 Dr. Bernhard Riegl heads a team of NSU researchers that is studying the effects of climate change on coral reefs. |
Currently, NSU research teams are finding cures for debilitating health conditions, developing ways to protect the environment, furthering the understanding of substance addictions and inventing new products to improve lives. Many research projects will soon be conducted in NSU’s 208,000-square-foot Center for Collaborative Research, which will be one of Florida’s largest wet research laboratories.
HIV prevention
NSU’s Behavioral Health Promotion Program, led by Isa Fernandez, Ph.D., is engaged in groundbreaking research to help reduce the spread of HIV among Hispanic and black men who have sex with men, a demographic group heavily impacted by the AIDS epidemic.
Fernandez’s research, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is examining the acceptability and feasibility of delivering risk-reduction programs via the Internet, which is a more cost-effective method than traditional face-to-face encounters. This critical public-health research
has the potential to advance HIV prevention efforts both nationally and internationally.
Climate change and coral reefs
Researchers at NSU’s Oceanographic Center, led by professor Bernhard Riegl, Ph.D., are studying the effects of climate change on coral reefs. Using underwater observations to document environmental changes impacting coral reefs in the Mariana Islands, the Caribbean and other international waters, Riegl and his team are seeking to determine whether warmer ocean temperatures, likely caused by greenhouse gases, kill corals. To date, Riegl’s work has shown that climate change reduces coral reef populations and that climate changes affect some reefs, such as branching corals in particular, more acutely than others.
Findings from this research have important implications for the management of coral reefs, supporting the belief that the best way to make coral reefs resilient to climate change is to stress them as little as possible.
 Substance abuse management is the focus of three federally funded studies by NSU psychology professors Dr. Linda Carter Sobell and Dr. Mark Sobell. |
Substance abuse management
Smoking and alcohol use continue to pose serious health problems. With that in mind, NSU Center for Psychological Studies’ professors Linda Carter Sobell, Ph.D., ABPP, and Mark Sobell, Ph.D., ABPP, are conducting three research studies supported by federal grants. The first — a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism study — evaluates problem drinkers who have received an intervention through the mail to help them reduce their drinking.
The second study, supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is testing whether motivational materials sent through the mail are helping women of childbearing age reduce their alcohol consumption in order to avoid an alcohol-exposed pregnancy.
Thirdly, a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (Department of Defense) study currently under way at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas under the direction of the Sobells, is helping people minimize weight gain related to smoking cessation in order to improve smoking quit rates.
Additional research under way at NSU includes:
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Finding new cancer medications
Cancer continues to be among the deadliest diseases. Appu Rathinavelu, Ph.D., executive director of NSU’s Rumbaugh-Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research, is developing state-of-the-art therapeutics for the treatment of breast, lung, colorectal and pancreatic cancers.
 Dr. Peter Murray’s research on tooth pulp could lead to total tooth regeneration. |
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Reducing the hum
Many people suffer from an internal ringing or humming noise in their ears. This condition, known as tinnitus, severely affects an estimated 1% to 2% of the population. NSU audiology professor Paul B. Davis, Ph.D., has invented a breakthrough medical device that is pivotal to “neuromonics,” a type of tinnitus treatment that uses highly customized music and natural sounds to efficiently treat both the symptoms of tinnitus and its neurological causes.
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Providing marital therapy for parents of children with autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a mysterious condition that affects a growing number of children. Sue Kabot, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, a researcher at NSU’s Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood Studies, is working with the university’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences to investigate marital therapy for at-risk couples who have one or more children with autism.
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Offering a 3-D view of root canals
The ability to see the small spaces inside teeth could help dentists perform root canals with greater success. At NSU’s College of Dental Medicine, professor Sergio Kuttler, D.D.S., is using micro-computed tomography, a high-resolution three-dimensional X-ray, to examine these spaces. His research will one day allow dentists to use high-tech imagery to examine and preserve teeth.
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Uncovering links
between the brain and hypertension
Hypertension is a more prevalent condition in today’s fast-paced society. Researchers at NSU’s College of Pharmacy, led by professor Michelle Clark, Ph.D., are studying the role that brain cells play in blood pressure control. While the specific causes of hypertension are yet unknown, learning more about how the brain controls blood pressure will allow scientists to design better drugs for the prevention and treatment of this chronic condition.
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Regenerating teeth
The number of people receiving tooth implants increases every year. NSU’s College of Dental Medicine, led by endodontics professor Peter Murray, Ph.D., is using adult stem cells to replace tooth pulp removed during root canals. This is an initial step to regenerating teeth.
| » For More Information |
| Gary S. Margules, Sc.D. Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer (954) 262-7507 margules@nova.edu |
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Linking corals reefs and oil exploration
More than one-third of the world’s oil and gas reserves is found in ancient coral reef systems that are now buried deep beneath the Earth’s surface. NSU Oceanographic Center researcher Sam Purkis, Ph.D., is studying today’s coral reefs to learn more about the structure of their ancient ancestors. This knowledge is helping oil companies locate the best places to drill for oil and use the most
efficient strategies to extract it.
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| Contents: Florida Innovation Highlights | |||||
| ? | Innovation Starts Here | ? | Growing Facilities | ? | Advancing Humanity |
| ? | Growing Purpose | ? | Making Leaps in Innovative Research? | ? | Growing Ahead |
| ? | Driving Healthcare Transformation? | ? | Growing Solutions | ? | Vision Researchers Eye Innovation? |
| ? | Growing Talent | ? | One Mission, Many Accomplishments | ? | Growing in Place |
| ? | Improving Our Quality of Life | ? | Growing Responsibly | ? | |