Tagged: University of Michigan

The University of Michigan's "Understanding Race Project" will examine race through storytelling tomorrow evening at the Michigan Theater.

La'Ron Williams  is a member of the National Storytelling Network, the Detroit Association of Black Storytellers, and the National Association of Black Storytellers.

He is set to perform his work Elm Park, 1955, in which he shares his interaction with race as a kid growing up in Flint, Michigan.

Michigan Radio's Lester Graham spoke with Williams about the power of storytelling, race, and the University's project.

Listen to the full interview above.

Future University of Michigan writers can focus on their work – and not on finding work, thanks to a $50 million gift by The Zell Family Foundation.

The gift is the third-largest to the U of M and the largest ever received by the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.  Helen Zell has been supporting the college for several years.

The University of Michigan is undertaking a broad review of the effects of Michigan’s growing natural gas industry.   U of M researchers met with environmentalists and industry officials today in Lansing.

Most natural gas is extracted using a process called hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking. There are concerns that fracking might cause health and environmental problems.   But supporters say fracking is helping boost Michigan’s economy. 

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - A new $7.5 million fund aims to help University of Michigan medical discoveries move from the laboratory to the market.

The Ann Arbor school says Monday the effort will help its Medical School and its Office of Technology Transfer identify and advance medical research projects with a high potential of commercial success.

The fund will be called the U-M MTRAC for Life Sciences. MTRAC stands for Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization.

The effort is funded in part by a $2.4 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's 21st Century Jobs Fund.

It's one of several research commercialization efforts funded by the MEDC.

The challenge of food insecurity is a fact of life for some 50 million Americans.

Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment are taking part in a major study to probe the causes and solutions to food insecurity in Michigan.

In short, their research will look into how to link up the people who are not getting enough fresh healthy food, to the producers and the sources of that safe healthy food.

University of Michigan Professor Dorceta Taylor is one of the lead investigators. She is a professor of Environmental Justice at the School of Natural Resources and Environment and she was kind enough to tell us about the issue of food security.

To hear the full story click the audio link above.

A study by researchers at the University of Michigan links lead exposure in children to lower achievement on standardized tests.

It's published in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health.  Click here to read the study. 

From the study:

Detroit has an extensive lead poisoning problem. Although only 20% of Michigan’s children younger than 5 years lived in Detroit in 2010, childhood lead poisoning in Detroit has consistently accounted for more than 50 percent of the state’s total lead burden.

Detroit Free Press reporter Keith Matheny's article explores the research further and the schools affected.

The greater the lead poisoning in a Detroit Public Schools student's blood, the higher the likelihood he or she will do poorly on achievement tests -- even after accounting for contributing factors such as poverty. That's the finding of a collaborative study that provides one of the most detailed assessments yet of the impact of lead poisoning on students' learning ability.