Inside Research & Funding Opportunities
06/24/2020, 11:30:01 AM
The latest from UH Research every Wednesday. View in browser.
Inside Research
News, Events and Resources for the UH Research Community
 
Latest News Upcoming Events Announcements Recent Grant Awards Featured Funding Ops
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Latest UH Updates: COVID-19

The University has updated its Return to Campus protocol. Until further notice, UH requires face coverings for all students and employees while on-campus, in indoor public areas, even if you are alone, and in outdoor spaces where six feet or more of physical distancing is difficult to reliably maintain.

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Campus News

Cloning Stem Cells to Find a Cure for Crohn’s Disease

For over a decade Wa Xian, research associate professor of biology and biochemistry at the University of Houston Stem Cell Center, has been perfecting technology for cloning stem cells. Now she is using it to take aim at pediatric Crohn’s disease. Xian, who received a $1.9 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, along with Frank McKeon, professor of biology and biochemistry and director of the center, are developing new drug therapies to selectively destroy rogue cells they find in biopsies of pediatric Crohn’s patients, to create new treatments for the disease.   

UH’s Faghih Named an MIT Technology Review 2020 Innovator Under 35

Rose Faghih, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been named to MIT Technology Review's prestigious annual list of Innovators Under 35 as a visionary. Every year, the world-renowned media company has recognized a list of exceptionally talented technologists whose work has great potential to transform the world.

Bauer Doctoral Alumna Recognized for Dissertation Research

A doctoral graduate of the C.T. Bauer College of Business Department of Accountancy & Taxation was recently honored with a prestigious award for her dissertation research, “Executive Equity Compensation and Corporate Tax Behavior: The Role of Cash ETR Persistence.”

The paper, by Marina Ruseva (BBA ’08, MSACCY, ’11, Ph.D., ’19), now an Assistant Professor of Accounting at Lamar University, received the Federation of Business Disciplines (FBD) Distinguished Paper Award at the annual meeting of the American Accounting Association, Southwest Region (SWAAA) in March 2020.

Upcoming Events

Online: Optimizing Seismic in the Cloud for Performance and Cost
Thursday, June 25
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Register

Online - COVID-19: A Surprisingly Effective Data Driven Model
Thursday, July 9
11 a.m.-Noon
Register

Announcements

The Division of Research continues to provide ongoing updates to the research community every Wednesday afternoon.

If you missed emails from VPR Elnashai, you can review them on the Additional Resources page on DOR's COVID-19 site or explore information on the Phase 2 Reopening page.

View past announcements on the Division of Research website.

Recent Grant Awards

REGION 14 COMPREHENSIVE CENTERS PROGRAM

PI/Department: Anne McClellan, Education
Co-PIs: Conra Gist, April Peters-Hawkins, Shawn Kent, Catherine Horn, Amber Thompson, Zenaida Aguirre-Munoz
Sponsor: Westat / U.S. Department of Education
Amount: $1,000,000

ENHANCE FULL-WAVEFORM INVERSION WITH MACHINE LEARNED LOW-FREQUENCY SIGNALS

PI/Department: Jiefu Chen, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Co-PI: Xuqing Wu
Sponsor: Advanced Geophysical Technology / U.S. Department of Energy
Amount: $500,000

REGENERATIVE THERAPY FOR STRESS URINARY INCONTINENCE AND PELVIC FLOOR DISORDER

PI/Department: Yingchun Zhang, Biomedical Engineering
Sponsor: University of California - San Francisco / National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Amount: $269,288

SALARY REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENT

PI/Department: Lawrence Pinsky, Physics
Sponsor: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Amount: $40,960

Featured Funding Opportunities

Health Science, Engineering & Technology Social Sciences, Art & Humanities Education
Image Health

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: Medical Scientist Training Program (T32)
Internal Limited Submission Deadline: 7/20/2020
Application Deadline: 9/25/2020

The goal of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) is to develop a diverse pool of highly trained physician-scientist leaders available to meet the Nation's biomedical research needs. Specifically, this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) provides support to eligible domestic institutions to develop and implement effective, evidence-based approaches to integrated dual-degree training leading to the award of both clinical degrees, e.g., M.D., D.O., D.V.M., D.D.S., and research doctorate degrees (Ph.D. or equivalent). With the dual qualification of rigorous scientific research and clinical practice, graduates will be equipped with the skills to develop research programs that accelerate the translation of research advances to the understanding, detection, treatment and prevention of human disease, and to lead the advancement of biomedical research.

Limited Submission Applications are submitted through this Sharepoint site.

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: Emergency Awards: RADx-UP Coordination and Data Collection Center (CDCC) (U24 Clinical Trial Optional)
Internal Limited Submission Deadline: 7/3/2020
Application Deadline:  8/7/2020

NIH is issuing this FOA in response to the declared public health emergency issued by the Secretary, HHS, for 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). This emergency cooperative agreement funding opportunity announcement (FOA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides an expedited funding mechanism as part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) initiative, a consortium of community-engaged research projects to understand factors that have led to disproportionate burden of the pandemic on the underserved and/or vulnerable populations so that interventions can be implemented to decrease these disparities. This FOA seeks to fund a single Coordination and Data Collection Center (CDCC) as an integral part of the consortium. The funding for this supplement is provided from the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, 2020.

Limited Submission Applications are submitted through this Sharepoint site.

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: BRAIN Initiative: Development of Next Generation Human Brain Imaging Tools and Technologies (U01)
Application Deadline: 9/3/2020

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA), in support of the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, aims to support full development of entirely new or next generation noninvasive human brain imaging tools and methods that will lead to transformative advances in our understanding of the human brain. The FOA seeks innovative applications that are ready for full-scale development of breakthrough technologies with the intention of delivering working tools.

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: NIA Program Project Applications (P01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Application Deadline: 9/25/2020

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) invites the submission of investigator-initiated program project (P01) applications addressing scientific areas relevant to the NIA mission. Each application submitted to this FOA must include at least three related research projects that share a common central theme, focus, and/overall objective and an administrative core to lead the project. Revision applications should include expansion of an existing, or proposal of a new, project or projects within a program project. Revision applications may not request support beyond the end date of the parent P01 award.

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: Examining Diversity, Recruitment and Retention in Aging Research (R24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Application Deadline: 9/25/2020

This funding opportunity announcement encourages collaborative teams to target gaps in methods and outcomes regarding research participant recruitment and retention. The team approach encouraged by this initiative will be used to generate a research resource to advance processes for high yield recruitment, formulate breakthrough ideas, concepts and approaches to research participant recruitment and retention, strengthen outreach and community engagement practices, and devise improved communication strategies. Teams will demonstrate the success of these improvements by engaging a large diverse population. The primary outcome will be the development of a population of diverse community members ready to engage in NIA funded clinical research studies.

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: NEI Vision Research Epidemiology Grant (UG1 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Application Deadline: 9/25/2020

The National Eye Institute (NEI) supports investigator-initiated, complex, multi-center and other high resource risk epidemiologic studies under the cooperative agreement mechanism, UG1 activity code. Specifically, the purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to support new and innovative ocular epidemiology research.

Funding Agency: HRSA
Title: Service Area Competition
Application Deadline: 8/17/2020

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Health Center Program's Service Area Competition (SAC). The Health Center Program supports public and private nonprofit community-based and patient-directed organizations that provide primary health care services to the Nation's medically underserved populations. The purpose of the SAC notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is to ensure continued access to comprehensive, culturally competent, quality primary health care services for communities and populations currently served by the Health Center Program.

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Bridges to the Doctorate (T32)
Application Deadline: 9/25/2020

The goal of the Bridges to the Doctorate Research Training program is to develop a diverse pool of scientists earning a Ph.D., who have the skills to successfully transition into careers in the biomedical research workforce. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) provides support to eligible, domestic institutions to develop and implement effective, evidence-based approaches to biomedical training and mentoring that will keep pace with the rapid evolution of the research enterprise. NIGMS expects that the proposed research training programs will incorporate didactic, research, mentoring, and career development elements to prepare trainees for careers that will have a significant impact on the health-related research needs of the Nation.

Funding Agency: DOD
Title: DOD Chronic Pain Management Research Program, Translational Research Award
Pre-Application Deadline: 8/7/2020
Application Deadline: 11/6/2020

The intent of the FY20 CPMRP TRA is to support translational research that will accelerate the movement of evidence-based ideas in chronic pain management research into clinical applications, such as healthcare products, technologies, clinical practice guidelines, and/or models of care. TRA applications should explain how the proposed work will inform the development, refinement, and/or revision of existing standards of care, recommendations, or guidelines for managing chronic pain. Studies evaluating opioid-based therapeutic interventions are not allowed.

Funding Agency: NIH
Title: NIA MSTEM: Advancing Diversity in Aging Research through Undergraduate Education (R25)
Application Deadline: 9/7/2020

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The over-arching goal of this NIA R25 program is to support educational activities that enhance the diversity of the biomedical, behavioral and clinical research workforce in aging. To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on Research Experiences and Curriculum or Methods Development.

Image Science, Engineering, & Technology

Funding Agency: W.M. Keck Foundation
Title: Keck Foundation Research Program
Internal Limited Submission Deadline: 6/30/2020
Application Deadline: 11/1/2020

Supporting pioneering discoveries in science, engineering and medical research has been our mandate from the beginning. By funding the high-risk/high-impact work of leading researchers, we are laying the groundwork for new paradigms, technologies and discoveries that will save lives, provide innovative solutions, and add to our understanding of the world. Senior, Mid and Early Career investigators are encouraged to apply.
Limited Submission Applications are submitted through this Sharepoint site.

Funding Agency: Lyda Hill Philanthropies
Title: Lone Star Prize
Internal Limited Submission Deadline: 7/1/2020
Application Deadline: 7/22/2020

The Lone Star Prize will award $10M to an innovative solution focused on one or more of their key solution categories – Health, Environment and Workforce – that address barriers to build healthier, stronger communities throughout Texas. 

Limited Submission Applications are submitted through this Sharepoint site.

Funding Agency: NSF
Title: Archaeology and Archaeometry
Application Deadlines:

  • Senior Archaeology: 7/1/2020
  • Archaeometry: 12/1/2020
  • Senior Archaeology: 12/21/2020

The goal of the Archaeology Program is to fund research which furthers anthropologically relevant archaeological knowledge. In accordance with the National Science Foundation's mission such research has the potential to provide fundamental scientific insight. While within the broad range of "archaeology" the focus is on projects judged to be significant from an anthropological perspective, the Program sets no priorities based on time period, geographic region or specific research topic.

Funding Agency: NSF
Title: Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems (DISES)         
Application Deadline: 11/16/2020

The DISES Program supports research projects that advance basic scientific understanding of integrated socio-environmental systems and the complex interactions (dynamics, processes, and feedbacks) within and among the environmental (biological, physical and chemical) and human ("socio") (economic, social, political, or behavioral) components of such a system. The program seeks proposals that emphasize the truly integrated nature of a socio-environmental system versus two discrete systems (a natural one and a human one) that are coupled. DISES projects must explore a connected and integrated socio-environmental system that includes explicit analysis of the processes and dynamics between the environmental and human components of the system.

Funding Agency: NASA
Title: ROSES 2020: SAGE III/ISS Science Team
Application Deadline: 11/6/2020

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on 19 February 2017. The SAGE III instrument's primary objective is to monitor the vertical distribution of aerosols, ozone, and other trace gases in the Earth's stratosphere and troposphere to enhance our understanding of ozone recovery and climate change processes in the stratosphere and upper troposphere.

Funding Agency: NASA
Title: ROSES 2020: Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program
LOI Deadline: 8/4/2020
Application Deadline: 9/11/2020

The primary goal of the Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program (CSESP) is to develop and implement capabilities to augment and enhance NASA scientific data and capacity through voluntary observations, interpretations, or other direct participation by members of the general public to advance understanding of the Earth as a system. The program complements NASA's capability of observing Earth globally from space, air, land, and water by engaging the public in NASA's strategic goals in Earth Science (see https://science.nasa.gov/about-us/science-strategy).  The program aims to advance the use of citizen science in scientific research about Earth by directly supporting citizen science activities, as well as by deploying technology to further citizen science research.

Funding Agency: DARPA
Title: Defense Sciences Office Office-Wide Broad Agency Announcement
Application Deadline: 6/11/2021

The mission of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is to identify and create the next generation of scientific discovery by pursuing high-risk, high-payoff research initiatives across a broad spectrum of science and engineering disciplines and transforming these initiatives into disruptive technologies for U.S. national security. In support of this mission, the DSO Office-wide BAA invites proposers to submit innovative basic or applied research concepts or studies and analysis proposals that address one or more of the following technical thrust areas: (1) Frontiers in Math, Computation and Design, (2) Limits of Sensing and Sensors, (3) Complex Social Systems, and (4) Anticipating Surprise. Each of these thrust areas is described below and includes a list of example research topics that highlight several (but not all) potential areas of interest. Proposals must investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances. DSO is explicitly not interested in approaches or technologies that primarily result in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

Funding Agency: DOD
Title: Defense Manufacturing Communities Support Program
Application Deadline: 7/12/2020

The Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program, authorized under Section 846 of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, is designed to undertake long-term investments in critical skills, facilities, research and development, and small business support in order to strengthen the national security innovation and manufacturing base in designated Defense Manufacturing Communities. The program also seeks to ensure complementarity of those communities so designated with existing defense manufacturing institutes. DoD Manufacturing Institutes are manufacturing ecosystems established since 2014, with common manufacturing and design challenges revolving around specific technologies. So far, the DoD has established eight (8) Manufacturing Institutes.

Social Science, Arts and Humanities

Funding Agency: Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Title: Alternative Methods For Calculating Fair Market Rents (FMRs) in Rental Markets with Rapidly Rising Rents
Application Deadline: 8/4/2020

HUD is soliciting proposals for research that will accomplish the following:

1. Define "rental markets with rapidly rising rents"

2. Identify alternative calculations to generate FMRs that more closely track market conditions in rapidly rising rental markets than current methods. This may include, but is not limited to, alternative sources of gross rent data and/or alternative calculation methodologies using existing data.

Funding Agency: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Title: Call for Proposals to Community-Based Archives
Application Deadline: 7/1/2020

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation invites community-based archives in the United States and its territories to submit applications for its 2020 Call for Proposals to Community-Based Archives.  These grants will provide support to archives in one or more of the following areas of need:

  • Operational costs, including staff, space, and utilities.
  • Collections care, including the acquisition of new materials, physical and digital storage fees, and access and preservation efforts.
  • Programming activities, including events, exhibitions, and publications.

Funding Agency:  Department of Justice
Title: Expected Practices Video Project
Application Deadline: 8/4/2020

This program will develop, enhance, and expand on training resources for federal, state, local, and tribal correctional agencies. Since the safety of inmates, staff, the public, and the orderly operation of correctional agencies is critical for successful outcomes, the need for training that reinforces professionalism and excellence in some of the primary correctional duties exists. While many of the video topics will be relevant in several corrections settings (e.g. community corrections, jails, and prisons), these videos will primarily be portrayed in the institutional environment.

Education

Funding Agency: Department of Education
Title: Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE): Coordinating Center for Transition Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities into Higher Education (TPSID-CC)
Application Deadline: 7/10/2020

The purpose of the TPSID program is to support a national coordinating center charged with conducting and disseminating research on strategies to promote positive academic, social, employment, and independent living outcomes for students with intellectual disabilities. 

For more information about available grants, visit our Pivot system or Grants.gov.

Lindsay Lewis | University of Houston Division of Research
lrlewis@uh.edu | uh.edu/research | 713-743-0951

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