A new program based in the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences in Arizona State University’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences will receive $1.2 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health over five years to support students from underrepresented groups who are pursuing genomics research.

The Training in Genomics Research (TiGeR) program provides financial support for each student in the program to fully cover their tuition and educational research-related expenses as well as health insurance, travel expenses to conferences and stipends. The program is geared toward underrepresented and minority students who have undergraduate degrees in computer science, mathematics or statistics and little to no previous experience working with genomics data sets, but who are now seeking training in genomics and bioinformatics.  The Training in Genomics Research program, based in ASU's School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences in the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, will receive $1.2 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health over five years to support students from underrepresented groups who are pursuing genomics research. Download Full Image

Genomics research, the growing field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping and editing of genomes, enables medical researchers to develop improved diagnostics, more effective therapeutic strategies, evidence-based approaches for demonstrating clinical efficacy and better decision-making tools for patients and providers.

“The metro Phoenix area is becoming increasingly prominent in the biomedical and biosciences industry, among the fastest-growing sectors in the Valley, and ASU is within this industrial hub,” said Sree Kanthaswamy, professor in the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences. 

“This puts our program within the arm’s reach of industry partners for collaboration and critical infrastructure implementation to facilitate content delivery and experiential learning. The surge in demand for technical skills in the bioinformatics and genomics area is ongoing, and this program can help address the skills gap.”

The TiGeR program integrates genomics research training into New College’s pre-existing master’s degree in biological data science and creates a new track that includes intensive in-person hands-on exposure to genomics data sets and bioinformatics tool sets, as well as mentored research experiences.

"The TiGeR program is committed to enhancing the diversity of data scientists engaged in genomics science research,” Kanthaswamy said. “Students typically do not drop out of graduate school due to academic issues but instead because of financial and programmatic issues. Through the TiGeR program, we hope to recruit highly motivated students from racial, gender and ethnic minority groups, as well as those with disabilities and those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged.

“Too often, folks from these groups with these backgrounds do not have the same opportunities as others to pursue genomics and STEM research in a meaningful way. This program has the potential to develop an incredibly diverse group of thought leaders in the field of genomics.”

The faculty members who serve as mentors for the program have expertise in a wide range of interdisciplinary areas, from wet lab and field research to data science, genetics, genomics and bioinformatics.

As principal investigators of the project, Kanthaswamy and Associate Professor Valentin Dinu, of the College of Health Solutions, will lead the program, with support from Assistant Professor Jonathan Parrott, Assistant Professor Maria Sanin Perez, Associate Professor Maria Vibranovski and Professor Pamela Marshall, as well as Assistant Professor Kim Bussey of Midwestern University. 

The grant funding will be provided by the National Human Genome Research Institute, a branch of the NIH.

The program is now actively recruiting students to participate. To learn more about the program or the application process, students can visit NewCollege.asu.edu/Genomics-Prgm. The deadline for fall 2023 enrollment is July 15, 2023.

For the last 162 years, the course of American government has been based on the competition of the two major political parties, with most U.S. voters registering as either Democrats or Republicans.

But voter confidence in the two-party system has taken a marked turn in the 21st century, and today between 40% and 50% of the U.S. electorate – numbers that are growing – have rejected the norm. Independent voters are now the emerging power in American politics. Image by Mohamed Hassan/Pixabay Download Full Image

One difficulty in understanding the direction this new force is taking, says Professor Thom Reilly of the ASU School of Public Affairs, is knowing what independents think and want from their government. 

“What exactly is on the minds of independent voters is difficult to know. Sometimes they elect liberals, sometimes conservatives, sometimes moderates, all in the same election,” said Reilly, co-director of the new ASU Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy.

Reilly and Co-Director Jaqueline Salit of IndependentVoting.org will officially open the center Oct. 19 with a reception at the university’s Ambassador Barbara Barrett & Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Washington Center in Washington, D.C.

Both politicians and the public need to come to grips with independent voters’ stronger position at the political table, Reilly said.

According to the center, the number of independent voters increasing nationwide coincides with a rise in the number of American voters who are frustrated with their national government. A recent study by the Partnership for Public Service found that 56% of survey respondents said they do not trust the federal government, and 65% believe the government does not listen to the public.

Reilly said that more and more voters believe the two major parties are mostly responsible for the polarization among citizens and dysfunction in government.

“We at the center are seeking to learn whether a viable pathway to nonpartisan governance exists, whether major reform to our political structure is possible and if we are able to remake the terms of self-governance,” Reilly said. “We also ask if there is a part that independent voters can play in such a change.”

The center seeks to:

• Further study this important, emerging community of voters, and conduct new, innovative research.
• Create a space for diverse, concerned citizens – academics, policymakers, students, activists, civic groups – to engage in dialogue on how best to address the challenges our democracy faces.
• Serve as a resource on the state of our democracy and examine ways to make a shift to nonpartisan alternatives and governance.

Salit referred to Arizona as the focal point for what she called many current “dramatic tensions” on the U.S. political scene.

Thom Reilly, a professor in the ASU School of Public Affairs, is co-director of the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy, whose official opening is Oct. 19. Photo courtesy Thom Reilly

"We have a third of the electorate identifying as independents, a state swinging red and blue with independents playing the decisive role, and yet the tools for understanding and analyzing these breakaway patterns are limited and out of date,” Salit said. “We hope that our center, with the backing of the university, will open new and innovative ways of engaging political problems."

The center's opening coincides with the publication of a new book Reilly and Salit co-wrote with Omar Ali of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, titled “The Independent Voter.” The book is published by Routledge Press and asserts independents are far from monolithic in their political leanings. They represent major change for American democracy, and may even be responsible for saving it, the authors contend.

By definition, independents’ non-aligned status has them traveling a wide variety of political roads. They hold diverse views from one another, much more than their partisan counterparts, making them a difficult target for candidates trying to corral them into their political column, Reilly said.

Independents, lacking faith in the two major parties, have many different views on political subjects instead of gravitating toward a particular partisan political philosophy, he said.

Independents also have more moderate political views than partisans because more of them are willing to share what they learn on social media with partisans at both ends of the spectrum, according to a recent survey of Arizona voters Reilly co-conducted with Eric Hedberg of Abt Associates of Rockville, Maryland.

"The Independent Voter" by Thom Reilly, Jacqueline Salit and Omar Ali, was released in September 2022 by Routledge Press.

“Respondents, whether Democrats or Republicans, were likelier to speak often about politics with independents than with those belonging to the other party,” Reilly said. “We also found that a larger percentage of Republicans or Democrats say they have an independent in their social network than someone of the other party.”

Independents were also less prone to terminate friendships over political differences with Democrats or Republicans than party members were likely to do so with each other, Reilly said.

Reilly said he hopes the center will be a resource for citizens, media and academics seeking reliable information and research into U.S. electoral and political behavior and insight on how independent voters’ involvement in politics can help effectively change American democracy.

Salit said independent voters have been “misunderstood, classified incorrectly and generally minimized in national and local politics. Yet, they determine the outcome of major elections, stand in the forefront of political reform and are adding numbers to their ranks every day.”

Salit said the center is dedicated to resetting public understanding of these influential voters. “And we are so pleased that ASU has stepped up to plant a flag with us at such a critical time,” she said.

To learn more about either the center or the book, contact Reilly at thom.reilly@asu.edu or Salit at jsalit@asu.edu.

A podcast series on abuse at Utah’s homes for troubled teens produced by a multiple-media team of journalists and the Minnesota StarTribune’s revelations of court-aided exploitation of accident victims have taken top honors in the 16th Annual Barlett & Steele Awards for the Best in Investigative Business Journalism.

The Barlett & Steele Awards are administered by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The awards are named for the illustrious investigative business journalist team of Don Barlett and Jim Steele, who have worked together for more than four decades, receiving two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Magazine awards and a long list of other journalism awards. The Barlett & Steele Awards have been given annually for the best in investigative business journalism since 2007. Download Full Image

“This year’s winners are in the finest tradition of what these awards have come to represent — great reporting, fine writing and expert data analysis,” Steele said. “The winners are a testament to the value of in-depth reporting and how it benefits the public.”

The inaugural award for Outstanding Young Journalist was claimed by Neil Bedi of ProPublica for an investigation into faulty mechanical heart pumps.

In addition to the first-ever Young Journalist award, this year marks the first time the Barlett & Steele Awards have recognized publications across two categories — Global/National and Regional/Local — to honor more of the outstanding business journalism being produced throughout the U.S.

Each category features a gold, silver and bronze award. These awards come with cash prizes of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 respectively. The Young Journalist award features a cash prize of $3,000.

The cold award in the Global/National category was won by a collaboration among American Public Media, Salt Lake Tribune and KUER public radio, for their investigative work into the Utah government’s lackluster oversight of facilities housing troubled teenagers, resulting in widespread abuse. Their work resulted in a seven-part podcast series titled “Sent Away.”

Rounding out the Global/National category, the silver award went to the Wall Street Journal for its investigation into federal judges’ hidden conflicts of interest. The bronze was awarded to a team of reporters from Bloomberg for their revelations about questionable practices at a telemedicine startup.

In the Regional/Local category, the StarTribune won the gold award for documenting how accident victims in several states were convinced to transfer their court-ordered compensation to other parties for a fraction of its value. In one case, the StarTribune said, a mentally impaired car accident victim sold more than half a million dollars in future payments for $12,001.

The silver award in the Regional/Local category went to a duo from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for a series on dangerous dwellings, while a team of reporters from the Palm Beach Post and ProPublica won the bronze award for documenting harmful pollution by the sugar industry.

“This addition of more awards this year has allowed us to recognize more groundbreaking investigative business journalism in the U.S.," said Jeffrey Timmermans, director of the Reynolds Center. "While the industry continues to face many challenges, the fact that there is so much outstanding work being done at news organizations throughout the country — from Utah to Florida — is cause for optimism.”

View more about the winners at businessjournalism.org.

The Reynolds Center will spotlight the recipients of the top prizes at an event at 6 p.m., Arizona time, on Nov. 9 in the First Amendment Forum at the Cronkite School in Downtown Phoenix. Check out the Reynolds Center event page for updates on the live event.