UCLA envisions seeing machines
Brain surgery and other medical procedures could be rendered
safer and faster using computers with a human-like ability to see,
say researchers at UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering
and Applied Science.
Stefano Soatto, assistant professor in the computer science
department and head of the UCLA Vision Lab, is leading a research
team that is examining how people use vision to interact with
others and their surroundings ““ and is designing systems that
will allow computers to perform in similar ways.
“We use senses to build models of the world around us that
allow us to walk through our environment and interact with it
safely,” Soatto said. “I want a machine to be able to
do the same thing.”
Director wins clinician award
As a recipient of the foundation’s Distinguished Clinical
Scientist Award, Charles Sawyers, director of the Prostate Cancer
Program at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center, will receive $1.5
million over five to seven years. The annual award recognizes
outstanding physicians and scientists whose research advances are
being translated from laboratory findings into new approaches for
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various diseases.
Sawyers’ award will support a study of a novel drug that
targets a specific pathway in men whose prostate cancer has a
mutation in a gene called PTEN.
Since 1997, research on the PTEN gene mutation in Sawyers’
laboratory has helped identify critical clues about the development
of prostate cancer, a disease that kills nearly 40,000 men in the
United States every year.
Professor to chair gerontology
Rita B. Effros, professor in the Department of Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine, has been appointed to the Elizabeth and Thomas
Plott Chair in Gerontology. This is a five-year term, during which
the recipient conducts research and education activities related to
aging and longevity in the fields of molecular biology,
neuroscience and immunology.
“The appointment of Prof. Effros to this endowed chair is
a special honor and recognition of her achievements as a
distinguished scholar and teacher,” said Gerald Levey,
provost of medical sciences and dean of the School of Medicine.
“Effros is a pioneer in the study of the aging immune system,
as well as a major force in gerontological education. We
congratulate her and wish her continued success with her
work.”
Her studies focus on the diminished immune response to
infections and cancer in the elderly.
Reports from Daily Bruin wire services.