College of Nursing and Health Professions
Research and Grantmanship
Page Content
The Southern Miss College of Nursing and Health Professions is one of only three universities in the state of Mississippi producing doctoral research graduates in the health and related professions. Our faculty is committed to transformational and interdisciplinary scholarship that improves how diverse health professions address the needs of communities across Mississippi and the Gulf South. This unique research environment is paired with a legacy of excellence in teaching pedagogy, to produce the next generation of health professionals in an evolving public health and healthcare environment. Combined with teaching and research excellence, our College thrives on numerous, long-standing partnerships across community, healthcare, public health and academic settings that altogether uphold the university’s Carnegie community engagement and R1 classifications.
Funding At-A-Glance
CNHP supported numerous innovations from community-engaged health interventions to biomedical device creation and testing. In FY22-23, CNHP Faculty:
- Submitted 48 new proposals, up 29% from FY 21-22
- Were awarded 26 proposals, up 31% from FY 21-22, to total over $4.6 million
- Managed 19 active grants totaling over $6.7 million
Mississippi Health Disparities (MHD)
Mississippi Health Disparities (MHD) is an annual conference founded in 2021. MHD is the premiere conference for scientists, health professionals, students, and community members in Mississippi. This collaborative effort between Mississippi IDeA programs, the Mississippi State Department of Health, and healthcare organizations provides a community-academic platform for science communication and networking in the state, as well as a source for continuing education for healthcare professionals. MHD showcases biomedical and behavioral research with a focus on underserved and underrepresented groups in research. MHD attracts hundreds of attendees from universities and institutions across Mississippi and the entire mid-south region.
Community Engaged Research at Southern Miss
Okla Achokma
The objective of this research project will be attained through the specific aim of determining the effectiveness of an enhanced-organization implementation delivery for lifestyle interventions compared to a standard community-based implementation delivery model among Native Americans residing in the Deep South. The working hypothesis is that the enhanced model will leverage tribal connectedness and produce an organizational level support that will bolster program retention and sustainability, and participant diet and physical activity behavior outcomes with comparable adoption among the target population.
Project Spotlight:
Introduction of ASPIRE:
Project ASPIRE’s mission is to Addressing plastic waste challenges and their climate and health impacts, while building community climate resilience and advancing social and environmental justice in Mississippi and Alabama.
Headed by professors from 3 different schools at Â鶹´«Ã½
Scientific Goals of ASPIRE:
- Microplastic detection and understanding their community impacts
- Dynamic blend compatibilizers for mixed polyolefins recycling
- Dynamic polymer networks from bio-derived resources
Broader impacts of ASPIRE:
- Stimulating local small business growth and seed grants for recruiting junior faculty members
- K-12 outreaching (integrated with all on-going efforts by including ASPIRE elements)
- Beach clean-up and Research Exhibits in Coastal area (quarterly, collaborate with ongoing efforts from other organizations)
- Improving recycling infrastructure in rural areas
Links and Partnerships
Established in 2023, Â鶹´«Ã½ is part of MSINBRE, a network of colleges and universities designed to build a biomedical research infrastructure in Mississippi. Our mission is to reach out to Mississippians in order to improve health throughout the state and to engage talented researchers and students in biomedical research projects that will increase the state’s research competitiveness as well as impact the health of citizens of Mississippi. The University of Â鶹´«Ã½ houses two of the four programmatic cores (Administrative and Community Engagement & Training) which make up the Mississippi INBRE network.
The National Institutes of Health is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. In fiscal year 2022, NIH invested most of its $45 billion appropriations in research seeking to enhance life, and to reduce illness and disability. NIH-funded research has led to breakthroughs and new treatments helping people live longer, healthier lives, and building the research foundation that drives discovery.
The University of Â鶹´«Ã½ Vice President for Research
The Vice President for Research promotes and monitors scholarship within the university community and presides over all administrative proceedings relating to research, creative activities and scholarship.
The Telenutrition Center's mission is to integrate community engaged and technology supported solutions to improve nutrition and related behaviors of underserved Mississippians and address preventable chronic diseases disparities. The Center engages both students and communities in outreach and intervention activities that focus on moving more and eating better to live a healthier life.​