Down the Drive

PRISON REFORM LOOKS at many different aspects of the justice system, from the conditions inside prisons to the effectiveness of the penal system and alternatives to incarceration. One University of Cincinnati student is researching the emerging field of “justice design” — specifically, the ways prison architecture impacts inmates and how ethically driven design can help aid rehabilitation and reintegration.

Kristin Dillenburger is a Marine Corps veteran and architecture graduate student in UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. While searching for her niche in the field, she learned about the Las Colinas Detention & Reentry Facility in San Diego, California. Opened in 2014, the facility was modeled not after existing jails and prisons, but health care and educational campuses — with ample natural lighting, outdoor spaces and displayed art. Other prisons in Europe have a similar mission, backed by statistics: Studies show a decrease in inmate-on-inmate crime and repeat offenses in this kind of environment.

Intrigued by this developing concept, Dillenburger made justice design the topic of her master’s thesis. Her research is supported by a 2019–20 Selected Professions Fellowship, which she received from the American Association of University Women.

She’s now in correspondence with several inmates serving a range of sentences across the country. “I don’t think you can design a prison unless you can put yourself in the shoes of a prisoner,” she says.

One inmate shared a piece of creative writing about a small piece of furniture in his cell, titled “The Gifted Table.” He uses the two-by-two-foot table to eat his meals, do his homework, write letters and as a step stool to access his bunk. “The table is worn down, it’s beaten, it’s bruised,” Dillenburger says. “It has rough edges just like he does. People don’t think anything of it, but for him, it has more meaning. He relates to this one little table in his cell.”

With these insights from inmates themselves, she hopes to better understand their experiences and the impact of the built environment around them.

It makes sense to take a similar approach to the architecture of college campuses or hospitals, Dillenburger says, which are designed to be conducive to work, study or healing for people who spend a lot of time there. There are subtle ways to employ elements like natural light in a prison to create a similar ambiance without making prisoners “too comfortable.”

“There’s a fine line,” she says.

Justice design is still a burgeoning concept that has critics — “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time,” they say. But Dillenburger argues that the benefits of humane prison design are far-reaching, from breaking the cycle of recidivism to saving taxpayer money.

“Why would you not want to make the effort to help someone grow as a person so they can contribute to the community in a positive way?”

There are even architects who have refused to work on prisons, believing it’s a policy and process problem, not a design issue. “I take the opposite stance,” she says.

“You’re not going to change the criminal justice system as an architect. It’s never going away,” she says. “So how can you make an impact by changing the design of buildings? With my military background in public affairs, I have a great understanding of the structure and the policies and how to communicate. It takes a lot to change those processes, but I can change the conditions that those inmates are living in.” 

— J. Kern

MORE THAN 1.5 MILLION Americans struggle with addiction to cocaine. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have developed an antibody for humans that may block the effects of cocaine and aid individuals battling drug addiction to stay in recovery.

Whether it is snorted, injected into the veins or smoked, cocaine delivers an intense high by increasing the levels of the natural chemical messenger dopamine that induces drug-taking behaviors possibly leading to addiction.

An antibody reengineered in a laboratory is now being manufactured for human trials that are expected to begin during the spring, thanks to the work of Andrew Norman, a professor in the UC College of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology. When injected into the bloodstream, that antibody attaches to cocaine, preventing it from entering the brain and limiting its behavioral effects.

Norman, principal investigator for the research, says the antibody isn’t a silver bullet, but possibly another tool in the toolbox for battling addiction.

“It will work under a very specific set of circumstances,” says Norman. “For somebody at risk of relapse, the antibody is onboard so if they take cocaine it will be ineffective in maintaining that relapse event. It will have no effect on the brain. It won’t do anything.

“It will be pharmacologically inert, and the person will feel there is no reason to take cocaine. It will blunt the effects of cocaine,” says Norman. “The hope is by the time they take cocaine and it doesn’t do anything, the cravings will dissipate.”

An earlier grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) supported Norman’s findings. A recent NIDA grant of $8.4 million for a three-year period will allow Norman to test his antibody in humans, a requirement before the immunotherapy could gain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and eventual use in treating cocaine addiction.

“This is a very important phase,” says Norman. “These studies are done in healthy volunteers, not in patient populations, and just in a limited number of people. Most drugs are only in the body for a few hours, and that’s why we need to take drugs like aspirin multiple times a day. This one is different. These antibodies are expected to have a half-life — that’s the time it takes for half of it to disappear — of maybe three weeks instead of a few hours.”

— C. Ricks

ONE MOMENT, ADAM ZUST was running on a treadmill at home. An instant later, he was no longer able to enjoy any of the things he loved.

At age 17, a stroke robbed him of the use of the right side of his body. The impact the stroke had on his communication and cognitive abilities forced him to stay in high school for a second senior year.

“Not only was I dealing with a disability,” Zust recalls. “All of my friends were leaving me.”

Before his stroke, Zust had been a fanatical video gamer with a love for first-person shooters and racing games. He tried to find comfort in his hobby, but only more frustration awaited him. The more accessible game genres did little for him, and video game controllers designed for one-handed use — he says he tried them all — fell far short of his expectations.

While he studied sociology in UC’s College of Arts and Sciences, Zust, now 26, never stopped thinking about how he’d make a better controller for people like him. In July 2015, he drew his first prototype. He worked with his sister Taryn, a fifth-year fine arts student in UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, to transform his drawing into a 3D-printed object. Twenty-seven iterations, 116 prospect interviews and three patents later, Zust is well on his way to making his dream controller a reality.

There is little variation in the design of video game console controllers from one system to the next. Two-handed controllers typically have four buttons on the right side of the controller’s face, a directional pad on the left and two small thumb-controlled joysticks positioned on either side. The index fingers control a pair of trigger buttons on each side of the top of the controller.

Controlling that many buttons with one hand may sound daunting, but Zust’s controller makes it easy. The hand rests on top of the controller, which is affixed to a table or other sturdy surface. Each finger rests next to two long, slender buttons, while the thumb controls joysticks on the side. The controller itself can be twisted left and right to provide even more control over movement.

Zust’s company, Kodiak Designs, graduated from UC’s Venture Lab pre-accelerator in September 2019. Zust says the program helped him learn to better manage his time, focus his efforts and better understand the needs of his potential customers.

The final step to graduating from Venture Lab is to present at the 1819 Innovation Hub in front of a room full of potential investors from Cincinnati’s startup community, along with
UC faculty and staff. Venture Lab graduation may seem similar to a startup pitch day, but its purpose differs: Instead of simply asking for money, each presenting company explains what their business needs in order to succeed. Some ask for help with industry contacts, while others solicit help bridging their teams’ talent gaps.

“The Venture Lab at 1819 is designed to accelerate outcomes for our UC community,” says UC Chief Innovation Officer David J. Adams. “We have developed a talent platform to bring the necessary resources to support these entrepreneurs. UC is brimming with talent across all disciplines who just need a platform to support their ideas.”

Questions from the audience vary wildly based on the ideas presented. Some focus on feasibility, while others can get into the technical weeds. When Zust fielded questions after the conclusion of his presentation, the first one

asked was a sure buying signal: “What will it take to make this happen?”

Since giving his presentation, Zust estimates that at least a dozen would-be investors and partners have been in touch with him, eager to help him cut into an estimated $2.4 billion market.

“It was very eye-opening to me that so many people want my product,” he says.

Zust’s first fully functional prototype is close to reality. He expects a limited production run for play testers this summer, with broader distribution planned for July 2021. But what he’s looking forward to most is using his controller to play his favorite video games.

— M. Koesters