OXFORD, Miss. – The Mississippi IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (Mississippi INBRE), in partnership with the Mississippi Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), co-hosted the fourth annual Mississippi IDeA/EPSCoR Conference (MIEC25) on July 24 at the Ole Miss Student Union. The event drew more than 350 attendees and featured over 190 oral and poster presentations.

“We were thrilled to see such strong participation from across the state and beyond,” said Dr. Kelly Lucas, Vice President for Research at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) and Program Director of Mississippi INBRE. “This conference highlights the strength of Mississippi’s research community and the partnerships that continue to drive innovation.”

Mississippi INBRE hosted several sessions throughout the conference. Dr. Lucas moderated Building Successful Partnerships, a lunchtime panel on university-industry collaboration. Panelists included Dr. Mahrokh Dadsetan of Evonik, Dr. Meagan Rosenthal of the University of Mississippi (UM), and Dr. Jeff Wiggins of USM.

Dr. Jacques Kessl, Mississippi INBRE Program Coordinator, chaired a session highlighting research supported through the Mississippi INBRE Developmental Research Project Core (DRPC), which is designed to engage faculty from Predominately Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) in biomedical research. Mississippi INBRE-funded PUI faculty shared findings from projects ranging from environmental science to cancer research. Presenters included Dr. Scoty Hearst of Mississippi College, Dr. Wolfgang Kramer of Millsaps College, Dr. Daniel Oyugi of Mississippi Valley State University, and Dr. Debarshi Roy of Alcorn State University.

The Mississippi INBRE Community Engagement and Training Core (CETC) also convened a panel on strategies for sustaining and expanding health science research through community-based approaches and alternative funding models. Moderated by Dr. Lashanda D. Brumfield of USM, the panel featured CETC Co-Directors Dr. Jennifer Lemacks of USM and Dr. June Gipson of MBK Inc., along with Dr. Susan Mayfield-Johnson of USM, Dr. Victor Sutton of the CETC, and Dr. Jacquilyn German of the Mississippi State Department of Health.

Dr. Michael Garrett, Chair of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) and director of the Mississippi INBRE Instrumentation and Services Core (ISC), led Cutting-Edge Technologies for Mississippi Researchers and Beyond. ISC Core Facility directors presented overviews of the services available at the Core’s five facilities across the state.

Dr. Victor Bii, Assistant Professor of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health at Mississippi Valley State University, chaired the Mississippi Emerging Research Institutions session. Similarly to the session chaired by Dr. Kessl, this session additionally showcased Mississippi INBRE-funded PUI faculty research. Projects presented focused on cystic fibrosis therapy, institutional research program advancement, neurology and more. Faculty presenters included Dr. Andrew Clement of Millsaps College, Dr. Severine Groh and Dr. Nina Riding of Delta State University, and Dr. Ghanshyam Heda of Mississippi University for Women. 

The keynote lecture, Focusing a Sustainability Lens on Additive Manufacturing: Asking More from Science and Engineering, was delivered by Dr. Timothy E. Long, director of the Biodesign Center for Sustainable Macromolecular Materials and Manufacturing at Arizona State University. Dr. Long highlighted sustainable pathways in polymer science, including monomaterialization, dematerialization, and additive manufacturing.

Undergraduate and graduate students also presented research during the conference’s poster session. Raven Lee of Tougaloo College won first place in the undergraduate student research poster competition hosted during the session for her project, EEG Epoch Classification Using Fourier Transform and LLM Transformer: A Theoretical Approach. A mathematics major, Lee conducted research for her project under the mentorship of Dr. Jinghe Mao, Mississippi INBRE Steering Committee member.

Poster Competition Winners

  • 1st Place – Raven Lee, Tougaloo College
  • 2nd Place – Nicholas Whitehead, UM
  • 3rd Place – Adya Praveen, UMMC
  • 4th Place – Henley Calhoun, UM
  • Honorable Mention – Caleb Cooper, Tougaloo College

Click here to see more photos from the conference.