IMPORTANT NOTE: These are the archived stories for Belmont News & Achievements prior to June 26, 2023. To see current stories, click here.

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Barber Receives Travel Award and Presents Research at SEMSS

Hope Buckner
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Barber Receives Travel Award and Presents Research at SEMSS

Mary Barber, a junior chemistry major at Belmont, recently won a National Institutes of Health / National Institute of General Medical Sciences travel award and attended the Southeastern Medical Scientist Symposium (SEMSS) at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Duane Hatch (Barber’s Belmont academic advisor) recommended this conference based on her interests in a career as a physician and scientist. SEMSS is an American Physician Scientists Association (APSA) regional meeting that brings together aspiring physician scientists from schools around the southeastern United States.

SEMSS is for undergraduate, MD and MD-PhD students and physician-scientists to share current research and learn about the career path of a physician-scientist. SEMSS is sponsored by the MSTP (Medical Scientist Training Programs) of Vanderbilt University, University of Alabama-Birmingham and Emory University and the American Physician Scientists Association.

In addition to receiving the travel award, Barber was selected as one of four undergraduates to give an oral presentation along with other MD, MD-PhD, and PhD graduate students. Her talk was titled “Modeling Breast Cancer Therapy-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Human Cardiomyocytes,” and she spoke on the implications that novel, targeted cancer therapies have on the heart and the need for developing a pre-clinical model to screen for these toxicities. Barber’s research is based on work she has been doing in Dr. Javid Moslehi’s laboratory at Vanderbilt University in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. Barber said, “This was a great weekend for networking, making new friends, meeting future colleagues and learning about interesting science!”

Panvini and Ecology Students Work at Belle Forest Cave

Hope Buckner
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Panvini and Ecology Students Work at Belle Forest Cave

According to their website, Tennessee Parks & Greenways Foundation (TennGreen) is an accomplished nonprofit land trust dedicated to protecting and conserving Tennessee’s natural treasures. Founded in 1998, TennGreen is the oldest accredited, statewide land trust in Tennessee. TennGreen believes in doing more to protect our natural world so that future generations can enjoy the ecologically rich, beautiful, and historically significant treasures that make Tennessee unique. Through collaboration with members, private landowners, local municipalities, and state and federal agencies, the organization works to create parks, establish wildlife corridors, expand existing protected public lands and enhance public recreation opportunities.

The work of Belmont University Biology Professor Dr. Darlene Panvini and students in her ecology classes was recently highlighted in TennGreen’ s newsletter The Conserver. The article discussed their work that has been ongoing since 2015 at TennGreen’s Belle Forest Cave in Bellevue, TN. To read the article in its entirety, click here..

Belmont Crosses Halfway Mark of $150 Million  in Comprehensive Fundraising Campaign

April Hefner
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Belmont Crosses Halfway Mark of $150 Million  in Comprehensive Fundraising Campaign

‘We Believe’ initiative aims to reach $300 million by 2020

The final point tallies weren’t the only numbers being discussed from last night’s Battle of the Boulevard basketball game between cross-town rivals Belmont and Lipscomb. Instead, the crowd was abuzz about a major announcement made during the first media timeout when Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher shared that the University recently surpassed the half-way mark in its “We Believe” fundraising campaign.

The public-facing launch of the campaign in April 2016 set a high bar to reach $300 million, the largest goal in Belmont history, by 2020 in order to support five University priorities: scholarships, endowed faculty positions, missions, athletic funding and annual giving. With the help of Bruiser and the Belmont cheerleading team, last night Dr. Fisher revealed that the We Believe campaign total now stands at $151,317,565.

Fisher said, “I am so grateful for the thousands of men and women, as well corporate and foundation partners, who are showing such tremendous belief in the mission of Belmont University. This campaign is strengthening our ability to empower our students with an education that will transform lives and enable them to lead lives of purpose. The We Believe funds aid us specifically in attracting top faculty, enhancing student experiences, creating mission opportunities, supporting athletics and expanding student research. Most importantly, this campaign is positioning us to aid more qualified students in achieving a Belmont education, regardless of their financial circumstances.”

To date, more than 12,400 donors have contributed to the campaign, and 93 new endowed scholarships have been created. Thanks to a long history of strong financial management and diligent cost control, Belmont is able to partner with its supporters to leverage their investments in the institution’s future. The University is matching contributions to campaign priority endowments between $25,000 and $1.5 million ‘dollar for dollar,’ doubling the impact of each donor’s commitment.

Belmont’s Vice President for Development and External Relations Dr. Perry Moulds added, “What’s happening at Belmont University is special. Our faculty and staff drive it, our students feel it, and our parents, donors and friends all want to be a part of it. I am so grateful for the countless individuals who have supported this campaign and have expressed their belief in Belmont in such a tangible fashion. I believe their generosity will take an already successful institution to the next level, catapulting us even further onto the national stage and making a difference in lives for generations to come.”

For more information on the campaign, giving priorities and ways to give, visit Belmont’s We Believe website.

A Belmont Thanksgiving: Students Express Gratitude to Scholarship Donors

April Hefner
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A Belmont Thanksgiving: Students Express Gratitude to Scholarship Donors

In honor of Thanksgiving week, several Belmont students are sharing their gratitude to the scholarship donors whose support has made their education possible, enabling them to go “From here to anywhere.” To learn more about Belmont’s current “We Believe” fundraising campaign and how to support student scholarships, visit WeBelieve.Belmont.edu.

Claire Gillman

Colin Haslett

Khyesha Leverett

Sharo Hawrami

Nazje Mansfield

Juliana Fernandez

Titus Cody

Professor Miller Speaks to Traffic, Autonomous Cars

Hope Buckner
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Professor Miller Speaks to Traffic, Autonomous Cars

Andy Miller HeadshotBelmont Chair and Professor in the Mathematics and Computer Science Department Dr. Andy Miller was recently interviewed by FOX17 regarding the effects of autonomous cars on Nashville’s traffic. The story, completed by Matt Alvarez, features information from city leaders including Director of the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Sustainability Erin Hafkenschiel.

Miller discusses the impact driver-less cars could have on traffic, citing studies that have examined the effect of the vehicles on traffic by observing people driving in a circle and comparing the information to what it would be like with at least one driver-less car in the circle. “One of the things I talk about when I talk to people about traffic and the mathematics of it, I mention there have been studies that show there are phantom traffic jams that pop up just because people are reacting to each other,” Miller said. “And just the presence of one car that’s doing a better job of slow braking and pacing itself reduces the fake traffic jam in the circle.”

To view the story in its entirety, click here.

 

Students, Faculty Participate in Annual ReLeafing Day

Hope Buckner
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Students, Faculty Participate in Annual ReLeafing Day

More than 40 Belmont students and faculty members participated in the Nashville Tree Foundation’s ReLeafing Day on Saturday, November 18. Students from many groups across campus participated including First Year Seminar and Environmental Science Service Learning courses, the ECO club, Pembroke Hall, Kappa Psi Pharmacy Fraternity and Bridges to Belmont.

The annual volunteer event is held the Saturday before Thanksgiving and provides an opportunity for community members to plant trees throughout Nashville as a way to participate in conservation efforts. This year’s event was hosted at Croft Middle School. Throughout the day,volunteers helped plant more than 300 trees at 10 Metro schools and neighborhoods across South Nashville. Belmont students participated in plantings at Haywood Elementary School, Wright Middle School and a variety of neighborhood houses in South Nashville.

For more information about ReLeafing Day, click here.

Sheryl Crow to Appear as Guest Artist for Nationally Broadcast ‘Christmas at Belmont’

Hope Buckner
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Sheryl Crow to Appear as Guest Artist for Nationally Broadcast ‘Christmas at Belmont’

Show to air on Nashville Public Television and nationwide on PBS in December

World-renowned musician Sheryl Crow joined nearly 700 student musicians, Belmont School of Music faculty and the Nashville Children’s Choir on Monday, December 4 for the taping of this year’s “Christmas at Belmont,” an annual holiday spectacular held at the Nashville Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The production of traditional carols, classical masterworks, world music and seasonal favorites, produced by Nashville Public Television (NPT), will air on NPT December 14 and 22 at 8 p.m. and Christmas Day at 3 and 11 p.m. National viewers can enjoy the holiday spectacular on PBS December 22 (check local listings for times). This is the 15th consecutive year “Christmas at Belmont” has been seen by a national audience on PBS.

The year’s edition of “Christmas at Belmont’ features the Belmont Chorale, University Orchestra, Musical Theatre Ensemble, Jazzmin and Jazz Band 1 along with many others. Performances will feature a variety of music including “Angels We Have Heard on High,” “Run, Run Rudolf,” “What Child is This?” “Russian Dance” from The Nutcracker and the beautiful “There Is a Star,” performed by Sheryl Crow.

A nine-time GRAMMY Award recipient, Crow is an American music icon. Her nine studio albums have sold 35 million copies worldwide—seven of them charted in the Top 10 and five were certified for Multi-Platinum sales. Crow has lofted 40 singles into the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Top 40, Adult Contemporary, Mainstream Top 40 and Hot Country Songs charts, with more No. 1 singles in the Triple A listings than any other female artist. Her new album and first for Warner Bros. Records, “Be Myself,” is out now. She is well known for her passionate support of multiple charities including City of Hope, Stand Up to Cancer, The World Food Program, Feeding America, Adopt a Classroom, the TJ Martell Foundation, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, MusiCares, the Special Olympics and many more.

Crow said, “I’m thrilled to appear as this year’s ‘Christmas at Belmont’ guest artist. It’s an honor to be asked to share the stage with hundreds of impressive student musicians and join in this beautiful Christmas tradition. I look forward to celebrating the holiday season with so many viewers across the country.”

“’Christmas at Belmont’ is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our world-class School of Music in front of a national audience,” said Belmont University President Dr. Bob Fisher. “I’ve been a huge fan of the music of Sheryl Crow for many years, and have become an even bigger fan as I have observed her commitment to helping others and giving back to the community.”

The performance and taping of “Christmas at Belmont” returns for the sixth time to the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, one of the few venues in the world featuring natural lighting and state-of-the-art acoustics, including motorized acoustic drapes and an acoustical isolation joint that encircles the entire concert hall and prevents sound waves traveling into or out of the hall.

Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts Dr. Stephen Eaves said, “We are honored to once again help Nashville and the nation celebrate Christmas. We’re so grateful that our continued partnership with NPT allows our talented faculty and students to sing along with families across the country.  With our excellent guest artist and talented School of Music faculty students, we hope to inspire audiences to pause and embrace the joy and true spirit of this Christmas season.”

“NPT is excited to once again share one of Nashville’s unique holiday traditions with the entire nation on PBS,” said Kevin Crane, president and CEO of NPT.  “The talent that Belmont’s School of Music brings to this production is amazing and there’s no better place to highlight these young performers and their dedication than the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. “Christmas at Belmont” is sure to be a highlight of NPT and PBS’ holiday programming”

“Christmas at Belmont” is underwritten by longstanding presenting sponsors The Alvin and Sally Beaman Foundation and new this year, Tyson Foods. Other sponsors include Barbara Massey Rogers, The Jack C. Massey Foundation and Marty and Betty Dickens.

About Belmont University

Ranked No. 5 in the Regional Universities South category and named as a “Most Innovative” university by U.S. News & World Report, Belmont University consists of more than 8,000 students who come from every state and more than 36 countries. Committed to being a leader among teaching universities, Belmont brings together the best of liberal arts and professional education in a Christian community of learning and service. The University’s purpose is to help students explore their passions and develop their talents to meet the world’s needs. With more than 90 areas of undergraduate study, more than 25 master’s programs and five doctoral degrees, there is no limit to the ways Belmont University can expand an individual’s horizon. For more information, visit www.belmont.edu.

About NPT

Nashville Public Television, Nashville’s PBS station, is available free and over-the-air to nearly 2.4 million people throughout the Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky viewing area. NPT’s three broadcast channels are NPT, the main channel; secondary channel NPT2; and NPT3, a 24/7 PBS Kids channel. NPT is also available to anyone in the world through its array of NPT digital services, including wnpt.org, YouTube channels and the PBS video app. NPT provides, through the power of traditional television and interactive digital communications, quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve. Join the conversation at facebook.com/nashvillepublictelevision and on Twitter @npt8.

Schreiber Presents at Music Industry Conference in Beijing

Staff Writer
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Schreiber Presents at Music Industry Conference in Beijing

David Schreiber, assistant professor and chair of Belmont’s Entertainment Industry Studies Program, recently participated on two panels and presented a paper at the 4th Annual Music Industry Conference at the Communication University of China in Beijing. Schrieber shared his insight on entrepreneurial activity within the U.S. music industry while providing an international perspective on current trends affecting the U.S. market.

Schreiber also presented a paper on the Nashville music industry at the Tencent Research Institute Colloquium. Tencent is China’s leading Internet company as well as the largest, best performing and most valuable gaming company in the world. Along with providing social networking services, WeChat and streaming music service QQ Music, Tencent reaches all aspects of digital life for consumers. The Tencent Colloquium was streamed live to over 600 million of the company’s consumers.

 

Barletta Speaks to Songwriting Class

Staff Writer
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Barletta Speaks to Songwriting Class

Gino Barletta, songwriter, producer and executive for Artbeatz Records, visited Jodi Marr’s songwriting class this week. Barletta’s writing and production credits include Daya, Selena Gomez, The Chainsmokers, JoJo and others. He recently co-wrote two of Daya’s hit songs, “Hide Away” and “Sit Still, Look Pretty.”

McGrew and Students Attend Society for Neuroscience Conference

Hope Buckner
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McGrew and Students Attend Society for Neuroscience Conference

Dr. Lori McGrew, Biology professor in Belmont’s College of Sciences and Mathematics, took her senior research students to Washington, D.C. to attend The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Conference. SfN’s 47th annual meeting, “Neuroscience 2017,” is the world’s largest neuroscience conference for scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. More than 30,000 colleagues from more than 80 countries gathered at the world’s largest marketplace of ideas and tools for global neuroscience.

The conference opened Saturday morning with the Neuroscience and Society session. The speaker, Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, a physician and researcher, wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, which explores the disease that has plagued humans for thousands of years. His new book, The Gene: An Intimate History, examines the quest to decipher how human heredity combines with life experiences to control our lives. In this lecture, Mukherjee spoke with SfN President Eric Nestler about the excitement and importance of communicating the promise of scientific inquiry to the public. He spoke eloquently about the role of researchers in communicating honestly with the public, the danger of over-promising and the obligation for research to either advance our understanding of the world around us or cure disease.

McGrew presents her research
McGrew presents her poster

During the afternoon, McGrew presented a poster in the History and Teaching session entitled “Measuring Student Learning Using Closed-Book Timed Exams Versus Open-Book, Take-Home Exams.” Students visited several other posters detailing current research in the field. The group wrapped up day 1 by attending the Presidential Lecture “Insights from Nonhuman Animals into the Neurobiology of Language” by Dr. Jarvis. This lecture presented a modern model of language from molecular, circuit, to behavior levels. Jarvis described key concepts of language, including vocal learning and brain regions that are necessary for vocal language. While most of his work involved songbirds, Jarvis played clips of mouse vocalizations that were modified to be detectable by human ears. These mouse songs were remarkably similar to bird song and are helping researchers to better understand language across species.

On Sunday, the groups started the day by attending sessions on brain imaging in Danio rerio, studies of traumatic brain injury and mechanisms of memory. One of the dynamic posters demonstrated a technique for characterizing neural activity in swimming zebrafish by immobilizing their heads in agar gel. That evening, the students presented their research at the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience poster session and social. Students Elizabeth Sparks, Christian Candler, Rebecca Derby and Kara Garrett presented their research findings at the FUN poster session during the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

Candler and Sparks Present Their Research
Candler and Sparks present their research

Candler and Sparks presented a poster entitled “Assessment of Memory in Danio rerio following treatment with Natural Sugars, Artificial Sweeteners and Tomoxetine Hydrochloride.” Garrett and Derby presented a poster entitled “The effects of hormones and pathogens on cortisol levels in Danio rerio.” On Monday morning, McGrew attended a workshop focused on evidence-based methods in teaching neuroscience while the students visited some posters describing gender bias in research animals and the role of hormones in memory before returning to Nashville.

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