Capturing bright ideas is a challenge!

From an Article by Michael I. Kotlikoff, Emmanuel P. Giannelis and Glenn C. Altschuler, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, April 27, 2021

America’s dominance is currently at risk, and a new model is needed now more than ever.

More than a century after Thomas Newcomen, a miner, and John Calley, his plumber assistant, invented the first useful steam engine, the French scientist Sadi Carnot developed the theory of thermodynamics to explain it. And in 1903, the bicycle makers Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first powered flight, but the underlying mathematics of aerodynamic theory were explained by a university scientist — Ludwig Prandtl at Hannover University — almost two decades later.

These examples from The Code Breaker, by Walter Isaacson, convey an important lesson about the relationship between application and theory that is relevant for future technological innovation — and for research in universities in the United States.

Vannevar Bush, the director of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development in the 1940s, articulated the inverse relationship between basic and applied research: universities play a critical role in developing the fundamental science that industry deploys to create products. Bush’s linear approach, which led to the establishment of the National Science Foundation, has powered innovation in the United States for decades. But America’s dominance of the innovation economy is currently at risk, and a new model is needed now more than ever.

Bipartisan concern about the erosion of America’s innovation dominance has led Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, and Senator Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana, to co-sponsor the Endless Frontier Act to invest $100 billion in research for emerging technologies. Echoing their apprehensions about “our national research and innovation enterprise,” Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, added his support for “the infrastructure that we need to support technology development.”

To more effectively harness the potential of research universities, whose basic research has enabled the development, among other products, of the iPhone, RNA vaccines and self-driving cars, we need a paradigm shift in higher education.

The new approach begins with an affirmation of the centrality of discovery, but it explicitly recognizes the role of the marketplace in driving innovation and the marked decrease in the timeline between concept and product. It supplements and complements basic research with investments and expertise in feasibility assessment, design and transitions to commercial markets. This model does not treat exploratory (basic) and translational (applied) research as silos but, as Sethuraman Panchanathan, director of the National Science Foundation, has proposed, like double-stranded DNA, multidirectional and mutually reinforcing.

Dependent on a shift in culture, hiring and allocation of resources within the academy, as well as a new kind of partnership with government and industry, this model calls for unified discovery and commercialization engines, or “D&CEs.” D&C engines in the university are transdisciplinary teams integrating expertise in physical and biological sciences, social sciences, engineering, humanities, business, and entrepreneurship, and which work with government, corporate and venture capital partners to develop next-generation products. Such teams are essential if we are to address global crises, including climate, energy, food, water, health, inequality and poverty.

In practical terms, the shift should be accompanied by changes in pedagogy and curriculum that expose students to business strategies, intellectual property concepts, patent protocols, marketing and supply chains, and experiential learning in companies.

Catalyzing the development of diversified local economies consisting of start-ups, step-ups and established companies will also yield opportunities for students and drive economic development in university towns and beyond. To encourage companies to stay local, universities should work with government officials to identify tax and other incentives.

As universities encourage collaborations between private companies and innovative faculty members, they need to find new ways, where appropriate, to “share” faculty with companies. Such partnerships retain talented faculty in the academy while providing them with opportunities to fully develop and commercialize their ideas.

Universities must also develop investment funds through a combination of philanthropy and venture capital to support the development of new discoveries, provide incubation space for the early proof-of-concept and de-risking stages, and work to identify co-location space for established companies. Seed and gap funding are crucial for validating early-stage technologies, strengthening intellectual property and bringing technology to the inflection point for further development.

Finally, where appropriate, as it increasingly is in computing and information science and genetics, universities should adopt “translational” achievements as metrics for faculty tenure and promotion and include commercialization as part of Ph.D. theses. This new emphasis will not compromise indispensable institutional values, including independence of thought, dispassionate discovery and transparency. But adapting to the indivisible nature of discovery and application will be necessary to increase the volume and velocity of technology commercialization and start-up creation, nurture the next generation of innovators, catalyze economic development, and provide the wished-for returns on federally funded programs like the aptly named Endless Frontier.

>>> Biographical Sketch — Michael I. Kotlikoff is professor of molecular physiology and provost of Cornell University. Emmanuel P. Giannelis is Walter R. Read Professor of Engineering and vice president for research and innovation at the university, and Glenn C. Altschuler is Litwin Professor of American Studies there and the co-author, with Isaac Kramnick, of Cornell: A History, 1940-2015 (Cornell University Press).

Good water is also important to health

According to U of Penn & Columbia U Study — Frack area residents have health problems

Press Release — Perelman School of Medicine / University of Pennsylvania Health System, July 15, 2015

Philadelphia, PA – Hospitalizations for heart conditions, neurological illness, and other conditions were higher among people who live near unconventional gas and oil drilling (hydraulic fracturing), according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University published this week in PLOS ONE. Over the past ten years in the United States, hydraulic fracturing has experienced a meteoric increase. Due to substantial increases in well drilling, potential for air and water pollution posing a health threat has been a concern for nearby residents.

To address this issue, researchers from two Environmental Health Science Core Centers (EHSCC) of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences — the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and the Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, examined the link between drilling well density and healthcare use by zip code from 2007 to 2011 in three northeastern Pennsylvania counties.

Using databases that contained over 198,000 hospitalizations (which includes multiple hospitalizations for the same person), the team examined the top 25 specific medical categories for hospitalizations, as defined by the Pennsylvania Health Cost Containment Council. They associated these categories with residents’ proximity to active wells. Two of the counties — Bradford and Susquehanna — saw a significant increase in drilling activity over this time period, while the control county, Wayne, experienced no drilling activity due to a ban on drilling in that county because of its proximity to the Delaware River watershed.

“This study captured the collective response of residents to hydraulic fracturing in zip codes within the counties with higher well densities,” said senior author Reynold Panettieri, Jr., MD, a professor of Medicine and CEET deputy director. “At this point, we suspect that residents are exposed to many toxicants, noise, and social stressors due to hydraulic fracturing near their homes and this may add to the increased number of hospitalizations. This study represents one of the most comprehensive to date to link health effects with hydraulic fracturing.”

However, the authors caution that more study is needed to determine how specific, individual toxicants or combinations may increase hospitalization rates. For example, the increase in cardiology hospitalizations could be related to an increased exposure to air pollution such as diesel exhaust and fine particulate matter; however, this would require personal monitoring studies to measure exposure to specific toxicants, Panettieri notes. “Our findings provide important clues to design epidemiological studies to associate specific toxicant exposures with health end-points.”

Their findings revealed that cardiology and neurologic inpatient prevalence rates (the proportion of a population found to have been hospitalized per 100 residents per year) were significantly higher in areas closer to active wells, as determined by the proximity of wells to a person’s home and their density as defined by the number of active wells per square kilometer. In addition, increased neurologic inpatient prevalence rates were associated with higher well density. Hospitalizations for skin conditions, cancer, and urologic problems were also associated with the proximity of dwellings to active wells.

The team found that 18 zip codes had a well density greater than 0.79 wells per square kilometer, and residents living in these zip codes were predicted to have a 27 percent increase in cardiology inpatient prevalence rates for each year this specific active well density existed compared to Wayne County residents where there is no drilling. The researchers aim to look at specific types of health problems within these broad categories in the future.

While the study does not prove that hydraulic fracturing actually causes these health problems, the authors say, the hospitalization increases observed over the relatively short time span of observation suggests that healthcare costs of hydraulic fracturing must be factored into the economic benefits of unconventional gas and oil drilling.

This study was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (P30-ES013508, P30-ES009089). The EHSCCs belong to an inter-Center Working Group on Hydraulic Fracturing, which is a consortium of the nation’s EHSCCs, chaired by co-author Trevor Penning, PhD, CEET director.

Co-authors from the University of Pennsylvania are Thomas Jemielita, George L. Gerton, Marilyn Howarth, Pouné Saberi, Nicholas Fausti, Jason Roy, and Kathleen J. Propert and from Columbia University are  Matthew Neidell, Steven Chillrud, Beizhan Yan, and Martin Stute.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Greater Wheeling Homeless Coalition

WV Cost of Living, Child Poverty, Homeless

Article by Joselyn King, Wheeling Intelligencer, June 20, 2013 

WHEELING – When children don’t have a stable home they don’t achieve, and there’s currently a lack of affordable housing in Wheeling, state lawmakers learned Wednesday. 

The West Virginia Legislature’s Select Committee on Children and Other Issues met at Catholic Charities of Wheeling for a public hearing on poverty’s effect on children. The topic for discussion Wednesday was housing, said committee chairman Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley.

A large percentage of West Virginia’s children younger than age 8 have no stable home in which to live, he said. “This causes toxic stress, and inhibits development,” Unger said. “It creates uncertainty and anxiety, and affects child achievement.”

There are even instances in West Virginia where children are living in cars and abandoned trailers, he said. “The question now is what can we do to address the issue?” Unger asked.

Representatives of local social service agencies present told the panel it is often impossible for lower-income families to afford housing. The local monthly cost for a two-bedroom apartment with utilities can exceed $1,200, said Lisa Badia, executive director for the Greater Wheeling Coalition for the Homeless.

While she praised the presence of economic development in the area, Badia noted those working in the natural gas industry have an advantage over low-income residents in renting housing as their employers often cover the higher cost for rent. “Our folks working tables aren’t able to afford what the housing market is dictating,” she said.

Marlene Midget, executive director for Northern Panhandle Head Start, said affordable housing “has all but disappeared in the area.” “Now people are on the street because they don’t have affordable housing for their families,” she said.

Jodie Gardill, associate director of behavioral health advocacy at Legal Aid of West Virginia, suggested the area needs more public transportation. Not having transportation to a job leads to financial and housing insecurity, she said.

Committee members said they would continue to hold meetings on the issue during future interim legislative sessions.

NOTE: The federal Housing & Urban Development program will assist housing up to $615 per month for a two bedroom facility for a parent with children.  Housing is now more expensive. The influx of gas industry workers in Wetzel, Marshall, Ohio and Brooke counties has resulted in a shortage of available housing, increased housing costs, and an increase in the cost of living more generally.  There are now more West Virginians homeless in need of shelters and those coming in are requiring a longer stay. Needless to say, there is not space enough to care for the current needs.  (Lisa Badia explained these issues on “MetroNews Talkline” on June 27^th). DGN