William Marsh Rice University

THOR: TARGETED HYBRID ONCOTHERAPEUTIC REGULATION

NSF NANOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTER FOR NANTECHNOLOGY ENABLED WATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS (NEWT)

MID-SCALE RI-2: SAFEINSIGHTS: A NATIONAL RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LARGE-SCALE LEARNING SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING -RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D) PLAYS A PIVOTAL ROLE IN ADVANCING EDUCATION, BUT IT REMAINS DIFFICULT TO CONDUCT LARGE-SCALE RESEARCH THAT YIELDS THE STRONGEST RESULTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. SAFEINSIGHTS IS A NATIONAL R&D INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WILL SUPPORT TRANSFORMATIONAL LEARNING RESEARCH BY COORDINATING RESEARCH ACROSS AN INITIAL SET OF MORE THAN A DOZEN SECURELY CONNECTED DIGITAL LEARNING PLATFORMS (DLPS). SAFEINSIGHTS? PRIVACY MODEL KEEPS STUDENT INFORMATION SECURE WHILE ALLOWING RESEARCHERS TO LEVERAGE LEARNING DATA FROM INDIVIDUALS ACROSS MULTIPLE DLPS. SUCH DATA MAY SPAN YEARS AND DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, THUS ENABLING RESEARCHERS TO UNDERTAKE LONGITUDINAL STUDIES TO INVESTIGATE, FOR EXAMPLE, HOW CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING DEVELOPS OVER TIME. WITH ITS UNIQUE PRIVACY-PROTECTING APPROACH, ITS LARGE SCALE, AND ITS EMPHASIS ON THE INCLUSION OF STUDENTS, EDUCATORS, AND RESEARCHERS FROM DIVERSE AND REPRESENTATIVE BACKGROUNDS, SAFEINSIGHTS WILL UNLOCK DISCOVERIES ABOUT LEARNING THAT LEAD TO PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS AND PERSISTENCE. SUCH FINDINGS WILL EVENTUALLY BENEFIT TENS OF MILLIONS OF STUDENTS ACROSS ALL EDUCATIONAL LEVELS IN THE UNITED STATES, AS MORE DLPS ARE CONNECTED. THIS INFRASTRUCTURE IS SUPPORTED BY THE U.S. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF) DIRECTORATE FOR STEM EDUCATION THROUGH THE NSF MID-SCALE RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE-2 PROGRAM. SAFEINSIGHTS WILL ENABLE SECURE DATA ANALYSIS AND CONTROLLED RESEARCH STUDIES WITHIN AUTHENTIC LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND WILL LEVERAGE LEARNER DATA FROM DIVERSE PLATFORMS TO ADDRESS SCIENTIFIC INQUIRIES WITH GREATER DEPTH AND BREADTH THAN PREVIOUSLY ACHIEVABLE. TO SUPPORT SCIENTISTS AND DATA STEWARDS IN ANSWERING IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ABOUT STEM LEARNING, THIS PIONEERING SCIENTIFIC CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE WILL BUILD SHARED TECHNICAL AND LOGISTICAL CAPABILITIES AS WELL AS SECURE ENCLAVE INFRASTRUCTURE DEPLOYED INSIDE ITS COLLABORATING DLPS. BY ENABLING THE COMBINATION OF INDIVIDUAL OUTCOME AND PERFORMANCE DATA FROM MULTIPLE DLPS WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (E.G., DEMOGRAPHICS, PAST AND CURRENT COURSE PERFORMANCE, ENROLLMENT, AND COMPLETION PATHWAYS) PROVIDED BY STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (SISS), THE ENVISIONED RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE ENABLES EDUCATION RESEARCHERS TO INITIATE LARGE CROSS-SECTIONAL AND LONGITUDINAL STUDIES OF STUDENT LEARNING AND ACHIEVEMENT ACROSS A RANGE OF CONTENT AREAS, CONTEXTS, AND WITH DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS. ENCLAVES ENABLE RESEARCHERS TO ASK AND ANSWER EQUITY-CENTERED LEARNING QUESTIONS BECAUSE THEIR ANALYSES CAN ACCOUNT FOR SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES IN LARGE-SCALE DATASETS FROM REAL-WORLD LEARNING APPLICATIONS. SAFEINSIGHTS AIMS TO LOWER THE COST AND EXPAND THE SCALE AND SCOPE OF LEARNING RESEARCH, INCREASE ITS AGILITY, ACCELERATE RESEARCH-TO-PRACTICE CONVERSION, AND DEMOCRATIZE ACCESS TO STEM RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES, PARTICULARLY FOR SCHOLARS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS AND MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS. AS SAFEINSIGHTS UNCOVERS ADVANCED UNDERSTANDINGS OF HUMAN LEARNING, EDUCATORS WILL BE ABLE TO RESPOND THROUGH NEW PERSONALIZED PROGRAMS, PEDAGOGIES, AND POLICIES WITH THE GOAL OF PROVIDING EACH LEARNER WITH THE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND SUPPORT THEY NEED TO SUCCEED IN TODAY?S CLASSROOM AND TOMORROW?S WORKFORCE. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

NANOMEDICINE CENTER FOR NUCLEOPROTEIN MACHINES

CENTER FOR THEORETICAL BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS

NLM TRAINING PROGRAM IN BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS

CENTER FOR THEORETICAL BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS - HOUSTON

TAS::97 0400::TAS PLINY: AN END-TO-END FRAMEWORK FOR BIG CODE ANALYTICS

NEW COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

CONSTRUCTION OF PHYSICS BUILDING

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM(GRFP)

NSEC: CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL NANOTECHNOLOGY

TAS::57 3600::TAS "(MURI 2014) SHEDDING LIGHT ON PLASMON-BASED PHOTOCHEMICAL AND PHOTOPHYSICAL PROCESSES"

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (GRFP) -THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF) GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (GRFP) IS A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE, FEDERAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. GRFP HELPS ENSURE THE VITALITY AND DIVERSITY OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING WORKFORCE OF THE UNITED STATES. THE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES AND SUPPORTS OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENTS WHO ARE PURSUING RESEARCH-BASED MASTER'S AND DOCTORAL DEGREES IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) AND IN STEM EDUCATION. THE GRFP PROVIDES THREE YEARS OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE GRADUATE EDUCATION OF INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE DEMONSTRATED THEIR POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS IN STEM AND STEM EDUCATION. THIS AWARD SUPPORTS THE NSF GRADUATE FELLOWS PURSUING GRADUATE EDUCATION AT THIS GRFP INSTITUTION. 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.

EMERGENCY FINANCIAL AID GRANTS TO STUDENTS UNDER THE CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF, AND ECONOMIC SECURITY (CARES) ACT (PART 2)

DEVELOPMENT OF A LAB-ON-A-CHIP SYSTEM FOR SALIVA-BASED DIAGNOSTICS

TAS::89 0222::TAS - EXPERIMENTAL RELATIVISTIC HEAVY ION PHYSICS; PI - FRANK GEURTS

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (GRFP)

COHERENT EFFECTS IN HYBRID NANOSTRUCTURES FOR LINESHAPE ENGINEERING OF ELECTROMAGNETIC MEDIA

TAS::97 0400::TAS PROTEUS: CONTROLLING RESOURCE-ADAPTIVE EMBEDDED SOFTWARE

OPTICAL LATTICE SIMULATIONS OF CORRELATED FERMIONS

EMERGENCY FINANCIAL AID GRANTS TO STUDENTS UNDER THE CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF, AND ECONOMIC SECURITY (CARES) ACT

CONSORTIUM FOR NANOMATERIALS FOR AEROSPACE COMMERCE AND TECHNOLOGY (CONTACT)

ATOMIC LAYERS OF NITRIDES, OXIDES, AND SULFIDES (ALNOS)

THE USE OF SURGICAL PATHOLOGY TO ENSURE NEGATIVE TUMOR MARGINS IS LIMITED IN MANY SETTINGS INCLUDING IN THE RURAL UNITED STATES AND IN LOW AND MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES DUE TO A LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND HUMAN RESOURCES. TO ADDRESS THIS NEED WE WILL DEVELOP AND VALIDATE ACCESSPATH AN AFFORDABLE END TO END SYSTEM FOR IMMEDIATE DIGITAL PATHOLOGY OF RESECTED TUMORS. ACCESSPATH WILL AUTOMATICALLY AND RAPIDLY IDENTIFY REGIONS OF A RESECTED TUMOR WITH POSITIVE MARGINS AND COMMUNICATE THEIR LOCATION TO THE SURGEON. ACCESSPATH INTEGRATES THREE INNOVATIONS 1 A NOVEL LOW COST LESS THAN 10000 HIGH RESOLUTION LARGE FIELD OF VIEW MICROSCOPE WITH EXTENDED DEPTH OF FIELD 2 AN INNOVATIVE STRATEGY TO OPTIMIZE FLUORESCENT DYES TO RAPIDLY STAIN RESECTED TUMOR AND TARGET CELLULAR ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES TO DIFFERENTIATE TUMORS FROM NORMAL AND BENIGN TISSUE AND 3 A NOVEL MACHINE LEARNING FRAMEWORK AND CLASSIFICATION ALGORITHM TO CLASSIFY IMAGES OF FRESH STAINED TISSUE MARGINS AS POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE AND REPORT THE LOCATION OF POSITIVE MARGINS. BY CUTTING COSTS OF PATHOLOGY EQUIPMENT BY AT LEAST 40 FOLD AND ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR EXPERT PATHOLOGISTS ACCESSPATH WILL MAKE POINT OF CARE SURGICAL GUIDANCE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL HOSPITALS. ACCESSPATH HAS THE POTENTIAL TO WORK FOR ALL TYPES OF SOLID TUMORS HERE WE DEMONSTRATE ITS ABILITY TO REDUCE RATES OF POSITIVE MARGINS IN SURGERIES FOR TWO TYPES OF CANCERS BREAST AND HEAD NECK.IN THIS FIVE YEAR PROJECT WE WILL SOLVE KEY TECHNICAL CHALLENGES TO PROVIDE IMMEDIATE MARGIN ASSESSMENT OF RESECTED TUMORS UP TO 10X10X10 CM IN SIZE WITHIN 15 MINUTES INCLUDING 1 NOVEL ARRAY MICROSCOPE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING STRATEGIES TO PRODUCE HIGH PERFORMANCE LOW COST UV ILLUMINATION OPTICS AND OBJECTIVE LENSES TO CONSTRUCT AN AFFORDABLE RUGGED ARRAY MICROSCOPE WITH EXTENDED DEPTH OF FIELD 2 CLICK CHEMISTRY TO CREATE A SET OF BRIGHT INEXPENSIVE VITAL FLUORESCENT STAINS THAT TARGET KEY CELLULAR AND EXTRACELLULAR MARKERS OF CANCERS AND 3 FAST AND ACCURATE AI ALGORITHMS TO GENERATE VIRTUAL H E STAINING AND AUTOMATICALLY IDENTIFY POSITIVE MARGINS FROM IMAGES COLLECTED WITH ACCESSPATH.ACCESSPATH WILL PROVIDE RAPID AUTOMATED TUMOR MARGIN ASSESSMENT. THE COST TO BUILD AN ACCESSPATH SYSTEM IS LESS THAN 10000 AT LOW PRODUCTION VOLUME. THE ONLY CONSUMABLES REQUIRED ARE VITAL DYES 0.50 PER USE TO QUICKLY STAIN RESECTED TISSUE TO HIGHLIGHT FEATURES THAT DIFFERENTIATE TUMOR FROM NORMAL BENIGN TISSUE. BECAUSE OF ITS LOW COST HIGH SPEED AND AUTOMATED ANALYSIS ACCESSPATH CAN REVOLUTIONIZE REAL TIME SURGICAL GUIDANCE IN LOW RESOURCE SETTINGS IN THE US AND WORLDWIDE GREATLY EXPANDING THE RANGE OF HOSPITALS ABLE TO PROVIDE ACCURATE INTRA OPERATIVE TUMOR MARGIN ASSESSMENT AND IMPROVING OUTCOMES FOR ALL CANCER PATIENTS TREATED WITH SURGERY.

HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS

GUIDING QUESTION: HOW TO ACQUIRE SUSTAIN AND NURTURE LIFE-ESSENTIAL CHEMICAL INGREDIENTS ON THE SURFACE OF ROCKY PLANETS? BUILDING A HABITABLE ENVIRONMENT ON INNER SOLAR SYSTEM ROCKY SURFACES REQUIRES THE LIFE-ESSENTIAL CHEMICAL INGREDIENTS (C N O H S AND P) TO JOURNEY THROUGH A SERIES OF ASTRONOMICAL PLANETARY GEOLOGICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES DURING PLANET FORMATION AND EARLY PLANETARY EVOLUTION. HOWEVER IN MOST STUDIES ONLY ONE OR FEW OF THESE STEPS ARE INVESTIGATED IN ISOLATION AS CONDITIONS OF HABITABILITY AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF MULTIPLE PATHWAYS THAT MAY BE FEASIBLE ARE NOT RIGOROUSLY EXPLORED. SIMILARLY MOST STUDIES TRACKING THE IMPACT OF PREBIOTIC PROCESSES CONSIDERED THE ORIGIN OF WATER ALONE AND COMPREHENSIVE STUDIES ON A COMBINATION OF LIFE-ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS ARE LACKING. IN ORDER TO EVALUATE THE PATHWAYS THAT MAY LEAD TO EARLY HABITABLE CONDITIONS IN MULTIPLE PLANETARY SURFACES BUT SUSTENANCE ONLY IN A SUBSET AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO STUDY THE EARLY CYCLES OF ALL KEY INGREDIENTS ARE NECESSARY. THIS CAN 8 NAI NODE PROPOSAL AIMS TO CONSTRAIN THE PATHWAYS THAT LEAD TO THE ACQUISITION SUSTENANCE AND NURTURING OF THE LIFE-ESSENTIAL CHEMICAL ELEMENTS AT THE SURFACE AND NEAR-SURFACE ENVIRONMENTS OF ROCKY DIFFERENTIATED PLANETARY BODIES LEADING TO HABITABILITY AND POTENTIALLY DRIVING THE FORMATION OF PREBIOTICALLY-RELEVANT ORGANIC MOLECULE PRECURSORS WITHIN THE FIRST BILLION YEARS OF A PLANET S EVOLUTION. OUR TEAM MEMBERS BRING EXTENSIVE EXPERTISE IN ASTROPHYSICS GEOLOGY GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS FLUID AND ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS CLIMATE SCIENCE AND ORGANIC CHEMISTRY; AN OVERARCHING GOAL IS TO TRACE THE LIFE-ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FROM PROTOPLANETARY DISKS TO EARLY PREBIOTIC MOLECULES ON THE SURFACES OF ROCKY PLANETS WITH A PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON THE FEEDBACKS AMONG INTERIOR SURFACE AND ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES. WE WILL USE OBSERVATIONS FROM OUR OWN SOLAR SYSTEM IN TERMS OF COMPARATIVE PLANETOLOGY BUT WILL ALSO CONSTRUCT POSSIBLE PATHWAYS THAT MAY LEAD TO THERMO-CHEMICAL HABITABILITY WHICH CAN BE UTILIZED FOR EXPLORATION OF OTHER SOLAR SYSTEMS IN SEARCH FOR LIFE. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH COMPLEMENTS THE ACTIVITIES OF THE CAN 7 TEAMS BECAUSE NONE OF THE CURRENT TEAMS ARE INVESTIGATING THE CYCLES OF THE KEY INGREDIENTS DURING DIFFERENTIATION AND EARLY TECTONO-MAGMATIC AND GEOCHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF ROCKY PLANETS. OUR PROPOSAL WILL BRING IN THE UNIQUE INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE OF CYCLES OF KEY INGREDIENTS OF LIFE THROUGH DEEP TIME FROM GEOLOGIC PLANETARY GEOPHYSICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL PERSPECTIVES. GIVEN THE INTERDEPENDENT NATURE OF THE PROPOSED ACTIVITIES AMONG SEEMINGLY DISPARATE FIELDS OF RESEARCH THE SCOPE OF THIS PROPOSAL CAN ONLY BE SUPPORTED THROUGH AN INSTITUTE WITHOUT WALLS . RELEVANCE TO THE GOALS OF THE ASTROBIOLOGY PROGRAM: THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION IS RELEVANT FOR SEVERAL OF THE GOALS OF THE ASTROBIOLOGY PROGRAM AS OUTLINED IN THE 2015 STRATEGY INCLUDING THE CENTRAL THEMES OF CONSTRUCTING HABITABLE WORLDS AND IDENTIFYING EXPLORING AND CHARACTERIZING ENVIRONMENTS FOR HABITABILITY AND BIOSIGNATURES . OUR PROPOSAL WILL DIRECTLY ADDRESS QUESTIONS SUCH AS HOW DOES THE STORY OF EARTH IN PARTICULAR IT S PAST INFORM US ABOUT HOW THE CLIMATES ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITIONS INTERIORS AND BIOSPHERES OF PLANETS CAN CO-EVOLVE? BECAUSE OUR TEAM WILL STUDY THE INTERACTIONS OF INTERIOR ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE IN THE FIRST BILLION YEARS OF A ROCKY PLANETS EVOLUTION KEEPING IN MIND THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH AS AN ANALOG. OUR PROPOSAL WILL ALSO DIRECTLY ADDRESS QUESTIONS SUCH AS WHAT ARE THE FUNDAMENTAL INGREDIENTS AND PROCESSES THAT DEFINE A HABITABLE ENVIRONMENT? BECAUSE WE WILL TRACK THE FATE OF THE LIFE-ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS THROUGH THE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES OF PLANET FORMATION AND EARLY GEOLOGIC AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL EVOLUTION WITH THE GOAL OF OUTLINING POSSIBLE PATHS THAT ARE OR ARE NOT FAVORABLE IN FINALLY HARBORING THE COHNSP SPECIES AT THE PLANETARY SURFACES.

OPPORTUNISTIC SENSING FOR OBJECT AND ACTIVITY RECOGNITION FROM MULTI-MODAL, MULTI-PLATFORM DATA

GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

OPTICAL SYSTEMS FOR IN VIVO MOLECULAR IMAGING OF CANCER

BIOLOGICALLY-INSPIRED ROUTES TO SENSE-AND-RESPONSE IN ADAPTIVE INTELLIGENT METAMATERIALS

CMS ENDCAP TIMING LAYER UPGRADE

FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH NEW START CA ENTITLED NEXT GENERATION TEAMS AND ORGANIZATIONAL SUBSYSTEMS RESEARCH.

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF DEEP LEARNING

NEW START

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: COMPUTATIONAL PHOTO-SCATTEROGRAPHY: UNRAVELING SCATTERED PHOTONS FOR BIO-IMAGING

FLASH JOULE HEATING TO DESTROY HAZARDOUS WASTE AND REPURPOSE IT FOR ENERGY OR URBAN MINING OF VALUABLE METALS

CENTER FOR SCALABLE PERFORMANCE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE

ACCELERATING STEM LEARNING THROUGH LARGE-SCALE DATA SCIENCE

A MULTIMODALITY ULTRAMICROSPECTROSCOPE (MUMS): NANOSCALE IMAGING WITH INTEGRATED SPECTROSCOPIES FOR CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION

EMSW21-VIGRE: LEVERAGING THE STRENGTH AND EXTENDING THE REACH OF AN INTEGRATED MATHEMATICS COMMUNITY

HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS

DIVERSITY ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPLEMENT TO MAXIMIZING FLEXIBILITY: OPTIMIZED NEURAL PROBES AND ELECTRONICS FOR LONG TERM, HIGH BANDWIDTH RECORDINGS

TAS::57 3600::TAS "(MURI 11) SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF 3D CARBON NANOTUBE SOLID NETWORKS"

OPTIMIZING ULTRAFLEXIBLE ELECTRODES AND INTEGRATED ELECTRONICS FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION, LARGE-SCALE INTRASPINAL RECORDING AND MODULATION - ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY IS A CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY IN NEUROSCIENCE AS A DIRECT MEASURE OF NEURONAL FUNCTIONS. IT HAS BECOME ROUTINE FOR SCIENTISTS TO RECORD AND STIMULATE NEURON POPULATIONS IN DIFFERENT BRAIN REGIONS IN AWAKE BEHAVING ANIMALS, CORRELATING ACTIVITY WITH BEHAVIOR. HOWEVER, IT HAS BEEN INSURMOUNTABLE FOR THE SAME ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY TO PERFORM WELL IN THE SPINAL CORD OF BEHAVING ANIMALS. FOR THIS REASON, WHILE THE SPINAL CORD IS A CRITICAL SITE FOR LOCOMOTION AND SENSATIONS, IT REMAINS LARGELY A “BLACK BOX” FROM A FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE, DUE TO THE LACK OF TOOLS TO MEASURE AND MODULATE SPINAL NEURONS WHILE THEY ARE FUNCTIONING. THE MAIN DIFFICULTY OF DOING ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY IN THE SPINAL CORD OF BEHAVING ANIMALS IS BECAUSE THE CORD IS EXTREMELY MOBILE, MOVING AND BENDING DURING BEHAVIOR. ALMOST ALL EXISTING NEURAL ELECTRODES, BEING MECHANICALLY MORE RIGID THAN SPINAL TISSUES, FAIL TO FOLLOW SUCH MOVEMENTS, THEREFORE YIELDING EXCESSIVE NOISE AND POSITION DRIFTS AND LEAD TO SPINAL INJURY OR SCARING IN THE LONG TERM. HERE, WE PROPOSE A SUITE OF TECHNOLOGIES CENTERING AROUND ULTRAFLEXIBLE ELECTRODES TO ADDRESS THIS CHALLENGE FOR THE COMMUNITY. WE NOW HAVE PRELIMINARY DATA PROVING THESE PROBES ACHIEVED HIGH QUALITY SINGLE UNIT RECORDING FROM SPINAL NEURONS OF BEHAVING MICE. MARKEDLY, WHEN THE ANIMALS ARE ACTIVELY MOVING IN DIVERSE BEHAVIORS, WE WERE STILL ABLE TO STABLY TRACK NEURON POPULATIONS THROUGH SPIKE SORTING. OUR PRELIMINARY LONG-TERM RESULTS ALSO VERIFIED CHRONIC IN VIVO RECORDING FOR OVER 5 MONTHS AFTER IMPLANTATION IN THE SPINAL CORD. MOTIVATED BY THIS SUCCESS, WE PROPOSE RESEARCH PLANS TO OPTIMIZE THIS TECHNOLOGY FOR SPINAL CORD STUDIES. CRITICALLY, WE HAVE BROUGHT TOGETHER A GROUP OF OUTSTANDING NEUROSCIENTISTS TO WORK WITH US IN DEVELOPING SURGICAL APPROACHES, AND TESTING DEVICES ACROSS DIFFERENT SPINAL AREAS, ANIMAL MODELS, AND RESEARCH TOPICS. THESE EFFORTS ARE ORGANIZED INTO THREE AIMS. WE EXPECT THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY WILL ENABLE NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUNCTION OF INDIVIDUAL SPINAL CELLS IN THE CONTEXT OF A WIDE SPECTRUM OF BEHAVIORS THAT THE SPINAL CORD MEDIATES (DIFFERENT SPEEDS OF LOCOMOTION, STOPPING, REFLEX WITHDRAWAL, REACHING, GRASPING, URINATION, ETC.). THIS WILL ALLOW NEUROSCIENTISTS TO CONNECT THE WELL-DEVELOPED GENETIC AND DEVELOPMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF SPINAL CELL TYPES TO THE CIRCUIT; TO UNDERSTAND HOW OTHER PARTS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM INTERACT WITH THE SPINAL CORD. FROM A TRANSLATIONAL PERSPECTIVE, THIS OFFERS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ETIOLOGY AND PROGRESSION OF SPINAL CORD INJURY AND DISEASE BY CHRONIC MONITORING; OPENS UP THE POTENTIAL FOR INTRA-SPINAL INTERFACES THAT TREAT SPINAL CORD INJURY, STROKE, MOVEMENT DISORDERS, AND MOTOR NEURON DISEASES.

3D NANOPHOTONICS: BENDING LIGHT IN NEW DIRECTIONS

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN DEMENTIA SPOUSAL CAREGIVER BURDEN: A BIOBEHAVIORAL APPROACH REVISION

DEFINING EVOLUTIONARY TRAJECTORIES: MOLECULAR ADAPTATION TO ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

FESD TYPE I PROPOSAL: CONTINENT-ISLAND ARC FLUCTUATIONS: LINKING DEEP EARTH DYNAMICS TO LONG-TERM CLIMATE

PIRE: U.S.-JAPAN COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION ON TERAHERTZ DYNAMICS IN NANOSTRUCTURES

SYNTHESIS OF ANTIBIOTICS

CENTER FOR THEORETICAL BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS

SYNTHESIS, PURIFICATION AND ASSEMBLY OF CARBON SINGLE WALLED NANOTUBE FIBERS

NEW; ACCURATE BAND GAPS FOR TAILOR-MADE PHOTOVOLTAIC MATERIALS; PI: GUSTAVO E. SCUSERIA

THE CENTER FOR INNOVATION AND TRANSLATION OF POINT OF CARE TECHNOLOGIES FOR EQUITABLE CANCER CARE (CITEC) - ABSTRACT: CANCER IS THE FIRST OR SECOND LEADING CAUSE OF PREMATURE DEATH IN 134 OF 183 COUNTRIES, AND IT IS ESTIMATED THAT GLOBAL INCIDENCE OF CANCER WILL INCREASE BY 50% FROM 2018 TO 2040. THE NUMBER OF CASES IS PROJECTED TO DOUBLE IN COUNTRIES WITH LOW HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX; THESE COUNTRIES HAVE THE LEAST RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE TO ADEQUATELY CARE FOR CANCER PATIENTS. DISPARITIES EXIST WITHIN COUNTRIES; IN THE US, RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES AND OTHER MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS SHARE A DISPROPORTIONATE BURDEN FOR MANY TYPES OF CANCER. MOST CANCERS CAN BE CURED IF DETECTED EARLY AND TREATED EFFECTIVELY. TO REDUCE PREMATURE DEATH, THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION RECOMMENDS IMPLEMENTING EARLY CANCER DETECTION AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS AT THE PRIMARY CARE LEVEL. YET, EXISTING TESTS FOR EARLY CANCER DETECTION ARE TOO COMPLEX AND/OR EXPENSIVE TO IMPLEMENT IN PRIMARY CARE SETTINGS, PARTICULARLY IN MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS. WE WILL ESTABLISH THE CENTER FOR INNOVATION AND TRANSLATION OF POINT-OF-CARE TECHNOLOGIES FOR EQUITABLE CANCER CARE (CITEC) TO IDENTIFY HIGH- PRIORITY CLINICAL NEEDS FOR POC CANCER TECHNOLOGIES; TO ACCELERATE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE, AFFORDABLE TECHNOLOGIES TO MEET THESE NEEDS; TO EVALUATE AND IMPROVE THE CLINICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPACT OF POC TECHNOLOGIES IN DIVERSE SETTINGS; AND TO TRAIN DEVELOPERS AND USERS TO CREATE AND DISSEMINATE MORE EQUITABLE POC TECHNOLOGIES. CITEC WILL PRIORITIZE DEVELOPMENT OF POC TESTS TO DETECT CANCERS THAT ARISE IN EPITHELIAL SURFACES. INITIALLY, WE WILL FOCUS ON SITES ACCESSIBLE FOR EARLY DETECTION BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE POC TECHNOLOGIES CAN HAVE THE MOST IMMEDIATE IMPACT. TARGETED ORGAN SITES INCLUDE THE UTERINE CERVIX, GASTRO-INTESTINAL TRACT (ESOPHAGUS, STOMACH, COLON, RECTUM, ANUS), AND ORAL CAVITY; CANCERS IN THESE SITES ACCOUNT FOR 26% OF GLOBAL CASES AND 29% OF GLOBAL CANCER DEATHS. CITEC BUILDS ON THE HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE 15-YEAR COLLABORATION BETWEEN RICE UNIVERSITY, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT HOUSTON TO DEVELOP AND TRANSLATE NOVEL POC TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE CANCER CARE IN BOTH LOW- AND HIGH-RESOURCE SETTINGS. JOINING WITH COLLABORATORS IN BRAZIL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SAO PAULO AND BARRETOS CANCER HOSPITAL AND PARTNERS IN MOZAMBIQUE AT THE UNIVERSIDADE EDUARDO MONDLANE AND MINISTRY OF HEALTH, WE WILL CREATE A COLLABORATIVE CENTER TO SUPPORT TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AND ENGAGE AND SUPPORT A GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF INVESTIGATORS DEDICATED TO CREATING AND SCALING POC TECHNOLOGIES FOR EQUITABLE CANCER SCREENING AND DIAGNOSIS TO FACILITATE EARLY TREATMENT. CITEC WILL SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF POC TECHNOLOGIES TO PROMOTE HIGH PRIORITY TOPICS OF NIH CANCER RESEARCH, INCLUDING PRECISION APPROACHES TO PREVENTION, SCREENING AND EARLY DETECTION, REDUCING DISPARITIES IN CANCER OUTCOMES, AND BUILDING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE ABLE TO TRANSLATE POC TECHNOLOGIES FROM RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TO EQUITABLE IMPLEMENTATION. CITEC WILL HAVE A MAJOR IMPACT ON EQUITABLE PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS AND EARLY TREATMENT OF CANCER IN THE US AND WORLDWIDE, AND WILL WORK WITH THE POCTRN NETWORK TO BUILD A STRONG TEAM OF GLOBAL PARTNERS TO STRENGTHEN AND SUSTAIN POC TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.

CIRC: GRAND: HOUDINI: DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A OPEN-ACCESS VERY DIVERSE SPECTRUM PLATFORM FOR WIRELESS NETWORKING, IMAGING AND SENSING -CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS, SUCH AS FIFTH GENERATION (5G) NETWORKS, ARE CRUCIAL FOR NATIONAL ECONOMY AND SECURITY. NEXT-GENERATION NETWORKS, NAMELY SIXTH GENERATION (6G) AND BEYOND, ARE ENVISIONED TO DELIVER MUCH HIGHER SPEEDS AND NEW SERVICES LIKE CITY-SCALE PERCEPTION. TO INVENT THE IDEAS THAT WILL ENABLE NEXT-GENERATION NETWORKS, IT IS CRUCIAL THAT RESEARCHERS CAN CONDUCT NOVEL EXPERIMENTS TO TEST NEW IDEAS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP HOUDINI, A NEW FLEXIBLE PLATFORM THAT ALLOWS RESEARCHERS TO MIX-AND-MATCH DIFFERENT RADIO BANDS IN UNIQUE WAYS FOR NEW EXPERIMENTS. HOUDINI WILL BE DESIGNED TO BE FLEXIBLE AND PROGRAMMABLE TO SUPPORT THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF MANY DIFFERENT RESEARCHERS. PROJECT HOUDINI INVOLVES INVESTIGATORS FROM RICE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY AND UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME. THE PROJECT MAIN THRUSTS ARE: 1) HOUDINI MIX-AND-MATCH RADIO SYSTEM: THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP OPEN-ACCESS SOFTWARE-DEFINED RADIO TO SIMULTANEOUSLY SUPPORT MULTIPLE RADIO MODULES ACROSS DIFFERENT BANDS, 2) HOUDINI SOFTWARE STACK: THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A SOFTWARE FRAMEWORK TO VIRTUALLY BOND MULTIPLE BANDS, AND NEW OPEN-SOURCE LIBRARIES TO SUPPORT RESEARCH USE CASES IN WIRELESS NETWORKING, SENSING, AND IMAGING, AND 3) NOVEL DISSEMINATION MODELS: THE PROJECT WILL SUPPORT MULTIPLE MODELS OF PLATFORM ACCESS, INCLUDING REMOTE ACCESS, BUILD-YOUR-OWN AND A RENT-TO-USE MODEL. HOUDINI WILL PROVIDE CAPABILITIES BEYOND EXISTING PLATFORMS, AND THEREBY EMPOWER THE COMMUNITY TO EXPERIMENTALLY EXPLORE RESEARCH IN NEW DIRECTIONS IN WIRELESS NETWORKING, SENSING AND IMAGING. BY BUILDING ONE PLATFORM THAT COULD ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF MANY RESEARCH COMMUNITIES, THE PLATFORM WILL ALSO SPUR COLLABORATION BETWEEN DIVERSE RESEARCH COMMUNITIES. THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP COURSE MATERIALS WITH HANDS-ON TUTORIALS AND LABORATORY SESSIONS, HOLD SHOW-AND-TELL EVENTS, HOST A (REMOTE) GENIUS BAR AND RELEASE NOVEL DATASETS. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL SEEK TO INVOLVE UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS IN RESEARCH AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES LEVERAGING THEIR REGIONAL COLLABORATIONS WITH MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS. THE HOUDINI PROJECT WEBSITE WILL BE HTTPS://HOUDINI.RICE.EDU, WHICH WILL HOST CODE, DESIGNS, USER DOCUMENTATION AND TUTORIALS FOR THE USE OF THE PLATFORM. THE PROJECT WILL ENSURE SEARCHABLE, AND WELL-ORGANIZED DOCUMENTATION, INCLUDING STEP-BY-STEP MULTIMEDIA ENRICHED STARTUP GUIDES. THE HOUDINI SOFTWARE, FIRMWARE, AND HARDWARE SCHEMATICS WILL BE HOSTED AS PUBLIC REPOSITORIES ON GITHUB. NEW TRAINING MODULES WILL BE DEVELOPED TO TEACH STUDENTS THE BASICS OF DEVELOPING COMMUNICATION, SENSING AND IMAGING APPLICATIONS USING HOUDINI. WE WILL DESIGN AN OPEN-SOURCE HOUDINI DATA RECORDING APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE TO RECORD REAL-WORLD RADIO DATASETS IN AN EASY AND AUTOMATED MANNER. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

CENTER FOR SCALABLE PERFORMANCE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE

SELF-ASSEMBLING PEPTIDE NANOFIBER HYDROGELS FOR DELIVERY OF PROTEINS AND CELLS

BIOCATALYTIC C -H FUNCTIONALIZATION LOGIC IN THE CHEMOENZYMATIC SYNTHESIS OF THERAPEUTIC NATURAL PRODUCTS

COORDINATED REGULATION OF MITOCHONDRIAL SURVEILLANCE

TRAINING PROGRAM IN BIOSTATISTICS AND CANCER RESEARCH

DEEP LEARNING MICROSCOPE FOR SLIDE-FREE AND DIGITAL HISTOLOGY - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: ANATOMIC HISTOPATHOLOGY PLAYS A CENTRAL ROLE IN DISEASE DIAGNOSIS AND IN SURGICAL PROCEDURE GUIDANCE TO ENSURE DELIVERY OF QUALITY HEALTHCARE AND TREATMENT. AT THE TIME OF SURGERY, FOR EXAMPLE, TUMOR MARGINS ARE IDEALLY ASSESSED WITH FAST FROZEN SECTION PATHOLOGY TO HELP ENSURE COMPLETE TUMOR RESECTION WHILE SPARING NORMAL TISSUE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE TIME- AND LABOR-INTENSIVE SLIDE PREPARATION PROCESS REQUIRES EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT AND SPECIALIZED PERSONNEL, SO IT IS NOT WIDELY AVAILABLE IN MANY SETTINGS INCLUDING THE RURAL US; EVEN IN SETTINGS WITH THE CLINICAL INFRASTRUCTURE TO PERFORM FROZEN SECTION, ONLY A SMALL FRACTION OF THE MARGIN IS MANUALLY EXAMINED. IN RESOURCE-LIMITED GLOBAL SETTINGS, A DIRE SHORTAGE OF PATHOLOGISTS MAKES IT MORE CHALLENGING TO PROVIDE ROUTINE DIAGNOSTIC PATHOLOGY. THEREFORE, THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED FOR AFFORDABLE TOOLS TO SUPPORT QUALITY HISTOPATHOLOGY PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. THE GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO USE RECENT ADVANCES IN OPTICAL FABRICATION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO DEVELOP A NEW AND AFFORDABLE TOOL, THE DEEP LEARNING EXTENDED DEPTH-OF-FIELD (DEEPDOF) PLATFORM, TO RAPIDLY EXAMINE FRESH TISSUE RESECTIONS WITHOUT EXTENSIVE SLIDE PREPARATION, WHILE PROVIDING COMPUTER-AIDED IMAGE ANALYSIS AT THE POINT OF CARE. WE WILL DEMONSTRATE AND VALIDATE ITS USE FOR TUMOR MARGIN ASSESSMENT IN PATIENTS WITH ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA, THE SIXTH MOST COMMON MALIGNANCY WORLDWIDE. IN AIM 1, WE WILL DEVELOP KEY MODULES OF THE DEEPDOF PLATFORM FOR RAPID, SUBCELLULAR IMAGING OF FRESHLY RESECTED TISSUE SAMPLES. A DEEP LEARNING NETWORK WILL BE DEVELOPED TO DESIGN AND OPTIMIZE THE DEEPDOF MICROSCOPE TO IMAGE HIGHLY IRREGULAR TISSUE SURFACES (UP TO 200 ΜM) AT SUBCELLULAR RESOLUTION WITHOUT MECHANICAL REFOCUSING; WE WILL COMBINE IT WITH FAST VITAL DYES AND DEEP ULTRAVIOLET ILLUMINATION TO ACHIEVE HIGH CONTRAST IMAGING. IN AIM 2, WE WILL CARRY OUT A CLINICAL EVALUATION OF DEEPDOF TO DETERMINE ITS ABILITY TO ASSESS ORAL TUMOR MARGIN STATUS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING SURGERY. THE CLINICAL WORKFLOW OF DEEPDOF FOR INTRAOPERATIVE ORAL TUMOR MARGIN ASSESSMENT WILL BE OPTIMIZED, AND ITS PERFORMANCE WILL BE EVALUATED BY COMPARING TO GOLD STANDARD HISTOPATHOLOGY. IN AIM 3, WE WILL DEVELOP A MACHINE LEARNING FRAMEWORK TO IDENTIFY POSITIVE MARGINS IN AND ASSIST ANNOTATION OF LARGE-AREA, CELLULAR-RESOLUTION DEEPDOF MAPS OF ORAL SURGICAL SPECIMENS. USING CLINICAL DATA ACQUIRED IN AIMS 1 AND 2, WE WILL TRAIN AN ALGORITHM TO COMPLETE SEGMENTATION TASKS FOR IDENTIFYING KEY DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES SUCH AS NUCLEAR ENLARGEMENT AND ABNORMAL CLUSTERING; THE RESULTS WILL BE FURTHER USED TO ANNOTATE AND QUANTIFY POSITIVE MARGINS AT THE POINT OF CARE. TAKEN TOGETHER, WE WILL DEVELOP A FIRST MICROSCOPY PLATFORM WITH AI-DRIVEN OPTICS AND ALGORITHMS FOR RAPID AND SLIDE-FREE HISTOLOGY OF INTACT TISSUE SAMPLES, AND WE WILL PROVIDE IMPORTANT CLINICAL EVIDENCE TO SHOW THE DEEPDOF PLATFORM CAN IMPROVE PATIENT CARE DURING ORAL CANCER SURGERIES. EQUIPPED WITH A COMPUTER-AIDED IMAGE ANALYSIS, THE BROADER IMPACT OF THE DEEPDOF PLATFORM EXTENDS TO GLOBAL SETTINGS INCLUDING LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES THAT LACK ACCESS TO HIGH QUALITY HISTOPATHOLOGY SERVICES.

MONITORING OF ORAL CANCER PATIENTS USING NOVEL LAB-ON-A-CHIP ENSEMBLES

A NANOELECTRONIC STRATEGY FOR RELIABLE CHRONIC NEURAL RECORDING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INTERNATIONAL PHYSICS OF LIVING SYSTEMS GRADUATE RESEARCH NETWORK

ACADEMIC-INDUSTRIAL PARTNERSHIP TO DEVELOP & TEST ESOPHAGEAL CANCER IMAGING TOOLS

USING NEUTRON AS A PROBE TO STUDY MAGNETIC EXCITATIONS IN STRONGLY CORRELATED ELECTRON MATERIALS

RICE UNIVERSITY - NEW AWARD DE-FOA-0001858 (OPEN 2018) CONTROL NUMBER: 1858-2011 PROJECT TITLE: ''CONVERTING HYDROCARBONS TO RECYCLABLE LIGHTWEIGHT AUTOMOTIVE STRUCTURES WITH POSITIVE HYDROGEN OUTPUT'' RICE UNIVERSITY IN COLLABORATION WITH SHELL, NREL AND POLITECNICO DI MILANO WILL CONVERT METHANE INTO CARBON NANOTUBES, SPIN THEM INTO FIBERS, AND EVALUATE THEIR PERFORMANCE AND PROPERTIES, WITH THE GOAL OF DISPLACING METALS IN LARGE-SCALE APPLICATIONS TO REDUCE THE ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS ASSOCIATED WITH METAL PRODUCTION. THE PROCESS WOULD ALSO PRODUCE VALUABLE HYDROGEN AS A SIDE PRODUCT.

PEROXISOME BIOGENESIS, DYNAMICS, AND DEGRADATION

NUCLEAR STRUCTURE AT INTERMEDIATE ENERGIES

TEXAS LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE FOR INQUIRY SCIENCE TEACHING

AGEP-- RICE-HOUSTON ALLIANCE FOR GRADUATE EDUCATION AND THE PROFESSORIATE

PRECISION OPTICAL GUIDANCE FOR ORAL BIOPSY BASED ON NEXT-GENERATION HALLMARKS OF CANCER

LOW COST TETHERED CAPSULE ENDOSCOPE WITH HIGH-RESOLUTION DIGITAL CHROMOSCOPY FOR BARRETT'S SCREENING - ABSTRACT ESOPHAGEAL CANCER IS THE 6TH LEADING CAUSE OF CANCER DEATH WORLDWIDE; RATES OF ESOPHAGEAL ADENOCARCINOMA (EAC) HAVE RISEN EXPONENTIALLY OVER THE PAST 4 DECADES. WHEN EAC IS DIAGNOSED AT A LATE STAGE, 5-YEAR SURVIVAL RATES ARE DISMAL (~18%). BECAUSE OF THIS, INCREASED EFFORT HAS FOCUSED ON EARLY DETECTION AND TREATMENT OF BARRETT'S ESOPHAGUS (BE), THE ONLY RECOGNIZED PRECURSOR OF EAC. INDEED, WHEN ESOPHAGEAL NEOPLASIA IS DIAGNOSED AT AN EARLY STAGE (BARRETT'S WITH HIGH GRADE DYSPLASIA/INTRAMUCOSAL CANCER) AND TREATED ENDOSCOPICALLY, 5-YEAR SURVIVAL RATES EXCEED 98%. EARLY DETECTION IS CURRENTLY PERFORMED BY STANDARD UPPER ENDOSCOPY WITH HIGH-DEFINITION WHITE LIGHT (WL) AND NARROW BAND IMAGING (NBI) WHICH HAS BEEN SHOWN TO HAVE A SENSITIVITY OF >90%. NONETHELESS, STANDARD ENDOSCOPY IS INVASIVE, EXPENSIVE (COMMERCIAL SCOPES >$25,000) AND REQUIRES EXTENSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PATIENT EXAM/SEDATION. CAPSULE ENDOSCOPY IS AN APPEALING ALTERNATIVE OPTION FOR LOW-RESOURCE REGIONS (AND COMMUNITY PRACTICES IN THE US) THAT LACK INFRASTRUCTURE AND EXPERT CLINICIANS. UNFORTUNATELY, CURRENT COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CAPSULE SYSTEMS LACK THE SPATIAL- RESOLUTION TO ACCURATELY DIAGNOSE BE, ARE SINGLE-USE, AND ARE COSTLY (>$25,000 PER SYSTEM, >$350 PER SINGLE-USE CAPSULE). THE GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP A LOWER-COST , HIGH-RESOLUTION CAPSULE ENDOSCOPY SYSTEM TO ALLOW LESS EXPERIENCED PROVIDERS TO SCREEN FOR BE IN COMMUNITY-BASED SETTINGS IN THE US AND LOW-RESOURCE SETTINGS GLOBALLY. THE SCANCAP SYSTEM HAS TWO COMPONENTS: A REUSABLE, $75 TETHERED CAPSULE THAT IS SWALLOWED TO COLLECT IMAGES OF THE MUCOSA AND $1000 SUPPORTING SYSTEM TO MANIPULATE AND DISPLAY THE COLLECTED DATA ON A TABLET COMPUTER. AFTER THE CAPSULE IS SWALLOWED, THE TETHER IS WITHDRAWN AND HIGH RESOLUTION, NBI IMAGES ARE COLLECTED FROM THE ENTIRE ESOPHAGUS. UNLIKE EXISTING CAPSULE ENDOSCOPES, OUR DESIGN ENABLES HIGH RESOLUTION SIDE-VIEWING OF THE LUMEN, WITH CIRCUMFERENTIAL SCANNING OF THE ESOPHAGUS THROUGH GUIDED ROTATION OF THE MIRROR WITHIN THE CAPSULE AS IT IS WITHDRAWN. THE SYSTEM IS PORTABLE, BATTERY OPERATED, DESIGNED FOR USE BY NON-PHYSICIANS IN UNDERSERVED SETTINGS, AND CAN ACQUIRE HIGH DEFINITION IMAGES WITH NBI TO ENABLE VISUALIZATION OF CAPILLARY LOOPS. HERE, WE AIM TO (1) DEVELOP AND REFINE A TETHERED CAPSULE ENDOSCOPE (SCANCAP) WITH NBI FOR ESOPHAGEAL CANCER SCREENING, (2) COMPARE THE IMAGE QUALITY OF SCANCAP'S NBI IMAGES TO GOLD-STANDARD, HIGH-DEFINITION ENDOSCOPY WITH NBI USING RESECTED EX VIVO SAMPLES, (3) EVALUATE THE FUNCTIONAL & IMAGING CAPABILITIES AND SAFETY OF THE DEVICE IN AN IACUC-APPROVED PORCINE STUDY, AND (4) TEST THE IMAGING PERFORMANCE OF SCANCAP IN A PILOT STUDY OF 10 PATIENTS WITH DOCUMENTED BE IN AN IRB-APPROVED HUMAN STUDY. OUR MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM WILL LEVERAGE ADVANCES IN CONSUMER GRADE IMAGE SENSORS, INJECTION MOLDED LENSES, AND OPTICAL SCANNER TECHNOLOGY TO REFINE AND EVALUATE A REUSABLE CAPSULE THAT RIVALS THE PERFORMANCE OF HIGH-DEFINITION, STATE-OF THE ART NBI ENDOSCOPES AND IS MORE COST-EFFECTIVE (AND HIGHER-RESOLUTION) THAN COMMERCIAL SWALLOWED CAPSULE SYSTEMS. THE END RESULT WILL BE A LOWER-COST, REUSABLE, HIGH QUALITY PLATFORM FOR ESOPHAGEAL CANCER SCREENING IN COMMUNITY-BASED SETTINGS IN THE US AND RURAL, UNDERSERVED REGIONS WORLDWIDE.

HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGING & HPV ONCOPROTEIN DETECTION FOR GLOBAL PREVENTION OF CERV

DEEP LEARNING FOR FORECASTING OF FRACTURE AND FAULT EVOLUTION

MEMBRANE ACTIVE PEPTIDES

DEAROMATIVE FUNCTIONALIZATION WITH ARENOPHILES

HIGHLY MULTIPLEXED AND MUTATION-SENSITIVE QUANTITATIVE PCR FOR CANCER DIAGNOSTICS

ENRICHMENT OF DNA/RNA SEQUENCES BASED ON PRE-EQUILIBRIUM HYBRIDIZATION KINETICS

OBJECTIVES AND BENEFITS WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AND TEST A TUNABLE LIGHT-GUIDE IMAGE PROCESSING SNAPSHOT SPECTROMETER (TULIPSS) FOR FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION ON UAV AIRBORNE AND ORBITING PLATFORMS. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WHEN FULLY OPERATIONAL WILL BE ABLE TO PERFORM A WIDE VARIETY OF EARTH REMOTE SENSING OBSERVATIONS. HERE WE FOCUS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGH FIDELITY FUNCTIONAL PROTOTYPE TO BE FLIGHT-TESTED ON AN AERIAL PLATFORM BY THE END OF THE FUNDED PERIOD. TULIPSS WILL BE CAPABLE OF ACQUIRING INSTANTANEOUS IMAGES ACROSS THE VISIBLE AND NEAR-IR WITH A FLEXIBLE SPATIAL/SPECTRAL RESOLUTION TRADESPACE. THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED USING CUSTOM-ADAPTABLE FIBER OPTIC IMAGE PROCESSING BUNDLES WHOSE INPUT IS IN THE FORM OF A DENSELYPACKED COHERENT WAVEGUIDE. THE OPTICAL OUTPUT FROM EACH WAVEGUIDE OR LINE OF WAVEGUIDES CAN BE FLEXIBLY DESIGNATED AS SPATIAL OR SPECTRAL ENABLING A WIDE VARIETY OF OBSERVATIONAL CONFIGURATIONS.. THUS THE SYSTEM'S INNOVATIVE ASPECT IS THE CONTROLLED REPOSITIONING OF PIXELS BETWEEN THE INPUT AND OUTPUT OF WAVEGUIDE COHERENT STRUCTURES ALLOWING EFFICIENT MULTI-DIMENSIONAL (X Y ) SNAPSHOT IMAGING AND OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY. THIS FLEXIBILITY ENABLES A RANGE OF SPATIAL/SPECTRAL CONFIGURATIONS (E.G. SPECIFIC SUB-BANDS AROUND TARGET LINES PRIORITIZATION OF SPATIAL OR SPECTRAL RESOLUTION ETC.) TO SATISFY SPECIFIC OBSERVATIONAL GOALS. ADDITIONALLY TULIPSS IS LOW RESOURCE (MASS VOLUME POWER) BUT HIGHLY CAPABLE. THE ABILITY TO COLLECT DATA ACROSS AN ENTIRE SCENE IN A SINGLE EXPOSURE MAKES TULIPSS UNIQUELY SUITED TO A RANGE OF EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INCLUDING THE ABILITY TO RECORD TRANSIENT SURFACE AND ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA AND TO PROVIDE MULTIPLE VIEWS THROUGH AN ATMOSPHERIC COLUMN FOR TOMOGRAPHIC STUDIES. AS PROPOSED TULIPSS WILL ALLOW: A) SNAPSHOT HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGE ACQUISITION AND HIGH LIGHT COLLECTION EFFICIENCY B) TUNABLE ADJUSTMENT OF SPATIAL AND SPECTRAL RESOLUTION AND FLEXIBLE SELECTION OF TARGET WAVELENGTHS C) SPECTRAL COVERAGE ACROSS RELEVANT WAVELENGTHS FROM 400NM 1000NM D) EASY EXCHANGE OF IMAGE SENSORS ALLOWING DIFFERENT CAMERA FORMATS AND SENSITIVITIES E) FLEXIBILITY IN DEVELOPMENT OF THE NUMBER OF INPUT/OUTPUT FIBER BUNDLES PROPOSED WORK AND METHODOLOGY THE MAIN PROJECT OBJECTIVES INCLUDE: - DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH RESOLUTION FIBER OPTIC BUNDLE COMPONENTS AND ADVANCEMENT OF FIBER BUNDLE TECHNOLOGY - DEVELOPMENT OF AN AUTOMATIC SPECTRAL/SPATIAL RESOLUTION TUNING MECHANISM - DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATIC CALIBRATION AND CONTROL ROUTINES - SYSTEM INTEGRATION FOR VIS-NIR IMAGING RANGE - TESTING IN AIRBORNE ENVIRONMENT THE BASIC PRINCIPAL OF THE SPATIAL/SPECTRAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHODOLOGY PROPOSED HERE IS THE COUPLING OF FORE OPTICS TO A LIGHT-GUIDE IMAGE PROCESSOR (LIP) THAT DISTRIBUTES THE INCOMING PHOTONS TO A SENSOR ARRAY IN A FLEXIBLE APPLICATION-SPECIFIC MANNER DESCRIBING SPATIAL AND SPECTRAL INFORMATION. IN THIS PROJECT WE WILL DEVELOP A SYSTEM CAPABLE OF AUTOMATIC ADJUSTMENT OF SAMPLING. THREE MAIN CONFIGURATIONS WILL INCLUDE 400X330X30 TO 250X210X80 AND 150X125X250 CUBE SIZE WHERE THE NUMBERS DENOTE THE RANGES IN THE TWO SPATIAL AND ONE SPECTRAL DIMENSIONS. THE CAMERA USED TO ASSEMBLE THE SYSTEM WILL BE PCO EDGE 5.5 CAPABLE OF RECORDING RELEVANT SIGNALS IN THE 400-1000 NM RANGE. TULIPSS WILL ALLOW SELECTION OF THE SUB-BAND AT SELECTED SPECTRAL-SPATIAL SAMPLING. NOTE: THE SPECTRAL RANGE CAN BE EXPANDED BY INCORPORATING A SECOND FOCAL PLANE ARRAY SENSITIVE TO 1000-1900 NM RANGE. THIS EXTENSION WILL BE CONSIDERED IN SUBSEQUENT PROJECTS. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE DURATION OF THE PROJECT IS THREE YEARS: 1/1/17 12/31/19. ENTRY AND PLANNED EXIT TRL THE PROPOSED SYSTEM HAS BEEN DEVELOPED BEYOND THE BREADBOARD STAGE AND IS CURRENTLY ESTIMATED TO BE AT TRL 3. THE SYSTEM IS WELL-MATCHED TO REACH A LEVEL OF TRL 5 BY THE END OF THE FUNDING PERIOD.

BCPAP

(MURI)COMBINING NONEQUILIBRIUM CHEMISTRIES WITH ATOMIC PRECISION

NRT-QISE: BROAD RESEARCH IN INTERDISCIPLINARY DEVELOPMENT FOR GROUNDBREAKING ENGINEERING IN CAVITY QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS -THIS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION RESEARCH TRAINEESHIP (NRT) AWARD TO RICE UNIVERSITY WILL ADVANCE THE INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD OF CAVITY QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS (C-QED). C-QED INTEGRATES PRINCIPLES FROM QUANTUM MECHANICS, PHOTONICS AND MATERIALS SCIENCE TO EXPLORE AND HARNESS THE UNIQUE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN LIGHT AND MATTER ENABLED BY MICRO- OR NANOSCOPIC CAVITIES. THE PROGRAM WILL PREPARE A NEW GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS TO TACKLE COMPLEX PROBLEMS, BRIDGING FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS BASED ON QUANTUM OPTICAL SYSTEMS. THE TRAINING PROGRAM ADDRESSES A CRUCIAL NEED FOR HIGHLY SKILLED STEM PROFESSIONALS CAPABLE OF LEADING INNOVATIONS IN QUANTUM TECHNOLOGIES. BY PROVIDING INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING TO 150 GRADUATE STUDENTS, INCLUDING 30 FUNDED TRAINEES FROM DIVERSE FIELDS ACROSS PHYSICS, MATERIALS SCIENCE, AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, THIS PROGRAM WILL FOSTER A COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATION FOR ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRIAL CAREER OPPORTUNITIES. THE TRAINEESHIP AIMS TO DEVELOP A VERSATILE AND DIVERSE WORKFORCE EQUIPPED TO DRIVE ADVANCEMENTS IN QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS, INCLUDING SECURE QUANTUM COMMUNICATION, QUANTUM MATERIALS, AND NANOENGINEERED PHOTONIC TECHNOLOGIES, CONTRIBUTING TO NATIONAL SECURITY AND ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS. THE NRT PROGRAM WILL IMPLEMENT A ROBUST, INTEGRATIVE EDUCATIONAL MODEL COMBINING COURSEWORK, HANDS-ON RESEARCH, AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. CENTRAL TO THIS PROGRAM IS THE 2:1:1 CO-ADVISORY MODEL, PAIRING EACH TRAINEE WITH TWO FACULTY MENTORS FROM DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES IN NATURAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING. THIS STRUCTURE PROMOTES INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION AND BROAD EXPOSURE TO COMPLEMENTARY RESEARCH. THE CURRICULUM IS TAILORED TO INCLUDE FUNDAMENTAL EDUCATION (E.G., ?INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING?) AND SPECIALIZED COURSES (E.G., ?QUANTUM ENGINEERING OF NANOMATERIALS FOR ENERGY HARVESTING?) TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH THOROUGH AND FAR-REACHING FORMATIVE TRAINING. RESEARCH PROJECTS WILL BE DEVELOPED THROUGH A ?PROBLEM-FIRST? APPROACH WHERE OPEN QUESTIONS ARE IDENTIFIED, AND RESEARCH CHALLENGES ARE TACKLED WITH A PROBLEM-SOLVING MINDSET. THE METHOD IS CONSISTENT WITH PROFESSIONAL CAREERS EVEN BEYOND ACADEMIA, WHERE DEFINED GOALS TYPICALLY SET THE AGENDA FOR THE WORK OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS. TO FACILITATE THE STUDENTS? AFFILIATION PROCESS, TRAINEES WILL ENGAGE IN ROTATIONAL RESEARCH GROUPS, PROVIDING EXPOSURE TO MULTIPLE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENTS AND HELPING THEM MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS ABOUT THEIR THESIS TOPICS. THE PROGRAM ALSO INCLUDES EXTENSIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMPONENTS, INCLUDING WORKSHOPS IN COMMUNICATION, LEADERSHIP, AND INDUSTRY INTERNSHIPS, ENSURING THAT TRAINEES ARE WELL-PREPARED FOR DIVERSE CAREER PATHS. BY INTEGRATING RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, THE PROGRAM AIMS TO EDUCATE GRADUATES CAPABLE OF MAKING SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTH ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY, ULTIMATELY DRIVING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT IN THE FIELD OF QUANTUM SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. THE NSF RESEARCH TRAINEESHIP (NRT) PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF BOLD, NEW POTENTIALLY TRANSFORMATIVE MODELS FOR STEM GRADUATE EDUCATION TRAINING. THE PROGRAM IS DEDICATED TO EFFECTIVE TRAINING OF STEM GRADUATE STUDENTS IN HIGH PRIORITY INTERDISCIPLINARY OR CONVERGENT RESEARCH AREAS THROUGH COMPREHENSIVE TRAINEESHIP MODELS THAT ARE INNOVATIVE, EVIDENCE-BASED, AND ALIGNED WITH CHANGING WORKFORCE AND RESEARCH NEEDS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

NRT: A BIOELECTRONICS INCUBATOR FOR TRAINING STUDENTS (BITS) AT THE CELL/MATERIAL INTERFACE

NEW THEORY AND METHODS FOR LOW-DIMENSIONAL SIGNAL MODELING, SENSING, AND PROCESSING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: POLS STUDENT RESEARCH NETWORK

POINT-OF-CARE DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS TO IMPROVE GLOBAL CERVICAL CANCER CONTROL PROGRAMS

MRI: DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF AN OPERATIONAL AND PROGRAMMABLE DIVERSE-SPECTRUM ACCESS NETWORK

DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATIONS OF UNNATURAL ORGANISMS WITH A 21 AMINO ACID GENETIC CODE

LONGITUDINAL MULTIMODAL MAPPING TO DECIPHER THE NEUROVASCULAR IMPACT OF MICROINFARCTS

MRI-R2: ACQUISITION OF DATA ANALYSIS AND VISUALIZATION CYBER-INFRASTRUCTURE FOR COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS(DAVINCI)

?SYNTHESIS AND HIGH?THROUGHPUT IN VIVO CHARACTERIZATION OF ALGINATE ENCAPSULATION MATERIALS FOR LONG?TERM ISLET?

IGERT: NEUROENGINEERING FROM CELLS TO SYSTEMS

LOW-COST MOBILE COLPOSCOPY AND CONFOCAL IMAGING FOR GLOBAL PREVENTION OF CERVICAL CANCER

THE PURPOSE OF THIS AGREEMENT IS TO FUND RESEARCH SUPPORTING THE DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY (DARPA) BIOLOGICAL TECHNOLOGIES OFFICES (BTO) KEYSTONE PROGRAM. THIS EFFORT SHALL BE CARRIED OUT GENERALLY AS SET FORTH IN EXHIBIT B RESEARCH DESCRIPTION DOCUMENT DATED JUNE 2021 AND IN THE RECIPIENTS PROPOSAL TITLED HIGH-SPEED BIOPHYSICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL MONITORING TO DISCOVER EARLY MARKERS OF UNCONVENTIONAL BRAIN INJURY, DATED MARCH 4, 2021, A COPY OF WHICH IS IN THE POSSESSION OF BOTH PARTIES.

CONCEPTUAL ASPECTS OF THE PROTEIN FOLDING PROBLEM

NANOSTRUCTURE STUDIES OF STRONGLY CORRELATED MATERIALS

ADVANCE INSTITUTIONAL TRANSFORMATION AWARD

LANGUAGE AND NEURAL RECOVERY FROM STROKE: ROLE OF SELECTION AND WORKING MEMORY

ADRD SPOUSAL CAREGIVERS, LONELINESS, & IMMUNE DYSREGULATION: REAL-TIME, REAL-WORLD INTERVENTION TARGETS - CAREGIVING FOR A SPOUSE WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE OR A RELATED DEMENTIA (ADRD) IS AMONG LIFE'S MOST STRESSFUL EXPERIENCES AND IS CHARACTERIZED BY CAREGIVER BURDEN, GRIEF, AND HIGHER RATES OF MORBIDITY AND PREMATURE MORTALITY. YET, THERE IS CONSIDERABLE UNEXPLAINED VARIABILITY IN ADRD SPOUSAL CAREGIVERS' MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH PATTERNS. ADRD SPOUSAL CAREGIVERS ARE PRONE TO SOCIAL ISOLATION AND LONELINESS, TWO SEPARATE BUT RELATED CONSTRUCTS THOUGHT TO FUEL PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IN ADRD SPOUSAL CAREGIVERS. VERY LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HOW LONELINESS, SOCIAL ISOLATION, AND THEIR TEMPORAL DYNAMICS AND INTERACTIONS PLAY OUT IN REAL-TIME IN THE REAL-WORLD. THIS IS UNFORTUNATE BECAUSE DEMENTIA SPOUSAL CAREGIVERS' EXPERIENCES OF OBJECTIVE SOCIAL ISOLATION AND LONELINESS, AND THEIR CONCURRENT PHYSIOLOGICAL STATE, ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING IN REAL-TIME BASED ON A CONSTELLATION OF TEMPORAL DYNAMICS, PROXIMAL MOMENTARY FACTORS (E.G., LOCATION, TIME, TASKS/STRESSORS, QUALITY AND TYPE OF RECENT SOCIAL INTERACTION), TRAIT-LIKE PATTERNS OF RELATIONAL EXPECTATIONS, EMOTIONS, AND BEHAVIORS (E.G., ATTACHMENT ORIENTATIONS), AND SOCIOCULTURAL CONDITIONS. A SOCIO-CULTURALLY DIVERSE COHORT OF 300 ADRD SPOUSAL CAREGIVERS WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR MENTAL WELLBEING (CAREGIVER BURDEN, DEPRESSION & GRIEF) AND PROVIDE BLOOD TO EVALUATE PROINFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE AND TWO RELATED DETERMINANTS OF INFLAMMATORY PHENOTYPES, CELLULAR AGING, AND DISEASE (I.E., MITOCHONDRIAL, AND GLYCOLYTIC FUNCTION) AT BASELINE, AND DURING TWO FOLLOW-UP VISITS (2 WEEKS AND 6 MONTHS AFTER BASELINE). THEY WILL ALSO PROVIDE INTRAPERSONAL AND SOCIO-CONTEXTUAL DATA BY SELF-REPORT. DURING A 2- WEEK GAP BETWEEN VISITS 1 AND 2, A 14-DAY ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT WILL PROVIDE MOMENTARY DATA ON LONELINESS, DEPRESSIVE AFFECT, MOMENTARY CONTEXT (E.G., CURRENT LOCATION, SOCIAL CONTEXT, DAILY ACTIVITIES, CAREGIVING AND NON-CAREGIVING STRESSORS. USING A SOPHISTICATED SMARTWATCH WE SUCCESSFULLY PILOTED IN ADRD SPOUSAL CAREGIVERS, WE WILL CONTINUOUSLY EVALUATE VAGALLY MEDIATED HEART RATE VARIABILITY. AIM 1 MODELS THE MOMENTARY ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN LONELINESS, DEPRESSIVE AFFECT, AND VAGALLY MEDIATED HEART RATE VARIABILITY; AIM 1 WILL ALSO MODEL THE IMPACT OF LONELINESS (BOTH SEVERITY AND VARIABILITY) ON INDICES OF ADRD SPOUSAL CAREGIVER MENTAL WELLBEING (CAREGIVER BURDEN, DEPRESSION & GRIEF), AND PHYSICAL HEALTH (INFLAMMATION, MITOCHONDRIAL AND GLYCOLYTIC FUNCTION) OVER TIME. AIM 2 INVESTIGATES WHETHER ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN MOMENTARY LONELINESS, ADRD SPOUSAL CAREGIVER MENTAL WELLBEING, AND PHYSICAL HEALTH INDICES ARE MODIFIED BY MOMENTARY CONTEXT, AND RELATIVELY STABLE INDICES OF INTRAPERSONAL (I.E., ATTACHMENT ORIENTATION) AND CONTEXTUAL (I.E., SOCIOCULTURAL CONDITIONS) FACTORS. AIM 3 (EXPLORATORY) MODELS THE IMPACT OF VMHRV ON INDICES OF ADRD SPOUSAL MENTAL CARE WELLBEING (CAREGIVER BURDEN, DEPRESSION & GRIEF), AND PHYSICAL HEALTH (INFLAMMATION, MITOCHONDRIAL AND GLYCOLYTIC FUNCTION) OVER TIME.

(PQC2) OPTICAL HALLMARKS OF AGGRESSIVE CLONES WITHIN ORAL FIELD CANCERIZATION

MODULATION OF EPIGENETIC TARGET IN THE BONE TO TREAT BREAST CANCER METASTASIS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT IN THE CLINIC, PRIMARY BREAST TUMORS ARE USUALLY SURGICALLY REMOVED SOON AFTER DIAGNOSIS, OFTEN LEAVING PATIENTS “TUMOR-FREE”. HOWEVER, 20-40% OF BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS WILL EVENTUALLY SUFFER METASTASIS TO DISTANT ORGANS, SOMETIMES YEARS AFTER SURGERIES. BONE METASTASIS IS THE MOST FREQUENTLY OCCURRING METASTASIS OF BREAST CANCER. OUR LONG-TERM GOALS ARE TO ELUCIDATE THE BIOLOGY UNDERLYING THE SURVIVAL AND PROGRESSION OF BONE METASTASES, WHICH WILL INFORM THE DESIGN OF THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES AGAINST THESE LATENT TUMOR CELLS, THROUGH A FRUITFUL COLLABORATION BETWEEN LABS AT RICE UNIVERSITY AND BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP BONE TUMOR-TARGETING EPIGENETIC INHIBITORS AND DEMONSTRATE THEIR EFFICACY AGAINST BONE MICROMETASTASES AS WELL AS FURTHER MULTI-ORGAN METASTASES SEEDING FROM BONE LESIONS. OUR PRELIMINARY DATA ESTABLISH THAT: (1) EPIGENETIC INHIBITORS MODIFIED WITH BISPHOSPHONATES, HAVE SUPERB BINDING AFFINITY FOR BONE, AND EXHIBIT ENHANCED BONE METASTASIS SITES TARGETING IN VIVO; AND (2) EPIGENETIC INHIBITORS MODIFIED WITH BISPHOSPHONATES EXHIBITED IMPROVED ACTIVITIES FOR INHIBITING METASTATIC SEEDING FROM BONE LESIONS TO OTHER ORGANS; AND (3) AN INTRA-ILIAC ARTERY (IIA) INJECTION, DEVELOPED IN OUR LAB, CAN BE USED TO EFFECTIVELY MODEL THE BONE METASTATIC NICHE, PROVIDING A POWERFUL PLATFORM FOR EVALUATING THE THERAPEUTIC EFFICACY AGAINST BONE METASTATIC CANCERS AND “METASTASIS-TO-METASTASIS” SEEDING FROM BONE LESIONS. BASED ON THESE RESULTS, THE FIRST RESEARCH DIRECTION WILL FOCUS ON ENGINEERING CURRENT EPIGENETIC INHIBITORS FOR BREAST CANCER THERAPY WITH BONE- HOMING MOIETY. NEXT, WE WILL STUDY THEIR EFFECTS ON THE SURVIVAL AND PROGRESSION OF BREAST CANCER BONE METASTASES USING BOTH SYNGENEIC AND XENOGRAFT NUDE MOUSE MODELS. FURTHERMORE, WE WILL DISSECT THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE BENEFITS OF BONE TUMOR-TARGETING EPIGENETIC INHIBITORS. AN ENHANCED THERAPEUTIC PROFILE FOR THESE BONE-SPECIFIC EPIGENETIC INHIBITORS ON BREAST CANCER WILL INFORM THE EXTENSION OF THESE TREATMENTS TO OTHER BONE CANCERS AND DISEASES.

MAPPING THE SYNTHETIC ROUTES FOR 2-DIMENSIONAL MATERIALS

PLASMONIC PROPERTIES OF ALUMINUM NANOSTRUCTURES FOR WMD DETECTION AND REMEDIATION

S-STEM: ADDRESSING DISPARITIES IN STEM EDUCATIONAL ACCESS AND OUTCOMES AMONG LOW-INCOME STUDENTS -THIS PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE NATIONAL NEED FOR WELL-EDUCATED SCIENTISTS, MATHEMATICIANS, ENGINEERS, AND TECHNICIANS BY SUPPORTING THE RETENTION AND GRADUATION OF HIGH-ACHIEVING, LOW-INCOME STUDENTS WITH DEMONSTRATED FINANCIAL NEED AT RICE UNIVERSITY. RICE UNIVERSITY IS A SMALL, PRIVATE, FOUR-YEAR INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION LOCATED IN HOUSTON, TEXAS, A CITY OF APPROXIMATELY 2.4 MILLION PEOPLE THAT STANDS AS THE MOST DIVERSE CITY IN THE UNITED STATES. OVER ITS 6-YEAR DURATION, THIS PROJECT WILL FUND SCHOLARSHIPS TO 53 UNIQUE, FULL-TIME STUDENTS EVERY YEAR WHO ARE PURSUING BACHELOR?S DEGREES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DISCIPLINES. THIS PROJECT WILL FACILITATE THE TRANSITION OF A GROUP OF ACADEMICALLY TALENT LOW-INCOME STUDENTS FROM THE TIME THEY ARE ADMITTED TO COLLEGE TO THE START OF THEIR MAJOR CORE COURSES?AND THEN THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THEIR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS. THE PROJECT WILL BEGIN IN THE SUMMER AND WILL COMBINE A SIX-WEEK, IMMERSIVE BRIDGE PROGRAM THAT WILL COVER THE MOST CHALLENGING TOPICS STUDENTS WILL FACE IN FIRST-YEAR MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, AND COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSES WITH NUMEROUS INTERVENTIONS: INDIVIDUALIZED PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS? COACHING THROUGHOUT THE STUDENTS? TIME AT RICE, COHORT-BUILDING ACTIVITIES, AND OTHER INTERVENTIONS DESIGNED TO FUEL PERSISTENCE AND REMOVE BARRIERS FOR SUCCESS. MOREOVER, THE PROJECT WILL SPONSOR SUMMER ACTIVITIES SUCH AS OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN STATE-OF-THE-ART RESEARCH, INTERNSHIPS, AND SUMMER COURSES. THIS S-STEM GRANT WILL SUPPORT ACADEMICALLY TALENTED LOW-INCOME STUDENTS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, STRENGTHENING THE PIPELINE OF PROFESSIONALS ACROSS ALL STEM FIELDS, WHILE SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CRITICAL EVENTS IN THE FORMATION OF STEM IDENTITY AND PERSISTENCE TO A DEGREE COMPLETION IN STEM, AS WELL AS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROJECT IN ADDRESSING STUDENT NEEDS. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INCREASE STEM DEGREE COMPLETION OF LOW-INCOME, HIGH-ACHIEVING UNDERGRADUATES WITH DEMONSTRATED FINANCIAL NEED. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT BY USING A SERIES OF CAREFULLY PLANNED AND INTEGRATED INTERVENTIONS, IT WILL BE POSSIBLE TO REMOVE THE BARRIERS THAT LEAD TO ATTRITION IN STEM AND, THEREBY, ADVANCE PERSISTENCE AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS. THE OVERALL GOAL WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY PURSUING THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES: 1) MITIGATE DISPARITIES IN ACCESS TO EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES BY HELPING STUDENTS ACQUIRE CORE STEM CONTENT KNOWLEDGE AND DEVELOP COLLEGE-READY STUDY HABITS AND SKILLS; 2) PROVIDE AN INTENTIONALLY DESIGNED COHORT EXPERIENCE THAT FOSTERS BELONGINGNESS AND CULTIVATES STUDENTS? IDENTITY AS MEMBERS OF THE RICE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING COMMUNITIES; 3) COACH AND MENTOR STUDENTS THROUGHOUT THEIR COLLEGE STUDIES TO BUILD SOCIAL CAPITAL AND NAVIGATE OR REMOVE BARRIERS TO PERSISTENCE; AND, 4) PROVIDE SUMMER ACADEMIC AND SCHOLARLY OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOPHOMORE AND JUNIOR STUDENTS. CRITICAL EVENTS (CALLED SHOCKS) CAUSE INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS TO RE-EVALUATE THEIR EDUCATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS, IN PART BECAUSE SHOCKS SEND MESSAGES ABOUT IDENTITY AND EXPECTED FUTURES. TO UNDERSTAND THE TYPES OF SHOCKS EXPERIENCED BY STUDENTS, THE PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR SEVERITY, AND WHETHER THEY DIFFER BY STUDENT SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, A SERIES OF QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS WILL BE PERFORMED. IN ADDITION, QUANTITATIVE STUDIES OF STUDENT IDENTITY UPON MATRICULATION (I.E., STEM AND STATUS IDENTITY), SHOCKS EXPERIENCED DURING THEIR FIRST TWO YEARS OF STUDY, AND AN ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT OUTCOMES WILL BE PERFORMED. THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF THE TYPES OF CRITICAL EVENTS THAT STUDENTS ARE EXPERIENCING, PERCEPTIONS OF THE SEVERITY OF THOSE CRITICAL EVENTS, WHETHER THESE PERCEPTIONS DIFFER BY STUDENT STATUS, AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROJECT IN MITIGATING THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF THESE EVENTS. THE SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT WILL BE ASSESSED BY FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE EXTERNAL EVALUATION, AND THE RESULTS WILL BE DISSEMINATED THROUGH PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS AND PAPERS PRESENTED AT ACADEMIC CONFERENCES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO HOST A HALF-DAY WORKSHOP EVERY SUMMER TO SHARE EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES WITH OTHER UNIVERSITIES AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES ACROSS TEXAS. THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED BY NSF?S SCHOLARSHIPS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS PROGRAM, WHICH SEEKS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF LOW-INCOME ACADEMICALLY TALENTED STUDENTS WITH DEMONSTRATED FINANCIAL NEED WHO EARN DEGREES IN STEM FIELDS. IT ALSO AIMS TO IMPROVE THE EDUCATION OF FUTURE STEM WORKERS, AND TO GENERATE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ACADEMIC SUCCESS, RETENTION, TRANSFER, GRADUATION, AND ACADEMIC/CAREER PATHWAYS OF LOW-INCOME STUDENTS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

EFRI ELIS: LIVING MICROBIAL SENSORS FOR REAL-TIME MONITORING OF PATHOGENS IN WASTEWATER -SARS-COV-2 IS THE VIRUS THAT CAUSES COVID. IT CAN BE DETECTED IN WASTEWATER. ITS DETECTION CAN ACT AS A SIGNAL TO A COMMUNITY THAT THE INFECTION IS SPREADING LOCALLY. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP LIVING SENSORS THAT CAN CONTINUOUSLY MONITOR WASTEWATER FOR THE PRESENCE OF SARS-COV-2. LIVING MICROBIAL SENSORS ARE ROBUST AND LOW-COST. THEY CAN REGENERATE THEMSELVES AND CAN BE ENGINEERED TO DETECT A SPECIFIC BIOMOLECULAR TARGET OF INTEREST. THE MODULAR DESIGN CAN BE EASILY REPURPOSED TO DETECT AND MONITOR A VARIETY OF CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL TARGETS IN THE ENVIRONMENT. TRAINING UNDERGRADUATE, GRADUATE, AND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS WILL ADVANCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPETITIVE BIOECONOMY WORKFORCE. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO ESTABLISH NEW K-12 OUTREACH PROGRAMS IN COLLABORATION WITH HOUSTON-AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS. ENHANCING CURRENT PROGRAMS THAT OFFER RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS AND K-12 TEACHERS IS ANOTHER OBJECTIVE. ENGAGING THE PUBLIC AND RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS TO ADDRESS ETHICAL, LEGAL, AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF LIVING MICROBIAL DEVICES IS ANOTHER IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS PROJECT. DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF LIVING MICROBIAL SENSORS IS THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT. THESE SENSORS WILL BE BASED ON ENGINEERED ELECTROACTIVE MICROORGANISMS. ADDRESSING BROADER SOCIETAL CHALLENGES RELATED TO THE POTENTIAL ADOPTION OF ENGINEERED MICROBIAL DEVICES, INCLUDING SAFETY, LEGAL, AND REGULATORY CONCERNS IS ANOTHER IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THE PROJECT. SEVERAL FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CHALLENGES MUST BE MET TO MAKE SUCH DEVICES. ESTABLISHING METHODS FOR ENGINEERING MICROBES THAT CAN DIRECTLY DETECT LARGE MACROMOLECULES, SUCH AS THE SARS-COV-2 SPIKE PROTEIN IS ONE. DEVELOPING SCALABLE METHODS FOR PROCESSING ENGINEERED MICROORGANISMS INTO FUNCTIONAL BIOHYBRID MATERIALS IS ANOTHER. DESIGNING COMPACT AND LOW POWER DEVICES THAT CAN AMPLIFY ELECTRONIC SIGNALS DELIVERED BY THE ELECTROACTIVE MICROBES IS A THIRD. ULTIMATELY, EVALUATING THE STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THESE DEVICES IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL SETTINGS, INCLUDING WASTEWATER, WILL BE CRITICAL TO ESTABLISHING THE EFFICACY OF THESE DEVICES THE PROJECT TEAM WILL ALSO IDENTIFY AND CONDUCT IN-PERSON SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS WITH VESTED STAKEHOLDERS SUCH AS REGULATORS, PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERTS, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALISTS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES. THE INTERVIEWS WILL IDENTIFY MAJOR PUBLIC CONCERNS AND REGULATION THAT COULD IMPEDE IMPLEMENTING THE PROPOSED BIOELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY. ALTOGETHER, THIS WORK WILL PROVIDE A SOLID FOUNDATION AND ANALYSIS FOR UNDERSTANDING, DEVELOPING, AND TRANSLATING LIVING MICROBIAL SENSORS AS REAL-TIME AND LOW-COST ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY SPONSORED BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, OFFICE OF EMERGING FRONTIERS AND MULTIDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES (EFMA) AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ? DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY (DTRA). 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.

SINGLE PARTICLE SPECTRO-ELECTROCHEMISTRY OF INDIVIDUAL PLASMONIC NANOSTRUCTURES

HBB GENE-EDITING FOR TREATING SICKLE CELL DISEASE

FUNCTIONAL ASSEMBLY OF SALIVARY CELLS TO RELIEVE XEROSTOMIA

USING ARABIDOPSIS TO UNCOVER NEW ROLES FOR PEROXINS

TAS::57 3600::TAS 'SYNTHESIS, PURIFICATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND LIQUID PHASES OF BNNTS AS LIGHTWEIGHT MULTI-FUNCTIONAL PRECURSOR FOR AEROSPACE

OPENSIM ENHANCEMENTS TO ENABLE COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN OF PERSONALIZED TREATMENTS FOR MOVEMENT IMPAIRMENTS - ABSTRACT OSTEOARTHRITIS, STROKE, SPINAL CORD INJURY, TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, AND AMPUTATION AFFECT ROUGHLY 19% OF THE U.S. ADULT POPULATION, WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS AND STROKE BEING LEADING CAUSES OF SERIOUS LONG-TERM DISABILITY IN ADULTS WORLDWIDE. ALONG WITH OTHER CONDITIONS SUCH AS CEREBRAL PALSY, PARKINSON'S DISEASE, AND ORTHOPEDIC CANCER, THESE CONDITIONS OFTEN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPAIR MOVEMENT, RESULTING IN SUBSTANTIAL SOCIETAL COSTS, AN INCREASED RISK OF OTHER SERIOUS HEALTH CONDITIONS (E.G., HEART DISEASE AND DIABETES), A REDUCTION OR EVEN LOSS OF INDEPENDENCE, AND A DECREASED QUALITY OF LIFE. DESPITE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROBLEM AND THE UNIQUENESS OF EACH PATIENT, TREATMENT DESIGN FOR MOVEMENT IMPAIRMENTS HAS NOT PROGRESSED SUBSTANTIALLY BEYOND OFF-THE-SHELF INTERVENTIONS SELECTED BASED ON SUBJECTIVE CLINICAL JUDGMENT. IF AFFECTED INDIVIDUALS ARE TO RECOVER THE MOST FUNCTION POSSIBLE, A PARADIGM SHIFT IS NEEDED TOWARD PERSONALIZED INTERVENTIONS DESIGNED USING OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE-BASED METHODS. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL ALLOW ENGINEERS WORKING IN COLLABORATION WITH CLINICIANS TO DESIGN EFFECTIVE PERSONALIZED INTERVENTIONS FOR MOVEMENT IMPAIRMENTS USING OBJECTIVE PHYSICS-BASED COMPUTER MODELS. THE SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY WILL EMPLOY THE SAME COMPUTER MODELING AND SIMULATION METHODS THAT HAVE REVOLUTIONIZED THE DESIGN OF AIRPLANES AND AUTOMOBILES OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS. THE PROPOSED SOFTWARE WILL CREATE A VIRTUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE PATIENT AND THEN APPLY VIRTUAL TREATMENTS TO THE VIRTUAL PATIENT TO IDENTIFY THE TREATMENT DESIGN THAT IS MOST LIKELY TO MAXIMIZE RECOVERY OF LOST FUNCTION. VIRTUAL PATIENT MODELS WILL OBEY LAWS OF PHYSICS AND PRINCIPLES OF PHYSIOLOGY TO REFLECT HOW THE PATIENT MOVES BEFORE TREATMENT AND PREDICT HOW THE PATIENT WILL MOVE AFTER TREATMENT. TO ENABLE FAST AND EASY CONSTRUCTION OF PATIENT MODELS AND OPTIMIZATION OF PATIENT FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES, THE SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE NIH-FUNDED OPENSIM SOFTWARE FOR MODELING AND SIMULATION OF HUMAN MOVEMENT. TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION OF THE PROPOSED SOFTWARE, THE PROJECT WILL ALSO USE THE SOFTWARE TO DESIGN PERSONALIZED INTERVENTIONS FOR THREE INDIVIDUALS POST-STROKE WITH IMPAIRED, ASYMMETRIC WALKING FUNCTION. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL ORGANIZE A THREE-YEAR “STROKE GRAND CHALLENGE COMPETITION,” HELD EACH YEAR AT THE SAME PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCE, TO ENGAGE THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY IN MODEL-BASED PERSONALIZED TREATMENT DESIGN. AN EXTENSIVE HUMAN MOVEMENT DATA SET WILL BE COLLECTED FROM EACH SUBJECT TO BE USED FOR CONSTRUCTING A VIRTUAL MODEL OF THE SUBJECT. COMPETING RESEARCH TEAMS WILL USE THE SOFTWARE AND THE SUBJECT'S VIRTUAL MODEL TO DESIGN PERSONALIZED TREATMENTS THAT IMPROVE THE SUBJECT'S WALKING SYMMETRY. IN ADDITION, THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL USE THE NEW SOFTWARE TO DEVELOP ITS OWN PERSONALIZED INTERVENTION DESIGNS FOR THE SAME SUBJECTS. ANY CLINICALLY PROMISING INTERVENTIONS IDENTIFIED BY EITHER COMPETITION PARTICIPANTS OR THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL BE IMPLEMENTED ON THE SAME SUBJECTS IN A FOLLOW-ON PROJECT TO EVALUATE THEIR EFFICACY.

LIGHT-DIRECTED ENZYMATIC DNA SYNTHESIS

DOMAIN SPECIFIC LANGUAGE SUPPORT FOR EXASCALE

HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS

VELCRO AAV VECTOR FOR TISSUE-SPECIFIC DELIVERY OF GENOME EDITING REAGENTS WITH ENHANCED CARGO CAPACITY

NEW FRONTIERS IN CHEMICAL REACTIVITY VIA CATALYTIC HYDROGEN ATOM TRANSFER - PROJECT SUMMARY HYDROGEN ATOM TRANSFER (HAT), OR THE MOVEMENT OF ONE PROTON AND ONE ELECTRON SIMULTANEOUSLY, IS AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN SYNTHETIC METHODOLOGY. WHILE NATURE HAS MADE EXTENSIVE USE OF HAT STEPS IN PROCESSES SUCH AS THOSE PERFORMED BY DESATURASE AND MUTASE ENZYMES, SYNTHETIC CHEMISTS ARE JUST BEGINNING TO REALIZE THE POTENTIAL OF THIS POWERFUL, RADICAL TRANSFORMATION. THIS MIRA PROPOSAL DESCRIBES TWO IMPORTANT NEW AREAS ENABLED BY HAT THAT THE PI WILL EXPLORE OVER THE NEXT 5 YEARS: MODULAR RADICAL HYDROGENATION AND TRANSPOSITIONAL FUNCTIONALIZATION. THE PI IS PREPARED TO MAKE AN IMPACT IN THIS IMPORTANT FIELD FROM HIS MENTORED CAREER, WHERE HE DESIGNED CATALYTIC DEHYDROGENATION AND DEHYDROFORMYLATION SYSTEMS FUNCTIONING VIA HAT. THE FIRST AREA OF RESEARCH CONCERNS DEVELOPMENT OF A MODULAR, STEREOSELECTIVE HYDROGENATION SYSTEM ABLE TO COMPLETELY CONTROL THE CONFIGURATION AND ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION AT EACH REDUCED CENTER (PROJECT 1). PRELIMINARY WORK BY THE PI HAS DEMONSTRATED RADICAL HYDROGENATION CAN BE ACHIEVED USING COOPERATIVE HYDROGEN ATOM TRANSFER (CHAT), A MECHANISM WHERE EACH HYDROGEN ATOM ARRIVES FROM A SEPARATE CATALYST, ALLOWING FOR EACH CATALYST TO BE MODIFIED INDEPENDENTLY. ONE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS INDEPENDENT STEREOCONTROL OF EACH NEW STEREOCENTER THOUGH USE OF TWO ASYMMETRIC CATALYSTS (PROJECT 1A). THIS DESIGN WILL ALLOW FOR ENANTIOSELECTIVE ANTI- REDUCTION, A CURRENTLY IMPOSSIBLE TRANSFORMATION. A SIMULTANEOUS, INDEPENDENT GOAL BUILDS ON PRELIMINARY DATA SHOWING EACH CATALYST RECEIVES ITS HYDROGEN ATOM FROM AN ORTHOGONAL SOURCE, PERMITTING DIFFERENT ISOTOPES TO BE PREDICTABLY DELIVERED IN THE SAME REACTION (PROJECT 1B). TOGETHER, THIS PROJECT AREA WILL PROVIDE A METHOD TO INSTALL H, D, OR T IN ANY CONFIGURATION STARTING FROM AN UNSATURATED BOND, SELECTING BETWEEN ALL POSSIBLE ISOTOPOLOGUES AND STEREOISOTOPOMERS VIA CATALYST AND REAGENT CONTROL. THE SECOND RESEARCH AREA FOCUSES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MUSTASE-LIKE REACTIONS, WHERE FUNCTIONALITY IS REGIOSELECTIVELY TRANSPOSED IN A 1,2-FASHION TO REMODEL MOLECULAR ARCHITECTURES (PROJECT 2). HOWEVER, UNLIKE MUTASE ENZYMES, THESE METHODS WILL EXCHANGE THE FUNCTIONAL GROUP DURING THE TRANSPOSITION, ALLOWING RAPID DIVERSIFICATION OF COMPLEX MOLECULES. PRELIMINARY DATA FROM THE PI DEMONSTRATES THIS PRINCIPLE USING VITAMIN B12 AND CO(SALEN) COCATALYSTS TO ACHIEVE “REMOTE ELIMINATION”, WHERE PRIMARY ALKYL ELECTROPHILES ARE TRANSLATED INTO A 2-ALKENES WITH TERMINAL METHYL GROUP. WE ANTICIPATE THIS APPROACH WILL BE GENERAL, ALLOWING FOR TRANSPOSITIONAL C–X, C–N, C–O, AND C–C BOND-FORMING REACTIONS (PROJECT 2A). IN PARALLEL, THE ABILITY OF VITAMIN B12 TO ENANTIOSELECTIVELY CONVERT MESO-EPOXIDES AND AZIRIDINES TO ALLYLIC ALCOHOLS AND AMINES WILL BE USED TO ACHIEVE ENANTIOSELECTIVE C–H FUNCTIONALIZATION OF THE EPOXIDES AND AZIRIDINES (PROJECT 2B). TOGETHER, THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL LEVERAGE THE UNIQUE REACTIVITY OF HAT TO DELIVER A SUITE OF NEW CATALYTIC REACTIONS BOTH MAKING -AND USING- OLEFINS TO STREAMLINE THE SYNTHESIS OF MOLECULES IMPORTANT TO HUMAN HEALTH.

CRCNS: UNSUPERVISED LEARNING OF HIPPOCAMPAL SEQUENCE DYNAMIC IN SLEEP

QUANTUM PHASES OF MATTER IN OPTICAL LATTICES

DIRECT AND CONTINUOUS ELECTROCHEMICAL MANUFACTURING OF HIGH-PURITY LIQUID FUELS VIA CO REDUCTION IN A SOLID ELECTROLYTE REACTOR

MOLECULAR REGULATION OF ANGIOBLAST MIGRATION DURING CORNEA DEVELOPMENT

DIFFERENTIAL SHEAR FORCES ON ENDOCARDIAL ENDOTHELIAL CELLS REGULATE A FIBROTIC SPECTRUM IN THE LEFT VENTRICULAR OUTFLOW TRACT

CARBON-BASED NANOMANUFACTURING: ADVANCED MEASUREMENT SCIENCE FROM DISPERSED PHASE TO IN-LINE CHARACTERIZATION

RICE LABORATORY FOR EMERGENT MAGNETIC MATERIALS

FAST MULTICHANNEL MAGNETO-THERMAL GENETICS - ABSTRACT PRECISELY TIMED ACTIVATION OF GENETICALLY TARGETED CELLS IS A POWERFUL TOOL FOR STUDYING NEURAL CIRCUITS. NEURONAL MODULATION (ACTIVATING OR INHIBITING SELECT NEURONS) ALLOWS US TO INVESTIGATE HOW NEURAL ACTIVITY CAUSES CHANGES IN ANIMAL BEHAVIOR. RECENT WORK HAS LED TO MANY TOOLS FOR GENETICALLY TARGETED NEUROMODULATION; HOWEVER, THE IDEAL TECHNOLOGY SHOULD BE: 1) WIRELESS – TO ENABLE UNRESTRICTED ANIMAL BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL INTERACTIONS. 2) INJECTABLE – TO MINIMIZE TISSUE DAMAGE AND EASE IMPLEMENTATION ASSOCIATED WITH IMPLANTS. 3) FAST – (SUB-SECOND RESPONSE TIMES) TO SYNCHRONIZE NEURAL STIMULATION WITH BEHAVIORS OR SENSORY QUEUES. 4) MULTIPLEXED – SO THAT DIFFERENT BRAIN AREAS, CELL TYPES, OR ANIMALS CAN BE MODULATED WITHIN THE SAME ARENA. A TECHNOLOGY WITH THESE CAPABILITIES WILL BE A POWERFUL TOOL FOR DISCOVERING CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN NEURAL CIRCUIT ACTIVITY AND BEHAVIOR. FOR EXAMPLE, RESEARCHERS WILL BE ABLE TO MANIPULATE THE ACTIVITY OF ENTIRE NEURAL CIRCUITS DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE BRAIN AS ANIMALS INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT. THROUGH THESE EXPERIMENTS, RESEARCHERS WILL BE ABLE TO DISCOVER HOW TO SELECT NEURONS TO PARTICIPATE IN SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS. TO CREATE THIS TYPE OF NEUROMODULATION TECHNOLOGY, WE WILL DEVELOP THE FIRST FAST MAGNETOTHERMAL GENETICS. THIS TECHNIQUE RELIES ON ALTERNATING MAGNETIC FIELDS TO HEAT NANOPARTICLES THAT ACTIVATE THERMORECEPTORS EXPRESSED IN GENETICALLY TARGETED CELLS. WHILE SIMILAR MAGNETOTHERMAL APPROACHES HAVE BEEN RECENTLY DEMONSTRATED IN MICE AND C. ELEGANS, RESPONSE LATENCIES HAVE REMAINED IN EXCESS OF 10 SECONDS MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO PRECISELY SYNCHRONIZE NEURAL MODULATION WITH BEHAVIORS OR SENSORY CUES. WE PROPOSE TO USE HIGHLY SENSITIVE RATE-DEPENDENT THERMORECEPTORS AND OPTIMIZED NANOPARTICLES TO ACHIEVE MAGNETIC CONTROL OF GENETICALLY TARGETED CELLS WITH SUB-SECOND LATENCY. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO MAKE MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES SIGNIFICANTLY MORE SELECTIVE TO SPECIFIC MAGNETIC FIELD AMPLITUDES AND FREQUENCIES BY TUNING THEIR COMPOSITION. THESE OPTIMIZATIONS WILL ENABLE MULTICHANNEL REMOTE STIMULATION OF INDEPENDENT NEURAL CIRCUITS OR ANIMALS LOCATED IN CLOSE PROXIMITY. OUR TOOLS WILL BRING MAGNETOGENETICS CLOSER TO THE TEMPORAL RESOLUTION AND MULTIPLEXED STIMULATION POSSIBLE WITH OPTOGENETICS WHILE MAINTAINING THE MINIMAL INVASIVENESS AND DEEP-TISSUE STIMULATION ONLY POSSIBLE BY MAGNETIC CONTROL.

UNDERSTANDING REDOX PROPORTIONING THROUGH FERREDOXINS, LOW POTENTIAL IRON-SULFUR PROTEINS ACTING AS ELECTRICAL HUBS TO CONTROL METABOLISM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IMPROVING ACCESS TO CAREER AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TALENTED, LOW-INCOME STUDENTS THROUGH THE FLEXIBLE INTERNSHIPS-RESEARCH-EDUCATION MODEL

NEXT-GENERATION PARENTERAL DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING PHARMACOKINETICS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT EVERY DAY, AN ESTIMATED 3.9 BILLION PEOPLE TAKE MEDICATION TO TREAT ACUTE OR CHRONIC CONDITIONS. HOWEVER, DESPITE THE ENORMOUS UTILITY OF CURRENT PHARMACEUTICALS, THEY ARE LIMITED BY SEVERAL FACTORS THAT PREVENT THEIR MORE EFFECTIVE AND EXPANDED USE. IDEALLY, DRUGS WOULD REACH THE DESIRED CONCENTRATION AT THE SITE OF ACTION FOR THE DURATION THAT THE THERAPY IS REQUIRED. IN PRACTICE, THIS IS DIFFICULT BECAUSE THE BODY IS CONSTANTLY METABOLIZING AND EXCRETING DRUGS, WHICH NECESSITATES RE-ADMINISTRATION. DEPENDING ON A DRUG’S THERAPEUTIC WINDOW AND BIOLOGICAL HALF-LIFE, FREQUENT ADMINISTRATION MAY BE REQUIRED, WHICH LOWERS PATIENTS’ ADHERENCE TO THEIR DOSING REGIMENS. THIS ISSUE IS PERVASIVE WITH NON-ADHERENCE RATES AS HIGH AS 50% FOR CHRONIC DISEASES, LEADING TO INCREASED MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY AND AS MUCH AS $290 BILLION IN ADDED HEALTHCARE COSTS EACH YEAR IN THE U.S. ALONE. THE FIELD OF PHARMACEUTICS HAS DEVELOPED FORMULATION METHODS THAT REDUCE ADMINISTRATION FREQUENCY, INCLUDING INJECTABLE CONTROLLED-RELEASE SYSTEMS COMPOSED OF DRUG EMBEDDED IN BIODEGRADABLE MATERIALS. UNFORTUNATELY, CURRENT CLINICALLY-APPROVED SYSTEMS ARE LIMITED IN BOTH THE TYPES OF MOLECULES THAT THEY CAN DELIVER AND THE DRUG RELEASE KINETICS THEY CAN ACHIEVE. THIS PROPOSAL SEEKS TO DEVELOP PARENTERAL DRUG DELIVERY STRATEGIES THAT ENHANCE SAFETY AND EFFICACY, IMPROVE PATIENT ADHERENCE, AND ENABLE THE SUSTAINED RELEASE OF BIOLOGICAL DRUGS. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT EMERGING NANOFABRICATION METHODS (E.G. MULTI-PHOTON 3D PRINTING) CAN BE USED TO CONTROL THE STRUCTURE—AND THUS BEHAVIOR—OF SURFACE-ERODING PARTICLES CONTAINING DRUG. BECAUSE THE DEGRADATION OF THESE HYDROPHOBIC MATERIALS IS CONFINED TO THE SURFACE, DRUG DISTRIBUTED HOMOGENEOUSLY THROUGHOUT THEIR VOLUME WILL BE RELEASED AT A RATE PROPORTIONAL TO THEIR EROSION RATE AND EXPOSED SURFACE AREA. USING THESE METHODS, WE CAN MODEL AND RATIONALLY DESIGN MICROPARTICLE STRUCTURES THAT RELEASE DRUG AT PREDICTABLE, GEOMETRICALLY-DEFINED RATES. ALTHOUGH THIS CONCEPT COULD BE APPLIED TO ACHIEVE A WIDE ARRAY OF RELEASE KINETICS, WE ARE MOST INTERESTED IN ATTAINING ZERO-ORDER RELEASE KINETICS, WHICH ARE DESIRABLE FOR MOST DISEASES, AND SEQUENTIAL RELEASE, WHICH MAY BE USEFUL FOR DYNAMIC CONDITIONS. FURTHER, BECAUSE SURFACE ERODING MATERIALS EXCLUDE WATER, THEIR INTERIOR MICROENVIRONMENT WILL REMAIN DRY AND NEUTRAL, THUS PROMOTING THE STABILITY OF ENCAPSULATED BIOLOGICS AT 37°C. THE FEATURES OF SURFACE-ERODING MICROPARTICLES RUN IN STARK CONTRAST WITH EXISTING FDA-APPROVED MICROPARTICLES COMPOSED OF BULK-DEGRADING POLYMERS THAT ABSORB WATER AND PRODUCE ACIDIC DEGRADATION PRODUCTS, WHICH MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO PREDICT RELEASE KINETICS A PRIORI, CONTRIBUTES TO THE DEGRADATION OF ENCAPSULATED BIOLOGICS, AND PREVENTS SEQUENTIAL RELEASE. THE STRATEGIES WE PROPOSE ARE ONLY NOW POSSIBLE DUE TO THE CONVERGENCE OF ADVANCES IN MANUFACTURING AND CHEMISTRY THAT ALLOW US TO EXPLOIT STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS AT A SCALE SMALL ENOUGH TO RETAIN MICROPARTICLE INJECTABILITY. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS APPROACH HAS THE ABILITY TO FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE HOW DRUGS ARE ADMINISTERED AND IMPROVE PATIENT OUTCOMES ACROSS ALL OF MEDICINE.

EFRI-MKS: HARNESSING INTERCELLULAR SIGNALING TO ENGINEER PATTERN FORMATION

NEW CATALYTIC METHODS FOR THE RAPID SYNTHESIS OF N-UNPROTECTED CHIRAL AZIRIDINES AND AMINES

ADVANCED COMPUTING RUNTIME

NEW; TITLE: RELATIVISTIC PLASMA PHYSICS USING ULTRA-INTENSE LASERS; PI - EDISON LIANG

DECIPHERING UNINTENDED LARGE GENE MODIFICATIONS IN GENE EDITING FOR SICKLE CELL DISEASE - SUMMARY: SICKLE CELL DISEASE (SCD) IS A GENETIC DISEASE THAT AFFECTS MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE, WITH SIGNIFICANT MORBIDITY AND A MEDIAN LIFE EXPECTANCY IN THE MID-FORTIES. ALTHOUGH SCD CAN BE CURED BY ALLOGENEIC HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION (ALLOHSCT), THIS TREATMENT STRATEGY HAS SUBSTANTIAL LIMITATIONS AND IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO ~15% OF PATIENTS. CRISPR/CAS9 BASED GENOME-EDITING STRATEGIES FOR TREATING SCD HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED BY EITHER CORRECTING THE SICKLE MUTATION IN SS-GLOBIN (HBB) GENE OR DISRUPTING THE BCL11A ERYTHROID ENHANCER IN PATIENTS’ HEMATOPOIETIC STEM AND PROGENITOR CELLS (HSPCS). MULTIPLE CLINICAL TRIALS USING GENE EDITING STRATEGIES HAVE RECEIVED FDA APPROVAL, AND THE PHASE 1 CLINICAL TRIAL (NCT03745287) BY VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS AND CRISPR THERAPEUTICS HAS SHOWN PROMISE. WE HAVE DISCOVERED RECENTLY THAT CRISPR/CAS9 GENOME EDITING CAN INDUCE UNINTENDED LARGE GENE MODIFICATIONS, SUCH AS LARGE DELETIONS, INSERTIONS AND COMPLEX LOCAL REARRANGEMENTS, AT THE CAS9 ON-TARGET CUT-SITE. OUR RESULTS SHOW THAT LARGE DELETIONS OF UP TO SEVERAL THOUSAND BASES OCCURRED WITH HIGH FREQUENCIES AT/NEAR THE CAS9 ON-TARGET CUT-SITES ON THE HBB (11.7-35.4%), HBG (14.3%), AND BCL11A (13.2%) GENES RESPECTIVELY IN HSPCS FROM PATIENTS WITH SCD. HOWEVER, THE PERSISTENCE AND BIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THESE LARGE GENE MODIFICATIONS ARE LARGELY UNKNOWN, THE MECHANISMS OF GENERATING LARGE DELETIONS AND INSERTIONS REMAIN ELUSIVE, AND NO METHOD IS AVAILABLE TO REDUCE THE UNWANTED LARGE GENE MODIFICATIONS. THERE IS AN UNMET NEED TO DETERMINE THE CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE UNINTENDED LARGE GENE MODIFICATIONS IN GENE-EDITED SCD HSPCS. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS THAT A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE PERSISTENCE AND FUNCTIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF UNINTENDED LARGE GENE MODIFICATIONS AND THE ABILITY TO CONTROL THEM WILL INCREASE THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF GENE-EDITING BASED TREATMENT OF SCD. IN AIM 1 STUDIES WE WILL DETERMINE THE INEFFECTIVE MATURATION AND HBF INDUCTION DUE TO LARGE GENE MODIFICATION IN GENE EDITED SCD HSPCS BY PERFORMING SMRT-SEQ AND SINGLE-CELL RNA ANALYSIS. IN AIM 2 WE WILL DETERMINE THE PERSISTENCE OF LARGE GENE MODIFICATIONS IN HBB AND BCL11A ALLELES AFTER ENGRAFTMENT OF GENE-EDITED SCD HSPCS INTO MICE AND PATIENTS UNDERGOING CRISPR/CAS9 GENE- EDITING BASED SCD CLINICAL TRIALS. IN AIM 3 WE WILL DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO MINIMIZE THE DETRIMENTAL LARGE DELETIONS BY ESTABLISHING A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE COMPETITION BETWEEN DIFFERENT DNA DAMAGE REPAIR PATHWAYS AND DESIGNING AND OPTIMIZING SSODN TEMPLATES AND SHORT GRNAS AS BLOCKERS. THESE STUDIES WILL ADDRESS AN UNMET NEED IN THE THERAPEUTIC GENOME EDITING FIELD AND FACILITATE THE TRANSLATION OF GENOME EDITING BASED SCD TREATMENT INTO CLINICAL PRACTICE.

DEVELOP HIGH-PRECISION AND MULTIPLEX BASE EDITING APPROACHES FOR THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT GENETIC DISORDERS AND GENETIC DISEASES ARE CAUSED BY INSERTIONS, DELETIONS, AND BASE SUBSTITUTIONS OF A SINGLE GENE OR MULTIPLE GENES. CYSTIC FIBROSIS (CF), AN AUTOSOMAL RECESSIVE HEREDITARY DISEASE, IS CAUSED BY MUTATIONS OF THE CYSTIC FIBROSIS TRANSMEMBRANE CONDUCTANCE REGULATOR (CFTR) GENE. IN HEALTHY CELLS, CFTR MAINTAINS CHLORIDE AND BICARBONATE TRANSPORTATION AS AN ION CHANNEL. GENETIC DEFECTS OF CFTR RESULT IN COMPLICATED RESPIRATORY AND SYSTEMIC ORGAN FAILURE. POINT MUTATIONS, OR SINGLE-NUCLEOTIDE VARIATIONS (SNVS), ACCOUNT FOR ~60% OF THE PATHOGENIC VARIANTS CAUSING CF. CF PATIENTS CAN BE PARTIALLY TREATED BY THE ADMINISTRATION OF SMALL MOLECULE DRUGS TO IMPROVE SYMPTOMS, INCLUDING CHRONIC PULMONARY DISEASE AND PANCREATIC INSUFFICIENCY. HOWEVER, CF MUTATIONS LEADING TO THE PREMATURE TERMINATION CODON (PTC) AFFECT AT LEAST 10% OF CF PATIENTS, WHOSE SYMPTOMS CANNOT BE RELIEVED BY ANY OF THE MODULATORS. GENE THERAPY IS A PROMISING AND PERMANENT ALTERNATIVE APPROACH THAT CONFERS THERAPEUTIC BENEFITS TO PATIENTS WHO SUFFER FROM GENETIC DISEASES. THE CRISPR- CAS9 SYSTEM CAN EFFICIENTLY CAUSE DOUBLE-STRAND BREAKS (DSBS) TO FACILITATE HOMOLOGY-DIRECTED REPAIR (HDR) FOR ACCURATE GENE-EDITING OUTCOMES. HOWEVER, SAFETY CONCERNS ARISING FROM THE DSBS CAUSE UNWANTED MUTATIONS. TO SURMOUNT THIS PROBLEM, BASE EDITORS (BES) USE A NICKASE CAS9 (NCAS9) THAT NICKS ONLY THE PROTOSPACER ADJACENT MOTIF (PAM)-CONTAINING STRAND, AND THUS ELIMINATES THE RISK OF DSBS AND RANDOM INDELS. BES USE A NATURAL OR ENGINEERED DNA DEAMINASE FUSED WITH A NCAS9 AND CAN INTRODUCE A C-TO-T OR AN A-TO-G CONVERSION WITHIN THE ACTIVITY WINDOW BY THE CYTOSINE OR ADENINE DEAMINASE. BOTH CYTOSINE BES (CBES) AND ADENINE BES (ABES) CAN ENABLE BASE TRANSITIONS WITH HIGH EFFICIENCY AND HAVE ALREADY PROVEN SUCCESSFUL FOR A FEW GENETIC DISEASES IN PROOF-OF-CONCEPT STUDIES. HOWEVER, BEFORE APPLYING BES TO THE TREATMENT OF HUMAN GENETIC DISEASES, INCLUDING CF, SEVERAL CHALLENGES MUST BE OVERCOME. FIRST, INDISCRIMINATE CONVERSION OF MULTIPLE ‘C’S OR ‘A’S WITHIN CBE OR ABE’S CHARACTERISTIC DEAMINATION ACTIVITY WINDOW, USUALLY MORE THAN FIVE NUCLEOTIDES, RESULTS IN UNDESIRED BYSTANDER EDITING. SECOND, THE TARGETING SCOPE OF BES HAS BEEN LARGELY CONSTRAINED BY THE NGG PAM REQUIREMENT OF NSPCAS9, THE CANONICAL CAS9 FROM STREPTOCOCCUS PYOGENES. A LARGE PROPORTION OF THE BASE TRANSITION PATHOGENIC MUTATIONS IS THUS UNAVAILABLE FOR EDITING. THIRD, THE LACK OF MULTIPLEXITY OF BES IMPEDES ITS PRACTICALITY IN PROCESSING MULTIPLE MUTATIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY FOR THE TREATMENT OF COMPLEX GENETIC DISEASES. IN THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH, WE AIM TO DEVELOP PRECISE AND MULTIPLEX BES THAT WILL MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO TARGET THE VAST MAJORITY OF HUMAN GENOME SITES (AIM 1 & 2). WE WILL APPLY HIGH-PRECISION BES TO GENERATE AND CORRECT HOMOZYGOUS AND COMPOUND HETEROZYGOUS CF DISEASE MODELS THAT MIRROR INDIVIDUAL PATIENTS, WHICH WILL ALSO GREATLY FACILITATE PHARMACOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND DRUG DISCOVERY FOR PERSONALIZED CF TREATMENT (AIM 3). IN SUMMARY, HIGH-PRECISION BES WILL CONTRIBUTE TO PERSONALIZED GENE THERAPY FOR CYSTIC FIBROSIS AS WELL AS MANY OTHER GENETIC DISEASES.

BPC-A- EMPOWERING LEADERSHIP: COMPUTING SCHOLARS OF TOMORROW

SPECTROSCOPY OF DEGENERATE ONE-DIMENSIONAL ELECTRONS IN CARBON NANOTUBES

TARGETED GENE THERAPY OF HEART FAILURE POST MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

EFFICIENT EDUCATION RESEARCH VIA THE OPENSTAX LEARNING PLATFORM

CONSORTIUM OF OPEN RESOURCE EDUCATORS (CORE)

CENTER FOR PROGRAMMING MODELS FOR SCALABLE PARALLEL COMPUTING

THIS RESEARCH WILL DEVELOP REFINE AND VALIDATE MODELS TO PREDICT EXPOSURE TO NANOMATERIALS (NMS) AND THEIR BIOAVAILABILITY IN THE ENVIRONMENT.

EFRI DCHEM: ELECTRIFYING CO2 FROM POINT SOURCES INTO PURE LIQUID FUELS

EFRI BEGIN OI: ENGINEERED BACTERIAL CONSORTIA FOR PARALLEL BIOCOMPUTING -THIS AWARD WILL SUPPORT RESEARCH TO DEVELOP NEW PLATFORMS FOR BIOLOGICAL-ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION THAT CAN BE HARNESSED FOR BIOLOGICAL COMPUTING, BASED ON MICROBIAL SENSING AND COMMUNICATION. MICROBES BOTH SENSE AND RESPOND TO THEIR ENVIRONMENTS. THESE PROCESSES CAN BE COMPLEX, EVEN FOR A SINGLE MICROBE. MICROBES ALSO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER, OFTEN THROUGH CHEMICAL SIGNALING, BUT SOMETIMES USING A FORM OF ELECTRICAL SIGNALING. THIS COMMUNICATION CAN RESULT IN A COLLECTIVE RESPONSE. VIEWING EACH INDIVIDUAL MICROBE AS AN INFORMATION PROCESSOR OFFERS THE POSSIBILITY OF CONNECTING THE MICROBES TOGETHER TO CREATE A COMPLEX LIVING COMPUTER. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO CONNECT MICROBES THROUGH ELECTRONIC NETWORKS, ORGANIZED TO PERFORM INTELLIGENT BEHAVIORS, SUCH AS LEARNING COMPLEX PATTERNS. SUCH MICROBE-BASED NETWORKS COULD SERVE AS THE BASIS FOR SMART SENSORS, FOR EXAMPLE, HARNESSING BIOLOGICAL-ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION FOR BIOLOGICAL COMPUTING. IMPORTANTLY, THIS TECHNOLOGY MUST BE DEVELOPED SAFELY AND IN ALIGNMENT WITH PUBLIC VALUES. IN SUPPORT OF THIS GOAL, THE ETHICAL, LEGAL, AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS (ELSI) OF NOVEL BIOLOGICAL COMPUTERS WILL BE INVESTIGATED. THIS RESEARCH COULD ENABLE DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAMMABLE LIVING BIOCOMPUTERS THAT COULD HAVE APPLICATIONS IN MEDICAL MONITORING. MICROORGANISMS ARE CAPABLE OF SENSING, RESPONDING AND ADAPTING TO THEIR ENVIRONMENTS. SUCH BIOLOGICAL SENSING AND INFORMATION PROCESSING TOOLS COULD BE HARNESSED TO DETECT AND INTERPRET COMPLEX CHEMICAL SIGNATURES SUCH AS BIOMARKERS IN PATIENT SAMPLES OR CONTAMINANTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES. TO UNLOCK THIS POTENTIAL, A BIOCOMPUTING PLATFORM FOR HIGH-DIMENSIONAL CHEMICAL PATTERN RECOGNITION CALLED THE ELECTROGENETICALLY-NETWORKED CYBER-BACTERIAL ORGANOID WILL BE DEVELOPED. THESE SYNTHETIC MICROBIAL CONSORTIA WILL BE CAPABLE OF INTEGRATING CHEMICAL AND ELECTRONIC INPUTS INTO ELECTRONIC OUTPUTS, WHICH ARE THEN RELAYED TO A NETWORK OF PARALLEL CONSORTIA. TO IMPLEMENT CHEMICAL PATTERN RECOGNITION, A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK THAT COMBINES PRINCIPLES OF DISTRIBUTED AND BIOLOGICAL COMPUTING WILL BE DEVELOPED. NEXT, THE COMPUTATIONAL CAPABILITIES OF THE BIO-PROCESSORS WILL BE EXTENDED THROUGH IMPLEMENTATION OF CELLULAR MEMORY AND ADAPTIVE LEARNING. THIS WILL REQUIRE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTINUOUS CULTURE SYSTEMS THAT MAINTAIN LONG-TERM MICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND SUPPORT ELECTRONIC INTERFACING. THESE WILL ALLOW LEARNING AND ITERATIVE RESPONSE REFINEMENT THROUGH LONG-TERM ELECTROGENETIC INTERFACING AND TRANSCRIPTIONAL FEEDBACK THAT SENSITIZES CELLS TO INPUTS. THESE INTELLIGENT BEHAVIORS WILL BE USED TO CLASSIFY CHEMICAL SIGNATURES AND ADAPT TO CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS. GIVEN THAT INTELLIGENT BIOLOGICAL COMPUTING SYSTEMS RAISE NOVEL QUESTIONS ABOUT RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT AND USE, THIS PROJECT WILL EXPLORE THE ETHICAL, LEGAL, AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS (ELSI) OF BIOCOMPUTING, FOCUSING ON REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS, PUBLIC PERCEPTION, AND RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF BACTERIAL ORGANOID SYSTEMS. THIS INTEGRATED APPROACH SHOULD ADVANCE BOTH THE TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES AND THE SOCIETAL READINESS OF PROGRAMMABLE LIVING BIOCOMPUTERS WITH APPLICATIONS IN DIAGNOSTICS, SENSE-AND-RESPOND THERAPEUTICS AND OTHER MONITORING APPLICATIONS 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

RTG: BUILDING COMMUNITIES IN THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES AT RICE UNIVERSITY

MIM: ELUCIDATING THE RULES OF COOPERATION AND RESILIENCY IN MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES THROUGH STOCHASTIC GRAPH GRAMMARS

DMREF: REINVENTING CEMENT PRODUCTION THROUGH FLASH JOULE HEATING -CEMENT IS THE BACKBONE OF MODERN INFRASTRUCTURE, USED IN EVERYTHING FROM BUILDINGS AND ROADS TO BRIDGES AND ENERGY SYSTEMS. YET, ITS PRODUCTION IS AMONG THE MOST ENERGY-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES, ACCOUNTING FOR 2-3 PERCENT OF GLOBAL ENERGY USE AND APPROXIMATELY 9 PERCENT OF HUMAN-MADE CO2 EMISSIONS. TRADITIONAL CEMENT MANUFACTURING RELIES ON FOSSIL-FUEL-BASED KILNS THAT HEAT MATERIALS TO EXTREME TEMPERATURES FOR HOURS, MAKING THE PROCESS INEFFICIENT, COSTLY AND DIFFICULT TO ELECTRIFY. AS GLOBAL DEMAND RISES DUE TO POPULATION GROWTH AND AGING INFRASTRUCTURE, THERE IS AN URGENT NEED FOR NEW PRODUCTION METHODS THAT IMPROVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY, REDUCE COST AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, AND MAINTAIN HIGH PERFORMANCE. THIS DESIGNING MATERIALS TO REVOLUTIONIZE AND ENGINEER OUR FUTURE (DMREF) PROJECT INTRODUCES FLASH JOULE HEATING (FJH), AN ELECTRIFIED PROCESS THAT RAPIDLY HEATS RAW MATERIALS TO EXTREME TEMPERATURES IN SECONDS?ENABLING FAST, ENERGY-EFFICIENT SYNTHESIS OF CEMENT CLINKER. ITS COMPACT, MODULAR NATURE SUPPORTS DECENTRALIZED PRODUCTION, REDUCING TRANSPORTATION-RELATED COSTS AND EMISSIONS WHILE ENABLING LOCAL USE OF RAW MATERIALS AND INDUSTRIAL WASTES. BY INTEGRATING ADVANCED SYNTHESIS, MODELING, EXPERIMENTS, AND AI-GUIDED OPTIMIZATION, THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO REVOLUTIONIZE CEMENT PRODUCTION WHILE TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS IN MATERIALS SCIENCE, CIVIL ENGINEERING, AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. THIS PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH FLASH JOULE HEATING AS A SCIENTIFICALLY GROUNDED, ELECTRIFIED METHOD FOR SYNTHESIZING CEMENT CLINKER AND MINERALS WITH ULTRAHIGH ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND PHASE SELECTIVITY. UNLIKE CONVENTIONAL KILNS, FJH APPLIES SHORT, HIGH-POWER ELECTRICAL PULSES TO HEAT RAW MATERIALS ABOVE 3000 K IN SECONDS, ENABLING THE RAPID FORMATION OF REACTIVE CLINKER PHASES PRESENT IN CONVENTIONAL CEMENT CLINKER, SUCH AS TRICALCIUM SILICATE, DICALCIUM SILICATE, AND TRICALCIUM ALUMINATE, BUT AT SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER ENERGY COST. THE RESEARCH INTEGRATES THERMODYNAMIC MODELING, ATOMISTIC SIMULATIONS, AND ADVANCED CHARACTERIZATION TO UNCOVER HIGH-TEMPERATURE REACTION MECHANISMS AND GUIDE FJH PROCESS OPTIMIZATION. THE RESULTING FJH CLINKER WILL BE EVALUATED IN TERMS OF MINERALOGY, ATOMIC STRUCTURE, REACTION KINETICS AND MECHANISMS, PORE STRUCTURE AND ENGINEERING PERFORMANCE (E.G., WORKABILITY, STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT, DURABILITY). THESE INSIGHTS WILL INFORM THE DESIGN OF BLENDED CEMENTS INCORPORATING FJH CLINKER AND SUPPLEMENTARY CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS TO DELIVER HIGH PERFORMANCE AT LOW COST. THE WORK WILL BE SUPPORTED BY LIFE CYCLE AND TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSES, ALONG WITH AI-DRIVEN MODELING TO ACCELERATE SYNTHESIS OPTIMIZATION AND FORMULATION DISCOVERY. THIS CLOSED-LOOP FRAMEWORK SUPPORTS ELECTRIFIED, DECENTRALIZED CEMENT PRODUCTION WITH UNPRECEDENTED ENERGY EFFICIENCY. BY TIGHTLY INTEGRATING SYNTHESIS, MULTISCALE MODELING, EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION, AND AI-GUIDED DESIGN, THE PROJECT DIRECTLY ADVANCES THE GOALS OF DMREF AND THE MATERIALS GENOME INITIATIVE?ACCELERATING MATERIALS DISCOVERY AND DEPLOYMENT IN A CRITICAL INDUSTRIAL SECTOR. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

BIOBEHAVIORAL MECHANISMS OF SMARTPHONE-BASED COGNITIVE EMOTION REGULATION TRAINING FOR UNPAID PRIMARY CAREGIVERS OF PERSONS WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE - PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE (AD) AND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE-RELATED DEMENTIAS (ADRD) NOT ONLY EXACT A HEAVY TOLL ON PATIENTS, THEY ALSO IMPOSE AN ENORMOUS EMOTIONAL, PHYSICAL, AND FINANCIAL BURDEN ON UNPAID, OFTEN FAMILY, CAREGIVERS. THE STRAIN OF PROVIDING CARE FOR A LOVED ONE DIAGNOSED WITH AD, OFTEN ACROSS SEVERAL YEARS, IS ASSOCIATED WITH ELEVATED DEPRESSION RISK AND POORER OVERALL HEALTH. EXISTING COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION APPROACHES FOR ADRD UNPAID PRIMARY CAREGIVERS OPERATE VIA BIOBEHAVIORAL MECHANISMS THAT REMAIN TO BE CLARIFIED. IN ADDITION, EXISTING INTERVENTIONS TARGET MANY COMPONENTS AND STRATEGIES SIMULTANEOUSLY, MAKING INFERENCES ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PARTICULAR STRATEGIES DIFFICULT TO DRAW, AND INVOLVE SUBSTANTIAL TIME/COST BURDENS. EMOTION REGULATION SKILLS REPRESENT AN IDEAL TARGET FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTION TO PROMOTE HEALTHY COPING IN ADRD CAREGIVERS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH SEEKS TO USE AN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE APPROACH TO TEST THE EFFICACY AND BIOBEHAVIORAL MECHANISMS OF A NOVEL, RELATIVELY BRIEF, TARGETED, SCALABLE, ENTIRELY SMARTPHONE-BASED COGNITIVE EMOTION REGULATION INTERVENTION AIMED AT IMPROVING PSYCHOLOGICAL OUTCOMES (I.E., REDUCING PERCEIVED STRESS, CAREGIVER BURDEN, AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS) IN ADRD UNPAID PRIMARY CAREGIVERS AS WELL AS EXAMINE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF THE CAREGIVER INTERVENTION ON QUALITY OF LIFE IN CARE RECIPIENTS. COGNITIVE REAPPRAISAL (I.E., THE ABILITY TO MODIFY THE TRAJECTORY OF AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE BY THINKING ABOUT AND APPRAISING EMOTIONAL INFORMATION IN AN ALTERNATIVE, MORE ADAPTIVE WAY) REPRESENTS A HIGHLY PROMISING TARGET FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTION IN ADRD CAREGIVERS. REAPPRAISAL CAN BE OPERATIONALIZED VIA TWO PRIMARY TACTICS: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTANCING (I.E. APPRAISING AN EMOTIONAL STIMULUS AS AN OBJECTIVE, IMPARTIAL OBSERVER) AND REINTERPRETATION (I.E., IMAGINING A BETTER OUTCOME THAN WHAT INITIALLY SEEMED APPARENT). THE PROPOSED PROJECT BUILDS UPON PROMISING PRELIMINARY WORK TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFICACY AND UNDERLYING BIOBEHAVIORAL MECHANISMS OF A NOVEL, ONE-WEEK COGNITIVE REAPPRAISAL INTERVENTION IN THIS POPULATION, WITH FOLLOW-UP ASSESSMENTS AT 2 WEEKS, 4 WEEKS, AND 3 MONTHS. ADRD UNPAID PRIMARY CAREGIVERS WILL BE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO RECEIVE TRAINING IN EITHER DISTANCING, REINTERPRETATION, OR A NO REGULATION NATURAL HISTORY CONTROL CONDITION, WITH ECOLOGICAL MOMENTARY ASSESSMENTS OF SELF-REPORTED POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE AFFECT, REMOTELY- COLLECTED PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL HEALTH-RELATED BIOMARKERS (I.E., HEART RATE VARIABILITY DATA MEASURED USING SMARTPHONE-BASED PHOTOPLETHYSMOGRAPHY), AND HEALTH-RELATED QUESTIONNAIRE REPORTS. THE PROPOSED STUDY AIMS TO MECHANISTICALLY RELATE CHANGES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTION TO PREDICTION OF HEALTH-RELEVANT BEHAVIORAL OUTCOMES DURING A NOVEL EMOTION REGULATION INTERVENTION NEVER BEFORE IMPLEMENTED IN THIS STRESSED, HIGH RISK GROUP.

MICRO TECHNULOGY SYSTEM

CELL AUTONOMOUS AND NON AUTONOMOUS INDUCTION OF DEGENERATION IN DROSOPHILA

PURPOSE: THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL DEVELOP THE ETHOS TESTING FRAMEWORK THAT EXAMINES NOT ONLY THE COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE BUT ALSO THE IMPACT OF THE COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT AND THE INTRICACIES OF THE MACHINE LEARNING DOMAIN ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE RAN SOFTWARE. CURRENT TESTING METHODOLOGIES FOR WIRELESS PRODUCTS HAVE PREDOMINANTLY FOCUSED ON THE COMMUNICATION DIMENSION, EVALUATING ASPECTS SUCH AS LOAD TESTING AND CHANNEL EMULATION. HOWEVER, THE ESCALATING TREND TOWARDS SOFTWARE-BASED WIRELESS PRODUCTS NECESSITATES A MORE HOLISTIC APPROACH TO TESTING, ONE THAT ENCOMPASSES THE COMPUTING DIMENSION. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THIS RESEARCH IS PROPOSING THREE MAIN THRUSTS: 1) DEVELOPMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE RAN SOFTWARE TESTING FRAMEWORK, EXPLORING THE COMPUTATION AND COMMUNICATION DIMENSIONS AND EVALUATING STABILITY AND INTEROPERABILITY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, AND COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE FOR THE RAN SOFTWARE UNDER TEST, 2) CREATION OF EXTENSIVE TEST CASES REPRESENTED AS NOVEL MARKOV DECISION PROCESSES AND 3) IMPLEMENTATION OF MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS TO DEVELOP A NOVEL TESTING METHODOLOGY THAT WILL CHARACTERIZE CONSISTENCY AND ROBUSTNESS, TWO BASIC METRICS FOR MACHINE LEARNING ENABLED 5G RAN SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESULTS OF THE PROJECT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM THE CURRENT PARADIGM OF SOFTWARE-BASED AND MACHINE LEARNING ENABLED WIRELESS PRODUCT TESTING, MAKING IT MORE COMPREHENSIVE AND RESPONSIVE TO THE COMPLEXITIES OF REAL-WORLD NETWORK ENVIRONMENTS. THIS WILL RESULT IN MORE RELIABLE, ENERGY-EFFICIENT, AND HIGH-PERFORMING 5G RANS, FOSTERING THE SUCCESSFUL DEPLOYMENT OF 5G AND BEYOND WIRELESS NETWORKS. BY CREATING AN INNOVATIVE, MULTILAYERED APPROACH TO SOFTWARE TESTING, THE RESEARCH WILL EQUIP THE INDUSTRY WITH THE NECESSARY TOOLS TO EVALUATE AND ENSURE THE STABILITY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, AND THROUGHPUT OF THEIR SOFTWARE-BASED AND MACHINE LEARNING ENABLED WIRELESS PRODUCTS. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: RICE UNIVERSITY HAS CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH SEVERAL INDUSTRY COLLABORATORS AND EARLY ADOPTERS WHO HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST IN INTEGRATING THE TESTING FRAMEWORK INTO THEIR PRODUCTS. THROUGH FURTHER COLLABORATION AND ADOPTION, THIS PROJECT EXPECTS TO BENEFIT OTHER PRODUCT DEVELOPERS, CERTIFICATION BODIES, AND THE BROADER COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THIS PROJECT DOES NOT ANTICIPATE USING SUBRECIPIENTS OR SUBAWARDS.

EXPANDING THE UTILITY OF TRANSCRIPTIONAL BACTERIAL COMPUTING

GENETIC AND EXTRINSIC MECHANISMS GOVERNING EARLY ENTERIC NERVOUS SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT - RESIDENT BETWEEN THE MUSCLE WALLS OF THE ENTIRE GASTROINTESTINAL (GI) TRACT, THE ENTERIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (ENS) CONSISTS OF A SERIES OF INTERCONNECTED NEURONS AND GLIA, NUMBERED IN THE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS. THE ENS CONTROLS ESSENTIAL GUT FUNCTIONS, SUCH AS PERISTALSIS, WATER BALANCE AND INTESTINAL BARRIER HOMEOSTASIS. THE ENS IS DERIVED FROM ENTERIC NEURAL PROGENITORS (ENPS) THAT MIGRATE INTO THE DEVELOPING GUT TUBE DURING EMBRYOGENESIS AND DIFFERENTIATE INTO ENTERIC NEURONS OR GLIA. DISRUPTION IN ENS FORMATION RESULTS IN THE CONGENITAL CONDITION HIRSCHSPRUNG DISEASE (HSCR), IN WHICH VARIABLE REGIONS OF THE GI LACK ENS—THE MOST COMMON FORM OF HSCR PRESENTS ALONG THE DISTAL COLON, ALSO KNOWN AS COLONIC AGANGLIONOSIS. THE UNDERLYING CELLULAR MECHANISMS THAT ENPS UTILIZE TO MIGRATE INTO AND SPATIALLY POSITION ALONG THE GUT TUBE, AS WELL AS GENETIC PROGRAMS THEY EXECUTE TO DIFFERENTIATE INTO ENTERIC NEURONS HAVE NOT BEEN WELL STUDIED IN VIVO, THEREFORE LIMITING OUR KNOWLEDGE OF HOW THE ENS MANIFESTS. THE OVERALL GOAL IS TO EXPAND FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE GENES UTILIZED TO EXECUTE THE COMPLEX MECHANISMS NECESSARY FOR ENS FORMATION, WITH AN EYE FOR INFORMING DOWNSTREAM TRANSLATIONAL THERAPEUTIC STUDIES. IN THIS PROPOSAL, WE UTILIZE ZEBRAFISH EMBRYOS DUE TO THEIR GENETIC CONSERVATION WITH HUMANS, THE EASE OF VIEWING THEIR EXTERNAL DEVELOPMENT AND FOR THEIR OPTICAL TRANSPARENCY. BUILDING OFF OF SINGLE-CELL TRANSCRIPTOMIC DATA SETS GENERATED FROM ENP CELLS COLLECTED DURING THEIR EARLY NEUROGENESIS ALONG THE GUT TUBE, AIM 1 WILL EXAMINE A HYPOTHESIS THAT THE SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF NEWLY UNCOVERED ENP TRANSCRIPTIONAL SUBPOPULATIONS PREDICT FUTURE ENTERIC NEURON PLACEMENT AND TERMINAL DIFFERENTIATION ALONG THE GUT TUBE. IN AGREEMENT WITH AND EXTENDING OBSERVATIONS IN MAMMALIAN MODELS, WE HAVE RECENTLY DISCOVERED THAT RETINOIC ACID (RA) SIGNALING IS CRITICAL GLOBALLY DURING EARLY STEPS OF ZEBRAFISH ENS DEVELOPMENT; HOWEVER, HOW RA SIGNALING AUTONOMOUSLY INFLUENCES ENS ONTOGENESIS IN VIVO IS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD IN ANY SYSTEM TO DATE. AIM 2 WILL INVESTIGATE A HYPOTHESIS THAT THE RA PATHWAY AUTONOMOUSLY CONTROLS ENP DIFFERENTIATION STATES AND MIGRATION PATTERNS ALONG THE GUT TUBE USING CUTTING EDGE SINGLE-CELL TRANSCRIPTOMICS, OPTOGENETICS AND IN VIVO IMAGING. WE WILL ALSO TEST A MECHANISTIC MODEL IN AIM 2 THAT CANDIDATE TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS FUNCTION INTRINSICALLY DOWNSTREAM OF RA IN ENPS TO GOVERN ENS FORMATION, THEREBY EXPANDING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENS GENE REGULATORY NETWORK. AIM 3 WILL USE GENETIC MODULATION OF THE CELL CYCLE, QUANTITATIVE IN VIVO IMAGING AND CELL TRACKING TEST A CELLULAR MECHANISTIC MODEL THAT ENPS COUPLE PROLIFERATION WITH MIGRATION TO DICTATE PROPER ENTERIC NEURON PATTERNING IN THE GUT DOWNSTREAM OF THE RA PATHWAY. THE RESULTS OF THESE AIMS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE GENETIC, MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR UNDERPINNINGS OF ENP DEVELOPMENT AND EARLY ENS CREATION AND THEY WILL PROVIDE A NEW MECHANISTIC FRAMEWORK FOR STUDYING THESE DEVELOPMENTALLY IMPORTANT CELLS IN VIVO.

TAS::57 3600::TAS "(BRI) SCIENCE AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY OF 2D ATOMIC LAYERED MATERIALS AND DEVICES"

NETS: LARGE: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PRACTICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR NETWORKING WITH MANY-ANTENNA BASE STATIONS

FUSE: ULTRA-LOW-ENERGY LOGIC-IN-MEMORY COMPUTING USING MULTIFERROIC SPINTRONICS -NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION THE ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF COMPUTING IS A SIGNIFICANT GLOBAL CHALLENGE, AS THE DEMAND FOR COMPUTING EXPLODES. IF CURRENT TRENDS PERSIST, COMPUTING WILL SOON BECOME THE DOMINANT ENERGY CONSUMER. LIMITS TO ENERGY PRODUCTION AND STORAGE WILL LIMIT AVAILABILITY OF CRITICAL APPLICATIONS AND HINDER DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES. SPINTRONICS, WHICH USES AN ELECTRON?S SPIN AS WELL AS ITS CHARGE, OFFER A NEW PARADIGM FOR COMPUTING THAT CAN MEET THIS CHALLENGE. THIS FUSE PROJECT AIMS TO ENABLE A NEW GENERATION OF ENERGY-EFFICIENT COMPUTING DEVICES BY INTEGRATING MATERIALS RESEARCH, DEVICE PHYSICS AND ULTIMATELY CIRCUIT DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURES. THESE DEVICES WILL BE BASED ON MATERIALS WITH ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES THAT CAN BE CONTROLLED BY EXTERNAL FIELDS, CALLED MULTIFERROICS. THE TEAM IS COMMITTED TO EDUCATING THE NEXT GENERATION SEMICONDUCTOR WORKFORCE. A DIVERSE GROUP OF GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL BE TRAINED IN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH, WITH A FOCUS ON THOSE FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN STEM. THE PIS WILL ALSO DEVELOP EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS AND PARTICIPATE IN K-12 OUTREACH EVENTS TO INSPIRE A BROAD AUDIENCE. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION THIS PROJECT EXPLORES ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN AND DETECTED SPIN TRANSPORT IN A VOLTAGE-SWITCHABLE MULTIFERROIC INSULATOR AS THE FOUNDATION FOR ULTRA-LOW-ENERGY LOGIC-IN-MEMORY COMPUTING. BY EXPLOITING THE CORRELATION AND NON-VOLATILITY IN MULTIFERROIC MATERIALS, THE TEAM AIMS TO GREATLY REDUCE THE OPERATING VOLTAGE OF COMPUTERS SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW WHAT IS ACHIEVABLE BY TODAY'S COMPLEMENTARY METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR (CMOS) TECHNOLOGY AND ENABLE TRANSFORMATIVE LOGIC-IN-MEMORY COMPUTING ARCHITECTURES WITH SIGNIFICANTLY ALLEVIATED COMMUNICATION COSTS BETWEEN MEMORY AND LOGIC. THE PROJECT SEEKS TO OBTAIN FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING AND TRANSFORMATIVE INNOVATIONS BY PROBING MULTIFERROIC MATERIALS AND DEVICES AT UNPRECEDENTED DIMENSION, TIME, AND ENERGY SCALES. THE TEAM AIMS TO ADDRESS ENGINEERING CHALLENGES BY INTEGRATING BOTTOM-UP RESEARCH ON MATERIALS SYNTHESIS, FABRICATION, AND JUNCTION PHYSICS, AND TOP-DOWN FROM SYSTEMS AND CIRCUIT REQUIREMENTS. THE PROJECT INVOLVES SIGNIFICANT EFFORTS TO DEVELOP ADVANCED CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES INCLUDING OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY, ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, AND MAGNETOTRANSPORT FOR MULTIFERROIC MATERIALS AND HETEROSTRUCTURES. IN ADDITION, THE PROJECT DEVELOPS A CIRCUIT SIMULATION FRAMEWORK AND REFERENCE CIRCUIT DESIGNS, TO REALISTICALLY EVALUATE MULTIFERROIC SPINTRONICS AT THE SYSTEM LEVEL AND FACILITATE TOP-DOWN RESEARCH. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

STRUCTURAL BASIS OF REPLISOME MEDIATED DNA REPLICATION AND REPAIR - DNA IS THE BLUEPRINT OF LIFE AND DNA REPLICATION AND MAINTENANCE ARE ESSENTIAL FOR HUMAN HEALTH. DAMAGES ON DNA DUE TO ENDOGENOUS OR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSAULTS CAN HAMPER DNA REPLICATION AND INDUCE GENOME ABNORMITIES AND HUMAN DISEASES. A REPLISOME IS A MULTI-PROTEIN COMPLEX RESPONSIBLE FOR DNA REPLICATION. MOREOVER, AS THE FIRST ONE TO MEET ANY REPLICATION BARRIER, THE REPLISOME PLAYS ESSENTIAL ROLES IN SIGNALING REPLICATION STRESS AND FACILITATING DNA REPAIR. HOWEVER, THE STRUCTURAL BASIS OF REPLISOME OPERATION AND REPLISOME MEDIATED REPLICATION STRESS RESPONSE AND REPAIR REMAINS UNCLEAR. WE PROPOSE TO USE BIOCHEMICAL RECONSTITUTION AND CRYO-EM STRUCTURAL DETERMINATION TO INVESTIGATE HOW THE REPLISOME ACTS UNDER NORMAL AND STRESSED CONDITIONS AND HOW DISFUNCTION OF THE REPLISOME LEADS TO GENETIC VARIATIONS AND HUMAN DISEASES. FIRST, WE WILL EMPLOY REPLISOME FROM BACTERIOPHAGE T7 AS A MODEL SYSTEM TO INVESTIGATE THE STRUCTURAL BASIS OF REPLISOME OPERATION UNDER STRESSED CONDITIONS. I HAVE RECENTLY OBTAINED THE FIRST STRUCTURE OF THE T7 REPLISOME OPERATING ON ITS DNA SUBSTRATE, WHICH ILLUSTRATED THE ORGANIZATION AND THE WORKING MECHANISM OF A REPLISOME. WE WILL FURTHER INVESTIGATE HOW THE T7 REPLISOME RESPONSES TO VARIOUS REPLICATION BARRIERS TO TRIGGER APPROPRIATE REPLICATION-COUPLED REPAIR. SECOND, WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE STRUCTURAL BASIS OF MITOCHONDRIA DNA REPLICATION. MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWER HOUSE OF A CELL AND ERRORS ON MITOCHONDRIA DNA DUE TO FAULTY DNA REPLICATION ARE CONNECTED TO MANY HUMAN GENETIC DISEASES. WE WILL RECONSTITUTE THE MITOCHONDRIA REPLISOME AND INVESTIGATE HOW MITOCHONDRIA DNA IS REPLICATED AND HOW MUTATIONS ON MITOCHONDRIA REPLISOME LEAD TO HUMAN DISEASES. OUR INVESTIGATIONS WILL PROVIDE THE FIRST STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING REPLISOME MEDIATED DNA REPLICATION, STRESS RESPONSE AND REPAIR. THE STRUCTURAL INFORMATION WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL THERAPIES TO TARGET OR AVOID TARGETING DNA REPLICATION.

NEW; THE DAWN OF BORON FULLERENES: KEY ISSUES OF STABILITY AND SYNTHETIC ROUTES; PI - BORIS I. YAKOBSON

RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE: PHYNETPY: AN OPEN-SOURCE LIBRARY FOR DEVELOPING PHYLOGENETIC NETWORK INFERENCE AND ANALYSIS CAPABILITIES -AN AWARD IS MADE TO RICE UNIVERSITY TO ENABLE THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHYNETPY?A COMPREHENSIVE, OPEN-SOURCE PYTHON LIBRARY, AVAILABLE TO DEVELOPERS AND BIOLOGISTS WORKING ON OR USING PHYLOGENETIC NETWORKS. THE LIBRARY WILL OFFER USER-FRIENDLY INFERENCE AND ANALYSIS METHODS, FUNDAMENTAL DATA STRUCTURES, AND ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS FOR DEVELOPERS TO RAPIDLY IMPLEMENT THEIR IDEAS AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE EXPANSION OF THE PHYLOGENETIC NETWORK TOOLKIT. THIS PROJECT WILL FOSTER RESEARCH IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING, MATHEMATICAL MODELING, AND ALGORITHM DESIGN WHILE PROVIDING VALUABLE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS AT THE INTERSECTION OF COMPUTING AND BIOLOGY. RESEARCH FINDINGS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO COURSES TAUGHT BY THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR AT RICE UNIVERSITY AND SHARED THROUGH PUBLICATIONS IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS AND CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS. ADDITIONALLY, THE SOFTWARE LIBRARY WILL BE MADE ACCESSIBLE VIA A DEDICATED WEBSITE THAT INCLUDES USER AND DEVELOPER MANUALS, TUTORIALS, DEMONSTRATION VIDEOS, AND A DISCUSSION FORUM. RESEARCHERS FROM THE BIOLOGY AND COMPUTING FIELDS HAVE LONG BEEN CREATING MATHEMATICAL MODELS, ALGORITHMIC SOLUTIONS, AND SOFTWARE TOOLS TO RECONSTRUCT THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORIES OF GENES, GENOMES, AND SPECIES FROM GENOMIC DATA. NOTABLY, EXTENSIVE LIBRARIES OF DATA STRUCTURES AND ALGORITHMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO ENABLE BROADER COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS IN CREATING TOOLS FOR THIS PURPOSE. A SALIENT FEATURE OF ALMOST ALL OF THESE EFFORTS IS THE MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY AS A TREE. WHILE TREE MODELS ARE ADEQUATE FOR REPRESENTING CERTAIN EVOLUTIONARY HISTORIES, MORE COMPLEX PROCESSES SUCH AS HYBRIDIZATION AND HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER ARE BETTER MODELED USING PHYLOGENETIC NETWORKS. HOWEVER, THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR INFERRING AND ANALYZING PHYLOGENETIC NETWORKS HAS NOT KEPT PACE WITH THE PLETHORA OF PHYLOGENETIC TREE SOFTWARE. SPECIFICALLY, THERE IS A NOTABLE ABSENCE OF A GENERAL-PURPOSE SOFTWARE LIBRARY THAT ENABLES DEVELOPERS TO QUICKLY PROTOTYPE NEW ALGORITHMS AND METHODS, HINDERING PROGRESS IN THIS AREA. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO RECTIFY THIS GAP BY DEVELOPING PHYNETPY. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

THE AGEP DATA ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE ALLIANCE MODEL: TRAINING AND RESOURCES TO ADVANCE MINORITY GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS INTO FACULTY CAREERS

INJECTABLE CELLULAR COMPOSITES FOR CARTILAGE ENGINEERING

SITE-SPECIFIC CONTROL OF HUMAN GENE REGULATION FOR THERAPEUTICALLY APPLICABLE MECHANISTIC INSIGHTS - PROJECT SUMMARY DYSREGULATED GENE EXPRESSION IS A WIDESPREAD AND DISEASE-AGNOSTIC DRIVER OF HUMAN ILLNESS. THEREFORE, THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND AND PRECISELY CONTROL GENE EXPRESSION HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE THERAPEUTIC LANDSCAPE. THE EXPRESSION OF HUMAN GENES IS NATURALLY CONTROLLED BY AN ELEGANT CONVERGENCE OF REGULATORY FORCES, INCLUDING THE PHYSICAL COMPACTION OF CHROMATIN, POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS (PTMS) TO HISTONE PROTEINS, DNA METHYLATION, AND THE DYNAMIC ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS AND CHROMATIN MODIFYING PROTEINS AND THE HUMAN GENOME. ALTHOUGH THIS COORDINATED CONTROL SAFEGUARDS THE BALANCE BETWEEN HEALTH AND DISEASE, OUR MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THESE REGULATORY FORCES UNITE TO DRIVE HUMAN GENE EXPRESSION, AND HOW THEY CAN BE PREDICTABLY REDESIGNED FOR NEW THERAPIES, REMAINS LIMITED. PROGRAMMABLE EPIGENOME EDITING TOOLS BASED UPON NUCLEASE NULL CRISPR/CAS-BASED SYSTEMS HAVE RECENTLY EMERGED AND ENABLE NEW WAYS TO CONTROL ENDOGENOUS HUMAN GENE EXPRESSION AND COVALENT MODIFICATIONS TO NATIVE CHROMATIN. DESPITE THIS EXCITING PROGRESS, MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL AND CONCEPTUAL GAPS REMAIN. FOR INSTANCE, IT IS MECHANISTICALLY UNCLEAR HOW THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF SPECIFIC GENES CAN BE PRECISELY TUNED OVER WIDE RANGES IN HUMAN CELLS. IN ADDITION, IT IS INCOMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD WHY THE SAME TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS AND CHROMATIN MODIFIERS HAVE DIFFERENT EFFECTS WHEN LOCALIZED TO SPECIFIC REGULATORY ELEMENTS IN DIFFERENT HUMAN CELL TYPES. FURTHER, THE SPATIOTEMPORAL STABILITY AND FUNCTIONAL DURATIONS OF TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS AND CHROMATIN MODIFIERS AT DIFFERENT GENOMIC LOCI ARE NOT WELL DEFINED. THE GOAL OF THIS MIRA PROJECT IS TO OVERCOME THESE CONCEPTUAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL GAPS BY DEVELOPING AND COMBINING DIVERSE CRISPR/CAS-BASED TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS AND CHROMATIN MODIFIERS WITH BULK AND SINGLE CELL EPIGENOMICS AND SENSITIVE PROTEOMICS. WE WILL USE THIS MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ANSWER FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT HUMAN GENE REGULATORY MECHANISMS INCLUDING: (1) HOW CAN HUMAN GENE EXPRESSION BE SITE- SPECIFICALLY CONTROLLED AT THE RESOLUTION OBSERVED IN HEALTH AND DISEASE? (2) WHAT ARE THE CAUSAL FUNCTIONS AND OPERATIONAL STABILITIES OF DIVERSE CHROMATIN MODIFICATIONS? (3) TO WHAT EXTENT DOES CHROMATIN COMPACTION, MODIFICATION STATE, PROTEIN COMPLEX COMPOSITION, AND SPATIAL PROXIMITY AFFECT THE FUNCTION OF TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS AND CHROMATIN MODIFIERS? ALTOGETHER, OUR PROPOSAL HAS GREAT POTENTIAL TO UNCOVER AND ENABLE CONTROL OVER PIVOTAL MECHANISMS WITH BROAD AND SIGNIFICANT IMPORTANCE TO HUMAN HEALTH.

HIGH-THROUGHPUT CHARACTERIZATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDE-PHOPQ INTERACTIONS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT THE HUMAN IMMUNE SYSTEM PRODUCES AT LEAST 140 DIFFERENT ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDES (AMPS) TO KILL INVADING BACTERIA. HOWEVER, PATHOGENIC BACTERIA USE SPECIALIZED PATHWAYS CALLED TWO-COMPONENT SYSTEMS (TCSS) TO DETECT THESE AMPS AND ACTIVATE THE EXPRESSION OF AMP-RESISTANCE AND VIRULENCE GENES. THIS RESPONSE ENABLES PATHOGENS TO SURVIVE IMMUNE ATTACKS AND MOUNT DEADLY INFECTIONS. THEREFORE, ELUCIDATING THE MECHANISMS BY WHICH PEPTIDES INTERACT WITH TCSS IS CRITICAL TO UNDERSTANDING HOW INFECTIONS PROGRESS. THIS KNOWLEDGE COULD ALSO LEAD TO THE DESIGN OF NEW ANTIMICROBIAL DRUGS THAT INTERFERE WITH TCS-MEDIATED AMP SENSING. GRAM-NEGATIVE ENTEROBACTERIACEAE, SUCH AS THE COMMON PATHOGEN SALMONELLA TYPHIMURIUM, CAUSE 200,000 INFECTIONS AND 10,000 DEATHS IN THE UNITED STATES EACH YEAR. THE MOST IMPORTANT AMP-SENSING TCS IN GRAM-NEGATIVE ENTEROBACTERIACEAE IS NAMED PHOPQ. HERE, THE MEMBRANE BOUND HISTIDINE KINASE PHOQ SENSES AMPS AND RESPONDS BY PHOSPHORYLATING THE CYTOPLASMIC RESPONSE REGULATOR PHOP, WHICH ACTIVATES A GENE EXPRESSION RESPONSE. THOUGH ITS INTERACTIONS WITH A SMALL NUMBER OF MODEL AMPS HAVE BEEN CHARACTERIZED, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE BROADER PEPTIDE BINDING AND SENSING CAPABILITIES OF PHOQ. THE MAJOR LIMITATIONS HAVE BEEN THE COST AND TIME REQUIRED TO CHEMICALLY SYNTHESIZE PEPTIDES AND CHARACTERIZE THEIR EFFECTS ON TCSS USING TRADITIONAL MICROBIOLOGICAL OR BIOCHEMICAL METHODS. IN PRELIMINARY WORK, WE HAVE DEVELOPED A NEW TECHNOLOGY NAMED SLAY-TCS THAT COMBINES BACTERIAL PEPTIDE DISPLAY, FLUORESCENCE-ACTIVATED CELL SORTING, AND NEXT-GENERATION DNA SEQUENCING TO MEASURE HOW S. TYPHIMURIUM PHOQ RESPONDS TO MILLIONS OF PEPTIDES IN A SINGLE EXPERIMENT. USING SLAY-TCS, WE HAVE ALREADY REVEALED THAT PHOQ SENSES A FAR WIDER RANGE OF PEPTIDES THAN PREVIOUSLY KNOWN. HERE, WE PROPOSE TO USE SLAY-TCS TO CHARACTERIZE HOW S. TYPHIMURIUM PHOQ RESPONDS TO NEARLY EVERY AMP PRODUCED BY THE HUMAN IMMUNE SYSTEM, AND THOUSANDS OF MUTANTS THEREOF, IN ORDER TO REVEAL THE IDENTITIES, SEQUENCE MOTIFS, AND BIOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF PHOQ-ACTIVATING PEPTIDES (AIM 1). WE WILL ALSO COMBINE THIS APPROACH WITH PHOQ MUTATIONAL ANALYSES TO REVEAL HOW PHOQ SENSING SPECIFICITY HAS EVOLVED ACROSS DIVERSE PATHOGENS, WHICH MAY HAVE ENABLED THEM TO ADAPT TO DIFFERENT BIOGEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS IN VIVO (AIM 2). FINALLY, WE WILL USE SLAY-TCS TO PERFORM THE FIRST LARGE-SCALE CHARACTERIZATION OF PEPTIDE INHIBITORS OF PHOQ, AND EXPLORE THE EFFICACY OF THE STRONGEST INHIBITORS WE IDENTIFY IN PREVENTING S. TYPHIMURIUM VIRULENCE IN PRIMARY MOUSE MACROPHAGES (AIM 3). THE WORK IN AIM 3 WILL REVEAL MECHANISMS BY WHICH EXOGENOUSLY-DELIVERED PEPTIDES CAN INHIBIT PHOQ, AND COULD LEAD TO THE DESIGN OF NOVEL ANTIMICROBIAL THERAPEUTICS BASED ON MODIFIED PEPTIDES IN THE FUTURE. TAKEN TOGETHER, THIS PROPOSAL WILL SUBSTANTIALLY ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW A DANGEROUS FAMILY OF BACTERIA CAUSES INFECTIONS IN HUMANS AND ACCELERATE THE DESIGN OF SORELY-NEEDED ANTIMICROBIAL THERAPEUTICS. FINALLY, OUR APPROACH COULD BE EXTENDED TO OTHER PEPTIDE-SENSING TCSS BEYOND PHOPQ IN FUTURE STUDIES. 1

THE INFECTION MECHANISM OF THE NEMATODE VIRUS ORSAY

THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF HUMAN EWING SARCOMA

DEGAS: DYNAMIC, EXASCALE GLOBAL ADDRESS SPACE

NETSE: LARGE: URBAN-SCALE POLYMORPHIC WIRELESS NETWORKS: COMMUNITY-DRIVEN ASSESSMENT DESIGN AND ACCESS

BIOPHYSICAL BASIS OF ORGANIZATION AND DYNAMICS OF PRESTIN MEMBRANE COMPLEXES

NEW START GRANT - MMSEC: EXPERIMENTAL PLATFORM FOR RESEARCHING NEW SECURITY THREATS AND CAPABILITIES ABOVE 100 GHZ

A SAMPLE-TO-ANSWER POINT-OF-CARE DIAGNOSTIC FOR RECENTLY TRANSFUSED SICKLE CELL ANEMIA PATIENTS IN LOW RESOURCE SETTINGS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT SICKLE CELL DISEASE (SCD) IS AN INHERITED HEMOGLOBIN DISORDER THAT IS HIGHLY PREVALENT IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES (LMICS), WITH OVER 75% OF AFFECTED GLOBAL BIRTHS OCCURRING IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. EARLY DIAGNOSIS THROUGH PEDIATRIC SCREENING, PARENTAL EDUCATION, AND PREVENTIVE TREATMENTS ARE KNOWN TO REDUCE DEATHS; HOWEVER, LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE HIGH COST OF DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS IN LOW-RESOURCE SETTINGS SEVERELY LIMIT EARLY DETECTION. AS A RESULT, MANY PEDIATRIC SCD PATIENTS PRESENT TO A HOSPITAL WITH ACUTE, SEVERE ANEMIA WITHOUT A DIAGNOSIS AND RECEIVE EMERGENCY BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS. EXISTING POINT-OF-CARE TESTS FUNCTION BY DETECTING AND CHARACTERIZING THE HEMOGLOBIN PROTEINS PRESENT IN A SAMPLE. IN CASES OF BLOOD TRANSFUSION, THESE TESTS DETECT NORMAL HEMOGLOBIN TRANSFUSED FROM THE BLOOD DONOR AS WELL AS SICKLE HEMOGLOBIN, THEREFORE MISDIAGNOSING PATIENTS AS SICKLE CELL CARRIERS. THIS LIMITATION MEANS EXISTING POINT-OF-CARE TESTS CANNOT BE USED FOR UP TO THREE MONTHS WITH PATIENTS WHO HAVE RECEIVED A BLOOD TRANSFUSION, WHICH CAUSES SIGNIFICANT DELAYS IN THE TIME TO DIAGNOSIS AND PREVENTS INITIATION OF TREATMENT. THERE IS AN URGENT NEED FOR AN INEXPENSIVE, EASY-TO-USE TEST THAT TARGETS THE GENETIC BASIS OF THE DISEASE AND CAN RAPIDLY DELIVER RESULTS SO THAT ACCURATE TREATMENT CAN BE INITIATED IMMEDIATELY AT THE POINT OF CARE. TO ADDRESS THIS NEED, WE WILL DEVELOP A RAPID, INEXPENSIVE NUCLEIC ACID-BASED TEST TO DETECT THE COMMON POINT MUTATIONS IN THE SS GLOBIN GENE THAT CAUSE SCD: SSS(GLU6VAL) AND SSC(GLU6LYS). WE PROPOSE A TEST THAT CAN DIFFERENTIATE THE FOLLOWING CLINICALLY RELEVANT GENOTYPES: 1) SCD PATIENTS (SSSSSS: SS, SSSSSC: SC); 2) UNAFFECTED INDIVIDUALS (SSASSA: AA); 3) SCD CARRIERS (SSASSS: AS, SSASSC: AC); AND 4) HEMOGLOBIN C DISEASE (SSCSSC: CC). BECAUSE BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS CONTAIN GLOBIN PROTEINS FROM THE DONOR, A NUCLEIC ACID TEST IS THE ONLY POSSIBILITY TO TEST INFANTS AND CHILDREN WHO HAVE RECENTLY UNDERGONE BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS. AN INEXPENSIVE POINT-OF-CARE TEST THAT ALLOWS RAPID DETECTION OF SCD IN ALL PATIENTS WOULD GREATLY IMPROVE CARE FOR CHILDREN WITH SCD. WE AIM TO: (1) DESIGN AND VALIDATE THE FIRST GENETIC POINT-OF-CARE NUCLEIC ACID AMPLIFICATION TEST FOR SICKLE CELL DISEASE THAT CAN BE USED IN RECENTLY TRANSFUSED PATIENTS; (2) IMPLEMENT THE TEST ON A LOW-COST, MANUFACTURABLE, FULLY INTEGRATED SAMPLE-TO-ANSWER PLATFORM; AND (3) EVALUATE SENSITIVITY, SPECIFICITY, AND USABILITY OF THE TEST IN TWO PILOT CLINICAL STUDIES. OUR TEAM AT RICE UNIVERSITY, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, AND KAMUZU CENTRAL HOSPITAL IN LILONGWE, MALAWI HAS THE NECESSARY EXPERTISE IN BIOENGINEERING AND CLINICAL DIAGNOSTICS TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGE OF DIAGNOSING SCD IN RESOURCE-LIMITED SETTINGS. OUR PROPOSED ASSAY MEETS THE OPTIMAL REQUIREMENTS FOR POINT-OF-CARE TESTING IN LMICS. FINALLY, IT WOULD ELIMINATE THE LONG DELAYS CURRENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH SAMPLE TRANSPORT OR TRANSFUSION FROM SCREEN-POSITIVE PATIENTS TO TESTING CENTERS, AND WOULD ENABLE IMMEDIATE INITIATION OF TREATMENT FOR INFANTS AND CHILDREN WITH A DIAGNOSIS OF SCD.

COMPUTATIONAL STUDIES OF MAGNETOSPHERIC STORM DYNAMICSWE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE FOUR LINKED FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE CAUSES CONSEQUENCES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MRI: DEVELOPMENT OF MOBILEWARP - A PLATFORM FOR NEXT-GENERATION WIRELESS NETWORKS AND MOBILE APPLICATIONS

IGERT: NANOPHOTONICS: FUNDAMENTALS AND APPLICATIONS IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGE

WNT PATHWAY DYNAMICS AND THEIR ROLE IN GENERATING SELF-ORGANIZED ECTODERMAL PATTERNS

SCH: PERSONALIZED RESCHEDULING OF ADAPTIVE RADIATION THERAPY FOR HEAD & NECK CANCER - HEAD AND NECK CANCERS (HNCS) ACCOUNT FOR NEARLY 3% OF ALL CANCERS IN THE U.S. AND MOST COMMONLY AFFECT AGING INDIVIDUALS. WHILE CHEMO-RADIOTHERAPY IS THE STANDARD TREATMENT APPROACH FOR HNC, THE METHOD IS KNOWN TO CAUSE SUBSTANTIAL SIDE-EFFECTS. IN PARTICULAR, ANATOMICAL CHANGES OCCURRING DURING THE TREATMENT MAY RESULT IN UNDER-COVERAGE OF THE CLINICAL TARGET VOLUME OR OVER-DOSAGE OF ORGANS AT RISK. THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP NOVEL OPTIMIZATION MODELS FOR ADAPTIVE RADIATION THERAPY (ART) – A CUSTOMIZED TREATMENT PLANNING APPROACH FOR INDIVIDUAL PATIENTS DESIGNED BY EVALUATING THE SYSTEMATIC AND RANDOM VARIATIONS IN TUMOR RESPONSE. THE MODELS WILL USE IMAGING DATA OF TUMOR VOLUME AND NORMAL TISSUE COMPLICATION PROBABILITIES TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMAL NUMBER AND TIMING OF TREATMENT REPLANS. THE MODELS WILL PROVIDE PERSONALIZED OPTIMIZATION THROUGH SEQUENTIAL DECISION-MAKING BASED ON RESPONSE TO TREATMENT, AS WELL AS OPTIMIZATION AND EVALUATION OF SIMPLE THRESHOLD REPLANNING POLICIES OFTEN USED BY DOCTORS. OPTIMAL BEHAVIOR IN THE FACE OF CONFLICTING PAYER/PROVIDER PERSPECTIVES FOR EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES WILL ALSO BE ANALYZED USING MECHANISM DESIGN TECHNIQUES. ART REQUIRES INFORMATION ABOUT PATIENT-STATE AS WELL AS TRANSITION PROBABILITIES DESCRIBING THE TUMOR'S EVOLUTION OVER TIME. SINCE THE PROCESS INHERENTLY CALLS FOR SEQUENTIAL DECISION-MAKING UNDER UNCERTAINTY, THE PROPOSED OPTIMIZATION MODELS USE A MARKOV DECISION PROCESS (MDP). THE RESULTING OPTIMAL POLICIES MAY BE DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT IN PRACTICE, ESPECIALLY IN CENTERS LACKING STATE-OF-THE-ART EQUIPMENT. THEREFORE, THE PROPOSED WORK WILL FURTHER EVALUATE SIMPLE THRESHOLD REPLANNING POLICIES USING A BILEVEL PROGRAMMING FRAMEWORK. IN PARTICULAR, THE BILEVEL PROGRAM WILL FIND THRESHOLD VALUES FOR VARIOUS PATIENT CLASSES BY MINIMIZING THE DEVIATION FROM THE MDP-PRESCRIBED POLICY. THE PROPOSED FRAMEWORK OFFERS MULTIPLE AVENUES FOR METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. THE NOVEL MDP DESIGN FRAMEWORK IS AN INCREDIBLY POWERFUL TOOL THAT CAN BE USED TO MODEL MANY INTERESTING QUESTIONS. WE WILL EXPLORE WAYS OF DISCRETIZING THE CONTINUOUS STATE SPACES AND ESTIMATING TRANSITION PROBABILITIES BASED ON PATIENT IMAGING DATA. WE WILL EXPLORE ALGORITHMS FOR SOLVING BILEVEL PROGRAMS, ESPECIALLY UTILIZING THE STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF THE LOWER-LEVEL MDP MODELS. FINALLY, WE WILL STUDY APPLICATIONS OF THE PRINCIPAL-AGENT FRAMEWORK FROM ECONOMICS IN MODELING PAYER/PROVIDER INTERACTIONS FOR EMERGING CLINICAL THERAPIES. RELEVANCE (SEE INSTRUCTIONS): THIS STUDY USES NOVEL MODELS TO DEVELOP AND VALIDATE AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO REDUCE CANCER RADIOTHERAPY SIDE EFFECTS WHILE MAINTAINING OR IMPROVING CANCER CONTROL. IT WILL MAXIMIZE EFFICIENCY FOR PATIENTS AND PROVIDERS. ITS FINDINGS WILL INFORM DECISIONS ABOUT INDIVIDUAL RADIATION PLANNING, OPTIMIZE RISK- STRATIFIED TREATMENT, AND HEALTHCARE POLICY IMPLEMENTATION OF EFFECTIVE NEW TECHNOLOGY INTERVENTIONS.

PROVECTORS FOR TREATMENT OF OVARIAN CANCER

EXTREME QUANTUM MATERIALS

GEOPRISMS OFFICE SUPPORT - BUILDING BEYOND MARGINS

ENABLING TECHNOLOGY TO STUDY MECHANOSENSITIVE AND MECHANORESISTANT CANCER CELLS IN FLOW - MECHANOTRANSDUCTION OF CANCER CELLS IN THE SOLID TUMOR ENVIRONMENT IS AN ACTIVE AREA OF RESEARCH, YET FAR LESS WORK HAS BEEN DONE TO EXAMINE THE BIOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF CANCER CELLS IN THE BLOOD FLOW ENVIRONMENT. RECENTLY, MECHANICAL STIMULI SUCH AS SHEAR STRESS HAVE RECEIVED ATTENTION FOR THEIR EFFECTS ON CANCER PROGRESSION. FOR INSTANCE, STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT SHEAR STRESS HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH ENHANCED METASTASIS AND CANCER CELL DEATH. IN THE APPLICANT’S LABORATORY, THE SYNERGISTIC EFFECT OF SHEAR STRESS ON TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR-RELATED APOPTOSIS INDUCING LIGAND (TRAIL)-INDUCED APOPTOSIS OF CIRCULATING TUMOR CELLS (CTCS) WAS DEMONSTRATED, AS WELL AS THE UNIQUE ABILITY OF CANCER CELLS TO SURVIVE EXTREMELY HIGH PULSES OF SHEAR STRESS, COMPARABLE TO BLOOD CELLS. THESE MECHANICAL CUES CAN BE TRANSLATED INTO BIOCHEMICAL RESPONSES IN CELLS THROUGH THE PROCESS OF MECHANOTRANSDUCTION. IT IS PROPOSED TO SUBJECT CELL SUSPENSIONS TO REPEATED SHEAR STRESS PULSES IN A MULTIWELL PLATE FORMAT TO STUDY SHEAR STRESS RESPONSE AND TO DEVELOP “MECHANORESISTANT” CELL LINES THAT WILL BE PHENOTYPICALLY AND GENOTYPICALLY CHARACTERIZED WITH THE GOAL OF IDENTIFYING THE DRIVERS THAT ENABLE CANCER CELLS TO SURVIVE IN CIRCULATION. MOREOVER, GIVEN THAT THE PRESENCE OF CTC AGGREGATES IN THE BLOOD SIGNAL MORE AGGRESSIVE AND METASTATIC DISEASE, MULTICELLULAR AGGREGATES MODELED AFTER AGGREGATES ISOLATED AND CHARACTERIZED FROM PROSTATE CANCER PATIENT BLOOD SAMPLES WILL BE TESTED IN VITRO FOR THEIR MECHANICAL RESPONSES, AND ALSO USED TO GUIDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODEL CELLS AND SPHEROIDS TO BE INJECTED INTO EXPERIMENTAL MOUSE MODELS OF BLOODBORNE METASTASIS. THIS RESEARCH IS ORGANIZED AROUND THREE SPECIFIC AIMS: SPECIFIC AIM 1: TO DEVELOP A NEW HIGH THROUGHPUT DEVICE TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF FLUID SHEAR STRESS ON CANCER CELL RESPONSES. A MULTIWELL PLATE CONFIGURATION BASED ON A BIOJET PRINTER WILL ENABLE DIRECT ANALYSIS WITH MULTIWELL PLATE-CAPABLE FLOW CYTOMETERS AND SPECTROPHOTOMETERS. CALCIUM INFLUX, MEMBRANE AND MITOCHONDRIAL DAMAGE, AND APOPTOSIS OF CANCER CELLS IN RESPONSE TO SHEAR STRESS SIGNALS WILL BE EXAMINED, AND “MECHANORESISTANT” PROSTATE CANCER CELLS DEVELOPED AND CHARACTERIZED. SPECIFIC AIM 2: TO DEVELOP THE SHEAR FLOW DEVICE AND CULTURE CONDITIONS TO STUDY SHEAR STRESS RESPONSES MODULATED BY INTERACTIONS WITH STROMAL CELLS. CIRCULATING TUMOR CELL AGGREGATES ISOLATED FROM PROSTATE CANCER PATIENT BLOOD SAMPLES WILL BE CHARACTERIZED, AND USED TO DEVELOP MODEL AGGREGATES FOR FURTHER STUDY. THE STABILITY AND SURVIVAL OF HETEROGENEOUS TUMOR CELL AGGREGATES IN SHEAR FLOW WILL THEN BE STUDIED. SPECIFIC AIM 3: TO EXAMINE THE ROLES OF CANCER CELL MECHANOSENSITIZATION AND MECHANORESISTANCE ON METASTATIC TUMOR BURDEN IN VIVO. ORTHOTOPIC METASTASIS STUDIES USING CELLS WITH MODULATED SHEAR SENSITIVITY WILL BE PERFORMED. MECHANORESISTANT CANCER CELLS VS. PARENTAL CANCER CELLS WILL BE COMPARED IN AN EXPERIMENTAL MOUSE MODEL OF METASTASIS, AND THE FATE OF INJECTED CELL AGGREGATES STUDIED AS WELL.

RTG: NUMERICAL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING -THIS RESEARCH TRAINING GROUP (RTG) IN NUMERICAL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING (NASC) AT RICE UNIVERSITY WILL SERVE NATIONAL INTERESTS BY TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS TO ADVANCE NASC AND ITS APPLICATIONS. NASC ARE CONTINUOUSLY EVOLVING AREAS WHICH ARE INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FOR DISCOVERY AND DECISION MAKING IN A WIDE VARIETY OF ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE APPLICATIONS AND BEYOND. THIS RTG WILL TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS TO PARTICIPATE AND PUSH THE ADVANCEMENT OF THESE AREAS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS, IT WILL INCREASE PARTICIPATION, ESPECIALLY OF WOMEN AND UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES, IN MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES, AND IT WILL STRENGTHEN THE PREPARATION OF RESEARCHERS IN COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS FOR INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIC CAREERS. RTG ACTIVITIES WILL FACILITATE AND INCREASE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN RTG TRAINEES AND FACULTY AT RICE UNIVERSITY AND THE NEIGHBORING MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER AND BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE. RTG PARTICIPANTS WILL BE TRAINED IN MATHEMATICAL MODELING, THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF NUMERICAL METHODS, AND BEST PRACTICES IN SCIENTIFIC SOFTWARE ENGINEERING. THIS TRAINING WILL BUILD MATHEMATICAL AND SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING FOUNDATIONS ACROSS ALL APPLICATIONS, BUT ALSO BRING TRAINEES TO FRONTIERS OF RESEARCH IN AREAS SUCH AS NEXT-GENERATION HIGH-ORDER NUMERICAL METHODS FOR PHYSICS-BASED SIMULATIONS, STRUCTURE-PRESERVING AND DATA-DRIVEN REDUCED ORDER MODELING, AND LARGE-SCALE OPTIMIZATION METHODS FOR PROBLEMS GOVERNED BY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS. RTG TRAINEES WILL ALSO JOIN TEAMS WITH DOMAIN EXPERTS FROM BIOLOGY, COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE, AND THE GEOSCIENCES IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE SPECIFIC MATHEMATICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL CHALLENGES ARISING FROM EACH APPLICATION, AND TO ULTIMATELY PROVIDE MATHEMATICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS TAILORED TOWARDS APPLICATION-SPECIFIC CHALLENGES. VERTICALLY INTEGRATED RESEARCH PODS CENTERED AROUND A SINGLE APPLICATION AREA WILL PROVIDE RESEARCH AND MENTORING EXPERIENCES TO POSTDOCS AND STUDENTS. THE RTG WILL BROADEN AND DIVERSIFY THE POOL OF POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLARS, GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND UNDERGRADUATES WHO WILL PURSUE GRADUATE STUDIES IN NASC BY PROVIDING COMMUNITY-BUILDING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES. ACTIVITIES ARE PLANNED TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS IN COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS AS WELL AS STRENGTHEN THEIR BACKGROUNDS FOR INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIC CAREERS. THE RTG WILL ALSO INTRODUCE A BRIDGE PROGRAM TO FACILITATE SOCIAL AND ACADEMIC INTEGRATION FOR INCOMING GRADUATE STUDENTS. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES, TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES, AND THE INTEGRATED RESEARCH EXPERIENCE WILL INCREASE THE CAREER PREPARATION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATES. THE RTG PROGRAM WILL ALSO ENHANCE THE TRAINING OF NON-RTG STUDENTS VIA PARTICIPATION IN WORKSHOPS, TOPICS COURSES, AND GRADUATE STUDENT SEMINARS. FINALLY, OUTREACH ACTIVITIES WILL EXPOSE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES IN NASC, AS WELL AS CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES. 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.

LOW COST DESALINATION USING NANOPHOTONICS ENHANCED DIRECT SOLAR MEMBRANE DISTILLATION

THE PURPOSE OF THIS AGREEMENT IS TO FUND RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF BTO.

PRECLINICAL PLATFORM FOR THERANOSTIC NANOPARTICLES IN PANCREATIC CANCER

IN SITU HARDENING CELL-LADEN CONSTRUCTS FOR OSTEOCHONDRAL TISSUE ENGINEERING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH : STOCHASTIC MODELING AND ESTIMATION OF GENE TRANSCRIPTION

NETS: LARGE: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ASTRO: A PLATFORM FOR 3-D DATA-DRIVEN MOBILE SENSING VIA NETWORKED DRONES

COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY CLUSTER (CBC)

RTG: ANALYSIS, GEOMETRY, AND TOPOLOGY AT RICE UNIVERSITY

NEW COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS (CMP): PARITY-TIME SYMMETRY FOR DIRECTIONAL SUPPRESSION OF THERMAL EMISSION

IN SITU HARDENING CELLULAR CONSTRUCTS FOR CRANIOFACIAL BONE REGENERATION

BIOMIMETIC MICRO-STRUCTURED HYDROGEL SCAFFOLDS FOR TISSUE ENGINEERED HEART VALVES

INTEGRATED OPTICAL NEEDLE (ION) FOR CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR IMAGING OF CANCER

FLOW PERFUSION BIOREACTOR FABRICATION OF BIOACTIVE POLYMER/ECM HYBRID CONSTRUCTS

NEESR-SG: DEVELOPMENT OF NEXT GENERATION ADAPTIVE SEISMIC PROTECTION SYSTEMS

BATTERY PROPELLANT HYBRID SYSTEMS

CLONING SINGLE WALL CARBON NANOTUBES FOR HYDROGEN STORAGE

NANOBIOLOGY INTERDISCIPLINARY GRADUATE TRAINING PROGRAM

CCRI: MEDIUM: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: 3DML: A PLATFORM FOR DATA, DESIGN AND DEPLOYED VALIDATION OF MACHINE LEARNING FOR WIRELESS NETWORKS AND MOBILE APPLICATIONS

MRI: DEVELOPMENT OF A 50-TESLA ULTRABROADBAND MAGNETO-OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY SYSTEM