The Story Collider Presents: Stories from University of Virginia
The Story Collider is delighted to partner with The University of Virginia for a special event on Carr’s Hill.
Join us on April 27th to hear true, personal science stories from five prominent UVA STEM figures.
Hosted by Erin Barker and Shane Hanlon.
This event is co-sponsored by President Ryan and Provost Baucom.
Stories by:
Phil Bourne is the Stephenson Founding Dean of the School of Data Science, Professor of Data Science and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia, USA. He has had a long as chemist, structural biologist, computational and data scientist in academia and government. He has formed a number of companies and enjoys motorcycling and hiking in his old age.
Sara Maloni is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Virginia. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Warwick in 2013. Before coming to UVa, she was a Tamarkin Assistant Professor at Brown University. She works at the intersection of geometry and low-dimensional topology. More precisely, she studies deformation spaces of geometric structures on manifolds through their geometric, topological and dynamical properties. Sara is originally from Italy and lived in the UK and France, before arriving in the US. In her free time, she loves hiking, scuba diving, travelling, reading, crafting (felting, pottery, woodworking).
Jennifer West is Dean of Engineering at UVA. Her formidable record of accomplishments spans 25 years as a transformational researcher, award-winning teacher and mentor, inventor and entrepreneur. Her research focuses on the use of biomaterials, nanotechnology and tissue engineering, applying engineering approaches to studying biological problems and solving unmet medical needs, particularly in the fight against cancer. Dean West came to UVA from Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, where she was the Fitzpatrick Family University Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Associate Dean for Ph.D. Education, with appointments in biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering and materials science. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors, with 19 patents that have been licensed to eight different companies. One company, Nanospectra Biosciences Inc., co-founded by West, is running human clinical trials of a cancer therapy she invented.
Sarah Kucenas is fascinated by the developing brain. Specifically, she and her research group study how glia act as engineers of neural development. Her long-term goal is to understand the mechanisms that mediate cellular interactions between neurons and glia and use this information to better understand how the human nervous system is initially sculpted, maintained, and behaves during disease. Sarah earned a B.Sc. in Biology from Valparaiso University in 2000 and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Pharmacological & Physiological Science from Saint Louis University with Dr. Mark Voigt in 2005. After Dr. Kucenas’ postdoctoral work with Dr. Bruce Appel at Vanderbilt University, she joined the faculty at the University of Virginia in 2009. Sarah has a 11-year-old daughter, Madelyn, 3 (VERY big) dogs, and is a life-long swimmer.
Scott Doney is the University of Virginia as the first Joe D. and Helen J. Kington Professor in Environmental Change. His expertise spans oceanography, climate and biogeochemistry, with particular emphasis on the application of numerical models and data analysis methods to global-scale questions. He is the author of nearly 300 peer- reviewed research publications and co-author of a textbook on data analysis and modeling methods for the marine sciences. He is regularly called on as a source for stories on climate change and ocean acidification by mainstream media outlets, and he has testified before the U.S. Congress on the issue. Doney was the inaugural chair of the U.S. Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Program, a convening lead author for the Oceans and Marine Resources chapter of the 2014 U.S. National Climate Assessment, member of a number of National Academy of Sciences reports, and served on both the NSF Geosciences and NSF Environmental Research and Education Advisory Committees.