Michigan Tech researchers Tan Chen (Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Steven Elmer (Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology) received a research and development grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The project is titled “Investigating Lunar Bipedal Locomotion Mechanics and Predicting Human Musculoskeletal Health on the Moon.” Dr. Tan is serving as the PI and Dr. Elmer is the co-PI on this potential two-year award.
Full details can be found in Tech Today.
Undergraduate and graduate students in the Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology Department are encouraged to apply for the 2023 Songer Research Award for Human Health. Matthew Songer, (Biological Sciences ’79) and Laura Songer (Biological Sciences ’80) established these awards to stimulate and encourage opportunities for original research by current Michigan Tech students.
Students may propose an innovative medically-oriented research project in any area of human health. The best projects will demonstrate the potential to have a broad impact on improving human life. This research will be pursued in consultation with faculty members within the College of Sciences and Arts. The Songers’ gift and matching funds from the College will support two awards for undergraduate research ($4,000) and two for graduate research ($6,000), for research conducted over the Summer of 2023 and/or the following academic year.
Learn more about who is eligible to apply, how to apply, and how the funds may be used.
Submit applications as a single PDF file to the Office of the College of Sciences and Arts by 4:00 p.m. Monday, April 24, 2023. Applications may be emailed to djhemmer@mtu.edu. Any questions may be directed to David Hemmer (djhemmer@mtu.edu).
Kyle Wehmanen, a PhD student and graduate teaching assistant, has been awarded a $5,000 graduate fellowship by the Michigan Space Grant Consortium, which is sponsored by NASA, for its 2023-2024 cycle. His project is entitled “Human Powered Locomotion on Variable Terrain: Implications for how to Move on Mars.”
More details about the MSGC and the complete list of undergraduate, graduate, and faculty recipients can be found in the Tech Today announcement from the Graduate School.
Dr. Zhiying Shan (KIP) is the principal investigator (PI), and Dr. Qinghui Chen (KIP) is the Co-PI on a R01 project that has received $1.665,903 from the National Institutes of Health.
This four-year project is titled “Contribution of Orexin System to Hypertension.”
Orexins are neuropeptides secreted from the hypothalamus. They bind their receptors and participate in regulating multiple physiological functions in healthy and pathological conditions. Orexin receptors’ expression is observed to be increased in the brain cardiovascular relevant regions of hypertensive animal models. The objective of this project is to investigate whether increased brain orexin system results in hypertension, and whether blockage of orexin signaling prevents the development of hypertension. This study has potential to identify new therapeutic targets for hypertension treatment.
Dr. Steve Elmer and PhD student Isaac Wedig were featured on the most recent episode of the Portage Health Foundation Podcast. They talked about how the threat of COVID-19 created the UP and Moving project, which has reached a milestone 100th workout. UP and Moving provides free live and recorded home-based workouts that can be found on its website, YouTube, and Facebook. They also discussed a study done by Dr. Robert Sallis, who was the speaker for the most recent edition of the UP Health Science and Medicine Lecture Series, and the impact that physical activity has on COVID-19 outcomes for infected adults. For Dr. Elmer and Isaac, the goal was simple: get adults in the Upper Peninsula physically active to positively impact their health not only during the pandemic but beyond it.
Dr. Elmer has received a $100,000 Community Health Impact Grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to continue with a one-year project titled “Keep the Western UP Moving during COVID-19 with Exercise is Medicine.”
If you would like to listen to the podcast in its entirety, click here for the PHF Podcast. To learn more about UP and Moving or to begin a workout routine with the project, click here for the UP and Moving website.
Join us tonight (May 27) from 7-8 p.m. for the COVID-19 Community Town Hall. The topic will be “Health and Well Being During the Pandemic and Beyond.”
Organized by the Health Research Institute at Michigan Tech, the 60-minute town hall broadcast can be heard live at 7 p.m. on radio stations 97.7 The Wolf (WOLV-FM) and 99.1 (WIKB-FM) and viewed through a Zoom webinar and Facebook Live. The town hall can also be viewed on ABC 10 Sunday (May 30) at 12 p.m.
Town hall moderators Steven Elmer and Kelly Kamm (HRI/KIP) will be joined by:
For more information and past broadcasts, visit the COVID-19 Town Hall Series website.
On April 17th MTU’s Graduate Student Government (GSG) along with the UP and Moving Program in the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology will host a live virtual 5km event at 10am. The event is free and open to students, staff, faculty, and community members from near and far!
Join us at 10am on Zoom for a warm-up, welcome activity, and photo! The virtual 5km will consist of two different ways to participate. Follow along with us on Zoom for a fun and exciting movement-based workout that will accumulate the total number of steps needed to cover the 5k distance. Alternatively, walk, run, or hike your own 5k outdoors or indoors.
The event is a joint celebration of GSG’s “A Night Out” and UP and Moving’s 100th live home-based workout.
For those individuals that cannot make the live virtual event, the 5km distance can be completed anytime between April 10-24th. Registered participants can receive a free t-shirt. For more information visit the UP andMoving website and click here for the GSG registration link.
It is becoming more important for everyone to “move more” and “sit less” because regular physical activity promotes good health and bolsters immune function. #KIPMichTech #UPandMoving #HRI_MTU #superiorideas #ExerciseisMedicine @ACSMEIM
Click here to learn more: https://www.superiorideas.org/projects/up-and-moving
This is from last weeks COVID-19 Town Hall Series regarding health disparities. Obesity and lack of activity contributing to COVID. Read more here.
The Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology is currently recruiting healthy individuals that are 18 to 40 years old. This study is looking into the effects of fasting on the cardiovascular system. See below for contact information and to see if you qualify.
