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Campus Research Facilities Reactivated
Like many universities and organizations during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the institutions that make up Michigan’s University Research Corridor (URC) — Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University — moved classes online and shifted to conducting most research remotely.
Hundreds of researchers at the three universities also answered the call to better understand fighting and surviving this new threat. Labs shifted existing research to more than 400 projects related to COVID-19. Researchers worked on seeking new vaccines and treatments for the virus, investigated health disparities, developed models to support businesses that had to close their doors, distributed resources to help teachers and parents instruct children at home, and created effective new personal protection equipment, thermometers and virus screening tests. Some of this research was conducted in the homes of faculty members, research colleagues and students.
Governor Whitmer’s May 15 executive order lifting restrictions on university research initiated a safe and strategic return to campus. The URC universities are safely reactivating labs and research buildings, and enacting safety protocols that include additional disinfection, the distribution of PPE, new floor plans to allow for social distancing and building-by-building water testing to make sure facilities are ready to safely support activity again.
By July, thousands of researchers returned to their respective campuses, moving research activity back to campus as part of plans to continue research and innovation at all three universities. Whether focusing on their previous work or starting new research projects to tackle the challenges facing our world, URC universities are continuing to lead the way toward a better and safer tomorrow.
News Stories
May 2020
- Zowada Observatory still captures the stars despite quarantine
- Street Medicine Detroit creates field hand-washing stations for Detroit’s homeless community
- Researchers complete analysis on testing and reopening under COVID-19
- An urgent search for solutions as researcher leads COVID-19 clinical trials
- Engineers using 3D printers to produce face shields for PPE-strapped health care workers
April 2020
- All in: Researchers shift focus to COVID-19
- Lethargic global response to COVID-19: How the human brain’s failure to assess abstract threats cost us dearly
- Commentary: Michigan’s research universities involved in COVID-19 fight
- Ford, WSU, ACCESS launch first mobile COVID-19 testing for Michigan first responders
- COVID-19 Tele-Town Hall With the URC Presidents
March 2020
- Michigan State makes available graduating nursing students to fight COVID-19
- Michigan State University colleges team up to create 3D-printed face shields
- MSU Faculty Voice: Jason Miller: COVID-19 impacts on truckloads of freight
- Wayne State University and Detroit health care leaders working to bring COVID-19 vaccines to the metro area
- A sewage surveillance effort to track COVID-19
December 2019
- Engineering better insulin delivery
- Researcher receives U.S. Air Force award to find new ways to make fuels from sunlight
- Toy hazard warnings: Do they work?
- Med student, alumni discover zebrafish resistant to eye infection
- Using brainwaves to distinguish serious memory loss such as Alzheimer’s in older African Americans
November 2019
- TRACE offers high-intensity interval training athletes comfortable and accurate heart rate monitoring
- Aerial anti-overdose drone delivery system wins top honors at conference
- Researchers partner to advance autonomous mobility during Detroit Auto Show
- Digital humanities project brings ‘wala’ to Detroit
October 2019
- Sleep medicine expert secures $3.5M grant to study improved sleep assistance methods
- Special delivery: How fleet management can revolutionize commercial drone industry
- Studying health and wellness programming in small and rural public libraries
- Recent sharp rise in firearm deaths seen across most states
September 2019
- U-M teams receive $25.5M for opioid-related prevention, treatment research
- Wayne State, Henry Ford Health System to lead $4M Detroit-based NIH HEAL Initiative to increase long-term recovery from opioid addiction
- Wayne State, Karmanos receive $3.1 million NIH grant to improve quality of life for African American cancer survivors
- U-M, Karmanos receive $9.2M grant for prostate cancer research
- Most powerful laser in the U.S. to be built at U-M
August 2019
- U-M clinical trial aims to find solutions for cavities
- Reducing the din: Grant funds study of cochlear implants for tinnitus
- Shoebox-size breath analyzer spots deadly lung disease faster, more accurately than doctors
- Ecological wonder: In a Wayne State parking lot, bioswales provide unique stormwater solution
July 2019
- ReBUILDetroit program receives renewal of more than $19 million from National Institutes of Health
- Technology allows researchers to see patients’ real-time pain while in the clinic
- Heart-rate accelerations while sleeping in healthy individuals could indicate heart disease later in life
- Large harmful algal bloom predicted for western Lake Erie
- Student-led analysis shows morphine injection in spine may reduce opiate needs
June 2019
- University Research Corridor Forum Brings Together Researchers, Lawmakers and Leaders to Discuss Potential Infrastructure Innovations
- U-M again is top U.S. public university in QS World Rankings
- Falcon cam helps biology research soar to new heights
- A quicker eye for robotics to help in our cluttered, human environments
March 2019
- Milestone in movement: U-M research helps children with Down syndrome walk earlier
- Polar Vortex inspires NSF-funded research idea
- Detroit Cardiovascular Training receives big NIH boost
- U-M part of network to build public interest technology field
- Searching for new treatments for resistant kidney cancers
September 2018
- NSF award to fund collaborative research on the interdependency of drinking water and health systems
- New genetic syndrome identified in 3-year-old patient
- New nanotherapy offers hope in treating drug-resistant renal cell carcinoma
- Research Suggests Michigan Raise Jail-Time Age
- Anthropology students team up with Chevy to encourage safer driving behaviors
August 2018
- Managing medical devices: Researchers bring legacy life-cycle analytics to modernized platforms
- Battery Breakthrough at U-M
- ‘Carbon negative, dollar positive’
- Research team creating millimeter-scale lithium-ion battery for autonomous applications
- Blue Sky: Up to $10M toward research so bold, some of it just might fail
July 2018
- The Milky Way’s long-lost sibling finally found
- $1.54 million NIH grant to identify ways to improve cardiac function in heart failure
- Amazon outlook: Continued warming, multiyear droughts
- New figures show 138 million women suffer from recurrent candida or yeast vaginitis; numbers expected to increase
June 2018
- U-M researchers create world’s smallest ‘computer’
- Few early parent education programs available to help dads
- ‘NIH in your state’: Wayne State’s research impacts health around the world
- Three babies, two helmets, one success story for Gaylord triplets
- Examining the role of glutamate in aging cognitive diseases, memory
May 2018
- Mcity Driverless Shuttle to launch June 4 on North Campus
- College of Nursing to expand BSN training with $2.6M grant
- University Research Corridor Appoints Britany Affolter-Caine as New Executive Director
- Delivering cancer treatment on a nanodisc helps eliminate tumors
- URC Paves the Way for New Mobility
April 2018
- New app makes healthy food more accessible in flint
- $1 million NSF grant to support commuter students in engineering
- Professor to explore how communities can learn, change after disasters
- Opioid Solutions promotes collaborative approach to epidemic
- University breaks ground on new Ford Robotics Building
March 2018
- WSU searches for new directions to treat Barth syndrome
- Implants for Neurological Diseases Need to Work With, Not Against, Cells
- U-M, Detroit work to boost economic mobility, fight poverty
- Michiganders optimistic about economy, less happy with leaders
- Wayne State receives New Mexico dark sky land, robotic observatory
December 2017
- Searching for a new screening method, treatment for Cystic Fibrosis
- Unhackable computer under development with $3.6M DARPA grant
- New NIH study to research Detroit firefighters’ risk of hearing loss
- Kevlar-based artificial cartilage mimics the magic of the real thing
- MSU scholar finds $21 trillion in unauthorized federal spending
November 2017
- MSU launches effort to support informed education policy
- Universities Ramp Up Research, Pump Out Inventions
- Using fire and logging to recreate a century of forest history at the U-M Biological Station
- MSU researchers find ways to kill pests, not honeybees
- New study further supports progesterone use to fight preterm birth
October 2017
- New database of 50,000 lakes’ water quality to improve policy
- Professor joins Nobel winners in receiving Abraham White Lifetime Science Award
- New MSU map initiative to guide irrigation decisions
- New college grads to enjoy strong labor market
- Brain activity predicts crowdfunding outcomes better than self-reports
September 2017
- Technique could detect explosives, dangerous gases rapidly and remotely
- MTRAC awards spark biomedical innovation
- MSU researchers to use algae to reduce power plant emissions
- $2 million NIH awarded to analyze 20 years of data collected nationally on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
- MSU opens $88.1M Grand Rapids Research Center
June 2017
- Wayne State to develop online parent-training program for addressing children’s challenging behaviors
- More than half of all opioid prescriptions go to people with mental illness
- 1986 Saginaw Bay flood website looks at past, prepares for future
- More efficient solar power cells show progress
- New $8.25M Airbus center at Michigan for next-gen, high efficiency aircraft
February 2017
- Wayne State and Karmanos Cancer Institute receive grant to conduct nation’s largest study of factors affecting African Americans with cancer
- U-M tops public universities for Fulbrights
- Zika virus can damage retina and cause blindness
- MSU scholar appointed to National Science Board
- Use of risky brain-affecting drug combinations rising among seniors
March 2016
- Medical marijuana reduces use of opioid pain meds, decreases risk for some with chronic pain
- Michiganders support Detroit schools bailout
- MSU water scientist gets world’s top water prize
- U-M faculty team with Flint community to move forward on water situation
- Lead exposure changes gut microbiota, increases chance for obesity
November 2015
- University Research Corridor Team Wins $2.5 Million to Improve Interactions Between Parents, Teachers and Toddlers
- Love at first site? Exploring the impact of online dating
- Brains in space
- Sunscreen ingredient may prevent medical implant infections
- Dow, MSU, local Foundations collaborate on new MSU STEM Center
June 2015
- The future is clear – new solar technology from MSU
- Wayne State receives more than $1M from Erb Family Foundation to improve water and air quality
- Research shows fingerprint accuracy stays the same over time
- Grant aims to assure food safety in Detroit’s urban gardens
- Sexual assaults less likely in neighborhoods where registered sex offenders live
April 2015
- Michigan’s University Research Corridor Contributes $16.8 Billion to Michigan Economy
- Flying environmentally friendly skies can save energy
- Wayne State start-up receives prestigious Luis Villalobos Award
- New MSU department advances computational science research, education
- URC findings cited in new Blue Economy report
October 2014
- U-M, MSU partner to help students learn genomics and evolution
- Patrick Anderson to receive 2014 Neil Staebler Distinguished Service Award
- Muskegon’s ‘Blue Economy’: University Research Corridor report says 1 in 5 Michigan jobs are water-related
- Do your homework? Startup offers to track that, other educator tasks
- Clean Economy Rising
May 2014
- Michigan’s ‘Blue Economy’: 8 facts behind major universities’ push to tout ‘undervalued asset’
- Michigan’s ‘Blue Economy’: 8 facts behind major universities’ push to tout ‘undervalued asset’
- Research U’s Vital to Michigan’s ‘Blue Economy’
- University Research Corridor Report Highlights Water Research at U-M
- Report shows URC accounted for nearly $300 million in water research, education and outreach activities over past five years
January 2014
- Michigan’s University Research Corridor Ranks High Among Leading U.S. Research Clusters
- MSU, U-M, and WSU Generate $16.6B in State Economic Activity
- Michigan’s Big Three Research Universities Continue To Rank Favorably Against Their Peers
- Big Mich. Schools Lead In Degrees, Lag In Startups
- New Analysis: Michigan University Research Corridor No. 2 In Nation In Innovation
May 2013
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- Study: Alums of 3 Mich. schools good entrepreneurs
- Study: Alumni Boost Business in Michigan
- Study: Nearly 1 in 5 Michigan research university alumni start their own business
- Michigan universities producing entrepreneurs faster than national average
- Alumni from Michigan’s University Research Corridor schools find success by embracing entrepreneurship
Featured Quotes
The University Research Corridor showcases Michigan’s world class universities, economic competitiveness, and scientific breakthroughs being made every day in our state. This innovative partnership is creating jobs, fostering relationships with all types of businesses, from our largest corporations to smallest entrepreneurial businesses, and driving innovation in all sectors of our economy.
The Honorable Debbie StabenowU.S. Senator from Michigan
I think certainly there has been an uptick in entrepreneurship in the state, and I think a lot of that is owed to the URC getting more involved in economic development in the last 10 years.
Doug RothwellPresident of Business Leaders for Michigan
The URC is an incredible asset for our industry, state, and citizens in terms of the scale of R&D conducted at its universities in critically important areas. Medical and healthcare discoveries with the potential to improve and save lives position Michigan as a top state for innovation in the life, medical and health sciences.
Michael JandernoaFormer Chairman of the Board and CEO of Perrigo Company
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