a technology developed to treat cancer to address the effects of aging.

She produced chimeric antigen receptors on the surface of the immune system’s T cells to attack senescent cells, which have aged and are not functional but could otherwise cause aging related problems such as diseases.

In a mouse model, Amor Vegas found that treating these aging mice with modified forms of their own T cells, through car-T immunotherapy, improved metabolic dysfunction and exercise capacity. Indeed, even a single treatment was enough to provide long term benefits for these mice.

The work attracted considerable venture capital interest and the lab is in discussions about how to pursue a business approach that taps into the potential use of this discovery.

As for businesses, the lab has a number of companies that are “under the radar screen” but that will have an impact in their fields.

Professor Partha Mitra started a company called Clarapath that will make “a major splash” with its automatic slides for pathology, Stillman said. A machine can do the work automatically that is otherwise labor intensive.

Down the road, scientists could apply artificial intelligence to analyze the samples. The laboratory has several faculty that are doing machine learning or AI in their research in areas such as neuroscience or genetics.

Through a neuro-AI scholars program, CSHL brings in people who have had a high level of training in computer science related to machine learning. The scholars come to CSHL for one or two years, where they work in a neuroscience lab.

Meetings

Stillman was pleased with the meetings on site this year, including one on epigenetics and CRISPR.

At the end of May in 2025, CSHL plans to have a symposium called Senescence and Aging.

The lab has invited scientists to speak from Germany, Israel, Japan and the United Kingdom as well as from Harvard, Brown and Yale. Locally, Amor Vegas, Assistant Professor Semir Beyaz and Professor Lloyd Trotman have also received invitations to share their work.

Stillman anticipates the publication of compelling findings from CSHL next year, including in autism.

At the same time, the lab is building a new Neuroscience Research Complex that should be finished in 2026. The 36,347 square-foot facility will include three modern buildings that focus on neurodegenerative diseases, brain-body physiology and quantitative biology and NeuroAI.

The construction has been going “very well,” Stillman said.

Science and politics

Amid talk of a rationalization of the research budget next year when the former and future president Donald Trump takes office, Stillman cautioned against a heightened focus on translational studies.

“If we knew what basic science would be translational, we would be doing it,” Stillman said. “If you go back and look at fundamental discoveries of how a disease can be cured, like Spinraza, people would have said, ‘Don’t study this or that.’”

Professor Adrian Krainer developed the drug Spinraza at CSHL, which is an effective treatment for an otherwise debilitating childhood disease called spinal muscular atrophy.

The development of CRISPR came from a study of bacteria that grow in a marine environment.

If Trump’s administrators think they can predict that every dollar will be productive, “they are nuts,” Stillman said. “We should have a discussion before they start pronouncing what should be done.”

Converting the National Institutes of Health into a directed translational research institute will push down American competitiveness.

China is planning to spend large sums of money in basic research. If the United States cuts back in these areas, this is a “recipe for the country to become a second class citizen to those that are “investing in basic science.”

The Human Genome Project cost $3 billion over 25 years. The returns exceed $1 trillion, Stillman said.

“That’s an enormous payoff,” he added. 

Despite concerns and a watchful eye on research funding, Stillman shared a positive outlook.

“I’m not pessimistic about the future,” he said. “The United States economy is very strong.”

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President-elect Donald Trump standing with Ed McMullen Jr. Photo courtesy of former ambassador McMullen’s personal collection

By Daniel Dunaief

Former Ambassador Ed McMullen Jr. was flying to Italy to visit his vineyard when he received a text from Peter Capobianco, his best friend growing up.

Capobianco, whose family owned Cappy’s Carpets, was congratulating McMullen on the work he did to help get President Donald Trump reelected when the former ambassador was flying over Long Island.

“It’s amazing to see how friendships from home continue,” said McMullen, who is a 1982 graduate of Earl L. Vandermeulen High School and served as Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein during the first Trump administration, from 2017 to 2021.

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview, McMullen spoke from President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida about his upbringing, his experience as ambassador and his expectations for the second Trump administration.

When he returns from his current residence on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina to the Port Jefferson area, where his family has roots that extend for four generations and over 100 years, he enjoys sailing in the Port Jefferson Harbor and Long Island Sound. During the summers, he also travels out to the Hamptons.

McMullen, whose parents Christine and Ed, were high school sweethearts in Port Jefferson, is an appreciative graduate of the public school system.

He suggested some of his teachers, including history teacher Richard Olsen, had “huge impacts on me throughout my life.”

He reflects fondly on his upbringing, surrounded by friends and family, including 14 cousins, and supportive teachers and professors.

His grandfather Irwin McMullen had a store on East Main Street called McMullen Market, where he “knew everyone in town,” McMullen said.

His education on Long Island and beyond at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia prepared him well for a life that would include representing the country as ambassador and serving currently as a senior policy advisor at Adams and Reese LLP in South Carolina.

His language classes in high school didn’t enable him to connect with Europeans.

From seventh grade through his senior year, he studied Latin. That provided a “great foundation,” helped him with his SATs and enabled him to speak English properly.

In Switzerland, however, they speak four languages. He found German and Romansh the hardest, while French and Italian, which he now speaks, were easier.

Swiss roots

McMullen had several connections to Switzerland before serving as ambassador. He skied in the country and traveled there with his grandparents.

After college, he attended a 10-day American Swiss Foundation Young Leaders Conference. Faith Whittlesey, who was former president Ronald Reagan’s Ambassador to Switzerland and was on the board of The Heritage Foundation where McMullen worked, brought him into the program.

“Getting exposure to a program like that, where you’re spending time in the country, not just skiing it as a tourist, being there and experiencing it is a way to learn” about the beauty of the country and its “amazing” people, McMullen said.

McMullen recalled that he traveled with Ueli Maurer, the president of the Swiss Confederation for a bilateral meeting with President Trump, where the two leaders discussed a “serious trade deal,” McMullen said.

“That was an experience with the Swiss,” said McMullen. “When they want something, they are very clear about what they want.”

Switzerland, which has compulsory military service for all men after the age of 18, has the second-highest percentage of firearm ownership in Europe. The country doesn’t have the violent episodes that have caused tragedies in communities throughout the United States.

“The Swiss start educating their children about the benefits [of guns] and why they’re used and the problems that can be created if they’re not used properly,” McMullen said.

Hunters have shown an interest in these educational efforts, the former ambassador said.

Next steps

McMullen, who was a vice chair of the inauguration committee in 2017 and is playing the same role in January, is prepared to work in the administration.

“If there’s a place for me to serve, I will be happy to have that conversation,” he said. “I don’t lobby. I don’t pursue things that everyone is out there trying to play the Game of Thrones for.”

McMullen is helping the former and future president not only with the inauguration but also with filling State Department jobs.

In searching for members of the Cabinet and to work with the administration, Trump is trying to guard against the kind of people from his first administration who “thought they were put in those posts to do their agenda, write books to make millions of dollars and to talk about things that mostly were not true,” McMullen said. “Those are the people who are about themselves and not the good of the public and the good of the country.”

Most people take these jobs with the best interests of the country in mind, although some pursue their own self interests. McMullen suggested that was true of former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who is an outspoken critic of his former boss.

The process of finding people to work with the current administration is different, as Trump is conducting meetings with people on his own turf.

McMullen said that abortion, which was a focus of the campaign from Democrat Kamala Harris, did not determine the outcome of the election.

“The President has nothing to do with abortions,” he said. “It’s the role of the states and state courts and legislatures.”

People can choose where they want to live based on their priorities and agendas.

“If you’re in a state that’s pro choice or is limiting abortion, where do you want to live?” McMullen said. “In all likelihood, if you’re in one of those states that’s limiting abortion, if you’re a big advocate for pro choice, you’re not going to agree with much of what’s being done in those states.”

Climate crisis

McMullen suggested that Trump’s view is that innovation and research and development will solve the climate crisis.

Throwing money at government programs for electric vehicles and that pollute groundwater through discarded parts such as batteries won’t solve the problem, he said.

“The president’s goal is to inspire innovation,” McMullen said.

As for energy, that could involve forms that are clean and efficient, including fossil fuels with scrubbers and nuclear energy, the former ambassador said.

The solar energy arena provides an example of where innovation and research is needed.

In the world of nationally funded research, the country is likely to see an effort to cut what administrators consider fat and waste.

“Where there is legitimate research and development in academia or institutes for health or areas where there is something that is completely legitimate, yes” funding will continue, McMullen said. “Studying the lifecycle of hermaphroditic worms in Borneo is not the kind of things we should be wasting billions of dollars on.”

In the crisis facing the country, those areas of research t aren’t important, he added.

Funds need to go towards pressing issues facing society.

McMullen snapshot:

Mantra Trump has shared: Fight, fight, fight. That’s not something he came up with standing on the stage after the attempted assassination. Every time you enter a dilemma or problem or question that can’t be answered, fight, fight, fight is the way he approaches a problem, the former ambassador said.

Toughest class in high school: chemistry, without a doubt. I hated it

Favorite food in Switzerland: The best chocolates in the world are Läderach chocolates [which have expanded all over the country]. 

Weight gained in Switzerland: 60 pounds in four years. Trump told McMullen he sent an ambassador to Switzerland, who was a great ambassador, but he discovered chocolate.

Proudest achievement: President Trump’s attention to getting American prisoners home from Iran.

Wish he had done more of when he was in Switzerland: relaxing.

Pitch that encouraged companies to move jobs to the United States: The average salary for a Swiss company is $130,000. Trump wanted to get more such jobs in the country. 

Trump promised to create the tax and regulatory environment, which helped vault Switzerland from the 8th largest foreign investor in the country to the 6th during Trump’s first term.

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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

My initials suited me well before I was old enough to care.

You see, I don’t drink, so the idea of a DD, or designated driver, works for me.

Over the years, not drinking alcohol has triggered an even wider range of responses from adults than discussing my food allergies, which, in themselves, typically start unusual conversations. It seems odd to discuss painful digestive responses to consuming food with people who are about to eat.

Anyway, alcohol is supposed to be some kind of rite of passage, a bonding experience, a chance to celebrate and let loose, and something of a national past time.

I don’t mind when other people drink, but I’ve never been all that tempted to throw down a few beers or to end a tough day with a stiff drink.

When I don’t order a drink, I get a range of questions. “Are you in recovery?” “Are you taking medicine?” “Are you very religious?” “Are you sure you’re human?”

Alcohol is as much of a ritual in the country when adults celebrate as sugary treats are when our children attend another birthday party.

Athletes douse each other with champagne, beer, and other beverages when their teams win rounds of a playoff or championships. People toast each other and the start of a new year with adult beverages.

It’d be funny to see a baseball team retreat to the clubhouse after dog piling at the pitcher’s mound and eat a tray of cookies and milk (which I also can’t drink and, no, I don’t feel like describing what happens if I do). Can you imagine them sitting back with a tray of their favorite vegetables, a towel around their necks and a satisfied smile on their faces?

When I was younger, I held cups of alcohol and laughed with a group that became progressively louder. I would search for water or root beer, which was and still is my favorite soda.

I was tempted to order a scotch and soda, but hold the scotch or, perhaps, a rum and coke without the rum.

The early teens were my drinking sweet spot, literally. I could go through three or four Shirley Temples without seeming to develop too much of a sugar high. No doubt the milk and cookies, the ice cream and the chocolate sprinkles helped me build up a sugar tolerance.

I received my first bottle of wine from a friend in college, who was sharing it with me out of genuine appreciation and was, undoubtedly, following in his parents’ footsteps in offering me an adult gift.

Over the years, I have accumulated a collection of wines that have likely increased in value. At the end of coaching a long, hot baseball, softball or basketball season, grateful parents acknowledged the hours I put into running practices or preparing lineups for games for the team with a bottle of wine.

I did try drinking more than a few sips of alcohol a few times. Once, my wife took me out for my birthday, where I had about a cup of wine. I wasn’t drunk, but I was surprisingly tired and was much more ready for bed than for celebrating.

When my children reached their early teens, we ordered three Shirley Temples for the table.

Recently, I attended a bring your own booze holiday party. We brought some alcoholic drinks and a pecan pie.

We considered purchasing a large bottle of water for me, but figured there’d be a pitcher of water somewhere.

Walking from room to room, I didn’t find water and didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable searching for it or trying to accommodate my request. When I returned home, I was happy to fill my reusable water bottle.

Professionally, not drinking alcohol is not quite as limiting as not playing golf. Back in the days when I covered investment banking, foregoing golf outings meant making fewer connections and gathering less information.

In those days, I was never invited to a batting cage to practice hitting baseballs, which I would have readily accepted.

These days, when neighbors offer to share a few cocktails on their porches, I smile and nod, without making any declarations. It’s harder to argue that I’m not drinking because I’m the designated driver when they live a few hundred feet away. Maybe I’ll bring my own water and will tell them my DD religion doesn’t allow alcohol.

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A 3D constructed building in Ukraine. Photo courtesy of Utu (Ukraine)

By Daniel Dunaief

Instead of discarding concrete from damaged or destroyed buildings during Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Alexander Orlov, Professor in Materials Science & Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook University wants to try to figure out ways to recycle these materials to create new and desperately needed shelters.

Alexander Orlov. Photo courtesy of SBU

Leading a team of researchers in the United States, Poland and Ukraine, Orlov received about $700,000 worth of funding from the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and the Polish National Science Centre to develop ways to create these potentially life-saving structures by using three-dimensional printers.

Far larger than the desktop printers, these three-dimensional printers build one layer of a building at a time, reducing the time and labor needed in construction. 

The idea behind the project is to “turn the tragedy of these damaged buildings into new structures,” said Orlov.

In some cases, these buildings could be cheaper and faster than conventional construction methods.

“This research will address challenges in building resilient and sustainable infrastructure by using novel, inexpensive and energy efficient solutions,” Marija Krstic, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Stony Brooks said in a statement.

The family of Ukrainian soldier Yaroslav Berezov, who died during the beginning of the Russian invasion, received the first 3D printed house earlier this year, according to the Odessa Journal.

The walls of the house were printed in 58 machine hours, as the printer laid down the inside and outside of the house at the same time.

The idea of doing 3D printing is becoming more popular in Ukraine. The leader in this type of printing is a company called COBOD, which used the technique to rebuild a school in the city of Lviv. The school, which has weatherproof construction and is expected to last for more than 20 years, has four classrooms with a capacity for 100 students.

One layer at a time

Orlov explained that the 3D printing process acts like an ice cream machine, as it lays down one layer of a building at a time with material squeezed through a cone.

In the design of these structures, the machine pauses for some length of time — five or 10 minutes in some cases — to ensure that the layer is strong enough to support additional weight. The structure also requires some time to settle, which could be about two weeks, before adding heavier objects, such as a roof.

Assistant professor Marija Krstic in the Department of Civil Engineering along with a graduate student. Photo from SBU

The machines use waste and add it to a cement mix to form concrete.

In this project, the research is focused on a proof of concept that Ukrainian construction companies might use to build additional homes or shelters.

The National Science Foundation is providing $300,000 in funding for Orlov’s portion of the work.

Stony Brook University is building a 3D printer and is adding parts to it to make it more efficient and reliable. Poland is also purchasing a printer while Ukraine already has one.

The Office of Naval Research is providing funding directly to Ukraine and the Polish National Science Centre is supporting efforts in that country.

“The Navy supports disaster relief and typically offers assistance in any part of the world” after catastrophes including hurricanes and earthquakes, Orlov said.

It takes about two to three days to build a building the size of a house. The process still requires manual labor to add the roof because it has different materials.

The timing of the research is particularly important because of the escalating scale of Russian attacks and amid the approach of winter. People in the capital of Kyiv endure seven hours of bombing each night. The civilian experience is similar to what people in London experienced during World War II, when they hid in shelters and had to be quiet amid the shattering of buildings.

Ukraine has lost about 50 percent of its energy infrastructure, a number that is likely to climb even as colder weather descends on the country. The estimated cost to repair that energy infrastructure is about $60 billion and is likely to climb as the war continues, Orlov added.

Without energy and heat, “this could be the worst winter in the history of the country,” Orlov said.

In developing ways to build these structures, Orlov hopes to create buildings that are mechanically the same or better than traditional homes and with thermal properties that are increasingly important amid temperature extremes.

The biggest challenge for scientists and engineers is that these buildings may not be reproducible, depending on the different available materials. The researchers need to figure out if they can have high-quality printing from different sources.

Personal experience

For Orlov, the horrors of war and the threat of injury and death are all too real. He extracted his mother Tetiana and his father Mykhailo, out of Kyiv, where their apartment windows were blown out after a Russian rocket leveled a nearby five-story building.

Orlov’s parents are struggling even on Long Island, where the sound from nearby fire station causes them to try to run and hide each time they hear the alarm. Motorcycle noises, which have the same vibrating hum as Iranian drones, also terrify them.

Project origins

The research Orlov is doing started when he was working with a Polish researcher. Orlov saw the funding opportunity and reached out to professors in Kyiv to ask how he could help. The researchers worked together to write the proposal.

Orlov, who works in the Consortium for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research and has secondary appointments in the Chemistry Department, the Institute for Advanced Computational Science, the Advanced Energy Center, and the Department of Technology and Society, is spending considerably more time than he expected on this project. That, he said, comes in part from the need to cross cultural barriers in working with people from different countries.

Any construction of 3D printed shelters would face the challenge of finding energy to power these machines. Some of that power could come from mobile generators, while the printers could also use intermittent power.

“There are unique challenges that have to be tested during the war,” Orlov explained.

At each of the research sites, students have the opportunity to contribute to the project. Stony Brook has two faculty members and several graduate students who are involved at this point.

Orlov is hoping to provide Ukrainian companies with recipes that might lead to the construction of these shelters.

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Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

The federal government? Yeah, of course. Heavy eye roll, shake of the head, shrug of the shoulders, palms to the sky and deep sigh. Oh, I almost forgot: quick puff of air directed upwards that lifts any hair hanging near a forehead.

No doubt the powerful tandem of Tesla creator Elon Musk and primary disruptor and climate change minimizer Vivek Ramaswamy will find plenty of ways to increase the efficiency and cut the budget from the federal government. I’m sure they will to trim redundant functions, shrink bureaucracy and cut costs, turning the behemoth into a well-oiled machine, filled with productive, engaged and excited workers and a smooth outward-facing electronic interface that enables quick and effective engagement between the people and their government.

But, hey, after the two weeks it takes to fix everything — okay, maybe it’ll take a bit longer — the tandem may be looking for other outlets for their efficiency efforts. I have a few suggestions.

Now, for the list:

— The DMV. I have interacted with some amazingly efficient and even accommodating workers at the DMV. Still, any time I go there, I recognize that I might spend several hours or more only to have to return again.

— Doctor’s offices. Regardless of whether the Affordable Care Act changes, is revised or becomes something new, doctor’s offices are also not brimming with efficiency, particularly regarding time. These visits are not predictable exchanges, in which doctors know exactly how long each diagnosis will take. Still, waiting for a doctor can take the good part of a morning or afternoon.

— Airlines: It’s hard to come up with just one area that could use help here. Just try getting an actual person on the phone. But it seems especially aggravating when the airport doesn’t have available gates when we land. We have sat on tarmacs for close to an hour while pilots apologize to those people with connecting flights. How could the plane’s arrival be that much of a surprise? Didn’t the airline share the list of flights and approximate landing times? 

— Shopping. Here’s some inefficiency. We put everything in a cart, to take it out so we can pay, and then put it back in the cart. Wouldn’t it be easier if solar powered smart carts auto scanned products that we put in the cart and then wheeled directly to our cars? 

— Trimming movies. Let’s face it: some of these movies are good, but just don’t hold our attention for the entire film. After the EV treatment, they could cut these films from over two hours to under an hour and a half or even under an hour. Maybe artificial intelligence could help determine which scenes become tedious and nonessential to the plot. The Liam Neeson film “Taken,” for example, is a 93-minute film that packs quite a few punches without dragging.

— Awards shows. Pick an award show, any show. It’s typically too long. Emcees of these shows often lengthen the shows by talking about how long they are or how far behind they’ve fallen. The EV treatment could turn the Academy Awards into a tidy 90 minutes or less. We might miss a few of the oddball sketches or interviews, but speeding things up could get the guests to their after parties more quickly and could help people determine whose predictions were the most accurate.

— Breaking up. Yes, it’s hard to do, but with the EV approach, they might go beyond the “it’s-not-you-it’s-me” routine to something truly special and reassuring that also doesn’t take too much time or emotional effort. Surely they can turn the process of the on-again, off-again relationship into an opportunity for both people to move on and live their lives.

— Fall leaves. Every year, leaves fall on yards, creating work for homeowners, superintendents and landscapers. Perhaps the efficiency tandem could create a leaf attractant system that pulls the leaves into a pile. Then again, the mix of orange, yellow, red and brown on the ground offers an artistic, pleasing and unique array of colors. Maybe not everything needs greater efficiency.

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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

They don’t always follow the same path with any two sufferers, but people who have migraines can and often do find themselves with symptoms including head pain, discomfort, numbness and nausea that make working, caring for family members or functioning difficult.

Dr. Sharon Nachman. Courtesy Stony Brook Medicine Facebook page

Among the first symptoms listed when COVID-19 became a pandemic in 2020, headaches can and have become more severe for people who become infected and then endure additional symptoms in the ensuing weeks and months.

People with migraines often suffer from a throbbing headache, nausea, sensitivity to light and loud noises that worsen with movement.

The other associated features can be “just as disabling as the pain,” said Dr. Noah Rosen, director of the Headache Program for Northwell Health. “Now that we see some of the symptoms cross over with long COVID symptoms, that becomes more salient.”

At this point, amid anecdotal evidence of migraines and long COVID, health care providers can’t say conclusively whether an infection with the current strain of the virus presents any more risk of developing migraines sometime after an infection than they were with earlier strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

“There’s no central reporting of symptoms,” said Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. “If you get a vaccine and you have an adverse event, you can report it. There’s no such thing for long COVID.”

Indeed, with people continuing to pass along the virus in schools, workplaces, crowded subways and other places where people gather in confined indoor spaces, the long COVID population has “overtaken any ability to track those symptoms,” Nachman said.

Nachman added that migraines could be a symptom of something else.

“It’s hard to say a true cause and effect” with regard to a particular symptom, as some immune systems may have such a strong response that they are creating autoimmune problems.

Migraines are also seen in patients with autoimmune diseases, Nachman said.

For some patients, doctors may want to do a full immune workup to make sure they are not having an autoimmune reaction.

As for long COVID symptoms, people “across the board” are developing various maladies after contracting the illness that caused the pandemic, Nachman said.

While it’s unclear at this point whether migraines or other specific symptoms increase amid the current strain of long COVID, doctors urged people who have underlying medical conditions to get tested when they develop symptoms.

“Fewer people are actually treating the acute phase,” said Rosen. “There was some evidence that early treatment with Paxlovid can reduce the risk of long-term COVID.”

Indeed, people in high-risk groups can lower the chance of dealing with additional symptoms, called sequelae, after an initial infection.

Treatments

While numerous treatments are approved for migraines, it is unclear which might be best for people who develop these extreme and potentially debilitating headaches in the aftermath of COVID.

“Many of the new treatments haven’t been specifically looked at for post-COVID” migraines, said Rosen.

Migraines can become enough of an interruption to daily life that people alter their behaviors in between episodes, during the so-called interictal period.

Even without the pain, migraine sufferers can avoid activities because they are afraid of a trigger.

This can affect people’s social interactions or their job choices, among other decisions.

“If people are noting that they are unable to do things that they were doing before or are avoiding certain tasks, they need to step up in treatment,” said Rosen.

In terms of treating migraines, Rosen suggested that beneficial pharmacological options, such as triptans, have been around since the 1990s.

Triptans are a group of medicines that treat migraines by changing how blood circulates in the brain and how the brain processes pain signals, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Rosen said Imitrex and Maxalt are used to treat migraines during the mild phase.

“Early treatment can lead to shorter symptoms or less medicine being used and less disability,” Rosen said.

The average migraine lasts about four hours. A migraine that lasts more than 72 hours is described as “migrainosis,” which can be disabling and can require a combination of medications.

People can reduce the risk of migraines through some lifestyle modifications, such as ensuring sufficient hydration, not skipping meals, getting regular sleep, avoiding stress or engaging in behaviors that improve resilience to stress, and exercise, Rosen said.

Migraines affect about 12 percent of the population. Additionally, anyone with a migraine has about a 70 percent chance of having a first-degree relative — a parent, sibling or child — who also has migraines, according to Rosen.

Researchers have identified over 40 genes associated with migraines, which makes determining a specific genetic link complex, Rosen said.

With a link between migraines and hormones, women suffer from them at about a three-to-one ratio to men.

Other triggers

Migraine sufferers often try to identify triggers that can bring on these painful and disturbing episodes that can cause fatigue and discomfort even after the episodes end.

Many people are sensitive to environmental changes, like low barometric pressure from storms or excessive changes in temperature.

All of those are increasing amid climate change, which has had a significant effect on migraine sufferers, Rosen said.

Obesity, which is a health issue for the country, can also affect migraines.

“That places an additional burden on the health of people who suffer” from migraines, said Rosen.

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