New Initiative Grants
2023
Cullen Blake, Ph.D. (PI)
Eric Ford, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Next-generation techniques for analyzing precise radial velocity dataMegan Matthews, Ph.D. (PI)
Dr. Donald O’Rourke (Co-PI)
Dr. Zev Binder, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Robert Bowman, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Identification of cofactor-dependent enzymes driving cell growth and differentiation2022
Andrea Berman, Ph.D. (PI)
Judith Yanowitz, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Translation regulation of TMG-capped mRNAs – an evolutionary remnant of trans-splicing?Alex Jones, Ph.D. (PI)
Michael Hatridge, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Quantum qubit and architecture co-design for high-fidelity quantum computingBenjamin Lear, Ph.D. (PI)
Raymond Schaak, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Nanoscale optical heating for the generation of high entropy nanomaterials2021
Eva-Maria Collins, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor, Biology Department, Swarthmore College
Ameet Soni, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Associate Professor, Computer Science, Swarthmore College
Inferring Brain Function via Quantitative Behavioral Phenotyping in Free-Moving PlanariansNathan Lord, Ph.D. (PI)
Assistant Professor, Department of Computational and Systems Biology
Mo Ebrahimkhani, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and member of the Pittsburgh Liver Research Center at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Spatially guided morphogenesis in human liver organoidsYongxin Zhao, Ph.D. (PI)
Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
Alison Barth, Ph.D. (Co-Investigator)
Maxwell H. and Gloria C. Connan Professor of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
Molecular synaptic profiling of learning-dependent changes in cortical inhabitation2020
Aditya Khair, Ph.D. (PI)
Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Lauren Zarzar, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Penn State University
Physicochemical communication between active dropletsMikael Rechtsman, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor, Department of Physics. Pennsylvania State University
Randall McEntaffer, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Professor, Department of Physics and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University
Magnetizing light: from X-ray astronomy to silicon photonicsAurelia Honerkamp-Smith, Ph.D. (PI)
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Lehigh University
Damien Thevenin, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University
Full sail ahead: How do cells sense and decode flow?Maria Geffen, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
Jay Gottfried, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Arthur H. Rubenstein University Professor, Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, Department of Neurology and Department of Psychology, Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania.
Neuronal circuits for auditory-olfactory integration2019
Andrew J. Gellman, Ph.D. (PI)
Lord Professor of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Materials Science
David Waldeck, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Professor of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh
Spin chemistry as the basis for enantioselective surface chemistrySarah Shandera, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor of Physics, Pennsylvania State University
Donghui Jeong, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Assistant Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University
Chad Hanna, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Associate Professor of Physics, Pennsylvania State University
Sub-solar mass black holes as a gravitational wave probe of the hidden universeMichael Platt, Ph.D. (PI)
Neuroscience, Professor of Psychology, and Professor of Marketing, University of Pennsylvania
Maria Geffen, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Associate Professor of Otorhinolaryngology, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Associate Professor of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania
Brian Litt, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Professor of Neurology, Professor of Neurosurgery, and Professor of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania
Optimizing optogenetics in the primate brainNoel Giebink, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
Kenneth Knappenberger, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Professor, Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University
Polariton Chemistry2018
Seema Lakdawala, Ph.D. (PI)
Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh
Nara Lee, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh
Exploring and Exploiting Influenza Viral Genomic ArchitectureJianhua Xing, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh
Yang Liu, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Associate Professor of Medicine and Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh
Characterization of Dynamic Nanoscale Chromatin Reorganization During Induced Cell ReprogrammingJun Zhu, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University
Chaoxing Liu, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University
Direct Evidence for Non-Abelian Anyons in an Interferometer2017
Tia-Lynn Ashman, Ph.D. (PI)
Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
James Pipas, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Molecular Biology Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
Pollen as the next viral frontier: Unrecognized threat to food security and native biodiversityJames Marden, Ph.D. (PI)
Professor, Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University
Scott Medina, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
Defining the Glycan-Specificity and Mechanisms of Action for Antitumor LectinMichael Hatridge, Ph.D. (PI)
Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Pittsburgh
Roger Mong, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Pittsburgh
Protecting quantum wires for quantum computingEkaterina Grishchuk, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania
Ben E. Black, Ph.D. (co-investigator)
Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania
Reconstitution and Dissection of Chromosome Segregation2016
Roberto Bonasio, Ph.D. (PI)
Assistant Professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania
Arjun Raj, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania
Single-cell dissection of social behavior in ant brainsPaul Babitzke, Ph.D. (PI)
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University
Sarah M. Assmann, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Professor, Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University
Philip C. Bevilacqua, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Professor, Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University
Discovery and Characterization of Novel RNA Switch Chemistry and Biology via RNA Structure-seqBrian D’Urso, Ph.D. (PI)
Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
Gurudev Dutt, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
Trapped Diamond Nanocrystals for Precision Gravitational Measurements and Tests of Quantum GravityElias Aizenman, Ph.D. (PI)
Professor, Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh
Michael Palladino, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Professor, Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh
Genetic Programming of a Neuroprotective Pathway in Fly Models of Neurodegeneration2015
Brooke M. McCartney, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
Jonathan Minden (Co-PI)
Professor of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
N. Luisa Hiller (Co-PI)
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
‘Mind-altering bugs’: Dissecting the gut-microbiome-brain connection using a multidisciplinary approach in Drosophila melanogasterAndrea J. Liu, Ph.D. (PI)
Hepburn Professor of Physics, University of Pennsylvania
Benjamin L. Prosser (co-PI)
Assistant Professor of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania
Dennis E. Discher (co-PI)
Robert D. Bent Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
Mechanical signaling in early hearts: Theory & ExperimentJustin Khoury, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor, Physics, Associate Chair for Undergraduate Affairs, University of Pennsylvania
Tom Lubensky (co-PI)
Christopher H. Brown Distinguished Professor of Physics, University of Pennsylvania
New Approach to Dark Matter2014
Alison Sweeney, Ph.D. (PI)
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
Randall Kamien, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
Living Photonic Devices: Self-assembly from Proteins as Patchy ColloidsAyusman Sen, Ph.D. (PI)
Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry, Penn State University
Anna C. Balazs, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh
Autonomous Interacting Microrobotic SystemsAlexander Deiters, Ph.D. (PI)
Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh
Michael Tsang, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Associate Professor, Department of Development Biology, University of Pittsburgh
Expanding the Genetic Code of ZebrafishAlison L. Barth, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
Marcel Bruchez, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences and Chemistry, Associate Director, Molecular Biosensors and Imaging Center, Carnegie Mellon University
Neural circuitry of the mammalian neocortex: which neurons are connected to each other, and how can these patterns of connectivity be altered by experience?2013
Christine D. Keating, Ph.D. (PI)
Professor of Chemistry, Penn State University
Theresa Mayer, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering & Materials Science & Engineering, Penn State University
Probing the Role of Interparticle Forces in the Collective Behavior of Particle AssembliesVeronica Hinman, Ph.D. (PI)
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
Jonathan Minden, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
Bruce Alan Armitage, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Professor, Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University
Danith H. Ly, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University
Developing a Sea Star Model for Regenerative BiologySergey M. Frolov, Ph.D. (PI)
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
W. Vincent Liu, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
Topological Quantum Wire Emulators