of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering

Celebrate, Promote, Inform in Service to CT

Volume 36, 4  /  August 2021

As all of us prepare for the end of summer and the opportunities the fall will bring, I share with you the Academy’s commitment to broadening participation, equity, and inclusion, which begins with us at home within our organization. The Academy is not only honorific but also service-oriented, as directed by our charter through a special act of the Connecticut General Assembly in 1976. Specifically, the Academy is called upon to advise on issues of science and engineering that affect the social and economic well-being of the people of the state. It is essential that we proactively work to mirror the state’s demographics within our own membership, thus ensuring a broad and diverse base from which to provide guidance for the state’s consideration.

This is challenging work that will begin this fall with an ad hoc workgroup of Academy Members backed by the Academy’s leadership. The changes recommended will take time to realize. We cannot wait another day.

Christine Caragianis Broadbridge, President
CT Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE)

Science and Engineering Notes from Around Connecticut

Researchers at MIT developed a process for protecting seeds from the stress of water shortage during their crucial germination phase, while at the same time providing plants with extra nutrition. CASE Member Jason C. White, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and a professor of epidemiology at Yale University, noted the importance of this work given the need to “mediate tolerance to a range of biotic and abiotic stressors.” Read more.

CASE Member William Tamborlane, Professor of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine found positive results from a Phase III trial of a once-weekly glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) in adolescents aged 10–17 with T2D. The trial demonstrates that exenatide used once weekly significantly reduced blood sugar versus placebo in adolescents aged 10-17 with type 2 diabetes. Read more.

CASE member Garth Graham MD, the Director and Global Head of Healthcare and Public Health partnerships at Google and YouTube, responded to the U.S. Surgeon General's call for social media and technology companies to take responsibility for online health misinformation by explaining how YouTube has a plan to do just that. Read more.

Governor Ned Lamont announced the launch of Made by CT, an Instagram series highlighting notable Connecticut businesses across industry sectors vital to the state. Read more.

CASE Member David Steffens, professor and chair of psychiatry at UConn Health, is partnering with Dr. Sarah Shizuko Morimoto on a $7.5-million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to test a web-based intervention that resembles a video game for alleviating depression in older adults. Read more.

CASE Member Sten H. Vermund, dean of the Yale School of Public Health, announced that the school is working with and will receive financial support from Tevogen Bio, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, to expand the school’s regulatory sciences program. Read more.

CASE member Geoff Hunt, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Technology at Pratt & Whitney stated that the company has already saved half a billion gallons of fuel and five million tonnes of carbon emissions through Pratt’s new Geared Turbofan engine. Read more.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced the removal of two derelict barges that posed a navigational and environmental threat to the waters and mariners around New Haven. DEEP coordinated with federal, local, and commercial partners. Read more.

Distinguished Professor of Kinesiology in the College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resource and CASE Member Linda Pescatello, is commercializing a decision support system to help health care providers and exercise professionals prescribe exercise plans to support patient heart health. Read more.

The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy and the Office of the State Comptroller, worked with researchers from the Center for Women’s Welfare at the University of Washington School of Social Work and the UConn Analytics and Information Management Solutions Group to develop The Connecticut Healthcare Affordability Index. The index will help policymakers analyze healthcare costs and challenges for residents as approximately 18% of Connecticut households with adults under 65 face unaffordable health care costs. Read more.

CASE Member Andreas Roelofs, Raytheon Technologies’ vice president of research and development and the director of the Raytheon Technologies Research Center, is working with the military on developing new designs for heat exchangers, composite materials, and manufacturing for next-generation engines with increased range. Read more.

CASE member Cato T. Laurencin was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP in recognition of his accomplishments in tissue regeneration, biomaterials science, nanotechnology, and regenerative engineering, a field he founded. Read more.

Governor Lamont applauds the multi-state, multi-agency rail infrastructure plan, Connect NEC 2035 (C35) that will replace aging infrastructure, bridges and tunnels, add rail capacity, improve performance and enhance customer service in the Northeast Corridor. Read more.

Items that appear in the In Brief section are compiled from previously
published sources including newspaper accounts and press releases.  

Compiled and edited by Wendy Swift.

The following is excerpted from press releases and other news reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (nationalacademies.org).

While the COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating health and economic impacts in the United States, communities of color, especially Black communities, have been disproportionately affected. The Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine of the National Academies, led by CASE Member, Cato Laurencin, convened a virtual workshop to discuss the landscape of COVID-19, including how systemic racism contributes to the disproportionate effects of this virus and other health conditions. Read more.

With the federal moratorium on rental eviction expiring July 31^st, guidance is needed on how to ensure that renters can stay in their homes and aid reaches the communities that need it most. This report from the National Academies recommends that the Office of the President of the United States should consider establishing a task force to prevent rental evictions and mitigate housing instability caused by the pandemic, and outlines actions to be taken both urgently and over the next three years aimed at addressing the immediate crisis as well as long-standing needs related to housing choice, affordability, and security. Read more.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated recession have significantly affected women’s workforce participation. These impacts have varied from job loss to additional caregiving responsibilities. Black and Hispanic women have been particularly affected, bringing into sharp relief historical gender and racial inequities in the labor market. To address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession on women's employment, state and local decision-makers can use available federal funds to mitigate those impacts while also laying the foundation for longer-term solutions. Read more.

Digital technologies provide a means of anticipating, analyzing, and responding to human rights concerns, but they also present challenges. Digital technologies have, for instance, been used to spread disinformation, surveil human rights defenders, and promote and incite violence. The Committee on Human Rights of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine gathered experts in the fields of human rights and digital technology to examine these challenges, and to explore ways of leveraging digital innovations to protect internationally recognized human rights. Read more.

Astronauts face unique health-related risks during crewed space missions including cancer due to ionizing radiation exposure. Assessing, managing, and communicating radiation-induced cancer risks are challenging because of incomplete knowledge of the radiation environment in space, limited data, and the complexities of understanding radiation risk. At NASA’s request, an ad hoc committee of the National Academies convened to provide advice on NASA’s proposed updates to the current health standards. The committee issued recommendations and conclusions regarding the updated space radiation health standard, NASA's radiation risk communication strategies, and a process for developing an ethics-informed waiver protocol for long-duration spaceflight missions. Read more.

A central goal of U.S. fisheries management is to control the exploitation of fish populations so that fisheries remain biologically productive, economically valuable, and socially equitable. Although legislation led to many improvements, many fish populations remained overfished, and some fisheries were considered economically inefficient. In response, Congress amended the original legislation to allow additional management approaches, including Limited Access Privilege Programs (LAPPs). This report examines the impacts of LAPPs and offers recommendations for NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Regional Fishery Management Councils (the Councils) who oversee and manage federally-regulated fisheries. Read more.

The purpose of the Academy is to "provide guidance to the people and the government of the State of Connecticut... in the application of science and engineering to the economic and social welfare." 

OFFICERS OF THE ACADEMY

Christine Broadbridge, President
Southern Connecticut State University

John Kadow, Vice President
ViiV Healthcare

Eric Donkor, Secretary
UConn

Edmond Murphy, Treasurer
Lumentum (ret.)

Baki Cetegen, Past President
UConn

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Terri Clark

EDITORS
Leon Pintsov, Executive Editor - Engineering
Pitney Bowes, Inc. 

Mike Genel, Executive Editor - Medicine
Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics
Yale University School of Medicine
CASE President, 2008-2010

Amy R. Howell, Executive Editor - Science
Department of Chemistry
University of Connecticut

COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT
Rebecca Mead, INQ Creative

The Bulletin is published by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, Inc, 222 Pitkin Street, Suite 101, East Hartford, Connecticut, 06108. 860.282.4229, tclark@ctcase.org. To subscribe, visit ctcase.org.

The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering is a private, nonprofit public service organization established by Special Act No. 76-53 of the Connecticut General Assembly.

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