$2.5 Million Awarded to UAH Researchers

UAH received approximately 2.5 million dollars in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) awards to fund research projects. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was created to stimulate the economy by cutting taxes and investing money in education, infrastructure, health care, and scientific research. The $787 billion stimulus package was ratified by Congress and signed by President Obama on February 17th 2009.

The grant money was allotted to specific projects based on proposals submitted by UAH faculty. In addition to the $2.5 million awarded, UAH researchers submitted proposals worth 15.5 million dollars which are pending approval by the government. The ARRA grants are a significant boost to UAH’s yearly research funding which totaled $76.9 million in the fiscal year 2009.

According to Dr. Thomas Koshut, Associate VP of Research, although the proposals are created by UAH faculty members working as individuals or teams, they are an agreement between the University and the government. If the principal investigator (PI) of the project leaves UAH the grant either stays with the school or is transferred with the PI with special permission from the government.

The ARRA is intended to aid the current economic crisis in the U.S. so the process to receive grants was expedited. The window for applying for ARRA grants and the turn-around time to receive the money are shorter compared to traditional research grants. There are also more stringent reporting procedures so the government can ensure the money is being spent in congruence with the approved proposal.

Dr. Pamela Twigg, Assistant Research Professor and Chair of the Chemistry Department, received a $220,750 award to fund her research entitled “Investigations into the structure, function, and activity of E2-25K.” Dr. Twigg describes the goals of her research: “The ability of the cell to degrade its own proteins at the proper time is essential to its development and survival. The target of this research, E2-25K, is a protein component of this cellular degradation system, and has been shown to play a role specifically in both Huntington’s Disease (HD) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
Because E2-25K is implicated in the development of some neurodegenerative diseases, it is an interesting target for drug therapy. This aim of this research is to understand how this protein functions in the cell.”

Dr. Carmen Scholz, chair of the chemistry department, received a $124,616 award to fund her research to develop a chronic retinal implant. The chronic retinal implant will restore vision to people with damaged photoreceptors caused by diseases such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. The project will produce an electrically active device to replace damaged photoreceptors. Scholz and her team partner with Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University and the University of Louisville to develop the device. Her role is to make the surface of the implant biocompatible so the body does not attack or damage the device. Over the course of the eight-year project the team successful hermetically sealed the device so water in human tissue will not reach the electrically charged device. The project evolved from Cochlear implants, which restore hearing to people who are deaf due to damaged or missing hair cells in the ear. Although the dollar amounts awarded to UAH and other educational institutions are the focus of much attention in discussions of the ARRA, Koshut claims that it is the differential advantage created by the research that is most important to the future of the university. He cites the opportunities created by the grants, such as the chance to partner with national research and technology centers such as Oakridge National Laboratory, as an example of the way in whichthey create a competitive advantage for the university.