Awards and Recognition

Rebecca Wurtz is quoted in the New York Times story, “Good Vaccine News”; Chen-Fu Liao comments in a KSTP-TV story about how MnDOT and the U of M are working together on an app to help the visually impaired at signal crossings; Michael Osterholm is quoted in the New York Times and other outlets about the Biden administration’s promise to speed the flow of vaccines to the states; Alexandra Klass is quoted in a New York Times story about how much the DOE can actually do on climate; Mark Bell is quoted in the Associated Press about how a renewed nuclear pact with Russia won’t fix emerging arms threats; Emily Zylla is quoted in Time about vaccine rollout problems and issues of equity in many states; Michael Osterholm comments in Newsweek about new COVID mutations; Daniel Forbes is quoted in a Forbes story about how hiring a virtual assistant may be a smart move for your home business; Emily Vraga and Panayiota Kendeou are quoted in the Mpls St. Paul Magazine story, “Addressing COVID-19 Vaccine Misconceptions”; Paul Dauenhauer is featured in a PBS story about his work in sustainable plastics.

The University of Minnesota has been selected by the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) as one of 13 additional academic institutions that will participate in the next five-year phase of a collaborative research program. These universities join MIT, Stanford and the University of Michigan that have worked with TRI over the last five years to expand the body of research into artificial intelligence (AI) with the goal of amplifying the human experience. University of Minnesota Assistant Professor Hyun Soo Park in the College of Science and Engineering’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering will lead the TRI-sponsored research at the University of Minnesota. 

The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics has announced its 2021 research awardees. This marks the partnership's 17th year of spearheading new scientific ideas from Minnesota to improve the health of, and health care for, Minnesotans. The state-funded grants for these team science proposals total nearly $5 million. Some of these proposals include: a long-lasting COVID-19 vaccine, new treatments for breast and other cancers, and gene-editing techniques to prevent birth defects. The awarded teams will initiate the two-year projects aimed at improving the treatment of diseases that affect Minnesotans. Projects are selected based on the quality and rigor of the proposed research, importance of the medical need and potential of future commercialization. Each team includes investigators from Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota. It’s required that the studies be collaborative, and that the projects could not be pursued by either institution alone.

Learn more about the award-winning projects and awardees for 2021.

The University of Minnesota has been awarded a $4.48 million contract to support health sciences higher education advancements in Afghanistan. The Advancing Higher Education for Afghanistan’s Development program, funded by USAID and led by FHI 360 and four university consortia members, supports the government of Afghanistan, its Ministry of Higher Education, and numerous Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to increase access to and quality of their higher education programs and to ensure they are responsive to workforce needs. The lead university partners include Virginia Tech (agricultural sciences), the American University of Afghanistan (business), University of Massachusetts (education) and the University of Minnesota (health sciences).

Catherine Burrows, the Department of Pediatrics, has been appointed as a NIH K12 Building Interdisciplinary Research Career in Women's Health Scholar, where she will focus on characterizing sex differences in autism spectrum disorder symptom progression and presentation.

Michael Osterholm spoke with PBS about what Biden’s “wartime approach to the pandemic” means; Shailey Prasad is quoted in Forbes about America re-engaging with the WHO; Elizabeth Wrigley-Field and Rachel Hardeman were interviewed for a KARE 11 story about COVID racial disparities being worse than previously thought; Aaron Sojourner is quoted in a New York Times story about Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion spending package; Jill Foster is quoted in a WebMD story about why COVID vaccines are falsely linked to infertility; Shujun Liu is featured in the Inforum story, “Hormel Institute doctor will use $4 million grant in search of cancer answers”; Jessica Abbazi is quoted in a Minnesota Daily story about the University of Minnesota Music Library seeking to diversify its collection; Panayiota Kendeou is quoted in The Morning Consult story, “One Year and 400,000 Deaths: How the Pandemic Divided America.”

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the University a $5 million grant to address racial justice and create more just and equitable futures for all across Minnesota through public humanities. One of 16 awardees selected nationally by The Mellon Foundation’s new humanities-centered Just Futures Initiative, Minnesota Transform will collaborate with Black, Indigenous, immigrant and refugee communities to amplify historical interpretations, create new narratives and dialogues, foster community well-being and inform policy responses.

The Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) recently received a $3.1million grant from the American Institute for Research to provide intensive professional development to 50 schools around the country on the implementation of a comprehensive multi-tiered system of support for reading (MTSS-R) model. CAREI will collaborate with the study team on a large-scale, randomized controlled trial of MTSS-R in Grades 1 and 2 for the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. The project runs from January 2020 through June 2024 with CAREI director Kim Gibbons as the PI.

Elizabeth Lightfoot, School of Social Work, has been named recipient of the 2020 Award for Global Engagement. The all-University Award for Global Engagement is given to faculty and staff members in recognition of outstanding contributions to global education and international programs at the University or in their field or discipline. 

Congratulations to the 2020 inductees to the Academies for Excellence, which recognize outstanding faculty in the areas of scientific research, educational scholarship, clinical practice, and team science.

Academy for Excellence in Clinical Practice

William Roberts, professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; director of faculty affairs, Dept. of Family Medicine and Community Health; dir. of Program in Sports Medicine, Dept. of Family Medicine and Community Health

Mark Schneiderhan, associate professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Sara Shumway, professor, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery

Academy for Excellence in Health Research

Alfonso Araque, professor, Department of Neuroscience

Kristine Ensrud, professor, Department of Medicine

Bernhard Hering, executive director, Schulze Diabetes Institute; professor, Department of Surgery

Joseph Metzger, professor, department head, and chair, Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology

Wei Pan, professor, Division of Biostatistics

Academy for Excellence in the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Barbara Brandt, director of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education; professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Care & Health Systems

Jeffrey Chipman, professor and chief, Division of Critical Care/Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Frank B. Cerra Professor in Critical Care Surgery; vice chair for education, Department of Surgery

Brian Sick, associate professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine; division director, Division of General Internal Medicine; dir. of interprofessional education, Office of Associate Vice President for Academic Health Sciences

Ann Van Heest, professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery; residency program director, Department of Orthopedic Surgery; vice chair of education, Department of Orthopedic Surgery; Orthopedic Advisory Board, Department of Orthopedic Surgery

Academy for Excellence in Team Science

Melena Bellin, associate professor, Department of Pediatrics

Srinath Chinnakotla, professor, Department of Surgery; surgical dir., liver transplantation, Dept. of Surgery; executive medical dir., Pediatric Abdominal Transplantation, Department of Surgery

Bernhard Hering, executive director, Schulze Diabetes Institute; professor, Department of Surgery

Sarah Jane Schwarzenberg, professor, Department of Pediatrics; division director, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition; vice chair for clinical affairs, Department of Pediatrics; co-director, Cystic Fibrosis Center