Research & Science

In the medical field, demand for technological advances that can speed data analysis and be less prone to human error continues to increase. Robert Clements recently received a federal grant to continue his work creating a more efficient and improved system to analyze medical data that will benefit not only the biomedical industry but also students at Kent State.

“The pessimistic estimate is that by 2050, antibiotics could be obsolete,'' said Songping Huang, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences. Huang and his Kent State team, including Min-Ho Kim, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, are working on closing that chasm with the development of new antimicrobials. 

Honors College alumna Jessica Maisano, ’94, B.A., started her career at Kent State as a fashion merchandising student before realizing her passion for dinosaurs and dirt was a viable career option. One Kent State professor would show Maisano that childhood dreams are actually within reach.

Ryan Claassen, professor of political science at Kent State, conducted research during the fall semester finding that American voters think politicians view situations differently depending on party affiliation. Claassen’s research was recently featured in an article from the Record-Courier. 

Congratulations are in order for Sooraj Radhakrishnan, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Kent State University College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Physics who performs research in experimental nuclear physics. His data analysis of some rare particles called “charm quarks” that may have existed in the first microsecond of the Big Bang, the emerging point of our universe, was highlighted in a recent issue of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Science Bulletin.

A liquid crystal research group at Kent State led by Oleg Lavrentovich, Ph.D., is knocking on the doors of the biomedical industry with its current project. The recent publication of research explains a technique of controlling bacteria movement with liquid crystal structures that could have a potential impact in many areas of research and medical care.   

Three faculty members in Kent State University's Department of Biological Sciences recently co-authored a 384-page hardcover book, “Problem Plants of Ohio,” published by the Kent State University Press.

Researchers Andrew Lepp, Ph.D., and Jacob Barkley, Ph.D., from Kent State University’s College of Education, Health and Human Services suspected a relationship between boredom and social media use but wondered about cause and effect. Does social media use cause boredom? Or does boredom cause social media use? To answer these questions, they designed an experiment.

Jonathan V. Selinger, professor and Ohio Eminent Scholar in Kent State University’s Department of Physics, in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

Jonathan V. Selinger, professor and Ohio Eminent Scholar in Kent State University’s Department of Physics, in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.