Noteworthy: Research grants, awards and publications

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 27, 2025) — The latest developments on University at Albany faculty and staff who are receiving research grants, awards and other noteworthy attention.

• Alan Chen, associate professor in Chemistry and the RNA Institute, has been awarded $2 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The proposed project aims to develop a new method for using computer simulations to determine the structure and function of RNA in 3D at the atomic level. If successful, this work will enable new applications in RNA-based biosensing and nanotechnology, and will help solve longstanding puzzles in RNA structural biology such as how RNA molecules are able to recognize diverse biological targets.
• O’Leary Professor José E. Cruz of Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy will present his new book, El plato de barro, his second anthology of short stories, at Capital District Latinos at 6 p.m. on April 25. Capital District Latinos is located at 160 Central Ave. in Albany. The presentation will include commentary by Professor Luis Felipe Luna Reyes, chair of the Department of Public Administration & Policy, and will take place in Cruz’s native Spanish. For more information, call 518-466-9990.
• History Professor Sheila Curran Bernard discussed her book, Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly’s Truths from Jim Crow’s Lies (Cambridge University Press, 2024), on the SUNY HistoryLab webinar, hosted by SUNY Brockport historian Michael J. Kramer. She was also recently interviewed about the book by Roger Humphrey for his podcast, Creative Conversations.  
• Caroline Herbelin, French professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, is co-curator of a recently opened exhibit at the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris, France titled, "Perspectives on the Imperial Court of Huế." Open through June, the exhibit explores the influences of cultures in contact (specifically Vietnam and France) related to the colonial context in which they were produced.
• Nancy Newman, professor in the Department of Music & Theatre, has authored a new book, Songs and Sounds of the Anti-Rent Movement in Upstate New York, published earlier this year by SUNY Press. Newman gave a talk Feb. 21 for the New York State Library about her book, which examines the role that vernacular music played in Upstate New York's anti-rent movement. Led by tenant farmers in the Hudson-Mohawk Region, the movement is considered the last struggle over feudalism in the U.S. A paperback version will be released this summer.