Project Grant R16GM165524

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, awarded The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York $191,000 on August 10, 2026, under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859) to quantify RNA base-stacking energetics and their functional consequences under physiologically relevant conditions.

The recipient will conduct systematic measurements of stacking energies across all 16 RNA base-stack combinations using a high-throughput single-molecule force-clamp assay. Work encompasses three primary aims: quantifying stacking energies for each base-stack pair, determining how stacking is modulated by temperature, ionic composition, and molecular crowding, and evaluating the functional consequences of stacking in RNA ligation and strand displacement reactions. The research addresses a gap in mechanistic understanding of RNA structure, stability, and function by providing experimentally validated parameters for force-field refinement, enhancing predictive modeling of RNA folding, and linking stacking energetics to RNA-mediated processes including strand exchange, frameshifting, RNA condensation, and riboswitch function.

Performance occurs in New Paltz, New York. The period of performance runs from August 10, 2026, through March 31, 2030. This is a Project Grant, a category of assistance under NIGMS's basic research portfolio supporting fundamental discoveries that advance understanding of human health and disease.