Strange metals, discovered around 30 years ago, are materials related to high-temperature superconductors and share fundamental quantum attributes with black holes. High-temperature superconductors conduct electricity with zero resistance at temperatures far above normal superconductors. The two fundamental classes of subatomic particles are fermions and bosons, which usually behave very differently. However, a research team co-led by Brown physics professor James Valles has found strange metal behavior in a material in which electrical charge is carried not by electrons, which are fermions, but by more wavelike entities called Cooper pairs. Although they consist of two electrons, Cooper pairs are bosons. Using a material called yttrium barium copper oxide, Valles and his team discovered strange metal behavior in a Cooper-pair metallic state—the first time strange metal behavior had been seen in a bosonic system. The findings, reported in Nature in January 2022, could help scientists understand strange metal behavior, such as high-temperature superconductivity, and potentially provide fundamental insights into the quantum world.
“My time at Brown University in the PhD program in American Civilization (now American Studies) revealed to me that disciplinary boundaries were made to be challenged and some- times broken. Having received training and mentorship from historians, sociologists, and literary critics, and having access to lectures by cognitive scientists, and having been able to build friendships with emerging physicians and engineers, Brown taught me that research is always collaborative. My explorations into the various dynamics of African American history are informed by an array of thinkers, and I am ever grateful to Brown for giving me the skills and confidence to pursue my curiosities and to seek different ways of looking at the world.”
“Coming to Brown University opened up a whole new world for me. It was the first time I came to the United States, and the friendliness of the [economics] department and the University community made me feel very welcome. It was not just the rigor of the academic program that prepared me well for my subsequent work, it was also the humanity of the department. I vividly remember getting invited by one of the profes- sors for a family Thanksgiving dinner. As a faculty, we now often invite graduate students to our house to make them feel welcome and seen.”
Sultan Daniels ’23 participated in a WAVE Fellowship at the California Institute of Technology, where he worked with a postdoctoral researcher to conduct information theory research in the electrical engineering department. His project involved developing the proof for a scheme that achieves the fastest theoretical rate at which data could be reliably transmitted by a Gaussian network channel. “The biggest thing that this research project gave me was the chance to put faces to the names in the field. I enjoyed speaking with the other students interested in information theory to brainstorm together or hear about their aspirations. I also enjoyed talking with the professor and the postdoc, as they were always able to point me to interesting papers or other insights,” Sultan said. He is applying to PhD programs with the goal of continuing to pursue research in information theory.
In most chronic diseases, including heart failure, kidney failure, and pulmonary fibrosis, the extracellular matrix becomes abnormal, leading to inflammation, fibrosis, and hypoxia, or reduced oxygen supply. In 2019, with the support of BBII funds, Jeffrey Morgan, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, developed a process for producing uniform injectable particles that potentially could be used to treat damaged tissue in various organs. The company XM Therapeutics was formed to further develop the treatment and bring it to clinical trials. XM Therapeutics is initially focusing on two of the most serious disorders, heart failure and pulmonary fibrosis, for which the clinical need and market size are enormous and continue to grow.
"I lead a high-risk, high-payoff research and development agency within the Department of Defense, charged with making pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security. Past successes include the Saturn V rocket, stealth aircraft, the ARPANET (which became the internet), self-driving cars, and mRNA vaccines— we are working on what comes next! In my job, I see hundreds of new ideas across many technology domains and have to make critical judgments about which ones we are going to take risks on. Brown prepared me for this in three ways: first, by training me as a geologist, an incredibly diverse field that requires you to use many different STEM disciplines (math, chemistry, physics, engineering); second, by honing my capacity for critical thinking; and third, by providing amazing role models."
Devon Newman ’25 received a Brown Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award (UTRA) to work with Megan Ranney, MD, former deputy dean of Brown’s School of Public Health and founding director of the BrownLifespan Center for Digital Health, on two projects. The first tested a digital intervention to reduce intentional firearm injury among teens, and the second evaluated a text-based intervention to reduce depressive symptoms and peer conflict in at-risk adolescents. A public health major planning to pursue a career in medicine, Newman said that the research “fits in really well with my major and my interests, especially the gun violence study, because a lot of the sites where we’re doing the study are rural areas, and I’m very interested in rural public health as I come from a town of about 5,000.” He continued this research project for an independent study credit.
Yannie Lam ’23 conducted pharmacology research as part of the Amgen Scholars Program, administered through the Office of Biomedical Graduate Education in the School of Medicine at Duke University. In addition to working in a lab, she attended weekly lectures given by researchers, spoke with current PhD students, and presented her research to other students and faculty at the Amgen Scholars North America Symposium at the University of California, Los Angeles. “The program made me want to pursue a PhD. I’d never done biochemical research before, so this was a really good lab environment where I got to try something new. I realized that I’m really interested in translational research where you figure out how to solve problems related to human disease.”
