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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; 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.
January 8, 2026 at 6:01 PM
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🎉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; 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)
February 20, 2026 at 5:03 PM
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Please join me in congratulating Dr. Mary Halbur on receiving an Educational Research Grant from the UNMC Interprofessional Academy of Educators!

Mary is an Assistant Professor in the Department of integrated Autism Spectrum Disorders.

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research
UNMC MMI logo; gold, red, grey header; Mary in circle frame; Research Achievement details – text: Title: Enhancing Care for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: An Evaluation of Online Interprofessional Training Modules; Description: The MMI interprofessional team previously developed an evidence-based online curriculum, Enhancing Care for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, with a goal to provide healthcare provider training in communication, sensory supports, and behavioral strategies needed to promote patient participation and reduce distress. The goal of this pilot project is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of the online modules among healthcare learners and providers from medicine, nursing, dentistry, and allied health disciplines.
May 22, 2026 at 5:05 PM
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We are pleased to announce that MMI is a partner on recently awarded NU Collaboration Initiative Grant!

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research
UNMC MMI logo; gold, red, grey header; Jenni and Susan in circle frame; Research Achievement details – text: NU Collaboration Initiative Grant Title: Quality of Life & Adaptive Functioning in Adolescents & Young Adults with Down Syndrome Description: The long-term objective of this work is to improve adaptive functioning and quality of life outcomes for individuals with Down syndrome (DS) during their transition from adolescence to young adulthood. The proposed project is the first step in building a cohort of adolescents and adults with DS to create a longitudinal study of the natural course of development in this critical transition period.
September 2, 2026 at 7:13 PM
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Madeleine Blakely from Bellevue West HS, received a Top Poster Award in the Metropolitan Science and Engineering Poster fair for her MMI research project, Comparing Child and Caregiver Preferences for Communication Modalities.

#unmcMMI #ResearchAchievement #Research #mmiResearch
UNMC MMI logo and branding; Madeleine in circle frame; information as listed in post; text: Research Achievement – Madeleine Blakely, High School Alliance Scholar, Specialized Behavior Intervention; Madeleine will move on to the state-level competition in Lincoln. Madeleine participated in the UNMC High School Alliance Stellar Senior program and was mentored by Dr. Cynthia Livingston and Alex Cicero. Cynthia is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Specialized Behavior Intervention and Alex is a PhD student.
May 22, 2026 at 5:04 PM
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🎉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
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).
February 19, 2026 at 9:06 PM
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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
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.
January 7, 2026 at 4:54 PM
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Congratulations to Dr. Kaitlyn Young on receiving a new grant from the Child Health Research Institute!

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#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research
Research Achievement Highlight; UNMC MMI logo; gold, red, grey header; Kaitlyn in circle frame; Text: Child Health Research Institute (CHRI) Grant; Kaitlyn Young, PhD, LP, NCSP, Assistant Professor, Psychology. Title: Examining the Potential Efficacy, Feasibility, and Acceptability of the Resilience Education Program (REP) for Students with Autism and Concurrent Internalizing Symptoms. Description: This study will evaluate the impact of the Resilience Education Program (REP) on internalizing concerns for Autistic students. REP involves cognitive behavioral instruction, family engagement, and check-in/check-out with educators and has been demonstrated to improve symptoms of anxiety and depression in middle school students. After taking part in REP, students, caregivers, and educators will share their thoughts and offer ideas on how to adapt REP to better meet the needs of students with autism.
September 25, 2026 at 4:08 PM
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Congratulations to Dr. Melissa Hunter on receiving a new HRSA grant!

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research #mmiPsychology
Research Achievement Highlight; UNMC MMI logo; gold, red, grey header; Melissa and Alison in circle frames; Text: HRSA GRANT. Melissa Hunter, PhD; Alison DeLizza, PhD. MMI Psychology. MMI-LEAP: MMI Leadership, Education and Advancement in Undergraduate Pathways. Description: MMI-LEAP will recruit, train, and mentor at least 30 interdisciplinary undergraduates per year- with priority recruitment from rural and frontier Nebraska counties - through a three-tier pipeline spanning a four-week summer clinical intensive at MMI, academic-year seminars with statewide site visits, and career orientation events at rural partner colleges. Built in partnership with BHECN and Nebraska LEND, the program scales MMI's existing Undergraduate Behavioral Health Experience Practicum (UB-HEP) and is the first LEAP program at MMI or anywhere in the UNMC system.
September 23, 2026 at 7:55 PM
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We are pleased to announce that MMI is a partner on recently awarded PCORI Convening Award!

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research
UNMC MMI logo; gold, red, grey header; Jenni and Carol in circle frame; Research Achievement details – Title: Convening to Support Engagement in Patient-Centered CER related to Siblings of Youth with Frequent Aggressive Behaviors in Nebraska Description: This convening project will build capacity for research including knowledge, connection, shared vision, and identification of research priorities to enable patient-centered CER that supports parent and clinician decisions for the prevention, screening, and treatment of mental health symptoms in siblings of children with frequent aggressive behavior. Project Principal Investigators: Dr. Carol Geary (College of Nursing) and Dr. Jenni Blackford (Research).
September 1, 2026 at 6:03 PM
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Congratulations to Dr. Toni Rose Agana on receiving a grant from the Child Health Research Institute!

Toni Rose is an Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator in the #IntegratedCenterForAutismSpectrumDisorders Department.

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research #mmiiCASD #iCASD
UNMC MMI logo and branding; Toni Rose in circle frame; information as listed in post; text: Title - Expanding Movement Opportunities in Early Intervention: A Collaborative Pilot Study of Gross Motor Play. Description - This project examines how early intervention environments can be systematically designed to increase gross motor engagement in young children with autism spectrum disorder. Motor delays affect a large proportion of autistic children and may constrain participation in play and social learning during a critical developmental period. Early intervention settings provide an important context for promoting gross motor engagement; however, movement opportunities are often incidental and not intentionally designed to align with children's developmental motor abilities. The study integrates applied behavior analysis (ABA) and physical therapy (PT) frameworks to evaluate the effects of structured, play-based activities on autistic children's gross motor engagement, physical activ
July 27, 2026 at 8:02 PM
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Please join us in congratulating Tara Fahmie, PhD, BCBA-D, on receiving a grant from the NU Collaboration Initiative! Tara is a Professor and Director of the Department of #SpecializedBehaviorIntervention.

#unmcMMI #mmiResearch #ResearchAchievement #Research #mmiSBI #TransformLives
UNMC MMI logo and branding; Tara in circle frame; information as listed in post; text: Title - COMPAS: Computational Multimodal Precursor Assessment System for Proactive Interventions in Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Description - Challenging behaviors such as aggression and self-injury are a major driver of intensive services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, yet current assessment methods rely heavily on time-consuming manual coding of video and audio. The COMPAS project aims to develop interpretable multimodal AI tools that automatically identify and predict challenging behaviors and their early vocal and motor precursors using synchronized clinical video and audio data. By enabling earlier detection and reducing clinician burden, COMPAS has the potential to improve safety, expand access to expert behavioral assessment, and support more proactive, data-driven care.
July 27, 2026 at 4:28 PM
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🎉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; 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)
February 20, 2026 at 8:29 PM
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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
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.
February 18, 2026 at 8:56 PM
renzume.com
Mathematicians solve 50-year-old McKay conjecture, simplifying complex group theory analysis
https://www.quantamagazine.org/after-20-years-math-couple-solves-major-group-theory-problem-20250219/
#mathematics #grouptheory #mckayconjecture #researchachievement #academiccollaboration
February 20, 2025 at 2:14 PM
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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
May 30, 2025 at 10:08 AM