Page 10 - ME Spring Newsletter '21

CLEAR THE AIR
Human Health Ford Partners with Jiarong Hong to Create Air Filtration Kits
ME Associate Professor Jiarong Hong worked with Ford Motor Company to to to create air filtration box fan kits that can be assembled at at at at homes or or or schools to to to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission The air filtration filtration kit supplements a a a a a room’s existing filtration filtration system to further help reduce the the risk of of virus particle concentrations and is is made of of an an easy-to- assemble die-cut cardboard base a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 20-inch box fan and a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 20x20x4 air filter Hong conducted aerosol modeling studies in in in in a a a a a a a a a a a a classroom-sized space that showed clear improvements in in in in in air filtration in in in in in closed spaces when using the kit Suo Yang Helps School of Music Reduce Virus Spread
The University of of of Minnesota School of of of Music partnered with ME Assistant Professor Suo Yang to to make in-person music lessons instruction and and rehearsals safer for students and and and faculty The School of Music was seeking ways to to continue classroom instruction and and ensemble performances while keeping students and and and faculty safe — a a a a a a a a a a a particular challenge for singers and and instruments that rely on on on exhalation Yang’s team developed simulations based
on on on on on practice rooms in in Ferguson Hall with the the goal of meeting the the WHO ventilation rate guidelines They found that with a a a a a a a a a a a combination
of of physical distance face
and and instrument masks and and putting an an an an an air purifier in in in in the the the flow path of of of each person in in in the the the the room more than 99% of of the the the the virus particles can be removed from the the air Understanding Addiction
The University of Minnesota received $9 9M from the National Institutes on on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to establish a a a new center for the brain science of addiction ME Assistant Professor Suhasa Kodandaramaiah will lead one of the four research
cores that make up the new Center for Neural Circuits in in in Addiction
The interdisciplinary University- wide team will create tools to to to transform researchers’ ability to to to discover how the brain changes with addiction These findings
will be be used to develop new treatments and better understand the biological basis of addiction The Center will enable researchers to determine how the circuits that control emotions and decision-making are altered by addiction and recovery 10 ME News Spring 2021