The University of Mississippi Medical Center is advancing its mission to create a healthier Mississippi by forming the new University of Mississippi School of Population Health.

UMMC received permission to plan the school from the State Institutions of Higher Learning on April 21. Planned to open in 2017, it will be the third school of its kind in the United States, says Dr. Bettina Beech, associate vice chancellor for population health.

When Dr. Parminder Vig meets people living with neurodegenerative diseases such as cerebellar ataxias, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, he senses a call to action.

“When you meet patients with these conditions, you wonder why you can't do something about neurological diseases,” said Vig, a professor of neurology and biochemistry at UMMC.

Vig is certainly doing something: he studies the molecular cause of the disease spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) in order to develop therapies. Now, he has a patent that could help these patients.

The patent is for a technique to deliver bioactive peptides to the brain and spinal cord using an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) and a cell-penetrating peptide. Vig's co-inventors are Dr. Drazen Raucher, professor of biochemistry and Dr. Scoty Hearst, a former graduate student.

Ataxia refers to uncoordinated movements like walking or balance problems caused by neurological changes. Vig says that a drunken stupor is a type of temporary ataxia. Neurological disorders also cause permanent ataxias such as SCA, a group of genetic conditions that affect cells in the spinal cord and the cerebellum, the brain region that controls body movements.

Vig, Raucher and Hearst used the disease SCA1 to develop the patent. In SCA1, a mutation causes the protein ataxin-1 to gather inside of cerebellar neurons called Purkinje cells. Ataxin-1 builds up to toxic levels and kills the cells. As the cells die, the patient loses motor control and the disease becomes fatal.

Of the millions of people who pepper social media with blog posts each month or so, several teach at, learn at, or are in some way linked to UMMC.

While their commentary, case studies, personal reflections, self-improvement tips, etc., cover everything from finding nourishment in a black bean recipe to “finding God in Gross Anatomy,” their reasons for blogging bleed into each other's. They love writing, connecting with people and sharing ideas.

Though this is not a comprehensive list, here are several you may have come across, or want to check out.

A student in the School of Health Related Professions' Doctor of Health Administration program has been invited to a national caregiving organization's landmark conference in the nation's capital.