News & Updates

Last year, NuShores Biosciences received a Fast Track Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award and has recently received additional funding of $1.5 million to build on the successes from the previous award. The new funding will support NuShores’ Years 2 and 3 Phase II studies. In the Phase I SBIR studies, NuShores demonstrated the feasibility of its NuCress™ bone filler scaffolds in craniofacial tissues. The NuCress^TM scaffold has resulted in significantly earlier bone formation and significantly more graft being incorporated into the bone. The positive results spurred the additional funding.

On September 4, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) toured the University of North Dakota’s (UND) space related facilities. They also joined UND’s students, faculty, and staff in a town hall discussion.

Dr. Karolina Mukhtar, Associate Professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Biology was recognized as a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in July 2019. PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Government to outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers and who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology. Dr. Mukhtar was nominated by the National Science Foundation.

The University of New Hampshire has been awarded a highly competitive contract of $107.9 million to develop its Geostationary Littoral Imaging and Monitoring Radiometer (GLIMR) mission. The mission will be led by Dr. Joseph Salisbury, a research associate professor at UNH. UNH secured the award after prevailing over seven other finalists. This award represents the largest NASA award for UNH as well as the second highest contract NASA has awarded to a university in the past decade.

The Office of The Director (OD), National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released two Funding Opportunities Announcements (FOAs) that invite applications from entities/institutions to participate in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network (ISPCTN) as a Clinical Site and/or as the Data Coordination and Operations Center (DCOC). Applicants are limited to institutions from the 24-Institutional Development Award (IDeA)-eligible States/Jurisdictions. The ISPCTN will conduct multicenter clinical trials research, assuring the participation of children living in rural or underserved communities located in IDeA states, and build pediatric research capacity for IDeA states to support the conduct of clinical trials of relevance to rural or underserved children in IDeA states.

The National Institute on Minority Health and Minority Health Disparities (NIMHD), part of NIH, has funded three new awards and renewed eight awards funded under the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Specialized Centers Program. The RCMI program develops the infrastructure needed to conduct state of the art biomedical research while fostering the next generation of researchers from underrepresented populations. Project periods span five years and the centers are anticipated to share around $187 million in funding.

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) created the Genomic Innovator Awards in 2018 to provide funding to support investigators with outstanding records of productivity. The awards will provide funding to six institutions to support early career researchers studying genome biology, genomic medicine, technology development and societal implications of genomic advances. The amount of support to accelerate genomics research is expected to total approximately $500,000 per year over a fiveyear project period.

In an NIH funded study, Brown University’s Superfund Research Center examines how graphene-based film can protect people from mosquito bites. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Lee Morin is a former astronaut that flew on a 2002 shuttle mission to the International Space Station. Originally from New Hampshire, Morin received his bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire. At 66, Morin is now leading work on NASA’s Orion Spacecraft.

Last week on August 7, NSF announced the recipients of its FY 2019 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Awards. NSF has invested over $250 million in its nearly 700 award recipients. This year’s EPSCoR representation includes 103 recipients across 25 jurisdictions.