Grant List
Represents Grant table in the DB
GET /v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1383&sort=abstract
{ "links": { "first": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1&sort=abstract", "last": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1397&sort=abstract", "next": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1384&sort=abstract", "prev": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1382&sort=abstract" }, "data": [ { "type": "Grant", "id": "1198", "attributes": { "award_id": "2125978", "title": "Continuation of COVID Postdoctoral Fellowship Program", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 3065, "first_name": "Rebecca", "last_name": "Peebles", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2021-09-15", "end_date": "2022-08-31", "award_amount": 261603, "principal_investigator": { "id": 3066, "first_name": "Silvia", "last_name": "Ronco", "orcid": null, "emails": "[email protected]", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 283, "ror": "https://ror.org/00jp8d455", "name": "Research Corporation for Science Advancement", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "AZ", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "With the support from the Division of Chemistry and Division of Physics in the Mathematical and Physical Science (MPS) Directorate at NSF, the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) will support three fellowships for highly trained postdoctoral associates in chemistry and physics, with the aim to help stabilize a portion of the scientific workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption in many sectors of society. University budgets have been reduced, hiring freezes put in place, and work stoppages/restrictions enacted. Newer science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) professionals hoping to enter the professoriate at this time face significant challenges that could force many of them to leave the profession. This activity complements the existing RCSA programs to help these highly trained members of the STEM workforce bridge the gap between training and the start of their independent careers, by helping to retain them in STEM while also augmenting the breadth of their experience, especially for women and underrepresented minorities. This grant provides three fellowships for individuals caught in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis that has impacted their prospects for securing independent positions on the scientific job market. Rather than have these individuals leave the STEM fields, these fellowships will provide them with at least one year of additional support. Beyond furthering their scientific expertise in areas which they are already familiar, this support will provide these postdocs with opportunities to gain pedagogical training in active learning and its implementation in online and/or in person classes. The mentors of these fellows will also benefit since they will be able to maintain some stability in their research endeavors. These fellowships are designed to help mentors retain highly trained and productive researchers at a time when training new project members remains difficult. Colleges and universities will benefit from these fellowships in that the fellows will become an additional resource for course delivery, both over the fellowship period and beyond, as they embark on their own independent faculty careers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "14635", "attributes": { "award_id": "2344508", "title": "HSI Implementation & Evaluation Project: The North Star Program: A study of mentoring online, non-traditonal, underrepresented STEM students", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Directorate for STEM Education (EDU)", "HSI-Hispanic Serving Instituti" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 2964, "first_name": "Sonja", "last_name": "Montas-Hunter", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2024-04-01", "end_date": null, "award_amount": 498949, "principal_investigator": { "id": 31329, "first_name": "Margaret", "last_name": "Martyn", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] }, "other_investigators": [ { "id": 31328, "first_name": "Shawn E", "last_name": "Davis", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "awardee_organization": { "id": 2484, "ror": "https://ror.org/02vrd8j29", "name": "The Chicago School of Professional Psychology", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "IL", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "With the support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project aims to develop an online near-peer mentoring program to provide academic and social support to increase student persistence and completion. Based on previous literature and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP) institutional research data, it is posited that undergraduates who are online, non-traditional, underrepresented minorities, and first-generation college students enter their program with low levels of self-efficacy, lacking a sense of belonging in an academic setting. Historically, these students have lower college persistence and completion levels than their on-campus, traditional-aged peers. We seek to study whether a connection to near-peer graduate students with similar demographic traits and lived experiences will break their isolation and increase their sense of belonging and self-efficacy. While the demand for and pursuit of online education, along with subsequent challenges to student persistence and completion, has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a dearth of research specifically focused on online students and virtual mentoring. The North Star Project will provide students with directed one-on-one support from their near peers who share intersectional identities with them and have completed similar academic programs. Specifically, the project will engage students enrolled in the Master of Psychology degree as mentors to provide social support to increase Bachelor of Psychology student persistence and completion. Expected outcomes include increased student sense of belonging and self-efficacy in their degree program, resulting in increased rates of persistence, completion, and entry to graduate study.<br/><br/>Through analysis of pre/post-self-efficacy and sense of belonging measurements, mentor and mentee feedback, academic performance, and persistence data, the project will advance knowledge of how mentoring of non-traditional-aged, underrepresented online students affects their persistence, completion, and pursuit of graduate study in psychology. This research will provide new insights into methods of building a sense of belonging and self-efficacy in this growing population of underrepresented, non-traditional-aged students and the differences in the effectiveness of this intervention on campus-based versus fully online students. The research questions to be explored are: does near-peer mentoring enhance an online student’s sense of belonging and self-efficacy in a degree program? Does near-peer mentoring increase online student fall-to-fall persistence? And does a near-peer mentoring program increase degree completion and pursuit of graduate study? Previous work in this area has focused on traditional-aged students in physical sciences on residential campuses. This project has the potential to diversify psychological research, providing a shared, lived experience perspective from underrepresented and non-traditional groups to advance the field. Their increased persistence, completion, and entry into graduate study will increase diverse perspectives in psychological scientific research and other STEM fields. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HIS Program will also generate new knowledge on achieving these aims.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "3450", "attributes": { "award_id": "1828672", "title": "MRI: Acquisition of a Spark Plasma Sintering System for Functional Ceramics at Rio Grande Valley, Texas", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)", "Major Research Instrumentation" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 11060, "first_name": "Guebre", "last_name": "Tessema", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2018-09-01", "end_date": "2021-08-31", "award_amount": 229700, "principal_investigator": { "id": 11067, "first_name": "M", "last_name": "Uddin", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 800, "ror": "https://ror.org/02p5xjf12", "name": "The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "TX", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [ { "id": 11062, "first_name": "Jianzhi", "last_name": "Li", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] }, { "id": 11063, "first_name": "Karen", "last_name": "Martirosyan", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 1358, "ror": "", "name": "The University of Texas at Brownsville", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "TX", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, { "id": 11065, "first_name": "Chu-Lin", "last_name": "Cheng", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "awardee_organization": { "id": 800, "ror": "https://ror.org/02p5xjf12", "name": "The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "TX", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "With the support from the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI), the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) acquires a Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) System. Compared with conventional consolidation techniques such as solid state sintering and hot press sintering, SPS employs additional driving forces such as electromechanical stress and high local temperature gradients. These additional driving forces enable powder compacts achieving rapid sintering without grain growth and near theoretical density at lower sintering temperature. The SPS system is housed at UTRGV and used by faculty and students, as well as others at the South Texas region. The instrument advances research on optoelectronic ceramics important for potential uses in scintillators, thermistors, sensors and spintronics devices, environmental remediation ceramics for nuclear and chemical wastes, functional blend materials for energy applications such as petroleum recovery and photovoltaic cells, and metal-glass composites for prosthetics. UTRGV ranks 2nd in the nation in total Hispanic enrollment (>89% Hispanic enrollment) at four-year colleges. The exposure of these students to cutting edge instrumentation facilitates their development as scientifically literate individuals and contributes to a competitive scientific workforce. The SPS system is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels. It especially impacts the development of a wide variety of advanced ceramics from complex metal oxides and other functional materials which possess broad application potentials such as advanced scintillators for medical diagnostics, ceramics for nuclear waste encapsulation and thermistor ceramics, etc. With the acquired SPS system, UTRGV will have the necessary capability to build a highly competitive materials science and engineering research program, and ultimately establish a Ph.D. degree. \n\n\nThe University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is undergoing a transition to a research emerging university that is of significant importance to the preparation and success of our current STEM students. The award of a Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) system further promotes this transition. This acquisition supports research and student training in Chemistry, Physics, and Materials Science and Engineering fields. Faculty members from five departments and two colleges directly use the SPS system for their research in materials science and engineering. Specifically, the SPS system supports projects to advance development of nanoceramics, metal-glass blends and other types of nanocomposites. This acquisition broadens the research scope for all participants, making it possible to address scientific problems in novel research areas. The state-of-the-art SPS provides a new approach for advanced materials fabrication via superfast Joule heating with additional driving forces compared with conventional consolidation techniques. The instrument strengthens current and futures courses at UTRGV. It provides unique opportunities for the cross-disciplinary research, education and training of many undergraduate and graduate students. The opportunity to participate in the state-of-the-art research projects motivates UTRGV students from a diverse background to pursue graduate school (M.S. or PhD degrees). It also serves the outreach activities to high school students and teachers in South Texas. Finally, this new instrument allows local companies to have access to an instrument that could solve ceramics related science and engineering issues while helping to support maintenance of the instrumentation.\n\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "1122", "attributes": { "award_id": "2101766", "title": "Diverse and Selective Catalytic P–C Bond Formation", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 2814, "first_name": "George", "last_name": "Richter-Addo", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2021-08-15", "end_date": "2024-07-31", "award_amount": 477344, "principal_investigator": { "id": 2815, "first_name": "Rory", "last_name": "Waterman", "orcid": null, "emails": "[email protected]", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 433, "ror": "", "name": "University of Vermont & State Agricultural College", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "VT", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 433, "ror": "", "name": "University of Vermont & State Agricultural College", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "VT", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Rory Waterman of the University of Vermont will study catalysis that promotes formation of phosphorus-carbon bonds. Phosphorus-carbon bonds appear in all living things, are in consumer goods, and are even present in some of the COVID-19 vaccines, among other pharmaceutical agents. However, methods to prepare molecules containing this element are limited, particularly those that are catalytic. Catalysis can create efficiencies in both resource utilization and synthesis that would aid in the challenges with phosphorus. As such, this project aims to deliver a new generation of faster, more efficient, and better controlled catalysts that use phosphorus, benefitting researchers in a range of fields. These efforts have the potential to have a large impact for the synthesis molecules related to biomedical science and chemical biology. Another more ambitious aim of the project is to use catalysis to generalize a rare but very efficient phosphorus-carbon bond forming reaction. The project also aims to establish light as an energy source for phosphorus-carbon bond forming catalysis, so-called photocatalysis, and understand how this photocatalysis operates to facilitate its expansion to catalytic reactions with other elements. Professor Waterman has a strong history of involving high school students from historically underrepresented groups in NSF-funded research and will use this project to increase capacity to involve pre-college students in research, helping to meet long-standing workforce development goals. In this research, Professor Rory Waterman of the University of Vermont will study catalysis that promotes P-C bond formation from both P(III) and P(I), improved enantioselectivity in hydrophosphination, and expand photocatalytic hydrophosphination. The project builds on an initial discovery that photocatalytic hydrophosphination is general and aims to unravel the mechanisms that unfold for both early and late transition metal catalysts. This effort compliments innovations in bench-stable hydrophosphination catalysis. The project will also combine these efforts to investigate enantioselective hydrophosphination catalysts for unactivated substrates, potentially availing hydrophosphination as a late-stage synthetic tool in the synthesis of complex molecular architectures, particularly those scaffolds that are likely to engender biological activity. Additional efforts in the project aim to leverage cyclophosphines as P(I) precursors via catalysis with an eye toward controlling singlet phosphinidene formation. Cyclophosphines can also be primary phosphine precursors, and this understanding will aid in the expansion of hydrophosphination catalysis through expansion of phosphine substrates. These efforts are directed at making an end-run around limitations in hydrophosphination and phosphinidene transfer. This work holds promise to advance fundamental understanding of catalysis in P-C bond formation, with potential application to other catalytic systems. Additionally, many specific catalytic reactions targeted in this study have the potential for much broader application in the larger synthetic chemistry community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "11318", "attributes": { "award_id": "2109042", "title": "Development of High-performing Nanoplasmonic Biosensors with Novel Thin Films and Metasurfaces", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)", "Chemical Measurement & Imaging" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 27122, "first_name": "Jose", "last_name": "Almirall", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2021-08-01", "end_date": "2024-07-31", "award_amount": 456000, "principal_investigator": { "id": 27366, "first_name": "Quan", "last_name": "Cheng", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 153, "ror": "", "name": "University of California-Riverside", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "CA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "With the support of the Chemical Measurement and Imaging (CMI) Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Quan Cheng and his group at the University of California-Riverside are working to develop new optical biosensors to improve molecular sensing of proteins and small molecules via methods that do not require chemical changes to the targets being sensed. These new approaches are based on use of metals structured in a way at the nanometer scale so that light of a given energy generates waves of electrons on the surface of the metals, with the energy being impacted by the presence of molecules near the surface of the sensor. These nanoplasmonic sensors are anticipated to offer new avenues for detection of small molecules that could not be achieved previously, potentially leading to significantly improved detection of biological molecules in the longer term. Such sensing methods are needed for a wide range of applications, including for medical diagnostics, for food/water safety monitoring, and for drug discovery. The Cheng group will focus their research efforts on generating plasmonic substrates with aluminum instead of traditional metals such as gold or silver. This approach has a number of potential advantages, including better performance, lower cost, high sustainability, and long-term environmental benefit. The highly interdisciplinary nature of the project offers opportunities for students to gain broad experience in surface chemistry, materials science, biology, and bioanalytical chemistry. \n\nIn this work, Professor Cheng and his group are working with emerging plasmonic materials in thin film and nanostructured, meta-surface formats. Methodologies are designed to achieve high detection sensitivity with aluminum films in the Kretschmann configuration and build new surface chemistry allowing convenient functionalization of the interface. The core technical innovation of this project is in developing aluminum plasmonic applications, with the intrinsic plasmonic properties leveraged into improvements in the capacity of several analytical techniques including surface plasmon resonance (SPR), SPR imaging (SPRi), and terahertz (THz) sensing. New strategies will be developed to eliminate technical barriers that have limited application of aluminum, and THz sensing with aluminum metasurfaces will be demonstrated for the characterization of inter- and intra-molecular, weak bonding networks. Finally, a novel biosensor with indium plasmonic arrays and SPR imaging is being developed. The exploration of indium thin films could offer new substrates for label-free detection and provide a tactic to mitigate against limitations associated with oxide coatings.\n\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "982", "attributes": { "award_id": "2107902", "title": "The Role of Tetrel Bonding in the Reaction Mechanism of Methyltransferases", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 2387, "first_name": "Herman", "last_name": "Sintim", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2021-07-01", "end_date": "2024-06-30", "award_amount": 519000, "principal_investigator": { "id": 2389, "first_name": "Raymond", "last_name": "Trievel", "orcid": null, "emails": "[email protected]", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 169, "ror": "", "name": "Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "MI", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [ { "id": 2388, "first_name": "Allison", "last_name": "Stelling", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "awardee_organization": { "id": 169, "ror": "", "name": "Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "MI", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "With the support of the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) Program in the Division of Chemistry, Drs. Raymond Trievel of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and Allison Stelling of UT-Dallas are studying an important category of enzymes known as methyltransferases. Methyltransferases are ubiquitous enzymes that play fundamental roles in the metabolism of numerous biological molecules, as well as in cell signaling and gene regulation through methylation of proteins, DNA, and RNA. In addition, methyltransferases have been implicated in numerous diseases, rendering them important targets for the design of new modulators to study their functional significance and signaling roles in biology and their dysfunction in abnormal biology or disease (relevant to cancer, cardiovascular disease, some neurological disorders, and microbial viral infections including COVID-19). Recent studies have revealed that the methyl transfer reaction catalyzed by these enzymes occurs through an unconventional type of interaction called a tetrel bond. The existence of tetrel bonds in biological macromolecules has only recently been discovered, and the contributions of these interactions to biological processes, particularly methyl transfer, remain poorly understood. The goal of this project is to characterize the functions of the tetrel bonds in methyltransferases using experimental and computational approaches. The knowledge derived from these studies will potentially inform the development of new methyltransferase linhibitors. This project will engage both undergraduate and graduate students in research in the fields of biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology and spectroscopy, affording multi-disciplinary training at the chemistry-biology interface.Methylation is a ubiquitous reaction in biology that plays a central role in the metabolism of many biological molecules, including amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, hormones, and metabolites. In addition, methylation represents a prominent covalent modification in proteins, DNA, and RNA, which has been implicated in signal transduction and gene regulation. Most methylation reactions are catalyzed by S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet)-dependent methyltransferases via an SN2 transfer of the AdoMet methyl group to the acceptor substrate. A recent survey of crystal structures of methyltransferases bound to AdoMet and various ligands has revealed that the AdoMet methyl group engages in tetrel bonding, a type of sigma antibonding orbital interaction similar to halogen bonding. Prior computational studies utilizing small molecule models have demonstrated that tetrel bonding between the methyl carbon atom and the nucleophilic atom represents an intermediate preceding the transition state in the SN2 reaction pathway. The discovery of tetrel bonding between the AdoMet methyl carbon atom and various ligands in methyltransferase active sites implies that this interaction is fundamental to the catalytic mechanism of these enzymes. Building on these observations, the aims of this proposal are to: 1) determine the functions of AdoMet methyl tetrel bonding in catalysis and 2) characterize the effects of methyl tetrel bonding on the AdoMet methyl vibrational modes. The functional importance of these interactions will be investigated in detail using a model methyltransferase and an interdisciplinary approach combining biochemistry, spectroscopy, crystallography, and computational chemistry. Taken together, these studies aim to elucidate the mechanism by which tetrel bonding between the AdoMet methyl group and the nucleophile facilitates methyl transfer.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "1037", "attributes": { "award_id": "2108690", "title": "Phase-Sensitive Chiral Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy for Probing Protein Hydration at Aqueous Interfaces", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 2546, "first_name": "Herman", "last_name": "Sintim", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2021-08-01", "end_date": "2024-07-31", "award_amount": 290000, "principal_investigator": { "id": 2547, "first_name": "E. Chui-Ying", "last_name": "Yan", "orcid": null, "emails": "[email protected]", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 452, "ror": "https://ror.org/03v76x132", "name": "Yale University", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "CT", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 452, "ror": "https://ror.org/03v76x132", "name": "Yale University", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "CT", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "With the support of the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Elsa Chui-Ying Yan of Yale University is studying protein interactions with water on surfaces by developing a new optical method. Proteins are molecular machineries that carry out biological functions. Many of them are situated on cell surfaces for critical life processes, such as cell communication, cell adhesion, and immunological response. These proteins are excellent targets for drug design and the recent success in developing the COVID-19 vaccine is an example. In industries, protein stability upon interactions with surfaces can greatly impact product quality, such as food packaging and drug delivery systems. Also, proteins are incorporated on surfaces for making biosensors and molecular devices. Therefore, being able to predict protein behaviors on various surfaces can help advance fundamental knowledge and develope new drugs and materials. Nonetheless, proteins on surfaces cannot function by themselves. Not only do they interact with the surface materials (e.g., cell membrane and plastic packages), they are also integrated with surrounding water molecules. These water molecules determine protein structures and functions, and thus must be considered to fully understand and predict protein behaviors. Professor Yan will develop a new optical technique with unprecedented selectivity for detecting water molecules and their interactions with proteins on surfaces. Combining experimental and computational methods, Professor Yan will develop approaches to generate detailed descriptions of these water molecules interacting with various types of proteins on surfaces. Professor Yan will provide training opportunities to students at various levels in conducting scientific research and organize students to reach out to a neighborhood high school to support their STEM education program and hold panel discussions on STEM career opportunities. The project will develop external heterodyne chiral vibrational sum frequency (SFG) generation spectroscopy to probe protein hydration at interfaces. This method is expected to have the advantages of being in situ, real-time, and label-free. More importantly, it will provide unique selectivity to water molecules surrounding proteins that are in folded chiral structures without interference of background signals from interfacial and bulk water. The project will construct an external heterodyne SFG spectrometer to acquire water O-H stretching spectra at the air/water interface in the presence of proteins that with attention to their secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures. Molecular dynamics (MD) models being constructed at the interface will be used to simulate the phase-resolved chiral SFG spectra. The comparison of the experimental and computational spectra in conjunction with analyses of the MD trajectories will allow for extraction of information about topology and local interactions of water molecules around the proteins. Finally, the combined experimental and computational approaches will be used to investigate changes in water structures during protein denaturation on surfaces.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "15157", "attributes": { "award_id": "2427912", "title": "Collaborative Research: Nucleobase-Modified PNA for Sequence Selective Triple-Helical Recognition of Non-Coding RNA", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)", "Chemistry of Life Processes" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 31733, "first_name": "John C.", "last_name": "Jewett", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2024-08-15", "end_date": null, "award_amount": 360000, "principal_investigator": { "id": 31734, "first_name": "James", "last_name": "MacKay", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 494, "ror": "https://ror.org/01y0mgq54", "name": "Elizabethtown College", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "PA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "With the support of the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) program in the Division of Chemistry, Professors Eriks Rozners of SUNY at Binghamton and James A. MacKay of Elizabethtown College are studying new methods for molecular recognition of biologically significant non-coding RNA. With the onset of biochemical technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 and the challenges associated with emerging pathogens such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus, RNA chemistry and biochemistry is at the forefront of research. Less than 2% of DNA encodes for functional proteins, while over 70% of DNA is transcribed into RNA. The non-coding RNAs play important yet not fully understood roles in regulation of biological processes. Selective recognition, imaging, and functional regulation of such RNAs will be highly useful for fundamental science and practical biotechnology applications. The project is focused on uncovering new ways for targeting double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), which is a long-standing problem and practical limitation in RNA biochemistry. The impact of the project will be broadened by expanding interdisciplinary collaborative research across traditional institutional boundaries and fostering the training and development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce through research and mentoring activities. The collaboration continues a partnership that has established a bridge for Elizabethtown College (a primarily undergraduate institution) students, including women, minorities, and first-generation college students, for transitioning from undergraduate to advanced graduate studies at a research university. Work will continue toward improving STEM education of undergraduate and graduate students and offer unique training for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in faculty positions at primarily undergraduate institutions. <br/><br/>The development of sequence-selective RNA binders is important for understanding the biochemistry of non-coding RNAs and may strongly impact fundamental RNA biology and practical applications in biotechnology and synthetic biology. The collaborative study will focus on development of new peptide nucleic acid (PNA) nucleobases capable of recognition of any sequence of dsRNA. Objective 1 develops nucleobases that could improve pi-pi stacking of the PNA strand in PNA-dsRNA triplexes. Objective 2 develops extended nucleobases that could recognize the entire Hoogsteen face of Watson-Crick base pairs of dsRNA. The properties of the new PNAs will be optimized using molecular modelling and dynamics simulations and synthetic organic chemistry. If successful, the project could allow molecular recognition of any sequence of dsRNA and enable a variety of applications such as imaging and functional control of regulatory RNA, designer riboswitches for synthetic biology, and inhibition of biologically important RNA for fundamental studies.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "15158", "attributes": { "award_id": "2427911", "title": "Collaborative Research: Nucleobase-Modified PNA for Sequence Selective Triple-Helical Recognition of Non-Coding RNA", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)", "Chemistry of Life Processes" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 31733, "first_name": "John C.", "last_name": "Jewett", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2024-08-15", "end_date": null, "award_amount": 465000, "principal_investigator": { "id": 2425, "first_name": "Eriks", "last_name": "Rozners", "orcid": null, "emails": "[email protected]", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 384, "ror": "", "name": "SUNY at Binghamton", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "NY", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 384, "ror": "", "name": "SUNY at Binghamton", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "NY", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "With the support of the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) program in the Division of Chemistry, Professors Eriks Rozners of SUNY at Binghamton and James A. MacKay of Elizabethtown College are studying new methods for molecular recognition of biologically significant non-coding RNA. With the onset of biochemical technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 and the challenges associated with emerging pathogens such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus, RNA chemistry and biochemistry is at the forefront of research. Less than 2% of DNA encodes for functional proteins, while over 70% of DNA is transcribed into RNA. The non-coding RNAs play important yet not fully understood roles in regulation of biological processes. Selective recognition, imaging, and functional regulation of such RNAs will be highly useful for fundamental science and practical biotechnology applications. The project is focused on uncovering new ways for targeting double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), which is a long-standing problem and practical limitation in RNA biochemistry. The impact of the project will be broadened by expanding interdisciplinary collaborative research across traditional institutional boundaries and fostering the training and development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce through research and mentoring activities. The collaboration continues a partnership that has established a bridge for Elizabethtown College (a primarily undergraduate institution) students, including women, minorities, and first-generation college students, for transitioning from undergraduate to advanced graduate studies at a research university. Work will continue toward improving STEM education of undergraduate and graduate students and offer unique training for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in faculty positions at primarily undergraduate institutions. <br/><br/>The development of sequence-selective RNA binders is important for understanding the biochemistry of non-coding RNAs and may strongly impact fundamental RNA biology and practical applications in biotechnology and synthetic biology. The collaborative study will focus on development of new peptide nucleic acid (PNA) nucleobases capable of recognition of any sequence of dsRNA. Objective 1 develops nucleobases that could improve pi-pi stacking of the PNA strand in PNA-dsRNA triplexes. Objective 2 develops extended nucleobases that could recognize the entire Hoogsteen face of Watson-Crick base pairs of dsRNA. The properties of the new PNAs will be optimized using molecular modelling and dynamics simulations and synthetic organic chemistry. If successful, the project could allow molecular recognition of any sequence of dsRNA and enable a variety of applications such as imaging and functional control of regulatory RNA, designer riboswitches for synthetic biology, and inhibition of biologically important RNA for fundamental studies.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "993", "attributes": { "award_id": "2107900", "title": "Collaborative Research: Nucleobase-Modified PNA for Sequence Selective Triple-Helical Recognition of Non-Coding RNA", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 2424, "first_name": "Herman", "last_name": "Sintim", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2021-08-01", "end_date": "2024-07-31", "award_amount": 468000, "principal_investigator": { "id": 2425, "first_name": "Eriks", "last_name": "Rozners", "orcid": null, "emails": "[email protected]", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 384, "ror": "", "name": "SUNY at Binghamton", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "NY", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 384, "ror": "", "name": "SUNY at Binghamton", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "NY", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "With the support of the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professors Eriks Rozners of SUNY Binghamton and James A. MacKay of Elizabethtown College are studying new methods for molecular recognition of biologically significant non-coding ribonucleic acid (RNA). With the onset of biochemical technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 for DNA-editing, and the challenges associated with emerging pathogens such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus (novel coronavirus), RNA (ribonucleic acid) chemistry and biochemistry is at the forefront of research. We know that less than 2% of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) encodes for functional proteins, while over 70% of DNA is transcribed into RNA. The non-coding RNAs play important yet not fully understood roles in regulation of biological processes. Selective recognition, imaging, and functional regulation of such RNAs will be highly useful for fundamental science and practical applications in biotechnology. This project aims to establish new ways of targeting double-stranded RNA, which has been a long-standing problem and practical limitation in RNA biochemistry. Importantly, the project will be broader in its impact through expanding interdisciplinary collaborative research across traditional institutional boundaries and fostering the training and development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workforce through research and mentoring activities. The collaboration continues a 5 year partnership that has established a bridge for Elizabethtown College (a primarily undergraduate institution) students, especially women, minorities, and first generation college students for transitioning from undergraduate studies to advanced graduate studies at a research university. Work will contine toward improving STEM education of undergraduate and graduate students, and offer unique training for post-graduate students interested in exploring careers at a primarily undergraduate institution. The development of sequence-selective RNA binders is important for understanding the biochemistry of non-coding RNAs and may strongly impact fundamental RNA biology and practical applications in biotechnology and synthetic biology. This collaborative study will develop new derivatives of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) that are potentially capable of recognizing the entire Hoogsteen face of Watson-Crick base pairs of double-stranded RNA. This is to be achieved by development of new nucleobases and binding modes that place two anti-parallel PNA strands in the major groove, each hydrogen-bonding to their respective RNA strand. The properties of the new PNAs will be optimized using synthetic organic chemistry to promote recognition of diverse sequences of double-stranded RNA, which has the potential to solve a long-standing problem in molecular recognition of RNA. If successful, this research will enable a variety of applications, such as, imaging and functional control of regulatory RNA, designer riboswitches for synthetic biology, and inhibition of biologically important RNA for fundamental studies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } } ], "meta": { "pagination": { "page": 1383, "pages": 1397, "count": 13961 } } }