Melissa Hines - US grants

Cornell University operates a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site affiliated with its NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. The REU Site offers research opportunities for undergraduate students in a wide variety of materials-related topics; the understanding and control of materials in the nanoscale is the common thread of the research programs. Twenty undergraduate students are recruited every year for a ten-week summer research experience. The REU Site actively promotes the participation of women and students from underrepresented groups and from predominantly undergraduate institutions.
In addition to participating in individual research projects, students attend weekly technical seminars and career workshops, and participate in collective social activities.

Through participation in the summer activities, students in the program are afforded a wider perspective on research than they might see as part of their regular undergraduate studies. This familiarity with different perspectives on scientific research helps them to understand the many different pathways leading to a career in science and engineering research.

This award from the Instrumentation for Materials Research program supports the acquisition of a Digital Instruments Dimension 3100 Scanned Probe Microscope (SPM) System with a NanoScope IV Controller. This instrument will be placed in a central facility to be employed in the research of dozens of undergraduate and graduate students from many departments at Cornell. It will also be used by Cornell nanotechnology classes, K-12 tours, and outside users. The microscope will enable new research directions dealing with nanoscale electrical devices, nanoscale chemical modification, polymer dynamics near surfaces, the development of new types of scanning microscopy, and biomaterials characterization. It will take the place of an older SPM that will be relocated to Simmons College, a women's college in Boston, to be used in undergraduate research aimed at developing polymer materials for organic light-emitting diodes.
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This award from the Instrumentation for Materials Research program supports the acquisition of a Digital Instruments Dimension 3100 Scanned Probe Microscope (SPM) System, which will be placed in a central facility for use by dozens of undergraduate and graduate students in projects that require imaging samples with nanometer-scale resolution. For example, it will be used to examine molecular-scale electronic devices while they are in operation, the atom-by-atom processes by which chemicals can sculpt surfaces, and the self-assembly of biological materials. The microscope will also be employed by Cornell nanotechnology classes, visiting high-school teachers and students, and outside users. It will take the place of an older scanned-probe microscope that will be relocated to Simmons College, a women's college in Boston, Massachusetts. This will provide students at Simmons and nearby colleges the opportunity to work with a research-quality instrument as they are encouraged to consider technical careers.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Influences of androgen on human neural-behavioral development will be evaluated by studying psychological outcomes in individuals with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH: an autosomal recessive disorder causing increased adrenal androgen production beginning prenatally), as well as by relating normal variability in the prenatal hormone environment to postnatal behavior. 128 children with CAH (4-10 years) will be compared to 128 of their unaffected relatives in the same age range and to 128 demographically matched controls in regard to gender identity, gender constancy, social/cognitive processes involved in the acqusition of gender role behavior, and sex-typical toy, activity and playmate preferences. For 171 additional participants from the general population (who do not have CAH), testosterone in amniotic fluid will be related to postnatal behavior at the ages of 4 1/2, 5 1/2, and 6 1/2 years. Assessments of these children will be conducted using the same measures used to study individuals with CAH. Data will be collected by observation, interview and questionnaire, and cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches will be used. Hypotheses to be tested include: 1. Girls with CAH experience reduced feminine gender identity or are at increased risk for gender identity disorder; 2. High levels of androgen promote male-typical behavioral development in normal as well as abnormal situations; 3. Individual differences in gender role behavior are mediated by alterations in gender identity or in social/cognitive processes related to gender identity; 4. Alterations in gender identity in girls with CAH diminsh with age. The research will add to basic knowledge about the role of androgens in the development of human behavior, and will clarify the relevance to humans of animal models, where gonadal hormones have been found to influence basic processes of neural development and survival. In addition, the research will provide information on psychosexual outcomes in individuals with CAH, information which should prove relevant to other intersex conditions as well, and to other situations where fetuses are exposed to hormone-altering substances (e.g., "fertility" or contraceptive drugs, alcohol, cocaine, stress, environmental toxins). Finally, the research will further basic scientific understanding of the roles of hormones and social/cognitive processes in childrens acquisition of gender role behavior.

The major theme of the MRSEC research and education programs at the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) is Mastery of Materials at the Atomic and Molecular Level. The objective is to educate scientists and engineering students (largely PhD students) and postdoctoral researchers in the methods of research used to tackle cutting edge problems in materials research. At the same time CCMR manages and maintains a set of shared experimental facilities that enable this research to be carried out; these facilities are also actively used by a wide spectrum of researchers from across the campus, from other Universities, Government Laboratories and Industry. CCMR also has an expansive and effective educational outreach program that helps students and teachers from primary, secondary and local colleges to learn about materials sciences, recent advances and how to integrate this new knowledge into the classroom. Finally, CCMR's Industrial Partnerships program speeds the transition of new scientific discoveries into technologies that can promote economic growth and opportunities.

Our research is organized into teams focused on several specific topics, including: Controlling Electrons at Interfaces, "Building Blocks" for Photonic Systems, and the Study of the Dynamics of Growth of Complex Materials. CCMR also manages a "Seed Program" that supports smaller short term activities that explore high-risk/high-payoff areas and that integrates new faculty into our interdisciplinary culture. Our long term goal is to control materials systems at or near the level of atomistic precision (atom identity and geometric placement), as is possible in the synthesis of some organic molecules. Our vision is that such control will allow precision tuning of properties and is likely to uncover vast new areas of science, to facilitate the construction of a wide variety of novel devices, and to enable technologies not presently imagined. The proposed research capitalizes on unique science we recently developed, substantially extends the effort in new and ground breaking directions, and explores entirely new topics; all require new talents, new skills and new senior investigators.

A long-term partnership for research and education in nanomaterials will be established between the Center for Advanced Materials at Tuskegee University and the Cornell Center for Materials Research, a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Cornell University, under the Partnership for Research and Education (PREM) program sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The program, which builds upon a long-standing, productive relationship between the two institutions, has three principal components: collaborative research in nanomaterials, development of educational resources and curricula for undergraduate and graduate education in materials, and outreach to K-12 students and teachers.

A cross-university research team will work collaboratively to develop fundamental understanding of both the chemical interactions between nanoparticles and polymers and the relationship between these nanoscale interactions and the mechanical properties of nanocomposite materials. This understanding will be used to rationally develop a new generation of nanocomposite structural materials that are amenable to conventional processing methods. The production of high performance textiles with improved strength and durability will be one focus of this effort.

Faculty, graduate students and undergraduates from both institutions will be involved in all aspects of the research. This partnership will strengthen the undergraduate and graduate materials science education program at Tuskegee University. Educational materials, courses and best practices developed at Cornell University will be shared with faculty and students at Tuskegee University using a combination of distance learning, teleconferencing and cross-campus visits. Through a number of creative and effective outreach programs, the partners will introduce a pool of well prepared high school and community college students to materials research and inform the students of career opportunities in the field of materials science and engineering.

This partnership will have national broader impacts. By attracting and educating a considerable number of undergraduate and graduate African American students, the partnership will significantly impact the diversity of the field of materials science. By educating students in an interdisciplinary area of increasing national need nanostructured materials the program will help train the next generation of scientists and engineers, which is necessary for continued economic growth. By developing a new class of high performance materials, the research program will strengthen U.S. competitiveness in a rapidly expanding field of international interest. In addition, the program will elevate public awareness of materials research and reach out to the broader community, thereby helping to attract more students into STEM fields.

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award supports a graduate training program at Cornell University in a highly interdisciplinary area of materials research that is central to advances in many areas of science and technology - the nanoscale control of surfaces and interfaces. This program provides doctoral students drawn from seven academic disciplines with hands-on, interdisciplinary training in the experimental and theoretical techniques necessary for forefront research at the nanoscale. The program is based on a dynamic, student-centric educational framework that transitions students from the coursework-based educational model typical of K-16 education to the self-directed learning necessary for professional R&D environments. As an integral part of their training, students perform interdisciplinary research on topics as diverse as the production of single molecule transistors, the design of non-volatile memory, the development of "plastic" electronics, and the fabrication of ultrasensitive chemical and biological sensors.
This program addresses the national workforce needs in materials research documented by a recent National Academies study. The study identified the field of nanomaterials - the focus of this traineeship - as the area of most rapid growth globally. By educating a new generation of nanomaterials researchers and performing fundamental research in this rapidly growing area, this program increases U.S. competitiveness. The program also addresses the underrepresentation of women and minorities in the field of materials through direct partnerships with two Historically Black Colleges/Universities, a substantial recruiting program and an extensive undergraduate research program. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Nontechnical: This award supports the acquisition of a first-of-its-kind electron microscope that allows materials to be studied in their natural environment using an electron beam that can be focused down to a subatomic spot, producing three-dimensional images of their structure and chemistry. While traditional electron microscope studies are limited to only materials that can survive in a hard vacuum comparable to that of outer space, this new instrument will, for the first time, allow researchers to take snapshots of both solids and liquids, and more importantly see the processes that occur at interfaces between solids and liquids stabilized by snap freezing. Understanding such interfaces has a wide-ranging impact, from enabling scientists and engineers to design more durable batteries, more efficient catalysts for automotive fuel cells, to better retain nutrients in soil. To meet the huge demand for this capability both across campus, and also from industries and universities across the country, this instrument will be available as part of Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) to researchers and students across campus as well as from other universities, industry and national labs. The microscope will also provide hands-on research opportunities for undergraduates, particularly under-represented minorities and women as part of the CCMR Research Experience for Undergraduates program, offer middle school girls the opportunity to experience the excitement of science as part of the Expanding Your Horizons program, and support K-12 teachers development through CCMR's Research Experience for Teachers program, and through MicroWorld, a microscopy-based activity that will be adapted to meet the challenges of the Next Generation Science Standards. This instrument will have broad impacts on science research and training by providing unique characterization capabilities of materials and devices and by educating a new generation of electron microscopists, which will lead to major scientific and technical advances in broad areas of research that are critical to the fulfillment of the nation?s research agenda, and the maintenance of the country's competitive position in critically important fields of science and technology.


Technical: Recent advances in electron microscopy design have opened a new era of atomic resolution imaging and spectroscopy inside solids. Liquid/solid interfaces have yet to be imaged at high spatial resolution, but play a critical role in a range of biological, chemical and physical processes from catalysis to electrochemical energy storage to the formation of biominerals. With the ability to study liquids snap-frozen in a vitreous state, this cryo-STEM, combining the low-vibration cryo-stages from biology with the resolution-enhancing aberration-correctors from materials science, will enable presently unfeasible structural and spectroscopic studies of electrode/electrolyte interfaces in batteries and fuel cells, organic/mineral interfaces in breast cancer tumors and calcified aortic valves, and liquid/mineral complexes in soils. More generally, this class of "hard/soft" interfaces between minerals and liquids or soft tissue has not been explored at high spatial resolution, as the methods for studying the "hard" and "soft" components have been incompatible. Operating at cryogenic temperatures will also allow users to gain unprecedented insights into the macromolecular organization of cellular environments at nanometer resolution and to access a new range of emergent electronic states and phases in artificially engineered materials and strongly-correlated systems. With the ability to capture the early stages of nucleation at interfaces, long unanswered questions in fields across multiple disciplines from biomineralization to energy conversion and storage, complex electronic materials and carbon sequestration using soils can be addressed.

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Studies of non-human mammals show that androgens, particularly testosterone (T), during early development play a major role in sexual differentiation of the brain, with long-term consequences for behavior. Research on clinical populations suggests that prenatal T exposure has similar effects in humans, increasing male-typical behavior and reducing female-typical behavior. Almost nothing is known, however, about the impact of early T exposure on the structure of the human brain. In addition, the brain mechanisms underlying T-related behavioral changes are unknown. This project will study brain structure and behavior in individuals with one of two disorders of sex development (DSD, also called intersex conditions) that are characterized by androgen abnormality beginning prenatally: 1. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), which causes overproduction of adrenal androgens; and 2. Complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS), which involves an inability to respond to androgens, and so an effective lack of androgen exposure. CAH affects both males and females, and 35 men and 35 women with CAH will be compared to 35 male and 35 female controls. Individuals with CAIS are XY females, and 35 females with CAIS will be compared to 35 male and 35 female controls. State-of- the-art imaging technology will be used to map brain structure. Also, aspects of behavior, known to show substantial sex differences, and for which there is evidence of a relationship to prenatal T exposure, will be assessed. Specifically, these are mental rotation ability, targeting ability, and propensities to physical aggression (where men score higher than women), and verbal fluency, fine motor ability and empathy (where women score higher than men). The information obtained will provide convergent evidence regarding the influence of T on human brain and behavior. Convergent evidence is important because ethical considerations preclude experimental manipulations of T during early human development. Instead, naturally occurring conditions that involve T excess or deficiency will be studied. Each condition involves consequences in addition to T abnormality. Therefore, confidence that testosterone caused any brain or behavior differences is strengthened when data from both conditions suggest this conclusion. For instance, prior research indicates that, with respect to physical aggression, men score higher than women, and females with CAH score higher than other females. If XY females with CAIS resemble women rather than men in regard to physical aggression, confidence that T is the responsible agent will be increased. The information obtained will enhance understanding of the neural mechanisms involved in sexual differentiation of human brain and behavior, and so will be relevant to the many psychological disorders that differ by sex. It will also be relevant to clinical management of individuals who have experienced T abnormality before birth, for any of several reasons, including genetic disorders, such as CAH or CAIS, or other disorders of sex development, maternal treatment with hormones during pregnancy, or contact with environmental endocrine disruptors.

With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Melissa Hines of Cornell University will investigate the reactivity and photoreactivity of fluorinated and fluorine-doped titanium dioxide using scanning tunneling microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and density functional theory. The resulting atomic-scale understanding of these surfaces is expected to contribute to the development of sustainable, non-toxic, earth-abundant nanocatalysts and photocatalysts. Dr. Hines and the research team are advancing discovery in nanocatalysis, sustainable chemistry, and surface science. This research is also training the next generation of scientists in a field that is important to maintaining US economic competitiveness. To increase the number and diversity of students entering science and technology fields, they are developing modules for middle school students that focus on quantitative measurements and scientific experiments that engage both students and faculty.

This research involves the development of chemical reactions and an ultraclean reactor to study the solution-phase chemistry and photochemistry of fluorinated titanium dioxide. This includes the determination of the primary mechanisms that lead to fluorine-functionalized titanium dioxide surfaces and the role of photogenerated charge carriers in these mechanisms, identification of new fluorination agents for preparing atomically flat fluorinated titanium dioxide surfaces, and assessment of the impact of fluorination on the photoreactivity of titanium dioxide. This research will also address the photo-fluorination of organic acids in aqueous solution. Developing an atomic-scale understanding of these surfaces and their reactivity has the potential to enable the production of passivated, contamination-resistant metal oxide surfaces and high reactivity photofluorination catalysts that operate under more environmentally friendly conditions than current catalysts.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.