Research Foundation Of The City University Of New York

Research Foundation Of The City University Of New York, doing business as Rfcuny - Lehman College, is a tax-exempt nonprofit entity serving as the legal research and sponsored programs management arm for the City University of New York system, with administrative focus on Lehman College, a Hispanic-Serving Institution based in the Bronx, New York. As a federal grant recipient (86% of recent awards as prime recipient), Rfcuny - Lehman College conducts federally funded research in biomedical sciences, STEM education, workforce development, and public health in partnership with multiple federal agencies; the entity does not hold federal contracts but operates exclusively in the grant space.

Rfcuny - Lehman College's research footprint centers on basic science and translational biomedical research, with recent prime grant work spanning machine learning-enhanced molecular modeling of near-infrared fluorescent materials for surgical bioimaging ($151,168 from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering under CFDA 93.286, project period through July 2030), characterization of E. coli sibling inhibition and antimicrobial compound development ($142,237 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under CFDA 93.855, period through August 2030), and treatment mechanisms for malaria-associated acute kidney injury ($250 thousand from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, period through May 2029). Beyond biomedical research, Rfcuny - Lehman College operates substantial education and workforce programs: the Bronx GEAR UP INSPIRES initiative ($2.3 million from the Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education under CFDA 84.334 for October 2025 through September 2026) delivers academic support and college-readiness services to low-income secondary students; the Growing Cyber Talent in the Bronx program ($300,000 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology under CFDA 11.620, October 2024 through September 2026) provides cybersecurity training and paid internships; and the Bronx Education and Literacy Initiative ($1.246 million from the Department of Education under CFDA 84.116, June 2023 through May 2026) supports postsecondary instruction and student support services. Physics research includes collaborative work on geometry, entanglement, and field theory ($274,000 from the National Science Foundation Division of Physics, award date August 2024, through July 2027) and cosmology and particle physics at the intersection of theory and experiment funded by the NSF Division of Physics (award date September 2024, through August 2027).

Customer concentration is driven by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Education. NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences leads by award count with 27 awards, followed by NSF (18 awards) and the Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education (18 awards). The top five funding sources account for 59% of all awards; NIH/NIGMS and NSF together represent the largest research portfolio, while the Department of Education anchors most student support and workforce development programming. Activity has accelerated year over year — from eight awards in 2022 to 21 in 2024 — with 2025 showing 13 awards and 2026 two awards to date (covering the period through early September). Fourteen awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and represent recompete or renewal opportunity.

Rfcuny - Lehman College operates as a sub-recipient on multiple research projects managed by Columbia University, including work on trust and technology in STEM education (CS3 Engineering Research Center), mental health of adolescent Latino migrants (Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health collaboration), and healing communities systems science intervention. Additional sub-recipient work flows through Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx Einstein Training in Teaching and Research), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Tulane University. The entity's grant portfolio emphasizes basic research, student recruitment and retention in STEM fields, and community health and equity research anchored to the Bronx region, with minimal sub-contract work relative to prime grant leadership.