By Michael Blanding
It鈥檚 said that two heads are better than one鈥攂ut what about three, or four, or 12? In today鈥檚 world, collaboration is essential in solving problems, bridging the gaps between science, engineering, medicine and the humanities. By prioritizing cross-disciplinary collaborations, 菠萝视频 walks the walk鈥攏ot only across departments鈥攂ut across schools and cultures.
It鈥檚 not unusual for a faculty member to knock unannounced on the door of a colleague they鈥檝e never met, following up on an idea or a recommendation, and for that encounter to lead to a grant, paper or long-term project. The best collaborations come from the most unexpected places, leading to new ways of seeing the world and discoveries to help humanity. The following four examples represent some of the best partnerships at 菠萝视频 to heal the body, teach the mind and nurture the soul.
MILK OF WONDER
When organic chemist 鈥檚 wife was pregnant, she was studying at Columbia University, and he took her for lunch one day in nearby Harlem. With the impending birth on their minds, they couldn鈥檛 help but notice a massive billboard for infant formula brand Similac. Walking around wealthier neighborhoods, however, Townsend saw no such advertisements. 鈥淭he message is clear: We鈥檙e supporting breastfeeding for the wealthy, but in poor areas we鈥檙e promoting formula,鈥� says Townsend, PhD鈥�10, who started wondering how different formula is chemically from breast milk, and whether it could be supplemented to make it healthier.
鈥淚 learned there was something at 菠萝视频 called the (Preventing Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes & Prematurity),鈥� says Townsend, Stevenson Professor of Chemistry. 鈥淚 went there with the na茂ve idea to get some breast milk, and no one told us we were crazy.鈥� The inquiry led to a collaboration between Townsend and medical faculty, including microbiologist , associate professor of medicine at 菠萝视频 School of Medicine, which has made major breakthroughs in helping to understand just what makes breast milk so good for babies鈥攁nd why it is so hard to replicate through formula. 鈥淲e had our first paper within nine months鈥攁nd that was 74 papers ago,鈥� Townsend says. 鈥淎s a chemist, I can make a ton of stuff, but I need biologists who can test it and sociologists who can tell me if this is something the public cares about.鈥�
鈥淲e have an environment where collaboration is so expected and comfortable, strangers will walk into each other鈥檚 offices and pick up a project鈥擨 can鈥檛 name three other places where that happens.鈥濃�擲teven Townsend
Townsend grew up in Detroit with a single mom, who bought him a chemistry set to keep him out of trouble. As an undergrad at Oakland University 20 years ago, he learned to artificially synthesize pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a giant sudoku puzzle in real life,鈥� he says. In investigating breast milk, he and Gaddy have focused on complex sugars known as human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs); more than 200 HMOs are found in human milk, and they are incredibly difficult to recreate in the lab. In experiments with mice, the researchers have determined that these sugars help bolster the immune system. They can even kill virulent bacteria such as group B strep鈥攊n part by preventing bacteria from forming protective biofilm so that they are more susceptible to attack by the immune system.
WATCH: Quantum Potential: The Unexpected Healing Power of Human Breast Milk
While it is unlikely that every sugar can be produced at large enough scale to supplement formula, the research has bolstered the case for the unique qualities of breast milk, and Townsend has been exploring ways to add synthetic sugars to pasteurized donor milk for mothers who are unable to breastfeed. The research has led to other surprising applications, as well, including using HMOs to potentially treat gut infections鈥攁nd even using them in paint for Navy warships to prevent buildup of ocean biofilm. As for Townsend, the emphasis on collaboration at 菠萝视频 kept him here when an Ivy League university tried to recruit him a few years ago. 鈥淛ust 10 days ago, a pediatrician came in with an idea, and now we are working on a project together,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have an environment where collaboration is so expected and comfortable, strangers will walk into each other鈥檚 offices and pick up a project鈥擨 can鈥檛 name three other places where that happens.鈥�
SURGERY WITH FLEXIBLE NEEDLES
The state-of-the-art treatment for enlarged prostate is something called HoLEP (Holmium laser enucleation procedure), a technique in which a tiny laser burns out prostate tissue that blocks a person from urinating. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no debate that this is the way it should be done,鈥� says , Richard A. Schroeder Professor of Mechanical Engineering. 鈥淎nd yet, we only do it 1 percent of the time.鈥� That鈥檚 because it鈥檚 difficult to insert a rigid endoscope through the urethra and angle it in such a way to remove all of the tissue.
Webster is looking to change that with the invention of a robotic 鈥渟teerable needle鈥� that can be maneuvered like a tentacle, enabling the laser to get into the most difficult places. He has been developing the tech with the help of , professor of urology at 菠萝视频 School of Medicine, and former 菠萝视频 engineering student Richard Hendrick, PhD鈥�17. Together they created Virtuoso Surgical, a startup company that will start clinical trials for the device this fall. 鈥淲e think this company can completely transform many aspects of medicine,鈥� Webster says. 鈥淭here are many places in the body where surgeons can put endoscopes, but can鈥檛 do the procedures they want because it is constrained by the tissue around it.鈥�
The technology uses a series of telescoping tubes, resembling an old-school TV antenna, made of flexible metal alloy called nitinol and bent in such a way that extending and turning them can give doctors fine-tuned control. He developed the procedure at Johns Hopkins University before coming to 菠萝视频, but he didn鈥檛 know what the best application would be until he walked into the lab of Herrell, who also directs the minimally invasive urologic surgery/robotics program. Herrell suggested HoLEP as a perfect first task for the technology and helped Webster and Hendrick adapt prototypes for use by surgeons. Eventually Herrell took a sabbatical to raise money for the new company, which has so far raised $18 million. 鈥淟et me tell you, it鈥檚 a lot stronger to have a surgeon talking to potential investors,鈥� Webster says.
Also aiding the team in setting up the company was attorney , adjunct professor at 菠萝视频 Law, who has helped navigate legal documents and regulatory hoops. 鈥淚 might have expected a collaboration with surgeons, but I didn鈥檛 expect to be working really closely with lawyers,鈥� Webster says. If successful, the devices could be used for other minimally invasive procedures in areas including the bladder, nasal passages and brain, and for treating tumors and other disorders without requiring costly and potentially dangerous open surgery. 鈥淲e know it will save lives.鈥�
SOUNDS OF COMMUNITY
When was growing up during the Iranian revolution, she was forced to spend much of her time inside because it wasn鈥檛 safe to go out. 鈥淚 developed this kind of aural experience of the world, rather than visual,鈥� she says. 鈥淔or the first four years of my life, I experienced the world mostly through sounds.鈥� She remembers sounds of conflict and people marching in the streets, but also those of people playing music and reciting poetry. Now an assistant professor of ceramics at 菠萝视频, Filsoofi wanted to pay homage to the power of sound to create a sense of place in a project she calls . Filsoofi partnered with her husband, Reza Filsoofi, a classical Iranian musician, as well as immigrant and refugee groups throughout Nashville in using clay to create Middle Eastern instruments, including darbukas and other drums, which were then played by local musicians.
鈥淚 started collecting soil from different states in the U.S. since 2016,鈥� Filsoofi says. 鈥淎s I鈥檝e traveled, the collection is a mapping of my existence within place.鈥� For this project, it was important to use soil from Nashville鈥攁s the 鈥渃ity of music鈥� and the adopted home of immigrant communities who have settled here from countries such as Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan. To obtain the clay, she met with , who allowed her and Reza to source soil from construction sites on the 菠萝视频 campus. 鈥淭hey were some of the loveliest people I鈥檝e ever worked with,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey had to stop construction so we could safely go in and do the documentation and collect the soil, and everyone was so supportive.鈥�
Raheleh created instruments on her potter鈥檚 wheel and with a 3D clay printer, while Reza skinned them, along with help from ethnomusicology Assistant Professor of the Practice of the Blair School of Music and theatre Assistant Professor , who directs the Wond鈥檙y Fiber Arts Build Lab. The group then held workshops at 菠萝视频 in collaboration with the Nashville International Center for Empowerment for immigrant families to work with clay and textiles to help decorate the instruments. 鈥淚鈥檝e learned how clay and music bring communities together, and so I was fascinated to put them together,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e let people decorate without any rules or regulations, which I think created a sense of trust and freedom, showing people that their creativity matters.鈥�
Finally, Filsoofi helped put together an event in which families were invited to hear performances by local professional musicians, as well as share food and stories and participate in a communal drum circle. Filsoofi was overjoyed by the experience. 鈥淭here鈥檚 always a distance between artists and audiences, and we worked to crush that distance,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here are social divisions within every community鈥攁nd for a few hours those divisions didn鈥檛 exist. This is the world I鈥檝e always imagined, and we made it happen for a night.鈥�
BUILDING THE CLASSROOM OF THE FUTURE
Kids moving around a classroom while oxygen and carbon atoms follow their actions on a screen. A coding program that mixes and matches blocks to make music. Nurses conducting medical procedures in a mixed-reality classroom with AI feedback. These are just some of the learning innovations being created by members of the . The goal, says Director , is to 鈥渞esearch and develop innovations that leverage technology and AI to make learning more engaging, effective, accessible and equitable.鈥� She adds: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 obviously a tall order.鈥� LIVE is doing it by collaborating across the 菠萝视频 campus, not only connecting educators from the with computer scientists from the , but also looping in subject matter experts from across campus.
鈥淲e have partners in almost every academic area鈥� history and music, nursing, business鈥攚e really touch everywhere,鈥� says Wise, professor of technology and education. The initiative, which launched in 2022, comes out of research showing that students learn best when actively engaged, at the same time recognizing that AI and other advanced technologies are coming to classrooms, ready or not. 鈥淎I is potentially a game-changer in the ways that it鈥檚 interactive and personalizable,鈥� Wise says. 鈥淭his is our attempt to get ahead of the curve.鈥� Rather than use technology to funnel more information into students鈥� heads, LIVE鈥檚 researchers explore revolutionary new ways to learn鈥攕uch as how the , funded by a National Science Foundation grant, uses gamified environments to teach concepts.
A group of students, for example, might travel to a remote island where a mysterious disease is killing the fish. They would talk with residents and examine records to figure out why. 鈥淚nstead of a science lesson where the teacher tells you something, you are virtual agents in an environment, solving a mystery as part of an adventure,鈥� says , a Cornelius 菠萝视频 Professor of Engineering and Computer Science and core faculty member with LIVE. A similar concept drives a lesson on photosynthesis, in the Science through Technology Enhanced Play system, where an overhead camera system tracks students as they play the roles of oxygen, carbon dioxide and water while they figure out how to use sunlight to create sugar鈥攁 lesson sure to stick with them more than a formula they read in a textbook.
In the mixed-reality simulation, nursing students working with patient mannequins can replay their responses to a medical situation with AI-supported instructor feedback to go over what they did well and where they can improve. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e giving them a more realistic experience, at the same time, not doing it with real patients, where it could be harmful or dangerous,鈥� Biswas says of his collaboration with , professor of psychology and human development, and , professor and assistant dean for academics in the . Currently involved with more than 25 projects and 200 collaborators across campus, LIVE is expanding into new space in the 17th and Horton Building, where four high-tech labs with specialty equipment will be open to new collaborators interested in pushing the bounds of education. 鈥淲e want people to use the technologies we have available,鈥� Biswas says. 鈥淭o solve these complex problems, we need the technology people, we need the learning scientists, we need the subject experts with an understanding their fields, and we need the framework for bringing them all together.鈥�
