University of New England

The University of New England has committed itself to becoming a significant research institution.

We have  taken bold steps toward this goal, with our College of Osteopathic Medicine leading the way.

Biomedical Research
Medical school researchers have been expanding the College's biomedical research in such areas as the cardiovascular complications associated with diabetes and  the neuropharmacology and neurophysiology of learning, drug addiction and pain. COM researchers are also among those taking the lead in research on the efficacy and effectiveness of osteopathic manipulative treatment of low back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome.

The medical school has been  expanding its research capacity by hiring a new generation of research scientists as faculty members while raising funds for a new facility to expand its biomedical research.

Health Policy
UNECOM's Center for Health Policy, Planning and Research (CHPPR) specializes in health policy, program and services planning through population need studies, best practice assessments, and the design and evaluation of health system improvement projects for the private and public sector. CHPPR strives to improve the health status of populations through consulting and research at the practice, community, and system levels.

Biological and Marine Research
Within the College of Arts and Sciences, faculty in our rapidly growing Biological Sciences program are pursuing important  research questions in basic and applied biological sciences, including federally-funded research in subjects ranging from physiology to fisheries. UNE marine scientists have expanded their research in such areas as the migratory habits of striped bass,  seal pup rehabilitation outcomes, cod stocks and harvesting, sea urchin fertilizaton, and the impact of Saco River discharge.

UNE's state-of-the-art Marine Science Education and Research Center has been chosen by NASA to develop the UNE-NASA Joint Center for Marine Remote Sensing. The Remote Sensing Center is already at work on such projects as the development of predictive habitat models for the North Atlantic right whales, the tracking of movements of tagged basking sharks in the Gulf of Maine, and the detection of sea surface temperature fronts from satellite imagery.

Scholarship
Meanwhile, in the humanities and social sciences, UNE faculty have recently published books in such areas as the evolutionary roots of deception and the unconscious mind; the cultural history and evolution of canines; women, family, and Mary Marshall Dyer's anti-Shaker campaign from 1815-1867; and the making of modern Libya.

In the College of Health Professions, reseachers are investigating health care issues ranging from the links between periodontal disease and systemic illnesses to smoking as intervening factor in poverty/abuse; from the biomechanical and physiological response to nerve injury  to the mechanisms of fine-motor coordination in children with developmental coordination disorder.

State Research Coalitions
UNE is a member of two prominent state-wide research coalitions: the Maine Biomedical Research Coalition, composed of five independent research institutions, and the Maine Marine Research Coalition, made up of 24 members from the profit, nonprofit and government sectors.

The state, recognizing the economic viability of scientific research and development, has invested tens of millions of dollars to help build an R&D industry in Maine. Because of the continued success of their research efforts, coalition members have created nearly 500 new, high-paying jobs over the past four years.

UNE Research Index and Directory
To find out more about research at UNE, explore the links on our research index or find information on particular researchers with our Faculty-Staff Expertise and Research Directory.