The following release was prepared by MSU College of Human Medicine.

MARQUETTE, Mich. – Michigan State University College of Human Medicine today announced a health research collaboration with UP Health System-Marquette and Northern Michigan University. The collaboration is part of MSU’s statewide initiative to bring academic health research to each of its community campuses.

Speaking at the event were Jeffrey Dwyer, PhD, senior associate dean, MSU College of Human Medicine, Thomas Noren, MD, chief medical officer, UP Health System - Marquette, Fritz Erickson, EdD, president, Northern Michigan University, and Bill Short, MD, community assistant dean, MSU College of Human Medicine Upper Peninsula Region Campus.

Today’s announcement included the introduction of two newly recruited researchers as part of the collaboration, Michael Stoolmiller, PhD, and Erich Petushek, PhD.  

Stoolmiller, a psychologist, has been appointed assistant professor in the College of Human Medicine Department of Pediatrics. His research focuses on children’s mental health with the aim of preventing health risking behaviors and promoting healthier lifestyles when they become adolescents. NMU will provide Stoolmiller research space in its Department of Psychology and he will collaborate with faculty at NMU and pediatric physicians at MGH.

Petushek’s area of research is sports medicine and cognitive science. He has been appointed to assistant professor in the MSU Division of Sports Medicine. His work centers on preventing injuries and accelerating rehabilitation by creating efficient screening systems such as training individuals to be better at visually detecting young athletes at risk for ACL injury. Petushek will be located at NMU in the School of Health and Human Performance. It is a familiar environment for the NMU alumnus. He was a graduate teaching assistant in the school from 2009 until he received his master’s degree in exercise science in 2011. NMU’s Olympic Training Site offers Petushek access to a unique population for his research.

“We are excited about adding health research to our medical education partnerships with UP Health System - Marquette and NMU,” said Dwyer. “This is yet another example of our institutions collaborating and combining our resources to accomplish what none of us could alone.”

NMU President Fritz Erickson said, “Northern is excited to expand its already existing partnerships with MSU’s College of Human Medicine and with UP Health System-Marquette. It allows experts from all three organizations to collaborate on research that is important to the rural agenda, and it gives NMU students even more top-caliber research opportunities.”

The arrival of Drs. Stoolmiller and Petushek is especially exciting in that they will provide a local connection to research opportunities for MSU College of Human Medicine students and family medicine residents who are training at the UP Campus.

“Given the dynamic nature of the field of medicine, physicians must participate in life-long learning in order to keep current on treatment options for their patients,” said Dr. Short. “The presence of Dr. Stoolmiller and Dr. Petushek will help our medical students and residents become familiar with the process of conducting scientific research – a skill that will help them evaluate the validity of research studies long into their medical careers.”

“This Community Research Partnership represents the culmination of years of strategic planning by three dedicated institutions, each of which holds the health and well-being of our peninsula’s residents as a top priority,” added Dr. Noren  “It is very exciting that the advances gained through this collaboration will benefit families living in our region and, indeed, throughout the entire country.  Such is the tremendous power of research.  In the near future, our NMU pre-medical and MSU CHM medical students as well as UPHS-Marquette family medicine residents will be able to avail themselves of research experience at the community level - - -a fabulous educational feature.”