News

MSI PI Suo Yang (assistant professor, Mechanical Engineering) has received a Young Faculty Award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The three-year award totals over $980,000. Professor Yang and his research group will use the award to study sonic booms, with the goal of minimizing the energy and environmental impacts of supersonic and hypersonic flight.
U-Spatial has named the winners for their 2021 Mapping Prizes. This annual event, which is open to students at the University of Minnesota, honors provocative and innovative map-making. See the winners on the Spatial University website: U-Spatial Mapping Prize. Submissions for the 2022 competition are due on May 13, 2022. The link to the submission information is on the U-Spatial Mapping Prize page linked above.
MSI PI Erin Sheets (professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, UMD; associate dean, Swenson College of Science and Engineering, UMD) has been named a fellow of the IAspire Leadership Academy, a leadership program that helps STEM faculty from underrepresented groups attain leadership roles at colleges and universities.
MSI PI Sophia Yohe (associate professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology) is a co-investigator on a clinical trial that aims to reduce disparities in cervical-cancer screening in Somali American women. The team, which includes researchers from the U of M and the University of Washington, was awarded $2.9M from the National Cancer Institute. The researchers are investigating whether offering HPV self-sampling will increase cancer screening rates.
MSI PIs Fang Li  (professor, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences) and Marc Jenkins (Regents Professor, Microbiology and Immunology) and their colleagues have developed a novel vaccine that might be effective against COVID-19 and its variants. The vaccine combines the advantages of virus-based and protein-based vaccines.
Research by MSI PIs Donald Wyse (professor, Agronomy and Plant Genetics) and David Marks (professor, Plant and Microbial Biology) is featured in a recent story on the Office of the Vice President for Research Inquiry blog. Professors Wyse and Marks are developing the plant pennycress for use as a cover crop.
Mastitis, an infection of mammary tissue, is a serious problem in dairy cows, requiring the use of antibiotics. There is increasing pressure on the dairy industry to reduce antibiotic use, and researchers are studying alternatives to treat mastitis.

Archive