Candida albicans yeast cells. A. A yeast exposed with beta-glucan shows strong fluorescent signal. B. Normal yeast cells with masked beta-glucan show little fluorescence.

It lives naturally inside some of us, but under the right circumstances it can grow out of control and cause systemic fungal infections. Systemic infections can be life-threatening with up to a 40 percent mortality rate, especially among immune-compromised individuals.

In their report, the Re-Imagining Fall Task Force made recommendations related to faculty scholarship, including:

• Provide support for faculty success in scholarship, creative activity, and the pursuit of new external funding
• Assist the restart and regrowth of human-subjects research
• Strengthen laboratory safety culture in concert with implementation and sustaining of health safety culture
• Strengthen communication concerning research status, compliance changes, and support opportunities

The Office of Research and Engagement has created an online portal, Research Central, to receive inquiries and requests in response to the recommendations related to faculty scholarship affected by COVID-19. Administrative units within ORE will then collaborate to offer customized support to each inquiry.

As an environmental sociologist working in the field of engineering, Chien-fei Chen thrives on unique, multidisciplinary research questions. In 2018, she became interested in pursuing a multidisciplinary, multi-cultural research project that would explore issues surrounding the equality of renewable energy, specifically the differences between Western and Chinese cultures, and how new energy solutions can impact vulnerable areas.

Chen is director of education and diversity programs at the Center for Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT), a National Science Foundation-funded engineering research center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; a research associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS); and adjunct faculty in the Department of Sociology.