PARTNERS IN RESEARCH. When the presidents of UT Arlington and UT Dallas swapped jobs for a day last fall, they promised a new era of cooperation between the sister schools. A result of that pledge emerged in April as 12 projects received grants from the Presidential Joint Research Seed Funding Program. The $250,000 fund was created by $125,000 contributions from Presidents James D. Spaniolo of UT Arlington and David Daniel of UT Dallas. Its purpose is to foster collaborative efforts between the faculties and be a catalyst for seeking additional research dollars. The projects selected came from 32 proposals submitted by 76 faculty members at both universities. Among the research to be conducted are studies involving sickle cell anemia, neurodegeneration, cancer therapeutics, microelectronic devices and wireless sensors.

RELIGION AND RACE. History Associate Professor Roberto Treviño received the 2005 Mary M. Hughes Research Fellowship in Texas History for his work on religion and the Chicano movement in Texas. The Texas State Historical Association presented the $1,000 award in March at the organization’s 110th annual meeting in Austin. Dr. Treviño, assistant director of the Center for Mexican American Studies, wrote The Church in the Barrio: Mexican-American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston, which addresses how the intertwining of ethnic identity and Catholic faith equipped Mexican Americans in Houston to overcome adversity. Published by the University of North Carolina Press, the book spans the history of Mexican American parishes in Houston from their founding in the early 20th century to the rise of the Chicano civil rights movement in the early 1970s.

STOP THE PAIN. The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant to UT Arlington engineering and science researchers to create innovative pain management devices. Electrical engineering Associate Professor J.C. Chiao and Assistant Professor Sungyong Jung and psychology Assistant Professor Yuan Bo Peng are developing an integrated system of miniature wireless neuronal signal sensor and stimulator implants to record neural activities and investigate the inhibitory effects of pain signals through neurostimulation. Chronic pain, the most common reason individuals seek medical care, requires millions of medical visits annually, costing hundreds of billions of dollars. The physical effects of pain include increased heart rate, blood pressure and glucose level, and decreased digestive activity and blood flow. Drs. Chiao, Jung and Peng have demonstrated a miniature device that delivers weak electrical currents to block pain signal propagation. The device reduces the risk of pain-medicine overdose and is easy to control by patients or doctors. A three-year, $269,984 grant from the Integrative, Hybrid and Complex Systems program of the National Science Foundation will support the work.

TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE. Women comprise 47 percent of the U.S. work force but occupy only 4 percent of the highest-earning positions. In contrast, men in female-dominated organizations often experience a “glass escalator,” rapidly advancing to management level. These are among the findings reported in a new textbook by management Associate Professor Myrtle Bell. Diversity in Organizations uses research evidence to dispel common misperceptions about diversity issues. Released in February, the book covers access and treatment discrimination, disparities in compensation, differential returns on educational investment for women and people of color, and salary discrimination against people who are overweight, short or have a disability. The textbook is believed to be the first of its kind for teaching diversity in organizations.

FUNDING FORCE. UT Arlington recently received the fourth largest amount of funding of any university in the state in the Texas Advanced Research Program. The University received eight awards totaling more than $733,000 to fund research projects ranging from wind-powered wireless sensor networks to targeted nanoparticle drug delivery treatment for melanoma.