News – Page 24

Bruker acquires nanoIR company Anasys Instruments

Bruker today announced that it has acquired Anasys Instruments Corp., a privately held company that develops and manufactures nanoscale infrared spectroscopy and thermal measurement instruments. This acquisition adds to Bruker’s portfolio of Raman and FTIR spectrometers, as well as to its nanoscale surface science instruments, such as atomic force microscopy and white-light interferometric 3D microscopy. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, Anasys Instruments Corp. has pioneered the field of nanoprobe-based thermal and infrared measurements. Its industry-leading nanoIR™ products are used by premier academic and industrial scientists and engineers in soft-matter and hard-matter materials science, and in life science applications. Recently Anasys introduced even higher performance with 10 nanometer resolution nanoIR imaging.

Congrats to Jeremy Thurston for Being Awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in Spring 2019

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based Master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.

Congrats to Roger Falcone for Being Elected as a Member of the National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences announced today the election of 100 new members and 25 foreign associates in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Forty percent of the newly elected members are women—the most ever elected in any one year to date. Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 2,347 and the total number of foreign associates to 487. Foreign associates are nonvoting members of the Academy, with citizenship outside the United States.

Congrats to Ke Xu for Being Selected as a Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator

The Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub is conducting research that helps solve big health problems. We find and support the best and brightest biologists, scientists, engineers and technologists. Our culture emphasizes intellectual freedom and collaboration. We provide our team with the best scientific tools—and when the right tools don’t exist, we will invent them.

Congrats to Hannah Weaver for Being Awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in Spring 2019

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based Master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.

Congrats to Jenna Tan for Being Awarded the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship in Spring 2019

Jenna Tan received an NDSEG Fellowship to increase the number of U.S. citizens trained in science and engineering disciplines of military importance and the Department of Defense.

Congrats to Naomi Ginsberg for Being Selected to Participate in the UC Women’s Initiative for Professional Development

Naomi Ginbserg was selected to participate in the UC Women’s Initiative for Professional Development in 2018 because she demonstrates potential to advance women in their careers.

Congrats to Rebecca Wai and Trevor Roberts for receiving the Outstanding GSI Award for Spring 2019

The Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor (OGSI) Award honors UC Berkeley GSIs each year for their outstanding work in the teaching of undergraduates. OGSI recipients are nominated from within their teaching department. The GSI Teaching & Resource Center provides the award recipients certificates of distinction and hosts a celebratory ceremony in the spring.

Study reveals key details about bacterium that increases risk for stomach cancer

More than half of the people in the world host colonies of a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori in their stomachs.

Although it’s harmless to many, H. pylori can cause stomach cancer as well as ulcers and other gastric conditions. Doctors tend to prescribe multiple antibiotics to defeat the microbe, but that strategy can lead to antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Now, a finding by UCLA scientists may lead to a better approach. The researchers have determined the molecular structure of a protein that enables H. pylori to stay alive in the stomach, and elucidated the mechanism by which that protein works.

Z. Hong Zhou, the study’s corresponding author and a UCLA professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, said the findings answer questions that have been sought ever since 2005, when two Australian scientists won a Nobel Prize for their discovery of H. pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.

Congrats to Jessica Ramella-Roman for Being Elected as a 2019 SPIE Fellow

Each year, SPIE promotes Members as new Fellows of the Society. SPIE will honor 88 new Fellows of the Society this year. Fellows are Members of distinction who have made significant scientific and technical contributions in the multidisciplinary fields of optics, photonics, and imaging. They are honored for their technical achievement and for their service to the general optics community and to SPIE in particular. More than 1,400 SPIE members have become Fellows since the Society’s inception in 1955. Dr. Jessica Ramella-Roman, Florida International University, United States was elected for achievements in spectro-polarimetric techniques for diagnostic applications.