Archive for October, 2008
‘U’ lecturers’ union endorses Deitch, Ilitch for Board of Regents
By Chris Herring, written on Oct. 30, 2008
Jacob Smilovitz
Daily Staff Reporter
With less than a week until Election Day, the labor union that represents University of Michigan lecturers have endorsed a pair of candidates vying to join the University’s Board of Regents.
The Lecturers’ Employee Organization threw its support behind incumbent Larry Deitch and newcomer Denise Ilitch, both of whom are Democrats from Bingham Farms.
Ian Robinson, LEO’s Ann Arbor campus co-chair and a lecturer in the Residential College, said members of his group feel connected to the regents and the work they do.
“We actually talk with the regents regularly about policy issues, so we have some real knowledge of their positions of relevance to our work,” he said.
The Graduate Employee Organization, which represents GSIs, has yet to endorse regent candidates. Neither group plans to back a presidential candidate. They each deferred that endorsement to their parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers, which supports Democratic nominee Barack Obama earlier this year.
‘U’ receives $3.8M grant for kidney research
By Chris Herring, written on Oct. 28, 2008
The Medical School’s Division of Nephrology has received a five-year, $3.8 million research grant to conduct kidney research.
The grant, from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, will allow the University to further investigate prevention strategies and develop diagnoses for those with kidney ailments.
The University, which has garnered NIDDK funding every year since 1988, was one of just seven schools to receive the grant.
Johnson & Johnson purchases ‘U’ start-up company
By Chris Herring, written on Oct. 28, 2008
HealthMedia Inc., a University of Michigan start-up company, has been purchased by pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, the University announced in a press release.
The company, which provides Web-based health advice by joining advanced technology with behavioral science, has about 140 employees. They all will stay in Ann Arbor despite the transaction.
Though details of the transaction were not disclosed, the release said the sale should net the University about $1.7 million of money that will later be reinvested into research initiatives at the University.
“This success is a good example of how the University of Michigan can be an engine for economic change and growth in the state,” said Stephen Forrest, the University’s vice president for research, in the release.
HealthMedia, founded in 1998, is a product of the University’s Tech Transfer Office. Prior to purchasing the company, Johnson & Johnson served as its customer.
University President Mary Sue Coleman has served on Johnson & Johnson’s board of directors since 2003.