Cynthia Bir, professor of biomedical engineering at Wayne State University, is the lead engineer in the 13-part series titled "Sports Science" to be telecast on the Discovery Science channel beginning Feb. 1. Using methods that have been developed to understand human injury biomechanics, and with the help of new techniques to address the unique challenges found when studying live volunteers in high impact and high speed activities, Bir will make viewers understand the forces (internal and external) sustained and generated by the body during high-level athletic activities.

The Wayne Law Review is hosting an upcoming symposium titled "National and State Marijuana Reform: The Social, Economic, Health and Legal Implications," 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday, Jan. 27, at Wayne State University Law School's Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium. The keynote speaker will be former Michigan attorney general Mike Cox. He joins Craig along with director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project Karen O'Keefe, also speaking at the symposium, to discuss marijuana laws and reformation.

National statistics compiled by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education show that just 16 percent of students with family incomes under $30,000 graduate in six years. Many low-income students face academic challenges because their high schools aren't doing a good job of getting them ready for college, experts say. The students also suffer from lack of individual attention. Outside the classroom, those students can have a hard time navigating the university system -- like knowing how to drop a class, how to get all the financial aid available or how to get matched for a roommate. As universities work to meet President Barack Obama's call for increasing the number of graduates, they're creating better support systems for their students -- especially those who don't have an existing system. Wayne State University sets up new students in groups with similar majors and connects them to faculty, said Daniel Winston, the assistant director for new student orientation and campus tours. "We want to help create a sense of community," he said.

Ben Burns, Wayne State University journalism program director, joined Craig Fahle for a discussion on the South Carolina Primary. Topics included the impacts of the primary's outcome, possible voter coverage fatigue, and the State of the Union address on the media's continuing coverage of the GOP during the course of the 2012 election.

Wayne State University announced the appointment of Harl R. Tolbert as associate vice president of technology commercialization in the Division of Research. Tolbert began on Wednesday, Jan. 18. Tolbert joins Wayne State from his most recent post as associate director for biological sciences in the University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center's Office of Technology Transfer.

Predicting problems in one of the body's most complex organs soon may become easier because of work being done by Wayne State University researchers. Howard Matthew and Yinlun Huang, professors of chemical engineering and materials science, recently received a $550,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a mathematical model of liver metabolism that can be used to analyze and more effectively predict responses to possible treatments for hepatic steatosis, more commonly known as fatty liver. The condition affects between 15 and 20 percent of the U.S. population and often is a precursor to more serious problems.

Requiring a minimum down payment of 20 percent, or even 10 percent, on home loans would push many creditworthy borrowers into higher-cost loans or out of the mortgage market entirely, a new study says. Possible down-payment requirements are part of a debate in Congress and among a cluster of federal regulatory agencies, as they develop new rules for mortgage lenders following the housing crash. To see what impact tougher rules for down payments and other criteria might have on borrowers, the University of North Carolina's Center for Community Capital, Wayne State University and the Center for Responsible Lending examined home purchase loans issued before the housing bubble burst. The researchers found that imposing a 10 percent down payment requirement would eliminate 38 percent of creditworthy borrowers from the traditional mortgage market and that at a 20 percent down payment threshold, 61 percent would be excluded.

A team of Wayne State University researchers recently received $363,660 from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health for a project that aims to learn more about the spread of prostate cancer into the bones. According to R. Daniel Bonfil, associate professor of urology and pathology in WSU's School of Medicine and principal investigator of the project, the mechanisms by which prostate cancer cells take root and start growing once they become lodged in the bones are not well understood. In addition, Bonfil stated that cells respond to specific signals, or ligands, coming from the tissue where they are located through receptors usually expressed on their surface. When these receptors are activated by their specific ligands, changes in cell behavior occur.

Energy healers say they can detect and channel a "universal energy" and even manipulate this energy in another person. Science has not determined that this energy exists, let alone that anybody can detect it or manipulate it, or that it has anything to do with disease. Yet the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has funded studies of energy healing including one grant worth $104,000 to study "energy chelation" as a treatment for fatigue in breast cancer survivors. Dr. David Gorski, a breast cancer surgeon with Wayne State University, called the study "brain-meltingly bad." Energy chelation is "magic, faith healing," he said. "The whole thing, from a scientific standpoint, is laughable."

Battle Creek Enquirer, 1/21 Schools can apply for healthy schools program Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the Wayne State University Center for School Health in the College of Education and the Michigan Fitness Foundation said in a joint news release that local schools can apply to host the groups' Building Healthy Communities program. The release said the program, started in 2009, provides "grants to schools across the state to get kids moving, eating healthier and adopting healthy lifestyles."

Professor Lyke Thompson, director of Wayne State University's Center for Urban Studies, joined Craig Fahle for a discussion on Gov. Rick Snyder's State of the State address. Among topics discussed, Thompson addressed the financial challenges surrounding Detroit and other municipalities around the state.

Predicting problems in one of the body's most complex organs soon may become easier because of work being done by Wayne State University researchers. Howard Matthew and Yinlun Huang, professors of chemical engineering and materials science, recently received a $550,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a mathematical model of liver metabolism that can be used to analyze and more effectively predict responses to possible treatments for hepatic steatosis, more commonly known as fatty liver. The condition affects between 15 and 20 percent of the U.S. population and often is a precursor to more serious problems. Accumulation of fat droplets, or lipids, inside liver cells is a key characteristic in many of the organ's failure modes. Increased lipid accumulation is usually the first symptom to appear before a measurable dysfunction occurs.

In an effort to ramp up its research commercialization efforts, Wayne State University hired a new head of its technology transfer office. Harl Tolbert's priorities include not only building on the university's licensing efforts but also integrating WSU resources in better ways and supporting the development of sustainable technologies. Tolbert, who began work Wednesday, was hired as associate vice president of technology commercialization in the division of research. WSU nearly doubled its intellectual property disclosures to 72, from 37 the year before. It also spun off four startups.

Wayne State Warriors football player Joe Long is interviewed during the East-West Shrine Game. Long, who played on the East squad during Saturday's game, attributed his success, in part, to the "amazing coaching staff" at Wayne State.

In his letter to the editor, David Ripple, vice president for development and alumni affairs and president of the WSU foundation, applauds WSU alum Barbara Fornasiero and her Jan. 2 letter to the editor titled "Alumni should invest in WSU." Ripple wrote: "The balance between opportunity and excellence is possible at Wayne State because of the support of our alumni and friends. We are grateful to the nearly 27,000 donors who contributed to our students, faculty and programs last year. Higher education is the key to growth and strength in Michigan. And, as Fornasiero so rightly said, now is a great time to invest in Wayne State and the next generation of leaders in our region." (subscriber only access)

Sky Foundation Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness and funding research for the early detection of pancreatic cancer, Wednesday announced it raised about $111,000 in 2011, bringing the total raised since its inception in 2008 to nearly $340,000. Sky Foundation funds a scientific and physician partnership between the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Henry Ford Health System and Wayne State University. The foundation's goal is to fund research to develop an advanced blood screening test identifying antibodies indicating a malignancy in the pancreas. The antibodies will be used as diagnostic markers that aid in the early detection of pancreatic cancer. Michael Tainsky, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University, is noted as a member of the Sky Foundation research team.

A feature story profiles the community service efforts of Wayne State University's student athletes. Rob Fournier, WSU's athletic director is a strong proponent for athletes giving back to the local community and has introduced a community service program. His leadership has created a "win-win" for Wayne State and a wide variety of worthwhile organizations that provide help for Detroit's needy. According to the university, 350 of its athletes volunteer a total of 8,250 hours a year. U-M says 700 of its athletes volunteer a total of 3,000 hours and Ohio State says 700 of it athletes volunteer a total of 7,100 hours annually.

TechTown is mentioned during a "Marketplace" segment exploring job creation in Detroit which is helping existing businesses to expand, and encouraging would-be entrepreneurs to start new ones. TechTown's Francine Wunder comments in the audio clip about Wayne State University's business incubator and its role in Detroit's revitalization.

Eastern Michigan University will no longer be the epicenter of the high school football season's opening weekend. The Detroit Sports Commission announced today that the annual Big Day Prep Showdown is moving from Rynearson Stadium to Wayne State University's Tom Adams Field and will be renamed the Detroit Sports Commission Prep Kickoff Classic. "We are delighted to host this event. It is a great way for people to come and see Wayne State and Midtown Detroit," said Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour. http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/sports/local_sports/high_school/brother-rice-cass-tech-will-square-off-to-open-high-school-football-season http://www.annarbor.com/sports/high-school/premier-high-school-football-event-moves-from-eastern-michigan/ http://bloomfield-mi.patch.com/articles/brother-rice-to-open-football-season-against-division-1-champion-cass-tech http://news.yahoo.com/premier-season-opening-prep-football-event-moves-downtown-170058436.html

Dr. Robert Frank, chief medical officer of the Wayne State University School of Medicine Physicians Group, is quoted in an article announcing the groundbreaking for the Detroit Medical Center's new $78 million, five-story heart hospital scheduled to open on the health system's midtown Detroit campus in two years. Frank said one in three deaths in the state is caused by heart disease. http://www.freep.com/article/20120118/BUSINESS06/201180350/DMC-breaks-ground-for-heart-hospital-in-Detroit http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2790&DateTime=1%2F17%2F2012+10%3A573A11+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=2790&playclip=True&RefPage=