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The Basu Lab has partnered with QHS Lab Inc., a leading provider of digital health care solutions, for the development of a potentially revolutionary drug delivery system.

South Dakota State University will offer a Bachelor of Science in healthcare systems engineering beginning fall 2025 following South Dakota Board of Regents approval on Dec. 12. Healthcare systems engineering is a unique, first-in-the-nation undergraduate degree, which will integrate engineering, computer science, data science and health sciences under one degree to prepare students for the emerging career fields.

For pharmacist Dean Schmiedt, it was right time at the right place. Shortly after graduation from South Dakota State University, the federal government enacted new regulations requiring that skilled nursing homes have a pharmacist review patients’ medications monthly. . His boss at Lovdahl’s Drug, in Little Falls, Minnesota, wasn’t interested in doing that task. Schmiedt, a 1973 SDSU grad, picked up the work as a side job. He ended up becoming a full-time independent consultant pharmacist and a leader in the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. Earlier this fall, Schmiedt, of Fort Ripley, Minnesota, was honored by SDSU’s College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions as its 2024 Distinguished Alumnus.

Fall is such a wonderful time of year. On campus, we experience the excitement of the students returning to school to continue their studies. The trees prepare for their winter slumber. Amid all of these changes, I ponder all of the ways I am grateful to serve as the Roberta K. Olson Endowed Dean for Nursing.

Long-standing partnerships between South Dakota State University and Black Hills State University have supported the health care needs of West River South Dakota since 1992. Now, increases to available student seats have allowed the programs to serve more students and prepare more nurses to enter the field. 

At the 2024 National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association conference, the life and legacy of Beverly Stabber Warne was honored. Warne, who died on April 14 at the age of 85, will be remembered for the many lives she touched and the impact she had on Native Americans, including through her work at South Dakota State University. 

As the grants program specialist for the College of Nursing at South Dakota State University, Marie Schmit works to secure funding for training and research opportunities. In May, she was recognized with the Presidential Award of Excellence, alongside six others at the SDSU Professional Staff Advisory Council annual meeting. 

Erica DeBoer’s journey didn’t start at South Dakota State University, but her decision to transfer to State is one that she says set her up for success. She was recognized during Hobo Week with the SDSU Alumni Association’s Legends and Leaders Award, giving DeBoer the status of being a distinguished alumnus of SDSU. 

Looking at slides of blood cells, fecal matter and urine has taken on an entirely different perspective this school year thanks to new state-of-the-art equipment in the medical laboratory science lab at South Dakota State University. In July, the program received 28 microscopes and an innovative slide scanner as part of a $750,000 award from the South Dakota Department of Health, which was handling workforce development funds from the Centers for Disease Control, according to April Nelsen, the medical lab science clinical coordinator who put a proposal together for the health department.

Public health researchers from South Dakota State University’s Community Practice Innovation Center presented two posters at the American Public Health Association annual meeting, which was held in Minneapolis at the end of October.