Joy JuedesThe Office of Research announced the following research grants awarded to Chapman University faculty in February and March 2024.
$14,280 – Albertine Foundation
Veronique Olivier, assistant professor of French. Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
Transatlantic Mobility Program – From Normandy to California
The two-year grant, supported by the foundation and French and American embassies, supports the expansion of joint innovative education initiatives on both sides of the Atlantic. It was awarded to Chapman University and Université de Caen Normandie.
$1,500 – New Israel Fund
Shira Klein, associate professor of history. Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
The Elephant in the Room
The New Israel Fund makes grants that help make Israel a more just, equal, and democratic society.
$27,204 – National Institutes of Health
Gennady Verkhivker, professor of computational biology. Schmid College of Science and Technology and School of Pharmacy.
Probing real-time conformational dynamics and allosteric cooperativity of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein during virus entry.
Verkhivker, a sub-awardee, will contribute mFRET imaging, computational modeling and virological assay development to characterize structural dynamics and cooperativity of the HIV-1 Env glycoprotein during viral entry.
$494,256 – National Science Foundation
Richelle Tanner, assistant professor of environmental science. Schmid College of Science and Technology and Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
DESIGN: Reforming organizational culture across Biology using a Community of Care framework.
This project will engage five U.S.-based scientific societies in a series of critically evaluated listening sessions, workshops and events that address both internal structures (society leadership) and external structures (journal and conference organization). The researchers will coordinate the initial implementation and evaluations for actionable opportunities with “community of care”-guided goals in each of these scientific societies.
$22,886 – NASA
Joshua Fisher, associate professor of environmental science. Schmid College of Science and Technology.
Communities for a Better Environment: Triangulating NASA Data and Participatory GIS with Local Organizing to Advance Environmental Justice in Los Angeles.
This two-year Data Integration Project examines urban heat island- and air pollution-related inequities toward identifying ecosystem service-based solutions for advancing equity and environmental justice in Southeast Los Angeles (SELA), California. SELA is a large, underserved, environmental justice community of color that bears an uneven burden of urban heat islands and mobile and stationary sources of air pollution.
$74,999 – Department of Homeland Security
Peter Simi, professor of sociology. Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center (NCITE) – International Academic Partnerships for Science and Security.
NCITE Center provides access to innovation, technology and education for counterterrorism professionals working with the homeland security enterprise (HSE). The center supports the HSE counterterrorism missions and professionals with user-inspired projects that are necessary to prevent terrorism and improve security. NCITE evaluates products from the academic community to help support the research that makes a difference to the HSE and can be applied to operations. Chapman is one of the center’s university partners.
$56,720 – National Science Foundation
Cassandra Donatelli, assistant professor of biological sciences. Schmid College of Science and Technology.
MorphoCloud: A Cloud Powered, Open-Source Platform For Research, Teaching And Collaboration In 3d Digital Morphology And Beyond.
Donatelli will contribute to two primary aims of the project: 1) acquisition of fresh specimens, and 2) digital segmentation of these specimens once they have been stained, scanned and processed. Donatelli will acquire specimens available through the aquarium and pet trade and through collaborators working on these species. Her team will create 3D models using the facilities at Chapman for use in in-person educational settings.
$434,024 – National Institutes of Health
Miao Zhang, associate professor of pharmacy. School of Pharmacy.
Channelopathy of KCa2.3 and Zimmermann-Laband syndrome.
This study hopes to discover treatments that can alleviate symptoms associated with Zimmermann-Laband syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. It will explore the potential of existing drugs and compounds to inhibit the mutant KCa2.3 channels. Leveraging FDA-approved medications and compounds currently in clinical trials, the team will assess existing drugs and their ability to modulate the channel activity observed in the syndrome.
