Success Stories

DE-INBRE Site PI at Delaware State University, Dr. Hacene Boukari, is the co-investigator on a $2.47M grant from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Consortium for Laser-based Analysis of Nuclear and Environmental Materials (LANEM) brings together researchers and students from Del State, Alabama State University and Florida A&M University. In addition, two national labs – the Pacific Northwest National Lab in Richland, WA, and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, TN – are also a part of the consortium.

Three researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences recently received seed grants from Arkansas EPSCoR. Drs. Kevin Phelan and Tiffany Huitt received a two-year $97,608 grant for their project, “Piloting Big Data Science in Arkansas Middle Schools.”

Dr. Sean Young received $55,696 for his project, “Geospatial Data Science in Public Health: Inter-institutional educational collaboration to enhance data science curriculum in Arkansas.”

TriAltus Bioscience has been awarded an NIH $256,576 Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant for its project called “Universal affinity membrane chromatography for rapid, one-step purification of proteins" that aims to make use of TriAltus’ patented protein purification technology.

The highly competitive STTR program funds joint research proposals from small businesses that partner with universities and nonprofits. TriAltus will work in tandem with Dr. Scott M. Husson of Clemson University, who will serve as principal investigator on the project, as well as Dr. Dmitry Vassylyev, TriAltus’ co-founder and professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at UAB. Husson has been a past recipient of an SC EPSCoR Phase-0 award.

SC INBRE Bioinformatics Core Director Dr. Homay Valafar is researching and developing methods of extracting and interpreting data from sensors which can be incorporated into smartwatches to monitor and identify medication adherence remotely and unobtrusively. “NIH recently solicited participation of researchers to collect data in areas where they believe further studies are needed. One area is what we are doing now: human activity recognition by collecting data that can simply and unobtrusively monitor people's activities,” said Valafar whose research is supported by a $1.5M grant from the NIH.

Cellular metabolism is emerging as a critical factor in controlling the immune system’s response to pathogens that cause human disease, as well as the activity of cancerous cells. Rajib Saha, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at University of Nebraska–Lincoln, is studying how those relationships evolve, with an eye toward development of therapeutics or drugs that could give the immune system an edge over these sometimes deadly enemies. He has received a five-year, $1.8M NIH/DDS Maximizing Investigators Research Award (MIRA) to support his research.

Two Arkansas researchers will be gauging consumer sentiment as well as evaluating any health and economic benefits of meat products from livestock raised on perennial forage systems.

The $10M grant from the USDA NIFA (EPSCoR), will focus on studying and promoting perennial forage systems. The grant is part of USDA's efforts to increase US farm production by 50% while reducing the environmental footprint for production by 40% by 2050. Arkansas was awarded just over $500,000 of the grant for its work.

Alabama-based Auburn University, Tuskegee University and Southern Union State Community College have received an NSF $1.9M grant to find new ways to recycle multilayer plastics. The grant funds a project called “Supercritical Extraction for the Elimination of End-of-Life Plastics,” and will begin Jan 1, 2022.

The group of eight researchers will study the properties of supercritical carbon dioxide mixtures to enable the separation of the materials used in typical multilayer food packaging. If successful, the team will then apply the new method to preexisting recycling streams and study its economic and social impacts.

Researchers at the University of VERMONT, the University of MAINE and VERMONT Technical College have received a $4M grant from NSF to develop and test new technologies that could make monitoring the safety and performance of infrastructure less expensive, more accurate and more widespread, resulting in more dependable, durable structures in the future.

The project also addresses human infrastructure through engaging a group of faculty, grad students and undergrad at the three schools to create a trained workforce that could design and manufacture the new technologies the research project will develop and make use of. K-12 students will also participate.

Dr. Xia Jing, Assistant Professor in Public Health at Clemson University and SC TRIMH COBRE faculty, received a five-year, $1.67M NIH NIGMS grant to improve process to update Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccination recommendations in clinics’ computer systems, enhance patient care.

The project’s goal is to make it easier for health care providers in small primary care settings to update their clinical decision support rules from the CDC independently. These clinical decision support rules for immunizations can help physicians provide the recommended immunizations for patients more consistently.

The Miriam Hospital has received an $11.1M NIGMS grant to establish a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Rhode Island devoted to a growing field of inquiry – how stress and trauma early in life can have lasting impacts on our health and wellness.

The grant will fund the creation of the STAR COBRE, which will be based out of the Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital. STAR stands for Stress, Trauma, and Resilience.

The center will build research capacity at The Miriam while also establishing partnerships with collaborators at Lifespan, the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and Care New England, specifically its psychiatric facility, Butler Hospital. Study topics will include the effects that child neglect, sexual abuse, and food insecurity have on mental and physical well-being.