Welcome back and happy 2025! I hope you had a restful and refreshing winter break and are ready to take on the new semester with renewed energy.

Please see the updates below for good news to share along with several announcements on upcoming opportunities and important compliance notices.

My very best regards for continued success in your research and creative activity.

Douglas A. Gage, Ph.D.
Vice President for Research and Innovation

Research Excellence – Celebrating Women in Science

Woodruff Awarded National Medal of Science

Congratulations to Teresa Kaye Woodruff, MSU Research Foundation Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology and Biomedical Engineering, who on January 3rd received the nation’s highest honor for science and technology, the National Medal of Science. She is an internationally recognized expert in ovarian biology and reproductive science and pioneered the science of oncofertility. Please read the full story on MSU Today.

International Recognition for Brandizzi

Federica Brandizzi, MSU Distinguished Professor and MSU Research Foundation Professor, was awarded the Professor Luigi Tartufari Prize by the Accademia Nazionale Dei Lincei in November for her work in molecular, cellular, and evolutionary biology. The ceremony was held in Rome, Italy at the historic Palazzo Corsini. Learn more on MSU Today.

Shipp Awarded Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant

Gayle Shipp, assistant professor in the Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health, has been awarded a prestigious grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Equity Scholars for Action. Read more.

Please review our Faculty Recognition announcements for other examples of excellence, and send us your news for inclusion.

Board of Trustees Research Presentations

Three faculty highlighted their latest research at BOT meetings held during the fall semester:

• Barbara Schneider – College of Education: Advancing Society's Obligation for Science Learning
• Angela Chia-Chen Chen – College of Nursing: Leveraging Innovative Technology to Promote Vaccination Among Youth
• Carmen Bradford and Rodney Whitaker – College of Music: The Impact of Mentoring - Jazz Studies at MSU

Visit our YouTube channel to review past presentations.

Announcements

Shared Research Infrastructure Program Awards Selected

The Office of Research and Innovation is pleased to announce the first Shared Research Infrastructure Program Awards. The awards support one-time, non-recurring purchases or investments in specialized research infrastructure that support and advance cutting-edge research at MSU. Two awards allow the expansion of existing databases that are unique to MSU, and two awards will purchase equipment to increase scientific capability across campus. This program is made possible through the generous support of the MSU Research Foundation. Congratulations to:

• Alex Burt and Kelly Klump, Department of Psychology, College of Social Science – Expansion of the MSU Twin Registry, a unique database of health, behavioral and environmental data on thousands of twins.
• Robert Goodwin, Remote Sensing & GIS Services, College of Social Science – Enabling online accessibility of the RS&GIS Historic Aerial Imagery Archive, the largest repository of historic aerial imagery for Michigan.
• Martin Crimp, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, College of Engineering – Acquisition of a new 200kV transmission electron microscope/scanning transmission electron microscope (TEM/STEM).
• Gina Leinninger, Department of Physiology, College of Natural Science – Acquisition of a Bruker MiniSpec LF90II, a non-invasive body composition analyzer that uses nuclear magnetic resonance to measure fat, lean mass and fluid in various specimens.

Read the full announcement for more details. The deadline for the next round of SRIP program applications is February 15.

Internal Grant News

Congratulations to Brian Winn, Media and Information, and Mark Sullivan, Music Composition and the MSU Museum CoLab, on receiving the 2024 large-scale HARP Award for their Game Changers Exhibition project. Full story coming soon.

Upcoming Deadlines:

• February 15 – Shared Research Infrastructure Program Session II Deadline
• February 23 – Humanities and Arts Program Production Session II Deadline
• March 13 – Discretionary Funding Initiative Session II Applications Deadline

Please visit the OR&I Internal Grants page to learn more about these and other programs, many of which are made possible through the generosity of the MSU Research Foundation.

Innovation Center News

The MSU Innovation Center has released its Annual Report featuring highlights and milestones from the 2024 fiscal year. The report includes in-depth stories about the innovations and innovators of the year. Please review and congratulate your colleagues on their achievements and be sure to register now for the April 1, 2025 Innovation Celebration event.

In a recent Staff Voice article, technology managers Ray DeVito and Julia Miller offer a peek into the role technology managers play in bringing new innovations from the lab to the marketplace. To learn more about the Innovation Center visit the website or send an inquiry and receive follow-up, using the Contact the Innovation Center link.

Compliance Awareness

Webinar February 3 – Navigating Today's Compliance Environment for Successful International Engagement

Join us for this engaging presentation from experts representing the Office of Sponsored Programs and the Office of Research Regulatory Support. They will provide information and open dialogue about research compliance, restricted party screenings, cybersecurity and more – all to support MSU faculty and staff in their important global work. The event will also include presentations from the Global Health, Safety, and Security Office, the Office for International Students and Scholars, and other relevant contacts. Learn more and register.

EPA to Ban Dichloromethane (DCM) May 1, 2025

The US Environmental Protection Agency has banned most uses of DCM after May 1, 2025 with limited exceptions, including research. The Office of Research Regulatory Support (ORRS) and Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) have developed a compliance program for continued DCM use in research in alignment with the EPA’s rulemaking. If these changes impact your research, please review the program and reach out to the team in EHS with any questions.

Contact Us

Our office is here to support the research and creative efforts of all faculty, students and staff at MSU. Please contact our team for assistance or with any questions. We recently updated titles for some of our leadership team members to better reflect their responsibilities. Please visit our website to view our leadership and staff directories.

Stay Engaged – Events and Newsletters

Follow our calendar for all upcoming events, grant development workshops and research mixers, and join our email list to receive event notices.