Noteworthy: Research grants, awards and publications

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 28, 2024) — The latest developments on University at Albany faculty and staff who are receiving research grants, awards and other noteworthy attention.

• A new book by Elise Andaya, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology, titled Pregnant at Work: Low-Wage Workers, Power, and Temporary Injustice, was published earlier this month by NYU Press. Pregnant at Work examines the experiences of pregnant service sector workers in New York City as they navigate the time conflicts between precarious low-wage service labor and safety net prenatal care. It is available for order now.
• Andy Berglund, professor and director of the RNA Institute, and Kaalak Reddy, research faculty in the RNA Institute, have received two partnering grants totaling $3 million from the U.S. Department of Defense's Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. The four-year grants will support the team’s efforts to improve therapeutic approaches for myotonic dystrophy and better understand disease progression in the body.
• Shawn Bushway, professor of public administration and policy at the Rockefeller School of Public Affairs and Policy, will be a panelist at a conference “The Business Case for Second Chance Employment” April 4 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Bushway will discuss his reset work on the panel, which will focus on how companies and thought leaders are redefining the concept of giving second chances to formerly incarcerated people.
• Assistant Professor of Korean Studies Peter Kwon was interviewed by the Association for Asian Studies about his new book, Cornerstone of the Nation: The Defense Industry and the Building of Modern Korea under Park Chung Hee. Released March 19 by Harvard University Press, the book explores how Park's secret weapons program spurred rapid militarization, industrialization and economic growth for South Korea.
• Christopher Lawrence, a PhD student in the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, and a team of researchers at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center received the 2023 ACP Paul Crutzen Publication Award. The award recognizes outstanding publications in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP), an international scientific journal. The UAlbany research team was recognized for their paper “Long-term monitoring of cloud water chemistry at Whiteface Mountain.”
• Marina A. Petrukhina, Carla Rizzo Delray Professor of Chemistry, published a new study in Nature Chemistry titled “The anti-aromatic dianion and aromatic tetraanion of [18]annulene.” The study is the first to correctly resolve the dianion structure of one of organic chemistry’s most iconic molecules: [18]annulene. The discovery of the molecule’s reversible multi-electron uptake and its ability to intercalate multiple lithium ions bear important implications for applications in Lithium-ion batteries and energy storage.
• Research by Victoria Rizzo, interim dean of the School of Social Welfare, was featured in a blog post titled “Social Work: A Holistic Approach Reducing Health Risks and Alleviating Depression,” published by the Center for Health and Social Care Integration at Rush University Medical Center. Rizzo led the 2022 study exploring the Ambulatory Integration of the Medical and Social model on health risk and depression published in Social Work Health Care.