Success Stories Office of Research Research Administration iMERS Success Stories Grant writing can be intimidating for early-career investigators, particularly for those with limited time, resources, and expertise. The iMERS program taps into the University of Kentucky's strong research infrastructure to help faculty at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) find success as they work to fund their projects. CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORIES Image Persistence and a Student-Focused Path to Grant Writing Success DILLARD UNIVERSITY Read More Image Single-Molecule Biophysics Research and the Nuance of NIH Grant Funding UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY Read More RECENT PARTICIPANT SUCCESS NIGMS SCORE-2 AWARD Morgan Hawker, PhD California State University Fresno Three-year award, $140,000 first-year funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to provide insight on controlling the surface properties of implanted medical devices. The goal is to reduce the complications associated with implant material being a poor match to the body’s surrounding biological environment. NCI P20 AWARD Simone Heyliger, PhD Hampton University Four-year award, $215,239 first-year funding from the National Cancer Institute to establish partnerships and collaboration around genetics and genomics and health disparities to explain population differences in breast and prostate cancer occurrence and outcome. NIDDK R15 AWARD Jorge Matias Caviglia, PhD Brooklyn College Three-year award, $451,236 first-year funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to investigate the function of ABHD5, an essential protein in the pathway of triacylglycerol catabolism. Insight into its function will advance an understanding of obesity and related diseases. NIGMS SCORE-2 AWARD Julio Gallego-Delgado, PhD CUNY - Lehman College Three-year award, $154,534 first-year funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to present a new strategy for studying malaria-induced acute kidney injury to help advance its diagnoses and treatment. NIGMS SCORE - 1 AWARD Maribella Domenech, PhD University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Four-year award, $322,645 first-year funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to provide new biological insights into the modulation of tumor cell behavior and therapeutic response via interactions with mesenchymal and immune cells, and support use of multi-cell type models to unravel the complexity of the tumor microenvironment. NIGMS R35 MIRA AWARD HyeongJun Kim, PhD University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Five-year award, $363,386 first-year funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to utilize novel single-molecule and biophysical techniques to elucidate how DNA binding proteins function on a molecular level. The purpose is to understand how their malfunctioning leads to various abnormalities such as cancer and changes in chromosome structure. NIGMS SCORE-2 AWARD Miguel Mendez, BS University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla Three-year award, $118,329 first-year funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to elucidate the link between diabetes and epilepsy by examining downregulation of Kir4.1 channel expression. Findings will improve current knowledge and help identify novel therapeutic agents for this disease. NIGMS SCORE-2 AWARD Cecilia Montiel-Nava, PhD University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Three-year award, $111,000 first-year funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to understand the contribution of clinical and demographic predictors of language skills development in autistic school-aged children. Results will inform the standards for language assessment for bilingual Spanish/English-speaking autistic children. NIMHD PARENT PROJECT AWARD Dominique Guinn, PhD Texas Southern University One-year, $50,000 internal award supported by the National Institute of Minority Health & Health Disparities as part of a parent project. The title of the pilot project is The Roots Study: Understanding Young Adult Barriers to Biomedical Prevention.