Kendra Sampey, research administrator for the Flagship Constellations, has created tailored lists of funding opportunities based on research keywords/phrases collected earlier in the year. The lists can be found here: Curated Funding Opportunities. The goal of the lists is to provide a single place for researchers to go to view funding opportunities at any time and also to save time by not having to scroll through those that are unusable. The lists will be updated each Monday by adding new opportunities that have appeared in PIVOT during the previous week.
Neuroscience Summer Research Education Program 2019
The Brain Wellness Constellation Neuroscience Summer Research Education Program is an initiative of the University of Mississippi Flagship Constellations. The eight-week program will provide stipends to undergraduate students for collaborative research experiences in neuroscience related to brain wellness and will serve to develop new pipelines for pre-graduate and pre-medical students interested in neuroscience to gain research experiences in addiction, neurotrauma, stroke and neurovasculature, or neurodevelopment and toxicology.
Community Wellbeing Meeting
Attendees of a Community Wellbeing Constellation meeting in Jackson on Jan. 9 heard updates on various funded projects, more information about the University of Mississippi’s M Partner initiative and more. Thirty-five people from the UM Oxford campus, the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the local community attended the meeting held at the UMMC School of Pharmacy.
As part of the meeting, Marie Barnard, an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Administration, provided an update on her funded project “Student-Centered Outcomes Research Experience (SCORE) — Pilot”; Anne Cafer, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, provided an update on her funded project “Community Political Empowerment Assessment Project”; and Stephanie Otts, the director of the National Sea Grant Law Center, presented an update on her funded project “Helping Communities Uncover the Link between Water Quality and Health in Jackson, MS.”
Wendy Pfrenger, the assistant director of UM’s Pre-College Programs, presented “The Bridge is Out: Improving Relational Infrastructure for Mississippi’s Youth” and made a call for further engaging with Mississippi communities to ensure interested students make it to campus.
Attendees also heard from Laura Martin, associate director of the McLean Institute and M Partner director, on the progress of the M Partner initiative, which is a community partnership program that seeks to match university capabilities with the goals and needs of local communities. A number of Community Wellbeing Constellation members have received funding to have their students work with one of the pilot communities.
Dr. Tansey Named Fellow
Keith E. Tansey, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the Departments of Neurosurgery (Division of Rehabilitation Medicine) and Neurobiology and Anatomical Sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Neurorehabilitation. The title is awarded to those who have contributed significantly to the field of neurorehabilitation and to the American Society of Neurorehabilitation, of which Dr. Tansey is a member. He has served on the board of ASNR, chaired its membership committee and still works on the society’s membership and program committees.
Dr. Tansey also is considered a significant contributor in the field of neurorehabilitation due to his leadership as the president of the American Spinal Injury Association and due to his scholarship, including co-editing a recent textbook, Neurological Aspects of Spinal Cord Injury (Spring International Publishing, 2017).
In addition to serving as faculty at UMMC and as part of the medical center’s Neuro Institute, Dr. Tansey is a senior scientist in the NeuroRobotics Lab of the Center for Neuroscience and Neurological Recovery at Methodist Rehabilitation Center and a physician in the Spinal Cord Injury Clinic at the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center in Jackson.
Tech Summit Held
The University of Mississippi hosted its third annual Technology Summit on Aug. 29. The summit presented an opportunity for business and industry leaders to gather in Oxford to discuss technology, education and workforce development. Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter hosted U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and technology leaders for the event.
Infrastructure Resilience Conference Held
Experts from around the country recently gathered at the University of Mississippi for a two-day conference on infrastructure resilience.
Hosted by UM and the UM School of Engineering, the Infrastructure Objective Resilience Workshop included university and federal experts in engineering, materials science, physical acoustics, geology, journalism, computer science, construction, psychology and hydroscience.
Duffs Honor Late Father with Major Gift to Support Flagship Constellations
Thomas and Jim Duff, of Hattiesburg, made a $1 million gift to pay tribute to their father, Ernest Duff, a native of Columbia and University of Mississippi graduate, to support the university’s Flagship Constellations initiative — multidisciplinary teams composed of faculty, staff and students from the university’s Oxford and Medical Center campuses seeking significant, innovative solutions to complex issues.
UM Launches Flagship Constellations to Tackle ‘Grand Challenges’
The University of Mississippi unveiled its Flagship Constellations initiative, which includes multidisciplinary teams with the goal of creating solutions in the areas of big data, brain wellness, community wellbeing and disaster resilience, on Nov. 17, 2017.