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IRDF awards announced
Eight projects receive money from interdisciplinary fund
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
Eight faculty research projects have received a total of $253,582 in grants during the first round of funding from the UB 2020 Interdisciplinary Research Development Fund (IRDF).
The IRDF is one of three new programs created last fall by Jorge V. José, vice president for research, to encourage and enable increased research and scholarly activity among university and faculty.
"We are very pleased with the response from faculty to the IRDF program," said José. "The number, range and quality of the submissions exceeded our expectations. We hope UB faculty will continue to avail themselves of this opportunity, as well as the UB 2020 Scholars Program, which is open to all fields, including areas where external funding is rare."
The goal of the IRDF is to encourage collaboration among faculty across disciplines for new research projects that ultimately will attract external grant support. Proposals must be for new projects within the 10 areas of strategic strength of the UB 2020 planning process.
Kenneth M. Tramposch, associate vice president for research, said proposals from 54 projects representing nine schools and 29 departments were submitted. Investigators on eight proposals were asked to resubmit their proposals by March 1, Tramposch said, adding that he is meeting with the investigators to help them refine their proposals to enhance their chances of receiving funding.
The following projects received grants during the first round of funding for the IRDF:
"Behavioral Measures of Age-Related Hearing Loss and Its Prevention," Micheal Dent, Psychology, principal investigator; Richard Salvi, Communicative Disorders and Sciences; and Matthew Xu-Friedman, Biological Sciences, co-investigators. The goal of the study is to determine whether minocycline, a common antibiotic that has shown to reduce the loss of sensory hair cells that detect sounds in the inner ear of mice, is able to prevent or delay hearing loss in mice. Researchers say that if a drug is found to prevent or slow the progression of hearing loss in a mouse, it may be useful for treating human hearing loss.
"Scale Effects on Musculoskeletal Design in Terrestrial Crabs," Scott Medler, Biological Sciences, principal investigator; Kevin Hulme, New York State Center for Engineering Design and Industrial Innovation (NYSCEDII); Venkat Krovi, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; and Scott White, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, co-investigators. Researchers plan to model the biomechanics of locomotion in terrestrial crabs from a standpoint of reverse engineering, make biomechanical measurements from live animals running on a treadmill and analyze the cellular and molecular organization of the muscles used for locomotion. Researchers predict that as the mechanical properties of the skeletal system change with size, the organization of the muscles will adapt to match. The findings may provide practical applications since human skeletal muscles are plastic tissues that respond to a variety of stimuli including exercise, disease and aging.
"Analysis of Cerebral Regional Physiologic and Dopaminergic Dysfunction of Schizophrenia in a Novel Transgenic Developmental Model and in Human Patients Using Positron Emission Tomography," Robert S. Miletich, Nuclear Medicine, principal investigator; Steven L. Dubovsky, Psychiatry; Jerry Richards, Research Institute on Addictions; and Michal Stachowiak, Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, co-investigators. The project aims at elaborating the pathophysiologic basis of schizophrenia. Researchers will examine the regional physiologic and dopaminergic changes in a developmental animal model with three different kinds of positron emission tomography (PET). Researchers will examine the effects of the widely used anti-psychotic drug haloperidol. They will perform the same PET experiments in humans suffering from schizophrenia.
"Phenethyl Isothiocyanate in Breast Cancer Prevention," Marilyn E. Morris, Pharmaceutical Sciences, principal investigator; Atif B. Awad, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences; and James R. Olson, Pharmacology and Toxicology, co-investigators. Phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a dietary component present in cruciferous vegetables, has a high potency against a variety of tumors and low in vivo toxicity. Researchers will try to prove their hypothesis that PEITC is an effective preventive agent in breast cancer that acts, in part, by altering estrogen and estrogen metabolite concentrations.
"Developing Student Understanding of Disaster-Related STEM Topics Using Authentic Interactive Curriculum Modules," Gilberto Mosqueda, Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, principal investigator; Xiufeng Liu, Learning and Instruction; Deborah Moore-Russo, Learning and Instruction; and Sofia Tangalos, Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, co-investigators. The overall goal of this project is to develop and pilot-test a prototype learning module on earthquake engineering for middle grade students that will increase upper middle-school students' awareness of science, technology, engineering and mathematics literacy and its role in minimizing the impact of disasters.
"Analyzing Emergency Response Management Systems in the Context of the Katrina and Rita Disasters-A First Responder Focus," Raghav Rao, Management Science and Systems, principal investigator; Catherine Cook-Cottone, Counseling, School and Educational Psychology; Raj Sharman, Management Science and Systems; and Shambhu Upadhyaya, Computer Science and Engineering, co-investigators. This proposal will investigate the critical factors that could have an impact on the efficiency of decision-making and the efficiency of execution in emergency-response management situations from a first-responder perspective.
"New Real-time, High-Resolution, Radiographic Images Based on Electron Multiplier Charged Coupled Devices (EMCCD)," Stephen Rudin, Radiology, principal investigator; Daniel R. Bednarek, Radiology; Alexander Cartwright, Electrical Engineering; Lisimachos Kondi, Electrical Engineering; and Aleksandr Verevkin, Electrical Engineering, co-investigators. Researchers will explore a new radiological detector design made up of modules each consisting of CsI(Tl) x-ray converter phosphor coupled using a fiber-optic taper or minifier to an electron multiplying charge coupled device (EMCCD).
"Structural Analysis of Sliding Clam-DNA Polymerase Complexes," Mark D. Sutton, Biochemistry, principal investigator; Vivian Cody, Structural Biology, co-investigator. Accurate duplication of a cell's genetic material requires the concerted actions of multiple DNA polymerases. The ability of these DNA polymerases to gain access to the replication fork relies, in large part, on their capacity to interact with a sliding clamp protein that serves to tether the polymerase to the DNA. Although domains of each of the five E. coli DNA polymerase capable of interacting with the bacterial clamp have been identified, structural information describing the complexes is currently lacking. The long-term goal of this proposal is to utilize structural techniques to determine at the molecular level how the different E. coli DNA polymerases interact with the bacterial sliding clamp protein.
For more information on the IRDF and other funding programs in the Office of Research, go to http://www.research.buffalo.edu/funding_programs/default.cfm