Miami's Public Health program publishes results and recommendations from its contact tracing partnership with Butler County

May 27, 2021

Miami’s program in Public Health, which over the past year has trained over 130 students to work as contact tracers to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic, has published results of its collaborative efforts with the Butler County Health District in the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice …

PsyBio Therapeutics Corp. awards Miami professors $1.5M to expedite neuropsychiatric drug development

April 27, 2021

Researchers at Miami University have been awarded a $1.5 million grant from PsyBio Therapeutics Corp. to expedite progress toward clinical trials of a portfolio of neuropsychiatric drugs. Last year, PsyBio and Miami joined forces to develop and test a new class of molecules to treat mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance dependency …

Jumping genes: a Q-and-A with geneticist Meixia Zhao

February 10, 2021

Geneticist and computational biologist, Meixia Zhao studies transposable elements — also known as "jumping genes" — using maize as a model system. She joined Miami University in fall 2018 as assistant professor of biology …

Stats+Stories podcast honored with national award for mathematics communications

October 28, 2020

Miami University's John Bailer, Richard Campbell and Rosemary Pennington have been honored with the 2021 Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) Communications Award for their "engaging, entertaining and enlightening" Stats + Stories podcast. The annual award is designed to reward and encourage communicators who, on a sustained basis, bring mathematical ideas and information to non-mathematical audiences …

Miami's public health program engineers a new contact tracing program for Butler County to fight COVID-19

October 7, 2020

Early this summer, after the COVID-19 pandemic had already swept across the country and shut down college campuses and businesses around the world, Miami's public health program began to put together a plan to help track the virus's rampant spread throughout the local community. …

Miami commits to carbon neutrality and climate resilience: Virtual PCLC signing ceremony

September 15, 2020

Join Miami University President Greg Crawford as he signs the Second Nature's Presidents' Climate Leadership Commitments (PCLC) Climate Commitment in a virtual ceremony at noon Tuesday, September 22. Second Nature president Tim Carter, members of Miami's new Climate Action Task Force executive steering committee, the office of sustainability, and Oxford Mayor Mike Smith will give brief remarks during the ceremony …

Carolyn S. Craig joins CAS as director of diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging

September 8, 2020

The College of Arts and Science is excited to welcome Carolyn S. Craig to the dean's staff as their new director of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Craig has worked at Miami University since 2015 and is credentialed as both a certified diversity professional (CDP) and an advanced certified cultural intelligence professional (ACCQP) …

Search for the "wings" of a crustacean sheds light on origins of insect wings

August 26, 2020

Genes from a tiny shrimp-like crustacean could help in the search for the origin of insect wings, a new study finds. To be clear, there is no evidence that any crustaceans ever evolved to fly, according to evolutionary biologist Yoshi Tomoyasu, associate professor of biology at Miami University and senior author of the study recently published in Nature Ecology and Evolution …

Miami's Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation honored with STEM award

August 17, 2020

Miami University's Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) has been named a recipient of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine's 2020 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award. The Inspiring Programs in STEM Award honors colleges and universities that encourage and assist students from underrepresented groups to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) …

Miami chemists' breakthrough technique enables design at the interface of chemistry and biology

July 20, 2020

A technique developed by Miami University associate professors of chemistry and biochemistry Dominik Konkolewicz and Rick Page may help enable more rapid and efficient development of new materials for use in pharmaceuticals, biofuels, and other applications. Konkolewicz and Page's technique uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology to illuminate how proteins and synthetic polymers interact in chemical substances known as bioconjugates …

Miami receives 5th Beckman Institutional Award for undergraduate research

June 3, 2020

Camaryn Bennett and Hope Kirby are 2020-2021 Beckman Scholars. Miami University is one of 12 institutions nationwide to receive the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation's 2020 -2023 Beckman Scholars Program Institutional Award. The award supports undergraduate research and faculty mentoring for select students in chemistry, biochemistry and the biological sciences …

Lexie Adams awarded Astronaut Scholarship

May 28, 2020

Miami University junior, Alexandra "Lexie" Adams, has been awarded a scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF). She is one of 56 students from 41 universities to receive the award for the 2020-2021 academic year. The Astronaut Scholarship is among the most significant merit-based monetary scholarships awarded to undergraduate STEM juniors and seniors who intend to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their final degree …

First online Undergraduate Research Forum feedback: "Fantastic"

May 28, 2020

Miami University's annual Undergraduate Research Forum (URF) was held April 29, in an online event format for the first time in its 26 years. The traditional poster sessions and oral presentations were hosted on Webex, allowing for attendees join in remotely from across the country. Students appreciated the effort to transform the forum to an online event, according to feedback collected by Joyce Fernandes, director of undergraduate research and professor of biology …

The Humanities Center presents Laptop Lectures

May 21, 2020

Pepper Stetler, associate professor of art history and associate director of the Humanities Center at Miami University, recently organized the Laptop Lectures series to keep people engaged in the humanities during this pandemic …

Miami University researchers collaborate with PsyBio Therapeutics

May 21, 2020

Miami University and PsyBio Therapeutics Inc. are collaborating to develop a new and exciting class of molecules to treat mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance dependency. PsyBio has agreed to a research sponsorship with Miami University over the next two years to further develop a platform technology that enables the biosynthesis of psilocybin and other psychoactive molecules that occur naturally in certain plants and fungi …

Students make accessible masks for disability studies action project

May 20, 2020

In Miami University's Introduction to Disability Studies (DST 272) course, students are required to develop an action project to improve accessibility, and some students were able to help in a way they couldn't have imagined. The students are making and donating accessible masks to help during the COVID-19 pandemic …