A. Alfred Taubman, billionaire convicted of price fixing, dies at 91 
(The Washington Post, April 19. 2015)
A. Alfred Taubman, a self-made Michigan billionaire whose philanthropy and business success — including weaving the enclosed shopping mall into American culture — died April 17 at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. He was 91. Taubman pledged $100 million to what is now the University of Michigan’s A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute. He also financed public-policy programs at Harvard, Brown, and the University of Michigan, which received several large donations. More

Baby fat: Why you shouldn’t eat for 2 during pregnancy
(Detroit Free Press, April 18, 2015)
As much as many of us would like to pretend we don’t see the extra large belly bump or protruding backside, being too heavy during pregnancy goes way beyond squeezing into those pre-pregnancy jeans after delivery. Carrying extra pounds in those expectant nine months can have profound consequences for the mother-to-be and the developing child, say researchers at U-M. More

Study: High school smoking fell as e-cigarette use boomed
(Associated Press, April 16, 2015)
Teen smoking hit a new low last year while the popularity of electronic cigarettes and water pipes boomed, a government report produced by U-M shows. The number of high school students who tried e-cigarettes tripled in one year — to more than 13 percent. Water pipes or hookahs were used by 9.4 percent. More

U-M breaks ground on $28M architectural facility after billionaire’s donation
(mlive.com, April 15, 2015)
The University of Michigan hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking for the $28 million renovation and expansion of its start-of-the-art facilities for the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. The school’s namesake, billionaire shopping mall tycoon and Pontiac native A. Alfred Taubman, donated $12.5 million to help fund the project and was on hand for the groundbreaking. More

$54M robotics lab proposed by U-M College of Engineering
(Ann Arbor News, April 13, 2015)
A brand new three-story 100,000-square-foot building could be the new home for the University of Michigan’s robotics program. The College of Engineering has proposed spending approximately $54 million to build the new state-of-the-art center on the University’s North Campus just east of the Space Research Building on Hayward Street. More

Michigan Venture Capital Association Report: Venture capital in Michigan faces $1.3B gap
(The Detroit News, April 10, 2015)
The Michigan Venture Capital Association touted the continued success of venture backing in the state in a new report, but also warned of gaps in available capital down the line as companies continue to develop and have funding needs. There are 129 venture-backed companies in Michigan, a 70 percent increase over five years ago, according to the report. In addition, Michigan venture firms are actively supporting these startups, with local investors involved in 97 percent of all startup funding rounds in 2014. At the same time, the number of venture capital professionals living, working and investing in Michigan has doubled and the number of investors in angel groups has grown by 45 percent, all positive signs for the health of the current venture capital field, said Maureen Miller Brosnan, executive director of the Michigan Venture Capital Association. More

Forbes names University of Michigan Health System as one of America’s best employers
(Ann Arbor News, April 9, 2015)
The University of Michigan Health Systems came is one of the best places to work in America, according to a Forbes ranking. The health system came in at #26. The University of Michigan came in at #126. The top spot belonged to Google. Rounding out the top five: Costco was #2, Marathon Petroleum #3, The Container Store #4 and LL Bean #5. Other Michigan-based entities that made the list include: Bosch, Farmington Hills, #66; Quicken Loans, Detroit, #119; State of Michigan, #130; Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, #133; Penske Automotive, Bloomfield Hills, #136; Sparrow Health System, Lansing, #137 and DTE Energy, Detroit, #173. More

3 University of Michigan professors earn Guggenheim Fellowships
(Ann Arbor News, April 10, 2015)
Three University of Michigan professors earned Guggenheim Fellowships for their work on politics in Turkey, food manufacturing in Michigan, and how plants have impacted human life. Associate professor of Islamic art Christiane Gruber, the George E. Wantz, M.D. Professor of the History of Medicine Dr. Howard Markel and the Michael M. Martin Collegiate Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Eran Pichersky are among 175 winners of the fellowships. The fellowships honor distinguished achievement and promise of future accomplishments. More than 3,100 people applied for the 175 fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. More

What happens in the brain right before death?
(Business Insider, April 8, 2015)
In the moments before death, the heart plays a central role, conventional wisdom says. That is, as the heart stops beating and blood stops flowing, the rest of the body slowly shuts down.  But new research from U-M suggests this view may be wrong. More

Self-driving cars will be tested in a 23-acre city of robots
(Mashable, April 2, 2015)
A mother pushing a baby carriage jaywalks across a busy city street. Cutting between two parked cars and partially obscured by a bus, she edges her stroller into traffic before freezing as a speeding car bears down on her. Will the car stop in time? Or will it mow down mother and child? It doesn’t really matter: The mom is a robot, and the car is a driverless vehicle cruising down a fake street in a mock town.

Welcome to M City, a soon-to-open 23-acre mini-metropolis at the University of Michigan, where automakers can test autonomous cars to prepare for the driverless future expected within a decade. Seeking to replicate a modern city’s chaos — traffic jams, unpredictable pedestrians, weaving cyclists — M City starts running on July 20 and has carmakers and tech companies queuing up to conduct research on its roads. More

U-M, Facebook team up on ‘Genes for Good’ 
(WDIV-Detroit, March 31, 2015)
U-M today announced a groundbreaking new way to conduct medical and genetic testing through a Facebook app. The scientists behind the project, titled “Genes for Good,” hope that Facebook users will send a tube of their spit to a laboratory at the University. Researchers aim to screen the genes of at least 20,000 people. More