TSU Receives Prestigious National Science Foundation Research Infrastructure in Science and Engineering Award.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a Research Infrastructure in Science and Engineering (RISE) award of $991,206 over 3 years to Texas Southern University to support its proposed research on Characterization of Biomolecular Response to Environmental Stress. The multi-disciplinary team, led by Drs. Shishir Shishodia (PI), Jason Rosenzweig (Co-PI), Daniel Vrinceanu (Co-PI), and Hyun-Min Hwang (Co-PI), represents 3 departments from within the College of Science and Technology: Biology, Physics, and Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences.
Through basic science research, the mission of this funded project is to improve our understanding of the general biological principles guiding eukaryotic and prokaryotic cellular responses to environmental stress. More specifically, the investigative team will assess the exposure of the Houston population to platinum group elements discharged in automobile exhaust. Computer models will also be developed to predict the activities and pathways of specific stress-related molecules within exposed cells. The NSF RISE award will strengthen the environmental toxicology PhD program, housed within the Department of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, by providing financial support to minority PhD students. A mentoring initiative for graduate students to support their course preparation, effective teaching and learning, grant writing, and research will be developed. One of the program’s other major objectives is to embrace the K-12 community and undergraduate students through summer internship programs to advance research-based learning experiences and motivate them to pursue advanced degrees in STEM fields.
The National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense." With an annual budget of about $7 billion (FY2014), NSF is the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. NSF’s RISE program was created to make resources available to enhance the research capabilities of minority-serving institutions through the establishment of centers that effectively integrate education and research.