Michigan Minds

When Russia invaded Ukraine, civilian lives, as well as lives of the scientists who live in the country, were upended. When an international grant was launched to support Ukrainian scientists, Andrzej Wierzbicki, a U-M professor of cellular, molecular and developmental biology, who is Polish, saw the funding opportunity as a way to help support the country that neighbors his own. 

Wierzbicki won a grant from the International Multilateral Partnerships for Resilient Education and Science System in Ukraine, or IMPRESS-U. 

Wierzbicki joins the Michigan Minds podcast to discuss how he is working with partners in Poland – Marcin Nowotny of the International Institute of Molecular Cell Biology in Warsaw – and Ukraine – Mykhailo Tukalo of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics in Kyiv – to explore how DNA is organized within plant chloroplasts.

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In this episode of Michigan Minds, Pamela Herd, social policy professor at the University of Michigan, discusses issues of healthcare access and affordability in light of the slaying of an industry CEO, efforts of a university lab in boosting access and breaking down walls to social safety net programs, and finding common ground within a polarized electorate.

Here's an excerpt of the conversation:

The killing of a healthcare CEO on a Manhattan sidewalk has become, in the words of Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch, "a stunning moment of clarity about the state of American society." I'd like to ask you what Will asked his readers: Why did it take an assassination to raise an issue that was ignored in a presidential campaign?

So let me preface this by saying that vigilante justice, which is one way to think about what happened, is never OK. The killing, the murder, assassination of the United Healthcare executive was not OK.

That said, people's reactions to it and the kind of depth of the anger that we heard from people in response is I think a pretty strong signal that something is fundamentally broken in how we deliver healthcare in the United States. And that's what it really tapped into: People are incredibly frustrated in the U.S. healthcare system. We spend enormous amounts of money paying for healthcare, both individually out of pocket as well as aggregately in terms of the federal and state budgets. And people just feel like they're not getting their money's worth. 

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To combat climate change, the world needs to pivot away from fossil fuels.

But building battery electric vehicles and infrastructure for renewable energy will require enormous amounts of minerals and resources, which can only be obtained in the quantities needed through mining. Low and low-to-middle income countries are also looking to boost their access to electricity, which will now likely take place through renewable energy systems. 

Adam Simon, a professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Michigan, studies how metals are deposited in the Earth's crust, with the ultimate goal of ensuring a sustainable supply of resources for our growing global population. He recently published a study for the International Energy Forum that showed we currently do not mine copper quickly enough to keep up with the global demand for the energy transition.

He joins the Michigan Minds podcast to discuss minerals needed for the energy transition, and how we will need to access those resources.

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Scott Rick is an associate professor of marketing at the Ross School of Business. His research speaks to how consumers perceive and experience inflation, how they choose what gifts to buy, and how they experience in-store and online shopping environments. He is particularly interested in understanding the behavior of extreme “tightwads” and “spendthrifts.”

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In this episode of the Michigan Minds podcast, J. Alex Halderman—Bredt Family Professor of Engineering and director of the Center for Computer Security and Society—discusses weak points in the U.S. electoral system and how to fix them, as well as the results of investigations following the 2020 election.

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Tony Reames, an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Environment and Sustainability, just returned to campus from two years at the U.S. Department of Energy working on energy justice.

The Tishman professor of environmental justice and director of the SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic joined us on the Michigan Minds Podcast to share his thoughts on how energy justice could manifest in the United States. His research focuses on disparities in residential energy generation, consumption, and affordability—centering on the production and persistence of inequality by race, class, and place.

You just returned home from more than two years at the U.S. Department of Energy working on energy justice. What is energy justice and how is it manifesting in the United States?

Energy justice is this concept that really looks at how do communities participate in both the health environment and social impacts of our energy system, recognizing that the energy system has had certain burdens on communities. 

And so environmental justice is really saying that all communities, regardless of race and income and geography, should be afforded a clean environment. And that the goal of addressing injustices gets us toward making sure that that's true. Climate justice also recognizes that communities of color, low-income communities are feeling the climate crisis first and worst, and that any action to address climate change should include those communities and their burdens. 

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In this episode of the Michigan Minds podcast, Henry Liu—director of Mcity and the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation, and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at U-M's College of Engineering—gives an overview on the state of autonomous vehicles, whether you're wondering what the hold-up is for cars that no longer need driver's wheels, or eyeing offerings like Tesla's Full Self-Driving, GM's Super Cruise or Ford's BlueCruise.

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In this episode of the Michigan Minds podcast, Timothy Cernak, associate professor of medicinal chemistry in the College of Pharmacy and associate professor of chemistry in the the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, makes the case for growing the field of conservation medicine and calls on pharmacists and medicinal chemists to "be on the front line of species conservation."

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Last January, president Santa J. Ono set the university on a path to imagine what aspirations the University of Michigan could achieve in the next 10 years. 

Vision 2034 is the outcome of the yearlong strategic visioning process that engaged more than 25,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and local community members. 

U-M's vision to be the defining public university outlines four areas where the university will make dramatic and focused impact: life-changing education; human health and well-being; democracy, civic and global engagement; and climate action, sustainability and environmental justice. 

Geoff Chatas, the university's chief financial officer, talked with us about climate action, sustainability, and environmental justice. 

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U-M's Vision 2034 is the outcome of the yearlong strategic visioning process that engaged more than 25,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and local community members. 

U-M's vision to be the defining public university outlines four areas where the university will make dramatic and focused impact: life-changing education; human health and well-being; democracy, civic and global engagement; and climate action, sustainability and environmental justice. 

Marschall Runge, executive vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Medical School, spoke with us about human health and well-being.

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