Here’s a round-up of education briefs from around Southwest and Southside:
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute gets $1 million microscope
The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC has taken delivery of an advanced microscope that will enable researchers to better analyze the structure and function of complex biological systems.
The acquisition was made possible by a $1 million grant through the Health Resources and Service Administration, whose programs include support of health infrastructure. The agency, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, serves communities that are geographically isolated and economically or medically vulnerable.
The microscope is called the FLIM-FRET fast imaging system (fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy and Förster’s resonance energy transfer).
Christie Lacy, a senior research associate who manages the cellular and molecular imaging core at the institute, said the equipment will allow researchers in neuroscience, cardiovascular research and cancer research to gain a greater understanding of such interactions and how they affect human development and disease.
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University of Lynchburg names new dean
The University of Lynchburg has named Dr. Sabita Manian dean of the Lynchburg College of Arts and Sciences. Manian, who is a professor of international relations and security studies, previously served as associate dean of the School of Social Sciences and will continue that post for the spring semester.
Manian holds a PhD and a master’s in international relations from Tulane University and a BA from St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta, India. Following her tenure at Stephens College in Missouri, she began her teaching career at the University of Lynchburg, then Lynchburg College, in 2001. She also has served as the president’s inaugural Faculty Fellow for Equity and Inclusion, chair of political science and international relations, and chair of the Liberal Arts Studies program.
One of her most prized accomplishments is the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Award, which she received in 2015. She also is the recipient of Lynchburg’s Shirley Rosser Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Thomas Allen Award for Excellence in Advising.
Manian serves as the Fulbright Scholar Liaison and on the advisory board for the Center for Community Engagement at Lynchburg. She is the coauthor of the 2010 book “Sex Trafficking: A Global Perspective” and has written dozens of journal articles, book chapters, academic papers, and public lectures on human security, identity and diaspora politics, ethnic politics, foreign policies, and gender politics relating to Asia, the Americas, and Europe.
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University of Lynchburg names new medical director for PA medicine master’s program
The University of Lynchburg’s Master of PA Medicine program has a new medical director, effective Jan. 1. Following the retirement of Dr. Dan Johnson, who has served as the program’s medical director since 2012, local cardiologist Dr. David Truitte has taken the reins.
Truitte, a cardiologist at Centra Heart and Vascular Institute in Lynchburg, earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1986. He did his residency at Philadelphia’s Temple University, where he was chief resident from 1989-90, and completed a cardiology fellowship at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
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Emory & Henry gets grant for historical preservation
Emory & Henry College has received a $25,000 grant to support local and regional history preservation from the Roller Bottimore Foundation.
“The Watershed Project: Civic Memory for a Citizenship of Place” has a two-fold purpose – to preserve, index, and archive a wide range of historical material related to the history and operation of Emory & Henry College, the oldest institution of higher learning in Southwest Virginia.
The Watershed Project is being undertaken by the Appalachian Center for Civic Life at Emory & Henry. The project is supported by an advisory panel composed of scholars and members of the community, which will meet regularly to offer feedback, ideas and assessments of the project.
The initial discovery phase of this project has begun and more information can be accessed at the project web page, found here. The final result will be a virtual history of Southwest Virginia and Emory & Henry College that will be multidimensional, dynamic, and useful to scholars, students, teachers, and members of the community.