The ASPIRE-I: Innovation Award supports faculty and post-docs seeking to develop individual innovative research projects leading to the pursuit of external funding or to the promotion of scholarly activities. Congratulations to our many ASPIRE-I winners this year!

Post-doctoral awardees ($5,000):

• Dr. Huan Chen (Fu lab), awarded to work on the "Interaction Between EDS1 and WRKY Transcription Factors Confers Transcriptional Reprogramming in Plant Immunity"
• Dr. Maria Stager (Boggs lab):, who will be "Characterizing the transcriptomic mechanisms underlying population-level differences in avian thermogenic flexibility"
• Dr. Jinyi Zhang (Fu lab), for "Dissecting the Pathogenic Mechanism of a Bacterial Type III Effector Through Yeast Killing Rescue Assays".

Faculty awardees ($15,000):

• Dr. Brian Hollis, for his project on "Experimental speciation in Drosophila melanogaster: the role of reinforcement in strengthening reproductive isolation"
• Dr. Fabienne Poulain, who will be "Testing the role of neuronal activity in circuit refinement during visual system maturation".
• Dr. Katie Kathrein, who will investigate how "Ing4 deficiency reprograms multipotent progenitor cells into a stem cell-like state".
• Dr. Jason Stewart, for his project focused on "Determining the role of CST-DNA polymerase alpha-primase interaction in replication rescue".
• Dr. Johannes Stratmann, who will develop "A Phosphoproteomics Approach to Characterize the Green Leaf Volatile-induced Signaling Network in Tomato Cells".
• Dr. Rekha Patel, who will be "Screening for compounds that disrupt PACT-PKR interaction- potential drugs for treatment of Alzheimer's Disease and dystonia 16."
• Dr. Dan Speiser, for his project on "Snapping shrimp have helmets that dampen shock waves, but do these helmets protect the brains of shrimp from blast-induced neurotrauma?"
• Dr. Zhengqing Fu, for "Dissecting the Functions of the PR5_1 Peptide and Its Putative Receptors in Plant Immunity"

 

The ASPIRE-II: Integration Award encourages interdisciplinary, collaborative research by funding meritorious projects undertaken by groups of at least three faculty representing a minimum of two USC colleges or schools. Congratulations to our ASPIRE-II winners, who will be awarded $100,000 for their project:

• Drs. Micky Myrick (Chemistry), Tammi Richardson (Biological Sciences), Michael Hodgson (Geography) and Nikos Vitzilaios (Mechanical Engineering), for their project focused on "Drone-based screening and triggered sampling of water".
• Drs. David Mott (Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, School of Medicine), Fiona Hollis (Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, School of Medicine), Kristy Welshhans (Biological Sciences) and Jeff Twiss (Biological Sciences), who will be studying "The role of FMR1 in sensory neurons in the pathogenesis of Fragile X Syndrome". for $100,000.
• Drs. Norma Frizzell (Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, School of Medicine), Misha Shtutman (Drug Discovery & Biomedical Sciences, Pharmacy) and Sofia Lizarraga (Biological Sciences), for their study focused on "Exploring the Modulation of Neuroinflammation by Itaconate in Neurological Disorders".