Mississippi INBRE Hosts Inaugural Mississippi IDeA/EPSCoR Conference 2022

Fri, 09/09/2022 - 02:09pm | By: Danny Holland

The Mississippi IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), in conjunction with the Mississippi Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), hosted the inaugural Mississippi IDeA/EPSCoR Conference 2022 this summer at the Lake Terrace Convention Center in Hattiesburg. The conference featured more than 400 attendees and 171 presentations in both oral and poster format, including many from University of Southern Mississippi (USM) faculty and students.

The annual meeting focused on public health, polymer science and engineering, as well as biomedical research. Collaboration amongst these varied groups is rare and made for a day full of scientific breakthroughs and discovery. Highlights included opening session by Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney, “State of the State,” as well as the closing session hosted by Dr. Nelson Atehortua De la Pena, director of the Office of Health Data and Research for the MSDH.

Owing to the conference’s success was its unique structure. Bringing students, researchers, and public health professionals together, the meeting featured both a STEM track and the second annual Mississippi Health Disparities 2022 (MHD2022), as well as undergraduate poster competitions.

“Mississippi INBRE was proud to organize a venue for students and scientists from across the state to present their work. This was the first time multiple programs participated, leading to an event with over 400 attendees,” said Dr. Alex Flynt, Program Director of Mississippi INBRE and Associate Professor in USM’s Center for Molecular and Cellular Biosciences.

“With the scale of the meeting, researchers from a breadth of disciplines were attracted– from chemists to cell biologists, to those involved in public health. Seeing this success, we hope to plan a similar conference next year.”

Mississippi INBRE is also pleased to have offered the opportunity for students to gain presentation experience. Not only were undergraduate poster sessions hosted on both the STEM and MHD2022 tracks, but nearly every session on the STEM track featured graduate student speakers. Of the seven students who placed in the undergraduate poster competitions, three attend USM and five are former Mississippi INBRE Student Scholars.

Poster competition information is as follows:

Overall Best Research Poster:

Dakota Kilcrease, William Carey University, Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholar

 

STEM Laboratory Poster Competition:

1^st place- Brian Ridenour, Arizona State University

2^nd place- Rachel Worden, Georgia Institute of Technology

3^rd place- Lola Smith, The University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi INBRE Research Scholar

 

Community-Based Poster Competition:

1^st place- Jaylen Sandifer, Jackson State University, Mississippi INBRE Service Scholar

2^nd place- Tylan Hunt, The University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholar

3^rd place- Maria Matory, The University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholar

 

For more information about Mississippi INBRE, visit msinbre.org.