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Watch the interview here.

Prof. Kim-Shapiro has conducted decades of research on nitrite and its potential applications to cardiovascular diseases. Along with colleagues, he found that far-red light – close in wavelength to infrared light, but visible to the human eye – could be used to trigger the conversion of nitrite to nitric oxide, a process that affects blood flow and clotting.

In collaboration with colleagues from the physics department and the School of Medicine and supported by Wake Forest Innovations, researchers develop ideas for novel therapeutics, vaccines, medical devices and diagnostic products.

For advancing the understanding of charge transport in organic semiconductor devices, paving the way for improved performance; effective mentoring of junior scientists; and fostering an inclusive research environment.

The APS Fellowship Program recognizes members who have made exceptional contributions in physics research, important applications of physics, significant contributions to physics education, or leadership in or service to APS. Each year, no more than one half of one percent of the Society membership is recognized by their peers for election to Fellow of the American Physical Society. This year, 149 Fellows were selected and recognized for their contributions to science.

Professor George Holzwarth passed away on March 13, 2024. George joined the physics faculty of Wake Forest University in August 1983. While he officially retired in 2004, he remained active in his biophysics research to the very end.  Before joining WFU, George earned a BS  degree in physics from Wesleyan University in 1959 and a Ph. D. in biophysics from Harvard University in 1964. He served as a faculty member at the University of Chicago 1967-1974 and on the Research staff at Exxon Corporate Research 1974-1983. Throughout his long career, George enjoyed finding ways in which physics concepts and methods can be used to address interesting and challenging biological questions. George would have been very happy to learn that his last paper, “Directional change during active diffusion of viral ribonucleoprotein particles through cytoplasm ” in collaboration with his students, Doug Lyles from the medical school, and others has now been published. The family is arranging for an annual biophysics colloquium as part of the physics colloquium program in George’s honor.

More information about George and his life is available here.

The Critical Zone Network is an NSF-funded program geared at gaining an interdisciplinary understanding of the Earth’s surface. Nick and the team at the Lowman Environmental Dynamics Lab are part of the Dynamic Water Thematic Cluster through the ORE-CZ NSF grant. Nick presented his poster titled “Unraveling plant responses to flash drought” at the  2024 Critical Zone Network All-Hands Meeting.

Corak’s research project studies the effects of fire on vegetation regrowth dynamics across a gradient of North Carolina ecosystems and climates through a combination of ground observations and NASA satellite remote sensing data. This work will add to scientific literature on how fire impacts vegetation health, being the first of its kind to use ground observations to validate remotely-sensed leaf area index (LAI) after fire.