Grants

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) today awarded City of Hope's Xiuli Wang, Ph.D., research professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, $3.8 million to develop chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells that can target and kill HIV-infected cells. The treatment will also use the cytomegalovirus vaccine to stimulate the immune system to proliferate and maintain the CAR T cells.

A $1.55 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to Indiana University will support the creation of myAURA, an easy-to-use web service for epilepsy patients.

Stephen Sofie, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and Lee Spangler, director of Montana State's Energy Research Institute, received the US Energy Department grant in September.

The National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Missouri a $5.2 million grant over five years to establish the Advancing Research and its Impact on Society (ARIS) Center at Mizzou. It will advance the practice of translating scientific research to the public through educational outreach and community engagement.

With an $11 million grant from the National Institutes of Health Center for Biomedical Research Excellence, Clemson University has launched the South Carolina Center for Translational Research Improving Musculoskeletal Health, or SC-TRIMH, a new research center that will bring together scientists from across South Carolina to change the way musculoskeletal disorders are diagnosed, treated and even studied.

Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) and UC San Diego have been awarded $ 4.5 million as part of the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Moonshot initiative. The funding will support research to develop new and improved immunotherapeutic treatment options for patients with head and neck cancer.

The National Science Foundation awarded $1,182,305 to the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering to support research into using machine learning and Big Data to analyze electronic anesthesia records and prevent postoperative complications and death.

The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a three-year, $3,194,947 grant from the National Cancer Institute to investigate colorectal and breast cancer health disparities. The grant is one of only four Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) Planning Grant P20 awards given across the nation to address health disparities. It will provide the infrastructure for a new, comprehensive research program at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine to study cancer health disparities at molecular and population levels.

With a $320,000 award from the National Science Foundation, a business professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) will develop a computational tool to help humanitarian aid organizations significantly improve refugees' chances of successfully resettling and integrating into a new country. Built upon ongoing work with an international team of computer scientists and economists, the tool uses machine learning and optimization algorithms to match refugees to communities where they will find appropriate resources, including employment opportunities.