Posted: December 14, 2007

VCU Across the Spectrum launches in December

(Nanowerk News) Research in biology, chemistry and medicine intersects with the arts, business and world studies in the premiere issue of Across the Spectrum, http://www.spectrum.vcu.edu, a new online magazine showcasing the scope of Virginia Commonwealth University’s nearly $230 million research program across both of its campuses.
VCU Across the Spectrum provides readers ranging from scientists, students and researchers to VCU alumni and the general public a chance to explore emerging trends in research in the fields of science, medicine, technology, engineering, humanities, life sciences, social sciences, business and the arts and learn how VCU is a part of the action.
“This publication has broad audience appeal because of its multidimensional nature, said Francis Macrina, Ph.D., VCU’s vice president for research. “Visitors to the site can read about research projects and accomplishments in a diversity of fields. Then, with the click of the mouse, they can hear our faculty scholars talk about life as a researcher and the workings of science.
“VCU’s research enterprise has grown dramatically in recent years,” he added. “Increasingly, the fruits of research from all quarters of our institution are being developed into practical applications. At VCU, we pride ourselves on the translation of a researcher’s idea to something that benefits society. The breadth of such activity finds us taking discoveries from a researcher’s laboratory directly to the community, whether it is a patient's bedside, a public safety office or a business.”
The Fall 2007 issue includes two in-depth features, one on cardiac-related research at the VCU Pauley Heart Center; and the second, an overview of the research being conducted in the field of homeland security from using insects as reconnaissance agents to employing mathematical models for screening airline passengers.
Additionally, readers will learn about the latest in cancer research, the global impact of the fashion industry and media on body image, everyday uses of nanotechnology and how VCU is taking research from the laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside.
The online publication offers several columns of varying lengths including:
  • Inside Research, an in-depth exploration of research taking place at VCU.
  • Road to Discovery focuses on study findings, what drives discovery and what researchers have learned along the way.
  • Insight sheds light on recent trends in science, medicine and societal topics, and VCU researchers engage readers through discussion of how the research impacts our daily lives.
  • Profile offers readers the chance to gain further insight into some of VCU’s most prolific researchers told in their own words.
  • Research to Community highlights how translational research in the fields of medicine and the life and social sciences, homeland security and more impacts our daily lives. For example, learn how our researchers are taking ideas from the laboratory bench and moving them to a patient’s bedside and then into the community more quickly than before.
  • VCU Across the Spectrum was developed by VCU News Services and the Office of Research.
    For more information and for free subscription to the online magazine, visit http://www.spectrum.vcu.edu.
    About VCU and the VCU Medical Center: Virginia Commonwealth University is the largest university in Virginia and ranks among the top 100 universities in the country in sponsored research. Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, VCU enrolls nearly 32,000 students in 205 certificate and degree programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-five of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 15 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.
    Source: Virginia Commonwealth University