UNMC MMI logo; gold, red, grey header; Chelli in circle frame; Research Achievement details – Title: Bright Futures: Empowering Children with CVI at Munroe-Meyer Institute; Description: The goal of this project is to develop a multidisciplinary cortical visual impairment (CVI) clinic that provides comprehensive and individualized care for children and young adults diagnosed with CVI. Services address functional vision, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), mobility, and positioning needs. The diverse expertise of our team, including specialists in OT, SLP, PT, and engineering, uniquely positions us to integrate clinical insight with innovative adaptations and technologies customized to address each child’s unique needs. Collaborators on this project include: Ryan Thomas (Research), Dr. Susan Fager (Speech Language Pathology), and Dr. Susan Riley (Physical Therapy)

🎉Please join us in congratulating Chelli Westengaard on receiving an MMI Guild Grant!

Chelli is the Director of the Department of Occupational Therapy at the Munroe-Meyer Institute.

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research #mmiOccupationalTherapy #mmiOT

UNMC MMI logo; gold, red, grey header; Mary in circle frame; Research Achievement details – text: Title: Empowering Caregivers: Integrating a Coaching Framework with Project ImPACT; Description: This project will introduce a proven, evidence-based program, Project ImPACT (Improving Parents as Communication Teachers), to the ACT Clinics. Project ImPACT is a model that explores everyday routines and play to help children develop communication, social skills, and engagement. The initiative will elevate caregiver engagement and measurably improve outcomes for children with autism and their families. Collaborators on this project include: Co-investigator Amber Paden (iCASD), Chandler Pederson (iCASD), Eden Bauer (iCASD), and Leslie Castano Van Winkle (Speech Language Pathology)

🎉Please join us in congratulating Dr. Mary Halbur on receiving an MMI Guild Grant!

Mary is an Assistant Professor & Clinical Director of ACTION in the Department of integrated Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research #mmiiCASD

UNMC MMI logo; gold, red, grey header; Rachel in circle frame; Research Achievement details – text: Title: Development of biofeedback instrumentation for the treatment of pediatric feeding disorder; Description: The goals of this project include: 1) Development and testing of a specialized spoon to measure tongue placement and pressure in the treatment of swallowing difficulties, and 2) Development and testing of a utensil to measure bite force when teaching a child how to chew for the first time. Collaborators on this project include: Dr. Amy Drayton (Pediatric Feeding), Dr. Brian Knarr (UNO Biomechanics), Dr. David Kingston (UNO Biomechanics), Dr. Bethany Hansen (Pediatric Feeding), Ilissa Frye (PhD student), and Sidni Trotter (Speech Language Pathology).

🎉Please join us in congratulating Dr. Rachel Knight on receiving an MMI Guild Grant!

Rachel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatric Feeding Disorders.

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research

Research achievement notification; info as listed in post; text: Comparing Structured and Natural Naming Experience on Incidental Bidirectional Naming in Children with Autism; Description: Children with autism and language delays often require direct teaching for every new word, which places a substantial burden on families and clinicians. In contrast, typically developing children learn words naturally through everyday interactions with their caregivers, a skill called incidental bidirectional naming (inc-BiN). This study investigates whether the learning environment affects how well children with autism can be assessed for and taught this critical language skill. The purpose of this study is to investigate if inc-BiN assessment results differ by setting and whether teaching in natural environments produces better generalization than structured teaching.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Katherine Liu on receiving a mini grant from the UNMC Child Health Research Institute (CHRI)!

Katherine is a post-doctoral fellow in the integrated Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research #mmiiCASD

UNMC MMI logo and branding; Brandy in circle frame; Research Achievement details – text: Brandy L. Clarke, PhD, Professor, Director, Psychology. Title: Mental Health Service Professional (MHSP) Demonstration Grant Description: The goals are: (1) to expand the number of certified and licensed school psychologists training in comprehensive school mental health programming in rural and urban high-need local education agencies; and (2) improve the infrastructure of high-need local education agencies to build comprehensive programming. They will achieve these goals by attracting school psychology trainees to internship and fellowship training programs with placement sites in high-need schools and provide professional development for educators to increase capacity for supporting student wellbeing.

Congratulations to Dr. Brandy Clarke on receiving a demonstration grant from the Nebraska Department of Education! The grant is a collaboration with Dr. Amber Harstock as the Project Director and Dr. Clarke as the Project Co-Director.

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research

UNMC MMI logo and branding; Erika in circle frame; Research Achievement details – text: Erika Franta Bretscher, PhD, Assistant Professor, Program Director of School Strategy, Psychology. Title: Nebraska's Expanded School-Based Mental Health Services Program Description: The goals are: (1) Increase the number of credentialed school psychologists servicing students in local education agencies with demonstrated needs participating in the project through recruitment and retention efforts with partnership educational service units and (2) Increase the number of credentialed school psychologists serving students in local education agencies with demonstrated needs participating in the project through respecialization efforts with partnership with UNL School Psychology Program.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Erika Franta on receiving a School-Based Mental Health Services Grant! The grant is a collaboration with the NE Dept of Edu with Dr. Amber Harstock as the Project Director & Erika as the MMI Project Director.

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research

This work introduces novel metrics to better evaluate and guide the design of materials for pyroelectric energy harvesting from dynamic thermal environments.

#MaterialsScience #EnergyHarvesting #Pyroelectrics #WomenInSTEM #PhDLife #ResearchAchievement

Mathematicians solve 50-year-old McKay conjecture, simplifying complex group theory analysis
www.quantamagazine.org/after-20-years-math-coup...
#mathematics #grouptheory #mckayconjecture #researchachievement #academiccollaboration