SwRI’s Dr. Rohini Giles receives NASA Early Career Achievement Medal

Planetary scientist recognized for achievements analyzing Jupiter’s atmosphere

2024-03-26

(Press-News.org) SAN ANTONIO — March 26, 2024 —Southwest Research Institute Senior Research Scientist Dr. Rohini Giles has received the NASA Early Career Achievement Medal. The medal recognizes unusual and significant performance supporting NASA’s mission during the first 10 years of their career. Giles was cited for “significant early career achievements in the analysis of Juno data to study Jovian Transient Luminous Events and the distribution of constituents in Jupiter’s atmosphere.”

“It’s great to see Dr. Giles receive this NASA medal,” said SwRI’s Dr. Randy Gladstone, instrument lead for the SwRI-developed Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) aboard Juno. “Rohini has done an amazing job of explaining the non-auroral observations of Jupiter, including the ultraviolet signatures of lightning and meteors, for the Juno UVS instrument team.”

Giles specializes in remote observations of planetary atmospheres, making use of data from both spacecraft and ground-based telescopes and covering wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the infrared. She recently used ultraviolet observations made by the SwRI-led NASA spacecraft Juno to study transient events in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere, analyze reflected sunlight observations and monitor the temporal variability of the planet’s auroras. Giles also leads a project supported by a NASA Solar System Observing grant to study the temperature structure of Venus’ mesosphere using ground-based infrared observations.

“Dr. Giles is an important member of the Juno UVS team, and she has proven she can tackle anything thrown at her,” said SwRI Staff Scientist Dr. Thomas Greathouse. “I count myself lucky to work alongside her. Dr. Giles’ ability to take complex scientific topics and distill them into easily digestible science results sets her apart from her peers, and she is one of the best science writers I have ever had the pleasure to work with.”

Giles is a part of several spacecraft instrument teams. Her first experience as part of a spacecraft team was for Juno’s UVS instrument team, working on instrument calibration and performance analysis. She is also a member of UVS teams for the upcoming Europa Clipper and JUICE missions. Additionally, Giles is the first author on 11 published scientific papers and a co-author on 38. She has a master’s degree in physics and a Ph.D. in planetary physics, both from Oxford University. She joined the SwRI staff in 2019.

For more information visit https://www.swri.org/planetary-science.

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Sodium intake and cause-specific mortality among predominantly low-income Black and white residents

2024-03-26

About The Study: In this cohort study of 64,000 low-income Americans, nearly 80% of study participants consumed sodium exceeding the current recommended daily amount, which was associated with 10% to 30% of cardiovascular disease mortality. Public health programs targeted to reduce sodium intake among this underserved population may be beneficial. Authors: Xiao-Ou Shu, M.D., Ph.D., of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.3802) Editor’s Note: Please see the ...

Exclusive breastfeeding duration and risk of childhood cancers

2024-03-26

About The Study: In this cohort study including 309,000 Danish children, longer duration of exclusive breastfeeding was associated with reduced risk of childhood B-cell precursor-acute lymphoblastic leukemia, corroborating results of previous case-control investigations in this field. To inform future preemptive interventions, continued research should focus on the potential biologic mechanisms underlying the observed association. Authors: Signe Holst Søegaard, Ph.D., of the Danish Cancer Society in Copenhagen, is the corresponding ...

Ancient DNA reveals origin of racial/ethnic disparity in a childhood cancer

2024-03-26

There are 40% more Hispanic/Latino kids diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) than white non-Hispanic/Latino children; actually, Hispanic/Latino individuals have the highest risk of ALL in the United States. However, the basis for this difference is not well understood. Researchers recently identified a genetic variant that accounts for the increased risk of B-cell ALL in Hispanic/Latino children, and using ancient DNA, they traced the mutation all the way back to the first migrants who ...

USC researchers find genetic variant contributing to disparities in childhood leukemia risk

2024-03-26

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer, disproportionately affects children of Hispanic/Latino origin in the United States. They are 30-40% more likely to get ALL than non-Hispanic white children, but the exact genetic basis and cause of that increased risk are unknown. Now, a study from the Keck School of Medicine of USC has revealed a key genetic variant contributing towards the increased risk, as well as details about the biological basis of ALL. The team used genetic fine-mapping analysis, a statistical method that allows researchers ...

Structural basis for the regulatory mechanism of mammalian mitochondrial respiratory chain megacomplex-I2III2IV2

2024-03-26

Mammalian mitochondrial electron transport chain complexes are the most important and complicated protein machinery in mitochondria. Although this system has been studied for more than a century, its composition and molecular mechanism are still largely unknown. Here, Yang’s group report the high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of porcine respiratory chain megacomplex-I2III2IV2 (MCI2III2IV2) in five different conformations, including State 1, State 2, Mid 1, Mid 2, and Mid 3. High-resolution cryo-EM imaging, combined with super-resolution gated stimulated emission depletion microscopy (gSTED), strongly supports ...

Antifungal activity of a maleimide derivative: Disruption of cell membranes and interference with iron ion homoeostasis

2024-03-26

This study is led by Prof. Ying Li (Xuzhou Medical University), Prof. Zuobin Zhu (Xuzhou Medical University), and Prof. Wenqiang Chang (Shandong University). A small molecule library consisting of 40 compounds, specifically N-substituted maleimide and its derivatives were initially screened in the study. Among them, twelve maleimides, each with a distinct N-protection group, were synthesized using ring-opening and ring-closing reactions involving various amines and maleic anhydride. Additionally, a set of twenty-eight ...

Addressing global energy needs with ideal electrocatalysts 

2024-03-26

Researchers from the University of Tartu and the University of Copenhagen have proposed the theoretical description of an ideal electrocatalysis process, which, if implemented, could double the efficiency of energy conversion and storage devices.  As the world seeks sustainable solutions to meet escalating energy demands, a collaborative team of researchers from the Universities of Tartu and Copenhagen has proposed an innovative approach to overcome long-standing limitations in oxygen electrocatalysis. Oxygen electrocatalysis ...

Researchers identify new way to inhibit immune cells that drive allergic asthma

2024-03-26

Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, have discovered that a protein called Piezo1 prevents a type of immune cell in the lung from becoming hyperactivated by allergens. The study, to be published March 26 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), suggests that switching on Piezo1 could represent a new therapeutic approach to reducing lung inflammation and treating allergic asthma. Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (also known as ILC2s) are a type of immune cell that resides in the lungs, skin, and other tissues of the body. ILC2s in the lungs become activated in the presence of allergens and produce ...

JSCAI publishes special issue: Cardiac CT Angiography in Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis of Cardiac Disease

2024-03-26

Cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA or CTA) has emerged as a first-line tool for diagnosing, treating, and evaluating the prognosis of various cardiac diseases. In this special issue of JSCAI, "The Role of Cardiac Computed Tomography Angiography in Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis of Cardiac Disease", experts detail the broad spectrum of uses of this imaging modality, acknowledging the role of this test in current clinical and procedural practice, including: Risk stratification Ruling out coronary artery disease in patients with chest pain Assessing ...

Just ask: patients in the ER are willing to get a flu shot

2024-03-26

Simply asking patients to get the flu vaccine, and combining it with helpful video and print messages, is enough to persuade many who visit emergency departments to roll up their sleeves, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco. Researchers found a 32% vaccine uptake in patients who were asked if they’d be interested in getting the flu shot and told their health providers would be informed. They saw a 41% uptake for those who were asked about receiving a flu shot and received a pamphlet, watched ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

The sound of traffic increases stress and anxiety

Global food yields have grown steadily during last six decades

Children who grow up with pets or on farms may develop allergies at lower rates because their gut microbiome develops with more anaerobic commensals, per fecal analysis in small cohort study

North American Early Paleoindians almost 13,000 years ago used the bones of canids, felids, and hares to create needles in modern-day Wyoming, potentially to make the tailored fur garments which enabl

Higher levels of democracy and lower levels of corruption are associated with more doctors, independent of healthcare spending, per cross-sectional study of 134 countries

Insilico Medicine recognized by Endeavor Venture Group & Mount Sinai Health System with Showcase AI and Biotech Innovation Award

ESMO Asia Congress 2024: Event Announcement

The pathophysiological relationship and treatment progress of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, obesity, and metabolic syndrome

[Press-News.org] SwRI’s Dr. Rohini Giles receives NASA Early Career Achievement Medal
Planetary scientist recognized for achievements analyzing Jupiter’s atmosphere