Interdisciplinary Research

April 3, 2023

Mizzou Engineering helps provide immersive weather experience

An exciting collaboration between three University of Missouri experts is opening the door to a unique learning opportunity for environmental sciences students, specifically those interested in studying weather.

March 6, 2023

Calyam, collaborators using AI to assist local news organizations

Each day, local newsrooms across the United States are inundated with a myriad of press releases and story pitches competing for attention from a staff already strapped for time. Prasad Calyam, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and his team are among an elite group of researchers working to integrate automation and artificial intelligence to help local news organizations solve this challenge and others.

March 6, 2023

Mizzou Engineer lends protein prediction expertise to climate change studies at Danforth Plant Science Center

An inter-institutional research team is using the power of computational analysis to pinpoint which plant genes confer resilience against rising temperatures that threaten global food supplies in the coming decades. Mizzou Engineering Professor Jianlin “Jack” Cheng — one of the first scientists in the world to use deep learning, a powerful artificial intelligence technique, to predict protein structures — adds a unique perspective to the work. Since 2018, he’s been collaborating with Dr. Ru Zhang, a plant scientist at the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, to leverage computational tools in the study of plant genes.

March 1, 2023

Missouri Water Center works to monitor water quality, quantities; train students

When it comes to water, there are a lot of stakeholders. Not only do we all need access to clean water—including fish and wildlife—but local economies rely on lakes and rivers for agriculture and tourism. When there’s not enough, droughts can destroy a year’s worth of crops. Too much can cause flooding that devastates communities. With those factors in mind, Mizzou established the Missouri Water Center a year ago, merging two former centers.

Jan. 31, 2023

Study unexpectedly finds only 7 health symptoms directly related to ‘long COVID’

In a new study, a team of University of Missouri researchers made an unexpected discovery: people experiencing long-lasting effects from COVID-19 — known as “long COVID” or post-COVID conditions — are susceptible to developing only seven health symptoms for up to a year following the infection. They are: fast-beating heart, hair loss, fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, joint pain and obesity.

Nov. 10, 2022

Team using fluorescent molecules as biomarkers to study secretion

An interdisciplinary research team received NSF funding to develop a method to follow biological activity using fluorescent molecules

Oct. 24, 2022

Researchers using machine learning to transcript centuries-old scripts

A University of Missouri research team has proved that a machine can be trained to decipher centuries-old script. Now, they want to see if that model is smart enough to read other handwritten documents from the era without as much human assistance.

Oct. 11, 2022

Wan receives $5 million grant to study animal-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Professor Henry Wan has received a $5 million USDA grant to study whether animals might send new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus back to us.

Sep. 27, 2022

In pursuit of better lithium-ion batteries

MU researchers Matthias J. Young (left) and Xiaoqing He are using a $500,000 grant from NSF to explore a key technical challenge preventing lithium-ion batteries from achieving optimal energy performance. By Eric Stann  |  MU News Bureau From personal electronics to electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries are used in many technologies today. Over the last 30 years, scientists have worked to improve the overall safety and performance of these batteries by converting a key component, called electrolytes, from liquid to solid — partly due to an issue of the liquid being flammable. Yet, while solid-state lithium-ion batteries — using solid electrolytes…

Aug. 22, 2022

Interdisciplinary team uses light as an innovative treatment to prevent tongue weakness in ALS

An interdisciplinary research team at Mizzou is investigating a novel treatment to prevent tongue muscle degeneration and preserve swallowing function in patients suffering from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).