News & Updates

A Low Temperature Plasma (LTP) internship program led by The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) that connects undergraduate and graduate students in STEM fields from nine Alabama partner universities with Alabama-based industries is preparing for its third round of internships in January.

Scientists have been developing astounding new tools for exploring neural circuits that underlie brain function throughout the first five years of the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative. Now, the NIH has announced its continued support for these projects by funding over 180 new BRAIN Initiative awards, bringing the total 2019 budget for the program to more than $424 million. This work may not only help paralyzed patients to communicate more easily, but also allow neuroscientists to closely examine the brain at work, in real time.

Funding Opportunity Number: 20-504

Dr. Gary Zank will speak on three current space missions of scientific discovery as a distinguished speaker at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Distinguished Lecture Series in Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Dr. Zank is Alabama’s NSF EPSCoR Director, Director of the Center for Space and Plasma (CSPAR) and chair of the Department of Space Science at the University of Alabama Huntsville. Dr. Zank’s speech is titled “From the Sun’s Atmosphere to the Galactic Edge: Exploring Exotic Plasmas."

NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program funds highly innovative biomedical or behavioral research proposed by extraordinarily creative scientists. The program supports discovery by supporting potentially transformative research proposals that may struggle in the traditional review process due to their inherent risk. Researchers are encouraged to use out of the box thinking to pursue trailblazing ideas in any area of research relevant to NIH’s mission.

The EPSCoR/IDeA Coalition has released its new fall EPSCoR/IDeA newsletter. In this issue, the Coalition provides an update on the FY2020 funding status of the EPSCoR/IDeA programs, a summary of basic research funding for next year and re-caps the second “Take Your IDeA Science to Capitol Hill” that Coalition co-sponsored along with NAIPI and the EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation.

In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, surgery for stress urinary incontinence also improved symptoms of urgency incontinence in women who suffer from both types. The findings counter the current treatment guidelines that suggest the surgery may worsen urgency incontinence in women with both forms.

Brown University, Rhode Island - Harnessing the Data Revolution for the Quantum Leap: From Quantum Control to Quantum Materials

Brown University will be partnering with Hebrew SeniorLife to lead the Imbedded Pragmatic Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (AD/ADRD) Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Collaboratory. The IMPACT Collaboratory are funded by NIH’s National Institute on Aging (NIA) at a level expected to total $53.4 million over five years. Impact Collaboratory researchers will work with scientists from other universities to develop novel ways to care for those with AD/ADRD.

NSF EPSCoR CPU2AL, Connecting the Plasma Universe to Plasma Technology in Alabama, is a partnership of nine universities and a research corporation in Alabama. The project seeks to understand, predict, and control plasma processes and interactions in low-temperature plasma (LTP) environments. This knowledge has applications fortechnologies in aerospace, manufacturing, medicine, agriculture, and food safety.