ODI HEEDs diversity award call; biomed scholar gets to travel

Insight into Diversity names UMMC among 43 HEED recipients

The University of Mississippi Medical Center has received a 2019 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from Insight into Diversity.

UMMC is among 43 institutions nationally to receive the award from the organization, the oldest and largest diversity magazine and website in higher education.

The UMMC Office of Diversity and Inclusion submitted the application to Insight into Diversity on behalf of the Medical Center.

According to Dr. Juanyce Taylor, UMMC chief diversity and inclusion officer, UMMC's award application “covered campus climate initiatives, underrepresented recruitment and retention of faculty and students, community outreach, financial support and scholarships, events and celebrations, social justice and activism, policies and strategy, and innovative diversity education.”

“There is a lot going on in this space and our hope is that we are able (to) work toward institutional goals and objectives once the institutional strategic planning process reboots.”

The HEED Award recognizes colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. Recipients of the 2019 HEED Award will be recognized in the organization’s November 2019 publication.

Biomedical materials Ph.D. candidate earns national travel award

Lauren Corby, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biomedical Materials Science, received an Academy of Dental Materials student travel award for her research, “Effect of Er,Cr:YSGG Laser Conditions on Debonding YSZ Ceramic.”

The award encourages and recognizes outstanding student research in dental materials and facilitates the student recipient’s travel to the academy’s annual meeting to present his or her work.