New York University researchers have received more than $45 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), or stimulus package, proposed by the Obama Administration and passed by Congress this spring. Additional grant applications, submitted to federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, are still under consideration with award decisions expected in the coming months.
New York University researchers have received more than $45 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), or stimulus package, proposed by the Obama Administration and passed by Congress this spring. Additional grant applications, submitted to federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, are still under consideration with award decisions expected in the coming months.
Below are some of the NYU research projects conducted with the support of ARRA funding:
- David Holland, director of the Center for Atmosphere Ocean Science at NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, is studying the impact of global warming on the Antarctic Ice Sheet-an undertaking that will provide a method for measuring effects of oceanic and atmospheric warming in other regions.
- Dolores Malaspina, the Steckler Professor of Psychiatry and director of the Institute for Social and Psychiatric Initiatives, Research, Education, and Services at NYU Langone Medical Center, has found that having an older father increases the risk for schizophrenia. She and her colleagues will now compare the symptoms, neurobiology, and genetic profiles of cases with paternal age-related schizophrenia to those with familial schizophrenia. The field has thus far focused on heritable genetic causes of schizophrenia, but this research explores the possibility that there are alternative genetic origins for the disease.
- Lakshminarayanan Subramanian, an assistant professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, is heading a project to develop a new wireless architecture that can provide high bandwidth connectivity to rural regions at extremely low costs. The endeavor, WiFi-based Rural Extensions (WiRE), seeks to connect rural regions around the world, especially in those in developing regions, which do not have good connectivity solutions that are economically viable.
- Max Costa, professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Medicine and professor of pharmacology at NYU Langone Medical Center, is studying carcinogenic metals and their interactions with other toxicants in the environment to determine their subsequent cancer-causing impact. These studies will help clarify what factors influence the release of toxic metals and their uptake by humans and wildlife.
- Nina Bhardwaj, professor of medicine, pathology and dermatology, director of the Tumor Vaccine Program, and co-director of the Medical Scientist Training Program at NYU Langone Medical Center, is exploring the earliest events in HIV infection and will use this information to develop new interventions for preventing and treating HIV infection.
- NYU’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) will develop a materials science research core at Xavier University in Louisiana and an undergraduate materials science educational program that will introduce a materials science track within the chemistry program at the New Orleans institution. The effort is designed to broaden participation of under-represented groups and enhance diversity in materials research and education by encouraging long-term, multi-investigator, collaborative research and education partnerships.
NYU researchers at Washington Square have received awards totaling $14.6 million while those at the NYU Langone Medical Center have received grants equaling $29.3 million. Researchers at Polytechnic Institute of NYU have received approximately $1.4 million in ARRA funding.