Awards and Recognition

Douglas Yee responds to CBS Minnesota’s question, “Are We Winning The War Against Cancer?”; Michael Osterholm is quoted in Fortune about whether summer will kill the coronavirus; Tetyana Shippee is quoted in the Pioneer Press (PDF) about a report card being developed for assisted living centers; Scott Libin spoke with KARE 11 about how to avoid getting duped by disinformation; Vladimir Sverak is quoted in the Quanta Magazine story, “Mathematicians Prove Universal Law of Turbulence”; Kathryn Pearson is quoted at KARE 11 about whether the Iowa Caucuses are a fair way to start primary season; Lisa Von Drasek is quoted in the Washington Post (PDF) about why you shouldn’t censor your teen’s reading (even the sex and violence); Joan Gabel and Tadd Johnson are quoted in The Hechinger Report about how the U of M more than doubled its native student graduation rate; Sheila Williams Ridge is quoted in The Atlantic about why kids love little shopping carts; Mary Owen is quoted in a Time Magazine story about how Juul pitched e-cigs to Native tribes.

James Cloyd III has been selected to receive the 2020 Tyler Prize for Stimulation of Research. The award recognizes an individual for encouraging research by peers, students, fellows, residents, and others via publications or by directing research, serving as a preceptor, or mentoring in any discipline of the pharmaceutical sciences. The award is considered one of the three most prestigious scientific awards of the American Pharmacists Association and is presented every three years.

Philip Portoghese has been selected to receive the 2020 Research Achievement Award in the Pharmaceutical Sciences. The award recognizes and encourages outstanding, meritorious achievement in and of the pharmaceutical sciences. Portoghese's research focus has been in the area of opioids and opioid receptors.

Sylia Wilson, Institute of Child Development, has won the Robins/Guze Award from the American Psychopathological Association. The award is presented to an early career investigator who has made an important contribution to the science of psychopathology.

Erika Lee is quoted in the Los Angeles Times (PDF) about how fear of coronavirus is fueling racist sentiment against Asians; Mary Jo Kane comments in the New York Times (PDF) on Katie Sowers coaching in the Super Bowl; Howard Oransky comments in the Star Tribune on the U of M’s giant exhibit that presents 500 years' worth of drawings; Michael Howell is interviewed at KSTP about SAD after the cloudiest January on record in Minnesota; Mark Schleiss comments at KARE 11 about the extremely low risk of coronavirus in the U.S.; a two part feature in the Star Tribune reports on the U's academic collaboration with China, with comments from David Pui, Chris Cramer, Zan Gao, Arthur Erdman, Charles Lo, and others; Paloma Gonzalez-Bellido is quoted in the New York Times (PDF) about her research; Rick Huebsch comments in the Mpls./St. Paul Business Journal (PDF) about the rise of invention licensing revenue after the U of M spins out the most startups ever; Lauren Martin and Barbara McMorris were quoted at MPR News and many other media outlets after their research showing that at least 5,000 Minnesota teens have traded sex for payment; Michael Osterholm is quoted in the story “Can the New Coronavirus Be Stopped?” at WebMD.

Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Georgios B. Giannakis has been named a National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellow and will be inducted into the NAI at the academy’s annual meeting this spring. Giannakis holds the McKnight Presidential Chair Professorship and is director of the University’s Digital Technology Center. Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. Giannakis is a world-renown and field-shaping engineer and scientist who is known best for his contributions to the fundamental understanding of signal processing, wireless communications, networking, and data science.

Linsey Griffin is quoted in a Minnesota Daily story about a recent study showing that top clothing brands are failing to meet plus-size consumers' needs; Larry Jacobs is quoted in Teen Vogue about why Elizabeth Warren’s plans appeal to some anxious young voters; LeeAnn Melin is quoted in a Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal (PDF) story on the factors in a student’s choice of degree; Valery Forbes is quoted in a Popular Science story about how flawed pesticide testing is harming our birds and bees; Lesley Knoll is quoted in MinnPost about what climate change means for the future of ice fishing in Minnesota; Janette Dill is quoted in a New York Times (PDF) story about an underlying problem belying women’s gains in the workforce; Jason Hill is quoted in the Star Tribune about why ethanol endures as an important market for Midwestern farmers; Gabe Chan is quoted in The Week Magazine story, “The tricky task of tallying carbon”; Michael Osterholm comments on the coronavirus in WIRED; Brent Larson is quoted in a New York Times (PDF) story about a company that promises to fix your smile, but may shush you if it doesn’t.

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Windgap Medical have received a $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a new device to quickly administer a recently developed antidote for cyanide poisoning. Under the grant, researchers from the University’s Center for Drug Design, College of Pharmacy, and Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company Windgap Medical are collaborating to design an autoinjector. The collaboration’s goal is to develop a valuable tool for first responders to use in saving victims of cyanide poisoning. The five-year grant comes from the NIH’s CounterACT program, which aims to prepare countermeasures against chemical threats that have the potential to be used as weapons.

In a new $1.5 million project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, U of M researchers will aim to increase the driving range and lower the operating costs of electric heavy-duty delivery vehicles. The three-year project will focus on large-scale battery electric vehicles—in this case, semitrucks—that typically travel more than 250 miles each day between warehouses.

The American Public Health Association (APHA) awarded its 2019 Junior Investigator Award to Assistant Professor Melissa Horning. The Junior Investigator Award is selected through blind review by the association’s research committee and honors an early-career (NIH definition) Public Health Nursing Section member's work since completing a doctoral education. Horning’s community-based participatory research aims to address social determinants of health that influence health behaviors, nutrition, and obesity of individuals and families living in underserved communities. She is currently exploring the role mobile food markets play in addressing healthy food access and reducing health disparities.