Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Science Foundation's Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (Engineering program, CFDA 47.041) awarded New Jersey Institute of Technology $529,945 on July 1, 2026, to conduct a three-year research project examining how aging and diabetes-related changes to the extracellular matrix (ECM) influence cancer cell invasion and metastasis in breast cancer. The primary research deliverables include a quantitative, energy-based framework for predicting tumor invasion as a function of ECM physical properties through integrated controlled laboratory experiments, thermodynamic modeling, and computational analysis. Researchers will quantify how key ECM characteristics—including collagen concentration, crosslinking, stiffness, pore size, and structural anisotropy—affect the energetic barriers governing cancer cell invasion, with the goal of identifying conditions under which tumor cells are most likely to spread.

Beyond the core research products, the project includes significant educational and outreach components designed to train students from K-12 through graduate levels in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of engineering and cancer biology. The award period extends through June 30, 2029, and aligns with the Engineering program's emphasis on advancing innovation while fostering workforce development in critical scientific domains. The research findings are expected to generate publications, computational models, and educational resources with broad societal impact for understanding cancer progression mechanisms.