Seismic Insight

If only the inhabitants of Pompeii had been privy to the knowledge of Falk Amelung, assistant professor of geology and geophysics at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, who helped develop a technique to predict volcanic eruptions. From 2002 to 2005, he and colleagues obtained advanced satellite images of the ground deformation associated with volcanic activity at Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii. They observed that magma accumulates in rift zones—long, narrow fractures in the Earth’s crust—and creates stress in the area that ultimately erupts. The study was published in the May 18 issue of the journal Science.

Oral Exam

Most head and neck cancers are diagnosed only after symptoms develop, resulting in less than a 50 percent cure rate. Elizabeth J. Franzmann, M.D., assistant professor of otolaryngology, and colleagues at the Miller School of Medicine have developed a saliva-based test that is more than 90 percent effective in detecting early-stage cancers and pre-cancerous lesions, which would increase cure rates to 80 percent or better. Their test detects CD44—a protein expressed and shed by squamous cell carcinomas, which account for almost all head and neck cancers—as well as other biomarkers collected in a simple oral rinse. Three patents are pending, and the University is seeking a collaborative partnership to make the test commercially available.

Accidental Alliance

Automaker BMW and the Miller School’s William Lehman Injury Research Center are on a course to make driving safer. In the national, multidisciplinary Accident Research Project, trauma experts and engineers will investigate real-world crashes of BMW automobiles. Their biomechanical analyses will help determine the cause of injuries and aid in the development of new safety measures in BMW’s future vehicles. “More young adult lives are lost each year to trauma than to disease in this country,” says Jeffrey Augenstein, B.S. ’69, Ph.D. ’74, M.D. ’74, director of the Lehman Injury Research Center and a trauma surgeon at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center for 21 years.