July 3, 2006

Service Award Honorees Announced

Patricia Lanoie Blanchette	Charles H. Fletcher	Linda Nishigaya	Ken Staton

Four UH faculty members have been awarded the Hung Wo and Elizabeth Lau Ching Foundation Award for Faculty Service to the Community, which recognizes significant contributions that strengthen ties between the university and the community.

• Patricia Lanoie Blanchette, chair and professor of the Department of Geriatric Medicine at Manoa
• Charles H. Fletcher, professor of geology and geophysics at UH Manoa
• Linda Nishigaya, professor of sociology at UH West O‘ahu
• Ken Staton, associate professor of music at UH Hilo

Read more about the honorees.

Kilauea’s Slow Earthquakes Studied

Photo courtesy of Ben Brooks.

A research team including School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology researchers Ben Brooks, James Foster, Neil Frazer and Cecily Wolfe have identified three new slow earthquake events on Kilauea volcano’s southeast flank that could further understanding of how catastrophic landslides occur. Their findings were published in the June 30 issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters

The new observations could help scientists determine tsunami hazards in Hawai‘i and across the Pacific, since landslides in which steep volcano flanks drop into the ocean are a potential source of tsunami. Read the news release.

Cancer Finding Published in National Scientific Media

Cancer Research Center of Hawai‘i’s Michele Carbone and his research team including Haining Yang, had their findings on malignant mesothelioma published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. and Nature Reviews Cancer.

Asbestos is a potent carcinogen that causes mesothelioma, a relatively rare cancer of the lining of the chest and abdomen. Researchers found that asbestos induces the release of a pro-inflammatory cytokine, which protects asbestos-damaged cells from death. Because the cells exposed to asbestos do not die, they can go on to develop into a cancer.

As a result of these findings, new methods of prevention and treatment could be developed that directly target the inflammatory pathway. Read more.

Efforts to Enhance State’s Research Infrastructure Continues

UH has been awarded a second grant of $9 million from the National Science Foundation. The three-year grant will continue to support activities through IMUA NSF Hawai‘i EPSCoR, an NSF program administered by UH, and create more opportunities to obtain research funding from the federal government. IMUA NSF Hawai‘i EPSCoR aids the state’s efforts to increase research infrastructure in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.

The grant will provide support for research in evolutionary and ecological genetics, ecosystem responses to environmental change, and cyberinfrastructure for environmental research and education. Read the news release.

Child Well-Being Ranking Improves

The Annie E. Casey Foundation report ranks Hawai‘i 21st among all states according to its latest state-by-state comparison on the well-being of America’s children—an improvement from last year’s ranking of 24th in the nation. The 2006 KIDS COUNT Data Book reveals that Hawai‘i has improved on four of the study’s 10 measures and experienced setbacks on five measures.

Hawai‘i has made significant progress in the areas of teen dropout rate and birth rate. However, Hawai‘i’s performance declined for teen and child death rate. For more information, read the news release or go to the Center on the Family website.

UH Newslinks

Find out about the latest UH stories in the media.