Participating Departments
The recruitment and retention of the UNM FIRST cohort will diversify the biomedical faculty workforce within UNM’s College of Arts and Sciences, including the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, Physics & Astronomy, Mathematics & Statistics, and Speech & Hearing Sciences. Learn more about them below!
Biology Department
Over the last five years, the 30 tenure-track faculty and research faculty of the Department of Biology have generated more than $13.4 million in funding and published an average of 157 papers per year. The Biology Department has expertise in model and emerging model organisms for human diseases with a strong interdisciplinary focus. The Department has a global reputation in the areas of bioinformatics, host-microbe interactions, microbiomes, neuroimmunology, emerging infectious diseases, ecology and evolutionary Biology, and specimen-based research.
Click here to learn more about the Biology Department!
Chemistry Department
The 14 tenure-track faculty members in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology received over $2.5 million in funding and published 89 articles in 2020. The biochemistry division has developed international reputations in chemical biology, natural products chemistry, inorganic biochemistry, genome technologies, and computational chemistry. The department is completing a $32 million renovation project that has modernized research facilities, including two multinuclear liquids NMR spectrometers and a mass spectrometry and proteomics facility. Faculty also have access to facilities within the national UNM Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies and the UNM Center for High Tech Materials.
Click here to learn more about the Chemistry Department!
Psychology
The 27 faculty members in the Psychology Department received over $4.7 million in funding from NIH and published 145 scientific papers in 2020. The department’s internationally recognized research programs include neuroscience, precision medicine, data science, aging, normal and abnormal development, multicultural competence, substance use, the role of culture in cognition and assessment, acculturation/cultural adaptation processes, and culturally-centered treatment approaches.
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Mathematics & Statistics Department
The Department of Mathematics & Statistics has 27 tenure stream full-time faculty who receive over $1 million in grant funding annually, and publish about 80 refereed publications annually. Mentorship is available in the areas of applied statistics, probability theory, parallel computing, machine learning and neural networks, uncertainty quantification, mathematical modeling, Fourier and harmonic analysis, and differential geometry and topology.
Click here to learn more about the Department of Mathematics & Statistics!
Physics & Astronomy
The Department of Physics & Astronomy has ~30 tenure-track faculty that have averaged $4.6 million in funding and about 100 refereed publications annually. Our brand-new building, PAĺS (Physics & Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science) features state-of-the-art laboratory spaces with excellent temperature, vibration, radiation, and dust control, and fast data connections.
Click here to learn more about the Department of Physics & Astronomy!
Speech & Hearing Sciences Department
The Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences has 5 full time tenured faculty and 2 tenure-track faculty with active funding totaling more than $3 million. The department's research profile covers important areas including multiculturalism, speech and language development, neurological disorders, the use of brain stimulation to enhance treatment of aphasia, and aging.
Click here to learn more about the Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences!
