Biological and Environmental Sciences Directorate

2004 Awards and Achievements

Directorate Wins Two R&D 100 Awards

research teamThe highly specific, regenerable perchlorate treatment system: Baohua Gu, Gilbert Brown, Bruce Moyer, Peter Bonnesen, and Paul Schiff. This remediation system consists of a unique, highly specific resin that uses selective ion exchange to trap and break down perchlorate-a chlorineoxygen compound found in solid rocket propellant that is increasingly being found in soil and water. The chemical disrupts function of the human thyroid gland, which regulates metabolism in adults and physical development in children. The reaction in the ORNL treatment system that destroys the perchlorate also produces a chemical that regenerates the resin, breaking the perchlorate down into harmless chloride and water.

research teamExplosives Vapor Sensor: Thomas Thundat, Lal Pinnaduwage, Tony Gehl, Vassil Boiadjiev, and Eric Hawk (with David Hadden of the University of Tennessee, and others). The team developed a compact, low-cost explosive vapor sensor for detecting and locating a variety of explosives, including plastic-based ones. A micromechanical transducer, no wider than a human hair and with a mass of only a few nanograms, allows only explosive molecules to chemically adsorb to a sensor that can identify the molecule. The sensor is an improvement over other explosive detection products because of its high sensitivity and selectivity, direct vapor sensing, low power consumption, less than one-second response time, stability, compact size, and low cost. It will have applications in counterterrorism, law enforcement, airport safety, and humanitarian efforts such as land mine removal.

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Vo-Dinh is AIMBE Fellow

Tuan Vo-Dinh was elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2004. This election is a recognition of his many distinguished contributions to the field, as well as his demonstrated interest, concern, and involvement with critical issues affecting medical and biological engineering.

Membership in AIMBE's College of Fellows is a distinct honor. Total membership in the College is not to exceed 2% of the total number of individuals active in medical and biological engineering.

GMIS Wins Society for Technical Communication Awards

photo nature biotechnologyThe Genome Management Information System (GMIS) received eight publication, art, and online awards from the East Tennessee and Pittsburgh chapters of the Society for Technical Communication (STC).

The poster "Beyond the Genome" won a Distinguished (first place) award and was entered in STC's international competition, where it received an Award of Excellence. GMIS also received Excellence awards in the Online Books category, in informational materials, and in technical reports. Merit awards were received in cover design, technical art, and informational materials.

Receiving honors were Anne Adamson, Jennifer Bownas, Denise Casey, Betty Mansfield, Sheryl Martin, Marissa Mills, Kim Nylander, and Judy Wyrick of GMIS and Shirley Andrews of Y-12 Graphic Design Services.

FLC Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer

The microcantilever-based biosensors technology was chosen by the Federal Laboratory Consortium for an Excellence in Technology Transfer award. The technology can be used in the diagnosis of disease, cancer, and cardiac markers; high-throughput drug screening; and exposure to chemical and bio-warfare agents.

Commercial startups
A new company, Femtogen, LLC, was created to license and commercialize the high-throughput screening microcantilever technology.

Intellectual property
o 14 U.S. and foreign patents awarded
o 18 U.S. patents filed
o 25 invention disclosures filed
o 26 nondisclosure agreements entered

Patent licenses were issued for Protiveris VeriScanTM 3000, Dynamax and Diversified Biotech. An inter-institutional agreement was filed with Marshfield Medical Clinic. Royalty income from licenses in 2004 was $300,000, and UT-Battelle acquired equity as a result of BES licenses with Apocom Genetics, Protein Discovery, HealthSpex, Sense Holdings, Femtogen, and Protiveris.

Comprehensive reviews of the technology and intellectual property portfolios were conducted in 2004, and 17 market analysis studies were completed for BES technologies.

Outstanding Paper in Landscape Ecology

W. W. Hargrove, F. M. Hoffman, and P. M. Schwartz of ORNL were presented the award for Outstanding Paper in Landscape Ecology in 2004 by the International Association of Landscape Ecology (IALE). The three researchers developed and published a new statistical tool, the Fractal Landscape Realizer, that can generate synthetic multiple-category landscape maps to users' specifications.

The alternative landscape realizations produced are not identical to the actual maps after which they are patterned, but the areas and fractal character of each map category (e.g., vegetation type, water body) are preserved. The Fractal Realizer uses a "recipe" of statistical specifications to produce synthetic landscapes. Because the technique is stochastic, each time the program is executed, it produces a different realization of a landscape map that obeys the statistical recipe.

Since human experts can recognize even subtle differences in pattern, the authors adopted a modified form of a Turing test to evaluate the performance of the Fractal Realizer. Interested persons may take the test at http://research.esd.ornl.gov/realizer. Their results will be added to the summary statistics.

The paper received three nominations for the IALE award. The paper and the test are now part of the standard laboratory curriculum in many introductory classes on landscape ecology, so a new generation of students is also familiar with the Fractal Realizer.

W. W. Hargrove, F. M. Hoffman, and P. M. Schwartz. "A fractal landscape realizer for generating synthetic maps," Conservation Ecology 6(1): article 2, 2002. Available at http://consecol.org/vol6/iss1/art2/

Honors for Thundat

Thomas Thundat received five recognitions from professional and academic groups during 2004:

  • The Pioneer Award from the Nanotechnology Institute of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for pioneering the field of molecular recognition with micro- and nanocantilevers. He published his first paper on microcantilever sensors in May 1994.
  • The Jesse W. Beams award for research excellence from the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society for especially significant research in physics.
  • A "Scientific American 50" Award, based on his work with microcantilevers for TNT detection.
  • A Distinguished Alumnus Award 2004 from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India for pioneering work in nanomechanical sensor development.
  • An invitation to serve as an editor for Microscale Thermophysical Engineering, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on microscale thermophysical engineering fundamentals and advanced applications.

Ferrell elected APS Fellow

FerrellThomas Lee Ferrell was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 2004. Ferrell was selected for his invention of the photon scanning tunneling microscope. The microscope can obtain images of single atoms by scanning a tapered optical fiber probe with a nanometer-size tip within a few hundred nanometers of a sample surface.

APS Fellowship recognizes those who have made advances in knowledge through original research or have made significant and innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology. Each year, no more than half of one percent of the current APS membership are recognized by their peers by election as Fellows.

Watson receives Commander's Medallion

WatsonAnnetta Watson was awarded a commendation and the Commander's Medallion for her membership in and extended support for more than a decade to the Toxicology Review Board of the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine.

Watson was further commended for contributions and commitment to ensuring that quality toxicology is sustained at the Center, mentoring its young scientists, and encouraging its more seasoned professionals to state-of-the-art excellence.

The commendation was signed by William T. Bester, Brigadier General, U.S. Army, Commanding General, U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine.

Russell Laboratory for Comparative and Functional Genomics Receives DOE Acquisition Improvement Award

Russell LabThe new William L. and Liane B. Russell Laboratory for Comparative and Functional Genomics opened in September 2003 and began rebuilding its population of research mice. Several litters of mouse pups have been re-derived. Nine pups born in March 2004 were the first litter to be re-derived from eight-cell frozen embryos. They marked the beginning of rebuilding a pathogen-free mouse colony in the new Russell Lab.

The mouse population was allowed to dwindle to zero in 2003 as biologists prepared to move their research quarters to a new home on the west campus of ORNL. The old Mouse House was infested with parasites that reduced the quality of research and threatened the facility's accreditation for animal care. Elaborate measures have been taken to ensure the cleanliness of the new Russell Lab and allow high-quality research. ORNL biologists will be implanting female mice with embryos about three times a week for the foreseeable future to rebuild the population. This will result in seven to ten litters a week. The Russell Lab mouse population was expected to reach about 6000 by the end of FY 2004.

As a result of outstanding management of the Russell Laboratory project by ORNL, DOE presented the project managers an Acquisition Improvement Award as part of the 2004 Secretary's Project Management Award.

See More in the Awards Archive