University Of Houston

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-10

The integration of digital games into STEM education has been an active area of research for quite some time, but details about how students' interactions with educational games may or may not reflect their interest is more difficult obtain. This project will use a Minecraft-based simulation environment to advance understanding of how educational digital games can support the development of enduring STEM interest. Middle school students in summer and afterschool camps will experiment with a variety of scientific topics in the What-If Hypothetical Implementations in Minecraft (WHIMC) learning system while researchers interview them at key points in their gameplay to better understand how their interest is developing. In this way, the project will contextualize how decisions made by students while engaging with the educational game are related to their prior STEM interest and how they may, in turn, influence the development of enduring STEM interest. This work will contribute advanced tools and methodological resources for studying STEM learning and interest that will help broaden participation in STEM. Hidi and Renninger's (2006) model of interest development propose four phases that correspond with students' acquisition of knowledge on a topic. In the first two phases, students may need situational triggers (such as those that are afforded in popular digital games) to sustain their interest and motivation, but to advance to the later stages of sustained, individualized interest, they must also acquire knowledge. Research on how student STEM interest develops during learning activities has typically relied on a handful of methods, each with their own limitations. Standardized survey methods, for instance, may capture important changes in students' interest level, but do not necessarily capture important details on the processes required to increase students' interest. This project will take a novel approach, using machine learning to trigger an alert to researchers when the software detects an activity (or lack thereof) likely to be tied to student interest. This will allow researchers to capture the students' experiences in situ, interviewing them before they have time to either forget or reconceptualize the event. The studies will take place in the context of WHIMC, a Minecraft-based learning environment that provides afterschool and summer educational opportunities to low-income families. Researchers will triangulate the interviews with more traditional measures of interest development, log data of student activities, and measures of STEM knowledge to better understand how these experiences relate to student engagement and their development of sustained, individualized interest. In doing so, researchers can explore the range of ways in which interest emerges across various student populations. This project is supported by NSF's EDU Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. The program supports the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest intervention and innovations to address persistent. 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.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-10

Wildfires are extremely destructive to critical infrastructure sectors, especially in rural communities. Among them, healthcare and public health systems are frequently disrupted or destroyed. Yet, little is known about the decision-making processes that lead to prioritization of resources and efforts as community transitions from response to recovery. This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project supports research on theoretical and practical implications of organizational behavior and decision-making processes to restore healthcare access in the wake of wildfire disasters. A key focus is on examining differences between work as planned (stipulated in emergency management plans, incident action plans, recovery plans, etc.) and the work as done (implementation of these plans) as well as their effect on vulnerable populations (e.g., persons with physical and mental health vulnerabilities) within vulnerable communities (e.g., rural, low capacity). Using the recent Texas Smokehouse Creek Fire as a case study, this project explores an emerging theme of research on how decisions are made and implemented with respect to prioritizing the restoration of healthcare access as incident operations transition from response to recovery. In February 2024, nearly 1.25 M acres of the rural Texas panhandle was consumed by fire in less than two weeks. It significantly disrupted healthcare operations, access, and services in affected communities. To better understand the phenomenon, the research team collects highly ephemeral data including participant observations in planning meetings and briefings within the Emergency Operation Centers, emergency management offices, local and regional health departments, hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care facilities as well as in-person semi-structured interviews with officials across public health, emergency management and relevant public safety leaders in the communities directly impacted by the fire. They are supplemented with secondary data including incident action plans, demobilization plans, operational briefings, recovery plans, and communications with the public and media immediately preceding, during, and after the fire. Deidentified data are shared and published via NHERI DesignSafe for research community use. Through analysis of the interviews, observations, and plans and other documents, the team develops transferable knowledge critical to informing planning and decision-making for restoration of essential health services, particularly for vulnerable communities affected by wildfires and other disasters. 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.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-09

SUMMARY Rodents from the genus Acomys (Affrican Spiny mice) have recently emerged as a powerful model for regeneration, being capable of fully regenerating sections of skin without scarring including the development of new skin appendages. The regenerative capabilities of the Acomys species is not limited to the skin, with studies also demonstrating they can regenerate skeletal muscle tissue, cartilage, kidney, peripheral nerves and digits. Thus, the Acomys are a powerful animal model to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms that promote regeneration with limited scarring in mammals. Aim 1a of this proposal will establish whether the Acomys cahirinus are capable of scarless corneal wound healing by comparing the regenerative capabilities of the cornea of A. cahirinus to the Mus musculus following alkali burn (AB). Aim 1b will then characterize and compare the mechanisms of wound healing between the A. cahirinus and M. musculus. This aim will establish for the first time whether A. cahirinus are capable of scarless corneal wound healing and identify the mechanism by which A. cahirinus are capable of regenerating a transparent cornea following AB. Our lab has been using the AB model on mice of diverse genetic backgrounds for well over a decade. Over the years, we have collated significant longitudinal data to show that when a group of wild-type mice on the same genetic background, such as C57BL/6J, are subjected to AB of equal severity, some mice are able to regenerate their corneas with limited to no scarring by day 14 (~18% of mice), while the others present corneal scarring (~82%). Curiously, our unpublished data show that the mice that present corneal scarring by day 14 present significant inflammatory cell infiltration and severe epithelial defect at day 1, while mice that are able to regenerate a transparent cornea by day 14 do not. Thus, excessive inflammatory infiltration within the first 24 hours following injury dictates whether the cornea will regenerate or suffer corneal scarring. Aim 2 of this proposal will characterize and compare the wound healing process between inbred C57BL/6J mice that are able to regenerate the cornea following AB to those that present corneal scarring, identifying for the first time key factors that direct corneal wound healing into wound resolution and regeneration instead of corneal scarring. Clinical Significance: Corneal scarring after trauma is a leading cause of vision loss in our society. To date, there are limited treatment options for preventing and treating corneal scarring, culminating in an urgent medical need for new therapeutics that can promote scarless wound healing. This proposal will identify key cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate scarless wound healing establishing the groundwork for developing novel therapies for triggering scarless wound healing in the clinic.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Abstract Approximately 130 million individuals in the US (39% of the US population) are living with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Women experience more localizations of pain across their lifespan. Women report significantly more pain in the neck, shoulders, arms, back, and breasts due to altered musculoskeletal activity within in the neck and thoracic region due to the presence of breast tissue. Neck, shoulder, arm, and back (NSAB) pain has been strongly linked to bra cup size. Since 2000, there has been a significant increase in women’s average bra cup size from B to E; women with cup sizes D and above are considered “full-busted”. Most commercially available sport bras are designed for low- to medium-impact activities for women with cup size C or smaller, leaving women with cup sizes of D or larger without adequate breast support during physical activity. While the primary source of NSAB pain in these women is likely mechanical, evidence suggests non- mechanical pain pathways that may contribute to pain expression in women. Specifically, evidence of sex- hormone influences, systemic inflammation, and cortical remapping in female animal models with respect to chronic musculoskeletal pain is emerging; however, characterization of the influences of sex-hormone levels, inflammation, and concurrent cortical changes in the somatosensory and motor regions particularly in reference to chronic NSAB pain in women across the lifespan is a major gap in the evidence base. This critical gap in understanding physiological and neurological sex differences in chronic NSAB pain manifestation in full- busted women will be filled by our proposed project. In this project, we will evaluate a non-pharmacological (mechanical) intervention to alleviate NSAB pain in full-busted women and investigate non-mechanical pathways associated with chronic NSAB pain in women. We will measure both self-reported and objective measures of pain in conjunction with objective measures of behavior and blood-based measures to assess: (1) the impact of the mechanical intervention and (2) non-mechanical factors contributing to chronic musculoskeletal pain in women. The findings from this project will advance multifactorial understanding of pain in full-busted women, an underserved and understudied population that lives with chronic musculoskeletal pain. This project aligns with OWH objectives and priorities in advancing science for the health of women and the mission of NIAMS to better understand and treat conditions resulting in pain and chronic degeneration of the musculoskeletal system. With better understanding, interventions can be designed to address pain experienced by women worldwide.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Project Summary The field of autism research lacks objective measures of social attention that reflect how autistic people look at real human faces. Altered social perception in autism, including delayed neural response to faces and reduced social attention, is almost exclusively understood in relation to static face images in computer-based settings. For this reason, our current understanding of social attention and its putative neural mechanisms lacks ecological validity and is dissociated from the context in which clinical differences in autism are observed. This reliance on images instead of real faces may reduce sensitivity to detect and may even mask real differences in social attention between autistic and neurotypical individuals, complicating elucidation of underlying neural mechanisms and parsing of clinical heterogeneity. In this proposal, we address these limitations of prior work by using ambulatory eye-tracking technology to investigate visual attention during a novel naturalistic interpersonal interaction task developed by the PI (the Ecologically Valid Observation of Looking and Visual Engagement; EVOLVE); in this way, we measure visual attention to real human faces (and its neural predictors) during actual social interactions. We apply a powerful within-person design to (a) compare this innovative and ecologically valid approach to well-studied, conventional computer-based assays of visual attention (i.e., the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials (ABC-CT) and (b) evaluate relationships to neural mechanisms indexed with conventional EEG (i.e., the ABC-CT faces N170 paradigm). Participants will include 60 6-11-year- old autistic and 60 matched neurotypical children. We hypothesize that, relative to computer-based assays, the bonafide social signals in this naturalistic approach will amplify signal and improve detection of autistic differences in social attention and relationships to the clinical phenotype. Knowledge from the proposed study will directly inform theoretical frameworks for understanding visual and neural processing of social information in ways true to actual autistic experience and will significantly advance the translatability of neural markers of autism in ways relevant to real world behaviors and clinically meaningful outcomes. This innovative approach has potential to set methodological precedent for using these more naturalistic technologies to better understand social behaviors in autism and other neuropsychiatric conditions more broadly.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

This I-Corps project investigates the commercial potential of contorted polyamide membranes for desalination. This membrane technology addresses the growing problem of water scarcity by making seawater and brackish water desalination more affordable and accessible as an alternative water supply. Contorted membranes are designed to allow water to pass through more quickly than conventional membranes while still effectively removing salt and other impurities. These membranes can be integrated into standard reverse osmosis systems, making them compatible with both new and existing desalination plants. Their higher water permeability reduces the quantity of membranes required for desalination, lowering the capital and operating costs of desalination facilities. By lowering these economic barriers to desalination, contorted membrane technology can help communities and industries secure reliable sources of clean water, advancing public health and economic development across the U.S. This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with a first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of the technology. This solution is based on the development of contorted polyamide membranes, a novel class of high-performance desalination materials engineered to enhance water transport and salt rejection. These membranes are synthesized using shape-persistent Tröger’s base diamine and triptycene diamine monomers, which increase the internal free volume within the polyamide network. This structural innovation yields an eightfold increase in water permeance compared to conventional polyamide membranes fabricated with m-phenylene diamine, while maintaining sodium chloride rejection greater than 99%. The enhanced permeability-selectivity of contorted polyamide membranes approaches the upper bound reported for polyamide membrane materials. These performance improvements can intensify membrane desalination processes by reducing the membrane area required for water production and lowering system-level energy demands. The membranes are designed for integration into standard spiral-wound reverse osmosis modules, ensuring compatibility with both new and existing desalination infrastructure. 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.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-09

PROJECT SUMMARY The pubertal growth spurt is a hallmark of adolescence, which is a time of increasing vulnerability to depressive and anxiety disorders, a fact reflected in the widespread use of antidepressants, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). In fact, antidepressants comprise the second to third most prescribed medication class in this age group. We and others have found that SSRIs are associated with height growth suppression in adolescents. This was particularly true in boys undergoing puberty. To build on these findings, we recently completed another study (R21HD097776) of children and adolescents undergoing puberty and starting treatment with one of two commonly prescribed SSRIs, sertraline, and fluoxetine. We again found that, over the 6-month follow-up period, the higher the SSRI dose, the more significant height growth suppression was. In fact, SSRI use reduced growth by about 50% of that observed in unmedicated participants. Notably, sertraline was associated with the most significant deleterious effect on height. Moreover, the higher the SSRI dose, the lower the serum concentration level of insulin growth factor 1), the principal marker of growth hormone neurosecretory function. To better capture the implications of these findings at a large scale, we here propose to use 12 years of data from a very large electronic health record database and state-of-the-art Super-Imposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) growth curve analyses to determine 1) the effect of SSRIs on height growth, 2) the moderating role of the magnitude of SSRI exposure and its timing in relation to the growth spurt on height growth suppression, and 3) whether differences between the most prescribed SSRIs exist. This work will allow us to determine whether SSRI discontinuation normalizes height growth, leaving adult height unaffected. In sum, the proposed study will be the first to investigate the magnitude of height growth suppression induced by SSRIs, its clinical predictors, and its long-term sequelae, shedding light on a currently little-recognized side effect of a widely and increasingly used medication class. The information will be critical to inform clinical decision making.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Engineered multicellular bacterial systems have a wide range of potential applications, including gut microbiome maintenance, cancer therapy, environmental remediation, and engineered living materials that can sense and respond to local conditions. However, such bacterial systems are difficult to design due to our lack of a mechanistic understanding of how cells within a bacterial colony interact and communicate across time and space. This work will address this issue by studying simplified engineered bacterial systems and formulating novel mathematical frameworks that will allow engineers to better predict colony behavior. More broadly, this research will expose undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers to cutting edge synthetic biology research and train them to enter the growing biotechnology industrial sector. Additionally, the findings will be incorporated into undergraduate and graduate classes. Synthetic biologists have long strived to create engineered multicellular systems with unicellular bacteria for industrial and biomedical applications. Towards this goal, the PIs will use a combination of experimental and theoretical synthetic biology to develop mathematical modeling techniques that describe the spatiotemporal dynamics of intercellular signaling in spatially extended bacterial systems. In previous work, the PIs have developed numerous spatially extended synthetic bacterial systems and methods for monitoring intercellular signaling, gene expression, and cellular growth within them. The PIs will use these techniques in a series of increasingly complex experiments to determine how mathematical models need to be altered to better reproduce and predict the spatiotemporal dynamics of spatially extended synthetic multicellular systems. Overall, this research will lead to more accurate mathematical models that will enable us to better design large-scale, complex synthetic systems capable of coordinating their spatiotemporal gene expression patterns. 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.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile fragments of DNA that cause DNA damage and produce harmful mutations. These genetic elements act like parasites as they spread, sometimes making up a sizeable fraction of the host genome. For example, the human genome is composed of almost 50% TEs, which are reliant on their host to spread. Due to the harmful effects associated with the movement of TEs, reducing their mobility has been the focus of extensive study. The mechanism by which host proteins help proliferate TEs in the host genome is, however, largely unknown. In particular, the host production and processing of TE DNA into RNA is critical for TE spread into the host genome. The proposed research will harness new approaches in the study of RNA regulation to identify the host cellular proteins that regulate TE RNA. The PI will also provide undergraduate and post-baccalaureate trainee opportunities and research experiences for local teachers. Target-oriented approaches allow for the systematic identification of proteins that bind, process, and regulate RNA. Particularly promising are approaches that rely on tagged RNA, which can be isolated and targeted in vivo by sequence-specific binding proteins. The proposed research will harness MS2 RNA tagging to study cellular proteins that bind to and regulate TE RNA in the genetic model Drosophila melanogaster. The research will focus on the P-element DNA transposon, which is an extensively studied model of transposition in eukaryotes. The first aim is to develop genetic reagents required for the controlled expression of an MS2-tagged P-element transcript in the ovary. Aims 2 and 3 will utilize these reagents to perform two promising approaches for target-oriented identification of RNA binding proteins: MS2-trap and proximity labeling. This research will uncover the multitude of ways that TEs are reliant on their hosts for transposition. The knowledge uncovered in this project will beget future research examining how intrinsic differences between host species contribute to larger scale patterns in TE invasion. 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.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

With the support of the Chemical Synthesis Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Jeremy May of the University of Houston is studying the development of new heavy metal-free chemical reactions to synthesize complicated molecular structures needed for advanced materials, pharmaceutical agents, and other carbon-based compounds. Most pharmaceutical remedies rely on carbon-based molecules, where greater complexity and three-dimensionality improve the pharmacological profile and selectivity for the disease target. However, desirable molecules with great complexity or with many oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur atoms are challenging to synthesize. This difficulty is due to side reactions and barriers to reactivity from the density of bonds in the construction. This project leverages a novel catalytic phenomenon to reduce those barriers while making densely functionalized molecules of relevance to the study and treatment of disease. The May group is also synthesizing a library of molecules having a special molecular motif that confers strong and beneficial biological effects in naturally occurring molecules, providing new lead compounds for disease treatment. These activities are complemented by educational days with local charter schools and high schools to increase enthusiasm and literacy in science. Enantioselective and diastereoselective methods for the installation of quaternary carbon centers are a long standing challenge in synthetic chemistry. Prof. May and his research group are investigating the use of the ouroboros transition state's precise regioselectivity and enhanced activation to facilitate enantioselective reactions in traditionally unreactive systems. This generality of this strategy is being explored and used to design new applications. The mild reaction conditions required of electrophilic deboronations are also being used to study a general approach for the synthesis of natural products with 3-indole propylene glycol motifs and developed as a method for the functionalization and alteration of molecules with known bioactivity. These research activities are further providing a rigorous training environments for graduate and undergraduate students in synthetic organic chemistry and generating libraries of new molecules that are tested at screening centers to identify new lead compounds for development. 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.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

The Quark-Gluon Plasma is the deconfined phase of QCD matter at extreme temperatures and densities. The Universe was in these conditions just a few microseconds after the Big Bang, while today one can realize them in two situations: on earth, in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collision experiments at RHIC and the LHC, and in the core of compact stellar objects and their mergers. The first gravitational wave observations from the LIGO/VIRGO collaboration have opened a new field of research, through which a mapping of the phase diagram of strong interactions can be achieved for the first time. The future Cosmic Explorer and Einstein Telescope will be able to detect the ringdown signal, which is very sensitive to the dense matter Equation of State. This project provides first principle and phenomenological results for the heavy-ion community, by calculating relevant observables such as constraints on the location of the QCD critical point, the QCD equation of state in phenomenologically relevant but so-far unexplored settings, and a time-dependent jet quenching parameter. At the same time, it builds a bridge to the astrophysics community, by providing observables that will allow more stringent constraints on high-density phenomenological models. The project will also contribute to training the next generation of students who work on the theory of fundamental interactions, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The purpose of this project is to improve the understanding of hot and dense strongly interacting matter by means of first principle lattice simulations, complemented by phenomenological approaches, to build a bridge between theory and experiment. The project will answer unresolved questions related to the nature of the QCD phase transition, the QCD equation of state and the order of the cosmological phase transition, as well as the behavior of jets in medium. The PI plans to achieve these goals by calculating several observables from first principles: Equation of State at finite baryonic, electric charge and strangeness density which allows for a critical point for the first time; cosmological trajectories; transport coefficients (from a holographic model). The methodology is to calculate these observables using numerical simulations from first principles, as well as the very successful holographic approach, for those quantities that cannot be simulated on the lattice. The proposed observables can either be directly compared to experimental results from RHIC and the LHC, or they can be used as inputs into phenomenological approaches for the evolution of heavy-ion collisions or neutron star mergers. Finally, some of them can be used to improve phenomenological models through parameter constraints. This project advances the objectives of "Windows on the Universe: the Era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics", one of the 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments. 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.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Many natural microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, can be used to degrade toxic pollutants and remediate contaminated sites. These microorganisms use a series of enzymes, called cascade enzymes, to break down pollutants step by step into less toxic end products. However, this process is slow and often allows toxic intermediates to accumulate. The goal of this CAREER project is to make biodegradation more efficient. The project will develop a new biotechnology, called protein nano-compartment (PNC)-based cargo encapsulation. Cascade enzymes will be encapsulated within PNCs, which will enable the enzymes to degrade pollutants and intermediates at similar rates. Toxic intermediates will not accumulate in the environment. The research will be integrated with education of students from middle schools and colleges. Successful completion of this project will create a more efficient, robust, and faster environmental remediation technology to protect human and environmental health. This CAREER project plans to apply PNC-based enzyme co-localization to accelerate biodegradation efficiency in removing organic water contaminants. The central hypothesis is that attaching enzymes with affinity tags of varying molecular properties will allow their tunable co-localization within PNCs, thereby enabling optimization and enhancement of the kinetics and stability of enzyme cascades for contaminant degradation. The study will integrate techniques in biodegradation, synthetic biology, and metabolic flux analysis to systematically characterize the effect of PNC co-localization on enzyme cascade efficiency. The proposed work will establish quantitative correlations between affinity tag properties and enzyme encapsulation efficiency. Building on these correlations, the study will explore how to strategically control the co-localization of biodegradative cascade enzymes within PNCs and analyze how this co-localization affects their kinetics in contaminant removal and stability against environmental factors under controlled in vitro conditions. Lastly, the PNC co-localization of biodegradative cascade enzymes will be assessed under cellular environments, and isotope-labeled metabolic flux analysis will be employed to develop a fundamental understanding of how the in vivo co-localization affects the rate, flux, and specificity of organic contaminant biodegradation in cells. The project includes an education plan aiming to 1) foster the education of college students in STEM and their participation in environmental engineering; 2) educate and train next-generation environmental engineers on the fundamentals, real-world applications, and opportunities of PNC encapsulation and biodegradation; and 3) promote public awareness and understanding of biodegradation as a sustainable solution for environmental protection and remediation. These educational activities will be integrated throughout to improve academic success and broaden participation of college students in research, stimulate STEM interest in 6-12 graders, train a future workforce on biodegradation through research projects, and build a biodegradation website for public education and outreach. 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.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-09

PROJECT SUMMARY: Yu Liu, PhD (Principal Investigator; PI) LncRNAs are >200nt RNA molecules that do not translate into protein products. The number of lncRNAs is far greater than their protein-coding counterparts, but the functions and underlying mechanisms of lncRNAs are less understood. A few lncRNAs modulate the expression of their target genes through forming an RNA-DNA triple helix at gene regulatory regions such as enhancers and promoters; this new layer of gene regulation is particularly important for developmental gene expression programs. However, knowledge about this new regulatory mechanism is scarce. The research community mainly relies on candidate lncRNA-based methods, not unbiased whole-genome approaches. The major technological challenge is that we cannot reliably capture whole-genome RNA-DNA triplexes in vivo. We propose to capture RNA-DNA triplex by using the differential affinity of Thiazole Orange (TO) to complex helical structures vs. canonical structures. TO is a classic fluorochrome for double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), but its affinity to triplex and quadruplex structures of DNA is substantially higher. Because RNA-DNA triplex is structurally comparable to, but more stable than DNA triplex, we predict that we can use TO to identify genomic RNA-DNA triplexes. The core of this new technology, TO-Triplex-Seq, comprises Biotin-conjugated-TO labelling and subsequent Avidin-pulldown, followed by DNA purification and sequencing. We will distinguish RNA-DNA triplex from other complex helical structures using special RNAse treatments in parallel chromatin samples. The unique strength of this new technology is that we will specifically capture RNA-DNA triplexes, not other complexes in which RNA and DNA form a duplex (R-loop) or indirectly interact through other binding partners. We will prove the concept and validate this new technology with two specific aims. SA1 will determine the affinity between TO and synthetic RNA-DNA triplexes and test the framework of pulling-out RNA-DNA triplexes from a pool containing RNA-DNA triplexes, DNA-only triplexes and dsDNAs. SA2 will establish and validate the new technology using a multi-scale approach. We will (1) characterize the sequence features of the RNA-DNA triplex sites; (2) study how triplex formation changes during active and suppressed rRNA biogenesis which is regulated by a pRNA-rDNA triplex; (3) study whether distinct sets of lncRNAs contribute to triplex formation in undifferentiated and differentiated hESCs; (4) further annotate the RNA-DNA triplex datasets to publicly available chromatin state datasets. At the conclusion of this project, we expect to publish a detailed protocol which others can easily adopt and further build upon. Ultimately, we plan to develop a TO-labeling- based multiomics toolset that comprehensively describes the RNA, DNA, and even protein components (if present) of RNA-DNA triplexes and hence contributing to the understanding of transacting lncRNAs.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Nontechnical Summary Cubic boron arsenide holds exceptional promise for next-generation electronics with its unique pairing of ultrahigh thermal conductivity and high charge-carrier mobility. Compared to silicon, the bedrock of modern microelectronics, it delivers carrier mobility three times greater and thermal conductivity ten times higher. Transistors built from or integrated with cubic boron arsenide therefore switch faster and run cooler, directly addressing the heat-dissipation limits of silicon devices. Yet critical challenges persist such as controlling trace impurities, achieving reproducible n-type and p-type doping, and growing large, uniform single crystals. This research tackles those challenges head-on through an innovative growth technique that ensures high crystal quality and purity while enabling controlled dopiong. The research is integrated with semiconductor education and workforce development. The principal investigator embeds the project in the Graduate Certificate in Semiconductor Engineering and Manufacturing, supported by the Next-generation Microelectronics Manufacturing initiative. Students will experience hands-on materials engineering and device fabrication. Findings feed into undergraduate and graduate courses via the Nano Engineering Minor Option. Outreach through the Texas Center for Superconductivity and the Cullen College of Engineering via laboratory tours, technical lectures, and live demonstrations to engage learners from kindergarten through grade twelve as well as undergraduates and graduate students. Participation in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program further broadens access to cutting-edge semiconductor research. Technical Summary The research team synthesizes uniform, high-quality crystals with controlled electrical properties by combining modified chemical vapor transport and flux-growth methods with ion implantation, thermal annealing, and laser float-zone refining. Raman scattering, low-temperature photoluminescence, and time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry identify and quantify impurities and dopants. A novel nanosecond time-domain thermoreflectance technique operating without a metal transducer provides rapid, noninvasive thermal-conductivity mapping. Crystals that exhibit ultrahigh conductivity undergo transient-reflectance carrier-diffusion measurements to set new mobility benchmarks. This integrated approach advances fundamental insight into phonon transport, impurity interactions, and dopant behavior in wide-bandgap semiconductors, laying the groundwork for future high-performance electronic materials manufacturing. 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.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

The mathematical theory of chaotic systems describes how randomness arises from "sensitive dependence on initial conditions": a small error in measuring the current state of a system can translate into a large error in a prediction of the system's future. Systems that behave this way can be studied using the mathematical tools of probability theory. These probabilistic descriptions depend on what is called an "invariant measure", which represents the likelihood of observing different types of behavior. For example, if a die is rolled repeatedly, one invariant measure might say that all six numbers are equally likely, while another invariant measure might say that in the long run, twice as many sixes will appear as ones. If the die is fair, then the first invariant measure is the one to trust, but if it is unevenly weighted, the second could apply. One goal of the present project is to gain a better understanding of the set of all possible invariant measures for a given system. This is an important part of making valid predictions for systems with chaotic behavior. Part of this project also involves the training of graduate students and the development of a graduate textbook on "Ergodic Theory and Hyperbolic Dynamics". In more technical terms, dynamical systems with hyperbolic ("chaotic") behavior can be studied as stochastic processes by equipping them with invariant measures and using the tools of ergodic theory. There are generally many invariant measures; thermodynamic formalism provides tools for identifying the measures that most fully capture the complexity of the system. A wide range of phenomena have been observed in the ergodic theory of hyperbolic systems: some (first-order) primarily concern a single invariant measure, while others (higher-order) involve multiple invariant measures in an essential way. Both types of phenomena have been well-studied for uniformly hyperbolic systems, but beyond uniform hyperbolicity the picture is far from complete. The present project centers on the study of higher-order phenomena beyond uniform hyperbolicity, extending current techniques and developing new ones. The condition of uniform hyperbolicity is restrictive, and many interesting systems encountered "in the wild" involve non-uniform hyperbolicity, the presence of singularities, or both. This includes fundamental examples such as dispersing billiards and Lorenz flow, as well as geometrically significant examples such as geodesic flow on manifolds beyond negative curvature. The PI has developed powerful methods for studying thermodynamic formalism of non-uniformly hyperbolic systems, and plans to extend the reach of these methods to give a more complete picture of hyperbolic behavior for a wide range of important systems. Higher-order phenomena are found in the geometry of the space of equilibrium measures; effective uniqueness results in thermodynamic formalism; connections between thermodynamic formalism and moduli space of hyperbolic systems; ubiquity of adapted and non-adapted measures; and the coexistence of hyperbolic and nonhyperbolic behavior. Progress on such questions would substantially advance our understanding of the mechanisms driving hyperbolicity and the appearance of stochastic behavior in deterministic dynamics. 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.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Variability in weather can have strong effects on ecological communities, especially near geographic range limits. Mangroves (salt tolerant trees) and salt marsh plants (mostly grasses) both live on the coast, but mangroves cannot tolerate hard freezes and so are more common in the tropics. A hard freeze will kill most mangroves, leaving behind bare sediment. In the following years, these areas of bare mud may become occupied by either marsh plants or mangroves, or remain bare mud. Because people rely on coastal wetlands for many “services”, such as protection from storms, a better understanding of which plants recover after a freeze, and how quickly they recover, will help coastal communities understand if mangroves near their high-latitude range limits are reliable “green infrastructure” that can be counted on to protect coastlines from storms and erosion. This knowledge will help guide the design and management of wetland restoration and green infrastructure projects. More generally, this project will provide new insights into how ecological systems respond to and recover from severe weather events. The project builds on more than ten years of research on the Texas coast at an experimental site (ten, 24 x 42 m plots) in which mangroves were thinned to create plots ranging from zero to 100 percent mangrove cover, and at several survey sites dominated by either mangroves or marsh plants. A hard freeze in 2021 killed most of the mangroves at these sites. This research will document the “successional sequence”, which plant species recover after a hard freeze, and how quickly they reestablish, This will be done by continuing to sample existing experimental and survey sites. Additionally, the research will manipulate the successional sequence at the experimental site to find out how different types of vegetation (marsh plants versus mangroves) affect sediment loss versus gain. This will be done by removing mangrove seedlings in some experimental plots to create some plots that are dominated by marsh plants and others that are dominated by mangroves, and measuring how this vegetation manipulation affects elevation change and intertidal sediment dynamics. Last, the research will document how higher trophic levels, especially crabs and snails, influence the dynamic interactions between wetland plants and intertidal sediment loss or gain. This will be done with a combination of monitoring and laboratory experiments. 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.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-08

PROJECT SUMMARY My lab focuses on understanding the evolutionary and physiological mechanisms that enable salt-sensitive freshwater organisms, such as anuran amphibians, to develop resilience in saline environments. Chronic exposure to elevated salt levels, whether from environment or diet, can cause detrimental health effects for frogs and humans alike, as neither are well-equipped to manage excessive internal salt. However, my previous research has shown that some anuran species have adapted to tolerate elevated salt levels, allowing them to establish populations in coastal brackish habitats. We leverage the problem-solving power of adaptive evolution to understand how selection shaped physiological pathways that enhance salinity tolerance while also investigating how evolution mitigates the long-term costs of chronic salt exposure. This research will uncover new physiological strategies for coping with elevated salt levels, shed light on the broader risks associated with long-term salt exposure, and identify alternative mechanisms for reducing the costs of high salt intake, which may contribute to the development of solutions aimed at reducing the health effects of high-salt diets in humans. My previous work has identified several physiological and evolutionary mechanisms that likely contribute to anuran persistence in saline habitats. These discoveries form the foundation of this research, which will comprehensively test and validate these candidate mechanisms. Specifically, we will pursue two research directions: 1) investigating the physiological mechanisms of salt tolerance in coastal anurans over short timescales and 2) assessing the long-term costs of chronic salt exposure and how adapted populations mitigate these challenges. By comparing coastal and inland populations of two sympatric Hyla (treefrog) species that exhibit different physiological and adaptive responses to saltwater, we aim to understand how selection addresses the physiological challenges of salt stress across timescales and across levels of evolutionary divergence. Our integrative and comparative approach will utilize a suite of experimental and physiological assays that incorporate genetic, environmental, and temporal variables, to rigorously test key evolutionary and physiological hypotheses underlying salt tolerance. In addition to expertise in local adaptation and amphibian osmoregulatory biology, our lab is fully equipped with the necessary tools for the physiological assays, molecular analyses, and experimental methodologies described herein. These resources enable us to effectively address key questions across multiple biological levels—from molecular to organismal—ensuring a comprehensive understanding of salt tolerance. Ultimately, our research will uncover physiological strategies for managing elevated salt levels, highlight the broader risks of chronic exposure, and identify mechanisms that mitigate the long-term costs of chronic salt exposure. We expect to uncover new and alternative pathways for addressing the health challenges posed by chronically high sodium intake in humans and amphibians.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

This CAREER award supports a five-year project in free probability, random matrix theory, and their applications. Free probability began as a subfield of the theory of von Neumann algebras, which in turn originated in a series of papers by Murray and von Neumann in the 1930s, as part of an effort to provide mathematical foundations for quantum mechanics. A key concept in free probability is the notion of free independence, which generalizes the classical notion of independence of random variables, enabling the development of a robust “noncommutative probability theory” in the setting of von Neumann algebras, where rich mathematical structure emerges from the interactions of objects known as free random variables (owing in part to the fact that their multiplication, like that of matrices of complex numbers, is not commutative). Methods from free probability are now a cornerstone of the structure theory of certain von Neumann algebras, and have applications to a variety of other fields, including random matrix theory and quantum information theory. In this project, the PI will study several important open problems on probability distributions of free random variables and explore their applications to random matrix models. The project integrates research with education and will provide research opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students, complemented by outreach initiatives to teach and mentor middle school and high school students, with a particular emphasis on supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds. The Brown measure of a free random variable is analogous to the eigenvalue counting measure of a square matrix. It is an extension of spectral measures of normal operators to non-normal operators. This measure encodes a great deal of information and can predict the limiting distributions of non-Hermitian random matrix models. In this project, the PI seeks to develop analytic techniques for computing the Brown measures of a diverse range of free random variables, motivated by operator algebras, random matrix theory, and high-dimensional statistics. The boundary values of certain operator-valued subordination functions will be explored using tools in complex analysis, operator algebras, and noncommutative analysis. The project will investigate random variables formed through addition, multiplication, or polynomials of free random variables. The new Brown measure results will then be used to analyze limiting laws and the convergence of non-Hermitian random matrix models. 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.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

The rapid development of GPU hardware has promoted scientific supercomputing, enabling exascale data production on heterogeneous supercomputing systems. With GPU dominance in heterogeneous computing, the cyberinfrastructure of GPU-based scientific data compressors is still maturing, and several gaps need to be addressed: existing frameworks lack adaptations to many scientific data analysis requirements; there are no user-friendly interfaces and off-the-shelf solutions for GPU-based scientific data compressors; and the compressors that support non-NVIDIA GPU architectures are very limited. This project develops a user-friendly, high-performance, and portable GPU-accelerated data reduction cyberinfrastructure for all primary GPU-equipped supercomputing systems. It will mitigate data challenges on GPU-equipped supercomputing systems, improve data analysis efficiency, and eventually accelerate scientific discovery. This project will continuously contribute to the education and training of graduate students by enhancing the quality of computing-related curricula in heterogeneous scientific computing, data management, and visualization. This project builds Scientific GPU Compression Cyberinfrastructure (SGCC), a user-friendly end-to-end cyberinfrastructure of GPU-based data compression for scientific data workflows, by porting, extending, and optimizing multiple existing capabilities, including but not limited to: the cuSZ family of error-bounded lossy compressors, GPU-based lossless encoders, QCAT (a CPU-based compression quality assessment toolkit), the Kokkos ecosystem (a multi-backend performance-portability framework), LibPressio (the unified programming interface of scientific compressors), and HDF5. To create SGCC, the project combines three thrusts: (1) SGCC ensures its efficiency and effectiveness in practical scientific data analysis workflows, providing adequate support for diverse data formats and compression quality targets; (2) SGCC improves the usability of the GPU-accelerated data-reduction ecosystem by providing high-level language bindings, command line interface, and user-interface integrated with visualization functionality; and (3) SGCC enables state-of-the-art GPU-accelerated scientific data compressors on multiple heterogeneous computing platforms, such as NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel. 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.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Summary Expression of pathogenic variants in Peripherin-2 (PRPH2) leads to various forms of retinal dystrophies, with the mechanisms of degeneration remaining poorly understood. However, studies in mouse models expressing equivalent mutations have revealed the formation of aberrant outer segments with elongated dysmorphic discs. With no approved treatments available and the complexity of pathogenic pathways involved, identifying a universally effective therapeutic target for PRPH2 pathogenic variants is crucial. The elongated disc formation suggests that the presence of the full complement of rhodopsin in the absence of required amounts of PRPH2 is responsible. Thus, the therapeutic potential of reducing rhodopsin levels to ameliorate the disease phenotype in various knockin models of PRPH2 pathogenic variants was explored. Recently published proof-of-concept studies investigated partial genetic ablation of rhodopsin in mouse models expressing PRPH2 mutations equivalent to patients' pathogenic variants K153∆ (c.458-460Del) and Y141C (c.422A>G). These studies showed that reducing rhodopsin levels improved physiological function, mitigated the severity of disc abnormalities, and decreased retinal gliosis. Additionally, and to determine the clinical applicability, intravitreal injections of a rhodopsin-specific antisense oligonucleotide (mRho-ASO) in the mouse model expressing the Y141C (c.422A>G) mutation enhanced the physiological function of photoreceptors and improved disc ultrastructure. The current proposal aims to: 1. Determine the applicability of mRho-ASO treatment to other knockin models expressing different mutant forms of PRPH2. 2. Investigate the efficacy of external application of the therapeutic Rho-ASO. First, a group of mice expressing PRPH2 with mutations C213Y, K153∆, or Prph2+/- will receive 1 µL of mRho- ASO (6.25 mg/mL) at postnatal (P) 15 and another at P45, with assessment at P90. Second, the long-term efficacy of a single mRho-ASO treatment will be evaluated at post-injection days (PI) 120 and 240. Third, the efficacy of multiple treatments with the ASO at P15, 30, 45, and 60 will be assessed at P90. Fourth, the efficacy of non-invasive eye drop application of the mRho-ASO will be evaluated for short-term (1 month PI) and long- term (4 months PI) delivery in the Y141C model. Outcomes will be assessed functionally by electroretinography and structurally by fundus imaging, OCT, light microscopy, and electron microscopy for ultrastructural analysis. The levels of RHO and PRPH2 will be assessed by immunodot blotting. The successful implementation of this proposal will significantly influence the prognosis for patients afflicted with vision loss stemming from variant PRPH2 expression.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Matrices with random entries arise naturally in physics, statistics, and engineering, and they are designed to describe complicated systems. As the dimensions of these matrices are usually very large, classical tools in linear algebra are inadequate to tackle this situation. One common theme of random matrix theory is that a large family of random matrices shares the same limiting distribution due to universality phenomena. This is an analogue of the central limit theorem in classical probability, where the only requirements for the i.i.d. random variables are some moment conditions. Hence, random matrix theory can make sense of large-scale data under very mild assumptions. Random matrices of large dimension can often be modeled by nonrandom operators living in some abstract operator algebras, where these operators satisfy some highly nontrivial relations characterized by Voiculescu’s free independence. These nonrandom operators are free random variables in free probability theory. The principal investigator will study probability distributions of free random variables and the convergence of suitable random matrix models. The project provides research opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students. This project, supported by a LEAPS-MPS award, aims to develop analytic tools for studying fundamental questions regarding the limiting distributions of important random matrix models. These questions are motivated by questions from mathematics, statistics, combinatorics, and quantum information. The Brown measure of a free random variable is a spectral measure that generalizes the eigenvalue distribution of square matrices. One major objective is to develop new techniques for calculating Brown measures, which provide predictions for the limits of non-Hermitian random matrices. The Hermitian reduction method and subordination functions are powerful tools for deriving Brown measure formulas. The new results on Brown measures open the door to the study of random matrix models that were previously inaccessible. Free probability theory offers a conceptual approach to studying random matrices of large dimensions. The principal investigator will identify the limiting free random variables for various random matrix models arising from high-dimensional statistics and quantum information theory. In particular, the principal investigator will examine the spectrum of the full rank deformed single-ring random matrix model, the autocovariance matrix of time series, and the k-positivity of random tensor networks. Additionally, the PI will explore the theory of epsilon-freeness and investigate its applications to quantum information. This project is funded in part by the NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). 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.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Project Summary/Abstract The prevalence of nearsightedness (myopia) is increasing worldwide, and so is the prevalence of high myopia. Myopia, especially high myopia, is associated with reduced vision-related quality of life and sight- threatening complications such as glaucoma, retinal detachment, and myopic maculopathy. Delaying the onset of myopia when the eye is known to be growing the fastest may decrease how myopic a child ultimately becomes and may improve the person’s vision-related quality of life and reduce the risk of sight-threatening complications later in life. To date, all myopia control interventions are prescribed after the onset of myopia. Recent studies in Asia indicate that daily administration of 0.05% low-concentration atropine delays the onset of myopia. However, the results of recent clinical trials to slow myopia progression in children who are already myopic have been inconsistent between the United States and Asia, demonstrating the importance of studies in a US population. A prospective cohort study estimated that for every year later that myopia develops, a person is –0.86 D less myopic and 2.9 times less likely to become highly myopic. Based on these results, a treatment to delay the onset of myopia could lower how myopic a person is as an adult. This proposal aims to conduct a two-year, multi-center randomized clinical trial to determine whether 0.05% atropine eye drops administered to children at greatest risk of becoming myopic will delay the onset of myopia. We will enroll pre-myopic children (6-11 years old, inclusive) across 14 clinic centers in the United States and randomly assign them to nightly administration of either 0.05% low-concentration atropine or placebo eye drops. The primary endpoint is whether each participant develops myopia in at least one eye during the two-year clinical trial, as measured by cycloplegic autorefraction. We will determine if there is a difference in the probability of children becoming myopic between those randomly assigned to use 0.05% low- concentration atropine versus placebo over two years. The goal of myopia control is to slow eye growth to prevent mechanical changes due to a longer than normal eye. Previous myopia studies have found inconsistencies between changes in refractive error and axial eye growth. We will determine whether 0.05% low-concentration atropine slows axial elongation of the eye prior to myopia onset compared to placebo. The results of this study could improve care of children in the United States at greatest risk of developing myopia by determining whether treatment can be initiated prior to myopia onset.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

This grant will support research aimed at advancing our understanding of quantum materials, a class of materials that exhibit unique behaviors due to their underlying quantum properties. These materials can conduct electricity without loss (superconductivity) or have exceptional sensing abilities, making them crucial for next-generation technologies like quantum computing, information storage, and high-efficiency power systems. For example, high-temperature superconductors could enable revolutionary applications such as controllable nuclear fusion, levitating vehicles, and more efficient power grids. Therefore, this research aims to develop new models and methods for designing quantum materials by linking macroscopic continuum theory with quantum field, electric field, and magnetic field interactions. By integrating these approaches, the research will provide fresh perspectives on improving properties like superconductivity and creating new materials for energy harvesting, sensing, and actuators. The work will also play a significant role in maintaining the U.S. leadership in technological innovation. Additionally, this project will encourage broader participation in research by involving students in quantum materials studies and promoting interdisciplinary education in mechanics of materials and quantum engineering. A theoretical and computational modeling approach will be established to study and design quantum materials. Specifically, the approach will link continuum mechanics concepts with a suitable quantum mechanical-based order parameter to enable a fresh perspective on quantum engineering. The work will explore the modeling of several distinct aspects of quantum materials: (i) Impact of strain and/or strain gradient, anisotropy, and flexoelectricity in quantum superconductors to provide a new direction in terms of improving the critical temperature and current, (ii) A three-way coupling between quantum field, electric field, and magnetic field in nanostructures, mediated by strain and/or strain-gradient leading to a novel class of quantum materials for sensing and energy harvesting, and (iii) The production of mechanical deformation through alteration in the quantum field (e.g., by laser or change in quantum confinement) leading to a novel class of quantum actuators. 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.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-08

PROJECT SUMMARY Personality disorder (PD) is a severely debilitating psychiatric illness. PD is associated with high healthcare costs, high rates of self-harm and suicidality, and greater disability than major depressive disorder. PD demonstrates a comparable or higher prevalence to depressive and anxiety disorders, and a comparable prevalence to physical conditions such as back pain and respiratory illness; yet, research on the developmental pathways of PD is scarce compared to that of other mental disorders, despite clear evidence for the onset of PD during adolescence. Moreover, a need has been identified to shift from static to dynamic models of psychopathology that focus on core underlying processes in order to innovate methods of detection, prevention, and intervention. The current study draws on recent advancements that identifies a single underling severity continuum of personality pathology, that is, maladaptive self and interpersonal functioning, as defined in the DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality Disorders, and referred to as the Level of Personality Functioning (LPF). The LPF consists of identity, self-direction, empathy and intimacy – core developmental processes that emerge in adult form during adolescence, thereby allowing the empirical inquiry into the developmental trajectories of PD. Against this background, the current project leverages over 17 years (N = 348) of previously collected longitudinal data from the Preschool Depression Study (5R01MH090786-12) to investigate the prediction of daily LPF from developmental trajectories of emotion dysregulation, self- dysfunction and interpersonal dysfunction by combining this data with proposed new data collection of daily LPF using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). By combing these two forms of rich, repeated assessment, we will examine how core processes of PD unfold at the macro-level (across development) and manifest in emerging adulthood at the micro-level (in daily life with newly-collected EMA data). Aim 1 will identify associations between developmental trajectories of emotion dysregulation, self- and interpersonal dysfunction, and daily levels of LPF. It is hypothesized that increasing levels of emotion dysregulation, interpersonal dysfunction, and self-dysfunction across development will predict more pathological daily LPF. Aim 2 will elucidate the relative predictive power and interactions among emotion dysregulation, interpersonal dysfunction, and self-dysfunction in predicting adult daily LPF. It is hypothesized that disturbances in identity and self-function will interact with emotion dysregulation and interpersonal dysfunction to predict greater daily LPF, and that increases in self-dysfunction from adolescence to emerging adulthood will be the strongest predictor of daily LPF, as compared to trajectories of emotion dysregulation and interpersonal dysfunction. Together, this work will reveal dynamics and nuances in the development and daily functioning of personality disorder, aiding methods of targeted early intervention and prevention.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

The most important events for the international reaction engineering scientific community have historically been the North American/International Symposia on Chemical Reaction Engineering. The 5th North American Symposium on Chemical Reaction Engineering (NASCRE-5) takes place February 16-19, 2025, in Houston, TX. This symposium provides a focus on the frontiers of chemical reaction engineering related to sustainability, with an opportunity for international networking within the scientific community. These meetings are held biennially, rotating between North America, Europe, and Asia. This international reputation, combined with the efforts of the organizing and scientific committees, ensures participants from different sub-disciplines, engage and learn about the practical technological challenges facing companies that apply chemical reaction engineering expertise. Support from the National Science Foundation will be utilized to support the travel of early-career faculty, post-doctoral researchers, and graduate students. The NASCRE-5 technical program is focused on emphasizing various sub-disciplines of chemical reaction engineering. The Scientific Committee comprises twenty seven leading academic and industrial researchers in sustainable chemical engineering from around the world. Technical Sessions cover emerging sustainable engineering focus areas such as CO2 Capture & Utilization, Reaction Engineering for Energy Transition, Polymer Upcycling, Novel Reactors and Process Intensification, and Automation/Digitization in Reaction Engineering. A combination of more than 90 oral presentations give students and early career researchers a forum for sharing their work and expertise. Technical Workshops will offer students the ability to learn additional practical skills such as Laboratory Reaction Engineering (taught by industrial experts) and Professional Development (taught by Chief Scientists and Leaders at Fortune 500 companies). The NSF funds will subsidize expenses such as registration, travel, and hotel accommodations for students, postdocs, and early career researchers. Supported attendees will be able to submit their research for publication in a special issue of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 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.