Awards and Recognition

Marguerite Ohrtman spoke with KARE 11 about why dumbing down your phone might be a smart move; Joseph Gaugler is quoted in the New York Times story “When a Spouse Goes to the Nursing Home;” Michael Osterholm is quoted in MinnPost about concerns around the possibility of wildlife-to-human crossover in chronic wasting disease; Mitch Hunter spoke with KSTP about U of M research helping turn crops into jet fuel and diesel; Christopher Warlick is interviewed in MPR News with Angela Davis about what Black men need to know about prostate cancer; Roy Kao is interviewed at MPR News about revolutionary sickle cell therapy treatments that are available, but which cost more than $1 million; Nicole LaVoi is quoted in the KARE 11 story “Minnesota athletes reflect on National Girls and Women in Sports Day”; Julia Interrante is quoted in an Inforum story about Minnesota birth facilities closing and the increasingly grim picture of rural health care.

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced 10 inaugural Regional Innovation Engines awards, with a potential $1.6 billion investment nationally over the next decade. Great Lakes ReNEW, which is led by Chicago-based water innovation hub Current and includes a team from the University of Minnesota, will receive up to $160 million to develop and grow a water-focused innovation engine in the Great Lakes region. The project’s ambitious plan is to create a decarbonized circular “blue economy” to leverage the region’s extraordinary water resources to transform the upper Midwest—Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Joe Redden is interviewed in the KARE 11 story “Grocery inflation is improving, so why doesn't it feel like it?;” Valerie Tiberius is interviewed in a Mpls. St. Paul Magazine feature about a U of M course on the secrets of happiness; Vera Krischik is interviewed in a KARE 11 story about the coming of billions of cicadas in parts of the U.S. this spring; Melisa López Franzen, Mark Bee, and others are quoted in a Minnesota Daily story about faculty compensation; Katy Kozhimannil is interviewed in a MPR News story about two rural Minnesota labor wards that are on the brink of closure; Brenden Tervo-Clemmens is quoted in a New York Times story about teen drug and alcohol use and its links to mental health distress; Karen Diver is quoted in a MPR News story about initial steps at the U of M to address harm done to Native communities; Brandon Miller is interviewed at CBS Minnesota about the potential for an early maple syrup season because of warm temps; Roger Ruan is quoted in a Star Tribune story about a pipeline for cow gas that is drawing environmental support but monopoly concerns.

The Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) recently received more than $5.3 million to provide comprehensive career development support for early-career faculty at the University of Minnesota. The award funds the K12 Scholars Career Development Program, which helps assistant professors conducting clinical or translational research become successful, independent, effective team scientists and leaders.

Claudia Cohn is quoted in WCCO about low blood supplies and a renewed call for donors; Lee Frelich spoke with KARE 11 about how Minnesota’s warm winter has the potential to be 'incredibly damaging' to trees; Cristina Ortiz is interviewed in an Iowa Public Radio story about changing attitudes on immigration; Jiao Luo is quoted in the Star Tribune story “Some Minnesota corporations quietly resume donations to election disputers;” Michael Travisano is quoted in a Science Magazine story about a study showing that microbes that gave rise to all plants and animals became multicellular 1.6 billion years ago; Tetsuya Yamada is featured in a Star Tribune story about her Walker Art Center show; Zinzi Bailey is quoted in a USA Today story about DEI attacks posing a threat to medical training and care; Laura Molgaard is interviewed in a Brownfield Ag News story about the urgent vet shortage.

University of Minnesota Twin Cities electrical engineering professor Jian-Ping Wang has been awarded the 2024 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Magnetics Society Achievement Award. The highest honor in the field of magnetics, the award recognizes exceptional accomplishments and contributions to the field. Wang is being honored for his pioneering inventions and contributions to magnetic materials, devices, and applications in information storage and computation, particularly on magnetic media, MRAM, and in-memory computing. 

The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) will honor the contributions of researchers from the Institute on Community Integration (ICI) and the Department of Educational Psychology.

ICI director Amy Hewitt will receive the 2024 Leadership Award, which recognizes courage, dedication, and outstanding contributions to the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Frank Symons, senior associate dean for research and policy in the Department of Educational Psychology, will receive the 2024 Research Award for investigations that have contributed significantly to the body of scientific knowledge in the field. ICI’s Brian Abery will receive the 2024 Service to the Field Award, recognizing his significant contributions to improved services for individuals with IDD. AAIDD also announced that Renáta Tichá will be recognized as a Fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Mary Butler is quoted in the New York Times story “What We Know About Multivitamins and Memory;” Bob Koch is interviewed for a CBS Minnesota story about the U of M helping farmers detect aphid infestations by using artificial intelligence and satellites; Ezra Golberstein is featured in a Minnpost story about fewer suicide attempts after school-based mental health was implemented in Hennepin County; Venkatram Mereddy is quoted in the Star Tribune about a UMD startup designing and testing potential cancer-fighting drugs; Julie Weisenhorn is interviewed in a Washington Post story about houseplant ‘hacks' could do more harm than good; Hubert Lim is quoted in a Washington Post story about a potential treatment for tinnitus; Robert Sterner is quoted in a USA Today story about his deep dive into sobering planetary changes going viral; David Marks is quoted in the Nature story "How CRISPR could yield the next blockbuster crop;" Rachel Hardeman and her work researching structural racism in health care were profiled in Stat News.

The University of Minnesota’s Crookston, Duluth, and Rochester campuses have been awarded the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement, joining the Twin Cities (2006, 2015) and Morris campuses (2015) and making the U of M the country's first and only university system at which every individual campus has received this selective designation.

Of the nearly 4,000 qualifying U.S. universities and colleges, this prestigious recognition has been granted to only 368 institutions. Administered by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the classification requires evidence-based documentation of institutional policies and practices that support dynamic and noteworthy university-community engagement.

The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics announced its 2023 research awardees. Totaling $6.75 million, this year’s awards fund innovative projects on cancer, rare genetic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cognitive aging and new health models to study diseases. The Minnesota Partnership is funded by the State of Minnesota and provides support for innovative research conducted by collaborative teams from the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic.