Duke University Professional News, May 6, 2004

Assistant Professor Laura E. Niklason has been appointed a member of the Bioengineering, Technology and Surgical Sciences Study Section of the National Institute of Health's Center for Scientific Review.

Niklason, who has M.D. and Ph.D. degrees, has joints appointments in biomedical engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering and anesthesiology and surgery at Duke Medical Center. She is a specialist on tissue engineering, a rapidly developing field that integrates areas of biomaterials, cell biology and medicine to produce living replacements in the laboratory for failed tissues and organs.

Brent Stanfield, acting director of the Center for Scientific Review, said Niklason has agreed to serve a four-year term on the study section, effective July 1. Study sections review grant applications and survey the status of research in their fields of science.

"The scientific study sections at NIH are an important part of recommending the highest biomedical quality research applications to NIH," said George Truskey, chair of Duke's Biomedical Engineering Department. "Professor Niklason has made significant progress in cardiovascular tissue engineering and she will bring the same skills and dedication to the review process."

Richard A. Kulka has been appointed co-principal investigator (with Kenneth G. Manton) for the 2004 National Long Term Care Survey (NLTCS) and named visiting professor of survey statistics and methodology at Duke.

Kulka is senior vice president at RTI International, which participated in the 1999 NLTCS as a subcontractor for the Next-of-Kin Survey and biological specimen collection. As co-principal investigator, he will assume responsibility for all key tasks related to survey operations.

Kulka will be joined on the 2004 NLTCS team by Nicholas A. Holt, who has been appointed senior research scientist and will serve as project manager for the 2004 survey. Holt's most recent position was senior vice president and director of the social and policy research group, RoperASW (now NOP World).

The NLTCS is a longitudinal survey designed to study changes in the health and functional status of older Americans (age 65 and above). It also tracks health expenditures, service use and the availability of personal, family and community resources for caregiving. The survey began in 1982, and follow-up surveys were conducted in 1984, 1989, 1994 and 1999. A sixth follow-up survey will be conducted during 2004.

Ann Miller, head of Duke's Public Documents and Maps Department, was one of five five new members to the Depository Library Council to the federal office of the Public Printer of the United States. The council is a 15-member advisory body formed to provide advice to the Public Printer on topics related to the Federal Depository Library Program, which ensures that the American public has access to government information.

Jacob Vigdor, assistant professor of public policy studies and economics, has been named a William T. Grant Scholar. The program provides $300,000 over five years to support the scholar's research.

Vigdor will use the funds for his study "Peer and Neighborhood Influences on Youth and Adolescent Development." His project focuses on the relationship between classroom, school and neighborhood peer group composition and individual outcomes.

Irwin Kremen, professor emeritus of psychology, had a new exhibit of works shown in the ACA Gallery in New York City. The exhibit of 37 works, "Three in One: Collage, Painting, Sculpture," ran from March 20 to April 10. The exhibit was reviewed in The New York Times and The New York Sun.

During the exhibit's run, Kremen participated in a popular New York program of panel discussions,"Artists Talk on Art." The discussion topic was "Black Mountain Revisited."

Four Duke scholars have been named National Humanities Center fellows for the 2004-2005 year. The 40 fellows will work on research projects during their stay at the center in Research Triangle Park.

The fellows and their projects are: Michael Gillespie, political science, "The Unity and Disunity of Modernity;" Margaret Humphreys, history, "The Civil War and American Medicine;" Richard Jaffe, religion, "Seeking Shakyamuni: World Travel and the Reconstruction of Japanese Buddhism, 1868-1945;" and Joe Marcus, religion, "The Passion Narrative in the Gospel of Mark."

Duke was the only institution to have four scholars named as NHC fellows. No other university had more than two scholars.