Research Wire

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Michael Vahey, at the McKelvey School of Engineering, a two-year $433,125 grant for research into virus vulnerability.

Fangqiong Ling received a five-year $500,000 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation for her research into wastewater-based epidemiology.

Peter M. Burgers, at the School of Medicine, received a five-year $3.5 million renewal grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his research titled “Mechanisms of DNA replication and maintenance in eukaryotes.”

A multidisciplinary team at Washington University led by Hong Chen has developed a new brain stimulation technique using focused ultrasound that is able to turn specific types of neurons in the brain on and off and precisely control motor activity without surgical device implantation.

Hani Zaher, associate professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, won a four-year $1.2 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a project titled “Reading Frame Maintenance by the Ribosome during Stalling.”

The Office of Naval Research is funding research at the McKelvey School of Engineering to put cyborg locusts’ sense of smell to the test.

Linda J. Pike and Alexander S. Holehouse, in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at the School of Medicine, and Gary J. Patti, in Arts & Sciences and the School of Medicine, received a four-year grant totaling $1.45 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The Department of Defense has awarded Mark Meacham and Arpita Bose a three-year $600,000 grant. The researchers will work to understand extracellular electron uptake in bacteria.

Joseph A. Fournier, assistant professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, won a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. Fournier’s research program focuses on characterizing the dynamics and mechanisms of fast chemical reactions.

David Fike, professor of earth and planetary sciences and director of environmental studies, both in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, won a $98,406 EAGER Grant from the National Science Foundation for a project in geobiology and low-temperature geochemistry.