Spotlight
Research Snapshots
College of Arts & Sciences
USF physicists have developed a new way to make solar cells that could transform how solar energy is utilized by replacing bulky, costly solar panels with special windows capable of producing electricity. These patentpending solar cells are sprayed onto transparent glass, which generates electricity from both natural and artificial light, and these windows could be installed in homes, office buildings and skyscrapers.
College of Behaviorial & Community Sciences
Project Latino STYLE, a five-year study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, aims to improve the health of Latino teens by encouraging parents and teens to discuss important health topics, providing parents with the skills to appropriately monitor their children, and enhancing teens' skills to engage in health-promoting behaviors. Health topics such as sex, alcohol/drug use, nutrition, exercise, and violence are discussed within the context of Latino cultural values.
College of Business
Funded by a National Science Foundation grant, a management information systems professor and five colleagues have developed a case study research course in which students examine technology challenges facing businesses and institutions and are asked to provide possible solutions. As the course draws to a close, the researchers are gauging whether a case study-based curriculum delivers an improved learning experience.
College of Education
Researchers in the college are preparing effective teachers for the 21st century classroom by engaging them in a research-based teacher education program that involves field-based clinical training supported by skilled practitioners. Graduates will enter the field prepared to teach STEM courses, thereby enhancing teacher retention and student learning. The program's effectiveness will be determined by examining teacher effectiveness and student learning and how the program components contribute to the development of effective teachers.
College of Engineering
An assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering is developing something that can save lives — a home test kit for early detection of ovarian cancer. At the heart of the concept is a sensor that can detect ovarian cancer as early as stage I. The test kit is inexpensive to produce, disposable and requires only a drop of urine, instead of a blood sample.
College of Marine Science
USF scientists have teamed up with commercial fishermen to determine if there are an abnormal number of sick fish in the northern Gulf following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and if the increased incidence of diseases are connected to the environmental disaster. The study, funded by the National Marine Fisheries Service, is the first comprehensive study done on the health of fish in the Gulf and will establish a baseline for fish disease.
USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
Researchers in the School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences are working on two major studies funded by a Department of Defense grant. In one study, researchers are investigating whether a specific exercise training regimen may protect against low back injury in combat soldiers. In the second, researchers are evaluating the best prosthetic foot to accommodate soldiers and veterans with below-the-knee amputations who wish to return to active duty.
College of Nursing
RESTORE LIVES, a two-year, multi-study research initiative, is focusing on service members and veterans with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and/or mild traumatic brain injury. One study is investigating the effectiveness of Accelerated Resolution Therapy, a revolutionary intervention for treating symptoms of psychological trauma, for veterans who have served in combat operations.
College of Pharmacy
An assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy has received a NIH grant to study medications that treat cardiovascular diseases that affect electrical conduction in the heart. This grant represents the first official federal grant for the new USF College of Pharmacy, which is placing special emphasis on research excellence. This research will hopefully lead to improved cardiovascular function for elderly patients.
College of Public Health
Research in the college has been increasingly targeted at prevention programs aimed at specific problems that disproportionately affect minority and economically disadvantaged groups. For instance, supported in part by studies funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, faculty members, staff and students are tackling major challenges needed to end neglected diseases such as malaria, a preventable and treatable mosquito-borne pathogen accounting for two deaths every minute of every day.
College of the Arts
"What the Heart Remembers: the Women and Children of Darfur" is an interdisciplinary, multicultural collaborative theatre and dance production written and choreographed by two USF professors. Focusing on genocide in Darfur, the piece was inspired by the artwork of children and interviews with their mothers by a BBC journalist. In August, the entire student cast will travel to Scotland to restage the production at the 2012 International Collegiate Theatre Festival, part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.