Category: Campus News

12/20/10

Symposium Focuses on Nursing Research

From the desk of Mel Serow, University Relations:

Cultural competence in health care and care of underserved populations are two areas in nursing education receiving a lot of attention in the classroom. University of Michigan-Flint students in the Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) program have focused their research this year on these two areas.

Their work was recently presented at the first MSN Research Symposium that attracted more than 50 guests, including students, faculty and staff.

“The response to the research posters presented by the 27 MSN was hugely successful,” said Connie Creech, director of Nursing Graduate Programs. “This will be an annual event to showcase student research skills, and their contributions to health care in the community.”

Special guests at the symposium were David and Francine Zick, who are sponsors of several student research projects via the Francine Zick Student Research Scholarship.
The UM-Flint annual fund assisted with sponsorship of the event.

Source

12/8/10

Grant Writing Workshop at UM-Flint

The Office of Research is once again bringing Christine Black to our campus for a half-day Grant Writing Workshop, Friday, January 28, 2011 from 12:30 – 4 pm.  This will be held in 4103 WSW.  An experienced grant writer, Christine serves as the Assistant Director of Research Services for the University of Michigan Medical School.  She has developed a wonderful workshop, and authored the Grant Writing Tutorial on the Office of Research Blackboard site.

To register for this or any other workshops we offer, please visit our Workshop Schedule website:

12/8/10

Faculty and staff awards

Congratulations to the following UM-Flint faculty and staff for receiving awards:

Jonathan Jarosz, Interim Director of University Outreach, who recently received a $ 65,000 grant from the C. S. Mott Foundation for the following project: College Entrepreneurship Program Year Three; and  

Huey-Ming Tzeng, Associate Director of Nursing, who recently received a $ 89,862 grant from the National Institute of Health for the following project: Advancing Patient Call Light Systems to Achieve Better Outcomes

11/29/10

Bryer Award Recipient

The Office of Development and Alumni Relations, the Office of Research and the Research & Creative Activities Committee congratulates Dr. Huey-Ming Tzeng, Associate Director of Nursing, SHPS for being this year’s Bryer Award recpient for the following project: “Exploring meaningful individual patient and hospital structural characteristics in predicting injurious fall occurrences among cancer patients and the differences between cancer and non-cancer patients”

The Bryer Fund was established by the family of Ben F. Bryer to encourage and support the medical research endeavors of University of Michigan-Flint faculty.  This research fund honors the accomplishments of Ben Bryer, surgeon, scientist, educator, author, and humanist, in his pursuit of medical knowledge.  Funding is available, on an application basis, to full-time faculty of the University of Michigan-Flint to provide support for medical and biomedical research, with a priority given to research related to cancer.

11/23/10

Research & Creative Activity Fund Recipients- Fall, 2010

 The Research & Creative Activity Committee and the Office of Research are pleased to announce the results of the fall 2010 Request for Proposals.  Nine proposals were received, requesting more than $122,000 in funding.   In total, 4 awards were made for the following proposals:

– Min-Hui Huang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy, SHPS:   A Task-Specific Rehabilitation Program to Improve Limb-Posture Control in Older Adults

– Nicholas Kingsley, Ph.D., Chemistry & BioChemistry Department, CAS:  New Ligand Design for the Development of Hydroamination Catalysts

– Murali Mani, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Computer Science, Engineering & Physics, CAS:  Enabling On-Time Response through Efficient Event Stream Processing

– Greg Rybarczyk, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Earth & Resource Science, CAS:   An Areal Analysis of Crime Risk in Flint, Michigan

Congratulations to all of our recipients!

11/15/10

Research Spotlight: Sharman Siebenthal-Adams, School of Education and Human Services

adams.jpgJoin us next Wednesday, November 17 at 10:30 am for our third Research Spotlight! For this month’s spotlight, we focus on School of Education ad Human Services professor Sharman Siebenthal-Adams and her research focusing on using educational technology to raise global awareness. Specifically, Dr. Siebenthal-Adams’ work focuses on the sustainability of the ecological habitat of the Punta Sur preserve and National marine and wildlife parks.

The talk will take place in the Office of Research Seminar Room, Room 530 French Hall. Come hear about is research endeavors, network with other researchers on campus.  This event is free and open to all interested faculty, staff and students, and refreshments will be served.

10/26/10

Faculty Awards

Congratulations to the following UM-Flint faculty:

– Vahid Lotfi, Associate Provost, who recently received a  $32,327 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint for the project “Peace Garden”

– John Sonnega, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences & Administration, SHPS, who recently received a $ 11,589 sub-award in a grant from the Department of Health & Human Services, CDC, for the project “Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center”

– Mary Jo Finney, Dean of the School of Education and Human Services, who recently received a $100,000
 grant from Michigan Future, Inc. for the project “Small High School Network Teacher Preparation Partner”  

– Marge Andrews, Director of Nursing, SHPS, who recently received a $3,500 grant from State of Michigan, Department of Community Health, for the project “State of Michigan Bureau of Health Professions Nursing Scholarships – Additional Funding”

– Connie Creech, Assistant Professor of Nursing and Director Academic Programs, SHPS, who recently received a major $ 1,425,600 grant from the Department of Health & Human Services, for the project: “Increasing the Supply of Adult Primary Care Nurse Practitioners: An accelerated two year inline Masters of Science in Nursing program at the University of Michigan- Flint”

10/14/10

Research Spotlight: Sy Banerjee, School of Management

sy.jpgJoin us next Wednesday, October 20th at noon for our second Research Spotlight! For this month’s spotlight, we focus on School of Management Marketing professor Sy Banerjee, as he discusses the area of his research interest:  Mobile Commerce. Sy has been working on several projects as he studies the changes brought to shopping, marketing practices and society at large through mobile devices. 

The talk will take place in the Office of Research Seminar Room, Room 536 French Hall. Come hear about is research endeavors, network with other researchers on campus.  This event is free and open to all interested faculty, staff and students, and refreshments will be served.

10/12/10

First UM-Flint Student Presents at SACNAS

waites1.jpg

From the desk of Mel Serow, University Relations

University of Michigan-Flint senior Cameron Waites recently returned from one of the largest scientific conferences for undergraduate and graduate students in the U.S. The 2010 SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) National Conference was held in Anaheim, California.

Waites is the first UM-Flint student to ever present a poster at the conference, and this year, was the only representative from any University of Michigan campus. His presentation was based on research he did while at the NIH (National Institutes of Health) this past summer.

“While a scholar in the National Institutes of Health Undergraduate Scholarship Program, I worked in the lab of Helene Rosenberg, M.D., PhD. My research project was titled Developing a qPCR assay for Influenza A/FM/1/47-MA: Cloning of the Mouse-Adapted Influenza M1 Gene,” said Waites. “During this project, I learned many molecular and microbiology techniques, and completed the basis for future work in the lab that will allow us to assess the amount of influenza virus in various tissues.”

For Waites, participating in the conference was critical in making the most of his undergraduate education, and remaining an active participant in research will assist him to reach his future goals of becoming a physician-scientist.

While having the opportunity to participate in various programs, including the recent conference, Waites has developed additional knowledge and skills in the area of cultural competency.

“As I reflect on my cultural competency interests at UM-Flint, and the internship experience as a Michigan in Washington Program participant in Washington D.C., I recognize the need for increased participation and representation of Persons of Color in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, and being able to gain further experience through personal relationships, networks, and conversations at SACNAS has further enriched my understanding of these issues.”

This isn’t the only time Cameron has represented UM-Flint as a first. In 2009, he was also the first UM-Flint to present at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). Way to go, Cameron!

10/8/10

UM-Flint to be Part of Advanced Nursing Education Expansion

From the desk of Mel Serow, University Relations

The University of Michigan-Flint will receive $1,425,600 to help with expanding Advanced Nursing Education. U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, both D-Mich., announced $13,322,537 in grants for nine projects across the state to train primary health care workers in Michigan. The funding was made available through the Prevention and Public Health Fund under the Affordable Care Act.

UM-Flint is one of just 26 schools of nursing to be selected for the grant to increase full-time enrollment in primary care nurse practitioner (NP) and nurse midwife (NMW) programs. It is projected that over 1,300 primary care nursing stipends will be supported through this five-year program.

“This award will directly support 30-60 graduate students who wish to become Primary Care Nurse Practitioners (NPs). NP’s are cost-effective, and part of the solution to the shortage of primary care providers,” said Director of the Graduate Nursing Program Constance Creech.

“This funding will support students who want to study full time, but could not afford it previously.”
According to Creech, the average Nurse Practitioner student leaves the UM-Flint graduate program with nearly $42,000 in student loans.

“By providing a stipend of $22,000 per student per year for up to two years, this funding will reduce the financial burden of attending school full-time, and help to accelerate graduation rates to increase the number of advanced practice nurses,” said Barbara Kornblau, dean of the School of Health Professions and Studies.

“The Affordable Care Act will give more families access to quality, affordable health care. These funds will help make sure there are enough doctors and nurses available to treat those new patients,” Stabenow said. “These investments in our health care workforce will create new, good-paying jobs and will ensure that Michigan families continue to have access to the medical care they need.”

“Six months after the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, Michiganians are starting to see the very real improvements that health care reform will bring to their lives,” Levin said. “These funds are just a beginning in the investments we will be making in Michigan’s health care, training new primary care doctors and nurses to help Michigan families.”

Congratulations to the staff and faculty in both the School of Nursing and the entire School of Public Health and Health Sciences!