Six engineering faculty proposals have been recognized by the Office of the Provost with Discovery Grants, one of Vanderbilt’s primary investments to advance discovery in core disciplines and strengthen the university’s overall scholarly profile.
By supporting new ideas, cutting-edge research and infrastructure development, Discovery Grants are designed to serve as a catalyst to significant external funding.
The engineering proposals are:
- New Approaches to Quantifying Brain Functional Architecture in Normal Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease, Yurui Gao (Biomedical Engineering)
- Establishment of a VINSE Nanoparticle Fabrication and Characterization Facility, Craig Duvall (Biomedical Engineering)
- Automated Analysis of Skin Images, Benoit Dawant (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science)
- HIV Point-of-Care Testing Appropriate for Antenatal Clinics in Nigeria, Rick Haselton (Biomedical Engineering)
- Transient Electronics that Require Constant Heat to Prevent Dissolution, Leon Bellan (Mechanical Engineering)
- Exploring the Effects of GABAergic Signaling on Individual Synapses, Yaqiong Xu (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science)
“Vanderbilt’s mission is to serve humanity and help solve complex problems facing our global society,” said Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente. “We will need new knowledge to address these problems, and our internally funded Discovery Grants support faculty who are on the cusp of major break-throughs.”
The Discovery Grants program has awarded more than $16.5 million to Vanderbilt researchers since its launch in 1998. Previous Discovery Grants include the study of maternal immune activation, the use of direct-current stimulation to manipulate learning and memory, and a study of a psychometric approach to legal decision making.
Discovery Grants are open to VU-employed faculty in all schools and colleges. Proposals for the next cycle of Discovery Grants will be accepted beginning this fall, with the 2019 awards announced next spring.
A full list of 2018 Discovery Grant programs is available here.
Contact: Brenda Ellis, 615 343-6314
Brenda.Ellis@Vanderbilt.edu