Mini-grants awarded to faculty by the Office of Research and Scholarship

One of the grants will study the impact of interprofessional education on post-graduation collaborative workplace practice
One of the grants will study the impact of interprofessional education on post-graduation collaborative workplace practice

The Office of Research and Scholarship has awarded four mini-grants across three different colleges.

Kathleen Becker, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, has been awarded a mini-grant titled “Investigating the Impact of Dock7 on Bone Formation Utilizing Novel Global Knockout and Conditional Deletion Models.”

Becker will be researching the role of the gene Dock7 in controlling bone density. Her research could lead to improved treatment and prevention of osteoporosis by identifying novel mechanisms that control bone density.

Stephen Burt, M.F.A., associate professor and chair of the Department of Arts, has been awarded a mini-grant titled “Picturing the End of the World—Project to Establish New Workshop Practices to Increase Access and Awareness of my Creative Practice in Addressing the Implications of Climate Change.”

Burt will be pursuing research in drawing, printmaking and animation that combines Renaissance-based technique with calligraphic text.  His goal is to heighten public awareness of the impact of climate change and the negative impact it can have on civilization.

Shelley Cohen Konrad, Ph.D., LCSW, FNAP, director of the School of Social Work and the Interprofessional Education Collaborative; Elizabeth Crampsey, Ed.D., M.S., OTR/L, BCPR, assistant clinical professor of Occupational Therapy; Kris Hall, M.F.A., program manager of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative; and Kira Rodriguez, M.H.S., research associate in the Center for Excellence in Public Health, have been awarded a mini-grant titled “Interprofessional Education: A Five-year Analysis of its Impact on Workplace Practice.”

The team will conduct an exploratory study aimed at increasing understanding of the impact of interprofessional education (IPE) on post-graduation collaborative workplace practice. National trends in IPE are focused on the intersection of academic/clinical knowledge and clinical and community impact. The goal of the study is to advance knowledge of how IPE influences workplace performance and in what settings it is integrated into quality care improvement.

Glenn Stevenson, Ph.D., professor in the Psychology Department, has been awarded a mini-grant titled “In Vivo Interactions between Dopamine Dl and Opioid Mu Receptors in Rats.”

Stevenson and his research students will be studying whether certain receptor subtypes in the brain produce synergistic, additive or sub-additive effects over a range of procedures.

Those procedures quantify pain relief, sedation and drug addiction-like behaviors in animal models. These types of receptor interaction studies are useful for basic science determinations of how the nervous system works and could be invaluable in facilitating the design of more effective, yet safer, drugs to treat pain.

The Office of Research and Scholarship encourages faculty to apply for internal mini-grants twice a year. The next round of applications will be due in January 2020.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.