Grants

SENGA ARCHITECTS INC

Management and Business Professionals and Administrative Services-Management advisory services

Arctic Inspiration Prize

Canada's largest annual prize, awarding up to $3M to teams working on Arctic issues including climate, health, education, and Indigenous self-determination.

U.S. National Science Foundation

Arctic Research Opportunities

NSF

The oceans play a crucial role in transporting heat and moisture from the equator to the poles. Observations show that the input of freshwater in polar regions from melting glaciers and sea ice has already contributed to weakening ocean circulation. However, our understanding of these processes is limited by the length of observational records; examining previous periods of change can aid this understanding. This project focuses on the Younger Dryas (11.7-12.9 ka), a cold period that abruptly interrupted the Earth’s warming climate during deglaciation. The cause of this cooling is debated, but a leading hypothesis is that freshwater input from glacial lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean slowed ocean circulation. Alternatively, computer models indicate that sea ice export from the Arctic Ocean, traveling along the east coast of Greenland, could have been responsible for triggering the Younger Dryas. Yet, there are currently limited palaeoceanographic data from this region to evaluate this alternate hypothesis. To address this data gap, this project will utilize existing marine sediment cores to reconstruct sea ice and freshwater changes during the Younger Dryas. This research will provide quantitative data to understand what triggered an abrupt slowdown of ocean circulation that resulted in prominent cooling of the Northern Hemisphere. The results will lead to a better understanding of the sensitivity of ocean circulation to the input of freshwater from sea ice export and melt, important for evaluating the potential impact of future melt water release from the Arctic. Additionally, this project was conceived and will be led by a postdoctoral researcher, with support from two established principal investigators. Thus, an early career researcher will develop leadership and supervisory skills, essential to professional development. This project addresses the hypothesis that ‘The Younger Dryas was initiated by the export of Arctic sea ice and freshwater carried by the East Greenland Current’. We will leverage existing marine sediment cores collected from the eastern coast of Greenland. Sea ice and salinity dynamics will be inferred from stable isotope measurements on planktic foraminifera and algal lipids, as well as from sea-ice biomarkers, lipid-based sea-surface temperature reconstructions, sedimentological analyses, and radiocarbon dating. Results will be synthesized with existing data to the north (Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean) and south (Denmark Strait and the northern North Atlantic), in the context of existing model results, to examine the role sea ice and freshwater played in triggering the Younger Dryas. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Ares Charitable Foundation

Ares Charitable Foundation is an active grantmaking foundation based in Los Angeles, CA. Focus: philanthropy. Contact the foundation directly for current funding opportunities.

NIA - National Institute on Aging

Abstract A common feature in many neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and tauopathies comprise of slower protein turnover, lysosomal dysfunction, and the precipitation of protein aggregates. Although we know that neurometabolism impacts AD, it is unclear how nutrient sensors regulates tau proteostasis particularly at the level of the lysosome. The amino acid arginine is particularly compelling because recent evidence uncovered several molecular sensors of arginine within the cell that directs the mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR). Cellular Arginine Sensor for mTORC1 (CASTOR1) serves as a negative regulator of mTORC1 signaling. Two molecular switches inhibit CASTOR1 function including arginine and phosphorylation of CASTOR1. We identified increased gene transcripts for CASTOR1 together with protein expression in the hippocampus of AD compared to control brains. We also showed that AD brains with more CASTOR1 presented lower phospho-tau burden, counter to that of AD brains with lower CASTOR1 displaying higher phospho-tau loads. In mice with tauopathy arginine levels accumulate in plasma and brain but also increase CASTOR1. We demonstrate that induction of wild-type CASTOR1, increased lysosomal acidification, autophagy flux, and reduced PHF1 tau, whereas pseudo-mimetic S14D mutation impaired lysosomal function and failed to reduced tau to the same extent in cell models. We posit that CASTOR1 induction remains essential during proteotoxic stress to improve lysosomal function, repair, and promote aggregate clearance. We also posit that inadvertent phosphorylation of CASTOR1 impairs is function, promotes its degradation, decreases lysosomal function, and promotes tau toxicity. We will test how CASTOR1 mechanistically improves lysosomal function during proteotoxic stressors including tau, lysosomal damaging agents in cellular models. We will determine how proteotoxic stressors impair arginine metabolism and accumulation through novel FRET-based arginine biosensors. We will test how CASTOR1 loss of function impacts cognition, the tau phenotype, and neuronal tau spread using CASTOR1 knockout mice. This application tests: 1) nutrient (amino acid) sensors as therapeutic hubs to improve proteostasis during tauopathy; 2) how posttranslational modifications on nutrient sensors re-/ de-sensitize their function; 3) the causal link between arginine sensing/ signaling dysfunction and AD progression; 4) CASTOR1 as a potentially new therapeutic node and sensor for proteinopathies.

Seymour

Argonne Terrace RD Spot Improvements

NIAID - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Abstract Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a heterogeneous disease affecting multiple organ systems. Current treatments result in toxicity and impaired immune responses to pathogens. Identification of new therapeutic targets is complicated by a lack of understanding of the underlying mechanisms that result in SLE and in other autoimmune diseases. We found that ARID3a (A+T-rich interaction domain protein 3a) over-expression in transgenic mouse B lymphocytes was sufficient to cause autoantibody production and immune complex formation in kidney glomeruli. Further, numbers of ARID3a+ B cells are increased in SLE patients compared to healthy controls and those numbers are highly associated with increased disease activity in patients as determined by disease activity indices (SLEDAI scores). Although ARID3a is a DNA-binding protein involved in gene regulation, mechanisms by which ARID3a contributes to gene dysregulation in autoimmunity are unknown. Naïve B cells represent a tolerance check-point and we observed that a subset of naïve B cells from SLE patients express ARID3a, while ARID3a was absent from healthy control naïve B cells. We recently used single cell RNA-seq to identify genes differentially expressed in naïve ARID3a+ versus ARID3a- B cells from SLE patients, identifying new markers to enable additional functional studies of those cells. We also found that complex stimuli developed by others to generate “activated” naïve B cells and pathogenic double--negative B cell subsets similar to those increased in SLE patients, also induced ARID3a expression in the “activated” naïve B cell subset. Therefore, we hypothesize that ARID3a is a mediator of dysregulated gene expression in SLE naïve B cells that contributes to tolerance breaches. The proposed aims will 1) define genes and epigenetic regions that bind ARID3a and may be directly regulated by ARID3a expression; 2) determine how ARID3a contributes to functions associated with breaches in B cell tolerance; and 3) determine if inhibition of ARID3a-regulated pathways in autoimmune mouse models ameliorates disease symptoms and functional attributes. The proposed studies will fill gaps in our knowledge of how ARID3a functions in naïve B cells and will define genes and intragenic regions regulated by ARID3a that may contribute to autoimmune characteristics in SLE. These experiments will provide new mechanistic insights into ARID3a functions and may direct future design of novel therapeutics.

NLM - National Library of Medicine

Project Summary Stroke stands as a leading contributor to disability, with an estimated 89.1 million adults worldwide, and 9.4 million adults in the United States living with the residual effects of stroke. Rehabilitation interventions are effective in mitigating stroke-related disability, greatly enhancing the quality of life, and reducing life-time health care expenses. However, significant variance exists in the quality of interventions delivered by various rehabilitation therapists, at various rehabilitation facilities, making the evaluation of rehabilitation quality a national imperative. Although our clinical research team has developed a standardized and validated coding scheme to assess the quality, our study shows that this manual assessment is both arduous and time- consuming. In addition, the integration of rehabilitation activities and outcomes into electronic health records (EHRs), while offering considerable advantages, has introduced unique challenges. Notably, clinicians often report burnout due to burdensome documentation requirements, frequently requiring additional time outside intervention sessions and encroaching on personal time. This not only escalates the workload for therapists but also compromises the accuracy of the documentation. Recent initiatives in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have emerged to automate and streamline clinical documentation. Yet, a comprehensive evaluation of generative AI techniques for clinical documentation remains scarce. Furthermore, although many AI approaches to enhance rehabilitation have been successful in computational experiments, they often face challenges when being implemented in real-world rehabilitation practice. A fundamental question that demands addressing is: Are healthcare facilities, directors, therapists, and payers ready to intergrade AI-based approaches into rehabilitation practice? In this project, we aim to address the above issues through collaborative and innovative approaches. The study outlines three specific aims: 1) Develop advanced natural language processing (NLP) models to identify important indicative cues of rehabilitation quality from a unique dataset of transcripts from over 3,000 rehabilitation session recordings. 2) Assess generative AI models for automated clinical documentation and compare the AI-generated notes, manually created “ground truth” notes, and the notes from the real world EHR. 3) Use the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) framework to assess the readiness of facilities, directors, therapists, and payers in integrating AI-based approaches into rehabilitation practices. The project will significantly enhance rehabilitation therapy care for stroke survivors, as it addresses the pressing need to improve the quality of rehabilitation interventions and to evaluate the effectiveness of generative AI in clinical documentation. Furthermore, by assessing the readiness of key stakeholders in real-world rehabilitation settings, the project lays the groundwork for informing future studies on the implementation of AI-based approaches in rehabilitation.

NICHD - Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

PROJECT SUMMARY Sudden onset immune-mediated neurologic syndromes can result in devastating long-term morbidity and mortality in children and adults. These conditions include rare and poorly understood neuroinflammatory diseases, such as autoimmune encephalitis (AE), new onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE), and Rasmussen syndrome. ARISEN (Autoimmunity, Rasmussen's, Inflammation & Status Epilepticus research Network) is the first U.S. based multi-center registry including these diseases, which are thought to be caused by the immune system attacking the brain and can cause high risk for death and long-term neurological problems. Clinical trials have been lacking in these diseases, and we do not know the natural history, long term outcomes or optimal treatments in these disorders. Moreover, the diagnosis can be delayed, which can be catastrophic for patient outcomes. The goal of ARISEN is to address roadblocks in developing novel therapeutics for rare neuroinflammatory conditions to lead to improved clinical trial readiness, treatments, and long-term outcomes, including patient and caregiver reported outcomes. These rare conditions require a multi-center clinical research approach to interrogate the natural history and immunopathogenesis. To study these diseases, ARISEN (Autoimmunity, Rasmussens, Inflammation & Status Epilepticus research Network) is a synergistic effort between two consortia: CONNECT (CONquering Inflammation and Epilepsies ConsorTium), the first multi-center prospective pediatric focused U.S.-based registry for AE and Rasmussen's, and the NORSE Institute which recruits children and adults. Our central hypothesis is that these syndromes result in long-term sequelae, including risk for refractory seizures and poor neuropsychological outcomes, that may be mitigated by an improved understanding of their pathogenesis and natural history (Project 1) and optimal outcome assessment measures, including patient and caregiver reported outcomes (Project 2). We will also search for. novel biomarkers to aid in earlier diagnosis, more timely therapeutic intervention, and inform clinical trials by improved characterization and targeted treatment of the underlying immune dysregulation (Project 3). This grant would allow for the collection of electroencephalograms, magnetic resonance imaging, and longitudinal biospecimens to be used for future studies. MPIs Drs. Gombolay and Murray will co-direct the administrative core. Dr. Gombolay has led the CONNECT AE registry for five years, and Dr. Murray has 22 years of experience as PI of large-scale federally-funded patient cohorts, including an encephalitis cohort. The ARISEN pilot core will fund proposals that will utilize ARISEN, develop new resources, and foster collaboration to tackle the unmet needs in these diseases. The Career Enhancement Core will train the next generation of scientists in these conditions by providing educational sessions, mentorship, access to the registry, and funding support. ARISEN's multidisciplinary team of clinical experts and patient advocacy groups will begin to address the critical obstacles to future clinical trials, including improving treatments and outcomes for these patients and their caregivers.

NSF

The aim of this project is to explore the wealth of deep connections lying at the interface of three subjects: algebraic topology, quantum algebra, and statistical problems in arithmetic. A meeting point of these subjects is in the study of moduli spaces: these are spaces which parameterize mathematical objects of a given sort. Deep questions in arithmetic may be formulated in terms of properties of these spaces, and those properties may be studied through the lens of algebraic topology. Remarkably, the sort of answers that topological tools provide has a close connection to the study of quantum groups and related objects arising in quantum physics. The main goals of this proposal are two-fold; the first is to more deeply explore how algebro-topological tools can address open questions in quantum algebras, such as the conjecture posed by Andruskiewitsch-Schneider on the generation of pointed Hopf algebras, and the conjecture of Etingof-Ostrik on the cohomology of finite tensor categories. The second is to use these tools, in concert with machinery of the Weil conjectures, to enumerate points on moduli spaces over finite fields, thereby establishing statistical conjectures on the distribution of Galois groups (e.g., those of Malle and Cohen- Lenstra), or moments of L-functions (e.g., those of Conrey-Keating-Farmer-Rubinstein-Snaith). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF

This project focuses primarily on three different problems in number theory, combinatorics, and ergodic theory. This includes work in additive combinatorics concerning generalizations of Szemerédi's theorem on arithmetic progressions (sequences of numbers that are all equally spaced, like 4, 6, 8, and 10), which, informally, says that any sufficiently large collection of whole numbers contains a long arithmetic progression. It is a central problem in additive combinatorics to determine how large "sufficiently large" is. The investigator will study versions of this question involving more complicated patterns than arithmetic progressions, and then use the results and techniques developed to make progress on a related problem in ergodic theory. The investigator will also study the size and structure of integer distance sets, which are sets of points whose pairwise distances are all whole numbers. This award will support undergraduate summer research on representation theory and additive combinatorics, and also support the training of graduate students. More specifically, the investigator will build on her previous work on quantitative bounds for subsets of the integers lacking polynomial progressions of distinct degrees and for subsets of vector spaces over finite fields lacking a certain four-point configuration to tackle more general polynomial, multidimensional, and multidimensional polynomial configurations. The results for multidimensional polynomial configurations of distinct degree will then be used to make progress on the Furstenberg--Bergelson--Leibman conjecture in ergodic theory, which concerns the pointwise almost everywhere convergence of certain nonconventional ergodic averages. She will also investigate the size and structure of integer distance sets, in both the Euclidean plane and in higher dimensions, by encoding them as subsets of rational points on certain families of varieties and then studying these varieties. With her undergraduate students, the investigator will study the distribution of entries in the character tables of symmetric groups and some algorithmic problems in higher-order Fourier analysis. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF

This award concerns research in analytic number theory. Most questions in analytic number theory are concerned with quantitatively counting arithmetic objects, such as prime numbers and integral solutions to equations. Understanding such questions plays an important role in applications such as cryptography, information theory, physics, economics, and computer science. Powerful analytic tools have proved fruitful in many arithmetic problems, yet there is a natural barrier in these classical methods that limits their applicability. For example, it is not known if there is a prime between every two consecutive squares, even assuming the Riemann Hypothesis. The goal of this project is to develop and exploit new analytic methods to study arithmetic problems on the boundary of classical methods. The educational component of the project will include training and support for undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral researchers. The barrier often comes from the square root cancellation for individual exponential sums. One way to break the square root barrier is to exploit cancellations in sums of exponential sums over the moduli, which naturally connects analytic number theory and the theory of automorphic forms. The PI will explore the interactions between these two areas by developing new tools in both fields, including various forms of a Kloosterman refinement of the circle method and explicit Kuznetsov trace formulae for congruence subgroups of higher rank groups. The PI will combine these new techniques to study Diophantine problems over thin sets of the integers such as prime numbers and smooth numbers, to count integral points of algebraic varieties beyond hypersurfaces in few variables, and to establish value distributions (e.g. non-vanishing, extreme values and subconvexity) and asymptotic formulae for moments of families of automorphic L-functions of higher rank groups. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Arizona Community Foundation

Arizona Community Foundation is an active grantmaking foundation based in Phoenix, AZ. Focus: philanthropy. Contact the foundation directly for current funding opportunities.

NSF

TThe Arizona Department of Education has emphasized that there is currently a dearth of teachers prepared to facilitate data science education in Arizona. Arizona Data Science Corps (AZDSC) will help to address this shortfall by (1) supporting the data science education professional learning of ninety 6th-12th grade Math/Stat/Computer Science teachers, ninety 6th-12th grade non-Math/Stat/Computer Science teachers; and (2) laying the foundation for the development, adoption, and implementation of Arizona K-12 Data Science Education Standards. Arizona Data Science Corps will support data science education across the whole state of Arizona with professional learning and research activities associated with AZDSC occurring in every region of Arizona and impacting every educational services agency district in the state. This project will provide Data Science education and support to all fifteen Arizona counties through a regional (North, South, Central) hybrid model, which will directly impact 180 6th-12th grade teachers and approximately 18,000 of their 6th-12th grade students. AZDSC will provide three different pathways for broadening student, teacher, and researcher involvement in career explorations and data science learning. To research teacher learning and student data literacy, this study will employ a Design-Based Research (DBR) approach to uncover, explore, and validate theoretical relationships while developing corresponding design principles for interventions. Mixed methods of data collection and analysis, including surveys and subsequent quantitative analyses of project artifacts, will support understanding data science experiences for teachers and students. Ultimately, this work will inform the development of Arizona's Data Science Education State Standards. This project is supported by the Data Science Corps program, which supports data science education and training to build a strong national data science infrastructure and workforce. Additionally, This project is co-funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation

Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation is an active grantmaking foundation based in Sierra Vista, AZ. Focus: community development. Contact the foundation directly for current funding opportunities.

Arizona Technology Council Foundation

Arizona Technology Council Foundation is an active grantmaking foundation based in Phoenix, AZ. Focus: education. Contact the foundation directly for current funding opportunities.

Arkansas Childrens Foundation

Arkansas Childrens Foundation is an active grantmaking foundation based in Little Rock, AR. Focus: health. Contact the foundation directly for current funding opportunities.

Arkansas Medical Foundation

Arkansas Medical Foundation is an active grantmaking foundation based in Little Rock, AR. Focus: health. Contact the foundation directly for current funding opportunities.

Arlington Community Foundation

Arlington Community Foundation is an active grantmaking foundation based in Arlington, VA. Focus: philanthropy. Contact the foundation directly for current funding opportunities.

Armed Forces Museum Foundation

Armed Forces Museum Foundation is an active grantmaking foundation based in Camp Shelby, MS. Focus: arts. Contact the foundation directly for current funding opportunities.

Benford Protection Group

National Defense and Public Order and Security and Safety Services

BENFORD PROTECTION GROUP

National Defense and Public Order and Security and Safety Services

Armenian Cultural Foundation

Armenian Cultural Foundation is an active grantmaking foundation based in Montrose, CA. Focus: arts. Contact the foundation directly for current funding opportunities.