News / Events


Free Access to Cloud-Based Data Integration Platform


Through a collaboration of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), Google-GCP, Amazon-AWS, and the NIH’s Institutional Development Awards (IDeA) states making use of its IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program, a multi-disciplinary team of scientists has developed the NIGMS Sandbox Modules, a set of interactive GitHub repositories and videos that enable self-learning and use of any researcher’s own data.

Leveraging the scalability and computational power of Google Cloud, the platform allows users to seamlessly integrate diverse omics datasets, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. The tool facilitates the exploration of large datasets, running complex analyses without requiring local infrastructure.

This tool is designed to enhance both classroom learning and cutting-edge research, providing an accessible and efficient environment for bioinformaticians, researchers, and students to engage with multi-omics data.

More information here.

North Dakota INBRE Annual Symposium 

The ND INBRE Annual Symposium with be held Saturday, Oct. 12 at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences.  Undergraduates from across the state will present their research in a series of morning oral sessions and an afternoon poster session. There will be presentations on the application process for medical and graduate school as well.

Registration, Abstract Submission and Lodging Information can be found at the Meeting Website.

Summer Undergraduate Research Poster Session

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend the Summer Undergraduate Research Poster Session on Thursday, Aug. 1, at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS). The one-day event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on the second floor of the UND SMHS building at 1301 North Columbia Road, Grand Forks, N.D.

For the past 10 weeks, 52 students from UND, as well as from rural and tribal colleges in North Dakota, Minnesota, and across the nation, have conducted research and participated in a professional development activities. Students worked with their mentor scientists from the UND Department of Biology, the UND SMHS Departments of Pathology and Biomedical Sciences, Cankdeska Cikana Community College, Turtle Mountain Community College and Sitting Bull Community College.

Virtual Indigenous Data Science (VIDS) Academy  

The Virtual Indigenous Data Science Academy  is a program hosted by the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences in partnership with area Tribal colleges to begin to address the growing demand for data science education.  A week-long training academy (July 12 & July 15-19) will introduce students to the foundations of data science and analytics. The Virtual Indigenous Data Science Program introduces students to data, computational approaches, access to resources, and career opportunities in data science, and address the under-representation of American Indians and Alaskan Natives in the biomedical research workforce.

The Initiative builds on the NIH-funded ND INBRE Health & the Environment program, which is housed at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The deadline to register for the 2024 Virtual Indigenous Data Science Academy is April 15, 2024.  Register here.

Tenth Annual Tribal College Research Symposium  

The Tenth Annual Tribal College Research Symposium will be hosted by United Tribes Technical College, April 24-25, 2024, at the Gateway to Science Museum in Bismarck, ND. This symposium will include a poster session featuring student research, a keynote address, and breakout sessions in the areas of: Biomedical Science, Environmental Science, Food Sustainability, and Wildlife Biology. The symposium will begin with a poster session and reception Wednesday evening, followed by the Keynote Address and Breakout Sessions on Thursday.

Register here – Deadline April 5th, 11:59PM CST.
Hotel accommodations covered by UTTC: Use this link until April 3, 2024.

North Dakota State Science & Engineering Fair  

The 2024 North Dakota State Science & Engineering Fair will be held on April 5, 2024 at the University of North Dakota.  The Medical School, Nursing, Chemistry, Biology, Engineering, Physics & Astrophysics, Atmospheric Sciences, Aerospace and the College of Education will offer activities on Thursday afternoon.

The top finishers overall and in each region will attend the International Science & Engineering Fair on May 11-17, 2024, in Los Angeles, CA.

First Annual Research Roadshow at the North Dakota State Capitol  

On March 24, 2023, INBRE-supported undergraduate researchers joined representatives from other North Dakota institutions to present their research at the State Capitol in Bismarck.  Participants were from Minot State University, Mayville State University, Dickinson State University, Valley City State University, North Dakota State University and Bismarck State College.  The Undergraduate Research Showcase was organized by the “Statewide Research Working Group” made up of a research representative from each institution in the NDUS system. This presented an opportunity for legislators to hear first-hand from students about their enthusiasm for research and its impact on undergraduate students.

Madison Jones (UND; Scott Garrett, Seema Somji): Knockdown of SOX2 in UROtsa Cells Transformed with Arsenite (As³  )Decreases the Expression of KRT6

Spencer Gordon (Minot State; Bryan Schmidt): The Effects of Methamphetamine with Reuptake Inhibitors on Primary Cell Cultures of Chromaffin Cells

Taylor Painter (Mayville State; Joseph Mehus): West Nile Virus: The Tale of Two Species (In Traill County, ND)

Student News and Awards


Frank Low Research Day Poster Winners

Frank Low Research Day Poster Winners

Danielle Germundson-Hermanson (Clinical and Translational Science graduate student) won a Best Poster Award in the Basic Science Graduate Students category at the 2023
UNDSMHS Frank Low Research Day. Her presentationentitled “Histamine H3 receptor  was antagonism mitigates food-hypersensitivity-associated depressive behavior and neuropathology in a mouse model of cow’s milk allergy.”