Biodesign Institute research projects land $376,000 from Science Foundation Arizona

Joe Caspermeyer, Media Relations Manager & Science Editor
(480) 727-0369 | joseph.caspermeyer@asu.edu

The Biodesign Institute has garnered two competitive research awards from Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz). Biodesign’s $376,000 portion is part of $1.5 million in total SFAz funds awarded to eight Arizona State University professors.

The award of $142,120 to Sudhir Kumar, PhD, director of Biodesign’s Center for Evolutionary Functional Genomics, will help expand a bioinformatics database, called TimeTree, for assembling the timescale of life. The TimeTree database creates a relational database of life on Earth that is easy to use for researchers, the public and K-12 students.

Neal Woodbury, PhD, director of Biodesign’s Center for BioOptical Nanotechnology, will use his award of $234,280 to focus on nanoscale techniques and imaging technologies to understand gene regulatory networks relevant to health and disease.

SFAz’s Competitive Advantage Awards are a strategic investment designed to provide a catalyst for researchers of exceptional quality to help secure future federal funding.

“These awards will help to improve our environment, better understand Arizona air quality issues, and provide investments to boost nanotechnology, information technology and bioinformatics research,” said Stephen Goodnick, ASU associate vice president for research. “Science Foundation Arizona’s funding also provides an important mechanism for ASU to continue several high impact research initiatives during a challenging period for securing federal grant funding.”

SFAz’s Competitive Advantage Award (CAA) focused support of outstanding Arizona researchers in three strategic areas: advanced communications and information technologies, biosciences, and sustainable systems. The purpose of the initial CAA is to provide “gap” funding for proposals deemed most competitive for federal dollars.

“The projects funded by CAA are significant for many reasons, including the impact they will have in their fields and their potential to help create a research environment that supports a knowledge-driven economy,” said William Harris, president and CEO of SFAz.

The eight ASU research projects were part of 23 Arizona research proposals to receive a total of $3.75 million in funding.

The ASU recipients of SFAz funding also include:

Chitta Baral ($138,750) – Baral’s project will expand on a new bioinformatics tool, CBioC, to help biomedical researchers improve information and data management.

John Crittenden ($399,280) – Crittenden’s project will provide holistic and systematic knowledge-based tools and strategies for more sustainable urban development.

Joe Fernando ($106,660) – This project will develop predictive models of air circulation patterns for urban planning and management issues related to air and noise pollution and the urban-heat island.

Sandeep Gupta ($299,740) – Gupta’s research will focus on building greener data centers in Arizona by working on creative methods to boost efficiency, manage power consumption and address thermal management issues.

Valerie Stout ($98,690) – Will investigate the broad mechanisms a bacterium, Pseudomonas tolaasii, uses to cause disease in mushrooms and plants, which has relevance to valuable Arizona crops such as citrus and cotton.

Wim Vermaas ($126,700) – Vermaas’ research will look at the function and metabolism of light-protective and anti-oxidant compounds called carotenoids in cyanobacteria, a photosynthetic bacteria that has high potential as a sustainable biofuel.

Researchers were chosen based on quality of the proposal, quality and merit of their current track record, and the strategic value and competitive advantage for Arizona.

This is the second major announcement of ASU funded initiatives by SFAz. ASU received $1.85 million to fund 37 top graduate research fellows in March. Funding for the SFAz investments came from Arizona’s 21st Century Fund, an initiative established by Governor Napolitano and the Arizona Legislature last year, which provided an initial $35 million in investments for graduate research fellowships, research and industry groups, small business funding and K-12 science and math education programs.