UND Discovery - Fall 2018

Discovery

University of North Dakota

Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities

Economic Impact of Research Fall 2018

RESEARCH FUSION Rocks and Cancer—an unlikely pairing.

Mehdi Ostadhassan is researching that connection.

Using AFM (atomic force microscopy), this Petroleum Engineering faculty member probes rock hardness at nanoscale. Goal: extract more Bakken oil.

“AFM does the same for biological samples, impossible with other types of microscopy,” said Ostadhassan. He called Marc Basson, Senior Associate Dean for Research, School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Archana Dhasarathy in Biomedical Sciences with a research question: Could AFM unlock more cancer cell secrets? Yes. How it works: Cancer cells reproduce faster than normal cells—they metastasize. AFM sees that. Translation: earlier intervention. Economic impact: lower cancer treatment costs.

“None of us has the expertise to do this research by ourselves,” said Basson. “We’re applying physical and engineering principles to a biological problem.” —By Juan Pedraza

Left, Marc Basson, Senior Associate Dean for Research, UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS); right, Mehdi Ostadhassn, assistant professor, Petroleum Engineering, in the UND SMHS building. Photo by Juan Pedraza.

Discovery Magazine, Fall 2018

Publisher Grant McGimpsey

Research Fusion

inside front cover

Publisher’s Note

01

Economic Impact of Research

04

Pitch perfect—Pres. Mark Kennedy on research

08

Coeditors

High RIAS proposition

10

Deb Pedraza

Oil benefits—Jay Almlie

12

Game changer—Charlie Gorecki

14

Epilepsy and cupcakes—Jonathan Geiger

18

Lindsey Brammell

Targeting cancer in the Dakota —Marc Basson

22

The Lab Design Studio

Five Grand Challenges

24

Diseases of the lung—Min Wu

26

Research dating game—Thomasine Heitkamp

28

Water issues—Paul Todhunter

32

Photos

Next Big Data Thing

34

Tyler Ingham, Jackie Lorentz, Deb Pedraza,

Thwarting cancer—Alexei Tulin

38

UND Post-doctoral awards

40

In the public interest

42

UND students: top-tier performance

43

UND Discovery is published by the Office of the Vice

All suited up

44

President for Research & Economic Development.

Energy Hawks

46

Know the numbers—Nancy Beneda

47

LEAP forward—Lakota language lessons

48

Motion capture—Sophie Orr

inside back cover

Vice President for Research and Economic Development Dean, School of Graduate Studies University of North Dakota

Juan Pedraza STEMflash Media LLC

Designer and cover artist

Fargo ND

Writers David Dodds, Kaylee Kusack, Connor Murphy, Jan Orvik, Deb Pedraza, Juan Pedraza

Juan Pedraza, Shawna Schill

Production Forum Communications Printing Fargo, ND

Please send inquiries and comments to the Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Development, UND Tech Accelerator, 4201 James Ray Dr Stop 8367, Grand Forks, ND 58202-8367. UND is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE This issue of Discovery Magazine focuses on a

professions; aviation safety; and the growing demand for teachers and

vital aspect of research: economic impact.

other education professionals.

Investment in research translates into jobs,

As the feature stories in this issue showcase, we’re dedicated to research

taxes, and new business initiatives. UND’s

because it produces measurable results for our society, but also because

research enterprise in 2017 brought in about

we have fundamental questions to answer: How does Parkinson’s start?

$108 million in sponsored research; research

What are new and more effective treatments for cancer? How can we

expenditures totaled $102.6 million.

detect cancer earlier? How do we extract from North Dakota coal the

Directly and indirectly, UND research supports about 1,200 jobs and contributes $6.2 million

untapped sources of rare earth metals (which we currently import from China)?

in state and local taxes and $16.5 million in

We look at the stories behind the research: for example, what drive

federal taxes.

Jonathan Geiger’s fascinating research into new treatments for epilep-

For a detailed idea of how research dollars impact the local, regional, and state economies, and how much economic activity is generated in North

sy—research that has earned Geiger a state record of three big R01 federal research awards.

Dakota by UND research, turn to pages 4-7. We’ve summarized in a graph-

We take a look at how Thomasine Heitkamp and her energetic team has

ically informative package what research does for the economy of the city

garnered consistently funded support for research into ways of improving

we’re located in, our county, our region, and the state.

rural health outcome and delivering better services to the region’s sparsely

There are many research initiatives which cover a broad spectrum of needs.

populated rural communities.

Here are some of those research focuses: individual health and medicine;

Over at the UND Energy & Environmental Research Center, researchers

rural health and services; engineering challenges in energy, sustainability,

such as Jay Almlie and Charlie Gorecki are making waves with innovative

and in autonomous technologies; shortages in medicine and allied health

approaches to energy challenges. Almlie answers the call of companies

02 University of North Dakota

looking for R&D to help them extract more North Dakota oil more econom-

mission to serve as the chief opportunity engine for North Dakota and our

ically and with a much smaller environmental footprint. Gorecki is finding

students.

ways to reduce emissions—especially carbon dioxide—from coal-fired power plants.

UND Space Studies is at the forefront with a unique planetary exploration suit system and an other-worldly five-unit assembly—the Inflatable Lunar/ Mars Habitat, the only one of its kind among US colleges—that has impressed NASA to the extent that they funded part of the development and construction costs. And the program’s grad students consistently find good employment in government and industry.

We also are driving world-changing developments in unmanned aerial systems and other self-guiding technologies, as you can read about in

This all sounds serious, and indeed it is.

But as biomedical researcher Min Wu notes, research is fun, too. It’d be hard to focus so intently on getting the job done without enjoying what you do. Min Wu recently got a $1.75 million grant to probe the mechanisms of bacterial infection.

These are just some of the great stories about UND research, scholarship, and creative activities—and how they positively impact North Dakota.

Grant McGimpsey, vice president for research and economic development Publisher, UND Discovery Magazine

our feature about our Research Institute for Autonomous Systems. This is but one effort among many that are part of the five bold Grand Challenges that UND has embraced to help generate opportunities in North Dakota, address social issues, and diversify the state’s economy.

UND expertise could power great things for North Dakota.

President Mark Kennedy believes that state investments in UND initiatives tied to the One UND Strategic Plan will spark growth and benefit North Dakotans. As Kennedy has often noted, it’s a pathway to UND achieving its

2018 Discovery 03

FISCAL YEAR 2017 This report provides estimates of the economic impact of the approxi-

Economic Impact of Research

The North Central Region

mately $102.6 million in sponsored program expenditures occurring at the University of North Dakota (UND) during fiscal year 2017 (FY17). Estimates are given for Grand Forks County, the state of North Dakota, and the North Central Census Region (North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana,

Montana

and Wyoming), measured by the value of economic output, employment,

North Dakota

Minnesota

and tax revenues. With the exception of tax revenues, measures of economic impact are frequently categorized as direct, indirect, and induced impacts. The direct impact of the sponsored program expenditures on a

South Dakota

region is the result of spending the available dollars on the purchase of

Wyoming

goods and services such as laboratory supplies or the hiring of students or technicians. The purchase of goods and services from the sponsored

City of Grand Forks

program creates economic activity in supporting industries that is referred

Grand Forks County

to as the indirect impact. The induced impact results from purchases made by those individuals whose income has been generated by employment related to either the direct or the indirect impact of the sponsored program.

Jobs, Tax Revenues, and Economic Activity

Region was a staggering $207.7 million in economic output, 1,216 jobs, and nearly $22.8 million in local, state, and federal tax revenue.

- Overview

- Output and Employment - Tax Revenues

The University of North Dakota had approximately $102.6 million in total

- Summary

- Table

sponsored research program expenditures in fiscal year 2017. Input-out-

- Administration Report Commissioned by: Grant McGimpsey, Ph.D.

put analysis indicates that the economic impact of these awards on Grand

Vice President for Research and Economic Development and Dean

Forks County, the state of North Dakota, and the North Central Census

of the School of Graduate Studies Economic Analysis Provided by: David T. Flynn, Ph.D. Professor of Economics Chair of the Department of Economics & Finance

04 University of North Dakota

OUTPUT AND EMPLOYMENT

Economic Impact of Research

Figure 2: Cumulative Output North Dakota $8,212,412

12.7%

Figure 1: Output per UND Research Dollar

33.9%

$2.5 $2.0 $1.5

Induced Indirect

$1.0

Direct

Induced

Induced

Indirect

Indirect

Direct

Direct

$0.5 $0

North Central Region $26,381,450

4.0%

49.4%

Grand Forks County $70,482,244

UND $102,582,580

Figure 3: Cumulative Employment Grand Forks County

North Dakota

North Central Region

Figure 1 shows the relative effects of the direct, indirect, and induced impacts of UND-sponsored programs on the economic output of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, and the North Central Region, respectively. For each dollar spent for sponsored programs at UND, there was $1.69 in economic activity in Grand Forks County, $1.77 in North Dakota, and $2.02 in the North Central Region. Not surprisingly, the economic impact was greater

Other North Dakota Counties Grand Forks County North Central Region

204

27

UND

74

911

as the size of the study area increased. These results clearly indicate the importance of the sponsored programs conducted at UND on the local, state, and regional economies.

The estimated FY17 employment impact of UND-sponsored programs was

Figure 2 shows $207.7 million of cumulative economic output impact of

approximately 1,216 jobs, 911 of which were at UND, 204 additional jobs

FY17 UND-sponsored programs across the region, beginning with the

in Grand Forks County, 27 jobs elsewhere in North Dakota, and 74 addi-

direct impact on UND. The impacts added by indirect and induced impacts

tional jobs outside of North Dakota within the North Central Region. These

on Grand Forks County, the remainder of North Dakota, and the North

cumulative employment impacts are shown in Figure 3. The cumulative

Central Region are shown in the accompanying pie chart. The cumulative

number of jobs within the state of North Dakota created by UND-sponsored

impact of UND-sponsored programs within the state of North Dakota is

programs is 1,142. See Table 1 for additional details.

$181.3 million. See Table 1 for additional details.

2018 Discovery 05

LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL TAXES The summary on Table 1 shows that the indirect and induced impacts of FY17 UND-sponsored program expenditures generated $6.3 million in state and local taxes and $16.6 million in federal taxes. Of these, $2.5 million in state and local tax revenues and $12.3 million in federal tax revenues

Economic Impact of Research

Figure 4: Cumulative Tax Revenues North Central Region $5.86 mllion

were from Grand Forks County. An additional $1.1 million in state and local

25.7%

taxes and $1.1 million in federal taxes were generated outside of Grand Forks County within North Dakota. Interestingly, $2.7 million in state and

9.7%

local taxes and $3.2 million in federal taxes were estimated to have been generated outside of North Dakota within the North Central Region. The total state and federal taxes generated by UND’s sponsored program expenditures was $22.8 million. Figure 4 shows cumulative total tax revenues

Grand Forks County $14.76 million

64.6%

North Dakota 2.22 million

for Grand Forks County, North Dakota, and the North Central Region.

Summary The $102.6 million in sponsored program expenditures by UND in FY17 is

within the North Central Region, for a total of 1,216 jobs. The state, local,

estimated to have had an additional impact of $70.5 million in Grand Forks

and federal tax impact of UND-sponsored research program spending was

County, $8.2 million in other counties within North Dakota and $26.4 million

estimated at $14.8 million from Grand Forks County, plus another $2.2

in the North Central Region, for a total economic impact of $207,658,686.

million from North Dakota, and another $5.9 million from the North Central

This sponsored research is also estimated to have led to the creation of

Region, for a total of $22.8 million in state, local, and federal tax revenue

911 jobs within UND, 204 additional jobs in Grand Forks County, 27 jobs

attributable to FY17 UND-sponsored programs.

in other North Dakota counties, and 74 jobs outside of North Dakota but

06 University of North Dakota

ECONOMIC IMPACT SUMMARY Administration Grant McGimpsey, Ph.D., has been serving as the Vice President for Research and Economic Development since September of 2015 and the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of North Dakota since July of 2016. The mission of the Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Development is to serve the broad research community of the University of North Dakota, a community that is instrumental in meeting the

Economic Impact of Research

Table 1

Impact Area

Output

Number of Jobs

UND

$102,582,580

911

Grand Forks County

$70,482,244

204

$8,212,412

27 74

North Dakota

strategic aims of the University. In fiscal year 2017, a total of $107.9 million

North Central Region

$26,381,450

in awards was received for sponsored research activities, and research

Total

$207,658,686

expenditures totaled $102.6 million.

1,216

State & Local Taxes

Federal Taxes

Grand Forks County

$2,490,284

$12,274,540

$1,079,006

$1,140,216

North Central Region

$2,684,030

$3,178,447

Total

$6,253,320

$16,593,203

North Dakota

2018 Discovery 07

PITCH PERFECT

RIAS

Research pays big dividends

Bresciani noted that the $100 million they’re asking for is a fraction of the

Investing in research diversifies the state’s economy beyond agriculture,

interest earned by the North Dakota Legacy Fund, which collects a per-

coal, and petroleum.

centage of the state’s oil and gas tax revenue. Other funding mechanisms

The presidents of the state’s two research universities—Mark Kennedy, UND, and Dean Bresciani, NDSU—took that message to western North

also were suggested, including one based on Bank of North Dakota (BND) profits.

Dakota recently. They’re asking for targeted research funding, separate

“Seeing these two presidents together is indicative of what we’re seeing

from established appropriations for higher education. Their request: $100

around the state: groups coming together, collaborating, understanding

million split between the two universities over the next legislative biennium

that there’s a greater good for North Dakota if we work together,” said BND

to expand their focus on projects addressing the needs of the state.

President Eric Hardmeyer.

Kennedy said UND’s five Grand Challenges—research initiatives in

North Dakota Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner said there’s no ques-

biomedicine, rural health, unmanned systems, energy and sustainability,

tion that the presidents’ block grant proposal qualifies as a “legacy” project

and Big Data upgrades—already play a pivotal role in driving economic

worthy of investment. After hearing the presidents’ presentation in his

development.

home base of Dickinson, Wardner thought it was a good start to a larger

The Valley Prosperity Partnership (VPP), an economic development group

trust-building process.

comprising Red River Valley business and community leaders, requested

“I enjoyed listening to them and I think they have a vision,” he said of

this trip. VPP is co-chaired by Border States Electric CEO Tammy Miller and

Kennedy and Bresciani. “The biggest thing they have going for them is

AE2S CEO Steve Burian.

having people like Mr. Burian and Ms. Miller, who have worked in economic

The request was modeled after the Texas Permanent University Fund, which already has posted a $1 billion return on investment. Kennedy and

08 University of North Dakota

development in their communities, lending credibility to what they’re asking for. Having that support will help them tell legislators it’s a good investment for the state.”

RIAS

In Minot, State Sen. Randy Burkhard concurred that the proposal is worth considering. He says if the state isn’t moving forward, it’s moving backward.

“Research helps that – helps you look into the future,” Burkhard said. “It helps us compete with other states, and we exist in a global economy.

Research is money well-spent.”

“It’s important to look at expanding research right now while our economy is strong,” said Border States Electric’s Miller. “Expanded research will help us diversify, create jobs, recruit and retain top talent in the state and be even more successful.”

The idea of utilizing the talents and expertise of North Dakota’s two research universities to strengthen the state’s economy has been in development since 2012, AE2S’s Burian said.

“Diversification is our absolute, number one way forward,” said Kathleen Neset, a private-sector consulting geologist and member of the State Board of Higher Education. “Research is part and parcel of everything we do in the western part of the state. No matter your field, research is the future.” —By Connor Murphy

UND President Mark Kennedy addresses a Research Institute for Autonomous systems board meeting.

Photo: Juan Pedraza

2018 Discovery 09

HI-RIAS PROPOSITION

RIAS

UND Collaborative research effort targets vital new economic sectors

This research initiative is organized along five areas of inquiry (in alphabet-

The UND Research Institute for Autonomous systems is a bold plan to fuel

ical order):

innovative research in vital news sectors of the economy.

-Applications

-Autonomous platforms

-Data supply chain

-Policy

“RIAS (pronounced “RISE”) is built on the core University of North Dakota

-Cybersecurity

values of community, lifelong learning, and discovery,” said UND President

At a meeting of the leadership and boards, North Dakota University System

Mark Kennedy. “With a well-articulated plan, expertise across a broad set of

Chancellor Mark Hagerott told the assembly that economic development

disciplines, and an organized, committed team, we are

required integration and collaboration.

RIASing to the challenge of providing autonomous technologies and policies that serve society.”

The plan is straightforward: UND research talent will focus on several key areas that will facilitate economic development in areas beyond the state’s traditional economic activities—agriculture and energy.

RIAS is led by a team comprising Kennedy; Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Thomas DiLorenzo; Vice President for Research & Economic Development Grant McGimpsey; and RIAS Interim Executive Director Mark Askelson, a faculty member in Atmospheric Sciences. RIAS also has a Public Sector Advisory Board and a Corporate Advisory Board.

Funding for the five RIAS research focus areas is multifaceted and includes North Dakota state and federal sources.

10 University of North Dakota

“You’re a part of history,” he told RIAS leadership and the assembled board members. “The world will not be the same – we’ll make it a safer, better place.”

Major questions for RIAS concern security—and whether that concern would impede progress.

“These are among the big questions that are going to drive the development of unmanned and autonomous,” UND President Mark Kennedy said. “We risk leaving big societal challenges on the sidelines, unless we start out first with a big, broad overview of the dynamics that are pushing back and forth against each other in relationship to the development of unmanned.”

RIAS

“We’re going have a lot of viewpoints,” McGimpsey said. “But the beauty is since it’s happening here, with our advisory boards, it becomes our discussion. RIAS is a thought leader.”

Nestled under UND’s Strategic Plan Goal No. 4 (enhancing research) are five Grand Challenges, one of which is driving world-changing developments in unmanned and autonomous systems—hence, RIAS. “What excites me about RIAS is the ability to attack significant challenges and problems, and in doing so, solve them in a way that serves society,” Askelson said. “Look at UND’s mission – to educate, serve the public, do research. All three of those things boil down to serving people.”

Bottom line: RIAS-based research integrates the expertise, infrastructure, activities and resources of UND and the North Dakota University System, with the goal of establishing ongoing and sustainable externally funded unmanned and autonomous research leading to economic development and diversification in the state of North Dakota.

“RIAS will help to brand North Dakota as the leading destination for cutting edge unmanned and autonomous technology and workforce development,” McGimpsey said. — By Kaylee Cusack

2018 Discovery 11

OIL BENEFITS

Energy Feature

UND EERC: Applied research that impacts petroleum industry’s bottom line

It’s vital research for all of us globally who depend on fossil fuels for every-

For Jay Almlie, extracting oil is only half the challenge. Getting it so it’s

we use.

usable is the other half.

thing from our basic energy needs to the myriad petroleum-based products Starting in the mid-1950s, experts warned that oil production would decline

Almlie—principal engineer and Mid/Downstream Oil & Gas Group Lead at

sharply after the year 2000. “Peak Oil” was worrisome—until fracking ap-

the EERC—looks at everything from the wellhead—oil, gas, natural gas liq-

peared in the oilfields and allowed petroleum companies to tap previously

uids—to the hydrocarbon processing facility. He researches several tech-

unreachable reserves of crude.

nologies, including production optimization and pipeline leak detection.

The petroleum industry now taps about 8 percent of the oil in place (OIP), or the crude still in the ground in areas such as North Dakota’s Bakken. Almlie and other petroleum researchers explore ways to get at the untapped OIP. Companies come to the EERC and to UND’s Petroleum Engineering and Geology/Geological Engineering departments for help.

Almlie says the EERC and UND are good partners for industry, working, so to speak, as industry’s R&D wing. Because UND knows the pulse of industry, he says, industry can harness the power of focused academic research.

It’s a win-win play.

Ultimately, Almlie says, it’s about saving money while extracting more oil, reducing energy costs for the consumer while being environmentally friendly. —By Debra Pedraza

Jay Almlie, EERC. Photo: Kari Suedel

12 University of North Dakota

Energy Feature

Pump jacks in western North Dakota. Photo courtesy EERC

2018 Discovery 13

GAMECHANGER

Energy Feature

Reducing emissions from coal-fired plants

decreases viscosity so the oil flows more easily to a production well. At the

Can coal-fired power plants produce fewer emissions? And can those

same time, the CO2 enhanced oil recovery process results in locking the

emissions be captured and used to boost oil production?

carbon dioxide in the subsurface, storing it permanently.

The UND Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), in partnership

“One challenge we plan to address is understanding how the injected CO2

with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is working on answering these

and affected oil move in stacked reservoirs,” said Gorecki. “We have not

questions.

done this before.”

A $3.2 million award from the DOE will allow the EERC to establish a field

Widespread deployment of carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery across

laboratory in the Cut Bank Oil Field, located in the Montana portion of the

the Williston Basin could take advantage of carbon dioxide emitted by

Williston Basin. This field laboratory will be used to investigate the geologic

power plants and other industry sources.

storage of carbon dioxide associated with enhanced oil recovery, and how this approach could be expanded across the Williston Basin. The Williston Basin contains some of the largest oil reserves in North America.

“We want to explore the potential of using CO2 to enhance oil and gas recovery instead of venting it into the atmosphere,” he said. “We will take the lessons we learn from the Cut Bank Oil Field and extend them to the North

“This project is a win-win-win,” said Charlie Gorecki, director of subsurface

Dakota portion of the Williston Basin. This is one of a dozen EERC projects

research and development at the EERC. “CO2 enhanced oil recovery can

all related to advancing environmentally-conscious energy production,”

lower carbon emissions, permanently store CO2, and produce more oil. This

said Gorecki.

technique could link oil and coal, generate jobs, and increase tax revenues.”

North Dakota has the potential for nearly 1 billion barrels of additional

The Cut Bank Oil Field has geology similar to the North Dakota portion of

oil recovery from formations like those being investigated in Montana. In

the Williston Basin, including stacked reservoirs (multiple oil-bearing zones

addition, the Bakken oil fields, which are in the heart of the Williston Basin,

of rock stacked on top of each other and separated by non-oil-bearing

contain much more than that.

rock). Gorecki and his team will test the feasibility of injecting and storing CO2 underground. The injected carbon dioxide mixes with the oil and

14 University of North Dakota

Energy Feature

Charlie Gorecki, EERC. Photo: Kari Suedel

2018 Discovery 15

Energy Feature

UND Energy & Environmental Research Center. Photo courtesy of EERC

16 University of North Dakota

Energy Feature

“The injection of CO2 into the Bakken could be a game changer to produce

Gorecki said. “North Dakota is the second-largest oil producer in the United

even more oil,” Gorecki said, “however, more research in this area is need-

States, with about 1.2 to 1.3 million barrels a day. This could help create a

ed.”

situation where we are more energy secure and less reliant on oil from other

To produce that oil, a lot of carbon dioxide is required. Luckily, North Dakota is also home to a number of coal-fired power plants that could provide the needed carbon dioxide.

The EERC is working with Minnkota Power on “Project Tundra,” which is looking at the feasibility of capturing carbon dioxide from its Milton R. Young Station power plant and using it for enhanced oil recovery. Any carbon dioxide not immediately needed for that could be stored in non-oil bearing saline formations.

Recently, North Dakota became the first state in the nation to receive primary enforcement authority (primacy) for Class VI injection wells from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“CO2 injection in saline formations is a much more streamlined process with regulatory primacy,” said Gorecki. “We have the expertise in North Dakota to manage our own resources, which is a very good thing.”

“Projects like the field laboratory at Cut Bank and Project Tundra could help

countries.” —By Jan Orvik

This project is a winwin-win. CO2 enhanced oil recovery can lower carbon emissions, permanently store CO2, and produce more oil.

increase domestic oil production, while decreasing carbon emissions,”

2018 Discovery 17

EPILEPSY AND CUPCAKES

Quality of Life

Multi-institution research team lead by UND scientist discovers new facts about epilepsy

For nearly 100 years, metabolic therapy with a ketogenic diet (KD) has been

Jonathan Geiger, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor in the Department

have shown promise in treating pain, increasing longevity, and increasing

of Biomedical Sciences at UND’s School of Medicine & Health Sciences,

athletic performance.

is on a multi-university, multiple principal investigator team that received a four-year R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling more than $2.25 million.

The grant, titled “Ketogenic Diet and Adenosine: Epigenetics and Antiepileptogenesis,” marks the first time that a faculty member at UND has been the recipient of three simultaneously held R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a principal investigator (PI). NIH R01 grants are among the most prestigious—and most competitive—grants for which individuals can apply.

Among the team’s major discoveries is that a high-fat, high-protein, or “ketogenic” diet, helps patients, especially children, with epilepsy—but one cupcake at a birthday party will disrupt that therapy.

The ketogenic diet that Geiger and his colleagues are studying promotes

shown to control seizures in people with epilepsy. More recently, such diets

The team of investigators includes Detlev Boison, the director of basic and translational research at the Legacy Research Institute in Portland, Ore.; and Susan A. Masino, Vernon Roosa Professor of Applied Science at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

The latest grant looks to identify and validate key epigenetic mechanisms engaged by metabolic therapy with a KD. The goal: novel therapeutic opportunities.

“Receiving this grant is very meaningful in multiple ways,” said Geiger.

“This is a renewal of an NIH R01 grant that Detlev, Susan, and I held for five years, resulting in us publishing over 20 manuscripts, two books, and multiple book chapters,” Geiger said.

Why is this important?

the metabolic formation of ketones—essentially products released when

“The three of us believe strongly that a metabolic approach might yield new

the body breaks down fat when there aren’t enough carbohydrates avail-

targets for therapeutics against epilepsy,” Geiger said. “We desperately

able. Ketones in that case occur when the body processes fats instead of

need new targets and therapeutic strategies because one-third of people

carbohydrates. Carbs are normally the body’s key energy source.

18 University of North Dakota

Quality of Life

living with epilepsy are completely resistant to all current anti-epileptic

Junkguk Hur, a bioinformaticist at the SMHS, who also works with Geiger,

drugs.”

said the ultimate goal is to better understand how epilepsy happens and

The team’s hypothesis is that epigenetic changes in DNA methylation (a process by which methyl groups—portions of molecules containing one carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms—are added to DNA) mobi-

progresses by studying one of the key molecules behind the occurrence of this disease—ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, a vital and basic molecule in the body’s energy production.

lized by a ketogenic diet provide a therapeutic target for disease prevention and treatment.

The project’s approach is unique in that it initiates disease-modifying treatment after disease onset and their approach stresses the rigor and reproducibility of findings across models of epilepsy and between laboratories. The project also is unique in so far as it includes a strategy that aims to restore homeostasis—and thus offer hope for a cure.

Researchers studying epigenetics explore the mechanisms that regulate gene expression and the activation and deactivation of specific genes.

Understanding better how the human body can turn genes on and off during growth, aging, and in response to its environment has important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases including cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and epilepsy.

Research colleagues: UND School of Medicine & Healthy Sciences faculty, from left to right, biostatistician Junguk Hur, biomedical researcher Jonathan Geiger, and biomedical PhD candidate Peter Halcrow.

UND archival image

2018 Discovery 19

Quality of Life

“ATP is the main energy source for all cells in the body, and adenosine is the root component of ATP,” Geiger said.

“Adenosine in largely an inhibitory substance,” he explained. “There’s an analogy I used to make for my mother in explaining what my research was about: caffeine blocks cell surface adenosine receptors, so it’s easy to understand the action of adenosine by thinking of opposite of caffeine, a stimulant. Adenosine is inhibitory on cell surface.”

“Our prior research in this field was very successful: the hypothesis was that a ketogenic diet increased adenosine levels, acting on cell surface receptors, and helped to decrease seizures,” he said.

“We changed the focus from extracellular adenosine and how it controls seizures, to the role of intracellular adenosine and how it controls the progression of epilepsy,” Geiger said.

Geiger notes that the extracellular attaching of adenosine to cell surface adenosine receptors tends to slow things down. In other words, they decrease neural firing.

“They protect against neural excitability that might lead to or perpetuate epileptic seizures, which can start for any number of reasons,” Geiger said.

Why did NIH fund this grant application?

Biomedical researcher Jonathan Geiger. UND archival image

20 University of North Dakota

Quality of Life

“Very few people are targeting the progression of epilepsy,” Geiger said.

“We’re now looking at the underlying mechanisms that are responsible for progression of disease.”

The ketogenic diet: it’s becoming popular once again.

“It originated following the observation that people who are starving don’t have seizures,” Geiger noted. “So we asked ‘how can we create a diet that controls that central feature without starving individuals’”?

The reason the ketogenic diet became popular for people with seizures and epilepsy is that “there are no new drugs for epilepsy in the last 30 years; those on the market still target the same pathway,” Geiger said.

“But 95 percent of children with epilepsy who are on a ketogenic diet have been seizure-free,” he explains. “After a couple years on this strict diet, they can go off it and remain seizure-free; however, if they go to a birthday party while on the diet and eat a cupcake, they start seizing again. The body goes back to square one.”

Geiger has been working on adenosine for about 30 years.

We desperately need new targets and therapeutic strategies because onethird of people living with epilepsy are completely resistant to all current anti-epileptic drugs.

“The beauty of science is that you never figure it all out, there’s always another layer of complexity,” Geiger said. “There are always new questions.”

—By Debra Pedraza

2018 Discovery 21

TARGETING CANCER

Quality of Life

$20.3-million grant helps health providers, researchers address cancer in the Dakotas

most commonly and disproportionately afflict the citizens of our region, es-

A $20.3-million, five-year grant to the University of North Dakota could help

grant and senior associate dean for medicine and research and a professor

counter high cancer rates in North and South Dakota.

of surgery, biomedical sciences, and pathology at the SMHS.

Cancer is the leading cause of death for people ages 35-64 in the Dakotas.

“With this funding, we will not only conduct research but will train the next

Half of men and a third of women who die within this age range have been

generation of cancer researchers throughout the region,” Basson said.

diagnosed with cancer. Incidence of certain cancers are nearly double for

“I am grateful to the team of researchers throughout the region who have

American Indians, relative to the rest of the population.

worked together with us to create this proposal.”

UND was recently awarded a Clinical and Translational Research grant

“This prestigious grant moves UND to a higher level in medical research,

pecially American Indians,” said Marc Basson, principal investigator for the

from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to work with researchers and

allowing us to deliver more opportunity to our state and region,” said UND

medical providers in the Dakotas, including North Dakota State University,

President Mark Kennedy. “It is a concrete demonstration of UND’s success

the University of South Dakota, Sanford Health, and other hospital systems

in progressing towards our goal of reaching the highest rank amongst re-

throughout the region to better understand cancer and its causes, and to

search universities. Congratulations to Professor Basson and everyone else

develop effective treatments for the disease.

involved in securing it and conducting the discovery it will fund.”

Led by the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS), the Dakota

“This award is, to our knowledge, the single largest biomedical research

Cancer Collaborative on Translational Activity (DACCOTA) will use clinical

grant in the state’s history,” said Grant McGimpsey, UND vice president for

research methods to study the link between cancer and the environment

research & economic development.

and pave the way to develop unique ways to combat cancer in the Dakotas.

“This is a tremendous vote of confidence from the NIH and will have a trans-

“Our team’s goal is to develop a highly productive, collaborative and

formational impact on the University and on the health of North and South

sustainable translational research center that will focus on the cancers that

Dakotans,” McGimpsey said. “At UND, we are driving research in what we

22 University of North Dakota

Quality of Life

have identified as Grand Challenges. This clinical and translational research grant reinforces our efforts in several of these challenges including Human Health, Rural Communities, and Big Data.”

“We are extremely proud that Basson has, with this grant, brought together the leading educational and health care delivery organizations in the region along with their outstanding researchers and providers to form a consortium that will reduce cancer risk through better understanding and improved therapies,” said Joshua Wynne, vice president for health affairs at UND and dean of its School of Medicine & Health Sciences. “Cancer is rapidly overtaking heart disease and stroke as the leading cause of death in the U.S., and this collaborative effort will help to stem that unfortunate trend.”

“This is an important and useful project, and we appreciate the ability to partner with UND,” said Mary Nettleman, dean of the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota.

“Integrating research into patient care is necessary to advance the field of medicine,” said David Pearce, president of research and innovation at Sanford Health in Fargo. “At Sanford, we’re proud to be a part of this valuable program for the region as we collaborate to develop the treatments of tomorrow.” —By Juan Pedraza

Marc Basson, Senior Associate Dean, UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences. Photo: Juan Pedraza

2018 Discovery 23

FIVE GRAND CHALLENGES

Quality of Life

Research in Five Grand Challenges promises big returns for North Dakota and North Dakotans

-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)—Mark Askelson, Executive

What is UND’s research plan?

Driving world-changing developments of UAS in a manner that reflects

UND has stepped up its research in the last three years to meet challenges

Director, RIAS, and Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, UND Aerospace.

UND’s values.

in health, energy, sustainability, rural communities. We are developing tech-

-Big Data—Hesham El-Rewini, Dean, College of Engineering & Mines.

nologies to support research while enhancing student learning.

Effectively, efficiently, and ethically produce, manage, and securely use

The Five Grand Challenges drive how UND organizes, funds, and encour-

information in the age of Big Data.

ages research, and they’re part of the University’s Strategic Plan. In this

What are the Grand Challenge goals?

issue of UND Discovery you will read about how research Grand Chal-

Our aim: enhance discovery at the level of research-intensive universities;

lenges change North Dakota’s economy and health – core missions of the

achieve the Carnegie R1 designation.

university.

Our Grand Challenges align with our strengths and—most important—with

The Grand Challenges and their Champions:

the needs of North Dakota. They draw federal and private sector funding.

-Energy and Sustainability—Tom Erickson, CEO, Energy & Environmental

Our big investments in the Grand Challenges help drive multi-disciplinary

Research Center. Promoting energy security and environmental sustain

research; development of industrially relevant technologies; and solutions

ability.

to our health and environmental challenges.

-Health and Biomedical Sciences—Colin Combs, Professor and Chair,

How does this new research focus impact North Dakota?

Biomedical Sciences; Marc Basson, Associate Dean, School of Medicine

The Grand Challenge programs help us to redefine and re-energize our

& Health Sciences. Addressing health challenges through basic, clinical,

existing research and create new research expertise to diversify North

and translational discovery.

Dakota’s economy and address major social issues.

-Rural Health—Thomasine Heitkamp, Professor of Social Work, College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines. Helping rural communities solve their unique health and social problems.

24 University of North Dakota

Quality of Life

-In energy, our research makes big impacts, especially in enhanced oil

What is the overarching goal of the Grand Challenges?

recovery, where a 1 percentage point increase extraction from the

As we increase our research impact through the Grand Challenges, we will

Bakken deposits produces $3 billion per year in state economic activity

energize North Dakota, eventually bringing over $100 million in research

and hundreds of millions in state tax revenues. The Energy & Environmental

funding annually to the state. As we focus on the health and wellbeing of

Research Center is an global leader in this research and in carbon capture

North Dakotans in rural and urban settings, we will improve quality of life

and sequestration, technologies critical to preserving our environment.

and bring increased vibrancy to all of our communities.

-In health care and rural health, we address challenges important to

Our role as the flagship research university of North Dakota brings with it a

North Dakotans--cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, for example—

responsibility to drive North Dakota forward. We enthusiastically embrace

through basic, clinical, and translational discovery. The state benefits from

this role!

improved health care access, reduced costs, and higher productivity.

Dr. Marc Basson, senior associate dean, UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS), notes that there are opportunities to reinvent North Dakota health care by partnering with hospitals and patients to pioneer medical advances. SMHS has received more than $100 million in federal funding in recent years to examine how environmental factors trigger cancer. Now SMHS also focuses on patient research. In August, UND, led by Dr. Basson, received a $20 million NIH grant to translate laboratory-based medical research into the clinic.

Also vital to the state’s economy, UND’s Research Institute for Autonomous Systems (RIAS) drives technology development that continues to boost the Unmanned Aircraft Systems ecosystem; creates jobs for our graduates; and solidifies North Dakota’s reputation as the Silicon Valley of drones.

UND Vice President for Research and Economic Development and Dean, School of Graduate Studies, Grant McGimpsey

2018 Discovery 25

DISEASES OF THE LUNG

Quality of Life

Research needs to be fun!

That is the philosophy of Min Wu, professor of biomedical Sciences at UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

Originally from Sichuan Province in China, Wu has always been interested in diseases of the lung. His research focuses on the lungs’ inflammatory response to infection.

“There are only two or three organs in the body which are truly important— the brain, the heart, and the lungs, not necessarily in that order,” said Wu, who has been at UND 15 years. The body still functions if the heart and lungs are working, even when the brain is clinically dead.

Wu’s latest National Institutes of Health R01 grant funds—$1.75 million over four years—his research into how the host organism (such as the human body) responds to bacterial infection. These infections aren’t usually harmful to the healthy individual, but for the immunocompromised patient (those with HIV, Cystic Fibrosis, Tuberculosis, the later stages of cancer, old age, etc.), any infection can be dangerous.

In such cases, bacteria are the chief pathogenic cause of sepsis, a huge risk factor for immunocompromised patients. According to Wu, these individuals usually die from a co-infection rather than the disease itself because of the body’s exaggerated, unregulated response to that infection.

Min Wu, Biomedical Researcher in his School of Medicine & Health Sciences lab. Photo: Juan Pedraza

26 University of North Dakota

Quality of Life

An analogy: Ebola kills, but is it the virus, or the body’s uncontrolled

the inflammation while maintaining it enough to fight the infection. He wants

response to that virus, that causes the serious hemorrhage in vital organs,

to find a way to control the damage the body’s inflammatory response may

resulting in death?

be causing.

Wu hopes to find a way—such as using non-coding genetic material that

This is of concern for North Dakota with its aging population, as well as

isn’t involved in protein production—to turn down the body’s response to

patients with cancer, lung disorders, Lyme disease, and West Nile disease, to name a few. And because our medical care is local, it is important for practitioners to have reliable information about these infectious diseases.

One project doesn’t solve everything, so Wu collaborates with researchers including Julia Zhao, professor of chemistry; Sergei Nechaev, associate professor in biomedical sciences; and Junguk Hur, a bioinformaticist and assistant professor in biomedical sciences. They are looking at nanoparticles and CRISPR-Cas, a new research frontier in bacterial immunity, that may play a role in controlling superbugs—the name given to bacteria that have become resistant to many of the antibiotics used today.

These multi-drug resistant bugs (such as MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) are gaining strength, making current drugs ineffective. It’s also apocalyptic if no fundamentally novel therapy arrives soon.

Researchers like Wu need to find new ways to fight these infections.

Min Wu, second from the right, professor of biomedical Sciences at UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences, in his lab, where he’s investigating how respiratory infections occur. Photo: Juan Pedraza

His work on these super bugs—the ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species)—is timely. —By Juan Pedraza

2018 Discovery 27

RESEARCH DATING GAME UND event helps federal officials, researchers address rural health and social issues Imagine personal access to multiple representatives of federal agencies with the resources to address rural health care and social issues—that’s a researcher’s dream.

UND facilitated that dream recently at a Discovery Grand Challenge event.

Representatives from eight federal agencies came to campus to discuss grant and research opportunities and to solicit proposals.

Quality of Life

substance abuse and recovery treatment. “We will collaborate with you to make a difference.”

“Our mission is access,” said Erica Grover, deputy regional administrator for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), who noted that UND received $5.2 million this year to meet rural challenges such as the opioid epidemic, childhood obesity, and mental illness.

“This was a great opportunity to get together, learn from experts, and learn about resources available for social and rural communities,” said Grant

UND can help solve rural issues, said Thomasine Heitkamp, professor in

McGimpsey, vice president for research & economic development, as he

the College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines, who with Grand Chal-

welcomed the participants. “I’ve been involved in a lot of strategic plans.

lenge team members invited the federal representatives. The goal: serve

Usually the strategic plan stops after the plan. Not here. We immediately

rural North Dakota. Heitkamp is the UND Strategic Plan grand challenge

started implementing our plan.”

champion for the discovery goal.

McGimpsey explained that one of the goals is discovery, which includes re-

Attendees “speed networked” with the representatives. Similar to speed

search, scholarship, and creative activities. There are five grand challenges

dating, it allowed researchers the rare opportunity to interact with represen-

within that goal, he added, and one of them is to meet the health and social

tatives about their research. Equally rare was hearing directly how agencies

challenges of rural communities.

help rural communities and the types of research and education they fund.

“We will join you in this challenge,” said Charles Smith, regional administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which provides funding and programs for mental health and

28 University of North Dakota

“This is aligned with UND’s strengths,” said McGimpsey.

Heitkamp’s Grand Challenge team comprises Amir Alakaam, assistant professor, Nutrition & Dietetics; Laura Hand, assistant professor, Political

Quality of Life

Science & Public Administration; Ashley Hutchison, assistant professor, Counseling; Adam Matz, assistant professor, Criminal Justice; Joelle Ruthig, associate professor, Psychology; Shawnda Schroeder, assistant professor, Rural Health Research; and Chih Ming Tan, professor, Economics.

Heitkamp, who noted the event had to be restructured to accommodate nearly twice as many people as expected, said “It identified funding streams and began collaborations. It greatly exceeded our expectations.”

Rural mental health Heitkamp was instrumental in landing a SAMHSA $3.8-million federal grant to the UND College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines that aims to expand mental health services in rural America, focusing on addiction and prevention in rural America. The grant facilitates training more behavioral and mental health providers in six rural states. The five-year award will fund training in the six states—North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah—comprising the Region 8 Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center.

“People worry about their capacity to manage stress,” said Heitkamp.

“There are many people with anxiety and depression who require access to quality treatment. However, these concerns often go untreated due to stigma and lack of access to care.”

“UND has the capacity to help solve rural issues,” says Thomasine Heitkamp, professor in the College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines. Photo: Tyler Ingham

2018 Discovery 29

Quality of Life

UND and its partners, including the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education, will train 1,250 mental health care providers in the six-state region the first year alone, using a combination of face-to-face and online training. A total of more than 6,200 unduplicated providers are expected to be trained throughout the course of the five-year grant.

“Our goal is to expand access to information and tools for people serving persons with mental health disorders,” said Heitkamp, who noted that the project also addresses UND’s Grand Challenge to assist rural communities in solving health and social problems, part of the One UND Strategic Plan.

Hospitals without walls One of the most effective treatment methods for mental health issues, said Heitkamp, is assertive community treatment, which wraps together the intensity and array of treatments in a community setting.

“We’re looking at community-based care,” said Sarah Nielsen, associate professor of occupational therapy. For example, she said, they will help schools collaborate with mental health professionals to help children and youth, or provide help with medication. “This will prepare providers to give much-needed services to people in difficulty.”

They will also work with tribal communities and state psychiatric hospitals.

30 University of North Dakota

Rural and health issues are my passion, and this is an energetic, great group of people. They can provide an overview of federal resources that are available to help solve unique problems in rural communities.

—Thomasine Heitkamp, Professor, UND College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines

Quality of Life

“We will have one place to go for information,” said Schroeder, who is re-

getting professionals to use instruments that have a high degree of reliability

sponsible for developing and ensuring easy access to resources, which will

to assess for alcohol and drug use,” said Heitkamp,

include online information.

“That grant is especially good for the frontier nature of Region 8, that is,

Provost Thomas DiLorenzo congratulated Heitkamp and all those involved

low population density, widely distributed, often with limited access to

in submitting, and being awarded, the grant.

services,” she said. “Access to treatment is a problem, especially in remote

“Not only is an extremely important rural health issue being addressed, but

areas, plus there is a shortage of addiction counsellors.”

also this award fits squarely within UND’s Grand Challenges,” DiLorenzo

“What we want is to use the best science we know to treat persons strug-

said.

gling with substance abuse, such as opioids, and that may include medi-

The current grant augments an earlier $3.8 million SAMHSA grant to Heitkamp and the College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines.

These grants put UND at the regional focal point of a nationwide effort to combat the effects of drug abuse, particularly related to the overdose epidemic of opioids such as fentanyl, carfentanil, and others.

“This is an interdisciplinary, multi-institution grant,” says Heitkamp, a li-

cation-assisted treatment, recovery coaches,” Heitkamp said. “That also includes thinking more holistically.”

“The public typically sees research as test tubes. Our challenge is to present it in translational ways so that the public values what we are doing,” Heitkamp said. “This research is all about helping people get on the path to recovery with the appropriate supports.” —By Jan Orvik

censed independent clinical social worker with long experience in research on substance abuse, its impacts and on mitigation strategies.

“The earlier grant is set up to help us in our work with SAMHSA using SBIRT, or screening-brief intervention-referral to treatment—it’s really about

2018 Discovery 31

RISING WATER ISSUES

Quality of Life

UND Geographer Paul Todhunter researches rising water challenge

other words, it takes time for the water in rivers and coulees to rise enough

Water—ask anyone, especially in agriculture: there’s either too little or too

to flow into the lake.

much, with flooding and drought at the extremes.

Utilizing a unique USGS (United States Geological Survey) data set from

Paul Todhunter, PhD, Professor of Geography, has been studying water

Bismarck, Todhunter and his graduate students used estimates of precipi-

issues in the state since the 1990s, specifically Devils Lake and why it rose

tation and evaporation on the lake, plus very precise measurements of lake

so fast. Todhunter says the rise in Devils Lake is driven by natural climatic

levels, converting that information into water volumes. He then created a

cycles which have been going on for centuries. However, researchers still

volumetric water budget (the relationship between inflow and outflow of

have not identified the exact circulation indices that drive the timing and

water) for Devils Lake. Data analysis showed the entire Devils Lake Basin

duration of each cycle, nor does it reveal how long each cycle will last.

had transitioned from a water budget dominated by precipitation and evap-

Since the lake began its rise in 1993, over $1 billion has been spent on infrastructure in the Devils Lake region, making water issues a statewide concern.

There is no “average climate” for Devils Lake—the climate over the last 4000 years is always fluctuating between longer dry modes interrupted by shorter wet cycles. Research shows 1980 was a transition year for the Devils Lake Basin, when lake levels began to change from being dominated by rainfall and evaporation to being dominated by runoff, resulting in the rapid change in the lake.

Water levels don’t rise immediately with a change in the rainfall regime; there are lags in hydrologic systems. The top-soil needs to fill, then the soil below the root zone, and then the ground water table is replenished. In

oration, to one where runoff into the lake became the critical factor. Prior to 1993, only one or two percent of the precipitation was converted to runoff from the basin. After the wet cycle became established, this percentage exploded to as much as 15 percent, causing a sudden and rapid rise in lake level.

Devils Lake is a closed-basin lake—it has no natural outlet—so its lake level can only be stabilized by evaporation, ultimately giving Devils Lake water a higher salinity when compared to lakes with outlets. This, along with agricultural runoff, is a concern for the lake ecosystem and the water systems downstream.

As a result, the amount and quality of the water released is regulated at the local and state level, limiting the rise of Devils Lake, and safeguarding downstream users of the water’s quality, as well as limiting erosion. —By Debra Pedraza

32 University of North Dakota

Quality of Life

Paul Todhunter, professor, UND Department of Geography, stands by the monument on the Red River in downtown Grand Forks that marks the levels of several historic floods, including the record 1997 deluge. Photo: Debra Pedraza

2018 Discovery 33

NEXT BIG DATA THING

Computational

UND researchers aim to tame the flow, extract actionable info

“Big Data is vital to every field of study,” Kennedy said. “A lot of the pro-

UND is committed to boost its analytical firepower—on campus and be-

fessors that we would be bringing in would have this expertise to spark the

yond.

education that will give our employers in the region the talent they need to

UND President Mark Kennedy, during his “Wake Up to UND” address this

succeed and flourish.”

fall, announced the University’s intent to hire as many as six high-tech com-

UND Vice President for Research & Economic Development Grant Mc-

putational research scientists to spark a new phase of Big Data research

Gimpsey said the new computational scientists, who will spend most of

across campus and beyond.

their time on Big Data research, will directly support the needs of the other

Sure, there’s Silicon Valley and other hubs of big data research. But UND

Grand Challenge focus areas on campus.

has its own grand vision to be the best it can be in areas it’s already good

“Big Data is a very different Grand Challenge than the others,” he said. “The

at. It’s based on its Grand Challenges research initiative — in biomedical

way I look at it is that computational research, algorithm development, data

science, rural health, energy and environmental sustainability, unmanned

analytics all underpin the other four Grand Challenges.”

and autonomous systems, and Big Data – and a growth mindset to diversify the state’s economy away from oil and soil.

McGimpsey said the most immediate off-campus impact of the beefed up computational expertise could be on the UAS side, a field where UND is

The first set of UND hires in this area could comprise as many as six com-

pioneering in Detect-and-Avoid and Beyond the Line of Sight technologies

putational scientists (three junior level and three senior level professors), all

and the integration of drones into civilian airspace.

well-versed and well-funded in the Big Data expertise, such as analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

UND, with its premier John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, is nestled in the heart of a robust UAS ecosystem, surrounded by small start-

UND is using money from one of its strategic priorities pools, made pos-

ups and established heavyweights, such as Northrup Grumman, General

sible by its new incentive-based budgeting model, to co-invest with the

Atomics, and Harris Corp., all with strong connections to the nearby FAA

College of Engineering & Mines to fund the new hires.

UAS Test Site, Grand Forks Air Force Base, and Grand Sky, a new drone business park adjacent to the air base.

34 University of North Dakota

Computational

McGimpsey has talked to folks such as Tom Swoyer, president of the Grand Sky Development Co., about the need for data analysts and computational scientists to help support the fledgling UAS cluster.

“Every company that (Swoyer) talks to, and that comes in and wants to take up space there, they have a need for information,” McGimpsey said.

With more analytical fire power clustered nearby to give them what they need, private-sector innovators and firms may be more likely to stake a claim.

But it’s not just in the UAS realm.

Hesham El-Rewini, dean of the College of Engineering & MInes, talked

Everybody wants know how to manage the flow, store it, and make sense out of it.

—Hesham El-Rewini, Dean, UND College of Engineering and Mines.

about a recent trip to Fargo to meet with executives of the Bobcat manufacturing company, and how the conversations were dominated by the company’s need to analyze data effectively and turn it into information they could use.

“Everybody now is trying to find ways to deal with this tremendous amount of data and how to collect it, store it, and make sense out of it,” El-Rewini said.

That includes UND’s other Grand Challenges, which also would be nurtured by a computational surge on campus.

2018 Discovery 35

Computational

Inside the UND Data Center. Photo: Juan Pedraza

36 University of North Dakota

Computational

McGimpsey sees applications in everything from biomedical science and

The idea is that each college would invest in their own new faculty hires to

its work with complex genomes to energy studies and the exact computa-

meet their individual needs and use the Big Data Hub as a collaborative

tions it uses to coax more oil from the state’s tricky shale geology.

space to conduct much needed high-level computational research.

“What’s missing right now from all those is how to imaginatively and cre-

At a Midwest Big Data Hub workshop hosted at UND earlier this year, North

atively and efficiently analyze all the data,” he said.

Dakota Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford, a featured speaker, drew upon his expe-

Kennedy, along with McGimpsey and El-Rewini, recognized this deficiency early, and have been busy shoring things up.

They created a more nimble and collaborative academic structure to allow the computational push to thrive. UND melded the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences into the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS), housed at the CEM. Next came the hiring of Ryan Adams from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, to be the first director of the SEECS. Along the way, a Big Data focus was established to provide the entire cam-

riences as mayor of Watford City to highlight the importance of research partnerships in creating communities resilient to significant changes—including the challenge of managing Big Data.

“We’re a partner organization in the Midwest Big Data Hub, an effort by the National Science Foundation to bring together universities and the industrial and business communities to figure out what the long-term data needs are for the country,” said Grant McGimpsey, vice president for research and economic development and dean of the UND School of Graduate Studies.

—By David Dodds and Juan Pedraza

pus much needed data science support.

Even the future headquarters for the new “Big Data Hub,” at Babcock Hall, was meticulously thought out.

El-Rewini envisions Babcock, with its namesake ties to the first dean of engineering and its location at the heart of campus, to be a collaborative space for researchers from all parts of campus and beyond.

2018 Discovery 37

THWARTING CANCER

Faculty Focus

Mary Kay Foundation and Research

That translates to about 400 new cases of invasive breast cancer in North

What do Mary Kay and Alexei Tulin, professor in biomedical sciences at

Dakota, assuming half of the state’s population of 755,393 to be female at a

UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences, have in common? Both are

rate of 121 new cases annually per 100,000 women.

looking to eliminate cancers in women.

Tulin says he’s not quite ready for pre-clinical and clinical studies, so this

Tulin is one of 13 researchers funded in 2018 by the Mary Kay Foundation,

money will be very helpful in getting his research to that point. The Mary

which awards $1.2 million in grants to select physicians, researchers, and

Kay Foundation’s influx of $100,000 over two years will fund one full-time

medical scientists focusing on curing cancers that affect women.

person (a post-doctoral) on this project alone.

Research dollars from private entities, such as the Mary Kay Foundation,

“Continuity is a huge factor in any research project’s success,” Tulin says.

help bridge the gaps that federally funded grants don’t always cover. These dollars help researchers like Tulin get beyond the experimental stage of research and move into clinical trials sooner than otherwise possible. It is only after a successful clinical trial that new methods of treatment can be delivered to the public.

These private donations validate this researcher. Tulin is doing something they consider important. It is also good PR for the university.

According to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, there will be about 266,100 new cases of invasive breast cancer in the United States in 2018, with an estimated 40,920 breast cancer deaths.

38 University of North Dakota

It is also a way to connect basic science with cancer biology. Research needs to be successful at the basic level before it can be applied to actual patients. Translational science—applying what is learned on the research bench to the bedside and the community—starts with the basics.

Tulin is studying a new class of Non-NAD-like PARP-1 inhibitors: an effective strategy targeting drug-resistant breast cancer. In other words, Tulin is investigating the mechanism of a cancer cell’s aggressive behavior—why and how quickly a cancer spreads into healthy cells.

Faculty Focus

The inhibitor he is experimenting with appears to slow down that aggressiveness—a plus for treating cancer. Another benefit is that this drug is not toxic to normal cells while targeting cancer cells, unlike chemotherapy.

He’s been exploring cancer for several years.

With an earlier $900,000 U.S. Army grant, Tulin and his research team used mammalian cell models to explore the pathways in the body that lead to cancer.

As Tulin and his colleagues in cancer research point out, a major challenge for all cancer research is this: too many “cures” fall short and can cause terrible side effects. That’s why Tulin—in all his cancer work—studies what controls the normal states of organisms at the cell level. And the possible therapies he’s looking at are more targeted than chemotherapy, but much less toxic.

Tulin’s work is a prime example of research that supports Goal No. 4 of the One UND Strategic Plan to “enhance discovery at a level consistent with more research-intensive universities (Carnegie R1).” —By Debra Pedraza

Alexei Tulin, a cancer researcher at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences, in his lab.

Photo: Juan Pedraza

2018 Discovery 39

ENERGIZING RESEARCH

Post-doctoral Awards

Office of Research & Economic Development encourages post-doctoral researchers with ambitious seed funding

Here is a list of the awardees, plus the Grand

Initiated in 2016 Vice President for Research and Economic Development Grant McGimpsey, the

PD Seed Awards FY 2017

UND Post-Doctoral Research Program provides funding to faculty researchers to recruit and support post-doctoral (post-doc) associates. These post-docs are experienced Ph.D. researchers who provide leadership in faculty research programs; help supervise and mentor graduate and undergraduate students; and allow faculty to spend more time pursuing federal research funding. Since 2016, the

Challenge their research addresses:

Colin Combs, Biomedical Sciences Post-doc – Harpreet Kaur Challenge: Human Health

UND Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Development (VPRED) has partnered with

Archana Dhasarathy, Biomedical Sciences

colleges to create 20 post doctoral positions, each lasting two years, and in 2019 will make awards

Co-PI – Manu (uses only one name), Biology

for another 10 positions, bringing the total UND funding committed for the program to $4million. It’s a

Post-doc – Janani Kumar (left in Sept. 2017)

successful program that helps to boost research innovation and productivity as part of the One UND

Challenge: Human Health

Strategic Plan’s Five Grand Challenges research initiative. The Grand Challenges areas are: energy

Junguk Hur, Biomedical Sciences

and environmental sustainability; human health; rural health and communities; Unmanned Aircraft and autonomous systems; and Big Data.

Co-PI – Jonathan Geiger, Biomedical Sciences Post-doc – Kai Guo

Faculty researchers who have been awarded post-doctoral support include Colin Combs, Biomedical

Challenge: Human Health

Sciences, who is investigating the causes of Alzheimer’s disease; Prakash Ranganathan, College of

Nuri Oncel, Physics & Astrophysics

Engineering and Mines, whose research involves cybersecurity, power networks and UAS; Kouhyar Tavakolian, also from Engineering who develops technology to monitor patients with Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative illnesses; and Gretchen Mullendore, Atmospheric Sciences, who works on advancing the understanding of storm dynamics in order to develop better forecasting models.

40 University of North Dakota

Post-doc – Soumya Banerjee Challenge: N/A

Post-doctoral Awards

Minou Rabiei, Petroleum Engineering

Feng (Frank) Xiao, Civil Engineering

Gatham Krishnamoorthy, Chemical Engineering

Co-PI – Pen Pei, Engineering

Co-PIs – Julia Zhao, Chemistry; Mike Mann,

Co-PI – Joshua Stanislowski, EERC; Prakash

Post-doc – Behzad Tokhmechi

Engineering

Ranganathan, Engineering

Challenge: Energy & Environmental Sustainability

Post-doc – Alemayehu Bedane

Challenge: Energy & Environmental Sustainability

Vamegh Rasouli, Petroleum Engineering

Challenge: Energy & Environmental Sustainability

Prakash Ranganathan, Electrical Engineering

Co-PIs ̶ Mehdi Ostadhassan, Mike Mann, and

Julia Zhao, Chemistry

Co-PI – Will Semke and Nick Wilson, Engineering

Pen Pei, Engineering

Co-PI ‒ Diane Darland, Biology

Challenge: Big Data/UAS

Post-doc – Wenting Yue

Post-doc – Ying Zhang

Challenge: Energy & Environmental Sustainability

Challenge: Energy & Environmental Sustainability

Turk Rhen, Biology

PD Seed Awards FY 2018

Co-PIs ‒ Diane Darland, Biology; Archana Dhasarathy, Biomedical Sciences; Joel Iams, Math; Manu, Biology Post-doc – Debojyoti Das, Patrick Tamukong (left in May 2017) Challenge: Big Data Jyotika Sharma, Biomedical Sciences Post-doc – Atul Sharma Challenge: Human Health

Manu, Biology

Kouhyar Tavakolian, Electrical Engineering Co-PIs – Jau-Shin Lou, Neurology; Colin Combs, Biomedical Sciences Challenge: Human Health

Co-PI – Yen Lee Loh, Physics & Astrophysics

Gretchen Mullendore, Atmospheric Sciences

Challenge: Big Data/Biomedical

Challenge: Big Data

Julia Zhao, Chemistry

Catherine Brissette, Biomedical Sciences

Co-PI – Hui Pu, Engineering

Co-PIs – Archana Dhasarathy and Junguk Hur,

Challenge: Energy & Environmental Sustainability

Biomedical Sciences

Alena Kubatova, Chemistry

Challenge: Human Health

Co-PI – James Moe, Aviation

Sergei Nechaev, Biomedical Sciences

Challenge: UAS/ Energy & Environmental Sus-

Co-PI – Othman Ghribi, Biomedical Sciences

tainability

Challenge: Human Health

2018 Discovery 41

IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST

Winners Circle

UND MPA alum wins top award for thesis about UAS regulation

PhD degree via the Peace Corps

Jonathon Nord, Grand Forks, won this year’s Pi Alpha Alpha Master’s

Hamzat Koriko, a Togolese playwright, came to UND for an Educational

Student Manuscript of the Year Award from the Washington, D.C.-based

Foundations & Research doctorate. He joined the Peace Corps and was

Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration. Nord’s

sent to Armenia, where he observed lots more male than female youth on

winning thesis: “Diffusion of Ideas in UAS (unmanned aircraft systems)

the streets.

Regulation.”

Nord earlier this year completed his Master’s of Public Administration program in the UND College of Business & Public Administration (CoBPA).

He joined that program after connecting with MPA program director Dana Harsell.

“I chose UAS for my topic because, being from Grand Forks, I was familiar with this technology,” Nord said. “I knew that it’s growing, and that sparked my interest at the policy level.”

“My research showed me that it’s best to sit down and start constructive discussion to support changes, rather than always fight them, for maximum benefit with the least amount of pain,” Nord said.

His thesis advisors were Harsell and Robert Wood, from the CoBPA Department of Political Science & Public Administration. Nord works at Altru Health Services in Grand Forks.

42 University of North Dakota

With the OK from his committee chair Marcus Weaver-Hightower, Koriko focused on the “missing girls”—and sex-selective abortion.

Armenian population policy, focused on homeland defense, encouraged women to have male babies and selectively abort females (a now-discouraged strategy).

Koriko wrote his dissertation in two parts: one to satisfy academic requirements; and to showcase and personalize his research theatrically.

Koriko wants organizations working in the area of sex-selective abortion to see his play—it’s a human and gender equality issue, he says. He’s also got a part-time teaching appointment at UND for spring 2019.

Left Image: Johnathon Nord.

Right Image: Hamzat Koriko.

Photos: Juan Pedraza

TOP-TIER PERFORMANCE

Winners Circle

Top Image: Ian Foerster delivers his winning presentation at a UND 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) showcase at the Alerus earlier this year. Photo: Juan Pedraza Bottom Image (Left to right): Zachary Seeger, Roseville, Minn.; David Kaplan, vice president of the American Association of Geographers; and Phoebe Eichhorst, Kearny, Neb. Photo: UND Geography

Geography undergrads’ research in rural ND scores top honors Phoebe Eichhorst, Kearny, Neb., and Zachary Seeger, Roseville, Minn., UND undergrads, recently won first place for a geography-based study on food accessibility in rural North Dakota. Their winning research poster was titled “Identifying Food Deserts in Rural North Dakota: A GIS-Based Analysis of Food Accessibility.” It was presented at the annual meeting of the Great Plains-Rocky Mountain Division of the American Association of Geographers.

Eichhorst, majoring in geography, interdisciplinary studies, and Honors; and Seeger, a geography major, collaborated with UND Geography faculty member Enru Wang on their research project.

Eichhorst and Seeger’s research showcases the opportunities available to undergrads. UND has a stated strategic research goal to enhance discovery among students and faculty to a level consistent with Carnegie Foundation “R-1” institutions, the highest-research-activity schools in the nation.

The research is funded in part by a grant from the UND College of Arts & Sciences.

UND student wins regional research competition jackpot in Las Vegas Ian Foerster, raised on a Pisek, N.D., farm, is a doctoral student in chemical engineering. He took first place in UND’s Three Minute Thesis Competition then captured the regional title in Las Vegas earlier this year. The win means Foerster is 2018’s best research communicator in the region.

His research pitch: find cost-efficient ways to convert soybean-based fuel and chemical production waste into high-value carbon fiber.

“There’s no downside to participating in this kind of contest,” he said of his journey to the championship. “It is an excellent way to develop and practice key communication skills.” —By Kaylee Cusack

2018 Discovery 43

ALL SUITED UP

Student Focus

UND Sends all volunteer student team on a space mission—in Grand Forks A three-person UND Space Studies team, advised by faculty member Pablo de León, recently completed a sixth successful mission in the University’s Inflatable Lunar/Mars Habitat (ILMH).

The volunteer team—comprising grad students Lauren Banken and Anamika (she only uses a last name) and Michael Castro, a Florida physician completing his second ILMH mission—spent two weeks aboard the sealed habitat, except for a handful of fully-suited sorties outside their “space home.”

“This is part of our ongoing research for NASA, which is a key sponsor of the Habitat,” said de León, an Argentine aerospace engineer and expert in planetary exploration systems, including the ILMH and its supporting gear, such as the mobile rover. The UND-based ILMH project is part of NASA’s ambitious long-term plan to establish a human colony on Mars.

“I always thought of myself wanting to be an astronaut as a kid,” said Banken. “This might be the closest experience that I’m ever going to get, but the data that we are collecting here might actually help astronauts at some point in the future.”

44 University of North Dakota

A volunteer three-person crew exits the UND Inflatable Lunar/Mars Habitat (ILMH) after a successful two-week mission that ended Oct. 24. From left to right: Anamika (she only uses a last name), Lauren Banken, and Michael Castro. Photo: Juan Pedraza

Student Focus

Inside the ILMH, the crew members conducted research on plants to see

The habitat has grown over the years from one section, when current UND

if they could simulate production of edible foods from “Martian dirt” to

Space Studies instructor Travis Nelson was a student and served as mis-

sustain human life. They also studied themselves: recording their body

sion commander for the first-ever ILMH mission. Today, after six missions,

functions and brainwaves during their long stint in isolation. The crew per-

it comprises five sections, including spaces for botanical and human

formed 28 experiments.

factors research, an exercise room and teched up living quarters — with

NASA also wanted the crew to perform specific tasks, known as Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA) in the rover while wearing the spacesuits in settings outside of the cozy-warm ILMH. Anamika, who grew up in Jaipur, India, said the motivation usually begins as a dream of becoming an astronaut.

“The research that we do here will help a lot of people prepare for long-term missions in space someday,” Anamika said.

The five-module ILMH is largely the product of de León’s research. It

most of the comforts of home. The heavy-duty fabricating and welding of all aluminum infrastructure was done locally by Grand Forks Welding.

“It’s a great experience for them and it’s very hands on training that we provide,” de León said. “Even before they get their diplomas, they are getting picked up by aerospace companies all over the United States.”

“The UND ILMH habitat is the only system of its kind in the nation on a college campus—we are the only University that is doing this type of research,” de León said. —David Dodds and Juan Pedraza

evolved from work he pioneered years ago on new generations of spacesuits for NASA. Conversations eventually turned from spacesuits and merely surviving in space to thriving long term on other planets.

2018 Discovery 45

HAWKISH ON ENERGY

Faculty Focus

UND students go to source for energy lessons

“This is different than most research programs,” said Erickson. “This is a

If you want to learn about energy, go to the source. Ten und “Energy

multi-disciplinary group that is looking at energy in a different light. We ex-

Hawks” did just that this past summer. The students – part of a new Grand

pect them to identify opportunities we are not currently pursuing at UND.”

Challenges research program – spent a week traveling throughout western and central North Dakota to learn about energy challenges and opportunities.

From oil rigs to power plants, infrastructure to law enforcement, the students in the Energy Hawks program saw aspects of energy production that most people never experience.

After a week of 12-hour days and more than 24 hours of driving, the Energy Hawks were, well, energized.

“I’m more interested in energy than before,” said Jaylen Larson, a UND senior majoring in environmental studies from Grand Forks. “Energy is a key aspect of society and civilization.” —Jan Orvik

“The trip changed my perception of energy,” said Meghan Taunton, a senior in geological engineering and economics from California, who began living and working in the Bakken in 2012. “I was surprised at how interesting the ethanol plant was. It was neat to see corn crushed and the plant’s efficiency.”

The Energy Hawks program is spearheaded by Tom Erickson, CEO of the UND Energy & Environmental Research Center and Champion of the One UND Strategic Plan Grand Challenge in energy security and environmental sustainability. The 10 students, who have a variety of majors, worked last summer at the EERC.

46 University of North Dakota

UND “Energy Hawks” during their western North Dakota experiential learning experience.

Photo courtesy EERC

KNOW THE NUMBERS Nancy Beneda teaches the intricacies of corporate finance to eager students At heart, business still is all about numbers.

Nancy Beneda knows that well.

Beneda, professor of Economics & Finance at the UND College of Business

Faculty Focus

Beneda says accounting and finance are related—but definitely different.

“In finance a person’s focus is more on the decision within the company relating to debt-equity balance, kinds of investments, and the impact of those decisions on a company’s stock price,” she said. “Accounting is more about internal management and building up internal operations/communications.”

& Public Administration, has been teaching corporate finance courses

Ultimately, she says, reducing the science of finance to an understandable

here since 2000. She also researches how companies structure debt and

analogy: “It’s about not selling Ferraris to a dealership that sells Chevys.”

finance growth. Beneda focuses on Initial Public Offerings, or IPOs.

—By Juan Pedraza

Beneda, whose first degree is in accounting, also teaches and researches derivatives, trading contracts based on the value of underlying assets such as stocks, bonds, and even market indices.

“A financial manager is more of an expert in securities markets and how their company can advance and keep a steady stock price and keep the financing going,” she said.

Beneda is comfortable with the math behind the corporate reports, and she helps students grasp those essentials before they jump into the corporate universe. Her courses are among the most quantitative in the college—lots of algebra, some calculus, she says.

“The courses I teach and the research I do build on my accounting background,” Beneda said.

Nancy Beneda, professor of economics and finance, and a core faculty member of the College of Business & Public Administration MBA program. Photo: Juan Pedraza

2018 Discovery 47

“LEAP” FORWARD

Student Focus

Federal grant facilitates preparing teachers of indigenous languages

“We have the opportunity to make a real impact in the lives of Lakota chil-

UND’s College of Education & Human Development recently secured a

dren by preparing highly qualified teachers that are Lakota language profi-

$1.4-million federal grant to train the next generation of teachers in the

cient,” Hunter said. “This helps maintain the Lakota language and culture

Lakota language. Graduates will teach elementary and secondary learners

across the generations.” —By David Dodds

at tribal and reservation schools in North Dakota and South Dakota.

Anne Walker. associate dean of student services and assessment in the college, with Cheryl Hunter, chair of the Department of Teaching, Leadership & Professional Practice, got the grant from the federal Department of Education to bring 14 students—the first cohort—to campus to train teachers in the Lakota language and earn their degree in elementary and secondary education. Graduates will teach at tribal and reservation schools in North Dakota and South Dakota.

After two years at UND, these teachers will graduate as licensed instructors who are compliant with current North Dakota and South Dakota Lakota language teacher certification regulations.

Lakota Education Action Plan (LEAP) is a natural fit at UND, an institution already well-known for its educational initiatives for Native Americans in medicine, law, nursing, psychology, and others. UND also has a stated strategic goal to foster a welcoming, safe, and inclusive campus community.

48 University of North Dakota

UND College of Education & Human Development secures a federal grant to train teacher to teach in the Lakota language at North Dakota and South Dakota tribal and reservation schools. Photo: Tyler Ingham

MOTION CAPTURE

Student Profile

Space Studies grad student collaborates with Kinesiology faculty on space suit research

Orr partnered with Jesse Rhoades, a UND Kinesiology faculty and MC

Space Studies graduate student Sophie Orr is investigating motion-relat-

and students like Orr, it’s also a powerful research tool.

ed injury in space-suited astronauts. How? With Hollywood-style motion capture (MC) technology.

technology expert. MC is visually arresting. But for scientists like Rhoades Rhoades—with an MA in biomechanics and a PhD in pedagogical kinesiology—teaches undergraduate physical education. Collaborating with Orr puts his expertise to work: it’s about learning more about the impact on astronauts of the essential—but heavy and cumbersome—suits they must wear to survive on other planets.

“I look at the human gait in the lunar and Martian environment, especially how that gait changes,” said Orr. “When humans were just visiting the Moon for short periods, mission scientists weren’t that worried about locomotion-related repetitive stress injury.”

Her long-term goal: “We’re looking to determine the best way to train astronauts so they don’t injure themselves and to design more efficient suits.”

“The objective of my project is to see if some type of pathology might form depending on the type of locomotion in fractional gravity (planetary exploration) and then to train astronauts so they don’t injure themselves,” Orr said.

“Remember the astronauts skipping on the Moon—that may not be the best way to get around.” —By Juan Pedraza

Space studies graduate student Sophie Orr in the lab of Jesse Rhoades, Kinesiology. Photo: Juan Pedraza

2018 Discovery 49

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Vice President for Research & Economic Development UND Tech Accelerator 4201 James Ray Dr., Suite 2050 Grand Forks ND 58202 Address Service Requested

UND music education PhD joins greater Grand Forks orchestra Tamara Auer, who is working on a doctorate at UND in Music Education, recently was appointed executive director of the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra, which is conducted by UND Music faculty member Alejandro Drago.

Australian-born and -educated, Auer also studied music in Milan, Italy. Drago recruited her to come to UND, where she earned a Master’s in Music (Viola Performance) before starting her Music Education program.

Auer also plays viola with the Orchestra.

Tamara Auer, PhD candidate in music education. Photo courtesy of Tamara Auer

Paid

Permit No. 10 Grand Forks, ND