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December 2, 2025Welcome to the latest SAS in Focus, a newsletter that reports what’s happening in the School of Arts and Sciences.
In this edition, read about a new PBS documentary, aliens, a teaching innovation grant, and more.
Nora Rubel featured in PBS documentary “Family Recipe”
New documentary includes Elizabeth Denio Professor , Chair of the Department of Religion & Classics and Co-director of the Center for Jewish Studies, among the featured experts. The PBS feature is a historical, genealogical and culinary journey through the Jewish diaspora in homes across America.
“Jewish cuisine is influenced by the economics, agriculture and culinary traditions of the many countries where Jewish communities have settled and varies widely throughout the whole world,” says Rubel.
“Jewish food, as we think about it now, is a culture of foods connected with holidays and rituals. In the United States, these foods are an amalgamation of recipes carried here by Jewish immigrants from their countries of origin. Cookbooks and family recipes are vital historical documents that preserve culture and history by recording culinary traditions, revealing social life, and demonstrating how communities adapt over time.”
Family Recipe is available on PBS stations, and will air Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 3 p.m. on WXXI-HDTV. Check local for more information and additional viewings.
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NPR talks with Vera Gorbunova about recent aging research 
Bowhead whales can live for up to 200 years while staying remarkably disease resistant How does one of the largest animals on Earth stay healthy for centuries?
NPR invited , Doris Johns Cherry Professor of Biology and Medicine, to discuss  published in Nature. The research from Ģą˝´«Ă˝ scientists Gorbunova and , Dean’s Professor of Biology, and first authors Denis Firsanov, a postdoctoral researcher, and Max Zacher, a graduate student in their lab, links the whales longevity to CIRBP, a DNA-repair protein. Bowhead whales have much higher levels of CIRBP than other mammals.
Airat Ibragimov receives Glenn Foundation fellowship for aging research
Airat Ibragimov, a postdoctoral research associate in the Laboratory, was awarded a
The one-year fellowship supports postdoctoral fellows who direct their research towards basic research mechanisms of aging and/or translational findings that have potential to directly benefit human health.
The fellowship was awarded for research titled “.”
Have you ever wondered if aliens exist? 
Over the last decade, astronomers have expended great effort trying to find what traces of simple forms of life—known as “biosignatures”—might exist elsewhere in the universe.
Adam Frank, a professor of physics and astronomy, searches for traces of advanced technology—and, by extension, alien life—on exoplanets.
In the latest edition of the Ever Wonder video series, Frank discusses the topic of life elsewhere in video “Ever Wonder: Do Aliens Exist?”
Check out the latest Ever Wonder video and article.
Join the Teaching Center Transparent Assignment Design Fellowship cohortFaculty are encouraged to consider joining the Teaching Center’s spring Transparent Assignment Design Fellowship cohort. The program demonstrates how to (re)design non-test assignments to get on-target work and to support the learning of all students. Fellows will learn transparent assignment design principles, transition their assignments, and workshop their assignments with peers.
The cohort meets four times for 90 minutes in person on River Campus during the spring 2026 semester and participants receive a $500 non-salary stipend to cover expenses related to their teaching and research. The application deadline is January 12, 2026. .
Teaching innovation grant availableInstructors can apply for up to $12,500 to support the integration of experiential learning or other high-impact practices into two instances of a redesigned or new course. The application deadline for this Teaching Center grant is January 7, 2026, for Fall 2026-Spring 2027 courses. Learn more at the
Have news to share? Send it our way
Send your SAS in Focus news tips to Director of Marketing and Communications Sheila Rayam at sheila.rayam@rochester.edu. Let her know about unique research, awards, publications, community collaborations and other interesting news. Please put “SAS in Focus” in the subject heading.
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