Research News

Science Nation episode features USC Hydrogen Researcher
Dr. John Van Zee is currently appearing in a Science Nation “Trailblazer” episode on the City of Columbia’s transformation into a hotbed of hydrogen research--thanks in large part to the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Fuel Cells at the University of South Carolina.

Van Zee, director of the center, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, notes, "What we're focused on specifically in this center is how to make a better fuel cell, how to make the fuel cell less expensive, how to make the fuel cell more reliable.”

$4.9 million grant to address storage of carbon dioxide

A $4.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to the University of South Carolina will determine the feasibility of storing carbon dioxide underground in an effort to curb global climate change.

The funding, which will go to researchers from the university’s Earth Sciences and Resources Institute (ESRI) and department of earth and ocean sciences, is one of only 11 national awards from DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory. The grants are valued at $75.5 million and are aimed at understanding whether CO2 – a greenhouse gas believed to be a culprit in climate change – can be safely stored in geologic formations, including abandoned oil and gas reservoirs, coal beds and underground reservoirs of salt water, also called deep saline aquifers.

Carolina’s three-year grant will focus on the South Georgia Rift (SGR) basin, where deep saline aquifers exist in Colleton, Beaufort and Jasper counties, said Dr. John Shafer, ESRI-SC director and the grant’s principal investigator.

“Carbon dioxide is a major greenhouse gas,” he said. “If we can find a viable way to capture carbon dioxide and store it safely underground for centuries, then we can perhaps reduce the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere”.

Arts and Humanities Grants

The Arts and Humanities Grants program is a new pilot program, sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, to support faculty development through scholarship and creative achievement in the Arts and Humanities. The purpose of this program is to provide funding to assist Arts and Humanities faculty in achieving their scholarship goals, with particular emphasis on those activities that support work needed for tenure, promotion, completion of an ongoing project, and/or in exploring new areas of scholarship or creative work.

New VP for research and graduate education named

Stephen Kresovich, vice provost for life sciences and professor at Cornell University, has been named vice president for research and graduate education at Carolina, effective Oct. 1.

"Rose played a vital role in many research initiatives, and her leadership will continue to be important in the new institute,” said University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides. "Carolina's faculty members have an impressive record of sponsored research, and I believe Stephen Kresovich has the necessary skills to help keep our research enterprise moving aggressively forward.

"We're excited as well about the synergies of combining graduate education with the vice president for research position."

Kresovich said he is looking forward to working across the University to develop more opportunities.

"I am really impressed with the breadth and comprehensive nature of South Carolina's research and graduate programs; there are many pockets of excellence throughout the University," said Kresovich, who has also served as director of Cornell’s Institute for Genomic Diversity and Institute for Biotechnology and Life Science Technologies and was interim vice provost for research in 2007.

As vice provost for life sciences, Kresovich has led strategic planning, fund raising, faculty hiring, new facilities planning, development of shared core research facilities, and support of educational and training activities for Cornell's New Life Sciences Initiative.

He sees his primary role at Carolina as one of advocacy and network building.

"Anything I can do to recruit, retain, or otherwise optimize working conditions for the University’s faculty is the most important thing I can do," he said. "I plan to work nationally and internationally to find new sources of funds that will help us take on initiatives in all disciplines, from the sciences and engineering to humanities and the arts. For a comprehensive institution to be great, balance is important, and that means building pillars in disciplines such as English and history as well as the physical sciences and engineering. 

"It will be imperative for me to know and work closely with key players and key initiatives across the campus and throughout the University system. I like building teams that can bring a vision to reality."

In his own research Kresovich has collaborated with faculty at Clemson University and has met faculty with similar interests at the Medical University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston. He envisions Carolina cultivating more inter-institutional research partnerships and tailoring its graduate programs to the needs of the state.

"I'm really impressed by Carolina’s commitment to serve the state and link its research with economic development -- that message came across from the president and all of the deans and faculty members I met," Kresovich said.

Kresovich received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Washington and Jefferson College, a master's in agronomy at Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. in crop physiology and genetics from The Ohio State University in 1982. Following graduation, he conducted research at Battelle Memorial Institute and Texas A&M University. Prior to joining the Cornell faculty, he was laboratory director at two U.S. National Genetic Resources Program gene banks in New York (1987-93) and in Georgia (1993-98). Kresovich’s internationally recognized research focuses on conservation genetics. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Kresovich is married to Janice Kilburn, a lecturer at Ithaca College who earned a Ph.D. in developmental psychology. They have two sons, Jacob and Alexander, who both are 2008 Cornell graduates.

ROP Awards almost $400K;  Published PI  Acknowledges help

The Office of Research and Graduate Education has awarded $394,729 to fund 31 of the 126 proposals received in response to the 2009 Research Opportunity Program (ROP) solicitation according to Dr. Rosemarie Booze.  She also said a former ROP awardee, Dr. David Barbeau, who subsequently received significant NSF funding as a result, has acknowledged the program in a paper published on his research.

“Dr. Barbeau’s paper in Earth and Planetary Science Letters represents a significant forward step in understanding Antarctic climate controls,” said Booze, “and acknowledges that his research and the $700,000 NSF International Polar Year grant that primarily funded it, were a direct result of the ROP seed grant he received.

“So, we are quite pleased with the faculty response to our 2009 ROP solicitation (a total of $1,752,539 was requested) designed to encourage development of individual research projects we expect will attract funding by external sources and promote scholarly activities, “ she said, adding that ROP funding is allocated in three categories.

Category I funds, considered "seed" monies, are to enhance the competitiveness of a new or renewal proposal for external funding. “Researchers who‘ve received optimistic reviewers’ comments from a federal sponsor get priority for this funding,” said Dr. Amit Almor, Chair of the ROP Review Committee, “and any Junior faculty principal investigators (PIs) involved are mentored in their funding agency and program selection, as well as the preparing and submitting of their extramural grant application,” Almor said. He also said co-PIs “familiar with” the targeted funding source and the external grant proposal process act as the mentors.  

The 2009 Category I funded proposals are:
“Understanding the Mobility of Prevalent Nanomaterials in Bioreactor Landfills”
PI:  Dr. Nicole Berge, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Co-PIs:  Drs. Navid Saleh and Joseph Flora

“Role of Genetic and Dietary Factors in Breast Cancer Risk: Study of a Population in Demographic Transition”
PI: Dr. James Burch, Epidemiology & Biostatistics

“Asian American Youth Language in the South”
PI: Dr. Elaine Chun, English
Co-PI: Dr. Robin Morris

“Child Care Subsidy, Quality of Child Care, and Economic Outcomes of Low-Income Families in South Carolina”
PI: Dr. Yoonsook Ha, Social Work
Co-PI: Dr. Melinda Forthofer

“Creation of a Targeted Mutation in Mice for Transcription Factor Rfx2”
PI: Dr. Stephen Kistler, Chemistry & Biochemistry

“Developmental Neurotoxicity of Prenatal Cocaine”
PI: Dr. Charles Mactutus, Psychology

 “Validation of Forensic Characterization and Chemical Identification of Dyes Extracted from Millimeter-length Fibers”
PI: Dr. Stephen Morgan, Chemistry & Biochemistry

“Glutathione and Thiol Redox Control in the Mitochondrial Intermembrane Space”
PI: Dr. Caryn Outten, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Co-PI: Dr. John Dawson

“A 3-Dimensional Model of Vascularized Bone Development”
PI: Dr. Jay Potts, Cell & Developmental Biology & Anatomy

“Towards the Discovery of Inhibitors of the p53-HIV Tat Complex and the Induction of Apoptosis of Cells Latently Infected by HIV”
PI: Dr. David Reisman, Biological Sciences

“Testing the Reliability of the Silicon Isotope Proxy in Diatoms Using the Cariaco Basin Time Series”
PI: Dr. Howard Scher, Geological Sciences
Co-PI: Dr. Robert Thunell

“Neural Plasticity in Healthy Aging”
PI: Dr. Peter Soros, Communication Sciences & Disorders
Co-PI: Dr. Christopher Rorden

“Algorithm Development to Reconstruct Ancestral Genomes”
PI: Dr. Jijun Tang, Computer Science & Engineering

“Enhancing Data Privacy and Availability in Wireless Sensor Networks”
PI: Dr. Wenyuan Xu, Computer Science & Engineering
Co-PI: Dr. Csilla Farkas

Category 2 funds support the “general development, expansion or enhancement of faculty research and creative activity,” Booze said. “These funds focus on research contributions that increase academic, intellectual and scholarly activity.”

The 2009 Category 2 funded proposals are:
“The Misinformation Effect in Eyewitness Identifications: An Examination of Source, Plausibility, and Warning”
PI: Dr. Jennifer Beaudry, USC Beaufort
Co-PI: Dr. Charles Keith

“Parents' Perception of Promoting Healthful Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors of Children with an Intellectual Disability:  A Qualitative Study”
PI: Dr. Michael Beets, Exercise Science
Co-PI: Dr. Russ Pate

“Characterizing a Novel Antibiotic Compound from a Marine Bacterium Effective Against Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens and Has Low Cytotoxicity to Mammalian Cells”
PI: Dr. Alan Decho, Environmental Health Sciences

“This Far by Faith: Carolina Camp Meetings, An African-American Tradition”
PI: Dr. Minuette Floyd, Art

“Between Business and Bureaucrats: Pingtan Storytelling in Maoist China”
PI: Dr. Qiliang He, USC Upstate

“Schoenberg in Words: Program Notes and Analyses (1904-1951)”
PI: Dr. John Daniel Jenkins, Music

“’Inca’ Citizens: Ethnic Identity and Nation Building in Early Twentieth-Century Bolivia”
PI: Dr. Gabrielle Kuenzli, History

“Mexican Immigrants in South Carolina: Responding to Social, Political and Economic Change”
PI: Dr. Elaine Lacy, USC Aiken
Co-PI: Dr. Myriam Torres

“The Arab Imago:  The Social History of Indigenous Photography”
PI: Dr. Stephen Sheehi, Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

“Snapshot Photography: A Global History”
PI: Dr. Rachel Snow, USC Upstate

“Conjugating Victorians: Meditations on Grammar, Time, and Other Living Forms”
PI: Dr. Rebecca Stern, English

“Child Music-Related Behaviors and Parent Music Activities Questionnaire – Expansion”
PI: Dr. Wendy Valerio, Music

Category 3 funds “support the creative and performing arts, said Booze, “and may include costs associated with creating an exhibit, a performance, or a musical work.”

The 2009 Category 2 funded proposals are:
“Benjamin Wilson, FRS: Painter and Electrical Scientist”
PI: Dr. Andrew Graciano, Art

“Recording of Contemporary American Music for Bassoon”
PI: Dr. Peter Kolkay, Music

“No Wonder People Think Martha Graham is a Snack Cracker: Pairing Eau Claire High School Ninth Grade Students as Proteges with University of South Carolina Dance Students as Mentors”
PI: Dr. Susan Schramm, Instruction & Teacher Education

“Home Movies of Global Capital”
PI: Dr. Simon Tarr, Art

“USC in New York: A Pilot Program in Co-Production and Collective Creation”
PI: Professor Nic Ularu, Theatre & Dance

GRANT program graduates 34

At a standing-room-only Russell House ceremony January 29, USC’s GRANT (Gamecock Research Administrators Networking and Training) program added 34 new names to its graduates roster as Interim Provost Ted Moore and Vice Provost for Health Sciences Russ Pate offered praise and encouragement.

Moore challenged those assembled to join their predecessors in supporting the university’s mission. “We are all about teaching, research and service at USC and you are key contributors to successful outcomes in all three,” he said prior to presenting certificates and providing personal congratulations to each graduate.

Pate congratulated them on demonstrating their commitment “to providing researchers like me with unparalleled administrative support so we can spend more time working in the lab, confident that regulatory details are being handled.”

 “GRANT has now trained more than 145 staff members to improve their understanding of research administration regulations, policies, and procedures,” Research Development Director Wanda Hutto told the new graduates. “Many have opted to springboard from their GRANT certificate to national professional certification and, in the process, made Carolina one of the nation’s Top 10 research universities for Certified Research Administrators (CRAs).

 “In addition to training 145 research administration staff, we’ve had more than 700 faculty members attend GRANT courses for information on NSF, NIH, Grants.gov submission, basic proposal writing, and the university’s own USCERA system,” she  said. “I’m happy to see faculty here today showing support for their research administration staff,” she continued, “and the tremendous amount of time and effort they expend to better support the university’s research efforts. That’s critical to our continued development as a top-tier research university.”

The GRANT program’s nine core courses and two electives cover topics such as proposal development, research budgets, pre and post award administration, research compliance and intellectual property.

More than 30 staff members and program graduates serve as instructors; they represent business and finance, human resources, research development, research compliance, intellectual property, contract and grant accounting and sponsored awards management. 

In addition to course-based certification, GRANT also offers a series of monthly workshops developed specifically for faculty and quarterly research administer network breakfasts for departmental business managers and research directors. To learn more visit http://grant.sc.edu/.

Duke Endowment awards researchers $2.24 million

(Columbia, SC, January 26, 2009)—University of South Carolina researchers have received $2.24 million from the Duke Endowment Healthcare Division according to Interim Research Vice President Rose Booze. 

“This Duke grant will provide funding for a collection of outstanding pre-proposals submitted to the Office of Research and Health Sciences in cooperation with the Office of Development and Foundations “Booze said. She said all submissions were reviewed/ranked by a faculty peer-review panel.

“The university has made every effort to develop proposals that meet the Duke Endowment’s priority for collaborative proposals by including our Health Sciences South Carolina (HSSC) partners; Greenville Hospital System (GHS), Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Palmetto Health, and Clemson University,” said Booze.

Funded submissions include:

• The Community Navigation for Colorectal Cancer Prevention and Control program proposed by Dr. Heather Brandt. Designed to raise awareness about colorectal cancer and cancer screening for those who have not been screened, Brandt’s submission also provides support for individuals seeking colorectal cancer screening services. 
  
  “The incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer in South Carolina is higher than the national average,” said Brandt.  “Palmetto Health cancer screening services will be an instrumental component of our program, as they offer free and reduced cost cancer screening and follow-up care for individuals who are uninsured and underinsured.” 

• Dr. Melinda Forthofer’s “Best Processes in Community Engagement within a Health Sciences Research Network” program proposes to describe patterns of community engagement in the university’s health sciences research portfolio and to identify best processes for, with, or by university researchers.
  
  “This will be accomplished by conducting a network analysis based on key informant surveys of academic, clinical and community partners,” Forthofer said, “and includes consultation with an external advisory committee comprised of representatives from GHS and MUSC.”     
                          
  
• The “Development of Ultrasonography in the Rural Primary Care Setting to Enhance the Quality and Safety of Patient Care” program proposed by Dr. Richard Hoppmann.
  
  “We will develop and sustain a training program primarily for rural primary care physicians in the use of ultrasonography in their office practices.  While this proposal is uniquely a USC School of Medicine innovation; the nature of the project is such that we will be partnering extensively with health care practices across the state,” said Hoppmann.

• Dr. Lillian Smith seeks to increase the competency of SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC) and non-SC DHEC practitioners through her proposed “Fundamentals in Public Health Program.”  This program will be delivered through distance education, and the partners will have the potential to market the program to other entities and states.
  
  “Partners will target various non-SCDHEC organizations that provide prevention programs,” Smith said, “including the major medical providers in South Carolina-- MUSC, Greenville Hospital System, and Palmetto Health-- and the extension and health sciences programs offered through Clemson University.”

2009 Research Opportunity Program Announcement

During these difficult economic times as the university undergoes reduced state funding, the Office of Research and Graduate Education (ORED) remains committed to strategic investments in university faculty through the development of individual research projects and scholarly endeavors. We are pleased to announce the availability of institutional grant funds under the Research Opportunity Program (ROP). The awards program is divided into three categories.

Click here for 2009 ROP Guidelines.

Category I funds will be considered "seed" monies and will be awarded to faculty with the stated objective of enhancing the competitiveness of a subsequent submission for external funding. Priority will be given to researchers that have received optimistic reviewer comments from a federal sponsor.

Category II funds support the general development, expansion or enhancement of faculty research and creative activity. These funds are focused on research contributions that increase academic, intellectual and scholarly activity.

Category III funds support the creative and performing arts. Support may include costs associated with creating an exhibit, a performance, a musical work, etc.

To enhance their success rate, ORED strongly suggests that faculty planning to submit proposals to the 2009 Research Opportunity Program attend a Question & Answer Session offered by the Office of Research Development. To register for a Question & Answer Session, please contact Melissa Mattison at mattison@mailbox.sc.edu.

Thursday, February 5
Swearingen Engineering Center, Room 3D05
9:30 AM

Wednesday, February 18
Public Health Research Center, Room 114
10:00 AM

Tuesday, March 3
John Welsh Humanities Building, Room 202
2:00 PM

Proposals must be submitted through USCERA and approved by your dean and chair before 5:00 pm on Tuesday, March 24.

FOR ARCHIVED NEWS PLEASE CLICK HERE