University Of Florida

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-05

With the support of the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Jeffrey Rudolf of the University of Florida is studying a family of oxidative enzymes within the context of organic molecules made by bacteria. Natural products are small organic molecules that are made by organisms in nature. Natural products have profound impacts on society as commercially, agriculturally, and pharmaceutically relevant chemicals; they also serve as important probes for understanding fundamental processes in chemistry and biology. Cytochrome P450 enzymes (P450s), best known for their importance in human health, perform key enzymatic modifications of natural products in a variety of organisms including bacteria. The project aims to discover new natural products through the identification of unique P450s within the genomes of target bacteria and to understand the molecular interactions between P450s and their redox partners, proteins that are required for P450s functionality. This pursuit will allow graduate and undergraduate students to gain valuable training in bioinformatics, molecular biology, bacterial genetics, natural products chemistry, biochemistry, and analytical chemistry techniques. The project will also establish an Undergraduate Mentoring and Career Development Program (UMCDP) for select primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) and provide PUI students summer research experience opportunities in the Rudolf Lab. The goals of these programs are to increase awareness of career opportunities in science, provide a route to mentored research opportunities and graduate programs, and educate students in modern research topics and advancements. P450s are one of the most accomplished ‘chemists’ employed by nature and the study of microbial P450s reveals their diverse roles in nature, expands their catalytic repertoire, and exposes their potential for biotechnological applications. With the explosion of bacterial genomes now available, it is evident that our understanding and use of P450 catalysis is limited. This proposal seeks to achieve the following objectives: (i) discover novel natural products with unique P450 functionalities, (ii) build a foundation of sequence-structure-function knowledge through the characterization of P450s, and (iii) identify native redox partners of bacterial P450s. These goals will be accomplished through an interdisciplinary approach including genome mining, metabolomics and transcriptomics of native and genetically engineering bacteria, and functional characterization of P450s using genetic knockouts and a variety of biochemical and biophysical techniques for in vitro reconstitution. This proposal will make fundamental contributions to natural products biosynthesis and to understanding the general principles of P450 enzymology. In addition, synthetic and biosynthetic chemists who aim to functionalize unactivated C–H bonds or use P450s as biocatalysts will benefit from the results generated by this project. 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: This proposal seeks to serve the needs of patients that require high-electrode-density neural interfaces that are extremely flexible, cause minimal tissue response, and function for the life of the patient. Clinical applications include high-channel-count brain-machine interfaces (BMI) to restore sensory and motor function, high-channel- count nerve interfaces for sensing and controlling state-of-the-art prosthetics limbs, next-generation deep-brain stimulation (DBS) systems, and many others. We propose to overcome this longevity barrier by significantly advancing the manufacturing processes used to produce implantable thin-film neural interfaces based on liquid crystal polymers (LCP), which when used in a thick-film form have demonstrated exceptional robustness and reliability. The work proposed is focused on significantly improving LCP-based neural-interface technology in two innovative and independent ways. First, in Aim 1 we will develop a microfabrication process that can produce bonded multi-layer LCP-based devices that are at least 5X thinner than possible with today's manufacturing processes (i.e.,  10 μm compared to  50 μm) without compromising the strength of the bond between the LCP layers and between the LCP layers and a metal layer. Second, in Aim 2 we will develop a manufacturing process that can produce metal features on highly roughened LCP that are 10X thinner (i.e., 1 μm compared to >10 μm) and 5X narrower (i.e., 5 μm compared to  25 μm) than demonstrated commercially with LCP today, and in a manner that increases the bond strength of the metal layer to both LCP layers, increases electrical-isolation reliability, and does not compromise electrical-conduction reliability. Much thinner and narrower interfaces have been shown to cause far less adverse tissue response and should result in higher signal to noise ratio and interface operational lifetime. To assess the material and electrical reliability of our much thinner and narrower LCP interfaces, we will use aggressive RAA soak tests and statistically measure channel isolation and resistance as a function of dielectric-layer parameters (i.e., layer thickness, roughness, bonding parameters, and other process parameters) and metal-layer parameters (i.e., metal trace thickness, width, separation, length, and integration method). We will compare results with implants produced using other thin-film polymer-metal neural-interface technologies (e.g., polyimide) and commercial thick-film LCP.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-04

This award will support about 8 U.S.-based students to attend the Doctoral Consortium held as part of the 19th IEEE International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition (FG 2025). Face and gesture recognition are increasingly used to help people interact more seamlessly with computers, robots, and other agents that use recognition techniques to infer relevant aspects of people's mental states, goals, and intended actions. The conference brings together interdisciplinary scholars from fields including computer vision, machine learning, and human-computer interaction to develop new theories and methods around these topics. The doctoral consortium provides a valuable opportunity for early-career scholars to engage with international experts through structured oral and poster sessions, career panel discussions, and one-on-one mentoring. This, in turn, will enhance participants’ technical expertise, promotes the exchange of ideas, and helps participants develop collaborations and professional networks that will serve their future careers as well as the community as a whole. The Doctoral Consortium will be a half-day event during the conference. This year, there will be four distinct aspects to the event. First, each participant will be paired up with an invited faculty or industrial researcher who works in the related area and will act as their mentor both in the Doctoral Consortium and throughout the FG conference. Second, there will be a career panel during a working lunch where participants will have an opportunity to discuss their research and career objectives with other participants and mentors in an informal setting. Third, there will be a dedicated oral session for the students to present their research to the invited committee. Fourth, there will be a poster session for the students to present their work to all conference attendees. These four activities, taken together, will afford a structured way for students to communicate with other students as well as with established researchers of their research community. Students will be recruited from a wide range of institutions, disciplines, and backgrounds with the goal of growing the community of researchers. Selections will be based on fit to the conference topics and available mentors, students' career stage and financial need, and their ability to benefit from and contribute to the consortium. 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 · 2025-04

Abstract The extracellular matrix (ECM) is an essential component of the microenvironment of cells and is known to provide mechanical supports for organs and tissues, as well as loci for cell adhesion, interaction, and signaling to regulate various cell functions. Heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs), major components in the ECM of all tissue types, maintain the structural integrity of ECM and regulate cellular signaling via binding with ECM components and protein ligands such as growth factors and chemokines. Heparanase, the only known enzyme that can cleave the heparan sulfate (HS) side chains of HSPGs and a key enzyme for ECM remodeling, regulates many cellular processes including ECM remodeling and homeostasis of cell-associated HS, and it controls the bioavailability and activity of molecules attached to HS. The importance of heparanase activity in various pathological conditions such as cancer, angiogenesis, and inflammation has been well demonstrated, however, a detailed mechanistic study of heparanase function and the precise mode of heparanase action in ECM remodeling remain elusive. Molecular probes that can dissect the different functions of heparanase can explore its precise role in ECM remodeling, however, prior to our work, there were no suitable tools for this type of investigation. Our overall research program has been built on the development of novel heparanase probes that have defined structures, and “in situ” labeling chemistry that can facilitate real-time detection of heparanase activity both in vitro and in vivo. With the support of MIRA-ESI, my lab has successfully developed efficient chemical strategies to yield novel small molecule probes to detect heparanase activity, and “in situ” labeling chemistry suitable for carbohydrate processing enzymes. In the proposed MIRA application and the long term, we will develop a library of novel heparanase probes with varying glycan substrates and use these structurally defined molecules to study the precise function of heparanase using in vitro and in vivo models involving ECM remodeling.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2026 · 2025-04

Project Summary Accurately estimating dispersal and population size of highly invasive Aedes mosquito species is an essential, but particularly challenging, aspect of designing and optimizing effective vector control programs. Aedes aegypti can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, and yellow fever viruses - all of which have had a profound impact on human health. Results of our recent study on Californian Ae. aegypti populations show dispersal distance based on genome-wide rare mutations closely reflects the known mosquito invasion history providing a promising new approach to estimating dispersal distance. Moreover, we have identified multiple genetic clusters of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes with varying frequency of insecticide resistance mutations, suggesting different selection forces influencing their genetics that, in turn, may impact the efficacy of mosquito control. What remains lacking is rigorous scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of population genomics approaches to accurately estimate Ae. aegypti dispersal and population size as well as identifying genetic elements facilitating their local adaptation, further spread, and establishment in new environments. There is, therefore, a critical need to determine the efficacy of population genomic approaches in estimation of dispersal and population size of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes and genes under selection in different environmental settings. My long-term goal is to become an independent teacher-scholar focused on advancing understanding of how evolutionary forces shape mosquito dispersal and population size and contributing toward the development of effective, efficient, and sustainable mosquito control strategies. My objectives are (1) to determine genetic relatedness and effective population size (Ne), and (2) identify population-specific genes under selection shaping local adaptation of invasive mosquito populations using population genomic approaches. My central hypothesis is that a mosquito genome undergoes local adaptation as it invades new environments. The rationale for the proposed research is that detailed understanding of the genetics of local mosquito populations is likely to contribute meaningfully toward a new integrated mosquito management (IMM) strategy that leverages genetic biocontrol methods. At the completion of the proposed project, I expect to have produced estimates of genetic relatedness between Ae. aegypti populations from diverse environments (Pacific, Caribbean, and mainland USA) and determined Ne per city and county level (Aim 1). In addition, I anticipate having identified sets of genes under selection from different environments illuminating demographic history and evolutionary forces shaping local adaptation (Aim 2). These results are expected to have an important positive impact on improving invasive mosquito control capacity through improved understanding of invasive Ae. aegypti mosquito dispersal and enhancing the readiness of the public health officers in detecting and responding to invasive mosquito species.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2026 · 2025-04

Project Summary Enteric viruses infect or initiate their lifecycle through the gastro-intestinal tract. Pathogenic enteric viruses (e.g. rotavirus, norovirus) are of major clinical importance as they cause a great fraction of pediatric diarrheal cases globally and can lead to life threatening infection in immune compromised patients. The intestinal epithelial cells constitute the primary barrier that enteric viruses need to face to initiate infection. They are organized in discrete crypt-villus structures with the stem cells located in the crypt region and the most differentiated cells (e.g. enterocytes) at the tip of the villi. Along the crypt/villus structure a steep oxygen gradient exists placing the crypts under “normal” oxygen level (normoxia) and the tips of the villi under very low oxygen levels (hypoxia). While hypoxia is well known to be critical for a healthy commensal microbiota and for regulating inflammation during inflammatory bowel disease flare-ups, how hypoxia impacts infection of intestinal epithelial cells by enteric viruses remains unknown. In this application, we will employ a set of human enteric viruses, human intestinal organoids, and gut-on-a-chip technologies to fill this gap of knowledge. In preparation for this research proposal, we have discovered that hypoxia negatively impacts the intrinsic innate immune response generated by primary non-transformed human intestinal epithelial cells upon viral infection. We have shown that hypoxia impairs interferon production, as such favoring enteric virus replication. Using an organ-on-a-chip, we reproduced the oxygen gradient present in the crypt/villus structures, and have shown that hypoxic regions, representing the villus tips, are more susceptible to viral infection due to a curtailed immune response in intestinal epithelial cells. Additionally, we have gathered evidence that stem cells and differentiated cells (e.g. enterocytes) differently respond to hypoxia. As such we hypothesize that the gut hypoxic milieu generates a proviral environment in intestinal epithelial cells by dampening the innate immune response, thereby favoring enteric virus infection, replication, and spread. To challenge these hypotheses, we will first build on our preliminary data and refine our molecular understanding of the hypoxia-mediated inhibition of immune response. Second, we will define how the physiological oxygen gradient creates distinct microenvironments within the crypt/ villus axis with the hypothesis that these microenvironments have distinct capacities to control viral infection. Finally, we will characterize at the single cell level how hypoxia induces cell type-specific inhibition of immune response (stem cells vs enterocytes) and spatially integrate these findings into the crypt/villi structure using organ-on-a-chip technologies. Our findings will inform the development of novel therapeutics targeting cellular responses to hypoxia not only to treat enteric viruses, but also other enteric pathogens, as well as for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases which is accompanied by oxygen-dysregulation in the gut.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2026 · 2025-04

PROJECT SUMMARY (See instructions): Neural circuits modulating feeding, stress and anxiety must communicate with each other to maintain homeostasis. Failure to appropriately respond to certain stressors can promote the development of maladaptive feeding behaviors observed with obesity and metabolic disorders. Despite an increasing prevalence of both metabolic and psychological disorders, our understanding of the key inputs linking these behavioral states remains rudimentary. Melanocortin-3 receptor (MC3R) is ideally positioned, both anatomically and functionally, to mediate direct communication between feeding and stress/anxiety circuits. Importantly, MC3R neurons bidirectionally regulate both feeding and anxiety, and deletion of MC3R produces multiple forms of sexually dimorphic alterations in feeding, including anxiety-related hypophagia. While it is evident MC3R impacts feeding and stress/anxiety circuitry in both male and female mice, the sites driving these behaviors remain unknown. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) is a highly differentiated nuclear complex whereby autonomic, emotional and neuroendocrine signals are integrated and subsequently relayed to hypothalamic and brainstem regions to regulate the expression of motivated behaviors, including feeding and defensive actions. The BST is centrally involved in stress-related psychopathologies, such as pathological and adaptive anxiety and modulates food intake and energy balance with both anorexic and binge-like eating effects. The BST is also one of the most sexually dimorphic areas in the brain and thus may regulate sex differences observed in numerous eating and stress-related clinical disorders. MC3R neurons and terminals are abundantly expressed in the BST, and therefore BSTMC3R circuitry may function as an integration hub for information driving feeding, stress and anxiety-like behaviors. Intriguingly, this crucial integrative hub also seems to be highly susceptible to developmental perturbations that can have lasting health consequences. The K99 phase revealed the structure and function of the mature BSTMC3R circuitry. The R00 phase will focus on determining how dietary and stressful perturbations during critical periods of development may permanently alter the structure and function of BSTMC3R circuitry. The overall hypothesis of this application is dietary and stressful perturbations during critical periods of development will disrupt BSTMC3R neural circuitry, culminating in lasting consequences in feeding behavior and responses to stress.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-04

Advances in science do not come solely from novel exploratory studies. Reproducibility, or the ability of a third party to substantially recreate the same results of a previous experiment using the same code, conditions, and input data, is therefore crucial as a means of closing the gap between initial discovery and widespread adoption of claims. However, the discipline of computer security has historically performed poorly in this regard. Improving reproducibility in computer security is not only important in making the results of research more trustworthy but also has the potential to speed up efforts by other scientists to build on results, and to take their results out of the laboratory and into practice via commercialization or open-source. This project has two main activities. First, the project team is performing large-scale reproducibility studies across important venues in computer security, characterizing how previously published efforts achieve or fail to allow for reproducible science. Next, the team is focusing on why such efforts fail and is creating improved frameworks for expressing gaps and limitations in the use of artifacts. The team is creating a framework to more readily characterize replicability, wherein artifacts are more broadly profiled using new data sets. These efforts will not only provide the community with benchmarks and guidance for improved performance but will also assist in making the results of the community's research efforts more readily transitioned to the world beyond research. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-04

Domesticated livestock have been fundamental to social, cultural, economic, and ecological dimensions of numerous Indigenous American communities’ lifeways and holistic wellbeing for centuries. The relationship between Native American pastoralists and their animals has always been one of change and adaptation, even as it has provided continuity. This doctoral dissertation study investigates how and why a Native community’s herding practices and perceptions of wellbeing are changing in the 21st century. The project centers Native people’s perspectives and emphasizes the diversity of their experiences related to pastoralism to produce culturally relevant, empirically rigorous data useful to Tribal scientists, policy makers, and grassroots organizations working to support herders in pursuing wellbeing sustainably and in line with their varied aspirations. This locally focused work is a necessary complement to efforts and commitments at the federal level toward maintaining and enhancing Tribal prosperity, resilience, and self-determination in the face of changing, often challenging social, economic, and environmental contexts. The project trains a graduate student in methods of scientific data collection and analysis and builds capacity for the future conduct of scientific research in this context. The objectives pf this doctoral project are to discover and explain (1) why some Native American herders persist in the practice of raising livestock despite numerous challenges while others opt not to herd despite this activity’s traditional value and importance, (2) why some herders conserve a traditional livestock breed while others choose non-traditional breeds, and (3) whether and how subjective wellbeing is related to variations in conceptions of a life well lived and in herders’ specific practices in pursuit of a good life. The study integrates semi-structured interviews, structured surveys, participant observation, and mixed-methods analysis. The research innovatively combines case-based causal analysis with ethnographic and quantitative methods from cognitive anthropology to advance understandings of (1) the crucial link between culture (defined as shared meanings) and action, (2) processes of social and cultural change, and (3) diversity in perceptions and practices of wellbeing. 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 · 2025-04

Ramon Alain Miranda Quintana of the University of Florida is supported by an award from the Chemical Theory, Models, and Computational Methods program in the Division of Chemistry to develop, implement, and test general methods capable of describing strongly correlated systems. A precise understanding of the behavior of electrons in molecules and materials is needed to reliably predict their properties. Such understanding provides an enticing way to explore new compounds in lieu of performing many delicate and expensive experiments. Unfortunately, current theoretical approaches fail catastrophically when applied to systems with a particular kind of complicated electronic structure: strongly correlated electron systems. Examples of strong correlation can be found in compounds with several metallic centers with unpaired electrons, such as rare-earth metals, lanthanides, and actinides. In these situations, the trade-off between the reliability and tractability of traditional computational techniques is unacceptable, so they can only be used in the simplest cases. Solving this problem will facilitate the design of new organometallic catalysts, and more efficient energy-conversion and high-density data-storage devices. Dr. Miranda’s goal is to develop accurate, computationally efficient, and universal methods capable of treating strongly correlated systems. Dr. Miranda will use the software packages developed in his group to boost the undergraduate quantum chemistry curriculum at UF, allowing the students to tackle more realistic problems in their classes. Moreover, he will create videos and other types of online content to introduce topics in algebra, coding, and computational chemistry to a broader audience. This project has three key aims: (1) design, implement, and test new wavefunction ansätze capable of describing multi-reference problems; (2) develop a new perturbation theory framework as a robust way to optimize flexible wavefunctions and to help calculate various molecular properties; and (3) extend the domain of applicability of our methods using novel embedding techniques and apply them to realistic chemical compounds and processes. Dr. Miranda’s team will develop and exploit a framework (the Flexible Ansatz for N-body Configuration Interaction, FANCI) that greatly expedites the development and testing new wavefunction ansätze. In particular, the focus will be on new families of wavefunction methods, combining traditional ansätze (CI, CC) with novel ideas (quasi-particles, symmetry breaking, seniority) in non-traditional ways. The second goal will be centered on a flexible Perturbation Theory (PT) framework that could suit any possible multi-determinant wavefunction. This approach will be leveraged to facilitate calculation of Reduced Density Matrices and response functions. The final focus on general wavefunction-in-wavefunction embedding protocols will help to model changes in the spin state, redox behavior, etc. of strongly correlated systems. Dr. Miranda’s team will exploit the Fanpy/FANCI/FANPT framework as a way to enhance the preparation in computational chemistry at the undergraduate and high school level. With the help of UF’s Center for Precollegiate Education and Training (CPET), they will interact with teachers to develop hands-on tools for their classrooms, while also hosting high school students. They will also work to engage the community through materials (mostly, videos/lectures) aimed to introduce coding, mathematic tools, and computational chemistry concepts and applications. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2026 · 2025-03

Project Summary / Abstract The increasing elderly population is resulting in a rise in age-related disorders. More than 95% of Alzheimer's disease (AD) instances are observed in individuals aged 65 or above, impacting over 11% of people within this age group. Cellular senescence is a key player in the aging mechanisms and plays a role in the onset of various age-related conditions, including AD, AD-related dementias (ADRD), and other neurodegenerative disorders. The removal of senescent cells has shown encouraging therapeutic results as a promising direction in reversing senescence and aging associated pathologies. Detecting and imaging senescent cells is critical for understanding the mechanisms of aging and associated disorders, and for guiding the removal of senescent cells. In addition to small molecule-based senolytics, the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy has recently been successfully applied as a novel strategy to target senescent cells in cancer and fibrosis models. However, CAR T cells in general suffer from various off-site toxicities, which represent a major impediment for a broader application of CAR T cell therapies. We propose to develop a novel concept of theranostic (therapeutic and diagnostic) CAR T cell platform based on unique theranostic probes and the signal-sensing chemically-induced proximity (sCIP) technology that selectively detect/report senescent cells, and also allows CAR T cells to respond to both “senescence-associated surface antigens” (on-target) and “senescence-associated chemical reactivities” that are presented within senescent cells (on- site), while limiting off-site activation of CAR T cells and the associated toxicities. To demonstrate this novel theranostic CAR T strategy, we propose to incorporate abscisic acid (ABA)-based sCIP technology to create and test theranostic ABA inducer that respond selectively to senescence-associated b-galactosidase (SA-b- Gal) and different CAR constructs specific to urokinase plasminogen activator surface receptor (uPAR) antigen on senescent cell surface. An additional inducible gene expression cassette introduced in CAR T cells can selectively produce therapeutic proteins in situ upon SA-b-Gal stimulation. In R61 phase, we will develop the theranostic CAR T platforms, which include the senescence-responsive theranostic ABA inducer (Aim 1), and the development of split CAR (sCAR) T cells and evaluate their efficacy in vitro (Aim 2). Since AD mice model will be used in the next phase and it takes time to develop, we will also start establishing AD mice models and colonies (Aim 3). In R33 phase, we will evaluate the theranostic ABA inducer (Aim 4), and the activation of sCAR-T in AD mice models (Aim 5). The efficacy of the theranostic CAR T therapy will be evaluated in AD mice using behavioral assays and MRI (Aim 6). We anticipate that our novel approach will have a broad impact on the development of AD therapeutics and it will also advance both senotherapies and CAR T therapies.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-03

Degassing CO2 and S from arc volcanoes is fundamental to global climate, eruption forecasting, and cycling of volatiles through subduction zones. Particularly, changes in CO2/SO2 ratio in the volcanic gases could be a potential precursor to eruptions. Typically, the CO2/SO2 ratios in high-temperature volcanic gases are used to infer the pressure of degassing due to the different solubility and partitioning of CO2 and S species in vapor-saturated magmatic liquid. However, there are significant discrepancies in predicting S behavior and degassing pressures among different degassing models, primarily due to the scarcity of high-pressure experiments constraining S equilibrium degassing. Moreover, such an interpretation of volcanic gases relies on the conventional assumption that degassing occurs at equilibrium in basaltic melt. However, concentration gradients of sulfur and carbon dioxides have been commonly observed in olivine-hosted embayments and matrix glasses, indicating diffusive degassing of both S and CO2. Once disequilibrium degassing is accepted, due to potentially different diffusivities of CO2 and S in the basaltic melt, the interpretation of the CO2/SO2 ratios in high-temperature volcanic gases also requires a revisit. This project aims at investigating the equilibrium vs. kinetic control of the CO2/SO2 ratio in the arc volcanic gases and evaluating the hypothesis that kinetic degassing leads to elevated CO2/SO2 ratios prior to eruptions. The results will significantly improve understanding of sulfur behavior in basaltic-andesitic volcanic systems, instruct the interpretation of volcanic gas data and bear significance in constraining the ascent rates using volatile diffusion and petrological estimates of total S outgassing. This study employs both equilibrium and decompression experiments with piston cylinder apparatus and internally-heated pressure vessel to constrain the behavior of three major magmatic volatiles, CO2, H2O, and S, during equilibrium and kinetic degassing. First, equilibrium experiments between 1000MPa and 50 MPa with controlled fO2 and a basaltic andesite will be used to constrain the sulfur behavior during equilibrium degassing. The results will be used to test and improve existing degassing models and serve as a baseline to compare to decompression runs. Second, decompression experiments with buffered fO2 on the same bulk composition from 300MPa to various final pressures with slow and fast decompression rates will be used to investigate CO2-S in the melt, H2O/CO2, and CO2/SO2 ratio in the co-existing vapor during kinetic degassing. The experimental results can be used to test and improve existing kinetic degassing and bubble growth model. With updated equilibrium and kinetic degassing models, this study will construct region diagrams demonstrating the control of kinetic vs. equilibrium degassing on evolution of CO2/S and H2O/CO2 in the melt and in the co-existing vapor as changing decompression rates. 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 · 2025-03

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Each year there are more than 17,000 new spinal cord injuries in the United States, half of which occur at the cervical level. These cervical injuries lead to breathing dysfunction and reliance on mechanical ventilation, making respiratory failure the leading cause of mortality after injury. Sub-threshold (current amplitude below that necessary to directly activate motor pools) electrical stimulation of the dorsal epidural surface of the spinal cord can elicit voluntary locomotor function in injured patients, but its ability to improve breathing capacity is largely unexplored. Prior study from the Dale lab demonstrates that chronic application of closed-loop stimulation in unanesthetized rats leads to lasting increases in phrenic motor network excitability, and that this effect is blocked by removal of cervical dorsal afferents. Additionally, work recently published by the candidate shows that closed- loop stimulation recovers spontaneous diaphragm EMG immediately after injury and this lasts for short periods after stimulation has stopped. However, neither the conditions necessary to best elicit lasting increases in respiratory output nor closed-loop stimulation’s mechanism of action are well understood. Ideally, a stimulation paradigm which improves breathing function both during and after treatment would lead to device independence and improved quality of life. Therefore, it is critical to thoroughly understand the functional and neuroplastic effects of epidural stimulation as well as the neural populations responsible for its action. The central hypothesis of this fellowship is that multiple bouts of closed-loop epidural stimulation elicit lasting improvements in breathing function which requires sensory feedback which we propose to test through two aims: 1) Using a well-defined, acute C2-hemisection injury (e.g. maintaining contralesional diaphragm function), we will assess the effect of closed-loop epidural stimulation paradigms on evoked and spontaneous diaphragm EMG activity and inspiratory pressure generation during and after stimulation; 2) Using innovative mechanical ventilation techniques in our acute model, we will determine the necessity of sensory feedback and descending inputs in mediating epidural stimulation’s effects. Primary mentor Dr. Dale is well-funded, has extensive experience with both acute and chronic models of spinal cord injury, and initially developed the closed- loop stimulation paradigm utilized in this proposal. Co-sponsor Dr. David Fuller is a leading expert in respiratory neurobiology research and has an extensive track record in mentorship with over 80% of his trainees moving on to faculty or post-doctoral positions (2 prior mentees have received F31s). The training plan was designed to further the candidate’s goal of becoming an independent PI and includes attendance at local and national conferences, participation in seminars and journal clubs, and development of laboratory management, teaching, writing, and mentoring skills. This fellowship will provide critical understanding of epidural stimulation’s functional effects and mechanism necessary to translate this treatment to clinical populations while helping develop the career of a promising young scientist.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-03

This doctoral dissertation project investigates processes of cultural change in the past that take place when multiple complex societies coalesce and re-shape social and economic ways of life. Given present day situations as a consequence of population movement as a result of war and violence, archaeology can help to understand how such populations negotiate aspects of their lives through material culture over multiple centuries. Archaeological ceramic analysis is well suited to study this phenomenon because it can yield information on how communities’ choices in production, consumption, and use changed or stayed the same before and after cultural contact events. These choices often reflect social and economic affiliations of group members. Data from this project offers insights into how human populations adapt to social change, providing valuable perspectives for contemporary issues of migration and cultural integration. This study contributes to a growing body of evidence showing societies have a wide range of responses to both external stimuli and internal negotiations. The project produces new knowledge on adaptations to growing issues of culture contact experienced today and provides information to partners on ancestral practices and land use. The researchers are working with community organizations to integrate analytical perspectives, give local presentations and museum exhibits, and improve public understanding of archaeological science and the scientific method. The research examines how choices in ceramic production, consumption, and use were mediated when inhabitants interacted with a very early city site. The project examines the specific ways in which societies created pottery before and after this period of flux. Potting choices are examined using macroscopic, microscopic, and geochemical analyses. This project integrates chemical data collected via neutron activation analysis (NAA) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) as well as mineralogical data collected from ceramic petrography. These analyses create a detailed picture of natural resource utilization through time and highlight how social learning and technological choices were negotiated. 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

Quantum computing is a new type of technology that has the potential to solve problems that are too complex for today’s computers. It relies on unique principles like entanglement and superposition, which give quantum computers a significant advantage in areas such as modeling natural systems, improving energy efficiency, and enhancing the security of banking systems. In recent years, there have been major strides in developing quantum software, algorithms, and hardware, bringing us closer to practical quantum computers. However, challenges remain, especially in building stable quantum hardware, where different types of quantum bits (qubits) face difficulties like operating at extremely low temperatures or losing information due to environmental noise. One promising approach is to use topological quantum spintronics, which takes advantage of tiny, stable magnetic structures called skyrmions. This project will focus on creating new quantum hardware devices like magnetic transistors and diodes that use skyrmions. These devices are expected to be more energy-efficient, scalable, and able to operate at elevated temperatures, helping overcome some of the biggest obstacles in quantum computing. In addition to advancing quantum hardware, this project will also prioritize education and outreach. To cultivate visionary researchers who can transform classical concepts into the quantum realm and become future leaders in the field, new courses, summer programs, and open-source educational and outreach initiatives will be offered through this project. This training will enable students to apply quantum principles across diverse areas, engage in continuous learning, and explore new quantum ideas in other fields. The program also involves undergraduate and K-12 students in research and summer programs. The field of spintronics, which uses the spin of electrons for information processing, has been fascinated by the potential of magnetic skyrmions-tiny, stable structures with unique quantum properties. However, progress has been limited by the lack of effective methods to control these quantum behaviors in spintronic systems. To address this challenge, this project aims to open a new frontier in quantum spintronics by exploring the interaction of electronic and topological properties in solid-state materials, focusing on how quantum mechanics can drive these systems. The goal is to transform spintronic devices from binary to quantum, advancing their performance in terms of scalability, fault tolerance, energy efficiency, and operation at higher temperatures. This project seeks to pioneer the development of nanoscale skyrmionic devices, such as magnetic transistors and diodes, that can operate at room temperature using magnetoelectric coupling. These innovations will lay the foundation for harnessing quantum properties. Key to this work is the development of skyrmionic field-effect transistors that will enable quantum effects like superposition, entanglement, and quantization-crucial steps toward generating and controlling qubits. By applying skyrmion qubits to quantum diodes, this project also aims to enhance fidelity by using the nonreciprocal properties of these systems. The successful realization of this project will revolutionize quantum spintronics by enabling novel skyrmion qubits that offer scalability, fault tolerance, energy efficiency, and elevated operating temperatures. A thorough understanding of quantum skyrmions-from size to quantum control and quantum diode applications-can drive advancements in spintronic devices and provide insights into topological quantum properties. Beyond advancing scientific knowledge, the broader goal is to train the next generation of researchers through education and outreach efforts. This endeavor represents a comprehensive approach to advancing quantum spintronics and building a skilled workforce for the future. 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

This Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier: Core Research project will create a novel interface for remote operation of undersea robots and customize it to the needs of offshore industries and workers. The novel interface integrates robot sensor readings and high-speed predictive simulations of hydrodynamic forces to create an immersive mixed reality (MR) display. In addition to augmented video images of the robot's surroundings, the interface converts measurements of water flow rates, hydrostatic pressure, ambient temperature, and other variables into tactile sensations for the operator. Likewise, the interface will render natural movements of the operator's body into control commands to the robot. The goal is human-robot "sensory transfer," that is, seamless translation of perceptions and actions between the operator and the robot. The goal of this project is to develop and match the capabilities of the interface to industry and worker needs. One anticipated benefit is to reduce the extensive training currently required for operators, thereby increasing access to these jobs while reducing industry training expenses and downtime due to personnel shortages. The project will study the most effective way to improve worker performance, safety, and quality of life, and by requiring a diverse set of subjects, will show how such human-robot interfaces can expand economic opportunity to broad sections of society. The interface can also be used in a purely virtual mode as a training tool. The project will examine the use of this capability to recruit workers from adjacent fields, such as construction. Offshore applications that would directly benefit from this project include subsea infrastructure inspection, geological surveys, marine habitat monitoring, pollution assessments, ship-hull inspections, unexploded ordnance surveys, contraband detection, aquaculture monitoring, search and rescue, and archaeological exploration and surveys. An increase in extreme weather and rising sea levels will place increasing demands on offshore operations to protect and repair coastal damage. Similarly offshore sustainable energy infrastructure such as wind, wave, or tidal generators will increase the demand for undersea inspection, construction, and maintenance. This project will reconceptualize future subsea industry by advancing knowledge of underwater Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) in under-explored subsea workplaces, illuminating socioeconomic features and adult-learning needs of workforce transformation to subsea industry, and establishing academia-industry-government partnerships for improving performance, safety, and societal outcomes of subsea works. Novel human-robot sensory transfer methods are suggested for reliability against conditions unique to subsea. These methods will support fast and accurate reconstruction of subsea workplaces. MR will be used to generate human-perceivable simulation of remote subsea workplaces in real time based on feedback from a novel robotic sensing and data transmission system. Motion capture will be created for easier navigation of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). This research will establish new knowledge on motivational and educational determinants of introducing easy-to-use collaborative ROVs as part of a transformative workforce for future subsea robot operations, through extensive participation from industrial partners. The assessment will integrate techniques from psychometric and behavioral sciences as well as engineering and human factors. The work will also pioneer the development of a future subsea job framework for integration of ROVs into a participatory delivery of core subsea services. The economic benefits of robotic adoption will be estimated based on demand projection and elasticity estimation. This research will transform the frontiers of human-technology partnership in the context of the future subsea industry, reposition workforce threatened by automation in other domains, enhance future workers’ safety and well-being, and improve subsea operation performance, thus enhancing the long-term sustainable ocean exploration. 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

The Developmental Biology of Sea Urchins and other Marine Invertebrates (DBSUMI) conference is a meeting that brings together scientists who perform basic research with marine invertebrate animals. The location of the conference at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA provides an inspiring and historical setting since it is the location of many groundbreaking discoveries. Over a four-day period, attendees from all stages of the profession come together to present their research, exchange ideas, share new techniques, build community and discuss best practices and ideas for STEM education. The conference intentionally supports junior scientist attendees. Scientific breadth is an important feature of DBSUMI, and the conference structure promotes formal and informal interactions among participants to build new collaborations across fields. The conference and the research performed by the attendees focus on creative and original research that leverage animal diversity to answer fundamental questions in the field of developmental biology. Previous examples of fundamental discoveries from research on marine invertebrates include the identification of cyclins and the control of cell division, the role of microtubule motor kinesins, the isolation of green fluorescent protein and the concept of gene regulatory networks. Such discoveries are central to most aspects of modern biology, and curiosity-driven research presented at conferences such as DBSUMI have the potential to lead to additional ground-breaking discoveries. The Broader Impacts of this award are multiple and include supporting trainees and the next generation of STEM researchers, sessions on new tool developments, and a STEM education session. The DBSUMI conference convenes at the Marine Biological Laboratory every 1.5 years and brings together a large community of over 100 researchers who utilize marine invertebrates for fundamental studies in biology. In addition to research presentation opportunities, attendees are invited to participate in a pre-conference workshop on technology advancement, career development workshops and a STEM education plenary and panel discussion. While originally conceived for investigators working with sea urchins and which generated the first gene regulatory network (GRN), DBSUMI has more recently diversified with respect to research organisms, topics, and the breadth of attendees. This breadth serves as a valuable incubator to build new collaborations across fields. Topics currently discussed cover a range of subdisciplines, including oogenesis, gamete interactions, the oocyte-to-embryo transition, body axis patterning, signaling, organogenesis, regeneration, immunity, and environmental influences on development. Methodologies used by DBSUMI researchers are also broad and include GRN-based approaches, genomics, experimental embryology, cell biology, advanced imaging and evolutionary comparisons. Recent technological advances spurned in part by sea urchin researchers have lowered barriers to work with novel animal systems and has motivated the community to grow by including research on additional marine invertebrates. Parallel research efforts across a wide range of study animals placed within a phylogenetic context has allowed this research community to reveal common mechanisms defining unifying biological principles. Currently, this conference is unique in its focus on comparative development of marine invertebrates. 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 · 2025-03

Uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) is the most prevalent modifiable risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and disorders directly influencing CVD (e.g., diabetes, chronic kidney disease, etc.). Along with many other aspects of U.S. healthcare, management of uncontrolled BP was severely disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, many health systems rapidly accelerated implementation of new technologies, including telehealth visits for BP control and support for self-monitoring with home-based measurement of BP. Anecdotally, new BP control technologies and strategies have been implemented differentially with wide variation in timing and degree of utilization, but systematic analyses showing the extent and variability of implementation across sites are lacking. Meanwhile, substantial and variable backsliding in BP control rates across health systems was documented at the onset of the pandemic, and it is unclear how much of the variability is driven by differential implementation of new BP-related technologies and strategies. To learn from this unprecedented natural experiment and help guide the US healthcare enterprise towards more effective practices for management of BP control, we propose a mixed methods comparative effectiveness analysis. We will leverage our nationally scoped PCORnet Blood Pressure Control Laboratory (BPCL) – designed fundamentally for efficient surveillance of BP control and related process metrics using electronic health record (EHR) data – to develop and validate process metric queries that track implementation of new BP-related technologies & strategies, field these queries along with our previously developed metrics, extract trend results and individual patient-level data from participating sites, and conduct descriptive and causal inference analyses to decipher successful patterns of care for uncontrolled BP. And, we will conduct a positive deviance analysis with mixed methods approach to assess residual variability in BP control across clinics and learn from clinics with unexplained excellence. Our specific aims are to: 1) evaluate time trends and disparities in utilization of BP-related telehealth and home BP monitoring; 2) estimate causal effects of telehealth implementation on BP control and related metrics in hypertension management; and, 3) identify clinics with unexplained excellence in BP control and use mixed methods to analyze potential mechanisms and opportunities for dissemination of effective, scalable practices. As we have done in prior work, we will test for effect heterogeneity across important subgroups. Findings from these aims will be discussed with stakeholders via webinar including a panel of frontline clinicians and leaders from positive deviance clinical sites, and disseminated via conference presentations and publications.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-02

Many cells in our body have a polarized organization maintaining distinct front and back regions. This property called cell polarity is essential for proper cellular function and is achieved by segregating specific proteins to either region of the cells. This research investigates fundamental mechanisms that enable cells to establish and maintain polarity, processes essential for proper development and tissue function. Precisely, the project focuses on understanding how cells sort and transport proteins to specific regions using molecular machinery called clathrin and its associated proteins. This international collaborative project will involve using a variety of approaches to provide a mechanistic understanding of a process that is important to virtually all multicellular organisms. The Broader Impacts of this work include engaging high school students and their teachers through the Center for Precollegiate Education and Training (CPET) at the University of Florida. Undergraduates and a post-doctoral researcher will also be involved in the project. These initiatives will provide students with exposure to cutting-edge microscopy techniques and cell biology research with the ultimate goal to inspire them to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The research employs state-of-the-art microscopy, genetic engineering, and biochemical approaches to understand how the clathrin machinery drives the polarized sorting of specific cellular proteins to either the apical or basolateral side of polarized epithelial cells. The project will investigate how protein sorting in epithelial cell takes place at newly discovered apical tubular compartments characterized by the small GTPase ARF1 decorated by nano-domains of clathrin light chains (CLCs) and the adaptor protein 1 (AP-1). Through a combination of advanced gene editing techniques, mass spectrometry analysis, and super-resolution microscopy, the research team will map the molecular interactions that enable directional protein transport and identify new regulatory proteins involved in this process. The project introduces innovative approaches including proximity-based proteomics and live-cell imaging using stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy to dissect the temporal sequence of sorting events, as well as novel protein degradation systems (PROTAC) that allows rapid and selective removal of specific cellular components to determine their precise roles in sorting processes. This work will establish how cells achieve precise spatial organization of proteins through the coordinated action of molecular sorting machinery, revealing fundamental principles of cellular organization. The findings will advance our understanding of how cells establish and maintain distinct functional domains, a process essential for development and tissue function. This collaborative US/Germany project is supported by the US National Science Foundation and the German Deutsche Forschung Gemeinschaft (DFG) where NSF funds the US investigator and DFG funds the German partner. 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 · 2025-02

Depression is a debilitating nonmotor symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD) that affects approximately 40% of patients and contributes to worsened quality of life. Despite its prevalence and burden, depression in PD is often inadequately treated with current therapies. Growing evidence indicates depression is likely linked to PD pathophysiology involving the basal ganglia, rather than just a reaction to general illness. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy, targeted to the basal ganglia in either the globus pallidus internus (GPi) or the subthalamic nucleus (STN), is effective for improving PD motor symptoms. However, the effects of DBS on depression in PD vary across patients, from meaningful improvements to detrimental worsening. This variability is partly because the basal ganglia pathophysiology of depression is unclear, and it is unknown which brain signals and networks to modulate with DBS to improve depression in PD. The objective of this proposal is to identify basal ganglia neural activity associated with depression in PD and identify brain regions and networks associated with depression improvement with DBS in PD. My central hypothesis is that PD patients with depression exhibit altered neural activity compared to patients without depression, and these alterations (1) are localized to specific brain regions and networks, and (2) are similar across the GPi and STN, pointing to a common basal ganglia network associated with depression in PD. To investigate, I will use multimodal approaches combining neural recordings in patients who underwent GPi DBS or STN DBS for PD (N=199 patients, 291 hemispheres), neuroimaging to map brain regions and networks, and computational models to evaluate the effects of DBS. In Aim 1, I will identify basal ganglia neural activity associated with depression in PD using machine learning techniques. In Aim 2, I will determine the local and network topography of basal ganglia neural activity to identify physiological brain networks showing alterations in PD patients with versus without depression. In Aim 3, I will identify “hotspots” and brain networks associated with depression improvement with DBS for PD. During the K99 phase, I will receive training in human neurophysiology and clinical research in psychiatry, facilitated by Dr. Coralie de Hemptinne (expert in human neurophysiology), Dr. Gregory Pontone (expert in neuropsychiatry in PD), and a team of interdisciplinary advisors. After securing an independent faculty position, I will transition into the R00 phase and build on my K99 research in Aim 4 to prospectively evaluate neural activity and neuroimaging- based markers of depression in PD in a novel cohort (N=20 patients) using a DBS device capable of chronic neural recordings to test whether they correlate with longitudinal depression symptoms in the patients’ naturalistic environment and evaluate the effects of DBS and dopaminergic medication. Collectively, this K99/R00 award will enable me to pursue the technical and career development training necessary to prepare me to lead an independent research lab focused on understanding the pathophysiology of neurological and psychiatric disorders and establishing neurophysiological and network-guided neuromodulation therapies.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2025 · 2025-02

Project Abstract Although Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) 5-year relative survival exceeds 90%, Black and Hispanic patients face inferior survival in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood (AYA), and as older adults. The gap in knowledge for the mechanism explaining inferior survival reflects (i) the inability to provide individual social factor data, (ii) the lack of postrelapse treatment data, especially stem cell transplant (SCT) data, and (iii) the omission of survivorship care as a cause. There is a critical need to identify predictors of variation in treatment and survivorship care leading to worse survival reported for Black and Hispanic patients with HL to create an evidence-based framework upon which to design interventions to improve outcomes of HL patients of all ages. This proposal’s overall objective is to determine how social factors may explain poorer HL survival outcomes for Black and Hispanic patients. Our central hypothesis is that key and distinct social factors influence survival for each age group, and these will be identified through the novel linkage of comprehensive longitudinal databases: the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Network (PCORnet, which provides longitudinal patient- level electronic medical record and administrative claims data) and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplantation Research (CIBMTR, which provides high-quality clinical and SCT data). The central hypothesis will be tested by pursuing three specific aims in this mixed-methods study: 1) Examine differences in the receipt and quality of HL treatment for initial diagnosis and relapse for those who have relapsed; 2) Examine the receipt and quality of survivorship care; and 3) Examine diverse patients’ decision-making experiences with upfront, relapse, and survivorship care using in-depth interviews with survivors recruited through strategic partnerships. For Aims 1 and 2, a cohort of more than 26,000 patients diagnosed between 2010 and 2023, representative of the HL population by race, ethnicity, social factors, and age, will be evaluated for differences in (i) anticancer therapy and (ii) post-therapy survivorship care by social factors stratified by the aforementioned subgroups. For Aim 3, semi-structured, in-depth interviews of a sample of HL survivors and caregivers enriched in Black and Hispanic representation will be conducted to understand the treatment and survivorship decision-making process for patients and families through their lived experiences. The research proposed is innovative because (i) the PCORnet and CIBMTR data linkage confronts knowledge gaps regarding longitudinal care and postrelapse treatment and (ii) the proposed partnership with national patient advocacy organizations for Aim 3 accrual achieves the intended representation of both Black and Hispanic patients and AYAs. The proposed research is significant because it is expected to provide strong scientific justification for informing policy and developing interventions to bridge inequities in care and outcomes borne by Black and Hispanic survivors, particularly as more than 220,000 HL survivors live in the US today.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-02

Hurricanes cause severe damages to infrastructure, polluting coastal water, and disrupting the environment and human health. This research studies flooding-caused pollution in west Florida coastal waters after two major hurricanes. The project will understand how land bacteria transfer antibiotic resistant genes to coastal bacteria during flooding. The team will analyze water samples collected after the hurricanes using microbiological, chemical and molecular methods. The outcomes of this study will enhance our understanding of how marine pathogens, like vibrios, acquire toxic traits and pose threats to public health. The results will provide valuable data in guiding emergency responses in the face of future storms. The recent back-to-back hurricanes in Florida, Helene and Milton, caused extensive flooding that released untreated wastewater carrying antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) from freshwater environments into coastal waters. The spread of ARGs into marine ecosystems poses a significant public health threat, as it can lead to the emergence of antibiotic resistant marine bacteria, including species such as Vibrio vulnificus, a pathogen associated with severe and sometimes fatal infections. This project will investigate how storm-driven flooding facilitates the horizontal transfer of ARGs between freshwater and marine bacteria, contributing to the long-term persistence of ARGs in coastal ecosystems. Key objectives include identifying antibiotic resistant freshwater bacteria entering coastal waters, examining the horizontal transfer of ARGs within biofilms in coastal waters, and assessing the persistence of ARGs in marine bacteria over time. Samples collected after the hurricanes will be analyzed using long-read metagenomics, single-colony sequencing, and microbial community analysis to track bacterial origins and resolve ARG profiles, as well as stable isotope analysis to differentiate freshwater and marine bacterial populations. This study will highlight how hurricanes amplify the risks of ARGs entering marine ecosystems and conferring antibiotic resistance to pathogens. These pathogens can impact public health through seafood consumption, recreational exposure, or environmental contact. The findings will provide critical insights into mitigating the long-term effects of hurricanes on public health and coastal water quality, while informing strategies to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance in marine 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.

NIH Research Projects · FY 2026 · 2025-02

PROJECT SUMMARY Adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are defined by their ability to undergo self-renewal and maintain the capacity to generate all the types of mature hematopoietic cells within the blood and immune system. The ultimate objective of the proposed research plan described herein is to establish a novel HSC expansion platform to enable treating more patients with life-threatening disorders of blood and bone marrow than is currently possible. This proposal seeks to greatly expand the availability of suitable donors for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and limit the duration of post-transplant cytopenia, which is the leading cause of treatment-related death following HSCT. To tackle this issue, we have developed a novel physiological vascular niche platform for ex vivo expansion of human HSCs with unprecedented potential to accelerate hematopoietic recovery and avoid life-threatening infection and hemorrhage in patients treated with myeloablative or myelosuppressive therapies. Our novel ex vivo HSC expansion technology will hopefully shorten the duration of hospitalization and reduce the high of HSCT therapy. Indeed, this platform was successfully tested in a recently completed Phase I clinical trial (Identifier: NCT03483324). The current research plan aims to build upon our recent discoveries that the vascular niche provides the instructional cues that enable large-scale expansion of HSCs, while preserving their self-renewal capabilities. We propose to utilize a pro-HSC factor we recently discovered (PMID: 37037837), Netrin-1 (NTN1), to supplement our vascular niche/HSC co-culture assay to enhance the functional output of ex vivo expanded human HSCs. This proposal will determine if NTN1 can support the function of human blood products and begin to define novel angiocrine factors from a humanized in vivo BM vascular niche that support human HSC and vascular function. To this end, we will: 1) determine if supplementation of NTN1 improves the ex vivo expansion and in vivo engraftment of human HSPCs, 2) determine if blocking NTN1 signaling interferes with the function of ex vivo expanded and transplanted HSPCs, 3) determine if NTN1 signaling support vascular function human hematopoietic recovery following myelosuppressive insult, and 4) begin to identify candidate pro-HSC angiocrine factors from human ECs that can improve human HSC function. The proposed experiments represent a continuum of pre-clinical research, aimed at ultimately investigating the transplantation of expanded long-term repopulating HSCs in patients who may benefit from an autologous BM or umbilical cord blood grafts. Successful HSC expansion will ultimately extend access to HSCT for patients requiring a curative HSC replacement. Accomplishing these objectives will ultimately benefit underserved patient populations, including ethnic and racial minorities as well as older patients who lack suitably human leukocyte antigen matched sibling or adult unrelated volunteer donors for hematopoietic transplantation and patients requiring engineered, engraftable HSCs for the correction of genetic disorders, but for whom the number of available autologous HSCs is suboptimal.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-02

PART 1: NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY This CAREER program supported by the Solid State and Materials Chemistry Program in the Division of Materials Research, investigates materials for energy storage to make the technology more sustainable and less dependent on scarce resources. To do so, researchers at the University of Florida generate new understanding in support of the development of alternative materials for lithium-ion batteries. The alternative materials, called disordered rocksalt oxides, or DRXs, have the potential to reduce reliance on cobalt and nickel in batteries to enable a more sustainable energy future. However, DRX performance remains below that of current battery materials. DRXs typically contain many types of atoms, making it difficult to predict which combinations will form a DRX and how to control the resulting electrochemical properties, including battery performance. This CAREER program identifies key parameters for making and controlling the battery performance of DRXs, including the types and amounts of atoms present and how they are arranged at the atomic scale. Additionally, the program provides training to undergraduate and high school students, and combines research with art, using dance to explain scientific concepts. Dance-based explanations are captured in educational videos that are used for targeted outreach and made publicly available to support youth and adult interest and awareness with science and technology. PART 2: TECHNICAL SUMMARY A sustainable energy future requires reducing dependence on Co- and Ni-based cathodes for Li-ion batteries. Li-excess disordered rocksalt oxides (DRXs) are alternative candidate cathodes, based on Mn and Fe redox-active transition metals, however, there are not yet robust strategies to increase their Li accessibility and capacity retention. This CAREER program applies solid state chemistry principles and advanced characterization methods to derive necessary understanding to realize the promise of DRXs. To do so, researchers at University of Florida strategically sample the compositional parameter space to evaluate hypotheses about relationships of the number, species, and ratio of constituent cations. Through these activities, they elucidate the dominant chemical principles underlying the formation, stability, structure, and properties of DRXs and compositionally-complex oxides. This CAREER award project combines research and mentorship with art and embodiment to explore research questions and foundational principles, through which it broadens participation in science through recruitment and retention. Dance is used as a medium to investigate research concepts and choreographic and verbal explanations generated during investigations are used to produce educational videos that are disseminated at outreach events and made publicly available. 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

Understanding the forces responsible for variation in and among populations is important to both basic and applied biology. Mutations are a major cause of human disease, and are the ultimate cause of heritable differences between individuals and species. The rate and type of mutations passed from parent to offspring varies at all biological levels, from Kingdoms (animals vs. bacteria) to individual humans. The causes of that variation are both environmental and genetic. The environment cannot be controlled in human studies, so model organisms provide the best opportunity to understand the interplay between genes and environment as a cause of biological variation. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a model organism that has informed many areas of biology (four Nobel prizes so far). This project will quantify the rate and types of mutations in two species related to C. elegans which are extremely different from C. elegans in certain respects. Populations of C. elegans are about as genetically variable as humans ("not too variable"), whereas C. brenneri is among the most genetically variable animals yet discovered. Physically, C. briggsae is virtually indistinguishable from C. elegans, but many of its indistinguishable features develop by very different genetic mechanisms. This work will extend the utility of one of the most important model systems in biology, and will shed light on the question of why organisms that appear so similar can be so different under the surface. A critical element of the project is the collection of a large sample of wild-caught nematodes, done by local middle-school students under the supervision of teachers trained in the lead investigator's lab. Previously, the lead investigator constructed and cryopreserved several hundred "mutation accumulation" (MA) lines of these species, maintained under minimal selection. The goal is to sequence the genomes of those lines to quantify the rate and molecular spectrum of mutation in two genotypes each of C. briggsae and C. brenneri, along with a C. elegans control. If mutation rates are similar to C. elegans, it is expected to identify approximately 1500 new mutations in C. brenneri and 5000 in C. briggsae. The data will inform two unresolved questions: first, does the well-documented discrepancy between the spectrum of spontaneous mutations and that of segregating nucleotide variants in C. elegans extend beyond that species; and second, is the astronomical nucleotide variation present in C. brenneri due to a huge population size or an extremely high mutation rate (or both)? 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.