Project Grant R35GM155196
- This $157,688 National Science Foundation Integrative Activities award will support the development of bioactive surfaces through non-covalent protein-polymer conjugation strategies at the University of Southern Mississippi from June 2023 through May 2025. The goal of the project is to create regenerative protein-decorated surfaces with ease of removal and reapplication of active recombinant proteins for applications such as self-cleaning, antibacterial, and therapeutic surfaces. The Principal...
- This National Science Foundation Project Grant of $100,000 supports research into polyelectrolyte multilayered surfaces for use in human mesenchymal stem/stromal cell manufacturing. The goal is to develop a scalable and controllable polymeric coating composed of natural polymers to improve the cell expansion process used in producing therapeutic human mesenchymal stromal cells. The coating is constructed via layer-by-layer assembly of collagen and heparin and has been shown to increase cell...
- The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) has awarded a $389,653 Project Grant under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859) to The Research Foundation for the State University of New York (RF-SUNY), doing business as Rf-SUNY At The University At Albany. This 5-year project, starting on January 1, 2025, aims to develop a transdisciplinary research program centered around AI-supported biosensing and precision therapeutics using DNA nanotechnology and...
- The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) awarded a $222,708 Project Grant to The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York under the Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health program (CFDA 93.286). The grant, which runs from May 1, 2025 to December 31, 2028, will support research to develop self-assembling modular hydrogels that can programmably display glycan ligands to direct immune cell phenotypes. This...
- This Project Grant award, provided by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859), supports research to investigate the structures and hydration of biopolymers (proteins, DNA, and RNA) at aqueous interfaces. The $401,571 award to Yale University aims to address fundamental questions about how the asymmetric chemical environments of interfaces impact the stability and conformational changes of biopolymers....
- This $235,977 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083) will support a collaboration between the University of Maine (UMaine) and the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to develop a new class of biomimetic hydrogel materials for tissue engineering and stem cell therapy applications. The key objectives are to: 1) synthesize a library of functionalized peptoid conjugates capable of forming...
- Under this $200,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Chemistry's Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049), the New Jersey Institute of Technology will collaborate with the University of Rochester and University of Virginia to investigate the supramolecular assembly of beta-sheet nanofibrils composed of mirror-image peptides. The collaborative team will determine the structure of these systems with near-atomic precision using cryo-electron...
- The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) awarded a $1,431,000 Project Grant to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop self-assembling nanomaterials that can protect microbes from processing, transportation, and storage stresses. The goal is to enable the production of important but challenging microbial therapeutics that are difficult to manufacture. The 3-year project, with an award date of September 18, 2023, aims to elucidate the mechanism by which...
- The National Science Foundation (NSF), through its Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET), awarded a $451,093 Project Grant to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) to investigate the interactions between flexible nanofilaments and biological cell membranes. The research aims to understand the mechanisms by which these nanofilaments adhere to and induce deformation in human and animal cells, leading to the organization and self-assembly of the...
- This Project Grant award of $384,896.00 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859), aims to develop novel peptide-based biomaterials that can directly modulate cell and tissue responses. The goal is to create advanced biomodulatory materials, such as self-adjuvanting vaccines, anti-inflammatory therapeutics, cell-targeted cancer therapies, and bone regenerative products, to address challenges in...
SELF-ASSEMBLED MULTIFUNCTIONAL BIOINTERFACES - RESEARCH IN THE ZHA LAB AT RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE FOCUSES ON CREATING BIOMIMETIC MATERIALS AND PROCESSES THAT AID IN STUDYING, DIAGNOSING, PREVENTING, AND TREATING DISEASE. BY LEVERAGING THE SELF-ASSEMBLY CAPABILITIES OF RATIONALLY DESIGNED BIOMACROMOLECULES, THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO CREATE HIERARCHICALLY STRUCTURED SYSTEMS THAT ARE MULTIFUNCTIONAL. THIS MIRA R35 FOR EARLY STAGE INVESTIGATORS PROJECT WILL SUPPORT THE EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW APPROACHES FOR ENHANCING THE FUNCTION OF BIOMEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL INTERFACES. THE APPROACHES ARE BASED ON AN INTERFACIAL PHENOMENON RECENTLY REPORTED BY THE PI, WHEREBY ROBUST NANOTHIN COATINGS ARE GENERATED NON- COVALENTLY ON SURFACES BY CONTROLLING THE SELF-ASSEMBLY OF STRUCTURAL PROTEINS SUCH AS SILK FIBROIN. THESE COATINGS CAN TRANSFORM THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF A WIDE RANGE OF SUBSTRATES UNDER BIOCOMPATIBLE CONDITIONS, REGARDLESS OF SURFACE CHEMISTRY OR TOPOGRAPHY AND WITHOUT SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT. THE RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL EXPLORE COATINGS THAT: I) EXHIBIT DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR MIMICKING THE TEMPORAL COMPLEXITY OF CELL SIGNALING IN BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, II) SHIELD SURFACES AGAINST UNWANTED MACROMOLECULAR AND CELLULAR INTERACTIONS, III) IMPROVE BIOCOMPATIBILITY AND BIOACTIVITY OF CELL-MATERIAL INTERFACES, AND IV) PRESENT OR RELEASE BIOACTIVE PAYLOADS IN A SUSTAINED, CONTROLLED MANNER. WHILE THE INNOVATIONS DEVELOPED BY THE RESEARCH PROGRAM ARE DISEASE-AGNOSTIC AND WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO ADDRESS A WIDE RANGE OF BIOMEDICAL CHALLENGES, THREE PROOF-OF-CONCEPT TOPICS USING MODEL SYSTEMS WILL BE EXAMINED IN THIS PROJECT. 1) COATINGS WITH TEMPORALLY ORCHESTRATED RELEASE OF MULTIPLE NEUROTROPHIC FACTORS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO CONTROL SCHWANN CELL PHENOTYPE FOR NERVE TISSUE REGENERATION. 2) ANTIFOULING PEPTIDE MOTIFS WILL BE DISCOVERED BY COMBINATORIAL SYNTHESIS AND MACHINE LEARNING TO GENERATE COATINGS THAT IMPROVE THE LONG-TERM PERFORMANCE OF IMPLANTED BIOSENSORS. 3) SURFACES OF LIVING CELLS WILL BE ENGINEERED BY INTERFACIAL PROTEIN SELF- ASSEMBLY TO ENHANCE THEIR VIABILITY AND BIOACTIVITY IN THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS. THE OUTCOMES OF THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM ARE EXPECTED TO BROADLY YIELD VERSATILE, MODULAR TOOLS FOR BIOMATERIALS DEVELOPMENT.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $386.2k | 6/11/25 | ||
| Not listed | $386.2k | 7/25/24 | ||
| Not listed | $386.2k | 7/25/24 |