Faculty Promotions
At Providence College, two of our former RI-INBRE investigators were recently promoted. Congratulations to Dr. Sean Mulcahy (Chemistry and Biochemistry) on his promotion to full Professor and to Dr. Laura Williams (Biology) on her promotion to Associate Professor with tenure.
Student Updates
Several of our undergraduate researchers have graduated and are continuing their studies in biomedical fields and a few are highlighted below. Dr. Christopher Reid, Associate Professor, Bryant University conveyed that Caroline Williams (SURF ’19) will be joining the laboratory of Dr. Catherine Grimes at the University of Delaware as a graduate student this summer. Joseph Prete (SURF ’18-19) accepted a position at Matrivax in Boston where he will be working on the Clostideroides difficile vaccine candidate. 
Patrick Tate (SURF ’14-15) received the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support and an annual stipend of $34,000 and a cost of education allowance of $12,000 to the institution. Patrick performed his undergraduate research in Dr. Seann Mulcahy’s lab, Associate Professor at Providence College.
Emma Sudduth graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2021 and is going on to chemical engineering PhD program at the University of Delaware in the Fall (ranked #9 for chemical engineering graduate programs). Emma was in Dr. Daniel Roxbury’s lab (SURF ‘20). Dr. Roxbury is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rhode Island and was supported by a RI-INBRE ECD award (’16-19) and continues to serve as a SURF Mentor.
Featured Presentation
Dr. Christopher Reid, his postbac student B. Point, collaborator Dr. J.Bliss of Women and Infants Hospital of RI, and S. Shaw presented “Virtual fragment screen to identify inhibitors of fungal cell wall transglycosylases” at the American Chemical Society’s Spring National Meeting held in April. This presentation is based on Dr. Reid’s research project entitled “Candida parapsilosis ingromed by cell wall proteomics” partially funded by RI-INBRE.
Featured Publications
Dr. Anne N. Reid, Assistant Professor at Salve Regina University, and her students published her research entitled “Inoculum Preparation Conditions Influence Adherence of Salmonella enterica Serovars to Red Leaf Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)” in the Journal of Food Protection (2021). Dr. Reid’s Early Career Development award (2019-21) and her SURF Training award (2016-19) partially funded this research. PMID: 33411904. DOI: 10.4315/JFP-20-301
Congratulations to Dr. Jyothi Menon and her students on their publication in Pharmaceutics entitled “Current State of Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment, and Theranostics.” Dr. Menon is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at URI and her student co-author Andrea Gonsalves was funded by RI-INBRE (2018-19). PMID: 34069059. PMCID: PMC8156889. 2021 May 14;13(5):723. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13050723
Dr. Maria Carroll published her research in Polyhedron (2021) entitled “Iron tricarbonyl a-diimine complexes: Synthesis, characterization, and electronic structure based on X-ray crystal structures,” and describes the synthesis of new metal complexes with electrochemical activity. Dr. Carroll is an Assistant Professor at Providence College’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and her research was partially funded by a RI-INBRE SURF Training Award (2017-19).
Congratulations to Dr. Daniel Roxbury and his graduate students Moein Safaee (ECD/SURF ’16-17), and Mitchell Gravely (ECD/SURF ’18) on their publication entitled “A Wearable Optical Microfibrous Biomaterial with Encapsulated Nanosensors Enables Wireless Monitoring of Oxidative Stress” published in Advanced Functional Materials. Dr. Roxbury, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rhode Island, had this research partially funded by RI-INBRE (Early Career Development Award ’16-19). Sarafee and Graverly were funded through RI-INBRE that led them to start this project, which was finished with NSF funding. Dr. Roxbury continues to serve as a RI-INBRE SURF Mentor. 2021 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202006254). Additional information on Dr. Roxbury’s research, funded partially by RI-INBRE, can be found as follows:
- Stories from the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), Podcast Interview with Dr. Lisa Friedersdorf, Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO).
“Diagnosing disease and monitoring infections with biosensors: A Conversation with Dan Roxbury.” - NSF “The Discovery Files” Played on CBS National Radio
- URI researchers create a ‘Smart Bandage’ Featured on NBC 10 Local Television
- NSF Research News Highlight
- Rhode Island Inno, URI researchers’ ‘Smart Bandage’ can detect, monitor infections
- ‘Smart Bandage’ detects, could prevent infections
Photo Contest
RI-INBRE held an Experimental Data Image contest for investigators and students to submit photos of their research. Multiple entries were received, and eight winners were selected. Tied for First Place, winning $200 each were Dr. Jyothi Menon (URI) and Dr. Belinda Barbagallo (SRU). The Second-Place winners each received $150 and included Riley Kirk (PhD student, URI), Yuri Takenaka (PC), and Dr. Geoff Stilwell (RIC). Third Place also included three winners with each receiving $100: Dr. Mascha van’t Wout-Frank (Brown), Michael Brennan (URI), and Alyssa Garrett (URI).
Please share your success or your students. Email us at riinbre@etal.uri.edu