Grant and Award Announcement

Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) can leave people feeling isolated, but survivors exhibit a strong resilient streak. As someone with an SCI, MUSC researcher James Krause, Ph.D. has dedicated his life to researching SCIs. With the help of a dedicated team of researchers, Krause has developed tools to help people with SCIs and influence policy makers. This important work will continue to impact people with the support of a $2.5 million grant from the National Institute for Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research.

Backed by a $3.7 million grant from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health, Alvarez is leading a multi-institutional team of engineers, optometrists, vision researchers, sports medicine physicians, balance experts and biostatisticians seeking to establish guidelines that will help clinicians diagnose and treat concussion-related convergence insufficiency.

The Lundquist Institute (TLI) announced that it has received a generous $5 million, 5-year grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) that will allow its PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and clinical fellows to pursue careers in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. This award will also support the creation of a stem-cell focused program that will enable the Institute to recruit and train researchers in stem cell research while emphasizing its translational significance, underlying ethical considerations and keep the community updated on the technological advances in the field. The grant will also make it possible to retain stem cell researchers by providing access to the new and emerging companies based on The Lundquist campus.

Although a long-standing trade war and subsequent pandemic have dealt a crippling blow to the nation’s timber industry, a new opportunity is raising hopes in Tennessee. The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is teaming up with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture on a grant designed to increase the state’s hardwood exports to Vietnam.

The 2021 Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement has been awarded to Dr James O’Donoghue for his work in creating high-quality space science animations.