Even as the university is poised to capture the world’s attention in a new way—as host of the final U.S. Presidential Debate on October 19—the achievements of UNLV scientists and scholars will continue to keep our university in the spotlight long after the candidates move on.
This year alone, our researchers received funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Office of Naval Research, the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and others. Whether it’s HIV-related discoveries that could prevent transmission of the devastating virus, gaming research that could advance Southern Nevada’s economy, or one of the myriad endeavors also under way on our campus, this much is clear: UNLV is taking the lead on addressing issues that affect us locally, nationally, and globally.
Our impressive roster of centers and institutes continues to boost UNLV’s interdisciplinary, private-sector, and public-sector collaborations, expanding the reach of our research even further. Our National Supercom-puting Institute’s tremendous high-performance computing capabilities have spurred more than 40 research publications as well as partnerships with companies such as Switch, Intel, Cisco, the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, and many more. The International Gaming Institute continues to raise the bar for gaming research worldwide, launching a Hospitality Lab this spring to complement its Center for Gaming Innovation, which has filed 23 patent applications and commercialized five games in its two-year existence. Proposed centers such as the Global Health Institute; Center for Migration, Demography and Population Studies; and Institute for Big Data will aim to broaden the scope and scale of UNLV’s impact as well.
This important work isn’t exclusive to UNLV faculty. As you’ll learn in this issue of Innovation, opportunities abound for our students and community partners to get involved and serve as agents of change alongside our esteemed faculty. We are daring. We are different. We are Rebels. And we are proud of the research, scholarly, and creative activity that sets us apart from all others.
Dr. Len Jessup
UNLV President
Welcome to the tenth issue of UNLV’s research magazine, Innovation. We’re pleased to share with you some of the stories that have our campus abuzz this year.
Researchers across a number of disciplines have their minds on, well, the mind. They’re examining how genes and environment affect cognition, which in turn affects behavior and brain-related pathology, while also searching for the cures to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Faculty at our world-renowned William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, meanwhile, are using a consumer-centered approach to get to the heart of why customers behave the way they do. Other UNLV scholars have been shaking up the scene in a different way, through their films, music, photography, and performances. And let’s not forget UNLV anthropologist Debra Martin, whose methods for examining violence through skeletal data earned her the 2015 Harry Reid Silver State Research Award.
And the stories don’t stop here. To learn more about all we’re doing to improve the lives of our community, our country, and the world, visit unlv.edu/research.
Dr. Carolyn Yucha
Acting Vice President for Research and Economic Development
