University Of South Alabama

NSF Awards · FY 2026 · 2026-07

Many pharmaceuticals end up in the environment or in drinking water even after treatment at wastewater processing plants. This project will focus on estrogens and progestins, hormones that are used for birth control, menopausal hormone therapy, and cancer treatment. The project will conduct experiments to study how estrogens and progestins degrade when exposed to gamma radiation. The degradation products will be analyzed using a combination of spectroscopic and computational methods. Possible toxicological effects of the degradation products will be tested using zebrafish. Project outcomes will help scientists and engineers find ways to improve water quality and improve human and environmental health. The project will engage high school and undergraduate students in the research. It will also provide elementary school students with lessons about the proper disposal of pharmaceuticals and household waste. This project will focus on the degradation of endocrine disrupting active pharmaceutical ingredients (API EDC) in wastewater streams using γ-radiation. Multiple estrogens and progestins will be exposed to γ-radiation under a variety of head gas conditions to determine the most effective degradation methodology. The degradation mechanism and thermodynamics will be studied using a combination of experimental analytical techniques, including mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and vibrational circular dichroism, and small molecule ab initio quantum chemical calculations. The proposed quantum chemical computational work will expand absolute configuration analysis for vibrational circular dichroism using artificial intelligence (AI) and accurate calculations of radical based transition state energy barriers for large compounds. Degradation efficiency will be measured not only by the percentage of material that is degraded but also by the resulting biochemical changes in exposed zebrafish embryos. The biochemical changes in the zebrafish embryos will be quantified using a quantum cascade laser discrete frequency infrared imaging system coupled with AI classification of zebrafish organs and sub-organ regions. The understanding of toxicant degradation, toxicant degradation product toxicology, and zebrafish animal model infrared spectroscopic imaging resulting from this work will allow for application to other, non-estrogen and non-progestin, API EDCs, pesticides, and manufacturing effluent and advance biotechnology research by providing foundational data for a new imaging method, infrared imaging, for a well-established animal model, zebrafish. 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 2026 · 2026-05

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the second most common infectious disease worldwide, primarily caused by pathogenic bacteria that ascend from the bladder to the kidneys. In severe cases, UTIs can progress to urosepsis, the leading cause of hospital-acquired sepsis, with mortality rates as high as 40%. Understanding the mechanisms that drive UTI pathogenesis, disease progression, and resulting kidney injury is therefore critical. This R21 is based on the emerging role for amyloid-β (Aβ) as a novel innate immune effector that drives deleterious inflammation in the context of bacterial infection. Aβ has been studied almost exclusively in the context of neurocognitive disorders and neuroinflammation, where its aggregation into insoluble plaques is a hallmark of disease. However, a growing body of evidence highlights a role for Aβ as an antimicrobial peptide and pro-inflammatory signal molecule. Our recent findings have shown that intensive care unit (ICU) patients with sepsis have elevated levels of Aβ in their plasma, and that Aβ correlates with outcome severity. Strikingly, a control ICU cohort with no suspicion of infection did not display elevated plasma Aβ levels, indicating a requirement for infection. Moreover, we present new preliminary data indicating that Aβ accumulates in the kidney in a mouse UTI model and is directly correlated with bacterial burden. While published and preliminary data support the idea that Aβ is an antimicrobial peptide, it is unknown as to whether Aβ is capable of transitioning from a host-protective role to a detrimental one during bacterial infection. Our innovative study aims to explore the novel hypothesis that bacterial infection triggers the accumulation of Aβ peptides in the kidney to drive deleterious inflammation and UTI pathophysiology. This is an early conceptual stage project that may lead to a breakthrough in the current understanding of kidney damage in pyelonephritis and urosepsis. Given that treatments to enhance Aβ clearance are already in use for other diseases, our findings may pave the way for novel therapeutic approaches to UTIs, especially in cases that progress to severe kidney involvement. Our discovery that Aβ is elevated in the context of infection and is a potential driver of deleterious inflammation in the kidney is a highly significant conceptual advance with broad impact across the fields of infectious disease and renal biology. Gram-negative cystitis and pyelonephritis are highly prevalent in hospital and community settings, and the most severe cases progress to sepsis, and multi-organ failure. Importantly, survivors often suffer long-term sequelae such as post-intensive care syndrome that reduce overall quality of life. Thus, future studies stemming from the work proposed herein may reveal potentially transformative links between a pathogen-mediated dysfunctional Aβ response and organ dysfunction.

NSF Awards · FY 2026 · 2026-02

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at University of South Alabama, Bishop State Community College, and Coastal Alabama Community College. A total of 60 scholars pursuing Associate in Science degrees and B.S. degrees in Engineering, Chemistry, Mathematics and Statistics, and Physics will receive scholarships up to $15,000 for up to five years. Scholars will receive faculty mentoring and the project will build strong scholar cohorts through social and service activities. Additional activities for scholars include participation in learning communities to support pre-calculus coursework. The overall goal of this Track 3 Scholarships in STEM project is to increase STEM degree completion of academically talented, low-income undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There is a significant national need to grow the STEM workforce and nurture key talent that will ensure economic competitiveness and provide domestic leadership across critical sectors. This project directly speaks to this need by supporting STEM student success, which will strengthen the workforce in engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, and other key areas of need. The project will be assessed by an experienced evaluator and the data generated will contribute to the knowledge base by exploring the effects of targeted mathematics supports on the retention of talented, low-income students in STEM. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of academically talented, low-income students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-10

A stressful environment presents major challenges to organisms, including imposing new and potentially more requirements for them to survive. Partnerships between two different organisms, such as the mutualistic associations between a plant and soil fungi, can determine how they respond to, and thrive under the new environment. However, the status of these associations can change, for example, from beneficial (both partners exchange benefits) to neutral (no benefits or harm) or harmful (one partner may cause harm to the other), depending on the prevailing conditions. For coastal marshes facing new, stressful environments, these associations can be critical, but insights are limited. This project will evaluate the extent of mutual partnership between a saltmarsh grass and fungal partner along a natural stress gradient. It will also assess if, when and how these associations change when exposed to salinity stress. The outcomes of the project will include a publicly available database/collection of fungal beneficial partners that can aid management decisions geared towards conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems under increasing environmental stress. The project will provide 3-year training of early-career Americans, who will receive cross-disciplinary education and training across different skillsets including fieldwork, greenhouse, microbial, genomic and analytical skills. Through partnerships will local communities, it will further benefit local high school students and biology teachers who will be given opportunities to conduct classroom research on saltmarsh and fungi as well as present their work and network with other students and researchers in a local symposium that the team will organize. Extreme environmental events can influence the evolutionary trajectories of host-endosymbiont associations. While several theoretical models predicting organismal responses exist, very few capture how host-endosymbiont relationships can evolve under extreme events. The proposed research will develop a framework that combines the stress gradient hypothesis and the geographic mosaic theory of coevolution to predict the evolution of specialized host-endosymbiont relationships in dynamic environments, and the adaptive benefits of such partnership in shaping host species resilience to extreme events. This framework will be tested using Spartina alterniflora, a dominant salt marsh grass, and its dark septate endophyte (DSE) fungal partners. The project will (Aim 1) evaluate levels of S. alterniflora population genomic variation and structure and levels of in situ DSE colonization along natural gradient of salinity. It will (Aim 2) characterize the DSE community, genotypic diversity and functional traits promoting salinity stress tolerance by conducting salinity assays to isolate, identify and determine fitness of DSE strains/genotypes associated with specific S. alterniflora genotypes. Finally, (Aim 3) the frequency, direction, dependency and specialization of the S. alterniflora-DSE relationship will be tested when exposed to different salinity regimes. A reciprocal-cross experiment will be conducted to determine the fitness outcomes and specialization among host-DSE pairings across the salinity gradient and when exposed to novel salinity conditions. These integrative experiments will enable us to achieve a holistic perspective on how evolution of specialized host-endosymbiont interactions can contribute to organism resilience in new and stressful environments. 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

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of an Integrated Measurement System (IMS) to support multi-disciplinary microelectronics research, education, and training. The acquisition of this instrument will enable a large group of researchers and students to access advanced instrumentation and conduct cutting-edge microelectronics research. In addition, this new instrument will be available to researchers from other institutions as well as industry in the Gulf Coast region. The IMS will provide a hub for researchers to share resources and expertise related to microelectronics and develop new ideas and technologies. Overall, this project will be of significant importance for driving research progress and innovation in microelectronics at the university and in the entire Alabama and Gulf Coast regions. The proposed IMS provides high-precision probing and measurement capabilities that will enable new research spanning microchips, materials, devices, and systems. For example, energy-efficient computing circuits and systems will be implemented for mobile videos applications; new microchips will be designed and tested for artificial intelligence (AI) applications; and novel AI systems and devices will be developed and verified for cancer detection and several other medical applications. There are multiple broader impacts of this project. First, this project will help address the urgent need of microelectronics testing equipment in the Alabama region. The research outcomes enabled by this project will result in technological innovation and will increase the competitiveness of the U.S. in microelectronics research and design. Second, the proposed IMS will be critical for workforce education and training to equip the next generation of engineers and scientists to work with microelectronics and related technologies through curricular innovation and high-quality hands-on learning. Finally, the proposed IMS will significantly enhance training opportunities for local middle and high school teachers and promote K-12 microelectronics education. The website for this project will be: https://nagong.weebly.com/research.html 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

Categorification refers to the systematic process of upgrading a mathematical object to one with additional higher-level structure. This idea has proven to be a powerful tool in resolving numerous deep conjectures in mathematics. In this project, the investigator will use categorification techniques to study knot theory. Knot theory aims at understanding the structure of tangled-up loops in space. It has many applications in biology, medicine, chemistry, and physics. This research is expected to create new tools to address challenging open problems in knot theory. Additionally, it will deepen our understanding of the connections between different subfields of mathematics such as algebra and geometry. The investigator will engage students across multiple stages of their educational development (K-12, undergraduate, graduate) to contribute to the research. A key component of the grant activity will be the expansion of the MaPP Challenge, a mathematics puzzle-based scavenger hunt designed by MaPP (Mathematical Puzzle Programs). Data suggests that the MaPP Challenge serves as a useful tool for broadening participation in STEM, since it appeals to students who have not yet developed an appreciation for mathematics. The first goal of the project is to study the geometric, topological, and combinatorial properties of Springer fibers and their generalizations. These algebraic varieties naturally arise in Lie theory and play an important role in Springer’s geometric construction and classification of the representations of Weyl groups. Springer fibers give rise to geometrically defined convolution algebras. The second goal of the project is to use these algebras to construct new homological invariants of knots and links. The algebra underlying Khovanov’s categorification of the Jones polynomial admits a geometric realization in terms of Springer fibers of type A. This project aims to extend this framework by exploring how convolution algebras for Springer fibers of Lie types B, C, and D relate to invariants of knots and links in more general ambient spaces, including manifolds and orbifolds beyond standard Euclidean three-space. 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

Dr. Sara Davis is a pediatric clinical nurse specialist and associate professor in nursing at the University of South Alabama. This proposed K23 study will offer mentored research and career development experiences to support Dr. Davis’ long-term career goals of becoming a funded and productive independent clinical nurse scientist. Dr. Davis is committed to improving health outcomes in young children with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Despite having access to the medicine and supplies needed to manage T1D, many children still have trouble achieving and maintaining adequate blood sugar levels within the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommended guidelines. There are several reasons blood sugar levels may be poorly controlled in children with diabetes. Social and structural factors may create additional stressors and barriers to identifying and accessing resources to manage the disease. Therefore, this project will engage children with T1D and their parents/caregivers as key stakeholders on an advisory board to inform a mixed methods action research (MMAR) study. The advisory board will help finalize the study protocol and ensure it is appropriate to identify, recruit, and engage children younger than 12 years old with T1D. Using information gleaned from the advisory board, a sequential (qual→QUAN) mixed methods design will be implemented to identify unique stressors and barriers to accessing and using community and healthcare resources in children ages 8-12 with T1D that may impact diabetes management. Semi-structured interviews with healthcare providers and community leaders will explore unique resources available to children and their families and ways to reduce barriers to accessing these resources. Following this, approximately 75 children with T1D and their parents/caregivers will complete surveys related to stressors and barriers and facilitators to using identified resources, all of which may impact daily diabetes management. Findings from the MMAR study will be used to adapt components of an intervention to decrease stress; facilitate access to resources; and improve daily diabetes management, glycemic levels, and health outcomes in children with T1D. To successfully complete the mentored research project, Dr. Davis will participate in training opportunities related to pediatric health outcomes, MMAR, clinical and behavioral interventional designs, and career development. She will also receive experiential training in randomized behavioral clinical trials under the direction of her mentor team. At the conclusion of this mentored K23 project, Dr. Davis will be in an ideal position to progress as an independent investigator focused on developing interventions to improve care and positive health outcomes for young children with T1D. Improving access to care and supportive resources could result in better glycemic levels thus reducing morbidities that may extend into adulthood.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Viruses are the most abundant biological organisms on our planet. While all microbial populations are impacted by viral infections, little is known about the impact of viral infections on specific microbial populations. The consequences of virus–microbe interactions on biogeochemical cycles are also poorly understood. This project focuses on sulfate reduction, a key process that links the global elemental cycles of carbon and sulfur. The research aims to understand the relationships between viruses and sulfate reducing bacteria and how these interactions contribute to carbon cycling. This project also supports STEM workforce development through experiential learning activities at K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels. The training activities highlight research on the Gulf coast and how the Gulf is a unique environment. In addition, the education activities emphasize the importance of sulfate reduction and other geochemical processes and showcase the importance of microorganisms in coastal ecosystems. The project aims to change the negative view of viruses as agents of diseases by highlighting the essential roles of viruses in ecosystem processes. The project uses a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the relationship between viral activity and sediment microbial metabolism, specifically sulfate reduction, through environmental observations, process-oriented biogeochemical incubations and modeling. This research provides novel insight into the interactions between viruses and microorganisms, and how they control early diagenetic processes by (i) determining the impact of viruses on sediment metabolism in general, (ii) quantifying the influence of viruses on microbial sulfate reduction rates, (ii) elucidating the interactions of sulfate reducing microorganisms and viruses. These results are being incorporated into a reactive transport model to describe viral dynamics and their interactions with the C, S, and Fe cycles. The model forms a framework to integrate the observational data and provides a tool for estimating the broader implications of the targeted virus-microorganism interactions quantified in the sulfate reduction zone. This project is jointly funded by the Biological Oceanography and Chemical Oceanography Programs. 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

One of the next frontiers for Artificial Intelligence (AI) is to incorporate AI directly into edge devices, which are devices like a home router that serve as an entryway to the broader cloud network. In order to make these devices at the “edge” of the cloud smarter, innovations are needed in both hardware development and in soft-skill training for scientists and engineers. This novel AI paradigm will help alleviate dependence on the cloud and reduce the high energy dependence of cloud computing. To meet this critical need, this National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award will establish the Converging Research on Edge Artificial intelligence and Training Enhancement (CREATE) program. CREATE will leverage strategic partnerships between universities, national labs and industry to integrate transdisciplinary research with professional development to train future leaders in Edge Artificial Intelligence (Edge AI). The project anticipates training forty (40) Ph.D. students, including fifteen (15) funded Ph.D. trainees. Additionally, key training components, such as the professional development series and curriculum, will be made available to other graduate students on campus. CREATE will be anchored by a compelling multidisciplinary research area – Edge AI, which enables data collection and AI execution on edge devices to facilitate real-time decision-making. Integrating the study of algorithms, hardware, and devices into one convergent research program will allow rapid advances in this complex and emerging area of research. To address the critical research needs of Edge AI and to advance graduate education in this field nationwide, CREATE will revolutionize Ph.D. training based on seven transdisciplinary program pillars: (i) Research: CREATE trainees will pursue leading-edge transdisciplinary research on Edge AI for a broad range of application domains; (ii) Didactic Coursework: CREATE will build a transdisciplinary curriculum on Edge AI, which consists of carefully constructed core courses and elective courses that align with CREATE goals, without extending the expected time-to-degree; (iii) Clean Room Training: CREATE trainees will visit Department of Energy national laboratories in summer to gain hands-on microelectronics clean-room training experience; (iv) Technical Writing: CREATE will provide trainees with training in logic and writing skills, paired with a structured approach to grant proposal development; (v) Professional Skills: A new CREATE Professional Development Series will be developed to will equip trainees with essential transdisciplinary skills in innovation and entrepreneurship; (vi) Outreach: A dedicated Outreach and Education Training Program will be designed to pair trainees with in-service teachers to develop mini-courses on their research and gain practical teaching experience in high-school classes; and (vii) Graduate Certificate: CREATE will establish a new graduate certificate program in Edge AI to formalize training in this rapidly emerging field. Overall, by aligning with the mission and the strategic direction of the institution, CREATE will establish a sustainable and scalable Ph.D. training model which can be adapted to other graduate programs on campus and at institutions nationwide. The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new, and potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-09

PROJECT SUMMARY Significance. Acute lung injury (ALI) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity, but a cure is still not available. Recent preclinical studies show the potential for ALI therapy with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs). However, the BMSC protective mechanisms are incompletely understood. Our goal is to define mechanisms regulating BMSC interactions with endothelial cells in situ to define mitochondrial mechanisms responsible for protection against ALI. Hypothesis. We propose the novel hypothesis that, in ALI, intravascularly (i.v.) administered BMSCs are retained by selectin and Cx43-induced mechanisms leading to mitochondrial transfer to endothelial cells in situ. We also propose that BMSCs protect against ALI by restoring mitochondrial function, resulting in the reinstatement of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) in endothelial mitochondria, re-establishing mitochondrial Ca2+ buffering, and strengthening the endothelial barrier. Specific Aims. The specific aims are to evaluate molecular mechanisms of BMSC attachment to lung endothelium in situ (Aim 1), and to determine the barrier-protective effects of BMSC to endothelial mitochondrial transfer (Aim 2). Approach. We will achieve these aims by live confocal microscopy of mouse lungs, and precision cut slices of mouse and human lungs. Our determinations will include (1) evaluation of selectins and connexin 43 in BMSC attachment; (2) evaluation of mitochondrial transfer as the regulator of endothelial Ca2+ buffering by Ca2+ transit across the MCU; (3) quantifications of endothelial Ca2+, and live f-actin as barrier determinants; (4) strategies for engineering BMSC mitochondria to enhance their efficacy after transfer. Preliminary data. We show (1) BMSCs interact with and transfer mitochondria to endothelial cells in situ; (2) ALI downregulates lung MCU and, thus, blocks Ca2+ buffering, causing endothelial Ca2+ increase and endothelial barrier weakening; (3) Intravenously administered BMSCs rescue MCU, strengthen the barrier and ameliorate ALI. These and other preliminary data on our measurement strategies support the feasibility of the proposal. Impact. This proposal will provide the first systematic interrogation of interactions between i.v. administered BMSCs and endothelial cells of intact lung microvessels, as well as lung protective mechanisms subsequent to BMSC mitochondrial transfer to the endothelium. Mechanisms relating the transfer to endothelial barrier enhancement will be realized for the first time. Strategies for enhancing the efficacy of BMSC mitochondria will be developed. The translational relevance of the hypothesis will be evaluated in human lung slices.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-08

This workshop will bring together experts from different fields to find solutions to the growing problem of microplastics and nanoplastics in coastal ecosystems. It will focus on key issues such as measuring, detecting, and reducing microplastics and nanoplastics, as well as understanding how these tiny plastic particles affect marine life and human health. Led by the University of South Alabama, the workshop is a partnership with Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Mississippi State University, Louisiana State University, and The Citadel. It will involve coordinated efforts across several Gulf Coast states including Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and East Coast states including South Carolina, Delaware, Maine, and Rhode Island. The event will encourage collaboration among universities, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. In addition to advancing research and practical solutions, the workshop will support training and workforce development to prepare the next generation of leaders working to address microplastic and nanoplastic pollution. This workshop will advance interdisciplinary research on microplastics and nanoplastics in coastal ecosystems by bringing together experts in environmental engineering, marine science, materials science, civil infrastructure, and public health. It will identify current challenges in characterizing, measuring, and quantifying microplastics and nanoplastics in water, soil, and air, while also addressing gaps in understanding their transport pathways, degradation mechanisms, and impacts on human health and ecosystems. The workshop will assess available techniques to remove, reduce, and mitigate these pollutants and will help define and reshape future research directions through collaboration, education, and outreach aimed at increasing awareness in STEM fields. It will establish shared research priorities, promote standardized methodologies, and support the development of regional datasets and shared infrastructure. The project will also strengthen research capacity by fostering faculty collaboration across multiple states and identifying future needs for laboratory and instrumentation investments. Integrated workforce development efforts will engage students and early-career researchers, while partnerships across academia, industry, nonprofits, and government will support long-term innovation in addressing plastic pollution. This project is supported by the EPSCoR Workshops and Outreach program. EPSCoR funds workshops, conferences and other community-based activities to explore opportunities in emerging areas of science and engineering, and to share best practices in strategic planning, diversity, communication, cyberinfrastructure, evaluation and other areas of importance to EPSCoR jurisdictions. 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 renewal Research Experience for Teachers (RET) site at the University of South Alabama will support middle and high school educators in an interdisciplinary research experience in bio-inspired computing systems. Through cutting-edge research projects and the development of standards-aligned curricular materials, the site will enhance teachers’ knowledge of and pedagogical skills in bio-inspired computing systems. The highly structured research projects span emerging technology applications such as data imaging, Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms, and microelectronics hardware. The project also includes a “teachers mentoring teachers” component, in which prior participants will serve as mentors and teacher leaders in the research training, curricula development, and classroom implementation. In addition, the site builds upon successful partnerships with local school districts, research facilities, and AI industry leaders to provide a holistic experience of emerging technology pathways in Alabama. Through this RET renewal site at the University of South Alabama, 27 middle and high school teachers will participate in a six-week summer research program to enhance their knowledge of and pedagogical skills in teaching bio-inspired computing systems. Technical innovations to be developed by the RET participants, as well as the research team, will include: (i) novel imagery collection techniques and image processing algorithms for cancer detection; (ii) new AI algorithms to classify and visualize the collected imagery data; and (iii) new memristor device-based bio-inspired system design for enhanced efficiency. The summer program will also include immersive curriculum development activities. Extensive follow-up activities will be offered in the academic year through on-site visits, follow-up workshops, and support community to ensure the translation of RET experience into classroom instructional practice. This project will empower a workforce of teachers with knowledge in bio-inspired computing systems and transdisciplinary teaching methods, which will enable them to prepare their students for the fast-paced digital era. 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 2026 · 2025-07

Title: Intercellular Transfer of Mitochondria at the Nerve-Cancer Interface Project Summary/Abstract Breast cancer, particularly triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), poses a significant global health challenge, with metastasis being a major cause of breast cancer-related deaths. Despite advances in surgical treatment, there remains an urgent need for effective therapeutic strategies to combat the aggressive nature of TNBC. Recent studies have shown that cancer neurogenesis (CNG), characterized by the de novo generation of nerves within primary tumors, is associated with aggressive disease and poor patient outcomes across various cancers, including breast carcinomas. However, the functional role of CNG in tumor biology remains unclear, and the characteristics of the nerve-cancer interface during tumor innervation require further investigation. We have developed in vitro and in vivo coculture models of CNG, demonstrating its association with breast cancer metastasis. Microscopy imaging at the neuroepithelial interface has revealed significant metabolic reprogramming of neuronal cells exposed to breast cancer cells, followed by the intercellular transfer of mitochondria from nerves to cancer cells. Our preliminary data suggest that these mitochondrial transfers enhance the metabolic plasticity of recipient cancer cells, promoting their metastatic potential. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the functional role of nerve-cancer mitochondrial transfer in cancer metastasis, identify the key mediators involved in these transfers, and assess the impact of inhibiting this process on cancer progression. To achieve these goals, we developed MitoTRACER, an innovative lineage- tracing genetic strategy that enables the permanent labeling of cancer cells that have acquired mitochondria from neurons. In Specific Aim 1, we will use MitoTRACER to determine the precise contribution of nerve-to-cancer mitochondrial transfer to the breast cancer metastasis cascade in vivo. In Specific Aim 2, we will evaluate how these mitochondrial transfers contribute to the generation of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in vitro and in vivo, cancer resistance to therapy, and identify unique characteristics of nerve-mediated CSCs that could be targeted clinically to prevent TNBC recurrence. This project builds on our recently published findings and preliminary data, focusing on the mechanisms associated with CNG, intercellular communication at the nerve-cancer interface, and their impact on cancer cell metabolism and metastasis. Successful completion of this research will elucidate how cancer cells acquire metabolic plasticity to enhance their metastatic potential, paving the way for new therapeutic strategies against highly innervated cancers and providing innovative tools for studying mitochondrial exchange.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-07

Project Summary/Abstract Saliva is indispensable for oral health, and by extension for the overall health of the organism, as demonstrated by the major harms suffered by patients with salivary gland hypo/dysfunction which include xerostomia, the feeling of dry mouth, as well as loss of taste, oral infections, or difficulty chewing, digesting, and swallowing food leading to malnutrition. There is a critical need for novel effective therapeutics as current mainstay treatments (eg saliva substitutes or muscarinic agonists) provide only short-term relief and/or are effective in only a portion of the patient population. We have found that the inhibition of Type 4 cAMP-phosphodiesterases (PDE4s) induces salivation in healthy mice by itself, can further potentiate both the parasympathetic- (eg muscarinic) as well as the sympathetic (eg β-adrenergic) stimulation of salivary secretions, and protects from hyposalivation induced by acute, lipopolysaccharide-induced hyperinflammation. We thus propose the overall hypothesis that targeting PDE4s may represent a promising novel therapeutic approach that may alleviate both the causes (eg inflammation) and the symptoms (eg xerostomia) of salivary gland hypo/dysfunction in several independent ways, including: 1. the potentiation of both parasympathetic- and sympathetic- stimulation of saliva secretion, 2. the production of saliva components vital for oral health, and 3. through anti-inflammatory effects that facilitate salivary gland protection/regeneration. Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disorder associated with severe xerostomia in humans, and we propose to evaluate the therapeutic potential of PDE4 inactivation in a model of SS-like disease in mice. The PDE4 family comprises four isoenzymes, PDE4A to D. Non-/PAN-selective PDE4 inhibitors have established therapeutic benefits, but adverse effects, including nausea, emesis, and diarrhea, have long limited the clinical utility of these drugs. As each PDE4 isoform serves unique and non- overlapping physiological roles, targeting individual PDE4 proteins can serve to dissect the therapeutically beneficial, from the side effects associated with current PAN-PDE4 inhibitors. Under this exploratory grant, we will use genetic models of subtype-selective PDE4 ablation in mice, as well as treatment with proprietary subtype- selective PDE4 inhibitors, to test the hypothesis that inactivation of PDE4B and/or PDE4D mediates the therapeutic benefits of PAN-PDE4 inhibitors in a model of Sjögren’s syndrome-like disease in mice. If outcomes are as expected, this proposal will confirm the therapeutic potential of targeting PDE4s as a novel therapeutic approach for Sjögren’s syndrome xerostomia, identify specific PDE4 subtypes and/or saliva components as targets for future drug development, and lay the foundation for subsequent studies aimed at delineating the cell types and molecular mechanisms whereby individual PDE4s exert their roles in the regulation of saliva secretion.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-07

ABSTRACT The initial administration of therapeutic mAbs is frequently associated with the rapid onset of an array of symptoms, including chills, fever, hypotension, dyspnea, and rash. These reactions are termed infusion reactions (IRs) and are a subset of the larger family of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). mAb IRs range in severity, with most patients recovering with clinical support within hours to, in rare cases, very severe responses that result in hospitalization and death. The onset of mAb IRs occurs within 30-120min, and we and others have shown that in this time the circulating levels of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and TNF are significantly increased. However, to date the pathophysiologic mechanisms that drive systemic cytokine release in mAb IRs remain poorly understood. While the frequency of IRs varies by mAb (ranging from 20-75%), nearly all therapeutic mAbs are associated with some level of IR. Given the widespread use of mAbs in cancer and non- cancer therapies, the treatment and monitoring of IRs represent a substantial cost to the U.S. medical system. Moreover, the need to monitor and treat patients for IRs following mAb therapy is a major factor that limits the application of these therapies in regions where such monitoring and care is prohibitively expensive. Thus, discovering the mechanisms that control mAb IRs will provide new avenues to avert these responses, which in turn will provide a major leap forward in the use of these therapies in the U.S. and globally. We and others have shown that the primary cytotoxic mechanism of αCD20 mAbs is via antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP) of mAb-opsonized B cells by Kupffer cell macrophages in the liver. However, there is currently no evidence that FcR on myeloid cells is the major source of IRs in vivo. Based on this and knowing that macrophages are major sources of inflammatory cytokines in settings of acute inflammation and tissue damage, we reasoned that macrophages could be a major source of the inflammatory cytokines in mAb IRs. Our in vitro preliminary studies using primary human macrophages have shown that ADCP can induce the production of some of the systemic cytokines seen in mAb IRs. In this project, we will use primary human and mouse macrophages as well as a new in vivo mouse model of mAb IR to investigate the role of macrophages in producing mAb IR cytokines and to determine the major signaling mechanisms responsible for the induction of these cytokines. This work will provide important new insights into avoiding and treating irAEs in the context of mAb immunotherapies.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-06

As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, ensuring the security of computer networks is more critical than ever. Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) help identify potential cyberattacks, but many rely on Artificial Intelligence techniques that act as “black boxes,” making their decisions difficult for humans to understand or trust. Security analysts or users do not know what is going on “under the hood” in these models and do not understand the model's reasons for making predictions. This project aims to improve the transparency of these systems by developing a novel Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) technique, and using that to develop Explainable Intrusion Detection Systems (X-IDS). The key idea is to incorporate the time-based patterns inherent in network security data. This will enable security professionals to better understand why an IDS flags certain activities as threats; improving trust, accountability, and decision-making in cybersecurity. By advancing explainable AI for time-sensitive security applications, this project supports national cybersecurity efforts and enhances the reliability of AI-driven defense mechanisms. In addition, we will develop and publish hands-on lab exercises for K-12 students related to the research. Our approach is to develop Temporal Eclectic Rule Extraction (TERE), a novel white-box XAI method for IDS. Unlike existing approaches that rely on black-box surrogate models, TERE will extract human-readable decision rules directly from internal neurons in temporal neural networks trained on network data. This will address a critical gap in explainability and trustability by ensuring that the temporal structure of network activity is preserved in the extracted rules, as network activity and attacks are performed using sequences of packets, providing more transparent and interpretable threat detection. A significant challenge in rule extraction is the computational complexity and number of generated rules. Additionally, traditional methods often produce large rule sets that are difficult for security analysts to interpret, limiting their practical use. Optimization strategies will be developed to reduce computational overhead. A key approach will involve the exploration of neural selection algorithms that efficiently identify relevant neurons for rule extraction, minimizing unnecessary computations. Further, techniques to streamline and compress extracted rules will be explored to enhance interpretability while maintaining accuracy. By integrating decision tree-based rule extraction with time-aware enhancements, this project aims to increase explainability and trustability in Explainable Intrusion Detection Systems (X-IDS). The proposed methods will be evaluated on large-scale intrusion detection datasets, assessing their ability to deliver highly accurate, explainable, and trustworthy explanations. 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 2026 · 2025-05

Project Summary/Abstract Hypoxia, a key contributor to multiple lung diseases, evokes functional and structural responses in target cells by modulating expression of many hundreds of genes. Much is known about regulation of the hypoxic transcriptional response at the single gene level. Induction begins with the reactive oxygen species (ROS)- mediated accumulation hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (Hifs) which, along with coactivators, assemble into multiprotein complexes on hypoxia response elements (HREs) located in gene promoters, enhancers, and perhaps intergenic regions to activate transcription. Far less is known, however, about orchestration of the transcriptional response to hypoxia on a genomic level, with many incongruities between hypoxic exposure, Hif- HRE interactions, and local chromatin restructuring highlighting unresolved complexities of the regulatory apparatus. This proposal addresses the prospect that hypoxia activates a pathway operating in concert with the Hifs to govern the hypoxic transcriptome. Our foundational discoveries along with rapidly accumulating evidence from other fields converge on the concept that ROS generated in hypoxia to initiate Hif accumulation also cause widespread oxidation of guanine to 8-oxoganine (8-oxoG) in distinct motifs nested within DNA regulatory sequences. Oxidized guanines then serve as a novel epigenetic mark by recruiting bifunctional enzymes comprising the DNA Base oxidation and repair pathway (BER). Along with repairing oxidized bases, two of these BER components, specifically OGG1 and Ref-1APE1, direct deployment of canonical enzymes modifying histone acetylation and methylation, thereby governing chromatin accessibility. We call this pathway “BRACR” for Base oxidation and Repair Activated Chromatin Restructuring, and here we propose to explore the novel concept that BRACR is a fundamental component of the gene regulatory apparatus in hypoxia, acting to license HREs and other response elements for transcription factor occupancy by modulating chromatin accessibility. Using cultured human pulmonary arterial cells and intact mice, we will test the hypotheses that: (1) the genome-wide deployment of BRACR in hypoxia requires 8-oxoG formation but not Hifs; (2) BRACR licenses genes for hypoxic regulation through 8-oxoG-mediated engagement of the BER enzymes Ogg1 and Ref-1/APE 1; and, (3) BRACR activation in lung vascular cells drives hypoxic pulmonary hypertension in intact mice. These studies will be transformative. They will define a novel mechanism regulating the hypoxic transcriptome on a genome-wide level, identify new pharmacologic targets to treat hypoxic lung diseases, and because 8-oxoG is mutagenic, may point to a link between transcriptional signaling and somatic mutations that drive malignant and non-malignant pulmonary disorders.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2026 · 2025-04

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Lyme disease, which is caused by infection with the tick-borne pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi, can lead to inflammatory pathologies affecting the joints, heart, and nervous systems. Neurologic disease, referred to as Lyme neuroborreliosis, can include meningitis, cranial and peripheral neuritis/neuropathy, and encephalopathy. As there are no vaccines or effective vector controls against the infection, Lyme disease is and will continue to be a significant public health concern. The overall goal of these studies is to identify key mechanisms of B. burgdorferi central nervous system invasion and associated host responses. A critical gap in our understanding of Lyme disease pathology has been the lack of a reproducible small animal model of neuroborreliosis. Laboratory mice have been instrumental in identifying the mechanisms of Lyme arthritis and carditis pathology, however the mechanisms of central nervous system invasion and pathology remain poorly understood as the prevailing view has been that mice do not develop central nervous system manifestations. Our recent work challenges this paradigm by demonstrating for the first time that B. burgdorferi colonizes the meninges and cerebrospinal fluid during murine infection, which is accompanied by an influx of leukocytes and increased inflammatory proteins. Furthermore, the extent of cerebrospinal fluid involvement is mouse strain dependent and correlates with strain-specific susceptibility to peripheral Lyme immunopathologies, suggesting a role for host genetics in central nervous system invasion. Expanding on our recent findings, we hypothesize that the inflammatory response to B. burgdorferi infection leads to blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier breakdown, facilitating central nervous system invasion by both bacteria and immune cells. Using the murine model of B. burgdorferi infection, we will address the following aims in our studies: (1) Determine the role of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier as a site for B. burgdorferi and immune cell entry into the central nervous system; and (2) Identify host immune responses associated with increased central nervous system invasion, with a focus on pathways previously associated with murine Lyme arthritis severity and/or blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier permeability. The tractability of our novel murine model provides a unique opportunity to experimentally investigate the mechanisms of central nervous system manifestations during B. burgdorferi infection. By performing the proposed experiments in mouse strains with altered immune responses to B. burgdorferi infection, we expect to gain insight into host factors important for bacterial invasion into the central nervous system. This work will provide the foundation for a long-term research program focused on mechanisms of Lyme neuroborreliosis pathogenesis, with the overall goal of identifying new targets for prophylactic and therapeutic treatments.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-03

Mitochondria, often referred to as the powerhouses of cells, are essential for producing the energy required to sustain life. However, they are also a significant source of harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species, which can damage mitochondrial DNA and impair cellular function. This damage is further exacerbated by external factors like pollution, potentially leading to a myriad of maladies. This project aims to enhance the natural repair mechanisms of mitochondrial DNA by improving the targeting of key repair enzymes to mitochondria without disrupting their other cellular roles. In addition to advancing fundamental knowledge, this research fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, engages students and researchers at all levels, and promotes outreach efforts to inspire the next generation of scientists. The dovetailing of cutting-edge computational modeling and experimental methods will allow exploration of innovative ways to protect mitochondrial health while contributing to future strategies to mitigate mitochondrial dysfunction. This project addresses a critical gap in the understanding of mitochondrial base excision repair (mtBER), a pathway essential for maintaining mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) integrity in the face of oxidative damage. The project will focus on re-engineering the mitochondrial localization signals of five DNA glycosylases that specifically excise oxidized DNA damage, namely OGG1, NTHL1, NEIL1, NEIL2, and NEIL3 to improve their targeting to mitochondria while preserving their nuclear localization. A novel computational framework will be used to optimize mitochondrial targeting signals through sequence modifications that enhance mitochondrial import efficiency. The re-engineered glycosylases will be validated experimentally for localization and their enzymatic activity assessed through biochemical assays. The functional impact of enhanced mitochondrial localization will be evaluated by examining oxidative damage repair capacity, mtDNA stability, and mitochondrial function. Overall, this research will address the extent to which glycosylase trafficking to the mitochondria could serve a protective role against oxidized DNA damage and improve repair, offering critical insights into the mechanisms safeguarding mitochondrial integrity. This project is jointly funded by the Genetic Mechanisms program in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences and the 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.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-03

Plants rely on their ability to sense the environment and respond to biotic and abiotic stresses. A large number of receptors located on the plasma membrane of the plant cell sense these stresses. The goal of this project is to characterize the components and functions of structures called nanodomains located on the membrane of each plant cell. Nanodomains are specialized regions of the membrane that are highly enriched in saturated lipids and nanodomain-specific proteins. This project will explore how nanodomains change during plant responses to pathogen infections, using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the economically important crop potato. The broader impact of this project will support the development of a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) that will engage undergraduate students in original research. In addition, the investigator will provide a trainer workshop to engage K-12 teachers in Mobile County, AL through a strategic partnership with the USA Department of Leadership and Teacher Education. The integrated scientific and broader impact goals will bring a unique experience both to students participating in the CURE and to Education students/future K-12 teachers. This project will enhance the recruitment, retention, and professional development of educators and students not only at the University of South Alabama but also in regional public-school systems. The goal of this project is to characterize the lipid and protein constituents of the plasma membrane nanodomains in Arabidopsis thaliana and their contributions to plant immunity. Plant cell plasma membrane is a complex organelle partitioned into heterogenous fractions, allowing for recruitment of specific proteins. Membrane nanodomains are specialized regions of the plasma membrane that are enriched in ordered lipids (sterols, saturated phospholipids, ceramides, etc.) and they may contribute to responses to biotic interactions in many plant species. The project will explore the functions of a group of highly conserved nanodomain-occupying proteins called Remorins. The researchers will use a combination of proteomic, lipidomic, and biochemical approaches to identify shifts in membrane nanodomain components and dynamics upon the activation of plant innate immunity, and how these changes are driven by Remorin family proteins in both Arabidopsis thaliana and potato. This study will advance fundamental knowledge of membrane nano-scale structure and dynamics, and their contributions to plant disease resistance. This project is jointly funded by the Biological Sciences Directorate and the 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.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-01

This award supports participation in the 39th Summer Conference on Topology and Its Applications (SUMTOPO 2025) taking place August 11-15, 2025 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. Topology is an area of mathematics that emerged from analysis and geometry as its own discipline in the late 19th century. It has since become a foundational discipline of mathematics, underlying many other areas of mathematics as well as the application of mathematics to the sciences, including logic, computer science, data science, life sciences, game theory, and category theory. As the thirty-ninth event in its series, SUMTOPO 2025 will be an important international event, held in the EPSCoR state of Alabama, that reflects the ever-expanding world of topology and its applications, with sessions dedicated to low-dimensional topology, dynamics and continuum theory, topological graph theory, set-theoretic topology, and interactions with computing. Participants will comprise a diverse group of established researchers, junior researchers, and graduate students, with special emphasis on recruiting speakers and participants from populations underrepresented in STEM. SUMPTOPO 2025's session on Low-Dimensional Topology will feature talks related to knot theory and low-dimensional topology, which have seen recent invigoration through the interaction of different techniques from algebra, geometry, combinatorics, and representation theory, where breakthroughs have often resulted from exchanging tools between fields to resolve outstanding problems. A session on Topological Dynamics and Continuum Theory will feature the study of continua (a topological space that is connected, compact and Hausdorff, and often metric as well) and the continuous mappings between them, as well as dynamical systems, including the study of iterates of a continuous map from a topological space to itself. In recent years there has been increasing interaction between mathematicians working in continuum theory and dynamical systems; in particular, continua arise naturally in the study of the topology and dynamics of one-dimensional and planar systems. In Topological Graph Theory, participants will explore how graphs can be embedded in the 3-dimensional space and on surfaces. This area features several important topics, including the Hadwiger Conjecture, the Colin de Verdière mu invariant, outerplanarity, planarity, and linkless embeddability. The Set-Theoretic Topology session will focus on the study of techniques from set theory that are used to investigate topics in general topology. Such topics include topological games, homogeneity, hyperspaces, topological algebra, compactifications, and much more. Problems about topological topics or properties often require extra axioms of set theory to answer; advances in set theory, conversely, have applications in general topology. Finally, a special session on Topology and Computing will be featured at SUMTOPO 2025 to showcase and disseminate the growing applications of computing for topology, as well as applications of topology on computing, broadly construed. Any research related to both topology and computing will be welcome, including but not limited to, topological data analysis, formalization of topology, applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning on topology, and more. More information may be found on the conference website at https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/artsandsci/mathstat/sumtopo.html 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 · 2025-01

Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, along with AI image and video generation platforms, have recently taken the world by storm. However, recent studies have revealed that running AI engines consumes a staggering amount of energy. Neuromorphic systems, which utilize memristors and crossbar arrays, leverage Computing-in-Memory (CIM) technology for AI computation, demonstrating significant improvements in energy efficiency. The goal of this project is to investigate memristor-based CIM for neuromorphic systems from the perspectives of design, optimization, and fabrication. This project offers a unique opportunity for the principal investigator (PI) from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of South Alabama (USA) to establish a long-term collaboration with the School of ECE at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), thereby enhancing the PI’s research capabilities. This collaboration will not only broaden the PI’s research scope but also greatly benefit his career trajectory, ultimately contributing significantly to his home institution and jurisdiction during and beyond the two-year award period. This fellowship provides the PI with an excellent opportunity to explore novel AI computing systems from a hardware perspective, thus steering his research toward transformative new directions. It will also significantly contribute to the economic and technological development of this EPSCoR-eligible jurisdiction. The PI will share the knowledge and resources obtained from Georgia Tech with his colleagues and the broader community, thereby raising the overall research and educational capacity and competitiveness of his institution and jurisdiction. Based on the knowledge acquired at Georgia Tech, the PI will also organize workshops and seminars at his home institution and jurisdiction to foster broad collaborations and maximize the benefits of this fellowship. The enhanced knowledge gained through this fellowship will serve as a crucial link, connecting scientific research with practical applications in AI hardware design, and facilitating the development of future novel computing systems. 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 · 2025-01

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites are increasingly used in many applications in aerospace, marine, wind energy, defense, transportation, infrastructure, sporting and leisure markets, and more. Due to fire safety concerns, flame retardant chemicals are traditionally added to reduce fire-risk. However, they can weaken composites and can be toxic, causing hazards when using and recycling the polymer matrix composites. Preliminary experiments indicated novel fire retardant and resistant properties can be engineered into carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites with a nanostructure-modification during manufacturing process rather than relying on flame retardant chemical additives. In this research project, the nanostructure’s active, passive, and interactive roles in inhibiting the mechanisms of smoke generation and matrix burning will be studied and understood. By utilizing the new knowledge in next generation polymer composites in a fire event, the novel fire resistant and retardant mechanisms could protect the integrity of the advanced nanostructured composite without using harmful chemical flame retardants. As a result, this new composite will be difficult-to-ignite, will self-fire-extinguish, produce less smoke, and retain a substantial amount of mechanical load-bearing capability during and after fires. A scalable manufacturing process for the advanced nanostructured carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites will also be developed. The success of this project will benefit human society with an innovative lightweight polymer matrix composite technology and scientific knowledge for breakthrough in functionality, safety, and sustainability. Commercialization potential will be fostered through communication with governmental and industrial stakeholders as well as through the training of students for next-generation entrepreneurship. This project will conduct tasks to understand the fire retardant and resistant behaviors due to the advanced nanostructured carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites and use such knowledge to better design and manufacture the next generation composites. These tasks will address how the nanostructured composite, without any harmful flame-retardant chemical additives, during a fire, will be able to maintain its integrity, prevent char loss, withstand internal vapor-bursting-pressure, prevent volatile vapor release, and quench local hot spots. Therefore, it will inhibit the polymer’s thermal decomposition process to withstand significantly higher temperatures, inhibit combustible volatiles from contacting and reacting with oxygen in the air, and mitigate risks associated with smoke, fire, and structural failure/collapse. The new knowledge of effectively utilizing nanostructures to improve combustible-matrix composites’ fire safety and high temperature performance can potentially be used by other broader ranges of new materials science and engineering developments. 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 2024 · 2024-11

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is a highly competitive, federal fellowship program. GRFP helps ensure the vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and in STEM education. The GRFP provides three years of financial support for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in STEM and STEM education. This award supports the NSF Graduate Fellows pursuing graduate education at this GRFP institution. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2024 · 2024-10

In a collaboration between the NSF Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES Initiative and the NSF Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) programs, EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGERs) are awarded under NSF Dear Colleague Letter 24-062 to broaden participation and develop the workforce in microelectronics through research experiences and structured mentoring. This project is developing a scalable, replicable model for microelectronics research and clean room training through Virtual Reality (VR)/Augmented Reality (AR) and experiential learning. Access to specialized facilities and equipment for microelectronics research is limited in many parts of the United States. The model that results from this project is expected to transform student training at universities that do not have access to clean rooms. An iterative AR/VR development process and summer research program, are being used to advance learning outcomes and training in microelectronics and semiconductor manufacturing. This project promotes research and “innovative approaches to developing, improving, and expanding evidence-based education and workforce development activities and learning experiences at all levels of education in fields and disciplines related to microelectronics,” in alignment with the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. Funding for this project is provided by the NSF Directorate for Engineering. 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.