Healthy Communities Research Institute

Each year, more than 30 million patients receive fluid resuscitation therapies for critical care scenarios like hemorrhaging, sepsis and burns. Underdosing resuscitation strategies are inefficient at saving lives, while overdosing regimens may lead to resuscitation injuries and hypothermia. Hossein Mirinejad, assistant professor in the College of Aeronautics and Engineering, is hoping to help find the solution to dosing problems.

The National Science Foundation recently awarded a two-year $198,978 grant to Tao Shen, assistant professor in the College of Aeronautics & Engineering, for the development of a compact, cable-driven serial robot that can be used in medical settings. Shen aims to build a robot with his students that will address the critical limitations that most current medical robots have.

Students across the nation were challenged as the pandemic swept the world. Healing Stanzas, a collaboration between the Wick Poetry Center, the Healthy Communities Research Institute and the Brain Health Research Institute, seeks to combine the science of brain health and public health with the creative energy of the humanities to provide Kent State students, staff and faculty with an opportunity to improve wellness through reflective poetry.

Intentionality to build successful academic mentoring relationships with students is what sets professors apart at Kent State, and each year two professors at the graduate and undergraduate level receive a student-nominated award for their ability to do so. The intent of the award is to recognize those professors exceeding in mentoring students in how to perform research in any field.  

Intravenous (IV) needle insertion is a practice that many medical professionals learn and need to master. A new cross-departmental Kent State project in the works will help nursing students improve their skills with cutting-edge technology. 

Last Spring, the Kent State University Board of Trustees approved the Anti-Racism and Equity Institute, which creates an important interdisciplinary hub for faculty, students, staff and community members engaged in race and anti-racism scholarship, activism and education. “Kent State is a university that is known for its activism,” Carla Goar, Ph.D., director of the Anti-Racism and Equity Institute, said. “Ideally this institute will serve as a hub for scholars and activists to come together to tackle issues and racial equity."