of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering
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Celebrate, Promote, Inform in Service to CT
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Volume 39, 5 / October 2024
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A message to our readers... |
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The Academy’s Call for Nominations is underway. This year’s group of nominees will include top-performing engineers and scientists who represent the highest levels of achievement from industry, academia and public service in our state.
Upon election, our newest members are recognized for the value they contribute to the state and to the growth of their professions. The Academy, the people, and the state of Connecticut will all benefit from this new cohort as they add diversity of thinking to our organization and strengthen the resources we have to offer in service to the state.
We see scientific distinction in significant original contributions in theory or application and/or unusual accomplishments in the pioneering of new and developing fields of applied science and technology. With this in mind, we invite you to consider nominating worthy candidates for membership. I also encourage the Bulletin’s readership who are not members to reach out to Karen Cohen, CASE’s Associate Director, if they are interested in learning more about becoming a member.
New members will be recognized at the Academy’s 50th Annual Meeting and Dinner in May of 2025. More on this event will be shared in future issues of the CASE Bulletin.
Enjoy the autumn leaves and the season’s brisk air!
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PODCAST |
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Learning & Living STEMM in Connecticut
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In the latest episode, host Tan Deleon sits down with Connecticut Senator James Maroney and Nick Donofrio to discuss AI – what it is, what we should know about it, what the state is considering for policies and regulations around its use - and their work as the co-chairs of the Joint General Law Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Artificial Intelligence Working Group.
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CASE NEWS |
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Call for Nominations |
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The Call for Nominations for CASE Membership is open now through November 14. If you are interested in the process of nominating or becoming a CASE member, please contact Karen Cohen by email or call 860.208.5801.
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SOCIAL MEDIA |
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Engage with CASE LinkedIn
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We encourage the Bulletin’s readership to follow and engage with the Academy’s LinkedIn page by commenting on and sharing posts. The daily posts will connect you to news on the Academy, its members, and science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine topics of interest to Connecticut. Please click the blue "follow" button on the page to stay up to date.
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In Memoriam |
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On behalf of its members, the Academy expresses condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of recently deceased Emeritus CASE Members.
Albert J. Fry, PhD, passed away on February 1, 2024. He was a chemistry professor at Wesleyan University for 50 years before retiring in 2017. He published more than 170 research articles and two books on organic electrochemistry. He became a member of the Academy in 1980.
Hans Laufer, PhD, passed on August 17, 2024. Professor Emeritus, Molecular and Cell biology at the University of Connecticut, his career spanned decades at UConn and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole Massachusetts. He was an internationally known leader and authority in the field of invertebrate endocrinology whose research greatly increased the understanding of the hormonal control of the life cycles of insects, crustacea and marine annelids. A member of CASE since 1997, he participated on five technical boards of the Academy.
Lowell “Rev” Steele, PhD, died on November 17, 2023. He spent decades at General Electric and was the principal architect of its technology management program, followed by consulting work advising global companies and governments on the same topic. He authored two books, "Innovation in Big Business" and "Managing Technology," and numerous articles. He was elected to CASE in 1981.
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To learn more about the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, please visit ctcase.org.
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Science and Engineering Notes from Around Connecticut
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Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition |
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The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), in collaboration with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists, reported the first locally acquired human disease case of Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis in Connecticut. Rickettsiosis is an emerging tick-borne disease similar to Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) and is transmitted by the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum. Although cases have been reported in the Southeast, this is the first report of this disease in the Northeast, an area already plagued by tick-borne diseases. Read more.
A recent report commissioned by UConn found that Connecticut’s food economy has significant opportunities for growth through the development of a food innovation center. The report highlights the strengths that the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) offers as the site for such a center. “The report really solidifies what we thought was needed in the state,” CASE Member and CAHNR Dean Indrajeet Chaubey says. “Given the investment that is coming in this field, we are really primed to have such a center. That center will accelerate growth in this area for Connecticut. It will attract new industries and when they come, they will stay here, and they will substantially enhance the contribution of the food industry in the state and region.” Read more.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that over $405K in funding for Connecticut was awarded through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. Through this program, the Connecticut Department of Agriculture will fund projects including research addressing the barriers to cultivating and selling ginseng and goldenseal by Yale University, increasing farm resiliency through utilization and promotion of existing critical small fruit pest management through UConn, and bioprospecting of natural control agents of soilborne pathogens through The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. Read more.
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Biomedical Research & Healthcare |
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CASE Member Valerie Reinke, a geneticist whose research explores gene regulation in germ cells and who also chairs the Department of Genetics, was recently appointed the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Genetics at the Yale School of Medicine. Reinke’s lab has advanced genomic technologies to discover novel and fundamental gene regulatory mechanisms that direct germ cell function, organization, and development. Read more.
CASE Member Cato T. Laurencin is the 2024 recipient of Sigma Xi's highest honor, The Gold Key Award. The award is presented to a Sigma Xi member who has made extraordinary contributions to their profession and has fostered critical innovations to enhance the health of the research enterprise, to cultivate integrity in research, or to promote the public understanding of science for the purpose of improving the human condition. Read more.
The William F. Neuman Award, the oldest and most prestigious honor conferred by the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), recognizes CASE Member Andrew Arnold for his outstanding and major scientific contributions in bone and mineral research. Arnold is the Murray-Heilig Chair in Molecular Medicine, professor of Medicine and Genetics & Genome Sciences, and chief of the Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism. He is also director of the Center for Molecular Oncology, chief academic officer for the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, and directs the Office of Physician-Scientist Career Development at UConn. Read more.
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Communication & Information Systems |
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Effective Oct. 1, An Act Concerning Online Privacy, Data, and Safety Protections makes several changes to existing Connecticut data privacy laws, including provisions to protect children from the most pernicious effects of social media, prohibiting the use of “geofencing” near mental health or reproductive and sexual health facilities and banning businesses and individuals from selling consumer health data without consumer consent. Read more.
Connecticut lawmaker State Senator James Maroney, co-chairman of the legislative General Law Committee, is leading a national effort to develop a consortium of representatives to adopt consistent Artificial Intelligence regulations that would prevent a patchwork approach pending federal government action. The consortium of lawmakers is hopeful that over a dozen states will pass regulatory bills in upcoming legislative sessions, adding to a federal consensus around consistent guidelines. Read more.
Governor Ned Lamont and the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced this month $28M to increase broadband access in 88 towns and cities. Read more.
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Biolabs, a national chain of shared lab and office facilities, has opened its largest U.S. incubator at 101 College Street in New Haven, quadrupling its space in the city to 48,000 sq ft. Most of the new location is set aside as incubation space for startups, but 9,000 sq ft is for “graduation space,” all-inclusive suites that allow companies to move from startups to established enterprises. Read more.
Governor Ned Lamont allocated in August $5M in state funding for grants to small businesses impacted by record flooding in Western Connecticut. Read more.
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Education and Human Resources |
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UConn’s College of Engineering recently introduced its Center for Advanced Engineering Education – Excellence in Engineering Communication program. This non-credit customized training and development programming complements the college’s Master of Engineering degree programs to help engineering professionals strengthen their communication and leadership skills and build stronger teams. Read more.
Connecticut students’ math and science scores improved last year, and the number of students labeled chronically absent continued to drop from a pandemic high, according to new attendance and student assessment data released by the state Department of Education at the start of the 2024-2025 school year. Read more.
CASE Member Azita Emami, Dean of the Yale School of Nursing, is being honored as a 2024 Inductee in the Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame (IHHF). IHHF is a non-profit agency helping refugees and other displaced people establish new lives and contribute to the vitality of Connecticut’s communities. Emami, an Iranian refugee who grew up in Sweden, will be recognized for her work as a leading researcher in health equity, and along with her fellow inductees, for enriching Connecticut’s education, health, civic, and cultural landscape. Read more.
Connecticut College was awarded a $251K National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Program grant for a new scanning electron microscope with energy-dispersive spectroscopy capabilities, enabling interdisciplinary scientific research and training in chemistry, biology, botany, environmental sciences, and anthropology. The microscope fulfills major needs for seven distinct departments and programs at the College, including research projects led by CASE Member Peter Siver, professor of botany and environmental studies. Read more.
A three-year $442K National Human Genome Research Institute / National Institutes of Health grant will fund a new partnership between Jackson Laboratory and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities for curriculum and program development, giving students more access to bioscience and genomics courses and the skills required for successful careers in bioscience. Read more.
CASE Member Matthew Mashikian, a former engineering professor at UConn and retired CEO of IMCORP, gifted $1M to endow the Matthew & Margarethe Mashikian Innovation & Entrepreneurship Hub in the UConn College of Engineering. The endowment will help students, faculty, and researchers learn about and pursue technological entrepreneurship opportunities. Read more.
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Energy Production, Use, and Conservation |
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office announced $12M in funding to support the advancement of integrated biorefinery technologies to decarbonize the transportation and industrial sector. This funding opportunity aims to accelerate cost-shared research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects with partners in industry, academia, and DOE national laboratories. Concept paper deadline is November 7, 2024, with full applications due January 16, 2025. Read more.
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CASE Member Mark Gurvich has earned the Lifetime Achievement in Innovation Award from the Connecticut Science Center. A Senior Technical Fellow at Collins Aerospace, Gurvich is a recognized expert in structural analysis, design, and reliability of aircraft structures with particular interest in applications of advanced lightweight composite materials. He has more than 100 issued and pending patents that address critical issues of aircraft and rotorcraft structures, including their innovative designs, manufacturing methods, and characterization approaches. Read more.
CASE Member and Past President Christine Broadbridge, a professor of physics and executive director of research and innovation at Southern Connecticut State University, was joined by Snigtha Mohanraj on Channel 8 to discuss the importance of increasing the number of women getting into STEM careers. Mohanraj, an Engineering and Science University Magnet School student, was presented with the Youth Innovation and Leadership award in the 19th Women of Innovation Awards hosted by the CT Technology Council on October 22nd. Watch here. Mohanraj was a guest on the CASE podcast, sharing her research behind her award-winning project, “Implementing Inexpensive Biochar to Remove Contaminants in Water.” Listen here.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has announced $15M in grant funds available to Connecticut municipalities, councils of government, and regional waste authorities to support the development of materials management infrastructure at the local and regional level in direct response to the solid waste disposal crisis that Connecticut municipalities are facing. Read more.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration will distribute $521M in funding to help build out electric vehicle (EV) charging and alternative-fueling infrastructure across the country. The grants are being made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $2.5B Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program to deploy chargers to ensure more drivers can charge their EVs where they live, work, and shop while also supporting longer trips. Read more.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced that applications for the second round of the State’s successful electric bicycle (eBike) voucher program are now open, offering residents an alternative clean transportation option with increased incentives for low-to-moderate income individuals and those who live in environmental justice (EJ) communities. The program is designed to improve air quality, especially within EJ communities. Read more.
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The Connecticut State Department of Public Health (DPH) announced this month two human cases of Campylobacter, which is related to the consumption of bottled raw milk. The Connecticut Department of Agriculture and the DPH are investigating and have issued a stop sale and recall of bottled milk from Nature View Dairy in Bridgewater, CT. Read more.
A groundbreaking new pan-African initiative supported in part by a Yale Planetary Solutions grant will explore innovative financing solutions for the co-management of ecosystems and public health in Africa. The initiative, entitled Ecosystems, Finance, and Health, seeks to address the critical question of how improvements in the environment and health are financed in 21st-century African landscapes. CASE Member Serap Aksoy, professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, is one of the principal investigators leading the Planetary Solutions grant. Read more.
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CASE Member Nicholas Donofrio, IBM executive vice president of innovation and technology (ret.), has been named a 2024 Sigma Xi Fellow for distinguished service to the Society. Donofrio is being recognized for his innovation and career accomplishments, including his focus on advancing education, employment, and career opportunities for underrepresented minorities and women in STEM disciplines. Read more.
The Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs launched a new program focused on hosting research, events, and fellowships at the intersection of technology and policy. The new Emerging Technology, Scientific Advancement, and Global Policy Program, led by CASE Corresponding Member J. Michael McQuade, will host a cohort of pre-and post-doctoral fellows each year — tackling a variety of issues, including how international policy can respond to rapidly developing technologies like artificial intelligence and bioengineering, as well as how policymakers can balance security with innovation. Read more.
QuantumCT is hosting the 2024 Quantum Up! Challenge - a first-of-its-kind effort to engage students from across Connecticut in the fields of business, policy, and law in conversations about an economy driven by quantum technologies. Challenges are focused on industry applications of quantum tech and questions pertaining to intellectual property, regulatory provisions, and safety and security. Read more.
Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Delft University of Technology have signed a master research agreement (MRA) enabling bilateral collaboration across a range of sustainable aviation research opportunities, including advanced materials, hydrogen propulsion, advanced manufacturing, and industrial design. “Collaboration between RTX engineers and university research institutions plays an important role in developing our understanding of emerging technologies while also supporting the next generation of talent that will drive our industry forward,” said CASE Member Michael Winter, RTX Chief Science Officer. Read more.
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The Workshops at the 2025 TRB Annual Meeting will focus on equity in communities' mobility. Sessions on planning for active transportation, analysis using big data, accessible air travel, human trafficking, and people experiencing homelessness will be offered during the event January 5 - 9, 2025. Read more.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has hired 1,811 air traffic controllers during FY24,the largest number of hires in nearly a decade, recruiting controllers with prior air traffic experience from the military and private industry. With this year’s additions, the agency has more than 14,000 air traffic controllers. Read more.
The Center for Digital Government has given Connecticut national recognition for its ongoing digital government efforts, awarding the state with its second-consecutive grade of “A-” and ranking it first in the nation in digital services related to transportation and motor vehicles. Governor Lamont has made it a priority to build an all-digital state government that provides Connecticut’s residents and businesses with the tools necessary to digitally connect with services, including the launch of the business.ct.gov, health.ct.gov, and jobs.ct.gov portals. Read more.
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Items that appear in the In Brief section are compiled from previously published sources including newspaper accounts and press releases.
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From the National Academies |
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The following is excerpted from press releases and other news reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (nationalacademies.org).
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The U.S. biomedical research enterprise has played a vital role in advancing science, human health, and the economy. Over the past 80 years, landmark achievements have included reducing cancer mortality, developing HIV/AIDS treatments, sequencing the human genome, and creating vaccines that mitigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The enterprise has grown remarkably in less than a century; however, its progress is hindered by a lack of high-level national coordination, a fragmented funding system, and a declining workforce. This special publication addresses these challenges in five key areas—strategic vision, funding, health equity, coordination and convergence science, and workforce development—offering a roadmap that could be used to sustain U.S. leadership in global health. Read more.
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The third annual report of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) highlights the milestones, projects, and activities achieved in partnership with colleagues and external parties in 2023–2024. It outlines goals for the upcoming year, detailing how the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have implemented internal and external diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Read more.
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The COVID-19 pandemic spurred a rapid expansion of wastewater-based infectious disease surveillance systems to monitor and anticipate disease trends in communities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched the National Wastewater Surveillance System in September 2020 to help coordinate and build upon those efforts. Produced at the request of CDC, this report reviews the usefulness of community-level wastewater surveillance during the pandemic and assesses its potential value for control and prevention of infectious diseases beyond COVID-19. Read more.
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The United States is an important food producer globally, in part because of its abundance of agriculturally productive soils. However, management practices that maximize yields have caused losses in soil organic matter, poor soil structure and water-holding capacity, and increased salinity on millions of acres of land - and have adversely affected the microbial communities that are the drivers of many soil processes. At the request of the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, this report finds that federal agencies need to promote the importance of soil health, support translational research, and develop a coordinated national approach to monitor soil health over time and space. Read more.
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While studies have examined the effects of schools offering in-person learning during the pandemic, this study provides analysis of student enrollment decisions (remote versus in-person) in response to schools providing in-person learning opportunities. In Connecticut during the 2020–21 school year, student take-up of in-person learning opportunities was low, with students on average enrolled in-person for only half of the days offered, and take-up was even lower in schools with larger shares of disadvantaged students. -This report finds that the benefits to individual students of their in-person learning are substantially smaller than the overall benefits a student receives from their school's average level of in-person enrollment, and second, shows that a combination of remote and in-person learning (hybrid) with a full-time on-line presence of students when at home was worse than hybrid learning with students never or only partially online. Read more.
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National and international plans for halting and reversing climate change focus on reducing and eventually ending the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions: carbon dioxide (CO) released by fossil fuel combustion. However, as the nation moves towards replacing many fossil CO2-emitting processes with zero- or low-carbon-emission alternatives, special attention is needed to eliminate net carbon emissions from the systems that cannot be fully "decarbonized", such as the production of aviation fuel, chemicals, plastics, and construction materials. This report is the second of a two-part study; the first assessed the state of infrastructure for CO2 transportation, use, and storage, highlighting priority opportunities for further investment, with the second identifying potential markets and commercialization opportunities for CO2- and coal waste-derived products, examines economic, environmental, and climate impacts of CO2 utilization infrastructure, and puts forward a comprehensive research agenda for carbon utilization technologies. Read more.
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Racial and ethnic inequities in health and health care impact individual well-being, contribute to millions of premature deaths and cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Addressing these inequities is vital to improving the health of the nation's most disadvantaged communities—and will also help to achieve optimal health for all. This report reviews the major drivers of healthcare disparities, provides insight into successful and unsuccessful interventions, identifies gaps in the evidence base, and makes recommendations to advance health equity. Read more.
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Rare diseases, such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia, affect up to 30 million people in the United States and at least 300 million across the globe. Congress called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sponsor a National Academies study on processes for evaluating the safety and efficacy of drugs for rare diseases or conditions in the United States and the European Union. The resulting report provides recommendations for enhancing and promoting rare disease drug development by improving engagement with people affected by a rare disease, advancing regulatory science, and fostering collaboration between the FDA and the European Medicines Agency. Read more.
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The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering |
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The purpose of the Academy is to "provide guidance to the people and the government of the State of Connecticut... in the application of science and engineering to the economic and social welfare."
OFFICERS OF THE ACADEMY
Sten Vermund, President Yale School of Public Health
Amy R. Howell, Vice President/President-Elect University of Connecticut
Tanimu Deleon, Secretary General Dynamics, Electric Boat
Regis Matzie, Treasurer RAMatzie Nuclear Technology Consulting, LLC
John Kadow, Past President Alphina Therapeutics
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Terri Clark
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Karen Cohen
EDITORS Leon Pintsov, Executive Editor - Engineering Pitney Bowes, Inc. (ret.)
Mike Genel, Executive Editor - Medicine Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics Yale University School of Medicine CASE President, 2008-2010
Carolyn Teschke, Executive Editor - Science Department of Molecular and Cell Biology University of Connecticut
COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT Rebecca Mead, INQ Creative
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The Bulletin is published by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, Inc, 222 Pitkin Street, Suite 101, East Hartford, Connecticut, 06108. 860.282.4229, tclark@ctcase.org. To subscribe, visit ctcase.org.
The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering is a private, nonprofit public service organization established by Special Act No. 76-53 of the Connecticut General Assembly.
COPYING PERMITTED, WITH ATTRIBUTION
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