Sung Park, assistant professor of gerontology, and Richard Viskochil, assistant professor of exercise and health science, received the Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences’ Interdisciplinary Research Award (MIRA) for their project, Linking Physical Activity to Cognitive Functioning: Examining Alternative Measures in a Longitudinal Study of Diverse Older Adults. The newly established award includes $20,000 to support pilot research by tenure-track and scholarship of practice faculty members.

“This award is intended to boost our researchers’ ability to procure future external grant funding,” says Bo Fernhall, dean of Manning College, “while facilitating collaborations that bring together researchers from diverse fields to solve complex problems of aging, health, health equity, climate, and their intersections.”

The MIRA review committee included Elizabeth Dugan, Rachel Drew, Phil Gona, Ling Shi, and Huimin Yan.

Manning College also honored faculty and staff members during an all-college meeting on April 1, 2024. College administrators named Elizabeth Dugan, associate professor of gerontology, as faculty mentor of the year and Ellen Birchander, director of the Management of Aging Services master’s program, as educator of the year.