Michigan Drug Discovery’s latest funding round has technology focus
A new round of funding from Michigan Drug Discovery is bolstering cutting-edge drug discovery technologies at the University of Michigan. The $320,000 in funding reflects MDD’s focus on securing new tools and platforms to support drug discovery research across the university. The funding will assist four projects that will investigate new ways to treat chronic Toxoplasmainfections caused by the T. gondii parasite; screen a library of more than 1 billion compounds in search of chemicals that can inhibit a particular protein that plays an important role in many cancers; identify compounds that can treat and potentially modify the disease course of spinocerebellar ataxias; and apply technology to the U-M natural products collection with the goal of identifying new pain relievers. For more details about these projects and the U-M researchers leading them.
U-M, Wayne State team up to advance computational problem-solving
A new, $1 million National Science Foundation grant awarded to U-M, Wayne State University and Merit Network will help provide the computational power necessary for researchers at all institutions in the state — and throughout the Midwest region — to pursue their science and introduce their students to advanced computational problem-solving. The Helping Our Researchers Upgrade their Science grant will address a lack of access to high-performance computing and high-throughput computing and the long learning curve toward its use. HORUS will build on and augment the previously NSF-funded OSiRIS project, which provided massive storage — but not computational power — by adding computational hardware atop the storage. Shawn McKee, a research scientist in the Department of Physics, is the principal investigator on the project. Read more about this project.
Safe Medication Disposal Event set for two locations Oct. 4
The College of Pharmacy’s Safe Medication Disposal Event, during which unused and expired medications are collected for environmentally safe disposal is scheduled for 8a.m.-2 p.m. Oct 4 at two campus locations: Ingalls Mall on North Washington Street, across from Rackham Auditorium, and the triangle area between University Hospital, Mott Children’s Hospital and Taubman Health Care Center on the Medical Campus. In the past, pharmacy students have collected almost two tons of medication, keeping potentially harmful substances out of water, landfills, and the wrong hands. The effort now accepts sharps and sharps containers. Read more about the collection event at pharmacy.umich.edu/events/safemed.
Nominees sought for 2023 Goddard Power and Dumas awards
The Academic Women’s Caucus is accepting nominations from the U-M community for the 2023 Sarah Goddard Power Award and Rhetaugh G. Dumas Progress in Diversifying Award. Nominations for both awards are due Oct. 21. The Sarah Goddard Power Award recognizes those who have made significant achievements in contributing to the betterment of current challenges faced by women through distinguished leadership, scholarship or other activities related to their professional lives. Nominations may be submitted at cew.umich.edu/sgpaward. The Rhetaugh G. Dumas Progress in Diversifying Award recognizes a U-M academic unit’s progress in establishing and maintaining ethnic/racial and gender diversity at the full professor and associate professor ranks, both tenured and non-tenured, and ethnic/racial and gender diversifying in junior ranks. Nominations may be submitted at cew.umich.edu/rgdumas-award. Email questions to Tiffany Marra, tmarra@umich.edu; Pat Coleman-Burns, pcb@umich.edu; or Marilee Benore at marilee@umich.edu.
U-M joins project investigating potential war crimes in Ukraine
The Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia will collaborate over the next year with The Reckoning Project: Ukraine Testifies to create a “Lasting Memorial” of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The project brings together U-M faculty and students to collate and code data about potential war crimes collected by Ukrainian journalists and researchers. This data will be analyzed for archival and legal purposes, and ultimately contribute to war memorials. The Reckoning Project: Ukraine Testifies is a non-governmental organization that includes journalists and legal experts that strives to bridge the gap between accessible but accurate war reporting and admissible legal evidence. Learn more about The Reckoning Project at ii.umich.edu/wcee/reckoning-project.
Six U-M students chosen for inaugural Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship
Six U-M students who are seeking public service careers have been recently named recipients of the inaugural Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship. The two-year program was created by former President Barack Obama, his wife, Michelle, and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. U-M had the most awardees of any university represented in the program’s first year. The recipients and their areas of study are: Hannah Feng, psychology and international studies; Janice Kang, political science and Spanish; McLaren Lindsey, linguistics and French language and culture; Nirav Patel, business administration and finance; Mariel Vander Schuur, women’s and gender studies and environmental science; Michael Wilkins, international studies. Awardees will receive up to $60,000 over the remaining two years of their undergraduate program, and up to an additional $20,000 for the next 10 years as a travel budget.
— Compiled by James Iseler, The University Record
