Search Grants — Free, No Account Required

Timpanogos Arts Foundation

Timpanogos Arts Foundation is an active grantmaking foundation based in American Fork, UT. Focus: arts. Contact the foundation directly for current funding opportunities.

NSF

A key measurement in modern biology research is measuring changes in the levels of specific proteins in live cells. However, many of the methods by which proteins are detected, such as Western blots, are hopelessly antiquated and provide only a small snapshot of information. This project envisions a new method for biologists to measure changes in live cells. Specifically, the method is designed to measure the rates of changes, the duration of the effects, and the return to a normal state, all in one experiment. These measurements are enabled by a new type of “turn-on biosensor” which can monitor protein levels in real time. Prototypes for this new type of biosensor will be developed using computational design, machine learning, and directed evolution. The initial application will be monitoring levels of beta-catenin, a master regulator of cell growth and specialization. Beta-catenin levels are known to change in response to chemical signals released by nearby cells, making it an ideal system for exploring the design and applications of the new turn-on biosensors. The new biosensors described in this Tools4Cells project not only provide much richer biological information than the current state-of-the-art, they will have broader impact on the field as simpler, more quantitative, less expensive, and more sustainable. Fluorescent biosensors have been pursued for decades, but nearly all current strategies rely on split binding domains or domains with large conformational changes upon analyte binding. However, there are very few such domains, limiting applications to relatively few analytes. Also, current biosensors require extended washout steps and other manipulations, and their sensitivity is severely limited by high background from the “always-on” fluorescent proteins and dyes. This project develops turn-on biosensors (TOBs) which fluoresce only when the analyte is bound. TOBs use a modular binding protein to recognize the analyte, which ensures generalizability. For initial applications, the binding protein will be a nanobody to allow selective recognition of a specific target protein. The nanobody is fused to a variant of the self-labeling protein HaloTag, which allows covalent installation of a synthetic, environment-sensitive dye. TOBs will be engineered using computational methods and directed evolution to minimize dye fluorescence in the absence of analyte and to maximize fluorescence in the presence of analyte. TOBs that report levels of the transcription factor beta-catenin will be developed and tested in cell culture models of beta-catenin activation and inhibition. These critical pathways are known to be mediated by changes in the cellular levels of beta-catenin, but this method will demonstrate real-time measurements of these changes. Once developed, TOBs will be readily adaptable and useful to a large proportion of the cell biology community. 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.

NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

Topaz Arts, Inc.

Engineering Bureau, Public Works

TOS - Task Order Solicitation

Totem Star

Totem Star will create opportunities for youth through the Youth Artist Booking for Live Performance and Neighborhood Activations project in our new home at King Street Station that sits right on the border between the Chinatown/International District and Pioneer Square. These activities will include Totem Star First Thursday events to welcome new youth artists into our community, build deeper community, and activate arts and cultural space while simultaneously increasing the Youth Artist Booking activities to provide valuable live performance opportunities while paying young people fair wages.

Society of the Educational Arts, Inc.

Tour of Children's Theater in Spanish SEAson 2001-2002

NSF

Nuclear structure theory plays a key role at the cutting edge of science and underlies many frontiers of fundamental physics. The detailed knowledge of nuclear spectral properties is essential for multimessenger astrophysics, the search for new physics beyond the Standard Model, and numerous applications of nuclear data and technologies. However, despite decades-long efforts, the theory struggles with intellectual and computational challenges that prevent it from achieving an accurate and predictive description of nuclear spectral properties, not only for unknown exotic species but also for stable ordinary nuclei. In this project, the theory is advanced beyond the state of the art by implementing a new methodology for (i) evolving the fundamental strong interaction in the correlated media of atomic nuclei, (ii) ordering and navigating the increasing complexity of nucleonic propagation in such media with increasing particle number, and (iii) extrapolating the computation to astrophysical temperatures and densities. This effort is expected to reduce uncertainties in predictions of nuclear spectra for diverse applications. Graduate students engaged in the project are prepared to launch their careers in academia and industry. The novel results are integrated into university graduate courses, aiming at attracting young talents to the field of nuclear physics. This project focuses on the following theoretical and computational developments: (i) establishing a junction between the bare nuclear forces and their modification in correlated media of medium-mass and heavy nuclei by the direct solution of the equations of motion for the nucleonic correlation functions, (ii) many-body modeling for magnetic and charge-exchange nuclear responses, progressively increasing the correlation content which leads to increasing accuracy, and their extension to finite temperatures, (iii) numerical implementations of these effects in the relativistic framework on the base of the previously developed computer codes, (iv) numerical studies of the electric dipole, magnetic dipole, Gamow-Teller, and first-forbidden transitions in medium-heavy nuclei between nickel and tin mass regions, which are mostly relevant for rapid nucleosynthesis in neutron star mergers and core-collapse supernovae (CCSN). The results are analyzed in the context of current systematics and conditioned for use in astrophysical applications. In particular, the influence of microscopically calculated electron capture rates on the CCSN evolution scenarios is targeted. Underlying properties of exotic modes, such as the neutron skin dipole oscillation and its other multipole analogs, are extracted to reduce uncertainties on the parameters of the nuclear equation of state. This project advances the objectives of "Windows on the Universe: the Era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics", one of the 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Wasat Community

On the September 25th, Dawud Walid, an African American Muslim scholar, will guide South Seattle's Muslim community in discussion and dialogue on social justice and activism with the cultural perspective of Muslims. The event will be held at Rainier Arts Center, located at 3515 S Alaska St at 7pm. Wasat will follow up the next day by implementing a service project for community youth to distribute nourishing free meals made from surplus produce to those facing food insecurity.

Town Hall Seattle

Town Hall Seattle will organize Community-Created Events in four Seattle neighborhoods to take place during the first half of 2018. Diverse Neighborhood Steering Committees will be convened to identify issues and topics of special interest to their communities. The committees will collaborate as co-creators with an Artist- or Scholar-in-Community to develop and produce three to five inclusive, culturally diverse arts and civics events for, about, and hosted at venues in, their neighborhood. The events will culminate in the four committees coming together to examine how their work strengthened bonds within their neighborhood, and amplified a neighborhood voice for greater Seattle. Town Hall's Inside/Out project takes an asset-based approach to community building.

NHLBI - National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is polygenic condition in which the fetal intestines and liver herniate into the thoracic cavity, resulting in lung compression and impaired pulmonary development. Despite being one of the most common and expensive surgical birth defects managed in neonatal intensive care units worldwide, the underlying biomolecular mechanisms of CDH lung hypoplasia remain unknown. Advances in state-of-the-art surgical critical care, including novel pharmacologic agents and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, have failed to make a substantial impact in improving clinical outcomes in severely affected children, with an overall mortality remaining at 30%, largely due to the devastating degree of lung pathology. There remains a critical need to better understand CDH lung development to offer hope for affected patients. Our overall objective is to examine the mechanistic impact of an experimental prenatal surgical therapy, known as fetoscopic tracheal occlusion (FETO), and YAP/TAZ on CDH lung development. The mechanism of FETO’s impact on reversing CDH lung hypoplasia remains unknown. YAP/TAZ is the core kinase of the Hippo signaling pathway that has been shown to respond to mechanosensory stimuli during fetal lung patterning and differentiation. The proximal-distal fetal lung abnormalities observed with the human CDH phenotype are consistent with those of YAP/TAZ dysregulation in the setting of mechanical compression (reduced intrapulmonary pressures). Although transpulmonary pressures have also been shown to regulate epithelial differentiation, the interplay between FETO and YAP/TAZ translocation are not well understood. Our group has expertise in the creation and manipulation of an experimental CDH mouse model, as well as in the generation of human 3D lung organoids derived from induced pluripotent stem cells in fetuses with CDH. We will leverage these models to address the following aims: (1) To evaluate the role of YAP/TAZ signaling and tracheal occlusion during CDH fetal lung development; and (2) To determine whether tracheal occlusion modulates mechanical compression forces in CDH fetal lung morphogenesis through the YAP/TAZ signaling pathway. These aims are highly feasible given our promising preliminary data and tools currently at our disposal. We hypothesize that YAP/TAZ dysregulation plays an important role in CDH disease pathogenesis and can be reversed by tracheal occlusion. If the proposed aims are achieved, we will have a better understanding of the role of a mechanosensing pathway in CDH lung development and the underpinnings of an experimental prenatal intervention, fetoscopic endotracheal occlusion, and potentially uncover new therapeutic targets for affected children at the more severe end of the disease spectrum.

NIAID - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Project Summary/Abstract Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 (HIV-1) infection outcome is variable between single host cells, even within clonal populations. Host factors are variably expressed and can promote susceptibility to infection and latency, a state wherein a copy of the virus remains in the host genome, posing a serious therapeutic challenge. Yet, no lasting solutions to these problems exist to date because we lack a comprehensive knowledge of the drivers of host cell state to distinct infection fates. Targeting the source of single cell variability in HIV-1 infection may provide strategies for its prevention, treatment, and cure. My proposed work will investigate how certain cell states permit HIV-1 infection and latency—two major roadblocks to lasting cures. Here, I propose to 1) nominate host cell state drivers of HIV-1 susceptibility, and 2) redefine HIV-1 infection at the single-cell level using a new viral isoform capture method. Toward this end, I will develop preVIEU, a multimodal framework combining DNA barcoding, single-cell profiling, viral mRNA isoform capture, and computation. To determine the extent HIV-1 infection fate is predestined by cell state, I will barcode primary CD4+ T cells and track if “twin” sibling cells share the same fate upon HIV-1 challenge. To then reveal what specific state predetermines a cell to either active or latent infection, I will profile cells using CITE-seq—combined single cell transcriptomic and protein abundance measurement—and link one sibling’s initial state before viral exposure to the other sibling’s infection fate via their shared barcode. I will experimentally validate that these states drive a specific fate, and screen for proteins and pathways underpinning these states to identify factors controlling infection outcomes. To better understand infection dynamics within single cells, I will develop the viral isoform capture component of preVIEU that I will then apply to study cell-, cell type-, and tissue-specific infection states in SIV-infected, ART-suppressed macaque samples. Lastly, I will monitor latency reversal in single cells to determine synergistic drug treatments to improve the targeting of the latent reservoir. Overall, I will develop generalizable frameworks to infer host cell infection state-to-fate mappings at unprecedented resolution to further our understanding of HIV-1 infection dynamics and pave the way for precise disease control strategies.

NIGMS - National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Project Summary Signals that cells receive over time from a small set of pathways (e.g., BMP, Wnt, and TGFβ) shape their fate and phenotype during development, regeneration, and disease. Despite their central importance, signaling histories of individual cells are often inaccessible to direct observation, hindering quantitative analysis and obscuring their connection to eventual cell fate. This challenge is particularly pronounced in mammalian systems, where limited optical access and the constraints of size and timescale often render live imaging impractical. To address this issue, we have developed an approach to reconstruct the history of signaling activity in single cells based on endpoint fluorescence images. This is achieved by regulating CRISPR base editors to generate mutations in engineered target sites at rates proportional to the signal of interest. These mutations create a heritable record of signaling activity in the genome, which can be read out at a later time, together with the gene expression profile of the cells. Using this approach, we demonstrated that cells retain a memory of their past response level to BMP signaling for up to 18 days, providing a mechanism for long-term interactions between signals that can facilitate coordination of developmental processes over time. In this proposal, we will expand the scope and utility of our signal recording approach by extending its dynamic range to capture the broad spectrum of in vivo signal intensities and enabling simultaneous recording of the sequence and timing of two signaling pathways. We will also engineer mouse embryonic stem cells to record three key developmental pathways: BMP, Wnt, and Nodal. This will allow us to generate stem cell-derived embryo models and chimeric embryos to link cell fate and spatial organization at the onset of organogenesis with signaling activity at different time windows earlier in development. Additionally, we will investigate mechanisms that enable long-term changes in BMP responsiveness following an initial stimulation, without requiring differentiation. We will then test whether similar mechanisms exist in Wnt and Nodal pathways and assess their role in mediating long-term crosstalk between pathways. To achieve these goals, we will take an interdisciplinary approach combining gene editing, quantitative imaging, epigenomic assays, computational analysis, and generation of developmental models. The proposed goals build on my prior publications, recent preliminary data from our lab, and collaborations I have established since launching my lab. This research program will substantially advance the state of the art in molecular recording, transforming it into a technology that can be used in vivo, in mammalian systems to drive biological discovery. Our long term vision is to identify how signaling history controls cellular decision making during development, and how instructions that cells receive are coordinated over time to produce tissues with the correct number, types, and spatial arrangement of cells. Ultimately, this knowledge will inform strategies for tissue engineering, and open new avenues for understanding and treating diseases driven by dysregulated signaling.

NIA - National Institute on Aging

Project Summary Tengfei Li, Ph.D, is a statistician committed to developing advanced statistical methods to better understand the human brain function and structure, the aging process, cognition and brain disorders using multi-modal neuroimaging and genetic data. The research he proposes, entitled “Tracking brain structural trajectories for early detection and prognosis of Alzheimer's Disease”, will unify multi-center multi-modal datasets using cutting-edge statistical and machine learning techniques. The result will be a comprehensive set of life-span brain structural reference standards and a centile-based explainable artificial intelligence (AI) system, which facilitate timely and precise detection of brain structural changes in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and AD related dementias (ADRD) and aid in the diagnosis and prognosis of the early stages of AD. Candidate: Dr. Li is a Research Assistant Professor in the department of Radiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed his Ph. D in probability and mathematical statistics prior to his postdoctoral fellowship in biostatistics at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Li's previous work, which has been published in high-impact journals such as Science and Nature Genetics, focuses on imaging-genetic analysis and big data integration. The proposed career development plan will build upon his previous training with four training goals to enhance his trajectory toward becoming an independent investigator: 1) Build a solid understanding of the neurodevelopmental basis of AD/ADRD; 2) Develop novel methodologies and strengthen in-depth understanding of AI in neuroimaging and AD/ ADRD analyses; 3) Develop professional skills to analyze multicenter big data; and 4) Establish leadership, expand collaborative networks, and translate diagnostic tools into clinical practice. Dr. Li and his primary mentor, Hongtu Zhu, Ph.D, have assembled a strong team of co-mentors to guide Dr. Li through the proposed training and research activities. Research: Despite an increased availability of neuroimaging datasets, the analysis of brain structure change by AD is limited by narrow age ranges, small sample sizes, and a lack of critical covariates. Besides, there is no reference standard against which to anchor individual differences in brain morphology from multisite images that may or may not align with growth charts. Dr. Li proposes to overcome these limitations by establishing life-span brain structural developmental reference standards that can be used to identify abnormal brain aging/developmental patterns in the early AD phases, including cortical/subcortical structures and white matter tracts. In Aim 1, he will develop a Functional Harmonization Regression Modeling (FHRM) framework to integrate multi-site data; in Aim 2, he will build a brain Local Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM) system to build the normal brain structural aging trajectories and track their variations associated with early phases or high-risk AD groups; and in Aim 3, he will develop a computationally efficient, easily interpretable and state-of-the-art Centile-based Explainable AI (CEAI) system in delineating the preclinical AD, MCI and AD transitions. This award will provide Dr. Li with the training and research needed to be successful for future, high- impact multi-center multimodal studies and behavioral/cognitive performance related to brain aging and AD. This will significantly contribute to the field and support Dr. Li's transition towards scientific independence.

Redhawk Indian Arts Council

Trad. Crafts Presentations at Gateway to Nations Festival

Seneca-Iroquois Nat'l Museum

Traditional Iroquois Arts presentation for Anniversary Celebration

NSF

This award will fund research to address a grand challenge in the geophysics community: deep-focus earthquakes, which are earthquakes that originate at depths greater than 70km below the Earth’s surface. Although there is no consensus on the processes that cause the sudden release of energy that results in a deep-focus earthquake, there are three agreed-upon mechanisms that could occur individually or together during a deep-focus earthquake event. These mechanisms are 1) the transformation of minerals from one phase to another, 2) the dehydration of rocks, which causes them to become easier to fracture, and 3) the formation of a small molten band caused by thermal heating during shearing. This research project will critically examine each of these mechanisms under the extreme temperatures, pressures, and deformation rates present in the Earth’s mantle. Multiple factors underlie the need for updated earthquake hazard models, including aging infrastructure, continued concentration of population centers, and the fact that supply chain interruptions at one location can have substantial economic impacts well beyond the earthquake-affected region. This project is anticipated to have significant implications for updating earthquake hazard models. Education and outreach efforts will focus on community education, the engagement of citizen scientists, and addressing the scarcity of science education resources in rural counties through the creation of portable teaching toolboxes and science programming for K-12 youth aimed at sparking a passion for science. This research project will advance Pressure-Shear Plate Impact (PSPI) experimentation to achieve the temperatures (up to 2500 K), pressures (>30 GPa), and slip rates (> 1m/s) that occur over the span of depths at which deep-focus earthquakes originate. State-of-the-art PSPI apparatus will be leveraged to generate novel data sets to interrogate prevailing hypotheses as to the cause of deep-focus earthquakes. These data sets include: 1) identifying the onset and defined kinetics of the temperature and pressure-dependent shear-induced phase transformations of silicates (i.e., olivine to wadsleyite or ringwoodite) as a function of deviatoric stress at seismic discontinuity depths; 2) Quantified rheological properties of hydrous peridotite that reveal the relationships between bound water (wt. % H2O), subducted slab thermal parameters, and the emergence of eased fracture embrittlement; 3) An envelope of rate-and-state friction measurements that assess fault weakening (and strengthening) mechanisms under constant and variable normal pressure with the aim of determining whether molten shear band formation is a spontaneous or triggered process. The data captured has strong transformative potential for our understanding of the dynamic processes occurring within the Earth’s mantle, which are currently inferred from sparse surface formations, seismology measurements, or experiments that are unable to simultaneously match subducted slab temperatures, pressures, or slip rates. Anticipated Tranformative Impact: Disaster prevention and mitigation 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.

NIGMS - National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Project Summary Despite extraordinary technological advancements in biology, light microscopy remains unrivaled for observing cell behavior at scale and at different scales, ranging from the structure and kinetics of subcellular molecules, over whole tissues, to the dynamics of entire developing organisms. This ability to visualize single cells, track samples over time, and detect interactions has made it a critical tool for scientific discovery. Light microscopes are also widely accessible, with ~44% of NIH “Shared Instrumentation” (S10) grants from 2013-2022 awarded for “Biomedical Imagers” or “Optical Instruments” (NIH ORIP). However, microscopy’s historical use as a qualitative tool means the potential to combine it with bioimage analysis for high-quality, quantitative data remains underutilized. This is particularly evident in bioimage analysis, where many trainees report low computational proficiency and discomfort in developing these skills. Current training is often self-directed, leading to inconsistent quality and expertise distribution. This has created a serious gap in biomedical research training. We recently launched Microtutor, an innovative online platform that leverages interactive learning technologies for microscopy and bioimage analysis education. Using H5P, the platform connects short video lessons with interactive demonstrations and frequent mastery assessments. Curated by experts across the nation, the content encourages exploration through interactive visualizations. This proposal aims to expand Microtutor by adding new modules on microscopy best practices and bioimage analysis to address the growing community need. We will integrate state-of-the-art open-source image analysis tools like Piximi, further enhancing Microtutor’s role as a comprehensive resource for modern microscopy and bioimage analysis education. Additionally, we will utilize the course’s virtual, self-paced nature to offer nationwide “flipped-classroom” sessions, partnering with colleges and universities to host live Q&A sessions and guest speakers, making expert-led learning accessible to all researchers. With the increasing types of large-scale microscopy applications—such as light sheet microscopy, spatial transcriptomics, and high-throughput multiwell plate imaging—there has never been a more critical time to ensure researchers follow best practices and interpret data effectively. Microtutor’s flexibility and power will allow experts in microscopy and image analysis to share this knowledge with the entire NIGMS community and raise the quality of bioimaging research in hundreds of laboratories nationwide and meet a significant need in the biomedical research workforce.

NIAID - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

The human-specific pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ngo) causes the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea. Ngo frequently causes infections localized to the urogenital tract in both males and females, though manifestations such as pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility can result from untreated infection. Rapid evolution of drug resistance by Ngo has led to its identification as an urgent threat and hastens the need to identify an efficacious vaccine. Our vaccine strategy targets conserved outer membrane transport proteins that provide critical growth-supporting functions during human infection. The outer membrane transport system (TbpA/B) that enables Ngo to employ human transferrin as an iron source is necessary for and produced during human infections. The highly conserved zinc transporters (TdfH and TdfJ) are also expressed in vivo. We have observed that antibodies that target these receptors will both starve the bacteria of these essential nutrients and facilitate bacterial engulfment by opsonophagocytosis and complement-dependent killing. While surface-exposed, these proteins are not targeted when in the context of standard outer membrane vesicle (OMV)-based vaccines because they are not expressed during normal in vitro growth conditions. When they are present, their binding to their respective host proteins can inhibit the immune response. In this application, we propose to generate OMV vaccines that express binding-defective derivatives of these proteins and test their ability to protect against infection in ‘humanized’ transgenic mice that express the human ligands for these transport systems. We hypothesize that a vaccine that elicits a response against each of these surface antigens will fully protect against all gonococcal infections, and expect that they will also prevent meningococcal infection due to high levels of sequence identity in these transporters between the species. These studies are significant because development of a cross- protective vaccine to prevent diseases caused by the pathogenic Neisseriae are critically needed and the approach that we propose has the potential to protect against both species, making it more generally acceptable than an Ngo-focused vaccine. These studies are innovative because OMVs from recombinant strains that lack immune-regulatory components will be used to elicit a response that targets multiple binding-defective but otherwise highly conserved proteins required for infection, and because these are being tested using state-of-the-art, unique animal models in which the human metal binding proteins that the neisserial proteins target are endogenously expressed. The specific aims of this proposal are: Aim 1: Use transgenic mice producing human transferrin, calprotectin and psoriasin to discern in which infected tissues their neisserial outer membrane transport systems contribute to colonization and disease. Aim 2: Exploit a combination of immunization with iron and zinc-starved gonococci and a unique repertoire of neisserial outer membrane transporter- specific polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to understand how these contribute to protection against Neisseria disease. Aim 3: Employ OMVs from genetically engineered LOS-modified, Rmp- and Opa-deficient Ngo strains that overproduce the outer membrane transporters to elicit cross-protective immune responses in transgenic animals. Overall, these innovative studies will target essential nutrient acquisition systems to develop an effective pan-Neisseriae vaccine.

NIAID - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

The human-specific pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ngo) causes the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea. Ngo frequently causes infections localized to the urogenital tract in both males and females, though manifestations such as pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility can result from untreated infection. Rapid evolution of drug resistance by Ngo has led to its identification as an urgent threat and hastens the need to identify an efficacious vaccine. Our vaccine strategy targets conserved outer membrane transport proteins that provide critical growth-supporting functions during human infection. The outer membrane transport system (TbpA/B) that enables Ngo to employ human transferrin as an iron source is necessary for and produced during human infections. The highly conserved zinc transporters (TdfH and TdfJ) are also expressed in vivo. We have observed that antibodies that target these receptors will both starve the bacteria of these essential nutrients and facilitate bacterial engulfment by opsonophagocytosis and complement-dependent killing. While surface-exposed, these proteins are not targeted when in the context of standard outer membrane vesicle (OMV)-based vaccines because they are not expressed during normal in vitro growth conditions. When they are present, their binding to their respective host proteins can inhibit the immune response. In this application, we propose to generate OMV vaccines that express binding-defective derivatives of these proteins and test their ability to protect against infection in ‘humanized’ transgenic mice that express the human ligands for these transport systems. We hypothesize that a vaccine that elicits a response against each of these surface antigens will fully protect against all gonococcal infections, and expect that they will also prevent meningococcal infection due to high levels of sequence identity in these transporters between the species. These studies are significant because development of a cross- protective vaccine to prevent diseases caused by the pathogenic Neisseriae are critically needed and the approach that we propose has the potential to protect against both species, making it more generally acceptable than an Ngo-focused vaccine. These studies are innovative because OMVs from recombinant strains that lack immune-regulatory components will be used to elicit a response that targets multiple binding-defective but otherwise highly conserved proteins required for infection, and because these are being tested using state-of-the-art, unique animal models in which the human metal binding proteins that the neisserial proteins target are endogenously expressed. The specific aims of this proposal are: Aim 1: Use transgenic mice producing human transferrin, calprotectin and psoriasin to discern in which infected tissues their neisserial outer membrane transport systems contribute to colonization and disease. Aim 2: Exploit a combination of immunization with iron and zinc-starved gonococci and a unique repertoire of neisserial outer membrane transporter- specific polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to understand how these contribute to protection against Neisseria disease. Aim 3: Employ OMVs from genetically engineered LOS-modified, Rmp- and Opa-deficient Ngo strains that overproduce the outer membrane transporters to elicit cross-protective immune responses in transgenic animals. Overall, these innovative studies will target essential nutrient acquisition systems to develop an effective pan-Neisseriae vaccine.

NSF

This grant provides participant support for attendees of the 24th American Conference on Crystal Growth and Epitaxy (ACCGE-23) to be held in Stevenson, Washington, 13-18 July 2025. The conference focuses on new research and development activities in bulk single crystal and epitaxial thin film growth. Students and faculty present their latest research results on crystal growth and epitaxy through oral and poster sessions. The conference impacts the advanced manufacturing and broader engineering communities. This award benefits the nation through the education of a skilled and diverse manufacturing workforce, which is better prepared to provide transformative solutions to the challenges in their chosen fields. The conference is an opportunity for participants to showcase their scientific accomplishments, interact with peers and colleagues in academia, government labs and industry and extend their network within the broad materials processing and advanced manufacturing communities. The conference plays an important role in supporting and sustaining the important field of crystal growth and epitaxy, which is an important component of semiconductor and microelectronics research. This conference is timely because of renewed interest in the revitalization of microelectronics and semiconductor manufacturing in the US. This participant support is expected to benefit the students' professional, scientific, and technical development. Attendance at the conference gives the students and faculty a broader view of crystal growth and thin film epitaxy, its fundamentals, advanced manufacturing, advanced characterization, and applications. Symposium topics include fundamentals of materials synthesis, crystal structure analysis, crystal growth techniques and methods, high throughput manufacturing, process modeling, monitoring and control, and specialized topics, such as 2D nanomaterials, ceramics, ferroelectrics, and microfluidic processing. Attendees will learn about state-of-the-art research in their technical areas via access to several technical and professional development talks by leading domestic and international speakers. Students and young faculty enhance their communication skills through oral and poster presentations and in-depth discussions of their work with peers in their technical areas. This interactive experience significantly broadens student education, increases their enthusiasm for their research topic, acquaints them with expectations for scientific careers, and exposes them to new approaches for innovative 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

The project will support student travel to participate in the Project Connect program during the 2025 IEEE International Microwave Symposium, which will be held in San Francisco, CA on June 15-20, 2025. The conference is the largest flagship meeting of microwave engineering in IEEE, the world's largest professional society covering multiple fields in electrical and electronics engineering. The conference has a long history started in 1957 and now includes an industry exhibition of several hundred companies developing products or providing services in wireless and semiconductor industries. The week-long conference features plenary and invited talks, paper presentation sessions, interactive poster sessions, workshops, tutorials, panels, student design competitions, and many social networking events. The conference attracts several thousand attendees each year from industry, academia and government research labs to share research findings, foster collaborations, and identify new directions for research and development. The Project Connect program will include a variety of activities to help student participants build their network with other professionals in the technical community. The travel support of this project will provide students many exciting opportunities to learn the state-of-the-art technology advancements and interact with potential mentors in the microwave and wireless technological areas covering a wide range of spectrum from megahertz to terahertz. The project aims to develop the technical interests of the student participants, motivating them to be involved in undergraduate research and to pursue further studies in graduate programs. Through the Project Connect program, the student participants will develop a successful long-term professional career and contribute to the U.S. STEM workforce in the critical areas using advanced microwave and wireless technologies. 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

This award will support about six (6) student attendees for the 2025 Association for Computing Machinery Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI). TEI is a leading conference at the intersection of physical and digital interaction design that brings together researchers, practitioners, businesses, artists, designers, and students from various disciplines, including engineering, interaction design, computer science, product design, media studies, and the arts. Selected students will participate in either the Graduate Student Consortium (GSC) or the Student Design Competition (SDC) parts of the conference. The GSC is a one-day event held before the main conference where promising scholars are selected to participate in a day-long critical discussion and review of their work with senior mentors. The SDC issues a design challenge, solicits a demonstration video and a document with rationale/motivation for their design visions from student teams, and selects a small number of teams to present at the conference. Participating in the GSC or SDC helps students gain experience communicating their work and critiquing the work of peers. Through this, along with the feedback provided by senior mentors, graduate students will develop new research insights and directions, a greater awareness of the field, and a stronger knowledge of related disciplines to inform their work. Beyond the student consortium and design competition themselves, students will also be invited to present their work at the main conference, giving their work wider visibility in the community. This will allow students to build professional and social connections that transcend the conference event and gain awareness of potential career paths in both academia and industry. Thus, the travel grant will contribute to the professional development of a more knowledgeable, capable, and productive workforce in the U.S., helping graduate students from a wide range of disciplinary, institutional, topical, and personal backgrounds succeed in TEI-related research areas. Students will be selected based on the quality of their submissions and the likelihood that their work indicates a sustained interest and future effort in the field. 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

This grant seeks to fund US-based students to attend ACM International Symposium on Mobile Ad Hoc Networking and Computing (ACM MobiHoc) 2025, held in Houston, Texas on October 27 - 30, 2025. ACM MobiHoc 2025 is a premier annual forum that attracts high-quality, forward-looking research contributions and provides a vibrant forum for technical and professional exchanges. ACM MobiHoc 2025 will expose selected students to cutting-edge developments in the field and enable interactions with world-leading researchers. Students will gain feedback on their ongoing work, broaden their academic perspectives, and build lasting professional connections. This project supports students from US universities to attend ACM MobiHoc 2025 conference in person. Students will have the opportunity to present their work and be exposed to state-of-the-art developments in the field. They will also have the opportunity to interact with peers from institutions worldwide, meet with senior researchers, and participate in discussions that are likely to shape the future of the field. This grant will target students who will substantially benefit from attending this conference but have limited travel funds. Priority will be given to first-time attendees. 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

This project seeks to fund US-based students to attend ACM SIGCOMM Internet Measurement Conference (IMC) 2025, held in Madison, Wisconsin on October 28 - 31, 2025. ICM 2025 is a premier annual forum that attracts high-quality, forward-looking research contributions and provides a vibrant forum for technical and professional exchanges. ICM 2025 will expose students to cutting-edge developments in the field and enable interactions with world-leading researchers. Students will gain feedback on their ongoing work, broaden their academic perspectives, and build lasting professional connections. This project supports students from US universities to attend ACM IMC 2025 conference in person. Students will have the opportunity to present their work and be exposed to state-of-the-art developments in the field. They will also have the opportunity to interact with peers from institutions worldwide, meet with senior researchers, and participate in discussions that are likely to shape the future of the field. 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.