The worldwide rankings, , place 麻豆原创 in a tie with Yale University (57) and ahead of U.S. institutions such as Vanderbilt (56), Princeton (44) and Florida State University (38).

The NAI rankings may be further adjusted as patent corrections are submitted by universities.

This is the 11^th year that 麻豆原创 has ranked in the top 100 universities in the world for patents.

鈥淚nnovation is at the heart of our mission at 麻豆原创, and these latest patent rankings reaffirm our commitment to pushing boundaries and making impactful advancements,” says Winston V. Schoenfeld, 麻豆原创鈥檚 interim vice president for research and innovation. 鈥淭he range of inventions reflects the dedication and ingenuity of our researchers across the research enterprise, and their efforts continue to position 麻豆原创 as a leader in innovation, both nationally and globally.”

The patents were secured by 麻豆原创鈥檚聽, which brings discoveries to the marketplace and connects 麻豆原创 researchers with companies and entrepreneurs to transform innovative ideas into successful products.

Svetlana Shtrom听鈥�08MBA, director of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Technology Transfer Office, says university patents are a valuable asset for universities, industry and society.

鈥淧atents facilitate transfer of technology from universities and foster collaboration between academia and the private sector,鈥� Shtrom says.聽鈥淭hrough collaboration with industry, university technologies provide solutions to pressing problems and create new products and services that benefit the public.鈥�

She says the patents also reflect the commitment of the university鈥檚 researchers to innovation, and they serve as a beacon to attract more students and faculty who are interested in cutting-edge research and entrepreneurship.

Here are a few of the 麻豆原创 inventions that led to patents in 2023:

Passive Insect Surveillance Sensor Device
Lead researcher: Bradley Willenberg, assistant professor, 麻豆原创

麻豆原创 researchers have developed a low-cost, easy-to-use device for detection of mosquitos and other insects that also indicates whether an insect carries a specific infectious disease. Through simple color-based tests (colorimetric assays) and biomolecular tools for detection (DNA aptamers conjugated to nanoparticles), a user can monitor viral presence in insect saliva samples. By doing so, various mosquito-borne emerging pathogens, including Zika, Dengue, and Chikunguya, can be detected.聽 The easily deployable technology can potentially help in the global fight and prevention against these deadly diseases. The .

Antiplasmodial Compounds
Lead researcher: Debopam Chakrabarti, professor and head,

This technology is a method of treatment for malaria by administration of specific fungus-derived compounds. Annually, malaria affects more than 200 million people and kills more than 600,000. Caused by Plasmodium parasites carried in mosquitos, an effective treatment is desperately needed. 麻豆原创 researchers used a聽 library of fungi found in habitats and ecological niches across the U.S. to find potential antimalarial compounds. The unique chemicals they identified provide starting points for developing lead compounds of new drugs against malaria. The research team is .

Coating for Capturing and Killing Viruses on Surfaces
Lead researcher: Suditpa Seal, Pegasus Professor and chair,

This technology is a nano-coating designed to capture, hold and kill viruses on a surface, such as on personal protective equipment and clothing, using natural light sources to protect against infections.

The COVID-killing coating is made with a nanomaterial that activates under white light, such as sunlight or LED light. As long as the nanomaterial is exposed to a continuous light source, it can regenerate its antiviral properties, creating a self-cleaning effect.

The efficacy of the disinfectant was shown through a study that was published in聽ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces聽this past year. The study found that the coating can not only destroy the COVID-19 virus, but it can also聽combat the spread of Zika virus, SARS, parainfluenza, rhinovirus and vesicular stomatitis.

Production of Nanoporous Films
Lead researcher: Yang Yang, associate professor,

麻豆原创 researchers have created , such as for fuel cells, hydrogen production, photocatalysts, sensing and energy storage, and electrodes in supercapacitors. The method improves performance and versatility and does not require use of costly precious metals, such as gold. Instead, the 麻豆原创 technology uses low-cost, earth-abundant resources such as iron, cobalt and nickel. The nanoporous thin films are designed to help meet today鈥檚 challenges in renewable energy production and conversion applications.

Method of Forming High-Throughput 3d Printed Microelectrode Array
Lead researcher: Swaminathan Rajaraman, associate professor, NanoScience Technology Center

This invention is a . The device has small channels and chambers that guide liquids, like samples or chemicals, to a central area where there are special electrodes. These electrodes can send and record electrical signals from tiny groups of cells called spheroids. Scientists can use this to see how cells react to different conditions and substances. The innovation offers an easy way to study biological cells, tissues and electrophysiological responses. The technology can help lead to advancements in disease modeling, toxicity assessments and drug discovery.

Adaptive Visual Overlay for Anatomical Simulation
Lead researcher: Greg Welch, Pegasus Professor, AdventHealth Endowed Chair in Healthcare Simulation,

This anatomical simulation allows users to wear a head-mounted display that presents an anatomical scenario onto a patient to allow for medical training, surgical training or other instruction. Users who experience the simulation will see a real body part or other anatomical items projected through an augmented reality system. The innovative, and provides constant, dynamic feedback to medical trainees as they treat wounds. Almost like a video game in real-life, the Tactile-Visual Wound Simulation Unit portrays the look, feel, and even the smell of different types of human wounds (such as a puncture, stab, slice or tear). It also tracks and analyzes a trainee’s treatment responses and provides corrective instructions.

System for Extracting Water from Lunar Regolith and Associated Method
Lead researcher: Phil Metzger 鈥�00MS鈥�05PhD, associate scientist,

This invention is and help to establish the industry. The process consists of robot mining of the regolith (loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering solid rock), transferring the mined material to a conveyer, and passing the soil through grinding and crushing stages. Included are mechanisms to sort the material into ice, metals, and other minerals, and final transport and cleanup. This technology allows mining water on the moon, which supports NASA missions, enables further commercial operations in space, and supports Space Force activities.

Inorganic Paint Pigment with Plasmonic Aluminum Reflector Layers and Related Methods
Lead researcher: Debashis Chanda, professor, NanoScience Technology Center

This invention, a plasmonic paint, draws inspiration from butterflies to create the first environmentally friendly, large-scale and multicolor alternative to pigment-based colorants, which can contribute to energy-saving efforts and help reduce impacts on climate.

The plasmonic paint uses nanoscale structural arrangement of colorless materials 鈥� aluminum and aluminum oxide 鈥� instead of pigments to create colors.

While pigment colorants control light absorption based on the electronic property of the pigment material, hence every color needs a new molecule, structural colorants control the way light is reflected, scattered or absorbed based on the geometrical arrangement of nanostructures.

Such structural colors are environmentally friendly as they only use metals and oxides, unlike pigment-based colors that use artificially synthesized molecules.

The researchers have combined their structural color flakes with a commercial binder to form long-lasting paints of all colors. And because plasmonic paint reflects the entire infrared spectrum, less heat is absorbed by the paint, resulting in the underneath surface staying 25 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than it would if it were covered with standard commercial paint.

Plasmonic paint is also lightweight, a result of the paint’s large area-to-thickness ratio, with full coloration achieved at a paint thickness of only 150 nanometers, making it the lightest paint in the world.

System and Method for Radio Frequency Power Sensing and Scavenging Based on Phonon-electron Coupling in Acoustic Waveguides
Lead researcher: Hakhamanesh Mansoorzare 鈥�21, postdoctoral researcher,

To meet the growing energy needs of the internet of things (IoT) and wireless communication systems, this new technology is .

The invention harvests ambient energy, specifically radio frequency electromagnetic waves, the most abundant form of communication among IoT nodes and hubs.

The technology can reduce the electronic industry鈥檚 reliance on batteries and broaden the expansion of the IoT and its energy needs.

The Pegasus Professor and chair of the says this patent was awarded much faster than most, which demonstrates the importance of the disinfectant.

鈥淲e are very excited to get this patent accepted so quickly, and we鈥檙e glad that the work is of great value for combatting viruses and pathogen-born infections,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淭hanks to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for recognizing this work and to the 麻豆原创 Office of Technology Transfer for its support.鈥�

Co-recipients of the patent include Seal鈥檚 postdoctoral researcher, Craig Neal 鈥�14 鈥�16MS 鈥�21PhD, and his former research assistant, Udit Kumar 鈥�22PhD.

How the Disinfectant Works

The COVID-killing coating is made with a nanomaterial that activates under white light, such as sunlight or LED light. As long as the nanomaterial is exposed to a continuous light source, it can regenerate its antiviral properties, creating a self-cleaning effect.

The efficacy of the disinfectant was tested and proven through a study that was published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces this past year. The study found that the coating can not only destroy the COVID-19 virus, but it can also combat the spread of Zika virus, SARS, parainfluenza, rhinovirus and vesicular stomatitis.

The research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation鈥檚 RAPID program and conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, including Griff Parks, a professor in the 麻豆原创 and the co-principal investigator of the grant.

Next Steps

Now that the disinfectant has been patented, the research team will continue testing the product and 麻豆原创 will seek a commercial partner to manufacture and sell it to a wide range of customers within the next few years.

鈥淲e plan to carry on the work in larger samples and also to test in vivo models and other means of infection control,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淭he process is well defined, and we plan to work with an industry partner to bring it to the mass market.鈥�

Seal joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the , which is part of 麻豆原创鈥檚聽College of Engineering and Computer Science, in 1997. He has an appointment at the聽College of Medicine聽and is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 prosthetics cluster听叠颈颈辞苍颈虫. He is the former director of 麻豆原创鈥檚 and Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center. He received his doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley.

As businesses reopen and employees return to the office following the pandemic shutdowns, a new study from the 麻豆原创 recently published in Journal of Applied Psychology, examines how working with sick coworkers affects employees鈥� treatment of them compared to healthier colleagues.

鈥淯nderstanding the link between 鈥榗oworker presenteeism鈥欌�攕howing up to work when you鈥檙e sick or not feeling well 鈥� and mistreatment may be more pressing now than ever,鈥� says 麻豆原创 management professor Shannon Taylor, 鈥渂ut it is not specific to the COVID-19 outbreak.鈥�

In two studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic in face-to-face settings, 麻豆原创 researchers Taylor and Troy Pounds, a visiting lecturer of integrated business, found that employees were less likely to mistreat a sick coworker if they reacted with empathy, or 鈥渃oworker-orientation.鈥� But if the employee was stressed out by a heavy workload, they were more likely to react with self-concern, or self-interest, and avoid their sick colleague or treat them rudely.

鈥淭he pandemic has brought out the best and worst in people,鈥� Taylor says, 鈥渁nd understanding how employees respond to a sick coworker at work can have a significant impact on a company鈥檚 culture and its bottom line.鈥�

While employees may engage in presenteeism, or working while sick, for admirable reasons (e.g., strong work ethic, financial need), evidence suggests it deteriorates their health and results in productivity costs larger than absenteeism alone. That behavior can be difficult to change in organizations where employees who never miss work, even for a sick day, are lauded and even rewarded for their dedication and work ethic.

鈥淢anagers should encourage sick employees to stay home to help them recover more quickly, protect the health of their colleagues and avoid the risk of abuse at work,鈥� Taylor says,

Taylor and Pounds鈥� study surveyed employees and asked them to recall details about incidents when a coworker displayed symptoms consistent with COVID-19, such as coughing, fever, shortness of breath, 聽and fatigue. Study participants represented various occupations, including cashiers, customer service representatives, teachers, nurses and managers, who had coworkers come to work with COVID-19-like symptoms.

鈥淭here鈥檚 never a good time to be sick,鈥� Taylor says. 鈥淏ut if you have a pile of work to get done when a coworker shows up in the office and appears to be ill, your reaction might be to worry about how it will impact you. For example, you might worry about your own health or taking on their work instead of showing concern for your colleague.鈥�

on workplace mistreatment, examining rude, abusive, and unethical behaviors of employees and leaders. Pounds is pursuing his doctorate of .

The findings, by of the university鈥檚 virus and engineering experts and the leader of an Orlando technology firm, were published this week in 聽ACS Nano, a journal of the American Chemical Society.

Christina Drake 鈥�07PhD, founder of Kismet Technologies, was inspired to develop the disinfectant after making a trip to the grocery store in the early days of the pandemic. There she saw a worker spraying disinfectant on a refrigerator handle, then wiping off the spray immediately.

鈥淚nitially my thought was to develop a fast-acting disinfectant,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut we spoke to consumers, such as doctors and dentists, to find out what they really wanted from a disinfectant. What mattered the most to them was something long-lasting that would continue to disinfect high-touch areas like doorhandles and floors long after application.鈥�

Drake partnered with Sudipta Seal, a 麻豆原创 materials engineer and expert, and Griff Parks, a virologist who is also associate dean of and director of the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. With funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, Kismet Tech and the Florida High Tech Corridor, the researchers created a nanoparticle-engineered disinfectant.

Its active ingredient is an engineered nanostructure called cerium oxide, which is known for its regenerative antioxidant properties. The cerium oxide nanoparticles are modified with small amounts of silver to make them more potent against pathogens.

鈥淚t works both chemically and mechanically,鈥� says Seal, who has been studying nanotechnology for more than 20 years. 鈥淭he nanoparticles emit electrons that oxidize the virus, rendering it inactive. Mechanically, they also attach themselves to the virus and rupture the surface, almost like popping a balloon.鈥�

Most disinfecting wipes or sprays will disinfect a surface within three to six minutes of application but have no residual effects. This means surfaces need to be wiped down repeatedly to stay clean from a number of viruses, like COVID-19. The nanoparticle formulation maintains its ability to inactivate microbes and continues to disinfect a surface for up to seven days after a single application.

鈥淭he disinfectant has shown tremendous antiviral activity against seven different viruses,鈥� says Parks, whose lab was responsible for testing the formulation against 鈥渁 dictionary鈥� of viruses. 鈥淣ot only did it show antiviral properties toward coronavirus and rhinovirus, but it also proved effective against a wide range of other viruses with different structures and complexities. We are hopeful that with this amazing range of killing capacity, this disinfectant will also be a highly effective tool against other new emerging viruses. 鈥�

The scientists are confident the solution will have a major impact in health care settings in particular, reducing the rate of hospital acquired infections, such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Clostridium difficile 鈥� which affect more than one in 30 patients admitted to U.S. hospitals.

And unlike many commercial disinfectants, the formulation has no harmful chemicals, which indicates it will be safe to use on any surface. Regulatory testing for irritancy on skin and eye cells, as required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, showed no harmful effects.

“Many household disinfectants currently available contain chemicals that can be harmful to the body with repeated exposure,鈥� Drake says. 鈥淥ur nanoparticle-based product will have a high safety rating will play a major role in reducing overall chemical exposure for humans.鈥�

More research is needed before the product can go to market, which is why the next phase of the study will look at how the disinfectant performs outside of the lab in real world applications. That work will look at how the disinfectant is affected by external factors such as temperature or sunlight. The team is in talks with a local hospital network to test the product in their facilities.

鈥淲e’re also exploring developing a semi-permanent film to see if we can coat and seal a hospital floor or door handles, areas where you need things to be disinfected and even with aggressive and persistent contact,鈥� Drake says.

Seal joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, which is part of , in 1997. He has an appointment at the聽College of Medicine聽and is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Biionix Cluster, which focuses on advancing medical technology for prosthetics. He is the former director of 麻豆原创鈥檚聽Nanoscience Technology Center聽and聽. He received his doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley.

Parks came to 麻豆原创 in 2014 after 20 years at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, where he was professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He earned his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin and was an American Cancer Society Fellow at Northwestern University.

The study was co-authored by post-doctoral researchers Candace Fox from the College of Medicine and Craig Neal from the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Graduate students Tamil Sakthivel, Udit Kumar and Yifei Fu from the College of Engineering and Computer Science were also co-authors.

When I鈥檓 downtown in Orlando, there are any number of excellent independent shops I like to support, but where I live, miles from the city, one neighbor has a horse and another keeps chickens. On cold nights, I hear the chickens clucking. On colder nights, my neighbor brings the chickens in.

Not much, then, in the way of coffee, except for the place by my house. That鈥檚 where I write鈥攐r wrote鈥攆ive days a week. Before the arrival of COVID-19, I dropped my daughters off at school, then arrived at my coffeehouse by 9 a.m.

Kevin, the man who most days works the morning shift, would greet me. Kevin plays in a band. I鈥檝e never heard his music, and he鈥檚 never read my books. It鈥檚 not that kind of friendship. Which isn鈥檛 to say that it鈥檚 a lesser friendship. It鈥檚 a friendship that doesn鈥檛 require admiration for one another鈥檚 art. Kevin makes my coffee. Sometimes I tip him extra. Sometimes my coffee is free, a perk that comes along with being a regular.

Before the pandemic, my office was the coffeehouse.

Then, most days, I get to work鈥攐r got to work鈥攆inding a quiet corner, facing away from the windows and the rest of the customers, firing up my laptop, securing my noise-canceling headphones over my ears, and navigating to one of three audio recordings I keep bookmarked: bathroom fan, airplane hum, summer storm. The white noise blocks out coffee orders, background conversations, and the chug and hiss of the espresso machines. Within minutes, I鈥檓 in a trance, the world falls away, and I can dream my way into fiction.

Most of my novel, Lake Life (published in paperback by Simon & Schuster last week), was written at this coffeehouse between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., before I returned to my daughters鈥� school to bring them home for the day. Now, our home is their school, and my bedroom doubles as my office.

But before the pandemic, my office was the coffeehouse. There, I would drink two cups of coffee, maybe three, dark roast, with cream and a dash of sugar. I like bitter, and I鈥檝e always preferred strong coffee to lattes or cappuccinos that tend to be mostly milk.

After weeks spent on a 2016 book tour across Europe, I returned to Florida and, for a month, drank straight espresso. But I never found anything in Florida approaching the strength of the ristretto shots I grew fond of in Venice and Milan and Palermo. (This, I recognize, is a pretentious-sounding sentence. In truth, I haven鈥檛 traveled particularly widely, I just got lucky with my last book. And I don鈥檛 drink dark, strong coffee to feel cool. I鈥檓 decidedly un-cool. I rarely drink alcohol. I don鈥檛 smoke. And, as a matter of fact, the darker the roast, the less caffeine the coffee has. I just happen to have a palate that favors bitter. I鈥檒l take dark chocolate over milk chocolate any day.)

When asked why I don鈥檛 prefer writing at home or in the office that 麻豆原创 provides, I have several answers. First, I鈥檓 undisciplined. If I鈥檓 home, there is the TV. There are walls of books. There鈥檚 the bed. Any number of things are more tempting than sitting down to write for hours. Once I鈥檝e started, found my way into a story, I鈥檓 good, on task鈥攂ut resolving to sit down and write for the day, that鈥檚 the hard part. At the coffeehouse, there鈥檚 no TV, and I bring no books. I don鈥檛 even activate the Wi-Fi, so as not to be distracted by Twitter or Facebook鈥檚 endless scroll. No, if I鈥檓 at the coffeehouse, I have one job, and I do it. After all, my afternoons and evenings are occupied by teaching, so if I don鈥檛 write in the mornings, I don鈥檛 write.

Then there鈥檚 the coffee. It鈥檚 always a little better at the coffeehouse than the coffee I make at home. I have a coffeemaker, a French press, and an overpriced espresso machine. I order the best beans. I grind them fresh. Still, I can never match what they do there.

What I miss most about my coffeehouse, though, isn鈥檛 the coffee or the gift of a place to write. What I miss most, I鈥檝e discovered, is being with people. If it鈥檚 true that you can be lonely at a party thrown by friends just for you, it鈥檚 also true that you can feel loved surrounded by people you don鈥檛 even know.

At the coffeehouse, once I鈥檝e finished talking to Kevin, even after I鈥檝e plugged in my laptop and turned my back to the crowd, there鈥檚 a feeling that rises from the floor and tangles up in the rafters, a security that comes from being among others, as in church, each of us struggling in a job or a marriage or just trying to finish a novel, everyone alone, but together, a body of humans, breathing as one, warm, at once, all in one place.

It鈥檚 been more than a year since I stopped going to the coffeehouse, and I have yet to return. The coffeehouse is open. Everything, where I live, opened up almost a year ago. But I鈥檓 wary. Even masked and vaccinated, it will be some time before I鈥檓 comfortable writing among others, breathing the same air. And this is a loss.

I miss Kevin. I miss the taste of coffee made the right way by pros who know what they鈥檙e doing. Over a year in quarantine, and my home brew still pales in comparison. Though, if nothing else, I鈥檝e proven to myself that I can write anywhere. A new book is finished, and another is underway, so all is not lost.

But I鈥檇 trade this, the books and my newfound productivity, trade it in a second to return to a world pre-pandemic. To sit among strangers and friends, and strangers as friends, and feel safe. To not be afraid of my fellow humans.

David James Poissant is an associate professor at the 麻豆原创 where he teaches in the MFA program in creative writing.聽 He can be reached at David.Poissant@ucf.edu.

The聽麻豆原创 Forum聽is a weekly series of opinion columns from faculty, staff and students who serve on a panel for a year. A new column is posted each Wednesday on 麻豆原创 Today and then broadcast on W麻豆原创-FM (89.9) between 7:50 and 8 a.m. Sunday. Columns also are archived in the campus library鈥檚 collection and as W麻豆原创 podcasts. Opinions expressed are those of the columnists, and are not necessarily shared by the 麻豆原创.

Laurene Tetard, an associate professor in 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Physics, and Xiaohu Xia, an assistant professor in 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Chemistry, were selected as fellows by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement as part of its Scialog initiative to mitigate zoonotic threats, or those originating from animals. Tetard and Xia also both have joint appointments in 麻豆原创鈥檚 Nanoscience Technology Center.

The researchers join 麻豆原创 College of Medicine Assistant Professor Salvador Almagro-Moreno and more than 50 other researchers across the nation who have received the honor.

The Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) was founded in 1912 and is the oldest foundation for science advancement in the U.S.

The origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is still under debate, but its possible animal origin means researchers are giving special focus to zoonotic diseases and ones that could emerge in the future.

鈥淎 deeper understanding of the interactions between animals, people, pathogens and their environments could expand our ability to rapidly detect emerging pathogens and to quickly develop and deploy new countermeasures,鈥� says RCSA Program Director Andrew Feig.

Created in 2010 by RCSA, the Scialog (short for 鈥渟cience + dialog鈥�) format brings together communities of early-career scientists from multiple disciplines and institutions across the U.S. and Canada, and this initiative includes both academic and U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists with the vision of spurring stronger interactions between these groups.

The three-year initiative for addressing zoonotic threats will first meet this fall in Tucson, Arizona.

Guided by a group of senior facilitators, participants will discuss challenges and gaps in current knowledge, build community around visionary goals, and form teams to propose cutting-edge, collaborative research projects. Those considered to have the potential for high-impact results will be selected to receive seed funding.

Tetard says research chosen will stem from the discussions but that her contributions to the community will include her expertise with nanoscale imaging and spectroscopy, which can show how zoonotic threats change over time.

鈥淰iruses and bacteria are small systems that have not been studied extensively with new nanoscale tools, such as those we are working on at 麻豆原创,鈥� Tetard says. 鈥淣anoscale imaging and spectroscopy provides the spatial resolution and the sensitivity to detect such small systems and study how they evolve. Participating in this initiative could help in advancing the development of new tools that are better suited for problems related to zoonotic threats. I鈥檓 very excited about taking part in these conversations.鈥�

Xia will bring his work with developing advanced nanotechnologies for diagnostics to the Scialog research community.

鈥淚 am honored to be selected as a Scialog Fellow, and I am excited for the opportunity to collaborate with leading scientists from multiple disciplines to develop innovative technologies for detection and mitigation of zoonotic threats,鈥� Xia says. 鈥淲ith the support of this fellowship, I鈥檇 like to expand my research to the field of detection and diagnosis of zoonotic diseases. I am thrilled by this opportunity to work in a new field. Ultimately, I hope that my research will contribute to mitigation of existing and emerging zoonotic threats.鈥�

Tetard received her doctorate in physics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center and Department of Physics, part of 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Sciences, in 2013.

Xia received his doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology from Xiamen University and joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Chemistry, part of 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Sciences, in 2018.

The journey toward my undergraduate degree has been eventful, especially in regard to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. You鈥檙e probably as sick of hearing about it as I am, but with an event as big as this one, there is a lot of ground to cover.

A little over a year ago, I wrote a something for an extra-credit assignment for my American history professor. This professor made it clear to us that we were living in a generationally defining moment in history, and that we should soak up as much of what was happening as we could because it will affect the rest of our lives.

This whole experience has taught me to think more on my own.

The assignment was to pick an artifact from our homes that historians would look back on to remember the pandemic. I chose an analog clock from my living room. At the time, all I could think about was how much time I was losing from my college experience. I felt like I wasn鈥檛 going to learn anything well online from home, and I was missing out on all of the fun times that come with being a college student. To quote myself, I said it felt like 鈥渢he clock stopped and everything was put on pause, but we are still losing time.鈥�

I wrote that when I was 19. Now, as I am fully vaccinated and slowly returning to normal life again, I am 21. A lot of time has passed, and I can look at the words of my past and say that I was wrong.

I thought then that the pandemic and the shutdown of the majority of the world was ruining my four years of college education. But all of the time I spent online and away from the classroom taught me that things also can be learned out of a classroom, too.

During the lockdown and quarantine period, I learned so many life lessons about perspective and appreciating life. My whole mindset evolved into a much more positive state than before and I started to really live life to the fullest.

This whole experience has taught me to think more on my own. For example, when studying for a chemistry exam, not only did I learn about chemistry, but I learned about time management while planning out my studies. And once I got that A+, I learned that I can achieve hard goals if I work hard enough. These are valuable life lessons that will benefit you in the real world.

Lessons are in every walk of life. Every experience, every interaction you can take something from it if you think about it. Through the struggles of the pandemic life, I have gotten better at identifying these lessons and really trying my best to learn from everything.

Once I started thinking this way, I started appreciating my college education a lot more, even if it were cut up by COVID-19. I look at the whole experience not as a setback, but as another part of my education.

To be a student does not just mean to study hard and get good grades; it means to always go through life with open eyes and ears to learn as much as you can.

Narvin Chhay is a 麻豆原创 junior majoring in sport and exercise science. He can be reached at narvinc@knights.ucf.edu.

The聽麻豆原创 Forum聽is a weekly series of opinion columns from faculty, staff and students who serve on a panel for a year. A new column is posted each Wednesday on 麻豆原创 Today and then broadcast on W麻豆原创-FM (89.9) between 7:50 and 8 a.m. Sunday. Opinions expressed are those of the columnists, and are not necessarily shared by the 麻豆原创.

The work could affect approaches to control the virus, such as isolation strategies and vaccine development, and establish infrastructure to respond to future emerging infectious diseases.

The project is funded by philanthropic organization The Rockefeller Foundation as part of to strengthen global capabilities to detect and respond to pandemic threats.

麻豆原创 will receive the funds in partnership with UF to become part of a U.S. Regional Accelerators for Genomic Surveillance program that will provide strategic, coordination, and operational support toward improved and diversified regional surveillance efforts across a network of institutions. These institutions include the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

麻豆原创 and UF together will receive $340,000 for the project.

The work at 麻豆原创 will be led by Taj Azarian, an assistant professor and infectious-disease epidemiologist in the . Azarian will work closely with Marco Salemi, the project鈥檚 lead at UF and a member of UF鈥檚 Emerging Pathogens Institute.

The Florida experts and their labs will work to establish a network of public, private, and industry partners that will strive to increase the representativeness of SARS-CoV-2 monitoring around the state, Azarian says.

They will do this by genome sequencing SARS-CoV-2 isolates from positive SARS-CoV-2 test samples taken from around Florida 鈥� with individuals鈥� identities redacted.

Azarian says particular interest will be placed on monitoring cases of reinfection or vaccinated cases who become sick with COVID-19. These viral isolates will be prioritized for genome sequencing, which will allow the experts to identify new variants and understand how the virus is spreading in the community, he says.

鈥淪o, let’s say someone had COVID-19 early, like last summer, and then they get tested and they鈥檙e infected again,鈥� Azarian says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e interested in tracking that and looking at the viral genomes to see how different they are from the virus that was circulating earlier when they were infected.鈥�

鈥淲e also want to monitor cases of vaccine breakthrough,鈥� he says. 鈥淔or example, someone received a vaccine and got sick weeks later with COVID.鈥�

鈥淎nother priority is monitoring the populations that are either unvaccinated or undervaccinated,鈥� he says.

Knowing this information can help with vaccination and community-level control efforts, Azarian says.

鈥淥verall, we are trying to stay one step ahead of the virus,鈥� Azarian says.

He says the selection of 麻豆原创 to work on the project was made possible by the concentrated expertise of the Genomics and Bioinformatics cluster at 麻豆原创, the collaboration with the Salemi Laboratory, and also his recent work on rapid, onsite COVID-19 detection and viral sequencing on campus through a Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund II award.

鈥淥ne of the things that we do in my laboratory is apply genome sequencing of pathogens to understand how they spread and transmit in the community,鈥� he says.

鈥淕etting funding through the university to start up our genomic surveillance on campus and do everything in-house provided a good springboard to show that we have the resources to be able to help increase the regional and national capacity to do genomic surveillance.鈥�

Azarian received his doctorate in epidemiology from the University of Florida and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard鈥檚 T.H. Chan School for Public Health in the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics. He was recruited to 麻豆原创 through the Genomics and Bioinformatics Cluster initiative and joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, part of 麻豆原创鈥檚 , in 2018.

In the beginning, it felt weird to be sitting in front of my computer with my pajamas on, doing actual work. It almost felt like working from home wasn鈥檛 enough.

Have you wondered if you accomplished enough during the pandemic?

Maybe in the past year or so you鈥檝e been too consumed by what鈥檚 going on in the world to think about such things. That鈥檚 OK. Maybe, like me, you鈥檝e worried you haven鈥檛 done enough. That鈥檚 OK, too.

The past year has been strange and scary, and although bad things have happened, we have a lot to look forward to.

I am here to tell you that you don鈥檛 have to worry anymore. The past year has been strange and scary, and although bad things have happened, we have a lot to look forward to.

I look forward to more baking.

I sat in front of my screens and not even once did I attempt chair yoga, to learn a new language or acquire a new hobby. I did not create a video that went viral.

I wanted to do something useful or inspiring or meaningful.

So I baked.

My first pandemic loaf was an Irish soda bread, studded with raisins and toasty oats. I accessorized the whole outfit with Irish butter, and it was trending for a short time in my house.

Baking has never let me down. If I follow the instructions and pay attention to the timing and the science, I am rewarded with carbohydrated yumminess. If something goes wrong along the way, it鈥檚 not baking鈥檚 fault, it鈥檚 my own.

Sometimes, though, even if everything goes right, maybe it wasn鈥檛 meant to be.

I was craving bagels. Fresh, chewy bagels. I had made them once before, and they had been a disaster. Primed and giddy from my soda bread experience, I tried again.

They came out better than I had expected, better than a bagel shop鈥檚, dare I say. But I wouldn鈥檛 recommend trying this at home. They were labor intensive. Aside from the dough, there鈥檚 the proving/proofing, the shaping, and then the dunking into acidulated water for no more than two minutes. And then, finally, the egg wash and baking process. And the whole time, you wonder if the four hours you spent is going to result in goodness or something not so good.

Making bagels was hard. It got me out of my comfort zone, though, and reminded me what a comfort zone was for. Why would I want to go from my comfort zone into my uncomfortable zone?

You know what else is comforting? Cookies. I had acquired some chocolate chips (along with several bags of chips of another species 鈥� I blame internet ordering) and decided it would be prudent to turn them into cookies. I happened to have extra butter and flour, so why not? By throwing a few ingredients together and creating something, I feel like I am improving 鈥� at least temporarily 鈥� my small corner of the world.

My family enjoyed my baked goods during the pandemic, but they may not have understood the therapeutic value behind them.

It was hard for me to dwell on the increasingly grim news from the outside world when my inside world smelled like vanilla and cinnamon.

But now, as we head back to campus, I look forward to sharing my heightened baking expertise with my colleagues. In the past, whenever I brought in homemade banana bread and left it in our communal kitchen, it would quickly disappear.

Banana bread will still be in the rotation, but I have expanded my playlist. My department, pre-pandemic, was famous for our holiday potlucks. I hope we can safely continue this tradition; I imagine some of my colleagues are also eager to show off their new skills honed by the past 16 months.

I also hope one of them brings some bagels.

Camille Dolan is the communications specialist for the 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Health Professions and Sciences. She can be reached at camille.dolan@ucf.edu.