U.S. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska toured UNMC earlier this month, meeting with faculty and researchers from UNMC and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, as well as Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D.
Rep. Bacon’s visit included a trip to UNMC’s Nebraska Public Service Laboratory, where he discussed hemp testing and U.S.D.A. guidelines with Steve Hinrichs, M.D., chair of the UNMC Department of Pathology and Microbiology. He also met with Alexey Kamenskiy, Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery, to discuss expanding research between UNMC and UNO.
Rep. Bacon received an update on the National Strategic Research Institute from Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Hinson, founding executive director, and Dr. Gold and attended a presentation by UNO business professor Gina Ligon, Ph.D., on tracking violent extremists.
“We were pleased to host Rep. Bacon at UNMC today,” Dr. Gold said. “Both UNMC and UNO are actively engaged in research that is important to our country, and it was a privilege to outline our ongoing work and future directions for the congressman, who now can share it with his colleagues in Washington, D.C.”
“I very much enjoyed my visit to the Nebraska Public Service Laboratory at UNMC where I learned a lot about the innovative counterterrorism research and biomechanics studies being done to help the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and our law enforcement,” Rep. Bacon said. “It’s reassuring to know this ongoing and vital research is being done in Nebraska, and I look forward to UNMC’s and UNO’s conclusions.”
This marked Rep. Bacon’s second tour of UNMC this summer. On July 31, Rep. Bacon and Rep. Jim Baird of Indiana toured the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit and the UNMC Global Center for Health Security and listened to several presentations.