An unprecedented year: Looking back at 2020 through notable stories in UMSL Daily

Dec 23, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the resilience of UMSL students, faculty, staff and alumni to find success and make a positive impact despite challenges.

Biology major eyes medical school and career in emergency medicine after graduating summa cum laude

Dec 23, 2020

Brian Fogarty had been working as a paramedic when he decided to return to school to earn his bachelor’s degree on the way to becoming a physician.

Assistant Professor Marisa Omori examines racial inequality in criminal justice system

Dec 23, 2020

The assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice shared insight during our latest moment of national reckoning.

CIAC, partners awarded grant to study home repair needs of older adults in St. Louis

Dec 15, 2020

The $178,000 RRF Foundation for Aging grant will be used to survey homeowners about their home repair needs and gather data to inform policy decisions.

Nursing PhD student examines effects of short hospital stays on long-term mobility

Dec 14, 2020

In December graduate Lila Moersch’s study, only one interviewee was able to regain mobility lost after a short hospitalization.

December graduate Yuima Mizutani explores what ‘home’ means to third culture kids

Dec 7, 2020

Mizutani’s PhD dissertation examined how Asian students who have grown up internationally develop a sense of belonging in college.

George Zsidisin discusses the resilience of global supply chains on ‘St. Louis on the Air’

Nov 30, 2020

Zsidisin is the John W. Barriger III Endowed Professor and the director of UMSL’s Supply Chain Risk and Resilience Research Institute.

College of Nursing’s Umit Tokac creates AI to recommend PTSD treatment plans for veterans

Nov 30, 2020

Tokac’s program uses input patient data to make probability statements about the success of different treatment options.

Doctoral student Ken Smith searches for patterns in genetic data for Alzheimer’s detection

Nov 28, 2020

Smith is working on a diagnostic technique by developing software that identifies connections among the genetic material of individuals with Alzheimer’s.

Research from nursing student Danielle Njeri helps DOORWAYS land $1.4 million grant

Nov 20, 2020

For her DNP clinical scholarship project, Njeri helped the nonprofit confirm the extent of residents’ mental health needs through a quantitative study.

University of Missouri System grant investment program funds research and creative works at UMSL

Nov 18, 2020

The Creative Works Strategic Investment Program will provide a combined $98,000 in funding to UMSL faculty members, Lindsay Athamanah, Anne Austin, Bettina Casad and Adriano Udani.

MIMH addiction science team receives new funding aimed at combatting overdose crisis

Nov 16, 2020

The $2.75 million in new resources will help the team, led by Associate Research Professor Rachel Winograd, broaden the scope of its efforts and engage new partners.

Research-based puppet show sheds light on the refugee experience in America

Nov 12, 2020

“We Came As Refugees: An American Story” tells the story of a family adapting to the U.S., drawing on interviews with St. Louis refugees from around the world.

Janet Lauritsen elected president of the American Society of Criminology

Nov 9, 2020

Lauritsen is the third member of UMSL’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice to be elected president, following the late Bob Bursik and Richard Rosenfeld.

UM System tackles the ‘Next New Normal’ in employment during Extension and Engagement Week

Nov 2, 2020

Ted Abernathy, of Economic Leadership LLC, delivered the keynote session, which focused on essential job skills and employment trends for the future.

CIAC report highlights areas of need, opportunity for early childhood care in Missouri

Oct 29, 2020

Kiley Bednar and Ben Cooper led the team doing research into its affordability and accessibility on behalf of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

UMSL psychologist collaborates on COVID-19 stress and trauma study

Oct 28, 2020

Rachel Wamser-Nanney will research the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on young children and their parents.

UMSL launching National Security and Community Policy Collaborative to facilitate research with St. Louis geospatial ecosystem

Oct 27, 2020

Robert Ubbelohde, a retired 32-year-veteran of NGA, is the founding director of the new center, which will operate out of the Geospatial Innovation Center at T-REX.

Rodney Carmack honors family legacy by earning a DBA

Oct 26, 2020

Carmack’s dissertation explored promotion and tenure standards for accounting faculty outside the top 200 U.S. colleges and universities.

Haitao Li, team awarded IATRC grant to study COVID-19 effects on grape supply chain

Oct 12, 2020

The study, a collaboration with researchers from the University of Missouri–Columbia, examined how COVID-19 impacted labor and food loss within the grape supply chain.

Amanda Wu wins national Graduate Women in Science Fellowship to support research on rare oaks

Oct 12, 2020

The biology doctoral student is using the $6,750 prize to conduct genomic research on the maple-leaf oak, endemic to the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas.

Midwest Biomedical Accelerator Consortium award helps Principal Investigator George Gokel combat antibiotic resistance

Oct 12, 2020

The award will help Gokel and his group, Upaya Pharmaceuticals, progress their antibiotic resistance technology along the path toward commercialization.

UMSL awarded $5.1 million grant to promote evidence-based literacy strategies among local educators

Oct 5, 2020

Shea Kerkhoff, Katie O’Daniels and Nancy Singer will partner with 40 schools in the St. Louis region to provide year-round support to K-12 educators.

The Philosopher’s Annual recognizes work of Jon McGinnis among top 10 articles of 2019

Oct 5, 2020

McGinnis’ paper “A Continuation of Atomism: Shahrastani on the Atom and Continuity” was originally published in the Journal of the History of Philosophy.

DBA candidate Kevin Sansberry II examines connection between abusive supervision and workplace facades

Oct 5, 2020

Sansberry’s research found that employees experiencing abusive supervision are likely to hide their true selves and adopt a persona that reflects their company’s values.

Computer scientist Sharlee Climer investigating pathways of COVID-19 with support of new NIH grant

Sep 28, 2020

Climer and her colleagues at Washington University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory received a $650,000 grant to try to uncover why the disease produces different symptoms.

Exemplary faculty and staff honored with Chancellor’s Awards

Sep 14, 2020

Chancellor Kristin Sobolik recognized six faculty members and three staff members for their contributions to UMSL during the virtual 2020 State of the University Address.

Pandemic makes nursing PhD student Jody Spiess’s disaster research poignant

Sep 11, 2020

For her dissertation, Spiess studied nurse education in disaster preparedness, focusing on incidents that result in more injuries than hospitals have resources to treat.

Jerome Morris wins prestigious $1 million Lyle M. Spencer Research Award to Transform Education

Sep 8, 2020

The E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Urban Education will use the award funding to investigate his theory of communally bonded schooling in three local school districts.

PhD graduate Napoleon Williams III investigates the role of municipal government in community stabilization

Sep 8, 2020

Williams studied the actions of municipal governments in Ferguson, University City, Maplewood, Hazelwood and Jennings over 45 years and their impact on today.

Research Enabled helping connect university researchers with industry to find solutions to business problems

Aug 28, 2020

Director Jay De Long encourages all faculty members to log onto the online portal to accept their profiles and post industry-facing research projects.

New library program aims to help First-Year Experience students

Aug 28, 2020

The Personal Librarian Program pairs First-Year Experience students with a librarian to help with research and navigate library resources.

UMSL doctoral students named Missouri Charter Public School Association Leaders of the Year

Aug 24, 2020

Susan Marino and Sarah Ranney have helped Lafayette Preparatory Academy grow over the past eight years, fostering a culture of academic excellence.

DNP clinical scholarship project helps Lila Kertz evaluate Severe Asthma Clinic for Kids

Aug 24, 2020

Kertz started the clinic in January 2014 after realizing that the most severe asthma cases required extra attention and services.

UMSL receives $1 million NSF ADVANCE grant to foster gender equity for women faculty in STEM and social sciences

Aug 20, 2020

The grant will help the university facilitate organizational changes to better recruit and retain women in faculty positions.

Alumna Jennifer Cobbina discusses the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement as seen in this summer’s protests

Aug 17, 2020

The 2009 PhD graduate is an associate professor of criminal justice at Michigan State and authored the book “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” about the protests in Ferguson and Baltimore.

Dual awards support Professor Erika Gibb’s work with comets, student mentoring

Aug 14, 2020

By examining the composition of comets, the professor of physics and astrophysics seeks insights into the origins of water and life on Earth.

UMSL students highlight football poetry at Sport Literature Association Conference

Aug 3, 2020

Associate Professor of English Scott Peterson arranged for students in his Special Topics in Literature class to present papers during the virtual event.

Mary Edwin wins NCDA Article of the Year

Jul 30, 2020

The National Career Development Association recognized Edwin’s article on STEM career aspirations among high school students in Career Development Quarterly.

MSW student contributes to Forward Through Ferguson with COVID-19 research

Jul 29, 2020

Lacey Corbett’s work on the report identified the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on Black communities in St. Louis and clarified misinformation.

Ask an Expert: Shirley Porterfield shares insight on vote for Medicaid expansion

Jul 28, 2020

The professor of social work discussed the pros and cons of the proposed amendment to the Missouri constitution ahead of next week’s election.

EdD alumni search for a solution to summer slide

Jul 27, 2020

Scott Osborne and Bob Shaw found that weekly virtual lessons and timely feedback can lead to academic gains rather than losses during the summer.

CLIMB program adapts to engage area high school students amid COVID-19 pandemic

Jul 27, 2020

The 14 interns from Jennings and University City have worked remotely researching COVID-19 and the reasons for its outsized impact on the African American community.

Professor Janet Y. Murray named Woman of the Year by Women in the Academy of International Business

Jul 27, 2020

The award honors Murray’s research on gender and international business as well as her commitment to supporting women in academia.

Professor James Bashkin talks PPE, antiviral treatments and green chemistry on Scientific Sense podcast

Jul 16, 2020

Bashkin joined host Gill Eapen to discuss several projects including an affordable, portable sterilizer for N95 masks and other PPE.

Lav Gupta among UM System researchers working to improve broadband access in rural Missouri

Jul 13, 2020

The assistant professor led a discussion on the challenges of building broadband infrastructure in Bollinger County during a June 1 workshop and shared takeaways in a recent webinar.

Badri Adhikari receives NSF grant for research on protein distance prediction

Jul 13, 2020

Adhikari’s research uses artificial intelligence to create algorithms that predict the distance between protein pairs in amino acids – an issue characterized as a top 100 unsolved problem.

Bob Baumann retires after five decades with UMSL Global

Jul 13, 2020

Bob Baumann has helped hundreds of UMSL students travel the world during his 45-year career with UMSL Global, where he went from temporary research assistant to assistant director.

Uma A. Segal receives President’s Award for Cross-Cultural Engagement

Jul 7, 2020

Segal was recognized for promoting cross-cultural engagement through education, research and service. Her work has focused on immigrant and refugee populations and global migrations.

MIMH’s Rachel Winograd helps lead regional dialogue about racial disparities in overdose deaths

Jul 1, 2020

More than 100 people tuned into the June 19 videoconference as Winograd and Dr. Kanika Turner discussed systemic issues that have resulted in so much inequity in St. Louis.