Bradley Peterson - US grants

Spectroscopic observations of a number of Seyfert type 1 galaxies will be continued to determine the temporal behavior of the broad emission lines. It has been shown that the variability of the broad-lines in the spectra reveals important information about the line-emitting regions and the central energy sources that cannot be obtained in any other way. The primary purpose of the research is to determine the size and kinematics of the broad-line emitting regions in active galactic nuclei. Observations will be made with the new Ohio State University Change-Coupled Device (CCD) Spectrograph on the Perkins 1.8-m telescope at Lowell Observatory in Arizona. Some of these will be supplemented with ultraviolet observations made with the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite and possibly with the Space Telescope. These simultaneous optical and ultraviolet spectra will be used in comparisons with the predictions of current photoionization models.

Several existing and new sets of observational data of Quasi- Stellar Objects (QSOs) will be used to look for underlying trends affecting the QSO population in general. The data will be used to probe the nature of the broad emission line regions in QSOs. This work will include studies of the dependence of emission line profiles and intensities on continuous luminosity and on radio power, analysis of the profiles and intensities of weak emission lines which can only be properly studied in narrow- lined QSOs, and studies of the relationship of the broad absorption line QSOs to the general QSO population. New observations will be obtained of some specific complete samples of QSOs so that these studies can be pursued free of the effects of selection criteria which depend on emission line strengths. The data will be used to try to understand the way that the radiation is produced and emitted from these extragalactic objects which appear starlike but are actually very distant and emit huge amounts of radiation.

An Imaging Fabry Perot Spectrometer will be constructed in order to carry out long-term studies of emission-line objects using the Ohio State/Lowell Observatory 72-inch telescope. This instrument will use commercially available etalons (from Queensgate Instruments) with resolving powers of R=2500 and R=30,000. It will operate in both the Ultraviolet (UV) and red parts of the spectrum, requiring a total of 4 etalons and 2 camera/collimator sets. An UV flooded Charge Coupled Device (CCD) detector will be used. The combination of high throughput, high quantum efficiency, and relatively large amounts of observing time will allow the Principal Investigator to carry out world-class astronomy on a modest-sized telescope. Ohio State and Lowell Observatory are provideing $57,000 in direct matching funds plus about $100,000 in salaries for the project. The additional NSF funds will allow construction of the instrument, which will then be used by a variety of Ohio State and Lowell astronomers for extensive studies of the emission lines from active galaxies, irregular galaxies, supernova remnants, planetary nebulae, HII regions, and solar system objects.

Abstract AST-9420080 Peterson, Bradley M. . The variability of the broad emission lines in the spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) reveals fundamental information about the structure and kinematics of the line-emitting region and about the nature of the central source. Broad emission lines arise in clouds that are photoionized by a central continuum source and respond to variations in the continuum flux with a delay due to light-travel time; the structure and velocity field of the broad-line region can be determined by closely monitoring the response of the emission lines as the region reverberates in response to the continuum variations, making repeated observations of a limited number of sources. This is an ongoing project, as part of the International AGN Watch.

We propose to complete construction and implementation of an Imaging Fabry-Perot Spectrometer (IFPS) which will be used in long- term studies of emission-line objects with the 8.1-m Perkins Telescope at Lowell Observatory. A variety of etalons with spectral resolution from R = 1200 to R = 20,000 will be used to obtain two-dimensional spectroscopy of active galactic nuclei, starburst galaxies, irregular galaxies, and galactic emission nebulate (H II regions, planetaries, and supernova remnants) in order to study the velocity fields and variations in physical conditions across spatially resolved objects. A custom-designed optical system enables us to use the IFPS from the near ultraviolet to the far red region of the optical spectrum. The combination of a high-throughput system, a stable, high quantum efficiency detector, and significant amounts of observing time will allow important problems in fundamental astrophysics to be addressed with a moderate-aperture telescope.

The primary purpose of this investigation is to assess the efficacy and safety of Risperidone in the treatment of Tourette's Syndrome (TS) through a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled, parallel groups study.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overarching aim of this program of research is to use Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) methodologies to identify the neurobiological basis of developmental neuropsychiatric disorders, and in several disease areas in particular: 1) Disorders of impulse control, including Tourette's syndrome (TS), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); 2) Conditions that confer risk for disturbances in development of the neonatal brain, including premature birth and prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse; and 3) Affective Disorders. A substantial portion of his work also involves the development of new methods for processing MRI data and for translational research involving behavioral neuroscience paradigms within the MRI scanner, as well as mentoring junior investigators in the application of neuroimaging methodologies to the study of childhood psychiatric disorders. The immediate aims of this Career Development Award (K02) are to (1) obtain sufficient salary support to allow the applicant to continue using MRI methods to define the neurobiological bases of childhood neuropsychiatric disorders; (2) free the applicant of substantial clinical, teaching, and administrative responsibilities, thereby permitting a greater focus of time and energy on research activities; (3) provide the applicant with the opportunity to develop skill sets in MR Spectroscopy (MRS), an MRI modality with which he has only limited experience, but one that promises to reveal further the neurochemical underpinnings of morphological and functional disturbances that the applicant has helped to define in TS, OCD, and ADHD; and (4) conduct an already-funded morphometric study (R01) of 620 children and adults with TS, OCD, or ADHD and to correlate those morphological measures with immunological, neurohumoral, neuropsychological, and family history data.

obsessive compulsive disorder; neurobiology; neuroanatomy; Tourette's syndrome; attention deficit disorder; basal ganglia; family genetics; age difference; psychophysiology; middle childhood (6-11); adult human (21+); adolescence (12-20); clinical research; single photon emission computed tomography; interview; blood chemistry; human subject; statistics /biometry; magnetic resonance imaging;

The efficacy and safety of risperidone is being investigated in the treatment of Tourette's Syndrome (TS) through a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel groups study.

The overall objective of this proposal is to use functional MR brain imaging (fMRI) to better understand the neural circuits that contribute to problems with impulse control in Tourette's syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Clinical experience has shown that children who suffer from almost any serious developmental disability suffer most not from their primary diagnostic symptoms, but from their difficulties with impulse control, hyperactivity, inattention, and response inhibition. These associated problems cut across most diagnostic domains and are the most frequent cause for clinical referral, and by understanding dysfunction in this circuitry we will be better able to design and assess the effects of new therapeutics for these problems. We aim to understand better the neurobiology of these problems through the imaging of motor, attention, and inhibitory neural systems involved in impulse control in normal and developmentally disabled children. Our specific aims are: 1) To use fMRI to study the neural basis of impulse control in 80 normal children and adults (7-50 years old), and to compare the brain activity in these normal subjects with the brain activity in 80 TS, 40 OCD, and 40 ADHD subjects. 2) To study the functional connectivity of brain regions that subserve impulse control. 3) To show that task-related changes in fMRI signal can predict important behavioral measures in our models of impulse control. 4) To determine the effects that stimulant medications have on the activity of impulse control circuits in 40 children who have ADHD. 5) To develop and apply to the study of our models of impulse control new "event-related" fMRI task activation protocols in 40 normal and 40 matched TS children and adults. These studies should provide important new insights into the underlying neurobiological basis of each disorder.

AST 0205964
Peterson, B M


This program will explore the very inner structure of active galactic nuclei, to determine masses of the central black holes using continuum and emission-line variability to probe the physical processes in the accretion-disk/broad-line region environment. The current program in progress to measure the bulge velocity dispersions in the host galaxies of active galactic nuclei will be expanded to test whether the relationship between the black-hole mass and bulge velocity dispersion is the same for active galaxies and quiescent galaxies. This relationship will be used to estimate masses for local AGNs for which reverberation masses have not been measured, concentrating initially on radio-loud AGNs and narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies, objects that are not well represented in reverberation-mapped samples. Optical ground-based support for multiwavelength monitoring programs will be provided, in particular a long-standing program of optical spectrophotometry on the well-studied Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548.

0-11 years old; 21+ years old; AD/HD; ADHD; Adult; Age; Architecture; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Attention-Deficit Disorder, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type; Behavioral; CRISP; Cerebrum; Child; Child Youth; Childhood; Children (0-21); Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects Database; Condition; Data; Diagnostic; Disease; Disorder; Engineering / Architecture; Epidemiology, Family Medical History; Family Medical History; Family history of; Funding; Gilles de la Tourette syndrome; Gilles de la Tourette's Disease; Grant; Guinon's disease; Human, Adult; Human, Child; Hyperactivity Disorder NOS; Hyperactivity Disorder, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type; Hyperkinetic Syndrome; Image Analyses; Image Analysis; Institution; Investigators; MR Imaging; MR Tomography; MRI; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan; Manuals; Measures; Medical Imaging, Magnetic Resonance / Nuclear Magnetic Resonance; Method LOINC Axis 6; Methodology; NIH; NMR Imaging; NMR Tomography; NRVS-SYS; National Institutes of Health; National Institutes of Health (U.S.); Nervous; Nervous System; Nervous system structure; Neurologic Body System; Neurologic Organ System; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Neurosis; ROC Analysis; Research; Research Personnel; Research Resources; Researchers; Resources; Source; Therapeutic Intervention; Tic Disorder, Combined Vocal and Multiple Motor; Time; Tourette Syndrome; Tourette's; Tourette's Disease; Tourette's Disorder; Tourette's Syndrome; United States National Institutes of Health; Zeugmatography; adult human (21+); attention deficit hyperactive disorder; base; brain morphology; children; developmental disease/disorder; developmental disorder; disease/disorder; image evaluation; improved; indexing; intervention therapy; maladie des tics; neural; neuropsychiatric; neuropsychiatry; neuropsychological; pediatric; relating to nervous system; tic de Guinon; youngster

model design /development

AST-0604066
Peterson

This project will explore the very inner structure of active galactic nuclei. It will (a) measure the masses of the central black holes and (b) determine the structure and kinematics of the broad emission-line region. This will be accomplished with an aggressive 90-night reverberation-mapping program designed to recover high-fidelity velocity-delay maps of the broad-line region in 6 to 8 bright Seyfert 1 galaxies. A complementary program of spectropolarimetry will be used as an independent probe of the broad-line region structure. This study will lead to a better understanding of the uncertainties in measurement of black hole masses by reverberation techniques, and to an understanding of accretion flows around super-massive black holes. Successful recovery of a velocity-delay map via reverberation will provide the strongest constraints ever on the structure and kinematics of the broad emission-line region, and could lead to a unique solution. Even if that ambition is not realized, these observations will certainly improve the measurements in several sources whose black hole masses are now poorly known.

Several graduate students at multiple institutions will be trained as observers. The project fosters international collaboration through the reverberation program (United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Japan), the host galaxy velocity-dispersion program (Germany and Canada), and the spectropolarimetry program (United Kingdom and Chile). The reverberation program shows how smaller telescopes can still perform high impact science.

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This study will use functional MR brain imaging (fMRI) to understand better the neurobiology of neuropsychiatric disorders such as Tourette's syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, pathological gambling, affective illness and disruptive behavior disorders. Clinical experience has shown that people with a serious neuropsychiatric disorder suffer most not from their primary diagnostic symptoms, but from their difficulties with impulse control, hyperactivity, inattention, and response inhibition. These problems cut across most diagnostic domains and are amongst the most frequent causes for clinical referral. By understanding the neural dysfunction involved in these disorders, we will be better able to design and assess the effects of new therapeutics.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The mission of our training program is to train investigators in the methods and techniques of contemporary, multidisciplinary research that will improve knowledge of the causal pathways that produce psychiatric disorders in children, and how to use that knowledge to develop and deliver interventions that more effectively prevent, manage, or cure those disorders, and thereby improve the mental and emotional well being of children and their families. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Child Psychiatry Research Training Program at Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute has been designed to increase the cadre of investigators trained to undertake quality research in child and adolescent psychopathology. The psychiatric disorders of childhood and adolescence are common and cause considerable distress and impairment yet they remain generally poorly studied and understood.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Children's neurocognitive development can cast long shadows on their futures, dramatically influencing their occupational functioning and psychosocial adjustment. While it is increasingly recognized that normative variation in early environmental experiences (i.e. parenting style), plays a significant role in shaping cognitive development, evidence indicates that the impact of the environment on cognitive development begins in utero. Two common experiences during pregnancy, psychosocial stress and inadequate micronutrient intake - prominently, iron and zinc, affect outcomes. Prenatal anxiety predicts delayed mental and motor development on the Bayley Scales in infancy, and a reduction in gray matter in the middle temporal lobe based on brain imaging in school-age children. Animal models have demonstrated that antenatal corticosteroid administration is associated with neurocognitive disabilities (i.e. difficulty learning) and structural brain changes such as reduction in hippocampal volume. Infants born to Zinc-deficient mothers show signs of memory impairment. Across both prenatal exposures, what differentiates the animal from the human studies is access to the neonatal brain. The goal of this project is to assess the influence of maternal prenatal stress and poor nutrition on neonatal brain structure and function, and to relate the imaging measures to cognitive outcomes in early childhood. The pro- posed R01 study is a follow-up to an ARRA-funded R01 assessing biopsychosocial stress and nutrition during adolescent pregnancy. Specifically, we have three primary aims to be carried out with pregnant adolescents (ages 15 -19) and their infants: (1) To determine associations between maternal antenatal stress and nutrition, and variation in newborn brain development (from multi-modal imaging). (2) To determine the neural bases of deficits in specific learning and memory tasks, and a general index of cognitive development, associated with prenatal stress and inadequate nutrition. (3) To determine the bidirectional influences between maternal care (i.e. maternal sensitivity and mother-infant attachment style) and infants'emerging learning and memory capacities. Establishing brain-associated relationships between these prenatal exposures and infant cognition has the potential to help specify the in utero developmental effects of two experiences common to pregnancy, high stress and inadequate nutrition, potentially constraining children's future learning even before birth. Such results would have significant public health relevance with respect to policy and early intervention approaches. They also could contribute to the identification of exposure-related 'brain signatures'to be used for diagnostic and treatment purposes, much as is emerging in imaging studies of depression. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goal of this project is to assess the relationship between maternal prenatal stress and poor nutrition and newborn babies'brain structure and function, and to relate multi-modal imaging measures (MRI) of the new- born baby's brain to neurocognitive outcomes in early childhood. Establishing brain-associated relationships between these prenatal exposures and infant cognition has the potential to specify how women's experiences during pregnancy influence their baby's development, potentially affecting children's future learning even be- fore birth. These results could be very relevant to public health and could inform policy, early intervention approaches, and help to identify brain features that could inform diagnosis and treatment.

Summary Children's neurocognitive development can cast long shadows on their futures, dramatically influencing their occupational functioning and psychosocial adjustment. While it is increasingly recognized that normative varia- tion in early environmental experiences (i.e. parenting style), plays a significant role in shaping cognitive devel- opment, evidence indicates that the impact of the environment on cognitive development begins in utero. Two common experiences during pregnancy, psychosocial stress and inadequate micronutrient intake - promi- nently, iron and zinc, affect outcomes. Prenatal anxiety predicts delayed mental and motor development on the Bayley Scales in infancy, and a reduction in gray matter in the middle temporal lobe based on brain imaging in school-age children. Animal models have demonstrated that antenatal corticosteroid administration is asso- ciated with neurocognitive disabilities (i.e. difficulty learning) and structural brain changes such as reduction in hippocampal volume. Infants born to Zinc-deficient mothers show signs of memory impairment. Across both prenatal exposures, what differentiates the animal from the human studies is access to the neonatal brain. The goal of this project is to assess the influence of maternal prenatal stress and poor nutrition on neonatal brain structure and function, and to relate the imaging measures to cognitive outcomes in early childhood. The pro- posed R01 study is a follow-up to an ARRA-funded R01 assessing biopsychosocial stress and nutrition during adolescent pregnancy. Specifically, we have three primary aims to be carried out with pregnant adolescents (ages 15 -19) and their infants: (1) To determine associations between maternal antenatal stress and nutrition, and variation in newborn brain development (from multi-modal imaging). (2) To determine the neural bases of deficits in specific learning and memory tasks, and a general index of cognitive development, associated with prenatal stress and inadequate nutrition. (3) To determine the bidirectional influences between maternal care (i.e. maternal sensitivity and mother-infant attachment style) and infants' emerging learning and memory ca- pacities. Establishing brain-associated relationships between these prenatal exposures and infant cognition has the potential to help specify the in utero developmental effects of two experiences common to pregnancy, high stress and inadequate nutrition, potentially constraining children's future learning even before birth. Such results would have significant

Project Summary: The Columbia Center for Children?s Environmental Health (CCCEH) has followed a birth cohort of low-income, African-American and Latino children in New York City into their pre-adolescent years to assess the impact of environmental toxicants on health and development. In a pilot study of MRI measures in 40 of these children at 7-9 years of age, we identified abnormalities in anatomical measures of white matter throughout the entire left cerebral hemisphere that were linearly associated with prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Those white matter abnormalities were in turn linearly associated with measures of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and adiposity (CEBA) problems at the time of MRI scan. Under separate funding, we have collected brain-based MRI measures and neurobehavioral outcomes in 350 preadolescent children of the CCCEH cohort, between 9 and 12 years of age. The MRI dataset in 9-12 year olds includes state-of-the-art measures of brain structure (anatomical MRI), function (functional MRI), anatomical connectivity and white matter integrity (Diffusion Tensor Imaging, or DTI), and neurometabolite concentrations (MR Spectroscopy, or MRS); we will now evaluate the effects of prenatal and early postnatal exposure to PAH on each of those measures of brain structure, function, and metabolism at age 9-12 (preadolescence), and how the PAH-related disturbances in brain measures mediate CEBA outcomes at age 15-17 (in adolescence -- outcomes that are being assessed in Projects 1 & 2). In addition, we will acquire new anatomical MRI scans at 15-17 years of age (adolescence) in this same cohort to assess the correlations of early PAH exposure with measures of brain structure in adolescence. The new anatomical MRI scans, together with the anatomical scans already collected in preadolescence at ages 9-12, will allow us to assess whether early exposure to high levels of PAH significantly disrupt the normal changes in brain structure within self- regulatory systems from childhood through adolescence, and whether those children with the most disrupted anatomical changes experience the greatest degree of conduct disturbances, substance use, and depression, persistent ADHD symptoms, and adiposity measures, at 15-17 years of age. This information will help us understand whether the adverse organizational effects of early life PAH exposure continue to derail brain development later in life, or whether any compensatory neuroplastic effects occur during this time of transition that help to mitigate those adverse effects. This knowledge can be translated to education and policy and exploited to aid the future development of therapeutic interventions.

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) proposes an innovative program which builds directly on the investigators' prior research findings in their well characterized cohort of inner city children enrolled prenataly and now being followed into adolescence. Repeated waves of assessment prior to age 11 have shown that high prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is associated with recurrent neurodevelopmental abnormalities, higher rates of obesity, and a failure to increasingly improve the capacity to regulate thought, emotion, and behavior over the course of development. Moreover, the investigators have preliminary evidence from a brain imaging study in our cohort children that early PAH exposure adversely affects the structure of neural systems known to support self-regulatory capacities. Thus the overarching hypothesis of the proposed program of research, around which three research projects are organized, is that prenatal and early childhood exposures to PAH disrupt development of the neural systems that support capacities for self- regulation, and that these PAH-related brain disturbances lead to the emergence or persistence of serious cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and adiposity (hereafter, CEBA) problems during adolescence. The investigators preliminary findings suggest that these PAH-related CEBA problems in adolescence will include increased rates of depression, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, physical aggression, substance abuse, and risky sexual behaviors. The proposed program will: 1) provide essential evidence of PAH impacts on these significant public health problems; 2) shed light on how PAH affects the development of neural systems in the brain; 3) inform environmental and public health policy; and 4) suggest new avenues for prevention and early intervention. The investigators anticipate that, by providing needed scientific data on a highly prevalent environmental exposure, this research program will have wide-reaching implications for public health and, particularly, for the protection of childrens health. They leverage their strong existing partnership with community groups, especially West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT), through their Community Outreach and Translation Core (COTC), to inform the community, policy-makers, and the wider public about scientific findings data on PAH and air and children's health. The investigators' ultimate goal is the prevention of serious adverse PAH-related effects on children's health and development by providing communities, policy-makers, and clinicians with scientific data that will motivate community engagement, strengthen environmental and health policy both locally and nation- wide, and ultimately lead to effective interventions in children affected by air pollution.

Project Summary: The Columbia Center for Children?s Environmental Health (CCCEH) has followed a birth cohort of low-income, African-American and Latino children in New York City into their pre-adolescent years to assess the impact of environmental toxicants on health and development. In a pilot study of MRI measures in 40 of these children at 7-9 years of age, we identified abnormalities in anatomical measures of white matter throughout the entire left cerebral hemisphere that were linearly associated with prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Those white matter abnormalities were in turn linearly associated with measures of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and adiposity (CEBA) problems at the time of MRI scan. Under separate funding, we have collected brain-based MRI measures and neurobehavioral outcomes in 350 preadolescent children of the CCCEH cohort, between 9 and 12 years of age. The MRI dataset in 9-12 year olds includes state-of-the-art measures of brain structure (anatomical MRI), function (functional MRI), anatomical connectivity and white matter integrity (Diffusion Tensor Imaging, or DTI), and neurometabolite concentrations (MR Spectroscopy, or MRS); we will now evaluate the effects of prenatal and early postnatal exposure to PAH on each of those measures of brain structure, function, and metabolism at age 9-12 (preadolescence), and how the PAH-related disturbances in brain measures mediate CEBA outcomes at age 15-17 (in adolescence -- outcomes that are being assessed in Projects 1 & 2). In addition, we will acquire new anatomical MRI scans at 15-17 years of age (adolescence) in this same cohort to assess the correlations of early PAH exposure with measures of brain structure in adolescence. The new anatomical MRI scans, together with the anatomical scans already collected in preadolescence at ages 9-12, will allow us to assess whether early exposure to high levels of PAH significantly disrupt the normal changes in brain structure within self- regulatory systems from childhood through adolescence, and whether those children with the most disrupted anatomical changes experience the greatest degree of conduct disturbances, substance use, and depression, persistent ADHD symptoms, and adiposity measures, at 15-17 years of age. This information will help us understand whether the adverse organizational effects of early life PAH exposure continue to derail brain development later in life, or whether any compensatory neuroplastic effects occur during this time of transition that help to mitigate those adverse effects. This knowledge can be translated to education and policy and exploited to aid the future development of therapeutic interventions.

Quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) are the cores of distant galaxies whose extreme activity is powered by black holes that may be billions of times the mass of our Sun. The team will study how the optical emission from distant QSOs varies over time. If a QSO's light emission brightens quickly, the surrounding gas will brighten after a time delay that depends on its distance from the black hole. This is the basis of reverberation mapping. The team will measure the time delays for the gas to brighten in a number of QSOs. By modeling the time delay for each QSO, the team will determine the mass of its black hole and the structure of the surrounding gas. They will also develop shortcuts for estimating black hole masses for distant QSOs. Senior team members will train junior members. The public will be informed about the fascinating subject of massive black holes through public talks, social media, and planetarium show content.

The team will complete a multi-year campaign of photometric and spectroscopic monitoring of nearly 800 high-redshift QSOs. Their goals are to (1) use reverberation mapping to measure the black hole masses of the QSOs; (2) study the structure of the broad emission-line regions of the QSOs; and (3) develop secondary ways of estimating black hole masses for the population of QSOs at high redshift.