Grant List
Represents Grant table in the DB
GET /v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1405&sort=funder_divisions
{ "links": { "first": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1&sort=funder_divisions", "last": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1424&sort=funder_divisions", "next": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1406&sort=funder_divisions", "prev": "https://cic-apps.datascience.columbia.edu/v1/grants?page%5Bnumber%5D=1404&sort=funder_divisions" }, "data": [ { "type": "Grant", "id": "4837", "attributes": { "award_id": "1204085", "title": "Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Paleoindian Technology in Beringia--A Technological and Morphological Analysis of the Northern Fluted-Point Complex", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "ASSP-Arctic Social Science" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [], "start_date": "2012-09-15", "end_date": "2015-08-31", "award_amount": 19644, "principal_investigator": { "id": 16803, "first_name": "Frank", "last_name": "Goebel", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] }, "other_investigators": [ { "id": 16802, "first_name": "Heather L", "last_name": "Smith", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "awardee_organization": { "id": 342, "ror": "https://ror.org/01f5ytq51", "name": "Texas A&M University", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "TX", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "Under the supervision of Dr. Ted Goebel, Heather Smith?s doctoral dissertation research will investigate the technology, morphology, and context of Alaskan fluted projectile points, focusing on the new assemblage from Serpentine Hot Springs (BEN-192), a unique site in Beringia found to contain a fluted-point assemblage in a buried and clearly datable context. Fluted points are widespread in the Americas, but in the Beringian area of north and northwest Alaska problematic and un-datable contexts have prevented interpretations of their meaning, especially in the context of human dispersal across the Americas, and we still know virtually nothing about their adaptive context in late-glacial Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems. Thus far, their attribution to the early period of Alaskan prehistory has been based predominantly on typology alone. The proposed research attempts to resolve this problem by addressing the question: What are the culture-historical and adaptive contexts of Alaskan fluted points? Excavations at Serpentine Hot Springs in 2005 and 2009-2011 have recovered fluted points from a stratigraphically sealed context in association with features interpreted as fire-hearths and charcoal from these features consistently produced dates averaging 10,200-10,000 radiocarbon years before present (14C BP). Prior to this discovery, a clear understanding of the context and significance of fluted points in Beringian archaeology and first Americans research has been impossible. \n\nThe primary research goals of this project are to 1) characterize the technology and morphology of fluted projectile points recovered from Serpentine Hot Springs and other Alaskan sites, 2) characterize technological activities carried out at Serpentine Hot Springs and other fluted point sites in Alaska, 3) interpret the technological organization of the ?northern fluted-point complex?, especially in regards to settlement and mobility, and 4) investigate the origins of Alaskan fluted points. The proposed research will combine standard lithic analyses of non-metric and metric variables with geometric morphometric analyses to obtain a meaningful statistical expression of fluted-point technology and shape. In this part of the analysis, Smith will draw on materials from 19 archaeological sites in Alaska to establish technological and morphological relationships between the fluted points. In the next component of the analysis, Smith will address the technological organization implemented by Alaskan fluted-point makers, thereby facilitating evaluation of northern Paleoindian behavior in terms of tool-stone acquisition, transport, and mobility. Investigation of technological organization will be based on analyses of complete lithic assemblages (including debitage) obtained from Serpentine Hot Springs, Putu, and eight Batza Téna localities where potentially ?typologically clean? assemblages have been found. To investigate the origins of fluted-point technology in Alaska and place Alaskan fluted points in the context of the Paleoindian occupation of the American continents, fluted-point collections from localities in Canada and the continental United States will be comparatively analyzed in regards to technology and morphology. Fluted-point variability and correlations in morphology will be analyzed by a new form of shape-analysis which utilizes geometric morphometrics and allows the entire geometry of the artifacts to be preserved throughout analysis, serving to increase the power of statistical expression. The proposed analyses will require travel to museums in Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska; Washington DC; Laramie, WY; Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta; Victoria, British Columbia; and Ottawa, Toronto, and London, Ontario to study artifact collections curated at these institutions.\n\nFunding of the proposed research will enable Ph.D. candidate H. Smith to conduct analyses necessary to place the Serpentine Hot Springs assemblage and the Alaskan fluted-point complex into the greater context of human adaptation during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Proposed research objectives will result in generalizations that will advance our understanding of prehistoric hunter-gatherer risk management in the Arctic, and how Northern Paleoindians met the adaptive challenges imposed by an ecosystem experiencing dramatic climate change at the end of the Pleistocene.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "4988", "attributes": { "award_id": "0908151", "title": "Innulluartaarneq (Having the Good Life Study)", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "ASSP-Arctic Social Science" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [], "start_date": "2010-01-15", "end_date": "2013-12-31", "award_amount": 954530, "principal_investigator": { "id": 17914, "first_name": "Elizabeth", "last_name": "Rink", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 259, "ror": "https://ror.org/02w0trx84", "name": "Montana State University", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "MT", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [ { "id": 17913, "first_name": "Dionne C Gesink", "last_name": "Law", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "awardee_organization": { "id": 259, "ror": "https://ror.org/02w0trx84", "name": "Montana State University", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "MT", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "PROJECT ABSTRACT\nThe purpose of Innuluataarneq research project is to develop, implement, evaluate, and disseminate a public health intervention in Greenland that focuses on Greenlandic ways of understanding and knowing about healthy behavior and sexually transmitted infections (STI). The target population for Innuluataarneq is 15 to 19 year old adolescents and their parents. Innuluataarneq will be conducted as an interdisciplinary international, collaborative community based participatory research (CBPR) study involving researchers and students from the United States, Canada, Denmark and Greenland. Innuluataarneq will be implemented in three communities in Greenland: Nuuk, Sisimut, and Tasiilaq. There are two components to Innulataarneq: 1) Component 1 will build capacity within Greenland to conduct CBPR projects that enhance community ownership in reducing STIs and empower communities in Greenland to partner with academic institutions to conduct research that resonates with Greenlandic knowledge and social and cultural practices; and 2) Component 2 will provide a socially and culturally relevant health education intervention to adolescents 15 to 19 years old and their parents in order to enhance awareness of STIs and their long term consequences \n\nThere are several elements to the intellectual merit of Innulataarneq. First, little is known about how cultural practices affect the transmission of STIs in the Arctic. Innulataarneq builds on our current STI research in Greenland, The Greenland Sexual Health Study, which is gathering information on the individual behaviors, social determinants, and cultural, historical, and political factors influencing the country?s high STI rates. Second, CBPR has not been practiced in Greenland to address any social science or health question. Innulataarneq?s CBPR approach advances our knowledge and understanding of the practical application of CBPR methodologies in a socially and culturally diverse Arctic community such as Greenland. Third, the reproductive future of Greenland is in jeopardy due to the countries high STI rates and low birth rates. Innulataarneq will explore Greenlandic ways of promoting educational efforts to prevent STI?s in order to secure Greenland?s reproductive future. \n\nThe relevance and importance of Innulataarneq to broader impacts in the field of social sciences and health related fields include the following: 1) Provide experience and training for students from indigenous populations in the United States, Canada and Greenland in the skills, techniques and knowledge needed to carry out community based participatory research on sexual health in Arctic communities; 2) Create a dialogue and build connections between institutions in the United States, Canada, and Greenland to foster a greater understanding of the importance of this health research in the Arctic; 3) Raise awareness about CBPR methods in Greenland, STIs, and culturally relevant ways of addressing this problem in an Arctic country; 4) Promote social science research that addresses health issues in Arctic communities; and 5) Documents and shares Greenlandic traditional knowledge and how it influences sexual behavior in an Arctic community.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "4189", "attributes": { "award_id": "1632935", "title": "BIGDATA: Collaborative Research: F: Foundations of Nonconvex Problems in BigData Science and Engineering: Models, Algorithms, and Analysis", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "Big Data Science &Engineering" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [], "start_date": "2016-09-01", "end_date": "2020-08-31", "award_amount": 349999, "principal_investigator": { "id": 14107, "first_name": "Jack", "last_name": "Xin", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 177, "ror": "", "name": "University of California-Irvine", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "CA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "In today's digital world, huge amounts of data, i.e., big data, can be found in almost every aspect of scientific research and human activity. These data need to be managed effectively for reliable prediction and inference to improve decision making. Statistical learning is an emergent scientific discipline wherein mathematical modeling, computational algorithms, and statistical analysis are jointly employed to address these challenging data management problems. Invariably, quantitative criteria need to be introduced for the overall learning process in order to gauge the quality of the solutions obtained. This research focuses on two important criteria: data fitness and sparsity representation of the underlying learning model. Potential applications of the results can be found in computational statistics, compressed sensing, imaging, machine learning, bio-informatics, portfolio selection, and decision making under uncertainty, among many areas involving big data.\n\nTill now, convex optimization has been the dominant methodology for statistical learning in which the two criteria employed are expressed by convex functions either to be optimized and/or set as constraints of the variables being sought. Recently, non-convex functions of the difference-of-convex (DC) type and the difference-of-convex algorithm (DCA) have been shown to yield superior results in many contexts and serve as the motivation for this project. The goal is to develop a solid foundation and a unified framework to address many fundamental issues in big data problems in which non-convexity and non-differentiability are present in the optimization problems to be solved. These two non-standard features in computational statistical learning are challenging and their rigorous treatment requires the fusion of expertise from different domains of mathematical sciences. Technical issues to be investigated will cover the optimality, sparsity, and statistical properties of computable solutions to the non-convex, non-smooth optimization problems arising from statistical learning and its many applications. Novel algorithms will be developed and tested first on synthetic data sets for preliminary experimentation and then on publicly available data sets for realism; comparisons will be made among different formulations of the learning problems.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "5289", "attributes": { "award_id": "0750523", "title": "Chemical Synthesis of Water-Soluble Nanoscale Structures", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "BIMOLECULAR PROCESSES" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [], "start_date": "2008-05-15", "end_date": "2012-04-30", "award_amount": 383000, "principal_investigator": { "id": 18623, "first_name": "James", "last_name": "Nowick", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 177, "ror": "", "name": "University of California-Irvine", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "CA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 177, "ror": "", "name": "University of California-Irvine", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "CA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "With support from the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program at the National Science Foundation for this new award, Professor James Nowick, of the Department of Chemistry at University of California- Irvine, will provide a facile bottom-up approach to the creation of water-soluble nanometer scale three-dimensional structures that are based on peptides. Targets include a \"sphere\", 1.9 nm in diameter, a \"tetrahedron\", 2.0 nm on edge, and a \"cube\", 2.3 nm on edge. The structures are based on a family of nanometer-scale amino acids, Abc2K, developed by the principal investigator. These amino acids have already been used to create water-soluble molecular rods up to 10 nanometers in length and water-soluble rings, triangles, and parallelograms up to 3 nanometers in size. These amino acids will be combined with triphenylmethane bridgehead groups to generate bi-, tetra- and hexacyclic three-dimensional structures with well-defined architectures. The principal investigator will also develop a novel kinetic resolution strategy to solve stereochemical problems associated with the syntheses of these structures. NMR spectroscopy in conjunction with molecular modeling and possibly X-ray crystallography will be used to elucidate structural features of these nanometer-scale three-dimensional molecules.\n\n\nWith this award, Professor Nowick will demonstrate that peptides are exceptionally easy to synthesize and handle, making them accessible to a wide range of researchers with only access to some simple synthesis equipment, an HPLC, and perhaps an ESI mass spectrometer. Water-soluble structures are especially well suited to biological applications, which certainly represents an important future direction of nanotechnology. The development of these structures will fill an area that is largely missing among nanoscale structures with well-defined geometries, for example, water-soluble peptide structures on a nanometer scale in all three dimensions. Undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students working on this project will be trained to perform cutting-edge research in the laboratory and will also learn to effectively communicate their results to others by presenting their work in seminars, at meetings, and through publication. Students trained on the project will go on to careers in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, or academia, and will thus contribute to the US scientific endeavor and the economy. The nanometer-scale structures that are developed will likely be of widespread interest among scientists and engineers involved in nanotechnology. Information will be disseminated on these structures through publication and seminars and materials will be shared with other researchers where appropriate. Professor Nowick will continue to run the UCI Chemistry Outreach Program, which he created in 1992 to bring the excitement of science to K-12 students and to help reach students in underrepresented groups. The program sends undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students to K-12 schools to make presentations that include lively demonstrations and engaging discussion. Descriptions of the nanometer-scale scale structures, and the associated role of chemistry in nanotechnology, will be incorporated into the discussion.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "5403", "attributes": { "award_id": "0640934", "title": "Fluorous Proteins: Structure, Stability, and Biological Activity", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "BIMOLECULAR PROCESSES" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [], "start_date": "2007-08-15", "end_date": "2010-07-31", "award_amount": 435000, "principal_investigator": { "id": 18901, "first_name": "E. Neil", "last_name": "Marsh", "orcid": null, "emails": "[email protected]", "private_emails": null, "keywords": "[]", "approved": true, "websites": "[]", "desired_collaboration": "", "comments": "", "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": 18900, "first_name": "Hashim M", "last_name": "Al-Hashimi", "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 this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports Neil Marsh and Hashim M. Al-Hashimi both of the University of Michigan whose research will advance the area of protein design by engineering some of the novel properties of fluorocarbons into biological molecules. This will be achieved by synthesizing proteins that contain extensively fluorinated ('fluorous') analogs of hydrophobic amino acids in their hydrophobic cores. Fluorous amino acids are predicted to stabilize proteins against unfolding by heat and organic solvents and to facilitate protein: protein recognition through specific fluorocarbon-fluorocarbon interactions. Fluorinated versions of a dimeric RNA-binding protein, Rop, will be synthesized in which the hydrophobic core of Rop will be repacked with the fluorous analog of leucine, hexafluoroleucine. This protein is small enough (63 residues) to be efficiently synthesized by peptide synthesis, which will allow fluorous amino acids to be introduced site specifically. Rop protein has been extensively used as a model system for investigating protein stability and folding, and as a template for protein re-design. These data will serve as a useful reference for the present study. A variety of physical techniques (such as circular dichroism, microcalorimetry and analytical ultracentrifugation) will be used to investigate the effect of fluorination on the biological activity, structure and stability of fluorous Rop proteins. An important innovation will be the use of residual dipolar coupling (RDC) NMR measurements to perform detailed comparisons of the effect of fluorination on the structure and conformational rigidity of the protein. The experiments will address fundamental questions about the impact of fluorination on protein structure and dynamics.\nThis award from the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports Professors Neil Marsh and Hashim M. Al-Hashimi both of the University of Michigan whose research will impact attempts to design biosensors and enzymes used in industrial processes, where stability towards extremes of temperature and pH and towards organic solvents is necessary. There is the potential for fluorous proteins to find uses in medical imaging by exploiting the high NMR sensitivity of Fluorine 19 or their enhanced biological stability could lead to uses as therapeutic agents or vehicles for drug delivery. The project will advance the education, training and professional development of undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral scientists in the inter-disciplinary area of chemical biology and biophysics. To broaden their education further, a joint interdisciplinary group meeting and journal club will be initiated. Their professional development will be enhanced by active participation in the dissemination of their results, both through drafting manuscripts and progress reports, and through oral and poster presentations at local and national scientific meetings.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "5443", "attributes": { "award_id": "0545312", "title": "Patterns of Ecosystem Function and Trophic Status in Well-mixed Subtropical Estuaries Undergoing Anthropogenic Modification", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [], "start_date": "2006-04-01", "end_date": "2012-03-31", "award_amount": 445645, "principal_investigator": { "id": 18992, "first_name": "Marc", "last_name": "Frischer", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 1409, "ror": "https://ror.org/03hjqxp26", "name": "Skidaway Institute of Oceanography", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "GA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 1409, "ror": "https://ror.org/03hjqxp26", "name": "Skidaway Institute of Oceanography", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "GA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "The long-term goal of this project is to understand how warm, well-mixed, subtropical estuaries vary their plankton community structure, function, and net ecosystem metabolism in response to increasing anthropogenic nutrient loading and natural environmental forcing. The approach is to continue a unique, long-term (19 years), temporally intensive (sampling twice per week) record in the Skidaway River estuary (Georgia, USA) of hydrography, nutrients, plankton and microbial communities, dissolved oxygen, and important living and non-living components of particulate matter. The record to date documents changes caused by cultural eutrophication throughout the food web from bacteria to copepods; independently collected evidence shows major declines in commercial catches of fin- and shellfish. Commonly accepted conceptual models and limited local evidence support the notion that gelatinous predators may benefit from the enhanced microbial food web and from decreased competition from vertebrates and invertebrates. These data will be used to evaluate estuarine biological and chemical responses to, and potential recovery from, the by-products of increasing human occupation of the coast, as well as chronic (long-term warming, rising sea level, extended drought or wet periods) and stochastic (tropical storms) patterns in natural phenomena. Questions to be addressed fall into two basic categories: (a) how do plankton communities (individual taxa and bulk properties) respond in structure and function to early stages of eutrophication that include changes in concentrations and ratios of all major inorganic and organic nutrients, and (b) are such changes consonant with accepted ecological theory for estuarine ecosystems?\n\nThe working hypothesis is that changes in nutrient loading have altered the competitive balance among phytoplankton, bacteria, and associated microbial communities, thus impacting higher trophic levels. A major corollary is that changes in food web structure at the lower levels are driving a long-term shift from oxic towards hypoxic conditions, i.e. from autotrophy to net heterotrophy. These lower oxygen concentrations may facilitate the development of gelatinous predators communities to fill the void caused by declines in fin- and shellfish. This study aims to provide sound scientific data on historic and contemporary patterns in plankton community structure, ecosystem function, and relationships to environmental variables, including trends in dissolved oxygen, as well as the quantitative basis to evaluate basic ecological hypotheses regarding estuarine ecosystems. \n\nBroader impacts include an active outreach program, which will use the scientific results to improve science teacher and classroom education, as well as to increase the representation of African Americans and other minorities in aquatic sciences. These project components, fully integrated into the proposed research activities, will facilitate community awareness of linkages between population development, environmental quality, ecosystem operation, and resource conservation.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "4137", "attributes": { "award_id": "1643240", "title": "2016 Gordon Research Seminar and Conference on Marine Microbes", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [], "start_date": "2016-07-15", "end_date": "2016-12-31", "award_amount": 12900, "principal_investigator": { "id": 13910, "first_name": "Bryndan", "last_name": "Durham", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 226, "ror": "https://ror.org/05rad4t93", "name": "Gordon Research Conferences", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "RI", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 226, "ror": "https://ror.org/05rad4t93", "name": "Gordon Research Conferences", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "RI", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "The 2016 Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) and Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Marine Microbes will be held in conjunction with one other from June 18-19 and June 19-24, respectively, in Girona, Spain. Together the Marine Microbes GRS and GRC make up an international forum for cutting-edge research in the ecology, evolution and function of microorganisms in the ocean, while the GRS is a young-researcher-centric meeting bringing together students and postdocs to discuss their research, create informal networks among peers, and gain experience/confidence for participation in the following GRC. Funds are requested to help support participation in the GRC and GRS by students and postdocs. The GRS and GRC will have an impact on the community of marine microbial researchers for years to come. By promoting open discussion and free thinking, these meetings foster national and international collaboration between participants, both among established researchers and early-career scientists. With the inclusion of the GRS, these meetings will also promote the careers of young researchers by giving them exposure and time to interact with established researchers in the field. In addition, the mentoring at the GRS will help prepare young researchers for careers in academia, and the discussions at the GRC will help them form personal perspectives on key issues of relevance to the study of marine microbes.\n\nMarine microbes occupy an important role in the biosphere by fueling the marine food web, performing energy and nutrient transformations, and performing a wide range of still unknown metabolic and physiological processes with implications for our own survival on the planet. They comprise 98 percent of the biomass of the world?s oceans, supply more than half the world's oxygen, are the major processors of the world?s greenhouse gases, and have the potential to mitigate the effects of climate change. They are also the cause of diseases that are suspected to be spreading due to global warming, yet they also produce compounds which are potential cures and solutions for combating human diseases. This meeting represents one of the only opportunities for researchers to come together and discuss marine microbes specifically and in depth, and will be important in defining the future of the field. The special format of the Conference, with a maximum of 150 participants allowed, includes morning sessions, followed by free afternoons and afterwards evening sessions and is specifically designed to foster interaction and promote the free exchange of ideas. The GRS and GRC programs will cover several aspects of marine microbial research, from \"omics\" and other emerging technologies to physiology, chemical ecology and ecosystem scale science. The best science in the field will be presented by both younger and more established top scientists during invited and contributed oral and poster presentations. Specific sessions will be dedicated to current \"hot topics\" in the field, where different points of view will be presented and discussed, hopefully provoking critical thinking and a consensus. The location of this meeting in Spain will provide a pleasant and informal setting with many opportunities for casual interactions and ensure that the meeting is truly international, with the hope of sparking new international collaborations. The GRS will increase participation by young researchers, giving them a chance to meet the leaders in our field while also forming linkages within their own peer group that may lead to future collaborations. The GRS has only a limited educational component from senior researchers, because it is committed to bringing young scientists together to discuss their current research and build informal networks with their peers that may lead to a lifetime of collaboration and scientific achievement with the support of leading scientists from the associated GRC. The GRS program will consist of talks and poster sessions from the participants, along with time for formal and informal discussions of the research presented. The mentoring component will be provided by two plenary talks from Profs. Thomas Richards from the University of Exeter and Julia Kubanek from the Georgia Institute of Technology. The GRS is expected to have ~50 participants, and all attendees are encouraged to attend the associated GRC.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } }, { "type": "Grant", "id": "15680", "attributes": { "award_id": "2508854", "title": "Postdoctoral Fellowship: PRFB: How host immunity drives the evolution of pathogen virulence", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "Biology Postdoctoral Research" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 30092, "first_name": "Joel", "last_name": "Abraham", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2025-07-01", "end_date": null, "award_amount": 270000, "principal_investigator": { "id": 32526, "first_name": "Michael", "last_name": "Blazanin", "orcid": "", "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 2603, "ror": "", "name": "Blazanin, Michael", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "", "zip": "", "country": "CA", "approved": true }, "abstract": "This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2025. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to biology in innovative ways. This research will improve our understanding of how pathogens evolve. More clearly than ever following the COVID-19 pandemic, pathogens can evolve extremely rapidly with global impacts. One of the most important ways that pathogens evolve is in their virulence, the harm they inflict upon their hosts. Understanding and predicting how pathogen virulence will evolve is paramount for fields from vaccine design to epidemiology, agriculture, and healthcare. The evolution of virulence can be shaped by numerous factors, but one of the most important factors that every pathogen interacts with is the host’s immune system. This project will test how immunity influences pathogen evolution, using experimental and simulation methodologies to build a predictive understanding of how pathogen virulence is shaped by the host immune system. The results of this research have broad implications, including for public health. This fellowship will also support mentorship, training, and education for undergraduate and graduate students. To test how immunity influences pathogen evolution, this project will use mathematical models and laboratory experiments. It aims to answer two questions: 1) how do different parts of the immune system individually shape pathogen virulence evolution, and 2) how does variation in immunity between hosts in a population shape pathogen virulence evolution. To answer these questions, this project leverages an extremely powerful laboratory model system: Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes. These nematodes are easy to experiment with, and their innate immune system shares many similarities with mammals. In this research, C. elegans will be experimentally infected with a widespread bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to directly observe how Pseudomonas evolves depending on the immune state of C. elegans. Experimental measurements will be integrated with mathematical models to directly test how well model predictions match experimental outcomes. Through the course of this fellowship training, the fellow will develop expertise with C. elegans-bacteria systems, build essential bioinformatic skills, and gain experience with evolutionary modeling. The broader impacts of this project include potential applications in public health policy and vaccine design, mentorship and hands-on research training for undergraduate students, development of a peer mentorship program for graduate students, and instructional modules that integrate research into undergraduate education. 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": "15733", "attributes": { "award_id": "2447992", "title": "RUI: BMAT: Evaluating Ionizable Amphiphilic Janus Dendrimers as Delivery Agents for Nucleic Acids", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "BIOMATERIALS PROGRAM" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [ { "id": 31714, "first_name": "Daniel", "last_name": "Savin", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] } ], "start_date": "2025-08-01", "end_date": null, "award_amount": 230784, "principal_investigator": { "id": 32791, "first_name": "Samantha", "last_name": "Wilner", "orcid": "", "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 1170, "ror": "https://ror.org/02jqn4a25", "name": "Ursinus College", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "PA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Methods to alter gene expression have the potential to transform modern medicine. These tools directly modify genetic information or change how much or how little a specific gene is expressed. Many of these approaches use molecules called nucleic acids to treat disease, but for these therapies to be successful, small particles or vesicles must encapsulate and carry these nucleic acids to desired cell types. Various biomaterials such as lipids, polymers, and dendrimers have been used to construct these carrier systems. A relevant example of such a system is the COVID-19 vaccine, a lipid-based nanoparticle that delivers messenger RNA (mRNA) to elicit an immune response. Understanding how these biomaterials influence the physical properties of the resulting particles and how they affect interactions within the body is critical to designing effective materials for delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics. This work aims to characterize vesicles made from a new type of molecule called ionizable amphiphilic Janus dendrimers (IAJDs). Janus dendrimers are structures with two different chemical characteristics on each side. The proposed studies will establish how differences in IAJD properties affect vesicle characteristics like size and shape, how these vesicles interact with common biological proteins like those found in the blood stream, and how these vesicles enter and release nucleic acids in cells. More broadly, this project will provide meaningful hands-on research experiences for undergraduate students via summer research opportunities and development of a mini-course based undergraduate research experience (mini-CURE) in biophysical chemistry. Undergraduates will also be encouraged to explore their scientific interests and participate in the broader scientific community via participation in a STEM-focused student club on campus. TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Effective use of nucleic acid therapeutics relies on delivery agents that enhance nucleic acid circulation times, shield from nucleases, and aid in intracellular delivery. In particular, the success of RNA therapeutics, including messenger RNA (mRNA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA), can be attributed to innovations surrounding the ionizable lipid component of the lipid nanoparticle (LNP); however, challenges associated with immunotoxicity, laborious syntheses, and extrahepatic delivery continue to limit the scope of these delivery vehicles, suggesting a need for new ionizable amphiphilic molecules. Recently, ionizable amphiphilic Janus dendrimers (IAJDs) have emerged as tools to encapsulate and deliver mRNA in vivo via a one-component dendrimersome nanoparticle (DNP) delivery system. Initial publications exploring mRNA delivery using DNPs suggest that IAJD structure dictates in vivo localization as well as activity; however, fundamental and mechanistic questions remain. The major goal of this work is to characterize DNPs prepared from IAJDs in the presence and absence of nucleic acid therapeutics (mRNA and siRNA) and understand how these DNPs interact with and within biological systems. Specifically, this work will (1) elucidate how IAJD structure dictates the physical characteristics of DNPs including size, shape, morphology, and nucleic acid encapsulation, (2) determine how these differences influence interactions of DNPs with serum proteins, thus impacting cytotoxicity and immunogenicity, and (3) evaluate mechanisms for cellular internalization and functional delivery of mRNA and siRNA. These studies will establish structure-function relationships to explain how DNPs encapsulating nucleic acids exert their therapeutic effects. This project will provide meaningful hands-on research experiences for undergraduate students via summer research opportunities and development of a mini-course based undergraduate research experience (mini-CURE) in biophysical chemistry. Undergraduates will also be encouraged to explore their scientific interests and participate in the broader scientific community via participation in a STEM-focused student club on campus. 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": "3794", "attributes": { "award_id": "1709238", "title": "Creating Smart Biomaterials using Engineered Bacteria that Cooperatively Reprogram Mammalian Cells", "funder": { "id": 3, "ror": "https://ror.org/021nxhr62", "name": "National Science Foundation", "approved": true }, "funder_divisions": [ "Unknown", "BIOMATERIALS PROGRAM" ], "program_reference_codes": [], "program_officials": [], "start_date": "2017-08-01", "end_date": "2020-07-31", "award_amount": 338414, "principal_investigator": { "id": 12426, "first_name": "Warren", "last_name": "Ruder", "orcid": null, "emails": "", "private_emails": "", "keywords": null, "approved": true, "websites": null, "desired_collaboration": null, "comments": null, "affiliations": [ { "id": 272, "ror": "https://ror.org/01an3r305", "name": "University of Pittsburgh", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "PA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true } ] }, "other_investigators": [], "awardee_organization": { "id": 272, "ror": "https://ror.org/01an3r305", "name": "University of Pittsburgh", "address": "", "city": "", "state": "PA", "zip": "", "country": "United States", "approved": true }, "abstract": "NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT\n\nAn ability to reprogram the function of mammalian cells is critical for exploring the scientific underpinnings of cell behavior as well as improving human health. This effort will result in the development of smart biomaterials and experimental systems made up of microparticles carrying engineered bacteria. These hybrid, living-nonliving biomaterials will be used as a tool to reprogram mammalian cell signaling. One advantage of an extendable synthetic biomaterials approach that uses engineered bacteria to regulate mammalian calcium signaling could be the abrogation of the need to directly alter mammalian cells to reprogram their behavior. Thus, the need for vectors such as viruses or the creation of transgenic animal models could be reduced. For this effort, bacteria-bound microparticles will be developed that can deliver synthetic genetic components to mammalian cells and reprogram calcium signaling. Calcium signaling is a ubiquitous system that effects cells ranging from nerves to the cells that line the gut, and controls both slow and fast cellular processes. Next, these particles will be made into ?smart? biomaterials as their living component ? the bacteria ? will be engineered with an ability to collaborate and collectively determine when to transmit genetic components to mammalian cells. Finally, mathematical modeling and computational simulation will be used to explore calcium signaling dynamics in mammalian cells in order to determine when alterations will cause the most significant changes in cell signaling dynamics. The smart biomaterials will then be used to reprogram this signaling. In addition, this effort will be integrated with the development of multiple teaching modules for a bioengineering summer camp, and the final curriculum will be widely disseminated to the broader scientific and educational community.\n\nTECHNICAL ABSTRACT\n\nThis effort will result in the creation of smart biomaterials that link to engineered intracellular networks necessary for bacteria to cooperatively invade and then reprogram calcium signaling in mammalian cells. First, a synthetic component will be built to enable engineered bacteria to covalently bond to microparticles to create smart biosensing materials that target specific mammalian cell surface markers. Second, different bacterial lines will be programmed with engineered gene circuits that enable them to cooperatively recognize each other and then activate mammalian cell invasion capabilities. This cooperation further ensures that only specific mammalian cells are targeted. Finally, both the synthetic bonding and the cooperative invasion circuitry will be used to reprogram calcium signaling in mammalian cells. Invading bacteria will use RNA interference to alter the dynamics of calcium signaling by knocking down expression of calcium pathway enzymes. Selection of these target enzymes will be informed by modeling of single cell calcium dynamics. This effort will combine recent advances in engineered cellular invasion, mammalian synthetic biology, cell surface display, and engineered quorum sensing to create bacteria-laden, smart biomaterials that reprogram mammalian cells. The proposed effort includes research to advance discovery and understanding in the field of smart biomaterials while also promoting teaching, training, and learning through the development of a new activities targeted toward high school students.", "keywords": [], "approved": true } } ], "meta": { "pagination": { "page": 1405, "pages": 1424, "count": 14236 } } }