News Archives: September, 2020

The National Science Foundation has awarded researchers at the University of New Mexico (UNM), New Mexico Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NM EPSCoR), and partner institutions a total of $739,619 in research grants to address the under-representation of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines and workforce.

Steven Soper, a KU Foundation Distinguished Professor with appointments in both the School of Engineering and Department of Chemistry is leading an effort to develop a quick-turnaround COVID-19 test that can be used at home. Soper’s team, which includes a half-dozen graduate students in bioengineering and chemistry, is repurposing “lab on a chip” technology he had previously developed to give doctors simple tools to more easily and quickly diagnose conditions ranging from stroke to colon cancer.

Climate-conscious consumers often take steps to curb their emissions of greenhouse gases. For example, you might drive a hybrid car to reduce your use of fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during combustion.

During this challenging time, it is more critical than ever to come together to help those most in need. Some of our recognized network members teamed up to distribute face masks and hand sanitizers to the needing New Mexico Native Communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This remarkable initiative started with New Mexico Tech and former INBRE student, Dr. Danielle Turner when she saw the recipe for the WHO Hand Sanitizer online and mentioned it to our NM-INBRE liaison at Tech, Dr. Snezna Rogelj.

Every Thursday morning, before most of campus is awake, University of Nebraska–Lincoln engineer Shannon Bartelt-Hunt and a small team of graduate students and building systems personnel can be found at various campus sites, lifting manhole covers and collecting sewage samples.

Despite the textbooks, lectures and study sessions, future health professionals can face many unknowns during their first interactions with patients. Will they ask the right questions? Will they know the right answers? How will they connect with their patients?

Education continues to look different for most students — and that especially includes those pupils with disabilities who receive support services like speech therapy through their schools.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing uncertainties in the higher education world, West Virginia University received $195 million in external funding for research and other sponsored programs this past fiscal year.

Researchers at Kansas State University were given a $1 million grant to find out how to protect workers at meat packing plants from the coronavirus.

Alaska INBRE, supported by grant number P20GM103395 from the National Institutes of Health and the University of Alaska, has committed $101,700 funding to date for COVID-19 research.