FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
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National Science Foundation—Vanderbilt computer science professor seeks to make existing car systems smarter as part of $6 million NSF grantJonathan Sprinkle, a computer science professor at Vanderbilt University, is among seven principal investigators using a $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to explore a new way to engineer cyber-physical systems (CPS). Examples of CPSs—which involve algorithms, networks and physical components—include smart power grids, implantable medical devices and transportation technology such as self-driving cars, which are the focus of the five-year, multi-institutional project. Sprinkle’s role will be to find ways to enhance the capabilities of existing sensors and on-board computers currently installed in many vehicles. The project aims to rethink how to model, analyze and design a new generation of intelligent transportation systems using the algorithms already running these systems. MORE
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National Institutes of Health—Humphreys receives $3.7 million grant to study relationship between parent–child proximity and emerging psychopathologyThe caregiving environment can significantly shape brain development in infancy and toddlerhood, but how does that environment affect risk for mental disorders later in development? And could information gathered from this early developmental period help predict mental disorders? These are two of the questions that Assistant Professor of Psychology and Human Development Kathryn Humphreys will investigate in her latest study on parent–child proximity and emerging psychopathology with a new five-year research grant in excess of $3.7 million from the National Institute of Mental Health Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientists program. Humphreys’ goals for the NIMH BRAINS study are to improve assessments of the early caregiving environment, identify when to intervene if brain characteristics suggest later psychopathology[,] . . . and develop effective preventative interventions that target the caregiving environment, such as distinguishing what aspects of the caregiving relationship are most linked to later child functioning. MORE
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Q&A: What can a 50-year study teach us about giftedness?Vanderbilt researchers David Lubinski and Camilla Benbow have for decades studied the life path of gifted children and how their abilities, measured at around age 12–13, affect their adult performance and contributions. The two now co-direct the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth, which Benbow joined in 1976 and Lubinski in 1990. Since its inception in 1971, SMPY has tracked more than 5,000 students, among which is a special group of several hundred students who, before the age of 13, scored at least 700 on the math SAT or 630 on the verbal SAT—scores that only one in 10,000 children that age attain. Those students, now in their 50s and early 60s, have filed regular reports on their intellectual and professional development. The results have uncovered interesting insights and data about how gifted children navigate life, and the study has received international attention. MORE
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Leadership program for diverse new nurse leaders and faculty launchedVanderbilt University School of Nursing is creating a new leadership development program for nurses new in health care leadership and academic positions who are from groups historically underrepresented in nursing and/or those who support them. The Academy for Diverse Emerging Nurse Leaders will be held in Nashville November 14-18. VUSN Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Rolanda Johnson and Vanderbilt University Medical Center Senior Director for Nurse Diversity and Inclusion Mamie Williams will co-direct the academy, which is designed for nurses who have been in academic or health care leadership roles for less than three years. [Williams] and Johnson said the academy was developed to help new nursing faculty and new nurse leaders build the skills, gain the knowledge, and build a network of colleagues and mentors to help them advance their careers, and in turn, mentor other emerging nurse leaders. MORE
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Vanderbilt Blair School of Music and Nashville Symphony expand Curb Youth Symphony partnershipBuilding on their shared vision for serving dedicated young musicians in the Middle Tennessee region, the Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music and the Nashville Symphony have announced an expansion of their partnership in the Curb Youth Symphony. Beginning with the 2022–23 school year, Nashville Symphony Associate Conductor Nathan Aspinall will serve as conductor and artistic director of the ensemble. This alliance will build an even stronger connection between the Nashville Symphony and Vanderbilt Youth Orchestras program within Blair Academy, the precollegiate and adult division of the Blair School. The partnership will build on the foundation for youth orchestra opportunities historically created by both organizations, while giving students even greater access to the resources of Nashville’s GRAMMY®-winning orchestra. MORE
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Three new residential colleges planned for Highland QuadVanderbilt University is embarking on the next phase of its residential colleges program with the reenvisioning of Highland Quadrangle along 25th Avenue South. The initiative, which includes construction of three new residential colleges for upper-division students, will build upon the successful living-learning environments already in place on The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons and in the West End Neighborhood. Plans for the reimagined Highland Quad will begin with the demolition of its existing dormitories—Morgan House, Lewis House, the Mayfield Living Learning Lodges and Chaffin Place—to make way for the new residential colleges. The current buildings are scheduled for closure in 2024. Construction on the new residential colleges is expected to be completed for the 2027–28 academic year. MORE
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