The University of Virginia is known nationally as a center for academic research, with professors developing research projects that push the boundaries of academia; often, UVA undergraduates work alongside these research teams, earning the opportunity to be at the forefront of groundbreaking projects. Despite UVA placing so much value on research for the undergraduate and faculty experience, few students truly hear about the breakthroughs UVA researchers and students have accomplished.
Here are a few of the recent breakthroughs coming out of UVA labs:
Out-of-body perception
The University of Virginia’s School of Medicine has a research division focused on perceptual studies, or the study of extraordinary experiences of human consciousness. Its main focus is the survival of human consciousness after death. Marina Weiler, PhD, developed a research project on out-of-body experiences (OBEs), in which people report feeling as though their consciousness has become disembodied from their physical presence. Participants in the research trial had all previously reported experiencing OBEs. They were asked to identify and describe an object in a separate room. While some participants accurately identified the objects, their performance did not significantly differ from chance. However, during the research trials, two participants correctly described the actions and placement of the two researchers in the separate room without being asked to do so. While no definitive conclusions can be drawn, as the researchers themselves were not the subjects of the study, the findings raise new questions about out-of-body experiences and the potential emotional connections associated with them.
“I hope this study encourages researchers to think creatively about how we test these experiences. The unexpected findings give us a potentially useful new direction, but they also need to be tested prospectively and under rigorous conditions before we can know what they mean,” said researcher Marina Weiler, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Division of Perceptual Studies. “For me, the most important takeaway is that unexpected findings can sometimes help us ask better questions. We now have a specific idea that can be tested in future experiments, and that is exactly what science should do.”
Far, Far Away . . .
While some researchers are studying human consciousness, others are looking beyond Earth, 63 light-years away from Earth, to be exact. A research team in UVA’s Department of Astronomy conducted the first direct study of the length of a day on a “Super-Jupiter,” a planet located in a distant solar system. Yifan Zhou led the study, which monitored the planet Beta Pictoris b using the Webb telescope, advanced imaging technology, and continuous observations of the planet’s brightness and rotation. Using this information, the team was able to calculate the planet’s rotation period and axial tilt.
Despite being located in a distant solar system 63 light-years away, Beta Pictoris b exhibits patterns similar to those of Jupiter. Both have a rotation period of approximately 9 hours, and are both theorized to spin upright, unlike Earth. This breakthrough in the study of faraway planets allows astronomers to use improved imaging and monitoring techniques to explore worlds far beyond our solar system. The Webb telescope allowed researchers to directly observe an exoplanet, and these methods could be used in future studies of similar planets.
“The measurement demonstrates a precision not previously achieved for a directly imaged planet,” Zhou said. “This opens a new and powerful way to use the James Webb Space Telescope to study exoplanet atmospheres, trace planet formation, and potentially detect extrasolar moons through their eclipses.”
understanding ovarian cancer
Working to advance medicine for women, UVA’s School of Medicine recently conducted a study on ovarian cancer. Globally, approximately 200,000 women die from ovarian cancer each year, and the disease is notoriously resistant to breakthrough immune therapies. Ovarian tumors can be associated with bacteria from the gut microbiome due to gut leakage. When the immune system recognizes these bacteria near the tumor, it begins to attack them, effectively protecting the tumor in the process. For this reason, immune therapies are often ineffective, as the immune system is predisposed to protecting the cancer.
Dr. Melanie Rutkowski and her team experimentally blocked the signaling that occurs when the immune system recognizes bacteria in the presence of ovarian cancer. In the lab, blocking this signaling increased the effectiveness of immune therapies, allowing the immune system to target the cancer rather than the gut bacteria. If these results can be translated into clinical treatment, patients with ovarian cancer could have access to more effective immune therapies as a treatment option.
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