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Students across the nation were challenged as the pandemic swept the world. Healing Stanzas, a collaboration between the Wick Poetry Center, the Healthy Communities Research Institute and the Brain Health Research Institute, seeks to combine the science of brain health and public health with the creative energy of the humanities to provide �鶹��Ƶ students, staff and faculty with an opportunity to improve wellness through reflective poetry.

Intentionality to build successful academic mentoring relationships with students is what sets professors apart at �鶹��Ƶ, and each year two professors at the graduate and undergraduate level receive a student-nominated award for their ability to do so. The intent of the award is to recognize those professors exceeding in mentoring students in how to perform research in any field.  

The National Institutes of Health recently awarded a $1.86 million grant to Thorsten-Lars Schmidt to develop molecular tools that help researchers to understand membrane proteins. This is the first time a professor at �鶹��Ƶ has been awarded an R35, which provides promising researchers with a five-year funding for a broader research program, rather than funding a specific project. This gives investigators a lot of freedom to develop new research directions as opportunities arise, rather than being bound to specific aims of a more narrow study.

Intravenous (IV) needle insertion is a practice that many medical professionals learn and need to master. A new cross-departmental �鶹��Ƶ project in the works will help nursing students improve their skills with cutting-edge technology. 

�鶹��Ƶ’s Brain Health Research Institute celebrated the grand opening of its new lab spaces on Friday, Nov. 5, with an afternoon of activities that included a keynote presentation, space dedication, tours and student research demonstrations. The new space, featuring interdisciplinary research facilities, is located on the lower level of the Integrated Sciences Building on the Kent Campus.

Last Spring, the �鶹��Ƶ Board of Trustees approved the Anti-Racism and Equity Institute, which creates an important interdisciplinary hub for faculty, students, staff and community members engaged in race and anti-racism scholarship, activism and education. “�鶹��Ƶ is a university that is known for its activism,” Carla Goar, Ph.D., director of the Anti-Racism and Equity Institute, said. “Ideally this institute will serve as a hub for scholars and activists to come together to tackle issues and racial equity."

The Farris Family Innovation Awards support the research of tenure-track faculty members who are not yet tenured at �鶹��Ƶ and who have shown promising drive for their field of study. In May 2021, Faculty Affairs announced the recipients of this year's Farris Family Innovation Awards: Michelle Bebber, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, and Elda Hegmann, assistant professor in the Materials Science Graduate Program.