Dear Seniors,

Since 1964, the Department of Art & Music Histories at Syracuse University has offered a unique master's program devoted to the study of Italian Renaissance art based in Florence. This is the oldest M.A. art history program accredited in the United States where most of the study—two of three semesters—is conducted in Italy.

Although the Florence M.A. Program’s focus is early modern Italian art, students are encouraged to think broadly about the period and the discipline of art history. Via seminars that are led by internationally recognized scholars and conservators, students carefully analyze artistic styles and techniques, consider issues related to original audiences and settings, and closely study archival documents and early modern texts. In addition, they engage with the history and practice of art conservation, art historical theories, methods, and historiography, the collection and display of art, and the ways in which the visual culture of the period relates to larger Mediterranean and global historical and artistic contexts.
The small size of the Program (approximately six participants per year) ensures that professors work closely with each student to create a rigorous and dynamic intellectual experience.

We are pleased to offer various levels of financial support that consist of:

• Florence Fellowships (full tuition and a generous stipend) 

• Kress-Florence Legacy Fellowships (partial tuition and a substantial stipend) 

• Partial tuition scholarships

or contact the program director, prof. Sally Cornelison, at  sjcornel@syr.edu 

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SUFlorenceMA/ 

and follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suflorencema/ 

Dipanjan Pan, professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering at UMBC, and collaborators have published a seminal study in Nature Communications that demonstrates for the first time a method of biosynthesizing plasmonic gold nanoparticles within cancer cells, without the need for conventional bench-top lab methods. It has the potential to notably expand biomedical applications. 

Conventional laboratory-based synthesis of gold nanoparticles require ionic precursors and reducing agents subjected to varying reaction conditions such as temperature, pH, and time. This leads to variation in nanoparticle size, morphology and functionalities that are directly correlated to their internalization in cells, their residence time in vivo, and clearance. In order to avoid these uncertainties, this work demonstrates that biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles can be achieved efficiently and directly inside cancer cells without requiring conventional laboratory methods.

The researchers examined how various cancer cells responded to the introduction of chloroauric acid to their cellular microenvironment by forming gold nanoparticles. These nanoparticles generated within the cell can potentially be used for various biomedical applications, including in x-ray imaging and in therapy by destroying abnormal tissue or cells. 

Expanding biomedical applications 

In the paper, Pan and his team describe their new method of producing these plasmonic gold nanoparticles within cells in minutes, within a cell’s nucleus, using polyethylene glycol as a delivery vector for ionic gold. “We have developed a unique system where gold nanoparticles are reduced by cellular biomolecules and those are able to retain their functionality, including the capacity to guide the remaining cluster to the nucleus,” says Pan. 

They also worked to further demonstrate the biomedical potential of this approach by inducing in-situ biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles within a mouse tumor, followed by photothermal remediation of the tumor. Pan explains that the mouse study exemplified how “the intracellular formation and nuclear migration of these gold nanoparticles presents a highly promising approach for drug delivery application.”

“Gold is the quintessential noble element that has been used in biomedical applications since its first colloidal synthesis more than three centuries ago,” Pan notes. “To appreciate its potential for clinical application, however, the most challenging research ahead of us will be to find new methods of producing these particles with uncompromised reproducibility with functionalities that can promote efficient cellular binding, clearance, and biocompatibility and to assess their long-term term effects on human health. This new study is a small but important step toward that overarching goal.”

In addition to his appointment at UMBC, Pan is a professor of diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine and pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) as part of his dual appointment with the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Coauthors on the paper are affiliated with the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; UMSOM; and Cytoviva, Inc.

Banner image: UMBC’s Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

A team of researchers led by Charissa Cheah, professor of psychology at UMBC, has found that a high percentage of Chinese American parents and children have witnessed and experienced an increase in racial discrimination since the outbreak of COVID-19. 

The team was one of the first to receive a National Science Foundation Rapid Response Research (RAPID) award to examine an issue related to COVID-19. The study is titled “RAPID: Influences of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak on Racial Discrimination, Identity Development and Socialization.” The researchers’ findings are now published in Pediatrics. 

The impacts of experiencing racism

The data reveal that large percentages of Chinese Americans are experiencing racism at interpersonal, institutional, and collective levels, both in person and online, during COVID-19. These experiences harm both adults’ and children’s mental health, and reflect a history of racism against Asian Americans in the United States. 

Charissa Cheah.
Photo courtesy of Cheah.

The team suggests that public health strategies are urgently needed to decrease fear, stigmatization, and discrimination. They recommend that schools develop strategies to address racism targeting Asian American youth. They also note that healthcare professionals need to be educated on how to address the mental health needs of this population.

Cheah is a cultural developmental psychologist. She completed the research with co-investigators Shimei Pan, assistant professor of information systems at UMBC, and Cixin Wang, assistant professor of school psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. 

Sharing research with the public

Cheah has shared different aspects of the research with the media.

In The Washington Post, she cautioned against using language to describe COVID-19 that could fuel discrimination against Asian Americans. In an interview for WYPR she explained the prevalence of racism against Chinese Americans as a result of the pandemic. She commented on the negative health outcomes caused by persistent discrimination in The Baltimore Sun.

Cheah also spoke in a video for Science Magazine about the mental health of Chinese American children and teens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Banner image: The Coronavirus. Image by Alachua County, used under Public Domain Mark 1.0.