Lauren Topper - The Daily Lobo

David Santisteven sets up a lab rig on Monday used to create cells that could be used to regenerate heart valves. Santisteven is a biology graduate but the lab consists of a diverse group of researchers.

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Novel research techniques grow tissues

Lauren Topper | February 18

The science of tissue engineering — scientists growing new organs in a laboratory setting — is the type of futuristic technology most often seen in movies or TV shows. But it’s closer than one might think, literally; it’s happening right here on campus. Elizabeth Dirk, assistant professor in the department of chemical and nuclear engineering, is leading an interdisciplinary team in the Center for Biomedical Engineering, working to tackle several aspects of this complex science. In particular, her lab focuses on the regeneration of heart valves and bone tissue to replace current transplant options, such as biological, from a donor animal or human, or synthetic.

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New scan technology harnessed for autopsies

Lauren Topper | February 10

Autopsies are on the decline in the United States. The Center for Disease Control shows a 50 percent drop in the rate of autopsies from 1972 to 2007, so that now they occur in only 8 percent of deaths. While no exact cause is identified, likely reasons include the high expense of autopsies for hospitals, as well as the limited number of medical examiners in the country. Yet while the rates are declining, the need for them is not. One disturbing study, published in Histopathology in 2005, showed that at least one third of death certificates are likely inaccurate.

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Brain bee stresses education over competition

Lauren Topper | February 9

Twenty-five high school students competed in the state’s first New Mexico Brain Bee held at the Health Sciences Center, but only Taos High School senior, Alayna Barela, will move on to the national competition. The event, hosted by the UNM Department of Neuroscience, included guided tours of some of the UNM Neuroscience research labs, viewing and handling of real human brains and live EMG scans of each student’s brain. “We’re really excited because this is the first time that we’ve had a statewide Brain Bee in New Mexico,” said Dr. Jonathan Brigman, assistant professor of Neuroscience. “We’re excited to have support from the Brain and Behavioral Health Institute to send the winner of this statewide competition to the national competition, which is in Baltimore this year.”

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STC takes inventions to market

Lauren Topper | February 5

New Mexico is one of six western states — the others being Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada and Idaho — calling for the transfer of federal public lands to state control. The bill introduced to the New Mexico Legislature this year is asking for an interim study commission to simply investigate the issue further. Mark Allison, executive director of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, spoke with the Daily Lobo about the debate surrounding the transfer of public lands. NM Wild is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting New Mexico wilderness.

A piece of pallasite meteorite is seen under a binocular microscope at Northrop Hall on Tuesday. Meteorites can be analyzed at the Center for Stable Isotopes, a new research facility soon to open its doors at UNM.

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Interdisciplinary research center to open

Lauren Topper | January 28

UNM will soon open the doors to its newest research facility, the Center for Stable Isotopes, which will allow researchers from a wide range of fields to delve into the mysteries of the natural world by looking at its smallest building blocks. The new facility will expand an already existing program based within the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences into an interdisciplinary center.

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Parasite collection a tool for education

Lauren Topper | January 15

In the lower levels of UNM’s CERIA building are jars and jars of what at first glance appear to be pasta. There are long egg noodles, balls of twisted up spaghetti, thin vermicelli strands, and crispy pieces of chow mein. Except they aren’t noodles — they are part of the third largest parasite collection in the western hemisphere. UNM’s Museum of Southwestern Biology Division of Parasites, curated by Dr. Sam Loker, was only established in 2011, but it has grown quickly. The collection already features parasites from host like species including badgers, otters, caribou, moose, cougars and whales. Dr. Sara Brant, senior collections manager of the Parasite Division, and her colleagues are now concentrating on sorting through the samples and cataloging them.

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Where UNM's money goes

Lauren Topper | January 14

The University deals in some pretty big money – the projected budget for 2014-2015 is just shy of $2.6 billion, for only one year. So where does all of this money come from, and more importantly, how does UNM spend it? “We have state money, we have federal money, we have private money, and we generate our own money,” said Bruce Cherrin, chief procurement Officer in the purchasing department.

Saeid Rostami, graduate student in Optical Science and Engineering, works with a system of laser beams in the Physics Lab on Friday afternoon. Rostami is one of the students working with physics and astronomy professor Mansoor Sheik-Bahae to develop a new method of optical refrigeration to cool solids at extreme low temperatures.

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UNM lab becomes world's coolest

Lauren Topper | December 8

As winter approaches and the semester winds down, students and faculty alike may be turning their attention to things such as hot chocolate and warm sweaters. But one lab on campus is trying to make things colder — much colder. Using crystals and lasers, a team of scientists headed by Department of Physics and Astronomy professor Mansoor Sheik-Bahae has developed and is currently fine-tuning a novel method known as optical refrigeration for cooling solids to extremely low temperatures. “It is fair to say that our team is the leader in terms of achieving the lowest temperature and advancing this science into a practical technology,” Sheik-Bahae said.

UNM second-year graduate student Xuechen Zhu works on natural product enzyme expression in Clark Hall on Tuesday. The lab of Assistant Professor Dr. Charles Melancon has engineered a potential new screening process for the characterization of antibacterial drugs.

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New system streamlines drug testing

Lauren Topper | December 3

The term “natural product” might sound more likely to be associated with a new organic diet or retail fad, but to scientists it is a term corresponding to clinically prescribed drugs used for decades.

Seth Daly, a fourth-year Ph.D. biomedical sciences student, counts bacterial colonies on agar on Wednesday afternoon. The laboratory is developing inhibitors of bacterial virulence to treat infections caused by Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

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Treatment could 'disarm' elements of staph

Lauren Topper | November 21

A combination of overuse and incorrect use of antibiotics is leading to a global epidemic of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that a recent report by the World Health Organization claims “threatens the achievements of modern medicine.” But a research team at UNM is creating an alternative for fighting a common, highly resistant infection.