- PRISMH: The President's Initiative for Student Mental Health.
- Features: Stretching of neurons implicated in traumatic brain injury; Flipping policy.
- Awards and Recognition: A tribal-U of M partnership has received a $1.5 million NSF grant to study and protect wild rice; and more.
Announcing PRISMH: The President's Initiative for Student Mental Health
The President’s Initiative for Student Mental Health (PRISMH) is the University of Minnesota’s first systemwide effort to bring additional focus to the topic. PRISMH will be grounded in a public health approach and will include several focus areas to make certain every student has the mental health resources they need to thrive. The initiative is seeking broad representation among students, faculty, clinicians, and staff to serve on the committee, as either a standing member or a subject matter advisor; complete a brief application by March 19.
Stretching of neurons implicated in traumatic brain injury
As athletes and soldiers know all too well, repeated head injuries can cause traumatic brain injury and lead to neurodegenerative disease, or dementia. But no neurons need be torn open or crushed to cause this damage. They need only be stretched, a new University of Minnesota study shows. The study found that stretching induces the same damage to cells as occurs in chronic traumatic encephalopathy and Alzheimer’s disease. The work sets the stage for quickly screening drugs or other treatments targeting the root cause of injury-induced brain trauma.
Flipping policy
Damola Ogundipe (BS ’11) is a cofounder of Civic Eagle, a company designed to help businesses, nonprofits, and advocacy groups and organizations discover, track, and analyze legislative and political information to guide decision-making and propel performance. Ogundipe believes it will help level the playing field of democracy and provide some of the most important social organizations a fair chance at influencing policy at all levels of government.
Awards and Recognition
A tribal-U of M partnership has received a $1.5 million NSF grant to study and protect wild rice; the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research has recognized the U of M Medical School as the 28th most funded institution by the NIH in 2020; Allison Hubel has been named the new director of the U of M’s Technological Leadership Institute; the U of M Twin Cities has been recognized as one of the most bicycle-friendly higher education institutions in the nation; U in the News features highlights of U faculty and staff cited in the media. Awards and Recognition
2020 Performance and Accountability Report
The University recently released its 2020 Performance and Accountability Report, which details in-depth metrics among graduation rates and recruitment, research endeavors, fiscal stewardship, and more, across the University of Minnesota System.
Orthopedic procedure prioritization guides equitable distribution of care during pandemic
Edward Cheng and a team of faculty physicians from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery developed an objective tool, backed by science, to more equitably prioritize patient care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been a major challenge for physicians and health systems across the country.
U of M and Mayo Clinic collaborate on new citizen science project
A University of Minnesota-Mayo Clinic partnership has joined with the Zooniverse citizen scientist platform and the Francis Crick Institute in London to leverage world-leading expertise in microscope imaging with the power of citizen science to study the relationship between structure and function in biology to better understand health and disease. The project will help biologists understand the complex roles that lipids play in health and disease.
PhD candidate helps create #BlackinCancer virtual community
Ralph White III, a fourth-year graduate student, has helped establish a new organization, called Black in Cancer, focused on teaching others about cancer, particularly in the Black community, and creating a common, virtual space for Black scientists working on cancer research.
Webinar series to support global learning
Faculty and instructional staff interested in exploring fresh ways to engage students to increase their international, intercultural, and global knowledge are invited to register for a series of Internationalizing the Curriculum and Campus webinars. Participants will learn new teaching activities and approaches designed to support global learning for their students and explore strategies to apply right away in their courses.
Feb. 25 - University and Faculty Senate meeting
A concurrent meeting of the University Senate and Faculty Senate will be livestreamed via YouTube, 2:30-5 p.m. Items of business include updates from the president and provost, proposed changes to the Twin Cities diversity and social justice liberal education theme, and a number of revisions to educational policy. See the docket materials for more details.
March 3 - Research Ethics Day
Join national leaders to consider how the COVID-19 pandemic is changing research ethics during “Research Ethics Day: Conducting Research in the COVID-19 Pandemic - Ethics in an Emergency.” Experts will discuss how to advance ethics and equity when conducting pandemic research, how to reconcile research with the clinical imperative to save lives, and how the pandemic is affecting research design. 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m., via Zoom. Register and learn more on the Consortium on Law and Values website.
March 15 - An hour with the scholars: Celebrating the University's 2020 Community-Engaged Scholars awardees
Spend a virtual lunch hour in celebration with the recipients of the 2020 Community-Engaged Scholar Awards and learn firsthand about groundbreaking University of Minnesota scholarship that has advanced the health and well-being of individuals, communities, and the environment throughout Minnesota and beyond. The event will be hosted by Andrew Furco and Rebecca Ropers, with special guest Rachel Croson. Noon, via Zoom.
Research Brief: Discovery improves catalytic production of chemicals
In a new study, a national team of researchers, including a University of Minnesota Twin Cities professor, have discovered an innovative way to improve catalytic processes used in the production of chemicals. The findings could make large-scale industrial processes more efficient and environmentally friendly. Additional recent Research Briefs include “Research shows that, genetically, high-CBD ‘hemp’ plants are mostly marijuana.”
U of M featured virtual events
Ongoing: UMN Voice, Art, and Community series
Feb. 24 - Myon Burrell’s Fight for Justice
Feb. 25 - Fire+Flood film discussion: Inequity and Recovery in Puerto Rico
Feb. 25 - The Story Behind UMN’s Success in Education Abroad
Feb. 25 - Voting: What Changed in 2020?
March 1 - Know ‘Dis: Strategizing Around White Supremacist Epistemologies
March 3 - Health Reform, Take 3
March 12 - White/Black: Part 2 - The Descendants of the Crack Epidemic
Crookston and Morris collaborate to strengthen recruitment
The University of Minnesota Crookston and the University of Minnesota Morris have announced a collaboration in the area of admissions. This collaboration will strengthen each campus’s enrollment in person and online while allowing them both to provide more effective and efficient recruitment operations.
Proulx goes full circle from student to lecturer
Rob Proulx, an agronomy lecturer, started his undergraduate studies as a business major and transferred to U of M Crookston, earning his bachelor’s degree in agronomy and later a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Later, he began pursuing a PhD in earth systems science and policy.
Crookston celebrates Lunar New Year
Crookston faculty, staff, and students rang in the Year of the Ox on Feb. 12 over Zoom with their international and overseas partners, including alumni, staff, and partnering institutions in China. “It was a trip down memory lane for staff and alumni,” says Rae French, International Programs and Learning Abroad coordinator.
Kendi to speak at summit
UMD’s Summit on Equity, Race, and Ethnicity runs March 2-4. Ibram X. Kendi will give a presentation March 3, 10 a.m. Kendi is the author of numerous books, including How to Be an Antiracist and Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. The summit is open to the public; registration is required.
Visual Culture Lecture featuring Ryuta Nakajima
Ryuta Nakajima will give a virtual talk on March 2, 6-7 p.m., as part of the Visual Culture Lecture Series. Nakajima is an associate professor in UMD’s Department of Art & Design and teaches painting. He earned his PhD in design and visual communications from Kyusha University in Fukuoka, Japan.
Morris a top producer of Fulbright students
U of M Morris is proud to be a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Top Producing Institution for the 2020-21 academic year. Four Morris students received Fulbright awards in 2020-21 (Mara Christensen ’20, Anika Paulson ’20, Sarah Severson ’20, and Trina Vue ’20), and four more are semi-finalists for 2021-22 (Breanna Dragseth ’21, Felícia Galván ’21, Maggie Schauff ’21, and Rose Schwietz ’13).
Browse the Oral Histories Collections
As the Briggs Library metadata and technical services coordinator, Naomi Skulan spends much of her life keeping and caring for stories. She knows better than most how they shape our understanding of the past and of place. That’s why she’s taken on the task of digitizing and sharing oral histories from West Central Minnesota, with help from a grant from the Minnesota Historical Society. Explore the Oral Histories Collections.
Black student leaders at UMR are creating space for conversation
For a group of student leaders at the University of Minnesota Rochester, the 28 days in February carry more meaning than most of the other 337 days of the year. As Med City Beat reports, it’s a time specifically set aside to uplift the stories and voices of Black Americans, worldwide and at home—and they plan on bringing those stories to as many people as possible in 2021.
Take the Campus Master Plan survey
What will the future of the Twin Cities campus look like? Let University campus planners know by taking the Campus Master Plan survey to guide how spaces on campus can meet the needs of future students, faculty, and staff.
Study finds young adults practicing yoga not immune to societal pressures for thinness and muscularity
The study, led by Professor Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, found that people who practice yoga were equally or more likely to practice extreme weight control behaviors and binge eating, or to use steroids and protein powders/shakes to enhance muscles.
March 4 - Headliners: Xenophobia in America: How We Got Here and What's at Stake
Join award-winning author and historian Erika Lee as she helps us to confront our nation's history of irrational fear, hatred, and hostility toward immigrants, from the colonial era to the Trump administration. Lee will explain how xenophobia works, why it has endured, and how it threatens the United States. 7-8:30 p.m., via Zoom. No charge, but registration is required. Hosted by the College of Continuing and Professional Studies.