91�ֿ�

Michael N. Lehman, Ph.D., was named the inaugural director of 91�ֿ�’s Brain Health Research Institute in January 2019. We asked him to share his thoughts after a year on campus and much activity within the institute.

The words “biology” and “design” might not typically intertwine; however, 91�ֿ�’s Biodesign Challenge course was created to challenge the idea that the two separate disciplines could not collaborate.

Tara C. Smith, Ph.D., epidemiology professor in the College of Public Health, shares her perspective on the current coronavirus pandemic: "It seems like years have passed since the world first heard of an 'atypical pneumonia' circulating in the Hubei province of China in December 2019. When we’ve seen similar reports in the past, the illnesses have had a variety of causes, but all were eventually containable..."

As the country adjusts to the new normal of working from home, schooling from home and living lives of social isolation, 91�ֿ� professor Tara Smith, Ph.D., said people need to realize this new normal may need to continue for a long time.

“It really would not surprise me if this lasted for at least eight weeks or longer,” Smith said.

91�ֿ� psychology professor John Gunstad, Ph.D., has received at grant of nearly $2.6 million from the National Institutes of Health to expand his Alzheimer’s disease research into a national study.

Ohio, like many states, suffers from a teacher shortage, especially in early childhood education and special education. The Buckeye State also is in need of more school psychologists, analysts say. It’s fortunate, then, that the United States Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs just awarded a million-dollar grant to two 91�ֿ� researchers to train teachers and school psychologists in those fields.

There are two cycles most people can’t avoid — sleep and the news. And If you’re awake, you can’t help hearing the news reporting about cannabinoids. A 91�ֿ� researcher may soon have news about how these substances affect our body’s natural clock. Eric Mintz studies the human body’s circadian rhythms, which affect the sleeping-waking cycle.

The Brain Health Research Institute (BHRI) may be a recent development at 91�ֿ�, but with fresh leadership, emerging partnerships and a refined vision, it’s well on its way to gaining national renown. The Brain Health Research Institute is helping transform the culture of 91�ֿ�.

Renowned marine scientist Michael W. Beck, Ph.D., will discuss the importance of coastal conservation at a free lecture on March 4. Beck, a research professor in the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, focuses on conserving our coastlines in an effort to reduce the risks of storm surges and flooding to property, people and our planet and will speak at 7 p.m. March 4 in Auditorium 101 in the Science & Nursing Building at 91�ֿ� at Stark.

In early February, scientists reported the hottest temperature on record in Antarctica: 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Studies show climate change is disproportionately affecting the poles, warming them faster than anywhere else on Earth, and raising questions about what kinds of changes we can expect in arctic ecosystems as temperatures rise. 
A 91�ֿ� biologist has teamed up with some colleagues in an inter-institutional effort to answer some of those questions.