Awards by Sponsor:
July 1, 2015, through July 31, 2015

SPONSOR	NO. OF AWARDS	AWARDS AMOUNT
National Institutes of Health	50	$9,101,731
National Science Foundation	35	$5,855,805
Department of Education	9	$2,453,998
Department of Defense	12	$1,854,658
Department of Energy	10	$1,738,176
Department of Agriculture	9	$280,328
National Aeronautics  and Space Administration	4	$75,853
Other Federal	15	$1,514,380
Total Federal	144	$22,874,929
Industry	162	$2,015,863
State of Ohio	9	$327,613
Private Agencies	40	$2,918,032
Colleges and Universities	3	$79,002
Other Non-Federal	4	$119,708
Total Non-Federal	218	$5,460,217
TOTAL	362	$28,335,147

Gebreyes receives top APLU international award

Wondwossen Gebreyes, professor of veterinary preventive medicine and director of global health programs in the College of Veterinary Medicine, has received the 2015 Michael P. Malone International Leadership Award from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to international education at public land-grant institutions. Gebreyes serves as the faculty lead on the One Health Ethiopia initiative, which connects Ohio State with Addis Ababa University, the University of Gondar and 19 Ethiopian and U.S. institutes to improve health, build capacity and provide learning opportunities for students.

Co receives NSF Faculty Early CAREER Award

Anne Co, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, received a five-year, $651,729 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award for her research on advanced electrocatalytic materials for chemical conversion and energy storage. Co investigates novel nanoporous electrode materials and single atomic layer model systems for the catalysis of oxygen to water, alcohols to carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide to hydrocarbons. Her research could facilitate the design of new materials to improve efficiency of electrical conversion and storage devices such as fuel cells and batteries. The CAREER Award is NSF’s most prestigious award in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research.

Buckeye Current has a strong showing at Pikes Peak competition

Buckeye Current, Ohio State’s student electric motorcycle team, brought home a second place finish in the all-electric class at the 2015 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb competition with a time of 11:12.752. The team finished 16th overall out of 52 electric and gasoline-powered motorcycles. Despite tremendous setbacks—an accident on a practice run resulted in major damage to the bike and the need for a new rider—the  team persevered to ensure that its bike made it to the summit of Pikes Peak. Buckeye Current was the only student-built motorcycle to race this year.

Studying wound care treatment and recurrence

A team of Ohio State researchers led by Chandan Sen, professor and vice chair for research, Department of Surgery, has received $2.7 million from the National Institute of Nursing Research to study chronic wound healing and recurrence. Under current care standards, physicians rely on visual assessment to determine if a wound has healed. Sen and his research team contend that, although wounds infected by bacteria in biofilm configuration may appear to close, they functionally remain open because the repaired skin covering the wound might not be functioning, resulting in deficits in barrier function. This defective repair of wounds lends itself to a higher rate of recurrence or post-closure complication in patients. The researchers hope to change the treatment paradigm that relies on visual appreciation of wound closure. They are also working to develop a topical gel to restore defectively repaired skin in patients to fully functional closure.

Manufacturing on-demand biopharmaceuticals

David Wood, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has received a $500,000 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) renewal grant to adapt his intein-based protein purification system into a portable device that could produce protein-based biopharmaceuticals on demand. The funding is part of a larger $8 million DARPA grant to a team led by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, as part of the agency’s Biologically-derived Medicines on Demand (Bio-MOD) project. Protein-based drugs, used to treat diseases such as diabetes, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, currently take weeks to manufacture and ship. By producing therapeutic proteins more quickly and efficiently via a cell-free system, critically needed medicines could be provided on the battlefield or following natural disasters. The researchers hope to demonstrate that the device is able to produce molecules of the necessary purity to safely administer to humans.

Hebert receives $1.9 M grant for antibiotic research

A research team led by Courtney Hebert, assistant professor of biomedical informatics, has received a $1.9 million award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop a method to help physicians select antibiotics that have the best chance of working for individual patients. The multidisciplinary team of researchers from infectious diseases, pharmacy, microbiology and biomedical informatics, will develop a tool to help assign antibiotics early in the course of a patient’s illness, before culture results are available. The tool uses microbiology data from the hospital and clinical information from the patient to predict the best antibiotic regimen for the patient's infection. The methodology is being developed at NorthShore University Health Systems in Chicago to show that the tool can be easily generalized to other sites. An automated algorithm for formatting the data will then be created.

Pharmacy professor wins Bayer Early Career Award

Yizhou Dong, assistant professor of pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry, was one of 17 recipients from nine countries to receive the Early Career Investigator Award from the Bayer Hemophilia Program. The award supports research and education in hemophilia and provides junior faculty with salary support and funding to undertake mentored and/or basic research projects. Dong will investigate the potential of mRNA nanomedicines, a novel platform for the production of factor VIII, to replace the missing factor VIII in hemophilia A patients.

Ohio State plays key role in I-Corps@Ohio launch

Two Ohio State teams were among eight chosen from across the state to participate in I-Corps@Ohio (short for Innovation Corps), a new program designed to turn university research into commercial products. Ohio is the first state to have such a program, modeled after the National Science Foundation’s successful program. Glenn Daehn, professor of materials science and engineering, and Anupam Vivek, senior research associate, have developed an impact spot welding technology for lightweight metals. Renukaradhya Gourapura, associate professor of veterinary preventive medicine, has developed a nanoparticle-based swine influenza vaccine for pigs. During the program, each team will perform a rigorous analysis of their technology and assess the market potential to determine if their technology could be the basis of a startup company. Michael Camp, executive director of the Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization (TEC) Institute at Ohio State, is the program director for the I-Corps@Ohio program. I-Corps@Ohio is supported by the Ohio Department of Higher Education (formerly the Ohio Board of Regents).

$10 M gift to enhance aviation education and research facilities

The Austin E. Knowlton Foundation has donated $10 million to upgrade aviation education and research facilities and the terminal at The Ohio State University Airport. The new facilities will be equipped with state-of-the-art flight simulators, research labs and classrooms. Combined with a modern flight terminal, the facilities will integrate education with airport operations, benefiting Ohio students as well as Columbus-area residents and visitors.

Nine Materials Research Seed Grants awarded

Nine innovative research projects have been selected to receive 2015 OSU Materials Research Seed Grants. Awards totaling $420,000 were given to 15 researchers from five departments. Jointly funded by the Center for Emergent Materials, the Center for Exploration of Novel Complex Materials and the Institute for Materials Research, the grant program provides two research opportunities. Multidisciplinary Team Building Grants bring together multidisciplinary materials research teams to compete for federal block-funding grants. Exploratory Materials Research Grants enable nascent materials research to emerge to the point of being competitive for external funding.

Seven teams receive Pelotonia Idea Grants

Seven cancer research teams have received funding through Pelotonia, a grassroots cycling movement established in 2009 to raise money for cancer research at Ohio State. The funded 2015 Pelotonia Idea Grants projects range from first-in-human testing of a cancer-fighting herpes virus to laboratory studies aimed at improving fundamental understanding of stem cells in brain tumors and adult leukemia. Awards for this round of funding totaled $760,000. 

NEH Summer Institute 2016 coming to Ohio State 

Scott Levi, associate professor of history, has received a $186,630 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant to provide middle and high school teachers with a unique opportunity to study Central Asian history with some of the best scholars in the field. The NEH Summer Institute 2016, “Central Asia in World History,” will bring 25 teachers from across the country to the Ohio State campus for an intensive three-week program to develop a deeper understanding of the ways that Central Asian peoples have influenced world history. Levi will serve as the institute’s director. Eileen Kunkler, assistant director of the Ohio State Center for Slavic and East European Studies, will serve as associate director.

State-of-the-art greenhouse boosts research at OARDC

The new state-of-the art greenhouse complex on the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) Wooster campus is helping Ohio State scientists advance plant research and strengthen Ohio agriculture. The complex, which replaces the greenhouse that was destroyed by a tornado in 2010, includes 14,400 square feet of space for conducting greenhouse research and growing plants for laboratory-based research projects. Enhancements over the previous building include an environmental control system which allows independent control of the environmental parameters for experiments and plants, soil moisture probes that precisely control the amount and frequency of irrigation based on the water needs of the plants and individual fertilizer injections that provide optimized fertilizer options for crops and experiments.
 

Group tackles disease in Cameroon

Ohio State researchers from veterinary medicine, geography, anthropology, environmental sciences and public health are using statistics and computer simulations, along with field research, to understand the factors that drive the transmission and persistence of disease among humans and animals in Cameroon in Central Africa. The group, called the Disease Ecology and Computer Modeling Laboratory (DECML), is led by Rebecca Garabed, associate professor of veterinary preventive medicine. DECML, in collaboration with the National Veterinary Laboratory in Cameroon and Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York, is looking at how movement factors into maintaining the endemic foot-and-mouth disease. The research will help the Cameroon government determine how best to distribute vaccines.

New FY 2016 animal care per diem rates effective September 1

Animal care per diem rates increased on September 1, 2015. University Laboratory Animal Resources (ULAR) has worked very hard to keep per diem increases to a minimum. The new FY 2016 per diem rates represent the increased costs associated with personnel and benefits, and reflect a 3% increase over FY 2015 rates. Valerie Bergdall, director of ULAR, and her staff will continue to find innovative ways to control costs and keep per diem rates as low as possible in the future. If you have questions, please contact Dr. Bergdall.

Innovator of the Year call for nominations

To support and stimulate entrepreneurial activity among researchers, three university-wide awards will be presented this year to Ohio State's most successful entrepreneurs. Nominations are sought in the following categories: Innovator of the Year, Early Career Innovator of the Year and Student Innovator of the Year. One award will be given in each category. The deans from each college may submit a maximum of TWO nominations for each category (a total of six nominations per college). Nominations must be received by September 15, 2015.

BETHA grant competition call for proposals

All full-time Ohio State faculty from any college or discipline are invited to submit proposals for the 2016 Battelle Engineering, Technology and Human Affairs (BETHA) Endowment grant competition. The Battelle Memorial Institute-Ohio State partnership fosters programs that examine the relationship between science and technology and its impact on broader social and cultural issues. Emphasis is placed on educational and public service projects rather than pure research. Interdisciplinary collaborations within the university and collaborations with other institutions are especially encouraged. Projects that address engineering-related topics or feature collaborations between engineering and the social sciences or arts and humanities are particularly welcomed. Typically three to six annual awards are made, ranging from $10,000 to $60,000. The deadline for receipt of proposals is Tuesday, November 24, 2015, at 5 p.m.

Distinguished Scholar Award call for nominations

The Distinguished Scholar Award program annually recognizes six faculty members who demonstrate scholarly activity, research or creative works which represent exceptional achievements in their fields and who have brought distinction to themselves and to Ohio State. Award recipients receive a $20,000 research grant and a $3,000 honorarium to pursue their scholarly activity. Nominations are made by departmental committees. Individuals wishing to nominate a candidate should contact their department chair. The deadline for receipt of nominations is Thursday, October 15, 2015, at 5 p.m.