- All hail the Honeycrisp.
- Caring for Bryn and Vivian: Living with cystic fibrosis.
- Awards and Recognition: Vlad Pribiag is among 19 researchers nationwide to receive a $1.25 million Experimental Physics Investigators award from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; and more.
All hail the Honeycrisp
As apple season approaches, a new CFANS Insights survey shows that more than half of Minnesotans (52 percent) claim the U of M–born Honeycrisp as their favorite. The beloved apple variety (Minnesota’s official state fruit) is just one of 29 varieties from the U of M’s iconic apple breeding program since its inception. That’s good news considering the survey also reported that 80 percent of Minnesotans say it’s important to them to buy Minnesota-grown fruits, outpacing national trends in local fruit purchasing.
Caring for Bryn and Vivian: Living with cystic fibrosis
Despite being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, sisters Bryn and Vivian are living life to the fullest—playing soccer, hockey, and more, thanks to the help of Samuel Goldfarb, an M Health Fairview pediatric pulmonologist. Learn how Goldfarb has helped sisters Bryn and Vivian live life to the fullest, despite their diagnosis.
Awards and Recognition
Vlad Pribiag is among 19 researchers nationwide to receive a $1.25 million Experimental Physics Investigators award from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; the U of M has earned the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Award and will now compete for the national C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Award; the Research and Innovation Office has announced the recipients of the Innovation Impact Case Award; Chalandra Bryant is the winner of the 2024 Ernest W. Burgess Award from the National Council on Family Relations; MN Cup has announced the nine companies selected as this year's division winners; JoonHyung Cho has been named assistant vice president for external affairs and communications in the Research and Innovation Office; U in the News features highlights of University faculty and staff cited in the media.
New M Vote resource website for faculty, staff, and students
In anticipation of the November elections, the U of M Office for Public Engagement has launched a systemwide website for students, faculty, and staff to encourage and facilitate voter participation. M Vote includes election basics such as key dates, where and how to register, voter eligibility criteria, and contact information for the University's campus vote coordinators.
Applications open for two systemwide awards
The Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award honors faculty who have done significant research, teaching, or service/leadership to advance justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion at the University, in the person's field of study, or in the community. The nomination deadline is Sept. 27. The Imagine Fund Arts, Humanities and Design Chair Award is a two-year award that supports recipients in collaborative work to create a program of activities for the University community and the community at large. The application deadline is Nov. 15.
Apply for Human Rights Initiative funding
A joint initiative of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the College of Liberal Arts, the Human Rights Initiative (HRI) seeks to support research that significantly impacts the grand challenges in human rights today. The HRI calls on faculty or those with a P&A appointment from all disciplines to submit one-year funding proposals for grants between $10,000 and $50,000. The deadline is Nov. 1. See the request for proposals for more information.
U of M will apply institutional neutrality to investment decisions in Consolidated Endowment Fund
At a special meeting in August, the Board of Regents approved a resolution that investment decisions continue to be based on financial criteria already defined in policy. The Board also directed President Rebecca Cunningham to develop a process for future divestment requests, which is expected to come before the Board for its review by the end of the academic year.
Mindfulness interventions improve well-being for veterans with chronic pain
Mindfulness-based interventions delivered via telehealth in a scalable format can improve pain and overall well-being among veterans with chronic pain, according to new research from the Medical School. These interventions are designed to be scalable and widely implemented in healthcare systems and often include practices like meditation, breathing exercises, or gentle movement.
Putting out breast cancer’s biggest fires
Thanks to improving therapies and earlier detection, survival rates for breast cancer have never been higher—but certain subsets of the disease are resistant to treatment and remain as deadly as ever. That’s why David Potter is going beyond treating easy-to-kill cancer cells. “We want to kill the toughest of the tough,” says Potter.
Research suggests moths are becoming less attracted to light over time
For decades, the late-night corn earworm moth (Helicoverpa zea) flew to light traps like, well, moths to a flame. In recent years, scientists have noticed a dwindling cast of the beige-ish characters under lights, leading some to believe that the numbers of moths—nighttime pollinators and an important food for animals like bats—are declining. This is serious because while H. zea is in general a pest to crops, insect populations around the world appear to be in rapid decline, with serious consequences for ecosystems.
Who is science for?
A collaboration between Salish Kootenai College and the University of Minnesota, the Sustainable Land and Water Resources Research Experience for Undergraduates is a 10-week summer program that explores the complexities of doing tribally focused science in, with, and for communities. The majority of the 2024 cohort, which recently concluded activities with a research symposium, belonged to groups underrepresented in science—more than half were Indigenous.
Research Brief: Rural hospitals may be more vulnerable to ransomware attacks
Ransomware attacks in the health care sector have more than doubled in the past five years. Among providers, hospitals experience the highest rate of operational disturbances including restricted access to servers, disrupted patient care, and significant financial losses. A new study shows that while attacks are more common in urban hospitals, operational disruptions may hit rural hospitals—and rural residents—harder. See additional recent Research Briefs.
Register for the Interprofessional Geriatric Case Competition
Students, faculty, and aging experts are invited to participate in the fall virtual Interprofessional Geriatric Case Competition. The competition is an opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students from multiple disciplines to come together as a team to develop a comprehensive, interprofessional plan of care for an older adult. Faculty are asked to consider offering this as an optional activity for credit and/or signing up as a coach or judge. The deadline to register is Sept. 25.
Jumpstart: STEM and medical technology commercialization
Explore the commercial viability of your STEM- or medical-based innovation idea in this free virtual workshop using the Lean LaunchPad approach to systematically test key assumptions about your technology and the customer problems it might be able to solve. Completion of this six-session course can lead to nomination to the NSF's I-Corps Teams program, which carries a $50,000 grant. Held on Fridays, beginning Sept. 27.
Eagle's Nest Sculpture now sits outside Dowell Hall
A notable piece of art now sits outside U of M Crookston’s Dowell Hall. The Eagle’s Nest Sculpture representing Crookston’s Golden Eagle was commissioned by the campus and created by artist Patrick D. Wilson.
Crookston campus announces 2024 summer graduates
The U of M Crookston has announced its 2024 summer graduates. Students completed their degree requirements and were conferred July 26.
New student move-in
UMD welcomed students back for the fall semester and new academic year, and campus is overflowing with excitement as classes begin. Watch a short highlight video of students moving in.
Zone of sympatry
UMD researchers are studying how flying squirrels are impacted by climate change. They’re finding that southern and northern flying squirrel populations in Minnesota are shifting, with both species overlapping in what is called a zone of sympatry near Duluth. One of these researchers is Katie Pfaff, a student in the Integrated Biosciences Graduate Program, who tracks flying squirrel activity on UMD’s campus.
Homecoming 2024 events
U of M Morris homecoming events began on Sept. 3. Join in the Cougar homecoming celebration, with events including “Guess My Dress,” the Morris Chamber of Commerce Community Welcome Picnic, Pep Fest, the Agrivoltaic Array Dedication, the Homecoming 5K Run/Walk, and many more.
Morrison Gallery fall exhibitions
Photographs by Donald S. Clark and a mixed media display by Phyllis Joos are included in the first exhibit of the academic year in the Edward J. and Helen Jane Morrison Gallery. Also included are visual arts that explore how science fiction cinema influences our current understanding of scientific research.
The U of M is a key contributor to ensuring the region’s economic vitality
President Rebecca Cunningham and U of M Morris chancellor Janet Schrunk Ericksen write in an editorial published in the West Central Tribune about the campus’s emphasis on sustainability, the high value of a U of M Morris education, and more.
A future physician discovers the power of poetry to heal
U of M Rochester graduate Amarachi Orakwue ’19 discovered her love of poetry in the eighth grade. That discovery changed the course of her future, inspiring her to pursue a life as both an artist and a health care provider. She is now in her third year at the U of M Medical School, interested in obstetrics and gynecology. Read more about Orakwue’s journey.
UMR receives national attention for College-in-3
NBC News recently featured U of M Rochester and its year-round, accelerated baccalaureate degree. UMR student Kelsey DeSmith shared how the program has reduced her costs and set her up for success with an internship at Mayo Clinic. Karen Helfinstine, vice chair of education at Mayo Clinic, shared the value of employer/higher ed partnerships and the critical role of well-structured accelerated degree programs in addressing health care workforce needs.
UMR honored for equity and inclusion
Colleges of Distinction has recognized UMR for the fifth year in a row with its Equity and Inclusion award. UMR’s continued commitment to equitable completion outcomes through evidence-based practice both in and out of the classroom positioned UMR for the recognition.
First-of-its-kind technology accelerates cryopreservation, cybernetics, and bioimaging
A first-of-its-kind adaptive 3D printing system developed by U of M researchers can identify the positions of randomly distributed organisms and safely move them to specific locations for assembly. This autonomous technology will save researchers time and money in bioimaging, cybernetics, cryopreservation, and devices that integrate living organisms.
Athletes with U of M connections in the Paris Paralympics
For those who enjoyed watching or following athletes with a University of Minnesota connection at the recent Summer Olympics in Paris, there’s more in store. Four athletes with U of M connections are among the approximately 4,400 competitors at the Summer Paralympic Games, also in Paris, ongoing now through Sept. 8.
Tracking down tree pathogens
Recent PhD graduate and plant pathologist Nick Rajtar is developing innovative early detection methods for invasive tree pathogens, including harmful fungi and water molds. His research has helped develop biosurveillance practices for Minnesota to detect these diseases before they cause widespread damage.
Environmental Justice on the Mississippi River in Louisiana
How do values around water vary based on socioeconomic and geographic differences along the Mississippi River, from the headwaters in northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico? That's a question that Humphrey School associate professor Bonnie Keeler and a group of researchers, including Erin Niehoff, are exploring as part of a grant from the EPA to assess the benefits of a cleaner Mississippi River and inform federal water policy. Read Niehoff’s account of their work.
Meet nature’s four-legged firefighting friends
As an undergrad, Emily Fairfax studied chemistry and physics, then secured a position as a weapons system engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Now, after joining the Department of Geography, Environment & Society this fall, Fairfax works waist deep in the waters of beaver conservation. “Nobody I know comes into this world with the intention to study beavers,” says Fairfax. Read more about her path.
Saddle up
That Shelley Gray Paulson (BA ’92) has become a successful multiplatform equine photographer and educator wouldn’t surprise anyone flipping through the family album. However, it might surprise fellow Gophers who remember Paulson as majoring in vocal performance and daydreaming of a career in opera during her time at the U of M. How Paulson got here is something of a winding road.
Oct. 1 - Shaping the Future of Healthcare: Emerging Needs in a Changing World
Join the College of Continuing and Professional Studies (CCAPS) for this inaugural event of a semiannual series that will bring together the people and ideas from CCAPS’s nine interdisciplinary and healthcare-related programs. Following a keynote by Thomas Harris, COO and executive VP of operations of Gillette Children's, CCAPS dean Radhika Seshan will moderate a panel featuring professionals on the front lines of emerging healthcare needs.
Featured events
Sept. 9 - Mindful Mondays: Free Drop-In Sessions
Sept. 10 - David Fine Lecture: More Isn’t Always Better When it Comes to Technology in Healthcare
Sept. 11 - Professional Development Webinar: Communicating Across Cultures
Sept. 12 - The Threats to the 2024 Elections
Sept. 12 - Northrop Organist Greg Zelek in Concert
Sept. 13 - What’s Next for Voting? Still Marching Toward the Mountaintop
Sept. 13 - Ending Unequal Treatment: A Systems Approach