SPARK funding awards spotlight large-scale interdisciplinary research excellence

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Office of Research has announced spring 2024 SPARK Program awards and NIH incentive funding, which honor faculty making significant global research impact.

SPARK, Supporting Partnering for Advanced Research teamworK, is extending grants to four large, interdisciplinary research projects to support resources such as project strategy, teaming and proposal development.

Projects receiving SPARK Program grants are:

• “The Role of Environmental Contaminant Exposure on Neurological Health in Rural America.” Participating faculty are Jennifer Freeman, professor and associate head of health sciences; Aaron Bowman, professor and interim dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences; Jason Cannon, professor and acting head of health sciences; Linda Lee, Distinguished Professor of Agronomy and professor of environmental and ecological engineering, and assistant dean of agricultural research and graduate education; Jonathan Shannahan, associate professor of health sciences; Ellen Wells, associate professor of health sciences; and Chongli Yuan, the Charles Davidson Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering.
• “Synaptic Ultra-Structure and Experience.” Faculty are Fang Huang, the Reilly Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Alexander Chubykin, associate professor of biological sciences; Jean-Christophe Rochet, professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology; and Stephanie Gardner, associate professor of biological sciences and associate head of curriculum, teaching and learning.
• “Research Center on Social Determinants of Health Informatics and Analytics.” Participating faculty are Nan Kong, professor of biomedical engineering; Nicole Adams, clinical associate professor of nursing; Baijian Yang, professor of computer technology and associate dean for research for Purdue Polytechnic; and Qiang Liu, associate professor of management.
• “Purdue Sustainable Aviation Center.” Li Qiao, professor of aeronautics and astronautics and associate head for engagement and recognition; Guillermo Paniagua-Perez, professor of mechanical engineering; Hua Cai, associate professor of industrial and environmental and ecological engineering; and Leifur Leifsson, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics.

NIH Incentive funding

Two research projects have been selected to receive Purdue funding for the NIH New R01/U01 program, which provides pilot funding to validate specific project goals and acquire strong preliminary data that will increase the probability of funding success.

The Office of Research is pleased to award these principal investigators with $50,000 in NIH-targeted funding from the NIH New R01/U01:

• Emily Dykhuizen, associate professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology, for “Development of Inhibitors to Selectively Target the CBX8 Chromatin Reader Domain.”
• Julie Liu, associate professor of chemical engineering, for “Assessment of the Hemostatic Ability of Bio-Based Tissue Sealants.”

Two research projects have been selected to receive Purdue funding for the NIH Competing Renewal R01 program, which helps NIH investigators optimize the probability of receiving renewal funding:

• W. Andy Tao, professor of biochemistry, for “Dissecting Signaling Pathways and Seeking EV Phosphoproteins as Novel Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease.”
• Qi Zhou, associate professor of industrial and molecular pharmaceutics, for “Advancing Innovative Therapies Against Pandrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Superbugs.”

Applications for the 2024-25 academic year cycle of SPARK and NIH-targeted initiative funding will be posted soon. Find details at the SPARK, NIH New R01/U01 program and NIH Competing Renewal program webpages. Writer: Amy Raley, araley@purdue.edu