Meet the Three Art In Science Competition Winners
During the week of Nov. 4-8, the SOM held an “Art in Science” Competition, inspired by the UNC Healthcare tagline, “Scientists of Discovery, Artists of Innovation”. Each SOM laboratory was invited to submit nominations for innovative scientific images showcasing the outstanding biomedical research in the School and the beauty that is reflected in science.
The three winning submissions were: Expecting a Special Delivery, Developing White Matter Pathways in the Infant Brain, Triple Connections
“Expecting a Special Delivery” was submitted by Dr. Kathleen Caron, PhD, Chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology and member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Brooke Matson, PhD, and Kelsey Quinn, PhD. Studies in the Caron Lab are focused on elucidating unique GPCR pathways that are important for the development and function of the cardiovascular system, and much of Dr. Caron’s recent work has demonstrated the pivotal roles that RAMPs play in controlling receptor function, cellular signaling, and physiology. The winning image is a scanning electron micrograph of several cells in a mouse uterus with pinopodes (spherical protrusions found on cells on the surface of the uterus) surrounded by microvilli, and the central pinopode is secreting spherical structures that may aid in implantation.
Q:What compelled you to participate in the “Art in Science” competition?
A: We have a long tradition in our laboratory of celebrating the beauty of scientific images, so this special competition was a perfect match for us.
Q: What do you hope your participation in University Research Week, (Art in Science), will inspire/spark in others?
A: Our hope is that people will walk by the image, take a brief pause in their hectic day and wonder!
Q: Why do you think bridging science and art is important? Or How is bridging science and art helpful to the work you do?
A: When we can see the complexities of physiology unfolding in a picture, it immediately sparks a whole new set of ideas and questions. Images also help us convey a captivating scientific story; worth a 1,000 words!
“Developing White Matter Pathways in the Infant Brain” was submitted by Dr. John Gilmore, MD, the Thad and Alice Eure Distinguished Professor and Vice Chair for Research and Scientific Affairs in the Department of Psychiatry and Jessica Girault, PhD, from the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Gilmore’s research focuses on pre- and early postnatal brain development and how it contributes to the risk for schizophrenia, and he and colleagues have developed MR imaging and image analysis methodologies to study the early human brain. Dr. Gilmore chose to submit an imaging showing the major fiber pathways reconstructed from diffusion MRI of a 1-year-old infant, and the colors represent the primary orientation of the fiber bundles: green = anterior/posterior, red = lift/right, blue = dorsal/ventral.
Q: What compelled you to participate in the “Art in Science” competition?
A: Jessica created this amazing image of white matter tracts in a 1 year old, one that captures the overwhelming complexity and mystery of the human brain, even in a very young child. We wanted to share it with others.
Q: What do you hope your participation in University Research Week, (Art in Science), will inspire/spark in others?
A: I would hope that people will see that the study of neuroscience and the human brain is exciting and rewarding.
Q: Why do you think bridging science and art is important? Or How is bridging science and art helpful to the work you do?
A: Seeing is believing. I think the art helps us appreciate aspects of neuroscience that may be hard to concretely think about, it provides a way of better understanding the complexity of the human brain.
“Triple Connections” was submitted by Dr. Mohanish Deshmukh, PhD, Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology and member of the UNC Neuroscience Center and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, along with Selena Romero and Matt Geden, PhD. The Deshmukh laboratory is interested in exploring how cells regulate their survival and death and focus on studying how these processes are regulated in neurons, stem cells and cancer cells in culture and in murine disease models of neurodegeneration, cancer, and aging. Dr. Deshmukh provided a fluorescent micrograph showing neurons grown in a three chambered microfluidic device which allows them to assess how neurons regulate axonal health.
Q:What compelled you to participate in the “Art in Science” competition?
A:This was a wonderful opportunity to share the beautiful images that we use as data for our studies, which we normally would not be able to share broadly.
Q:What do you hope your participation in University Research Week, (Art in Science), will inspire/spark in others?
A:To find a way to share the beauty that is inherent in everyone’s work.
Q:Why do you think bridging science and art is important? Or How is bridging science and art helpful to the work you do?
A:Images such as these make science more accessible to everyone. Also, to show that art and science can both be inspirational!
The winners were announced on November 5, in Vital Signs and the images were on display in the ground floor Bondurant Lobby throughout UNC Research Week.