Innovative Minds Partnering to Advance Curative Therapies (IMPACT) Program
2021 IMPACT Program Cancelled
Due to the challenges and uncertainties of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic in the upper Midwest, the IMPACT Planning Team representing Mayo Clinic Health System and UW-Eau Claire has made the difficult decision to cancel IMPACT 2021. Our two organizations need to devote additional time and resources to managing the current surge in COVID-19 cases, which hinders our ability to plan and deliver a high-quality IMPACT experience.
The IMPACT program has been looking for a home base for many years and we're super excited that we have now a home base in Eau Claire, Wisconsin with a collaboration of Mayo Clinic Health System and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. This home base is going to allow us to create a nationwide program that drives undergraduate research students and faculty and staff to come here and be part of this really unique opportunity.
Program objective
The IMPACT Program (Innovative Minds Partnering to Advance Curative Therapies) challenges undergraduate students and faculty collaborators to discover creative solutions to critical health questions. This unique competition brings together students from a wide variety of academic backgrounds and provides them the opportunity to help solve real-world health problems alongside Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Health System scientists and physicians. Undergraduates from Minnesota, Wisconsin and across the country are invited to engage in the program, which was launched in 2014. In the program, undergraduates engage in novel hypothesis generation. By involving students from traditional science majors and non-science backgrounds, the IMPACT Program forges multidisciplinary partnerships toward the common goal of meeting patient needs.
Previous Symposium Resources
2020 Research Question
What is the mechanistic link between binge alcohol drinking, addition, and the function of the neuroimmune system?
2020 Hypotheses and Abstracts
2020 Symposium Program Booklet
2019 Research Question
What is the underlying cause of hypoplastic left heart syndrome?