University Of California Riverside

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

The digital twin (DT) paradigm presents a wide array of opportunities for modeling complex systems in biomedical sciences in a realistic manner, allowing researchers and healthcare professionals to explore various “what-if” scenarios. In dental sciences, DTs can serve as virtual replicas of a patient's periodontal tissues and structures, enabling clinicians to address a variety of tasks such as simulating periodontal conditions, forecasting treatment outcomes, and personalizing dental care plans. However, achieving this vision is impossible without building confidence in making DTs in healthcare trustworthy which requires the development of novel mathematical and statistical foundations behind such fundamental questions as verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification (VVUQ) of dental DTs, robustness of dental DTs to uncertainties, and cohesive integration of multi-modal health-related data at disparate scales. This project aims to develop novel mathematical and statistical methodology to establish a foundation of the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven framework for constructing reliable and personalized DTs for periodontal health. By integrating principles from statistical learning, topological data analysis, and generative AI, specifically, probabilistic diffusion models on graphs, the project opens a pathway to build ensembles of individualized dental DTs, termed “periodontal digital siblings.” These DTs will capture patient variability and uncertainty, offering a more precise representation of individual health profiles. This inherently interdisciplinary effort bridges mathematics, statistics, machine learning, dental science, and healthcare, and promotes widely adoption of DTs in dentistry, with an ultimate goal to transform the prevention and treatment of periodontal disease through personalized, data-driven care. Additionally, this project offers a broad range of unique opportunities for interdisciplinary research training at the nexus of mathematical sciences, AI, and dental medicine, equipping the next generation of researchers with critical skills, and fostering cross-domain innovation and translational science. This project is co-funded by the Statistics Program in the Division of 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.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Project Summary In adults, the skin constantly renews itself and the stem cells (SCs) of the basal layer (EpSCs) of the interfollicular epithelium and the hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) residing in the hair follicle bulge are responsible for maintaining tissue integrity, structure, and reepithelization following an injury. However, over an organism’s lifetime these SC pools of the adult skin either lose their vigor or diminish in numbers which manifests into aging- related phenotypes that include epidermal atrophy, fragility, hair loss disorders and delayed wound healing. The fundamental mechanisms that drive SC aging in the adult skin remain largely unknown. To date research in invertebrate and cellular models of aging have shown that there is a change in global occupancy of many histone methylations, and modulation of methyltransferases and demethylases increase organism longevity. While most of these studies have paved the way for us to understand how epigenetic mechanisms influence the aging process, there is a need for addressing if these mechanisms also contribute towards aging of a mammalian tissue. My preliminary in vivo loss-of-function studies indicate that the conserved epigenetic regulators, Polycomb repressive complexes (PRCs), may be functioning differentially in the HFSCs and EpSCs to maintain their longevity in the adult skin. This is particularly intriguing in light of the fact that genome-wide studies have implicated that the modulation of chromatin accessibility in aged HFSCs establish a transcriptional landscape that promotes aging. The goal of this proposal is to add to these correlative observations and elucidate if epigenetic regulators and their corresponding histone modifications have a functional role in safeguarding SC longevity in the skin. To this end, the Specific Aims of this Proposal seek to combine functional in vivo genetic models with state-of-the-art multi-omics approaches to: 1) Characterize the age-dependent changes in transcriptional and chromatin landscape of the various SC pools of the adult skin; 2) Test the functional role of Polycomb-dependent mechanisms in maintaining the longevity and regenerative capacity of adult skin SCs; and 3) Establish a functional correlation that age-dependent changes in the SC chromatin state promotes aging- associated phenotypes. The results of this Proposal will significantly enhance our understanding of how age-dependent changes in epigenetic mechanisms establish a transcriptional landscape that promotes SC aging and will provide new scientific avenues for translational research application in the treatment for aging-associated conditions and disorders.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Engineers play a pivotal role in society. Therefore, it is critical to train engineering students to be ethical engineers. However, studies have shown that employers often see a lack of ethical decision-making among recent graduates. An innovative engineering profession for the 21st century requires engineers to reflect and act ethically when facing complex global, social, and ethical challenges of engineering practice. Traditional approaches to engineering ethics education have been largely limited to the use of codes of ethics of engineering societies and regulatory boards and case studies derived from disaster cases. Engineering ethics has been expressed primarily in rules, and these rules are primarily negative or prohibitive in nature. This rule-based approach, along with a focus on technical ethics, ignores the internal motivational element present in professional life that cannot be adequately accounted for by rules. In addition to rule ethics, there is another ethical tradition with a long history that can provide a more adequate framework for teaching engineering ethics: “virtue ethics” or “ethics of character”. The earliest moral theories in antiquity made virtue the focus of their account of the moral life. Virtue ethics focuses on questions of what kind of person one should be and how one may achieve that, thus it intimately ties moral behavior with one’s character. This project will use stories from traditional culture of different countries to help engineering students identify virtues present in the stories, make connections to engineering ethics, and improve ethical decision-making. We will integrate the ethics training with students’ coursework. Using stories from different cultures will help students see universal values and be more receptive to different cultures. The virtue-based engineering ethics approach will enable students to build a strong foundation for their professional development as engineers. This is aligned with research in the professional formation of engineers which seeks to advance holistic engineering formation. Using a mixed-methods, theoretically grounded approach, we will develop materials for teaching modules that use traditional stories to teach engineering ethics and assess the effectiveness of the teaching intervention. This project will address two key research questions: 1) How do stories from traditional culture help students understand engineering ethics? 2) How does using stories from traditional culture to teach ethics inform students’ ethical decision-making? To answer these research questions, we will select stories from traditional culture to develop Virtue-of-the-Week teaching modules to help students identify virtues and make connections with engineering ethics. Historical figures can serve as role models for students and help exemplify the meaning of virtues (such as honesty and courage). Additionally, we will develop stories into case studies to help students practice ethical decision-making with the consideration of virtues. We also aim to integrate ethical decision-making with students’ coursework. We will develop pre-post assessments to quantitatively and qualitatively assess how students improve in their ability to identify virtues from stories, connect these to engineering ethics, and make ethical decisions. The teaching modules and assessments will be implemented in a 2-quarter chemical engineering senior design course. This project will provide useful information for other engineering faculty who are interested in incorporating engineering ethics in their courses. Using virtue-based character education for teaching engineering ethics will enable students to see the importance of virtues and apply them to ethical decision-making in their future profession, which will bring about greater benefits for society. 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

While extensive evidence has shown the importance of whole-person approaches to physical and mental health, existing therapeutic interventions for neurological and mental disorders remain largely single-scale and segregated. The brain, in contrast, is a vastly multiscale and interconnected complex system, and neural dynamics transform dramatically across spatiotemporal scales, internal states, and external contexts. In particular, numerous bodies of neuroscience research have discovered methods for describing brain (dys)function in the time domain, whereas many parallel, largely disconnected efforts have discovered ways to characterize neural dynamics in the frequency domain. The goal of this project is to integrate the complementary dimensions of time and frequency into a unifying theory through the development of causal discovery methods across broad spatiotemporal scales, internal states, and external contexts. Based on extensive preliminary data, our central hypothesis (CH) is that causal mechanisms in complex networked systems such as the brain can be discovered more accurately and robustly in the frequency domain under (both of) two conditions: sufficient spatiotemporal averaging and sufficient stationarity of underlying dynamics. We test our CH through three Specific Aims, each of which combines formal mathematical analysis, causal algorithm design, large-scale numerical simulations, and in vivo electrophysiology and calcium imaging. Aim 1 tests the working hypothesis (WH) that stationary macroscopic causal mechanisms can be learned more robustly and accurately in the frequency domain. Aim 2 then tests the WH that mesoscopic causal mechanisms can best be understood using a novel form of integrated time-frequency analysis that avoids using conventional, Fourier-based decompositions, while Aim 3 tests the WH that macroscopic causal network mechanisms can be more accurately discovered using time-domain methods during the transient period following extrinsic events. The proposed research is thus highly synergistic with the NCCIH Strategic Plan, especially “Objective 1: Advance fundamental science and methods development”. Through the development of innovative causal discovery methods, the proposed research provides the computational theory needed to identify optimal intervention targets across scales and conditions. This project pioneers a transition from conventional, single-scale to a causal, systems understanding of neural information processing. Consequently, it will lay a rigorous foundation for much-needed holistic and multi-scale intervention design for neurological and mental disorders. RELEVANCE (See instructions): This project is relevant to public health because it develops an integrated framework for determining (1) where (at what nodes) and (2) how (in what “language”) to intervene for brain-related disorders. We achieve (1) by developing methods for identifying causal network mechanisms across broad spatiotemporal scales. We achieve (2) by developing a complex-systems theory to determine which analysis domain—time or frequency—is most appropriate for answering which sets of questions, at what scale, and why.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Summary/Abstract Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a ssRNA (-) nairovirus that produces fever, prostration, and severe hemorrhages in humans. Fatality rates typically associated with CCHFV can be up to 40%. CCHFV has rapidly spread across large sections of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Recently, CCHFV and its tick reservoir have illustrated their continued ability to spread into previously naive regions. At the same time, U.S. citizen traffic has increased substantially to regions endemic with CCHFV, specifically South-Central Asia and the Black Sea Region. As a result, there is a substantial risk for transmission of CCHFV and/or its tick vector to the United States. CCHFV is not the only nairovirus that threatens the public. Other nairoviruses to include Nairobi Sheep Disease and Erve viruses as well as newly discovered members in Songling and Yezo viruses can cause human disease of varying severity and economic distress. There is no vaccine or prophylactic currently available for treatment of CCHF or any other nairovirus related disease. Recently studies have identified that including a 38 KD non-structural glycoprotein protein of CCHFV (GP38) as a vaccine antigen can confer a level of protection against CCHFV challenge. Also, targeting of CCHFV GP38 using non-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAb) have been shown as a viable route to protective post-exposure broad-spectrum (mAb) strategies that show more potential than their neutralizing counterparts. Beyond GP38, examination of protection conferred by fast acting CCHFV viral replicon particles has revealed that non-neutralizing humoral responses to CCHFV nairovirus nucleoprotein (NP) are an important contributor to protection against these viruses. This proposal will reveal the protective attributes of non-neutralizing mAbs targeting these two viral proteins, opening the door to new routes of vaccine and therapeutic intervention for CCHFV and other related bunyaviruses. These insights will then be used to isolate from CCHFV survivors mAb candidates for further pre-clinical and clinical testing that are highly efficacious with broadly cross protective characteristics.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

With support from the Environmental Chemical Sciences (ECS) and the Chemical Structure and Dynamics (CSD) Programs in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Haofei Zhang at the University of California, Riverside is investigating the roles of gas-phase OH and HO2 radicals in organic aerosols (OA) multiphase oxidation under atmospherically relevant conditions. OA are ubiquitous in the Earth’s atmosphere, significantly impacting air quality and human health. Questions regarding the OH-initiated heterogeneous OA oxidation remain elusive because of the large differences between laboratory and atmospheric conditions and analytical limitations. Professor Zhang and his students will conduct laboratory multiphase oxidation experiments of various OA systems under a range of conditions using a custom-designed flow reactor. They will investigate bimolecular and unimolecular peroxy radical autoxidation processes in the condensed phase in the presence of inorganic species and aerosol liquid water. They will utilize isomer-informed techniques to identify the oxidation products and elucidate the oxidation mechanisms. Their studies could provide critical knowledge for understanding aerosol aging chemistry, with potential implications for improving air quality, ultimately contributing to broader societal goals of environmental protection and public health. This project will also provide training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students through institutional programs to enhance STEM education. This project will focus on studying the mechanism of organic aerosols (OA) multiphase oxidation under diverse conditions, including the interplay of gas-phase OH and HO2 radicals, the effects of core-shell structured binary OA particles, and the differences in OH oxidation under light and dark conditions. Furthermore, this research will assess the impacts of inorganic aerosol components on OA multiphase oxidation, including the effects of relative humidity, particle phase separation, and aerosol acidity. The multiphase oxidation kinetics and molecular-level chemical composition of key oxidation products will be analyzed using state-of-the-art mass spectrometry techniques, such as the thermal desorption chemical ionization mass spectrometry (TD-CIMS) and ion mobility spectrometry time of flight mass spectrometry (IMS-TOF). Additionally, a multiphase reaction-diffusion kinetic model will be developed to interpret experimental results and represent new oxidation mechanisms. Novel aspects of this project include realistic oxidation conditions with lower OH and higher HO2/OH ratios compared to prior studies, systematic aerosol acidity investigations, mechanistic impacts of binary aerosol systems, isomer-informed compositional measurements, and integrated kinetic modeling. This comprehensive approach may reveal accelerated OA multiphase oxidation with enhanced atmospheric impacts, potentially reconciling observational-laboratory discrepancies in OA chemical evolution studies. 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

Coral reefs are among the most vibrant and productive ecosystems on the planet, supporting a multitude of marine species and benefiting millions of people through food, tourism, and coastal protection. However, when ocean temperatures rise, corals can lose their microscopic algal partners—essential organisms that provide energy through photosynthesis—resulting in a condition known as coral bleaching. This project aims to better understand how corals recover these algal partners after such stress. Using a novel algal strain and advanced live imaging techniques, this project will study how these algae proliferate and re-establish their relationship with the coral host. Beyond advancing scientific understanding, this research will inform the design of practical solutions for coral recovery and ecosystem restoration. These innovations are being developed alongside entrepreneurship training to promote real-world impact. The project also emphasizes education and mentorship by involving students at multiple levels in hands-on research and professional development. Through discovery and training, this work aims to advance reef conservation. This project aims to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that enable symbiotic dinoflagellates to proliferate within cnidarian hosts after thermal stress disrupts the symbiosis. Leveraging a Symbiodiniaceae pigment mutant and the small sea anemone Exaiptasia diaphana model system, the study employs high-resolution live imaging to track symbiont dynamics in vivo. The project comprises three integrated aims: (1) defining the cellular mechanisms of symbiont proliferation under elevated temperatures, (2) applying computational models to simulate symbiont population dynamics and predict recovery trajectories, and (3) using single-cell RNA-seq to identify molecular interactions between host cells and symbionts. The research also includes an applied component aimed at informing the development of tools to promote symbiont expansion in compromised corals, with commercialization pathways explored through NSF I-Corps training. This integrative framework will provide new insights into the regulation of coral-algal symbiosis and contribute to efforts to support reef sustainability. 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 community of commensal microbes in the gut, the gut microbiota, participates in numerous processes key for human health, including protection against foreign microorganisms. A greater mechanistic understanding of how the gut microbiota resists the invasion of foreign bacteria, from pathogens to new commensal microorganisms, is essential both for the control of infection and in targeted approaches for microbiota manipulation. Our work has shown that interpersonal differences in the gut microbiota are an important driver of outcome of infection by Vibrio cholerae, the etiologic agent of cholera, a devastating diarrhea affecting millions of people each year worldwide. As a genetically tractable model organism for examining invasion of the gut microbial community, studies with V. cholerae allow for mechanistic examination of microbial colonization and inter-bacterial interaction and competition in the gastrointestinal tract. We have shown that small molecule signaling factors, including bacterial quorum sensing autoinducers, and microbial bile and diet metabolites, modulates microbiota structure and in turn multiple pathways of colonization resistance against V. cholerae. This proposal aims to define molecular mechanisms underpinning the ability of diverse human gut communities to drive the biochemical milieu of the gut into colonization-resistant or susceptible states, thus shaping resistance against colonization of both pathogens such as V. cholerae and new commensals. The proposed studies aim to provide mechanistic understanding for the processes driving assembly of gut microbial communities and identify new targets for prophylactic and therapeutic manipulations of the gut microbiota to combat invading microorganisms.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

This award is made in response to Dear Colleague Letter 24-130, as part of the ECosystem for Leading Innovation in Plasma Science and Engineering (ECLIPSE) interdisciplinary program. This grant supports the research looking to advance photolithography, a technology that is critical for the large-scale manufacturing of microelectronics. Photolithography is used to define the exceedingly small integrated circuits that enable the large computing power of devices such as smartphones and laptop computers. Continuous improvements in computing power require smaller and smaller circuit features, which in turn require performing photolithography with shorter and shorter wavelengths of light. State-of-the-art photolithographic tools can now utilize extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation, but they require incredibly complex and expensive equipment. It is the goal of this project to explore a new approach to EUV generation that overcomes current limitations in terms of emission wavelength and intensity. This new approach utilizes a plasma, which is a partially ionized gas, to produce aerosols of small particles composed of metals such as tin. An intense laser pulse fully ionizes the tin aerosol and generates bright EUV radiation. By tuning the properties of the plasma, it is possible to control the properties of the tin nanoparticles and, in turn, improve the performance of the EUV source in terms of emission wavelength and energy efficiency. This is critical to achieve ever-brighter EUV sources and maximize semiconductor manufacturing rates. This highly multidisciplinary research involves physics, chemistry, materials science and advanced manufacturing. The project seeks to contribute to the development of a highly skilled workforce in the critical area of semiconductor manufacturing. The research outcomes look to benefit the US economy and society by keeping it at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation in a highly competitive field. In recent years, tin droplets coupled with pulsed lasers have emerged as viable sources of EUV generation for photolithography. In these systems, a laser pulse evaporates the tin droplet and ionizes its vapor to achieve EUV emission. Commercial devices use micron-sized tin droplets, leading to incomplete utilization of the material upon laser pulse exposure and to the formation of fragments that contaminate the collection optics. This project seeks to investigate the use of aerosols of metal nanoparticles as targets for EUV generation. By systematically varying the size and density of the tin nanoparticles, it is possible to explore new regimes of laser-matter coupling, with the ultimate goal of improving spectral purity and EUV emission intensity compared to current droplet-based sources. To achieve this, some scientific barriers need to be overcome, in particular with respect to understanding the nucleation, growth, and transport of tin nanoparticles in low-temperature plasma sources. The team utilizes a range of diagnostic techniques, such as optical emission and mass spectroscopy, to map the relation between plasma and aerosol properties, together with their effect on EUV emission. 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

This Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) project lowers technical barriers and empowers city and county agencies, researchers, educators, and citizen scientists to easily explore and exchange rich spatial datasets. StarMap, an open-source ecosystem (OSE) for geospatial data, provide software infrastructure as well as student training, public workshops, and outreach events. Geospatial data, such as maps, satellite imagery, and location-based statistics, play a critical role in science, public policy, and emergency response, yet accessing this data remains challenging despite previous efforts to make it more available. The introduction of StarMap enables lightweight sharing and exploration of geospatial data increasing its accessibility and interactivity. This project advances open science, promotes transparency, strengthens reproducibility in research, and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration. The project aligns with the National Science Foundation’s mission to advance scientific progress in critical areas such as agriculture and geosciences, ultimately benefiting society through enhanced education and data-informed decision-making. This POSE project is built on the Star platform, a widely used platform for hosting terabytes of geospatial data. The StarMap OSE consists of three key components. First, a standalone library builds lightweight data and visualization indexes optimized for efficient integration into existing data portals to enhance interactive exploration. Second, a secure sharing platform that enables data providers to exchange datasets and visualization styles. This platform features automated validation of interactivity and responsiveness to systematically verify robustness and safety of community contributions. Third, the OSE has a community engagement framework that includes comprehensive documentation, deployment guides, and training materials to assist researchers and developers in adopting and deploying StarMap. 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

This project investigates the economic, social, and demographic processes that allowed the success of some cities while others in the immediate area declined. Processes that operate in ancient cities are not fundamentally different from those operating in modern cities. Therefore, findings have the potential to impact urban planning and issues affecting contemporary cities. Scholarship on urbanism suggests a number of mechanisms that boost the growth and sustainability of cities, including the creation of neighborhoods, the development of marketplaces, and enhanced efficiencies that come from increasing scale and higher settlement density. Archaeology provides valuable insights about the growth and success of cities because the actions of parts of the population whose lives are often not recorded in written histories are nevertheless preserved in the material record. Findings are disseminated to improve the public’s understanding of science and the scientific method. This archaeological site provides a unique opportunity to address several major questions regarding urbanism and economics. Settlement scaling theory proposes that increasing density transforms cities into social reactors that enhance productivity. Thus, household economic indicators coupled with demography may also illuminate urban success. If urban growth rates are fast enough to indicate migration into the city, the degree to which newcomers assimilated or maintained distinctiveness impacts urban viability. The project uses lidar, a form of aerial laser scanning that sees through dense tropical vegetation and reveals thousands of ancient houses, to create the first systematic and detailed map of the residential areas of the city. Excavations in a representative sample of households provide the first robust understanding of how regional and domestic economies intersected. 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

Abstract The gut microbiome plays a key role in maintaining intestinal homeostasis and serves as a critical barrier against invading microorganisms through competition, chemical antagonism, and immune modulation. However, external factors such as exposure to xenobiotics (including non-antibiotic drugs, pesticides, plasticizers) can influence the resilience of the gut microbiome and its susceptibility to infections. Recent studies have demonstrated the impact of xenobiotics on the gut microbiome, with increasing evidence suggesting that non-antibiotic xenobiotic exposure can alter microbial composition, potentially facilitating pathogen expansion. This is especially concerning for gastrointestinal pathogens such as Salmonella enterica and Vibrio cholerae, where chemical pollution is often found as a confounding exposure factor. Although multiple studies have shown the influence of xenobiotics on microbiome composition, there remains a major knowledge gap in the mechanistic understanding of how these exposures shape microbial metabolism that controls resilience to invading pathogens. My research program aims to fill this gap by investigating how xenobiotics and their biotransformation products affect the gut microbiome's composition, metabolism, specialized metabolite production, and ultimately resilience against invading bacteria. Using a synthetic microbiome model and our functional metabolomics tools, we will assess the inhibitory effects of xenobiotics, and their biotransformation products on commensal bacteria and pathogens. Additionally, we will explore the long-term effects of xenobiotic exposure by evolving commensal bacteria to investigate cross-resistance to antibiotics, and their impact on pathogen colonization. Ultimately, these experiments aim to uncover mechanistic insights into bacterial antagonism under xenobiotic stress and explore how adaptive responses within microbial communities influence the resilience towards invading pathogens. Together, this project will provide new insights into how xenobiotic pressures shape microbial ecosystems and pathogen resilience, with translational implications for future microbiome-based therapeutics.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

This project aims to break the low latency performance barrier in today’s fifth generation (5G) networks that hinders progress and adoption of remote driving industry (the “vertical” application). It advances an innovative “vertical-aware” framework to optimize both 5G networks and the vertical application. Despite tremendous progress, today’s “self-driving” cars may encounter many situations where they cannot drive themselves safely. Examples include construction zones and traffic accidents on the road. By ensuring low latency needed for remote driving, the developed solutions will allow a human teleoperator to remotely steer a “connected and autonomous” vehicle (CAV) through complex situations as if sitting in the driver seat. Technological advances enabled by this project will help (re-)establish the U.S.’s leadership in next-generation (NextG) wireless telecommunications and major vertical industries such as automotive and robotic automation. This project also provides a unique educational platform to train students and expand the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) workforce. Two major hurdles in ensuring low latency over 5G networks are i) high mobility of vehicles leads to poor radio channel conditions, causing data delivery errors; ii) frequent handovers among radio base stations further prolong data delivery. The project will develop a novel Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) enabled, vertical-driven framework with mobility-aware, proactive mechanisms to reduce impacts of high mobility and handovers on the tail latency performance of the target vertical application. This is achieved by enabling 5G networks to utilize information (e.g., vehicle trajectory and speed) provided by remote driving applications to make intelligent decisions to speed up the delivery of sensor and command-and-control data that are critical to remote driving, whereas CAVs can also take advantage of vertical-aware predictions made by 5G networks to decide when and how to transmit data. Additional innovations include incorporation of integrated 5G and cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technologies for cooperative situation awareness to further ensure safe remote driving operations. The phased approach to developing the proposed solutions and demonstrating their capabilities will ensure a high chance of successful execution, truly moving the needle with transformative impacts on relevant industrial sectors. The project represents close collaboration across three academic institutions and two industry leaders in key relevant sectors providing an accelerated pathway to technology transition. By demonstrating the value of vertical-aware advanced 5G/NextG networks in support of remote and cooperative driving and other industrial use cases, this project will help create new opportunities and business models for both mobile network operators and network equipment vendors for sustained investments in network innovations. It will also help accelerate adoption of autonomous driving with teleoperation capabilities. 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

ABSTRACT In contrast to fixed stimulus-response associations, flexible behavior allows organisms to respond differently to the same stimuli depending on their current goals. Given a relatively stable structure of the brain, how can organisms implement different stimulus-response associations in a context-dependent, goal-directed manner? While previous work has investigated the roles of various brain regions in flexible switching behavior, we still lack fundamental understanding of how neural signals propagating within and between brain regions underlie this important cognitive function. Our proposal focuses on the interactions between three different brain regions in mediating rule switching: the locus coeruleus, the orbitofrontal cortex, and the somatosensory cortex. We test specific hypotheses regarding the contributions of each of these circuits by combining pathway-specific perturbations with cellular-resolution neurophysiological recordings in task-performing mice. Altogether, we will provide a unifying framework for how the locus coeruleus, orbitofrontal cortex, and somatosensory cortex coordinate to implement flexible goal-directed behavior.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Despite moves toward electrification and solar driven renewables, reliance on fossil energy will continue for the foreseeable future. In addition, specialized applications will require enhanced safety protocols. This project will address the early stages of potential new strategies to employ “safe” high energy dense fuels by electrochemically activating fuels to become flammable on demand. This “switchable” behavior may also offer alternative means to electrochemically generate fuels on demand or on site. It may offer new methods for mixing traditional fuels with electrochemically active fuels to make traditional fuels safer. This project builds on a recent demonstration of the electrochemical switching of the flammability of a liquid fuel employing ionic liquids. The premise is that salts which have little volatility can either be reduced or oxidized to a neutral fragment which has both volatility and high enthalpy of combustion. This approach, if translated to industrial practice, offers the potential to make a ‘safe fuel’ or alternatively lay the foundation of a simple fuel metering scheme, which has not previously been realized in the domain of condensed phase fuels. The research will entail three tasks: 1) Obtain Structure-Function relationships by employing systematic change in molecular structure for both the anion and cation and evaluation of electrochemical properties and how they relate to combustion and electrochemical switchability; 2) Explore the potential of wireless electrochemistry using bipolar electrodes; and 3) Develop and characterize gelled fuel systems, which are inherently safer. The research conducted here will address the early stages of potential new strategies to employ “safe” high energy dense fuels and electrochemically generate fuels on demand or on site. 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

Non-technical Abstract Understanding how electrons interact with each other in materials is one of the most exciting and challenging areas of modern physics. When these interactions become strong, they can lead to unusual and fascinating states of matter that can enable future technology revolution, such as materials that conduct electricity without resistance or those that could form the basis of future quantum technologies. However, these so-called correlated states are challenging to study due to their complex, many-body nature. This project focuses on exploring these correlated states in a new class of materials made from stacking atomically thin semiconducting layers with a slight twist or mismatch, creating a new periodic "moiré superlattice". This structure can slow down electrons and enhance their interactions, making it possible to observe and control new quantum states. The research team brings together experts in building these delicate materials, shining light on them to understand their optical properties, and using sensitive microscopes to probe their electrical behavior at the nanoscale. The project will explore how different ways of stacking the layers and controlling electron flows can create entirely new states of quantum matter. This project aligns with the goals of the National Quantum Initiative and has the potential to drive innovation in quantum electronics and optoelectronics. Beyond the science, this project will help train the next generation of scientists and engineers in fields of quantum optics, optoelectronics, and nanotechnology. The team will involve students ranging from high school to graduate school, with a strong focus on outreach activities. Activities will also include lab tours, educational modules, and hands-on research experiences, helping to grow and prepare the future quantum workforce. Technical abstract Recent advances in moiré superlattices of graphene and transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) have demonstrated a promising platform to investigate correlated physics in two dimensions. This project aims to investigate correlated quantum phases in multilayer TMD moiré superlattices, leveraging state-of-the-art techniques in device fabrication, optical spectroscopy, and electrical scanning probe microscopy. The proposal focuses on three major research directions: (1) Study the evolution of excitonic insulator state in moiré superlattices involving a natural bilayer; (2) Explore emerging correlated states enabled by tuning interlayer coupling between moiré and non-moiré states. (3) Investigate correlated states in two coupled moiré superlattices. By controlling the electron tunneling from correlated electrons to designed bands, including moiré flatbands, this proposal plans to systematically explore new quantum correlated states and their unique valley/spin physics. 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

ABSTRACT The overarching goal of this proposal is to elucidate the function of the fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein 1 gene, FMR1, in the ovaries and its role in the regulation of reproductive function. Mutations of the FMR1 gene cause Fragile X syndrome, the most prevalent inherited cause of intellectual disability and the most common monogenic cause of autism spectrum disorder. Mutations of this gene also comprise the largest contribution of genetic causes of premature ovarian failure. The FMR1 gene has X-linked dominant inheritance, mutations have a high prevalence in the general population, and disorders have high penetrance in affected people. Although the molecular function of this gene’s product, FMRP, is beginning to emerge, mechanisms of related disorders are unknown. Our proposal is supported by ample evidence showing that mouse models mimic findings in human populations, prompting us to delve into molecular mechanisms. Specifically, Fmr1 knockout mice that lack Fmrp, mimicking people with these mutations, also experience reproductive disorders, such as premature cessation of reproductive function in females. Our previous publication revealed normal numbers of primordial follicles, demonstrating that in females, Fmr1 mutation does not affect the follicle pool, consistent with findings in humans. However, this mutation resulted in increased numbers of corpora lutea consistent with larger litters in young animals. In the ovary, Fmrp is expressed in the oocyte, granulosa cells, and in neuronal fibers that innervate the ovary. Young knockout females exhibit changes in hormone levels, including increased LH, FSH, inhibin B, and progesterone, as well as increased sympathetic innervation of the follicles by neuronal fibers that originate from the superior ovarian nerve. Our overarching hypothesis is that Fmr1 mutations alter ovarian responsiveness to hormonal stimulation and dysregulate follicle activation in young animals leading to early cessation of reproductive function. The first aim will determine whether the mutation causes the oocyte and granulosa cells to have different responsiveness to hormonal stimulation. This will be tested at different ages to pinpoint the affected cell type and timing of dysregulation. The second aim will investigate changes in the matrix surrounding the follicles that have been associated with ovarian aging. These exploratory aims fit the criteria for the R21 funding mechanism that will break new ground to identify the ovarian component primarily affected by the mutations and open new avenues of investigation. The third aim will use state-of-the-art virally induced neuronal activation to investigate the consequences of increased innervation on follicle activation. The role of ovarian sympathetic innervation arising from the superior ovarian nerve is not clear, and the high risk third aim may lead to novel understanding of the role innervation plays in hormone secretion or follicle development. This application will advance our knowledge of FMR1’s role in ovarian function, separately in the endocrine, stromal, and neuronal components. The findings will provide an understanding of reproductive disorders stemming from mutations in the Fragile X locus.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

This study will determine the role of the atmosphere as a supplier of phosphorus (P), a key soil nutrient, to ecosystems. The research uses lake sediments that preserve the history of how ecosystems developed to reconstruct how P cycled over time. The study also uses present-day soils and water samples to answer fundamental questions related to ecosystem development: Can atmospheric P inputs drive the development of young, eroding ecosystems, on P-poor parent material? Understanding the role of atmospheric P as a driver of ecosystem change is critical for evaluating and predicting whether i) P is lost or gained in ecosystems, ii) whether plants or microbes may not be able to grow or decompose organic matter because they lack P, and iii) whether shifts in dust emission sources, and deposition rates, caused by global changes may alter ecosystem functions like organic matter decomposition. Land managers in many arid regions depend on montane ecosystems for water supply. Because dust can accelerate the timing of snowmelt and nutrient-bearing dusts can degrade water quality, assessing the impacts of dust deposition on ecosystems is critical from a water and ecosystem quality perspective. This research proposes to re-evaluate established paradigms on ecosystem P cycling by focusing on young, eroding landscapes derived from P-poor parent materials, and where surrounding drylands favor atmospheric transport and deposition of P-bearing dusts. The study expects that in glaciated regions i) rock-derived P was minimally retained, especially before ecosystem development, and became locked in lake sediments, and that ii) atmospheric P inputs control the bulk of biologically cycled P relative to the contribution of rock P. This work integrates landscape paleo-denudation rates, soil enrichment factors using immobile elements, and isotopic techniques to fingerprint and understand the fates and sources of P at a watershed scale. Ecological approaches (e.g., exoenzymes, respiration assays, and substrate use efficiency) will be used to assess present-day rates of nutrient cycling and limitation in relation to P availability. 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

Imaging inside the human body can reveal important information for diagnosis and treatment of disease. To obtain a high-quality image, light is usually projected from outside the body using external lenses and microscopes. The imaging depth is limited since light cannot be delivered deep into the tissue from outside. Lens and endoscopes can be inserted into the tissue to mitigate this issue. However, this is invasive and can cause damage. This project will use non-invasive ultrasound waves to guide and focus light through the tissue without the need for inserting a physical lens. This approach will allow for high-resolution imaging in parts of the body, like the brain, that cannot be achieved with MRI, while imaging over a larger volume than possible with a traditional microscope. The project will also help develop the next generation of young scientists and engineers with an interest in ultrasound and optical technologies. This project will develop the first ultrasonically-enhanced swept source optical coherence tomography (ueSS-OCT) system for label-free optical imaging of tissue structure and function with near beam waist limited lateral resolution over an extended depth range. Ultrasound waves can locally change the refractive index profile in tissue to sculpt in situ virtual optical waveguides that can focus and steer light. The project has three main objectives: (1) to utilize the unique interplay between these in situ lenses and SS-OCT detection for beam waist limited resolution over 2 mm of sub-surface structural imaging depth and (2) up to 2 mm of functional phase-resolved imaging with shot noise limited phase resolution with an extended flow velocity range. These advances will be validated by (3) detection of functional activation in the well-established animal model of somatosensory activation in response to whisker stimulation. This project will demonstrate a novel imaging paradigm in which external focusing optics can be replaced by in situ optical waveguides formed within the tissue itself. 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 accumulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment is a significant problem that can affect human health. This project will develop a new method to degrade PFAS in water. The treatment system involves ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, a naturally occurring catalyst, and low-cost organics. The project will discover the optimal configuration of the reaction system, understand how the new system works, degrade various PFAS pollutants, and measure the products of PFAS destruction. This novel method is expected to treat a variety of PFAS in wastewater associated with water purification, environmental cleanup, and industrial wastewater management. The research findings will be applied to treat PFAS wastes by working with environmental engineering companies. Besides student training and course improvements, the education and outreach plans include developing a rapid method to detect potential PFAS exposure in daily life. This project aims to develop a novel photochemical system for PFAS destruction using a novel class of abundant and sustainable electron sources. The project will (1) investigate the working mechanisms of the new reaction system, (2) examine the system performance in degrading various PFAS, (3) characterize PFAS degradation pathways and products, and (4) evaluate and improve the system performance towards practical application. Four general technical challenges for existing PFAS degradation technologies will be addressed: (i) the destruction efficacy for various PFAS structures, (ii) the efficiency of energy and chemical utilization, (iii) the formation and control of recalcitrant residuals and byproducts, and (iv) the robustness in complex water matrices. Research approaches include (a) kinetic measurements of PFAS degradation and defluorination under variable photoreaction configurations and practical water matrices, (b) transformation product analyses using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), product isolation, nuclear magnetic resonance, and so on, (c) mechanistic elucidation using probing reagents, photolysis, and HRMS, and (d) photocatalyst capture and reuse. Compared with earlier photochemical systems (e.g., UV-sulfite and UV-iodide), the proposed new system will be transformative regarding engineering feasibility as well as the fundamental understanding of photochemical reaction mechanisms and fluorochemical degradation pathways. 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

HIV-1 infects CD4+ T-cells, macrophages (MΦ) and microglia (MG) and affects all organs that are infiltrated by permissive cells establishing viral reservoirs, including the brain. Even if treated with combined anti-retroviral therapy (cART) neurocognitive impairment (NCI) develops in about 50% of people with HIV (PWH). HIV-1 triggers an interferon (IFN) response and type I IFNs (IFNα/β) can in principle control HIV-infection of CD4+ T- cells and MΦ by interfering with several stages of the viral lifecycle. IFNβ exerts anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects and appears to at least transiently control HIV infection in the brain and periphery. We and others observed that the endogenous, protective HIV/SIV-induced IFNβ response in the brain is transient but it is unclear why and how HIV overcomes the IFN response. However, we also found: 1) Treatment of infected MΦs with IFNβ diminished HIV-1 production; 2) The ISG IRF7 exerts negative feedback on IFNβ expression;, 3) IFNβ protected neurons from toxins of HIV-stimulated MΦ; 4) An intranasal IFNβ treatment prevented neuronal damage in a transgenic mouse model of NeuroHIV; 5) We identified the interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) CCL4 as a critical mediator of neuroprotection by IFNβ and found that astrocytes are the major source. Based on this data, we hypothesize that IFNβ treatment in conjunction with cART can be utilized to restrict HIV- infection or resurgence, formation of reservoirs and persistence in the brain as well as neuronal injury. To test our hypothesis, we will employ primary human peripheral blood cells (PBMC), iPSC-derived MG, astrocytes, 2D CNS and a novel microfluidic 3D CNS-on-a-chip tissue culture model, the latter including neurons, astrocytes, microglia, pericytes, brain endothelial and immune cells spatially organized in a Mimetas device (Mimetas Co, Gaithersburg, MD). We will use novel dynamic single cell imaging, transcriptomic and functional approaches, to examine cell type specific effects of IFNβ relevant to viral infection and restriction, neuroinflammation and neuronal toxicity and protection in the presence and absence of cART. Three Specific Aims (SA) are proposed: 1. Dissect the impact of IFNβ on HIV-infected microglia and PBMC with and without cART; 2. Define the role of astrocytes in the neuroprotective IFNβ response to HIV with and without cART, and 3. Assess in a novel 3D Blood/BBB/CNS-on-a-chip model, if IFNβ treatment can restrict HIV-1 infection, reservoir formation and neurotoxicity in the presence and absence of cART. The Specific Aims will test the hypothesis that IFNβ can restrict HIV-1 infection and reservoir formation in CD4+ T-cells, MΦ and MG, prevent HIV- and cART induced injury to neurons and the blood-brain-barrier, and suppress resurgence of an established HIV infection when cART is interrupted. The Specific Aims will test the mechanisms of IFNβ action with and without cART in a cell type-specific approach, including induction of anti-viral and anti-inflammatory ISGs and neurotrophic factors, activation of the pro-survival kinases Akt and ERK1/2, and suppression or reduced activity of infection-, inflammation- and neurotoxicity-promoting factors, such as p38 MAPK and NFkB.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Maps of intergalactic hydrogen, understood through large-scale computer simulations, can reveal how the Universe began. The research team from the University of California, Riverside will use simulations and observations of intergalactic hydrogen to help understand what caused the Universe to expand in the crucial first nanosecond of its existence. The investigators will also measure the mass of the neutrino, the last detected subatomic particle without a known mass, and attempt to understand why different measurements of the current speed with which the Universe is expanding disagree. This project will provide training and research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students in computational cosmology, and it will support professional development for high school physics teachers. The team will use the PRIYA simulation suite, a comprehensive model for the hydrogen distribution that combines simulations at different resolutions to achieve unprecedented dynamic range. PRIYA has demonstrated a consistent primordial power spectrum measurement between the cosmic microwave background and the Lyman-alpha forest, and has found matter clustering in agreement with weak lensing surveys but lower than the cosmic microwave background, revealing a S8 tension at redshift two. The PRIYA simulations possess the resolution and accuracy to analyze DESI hydrogen data, whose small-scale information will dramatically improve cosmological parameter constraints. The project will combine the PRIYA simulation suite with DESI data and cosmic microwave background data from Planck to address three key goals: measuring the sum of neutrino masses, constraining spectral index running, and testing whether early dark energy models can resolve the Hubble tension. Forecasts suggest this work will detect the first cosmological evidence for non-zero neutrino mass and improve existing constraints on spectral index running. The team will also incorporate high-resolution data from KODIAQ/SQUAD, enabling simultaneously constrained analysis of both cosmology and thermal history. The investigators will further develop the wavelet scattering transform they pioneered as a statistic for Lyman-alpha forest cosmology, which preliminary results suggest may improve cosmological constraints by an order of magnitude. 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 · 2025-07

This project supports seven PIs, one postdoctoral fellow, five graduate students, and two undergraduate students from the five U.S. universities to study how the availability of marine nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate may have fueled the expansion of eukaryotes (organisms with nuclei in their cells), transformed their ecological roles, and eventually revolutionized the marine ecosystem during the Tonian Period (1000–720 million years ago). This research will help scientists to better understand the ecological resilience of the marine ecosystem in the present and future. The project takes advantage of unique and complementary geologic records from two continents, leverages available collections and resources, and brings together an array of research expertise. It offers opportunities for the training of a globally engaged STEM workforce, as well as public outreach activities engaging national (geo)parks. This project will test the hypothesis that increasing nutrient availability in Tonian oceans drove the diversification and ecological rise of eukaryotes, which in turn transformed the scope of biodiversity from a prokaryote-dominated world to one teeming with eukaryotes. The researchers will systematically collect and integrate paleontological, geochemical, sedimentological, and stratigraphic data from early Tonian strata in North China and late Tonian strata in the Grand Canyon of Arizona. The data will be integrated with global compilations and an Earth system model to reconstruct nutrient availability, eukaryote taxonomic and functional biodiversity, and marine geochemical cycles to test the hypothesis stated above. The intellectual merit of the project lies in its potential to illuminate the complex feedbacks among nutrient availability, functional biodiversity, and biodiversity dynamics in a major transition in Earth history. The broader impacts of the project will catalyze multidisciplinary research, create synergies between the National Park System and research institutions, foster informal geoscience education, and prepare the next-generation of STEM workforce. This project is funded by the BIO/DEB Biodiversity of a Changing Planet (BoCP) Program and the GEO/EAR Life and Environments through Time (LET) Program. 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 · 2025-07

The incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is rapidly and inexplicably rising with 1 in 36 US children diagnosed in 2023, yet little is known about its etiology. ASD is debilitating and poses great societal and economic burdens, thus a critically important public health need is to understand its origins. However, this has been hindered by the heterogeneous presentation of the core behavioral domains in ASD, which include deficits in social communication, restricted/repetitive behavior and interests. Genetics account for only 30-40% of ASD heritability, suggesting that environmental stressors such as immune activation or pollutants, transferred via the mother may confer risk to offspring. Abnormal fetal brain development is regulated by the placenta and ASD has been associated with placental epigenetic dysfunction. Identification of placental gene biomarkers that are causally related to ASD-risk in offspring could help elucidate early pathogenesis and prediction of ASD. Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or “Forever Chemicals”, found in ppm levels in drinking water, is suspected of elevating ASD risk through immune dysfunction. PFAS immunosuppressive effects may aggravate actions of other environmental stressors such as maternal immune activation (MIA). For example, viral infection during pregnancy can double the risk of ASD in offspring. Therefore, a critically important, but unmet need, is to understand how environmental “hits” during development may interact with genetic predisposition to exacerbate ASD risk using a placental-fetal model. During pregnancy, the common PFAS species, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) bioaccumulates in placenta and is transferred to fetal brain. Together, these data suggest that some environmental ASD risk factors could be avoided yet no experimental studies have investigated the ASD-relevant neurodevelopmental effects of PFOS exposure. Our long-term goal is to examine gene-environment (GxE) interactions at the placental-fetal interface and their consequences on fetal neurodevelopment and ASD-relevant behavior using loss- and gain-of function studies. As a first step the proposed studies will test the effects of developmental exposure to 2 PFAS species, PFOS and PFOA at 2 human-relevant doses (0.1 and 0.3 mg/kg/d) on ASD-like behavior phenotypes and accompanying brain transcriptomics using mass spectrometry, behavioral methods and transcriptomics. Using proinflammatory cytokine immunoassays, immune dysfunction profiles will also be examined and integrated with ASD-relevant phenotypes. Our findings will help identify neuroactive PFAS species at translational doses using maternal transfer in an environmental toxicant model of autism. Our transcriptomics data will inform about how relevant gene pathways in early fetal neurodevelopmental influence offspring ASD-like traits. This innovative, self- contained feasibility study is highly receptive to NIEHS’s areas of interest, “identify and validate biomarkers of susceptibility to exposures“ and “explore their interrelationships and their relevance to ASD risk and related phenotypes.”

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-07

The increasing buildup of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere contributes to a wide range of environmental, social, and economic problems. One viable way to mitigate CO2 emission is through an operation called carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). In CCS, CO2 is captured from power plants, and injected into underground saline aquifers. However, injection of CO2 into geologic formations leads to dissolution of minerals due to the acidic nature of CO2, which can create leakage pathways and threaten the safety and security of CO2 storage. Therefore, an accurate knowledge of mineral dissolution in saline aquifers is needed to design effective, safe, and efficient CCS operations. The goal of this project is to bridge this knowledge gap through coordinated lab experiments and numerical simulations. Innovative fabrication, flow visualization, and simulation techniques will be combined to understand the chemical and physical processes that drive rock dissolution. More broadly, successful completion of this research can also benefit studies on agriculture, soil formation, and underground cave geology, as similar processes occur in these systems. Further benefits to society will result from diversifying the STEM workforce through training and education of female and Native American students, creating YouTube contents as educational materials for the public, and supporting two major campus-wide outreach events including the Earth and Science Explore Camp and Montana State Family Science Night. Reactive dissolution of minerals in porous media is pervasive in natural and engineered systems. The greatest challenge to understanding these porous media systems is that dissolution rates measured in the lab are typically orders of magnitude higher than those observed in the field, referred to as the “lab–field discrepancy”. This mismatch not only poses strong challenges in developing accurate predictive models, but also highlights a lack of fundamental knowledge of mineral dissolution. It has been hypothesized the lab-field discrepancy is primarily due to concentration gradients resulting from incomplete mixing within individual pores that are in turn subject to heterogeneous flow fields at the microscopic scale. Unfortunately, little data or understanding is available on the pore-scale processes that occur during mineral dissolution because of the difficulty in directly measuring flow dynamics and transport at the pore level. The goal of the proposed research is to achieve a transformative understanding of pore-scale transport and chemical reaction in porous media to reconcile the long-standing “lab-field discrepancy.” Successful resolution of this problem will pave the way for more accurate macroscopic predictions. This will be achieved through a coordinated experimental and simulation framework employing microfluidic micromodels and the lattice Boltzmann method. The micromodels will be fabricated in naturally occurring calcite, which enables the precise construction of porous media closely representing real geological systems. Dissolution will be induced by injection of hydrochloric acid at various concentrations and flow rates to simulate realistic CCS operations. Interactions between pore-scale flow and mineral dissolution will be directly quantified, providing valuable insight into the underlying physics to facilitate proper upscaling. 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.