Chemistry and Biochemistry - Funding
We could not provide undergraduate research opportunities for students without funding from government agencies, private foundations and friends/alumni of the department.
Congratulate the following faculty for securing external funding when budgets are tight and competition is fierce.
In 2014 Dr. Brycelyn Boardman was awarded a two-year grant from Research Corporation for $45,000. The goal of the proposed work is to synthesize and characterize cobalt clusters with polymerizable ligands for a better understanding of inorganic/organic hybrid materials.
Dr. Kevin Caran and Dr. Gina MacDonald were awarded a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) grant from the National Science Foundation ($318,000). Continuing in the tradition of previous funded grants administered by Dr. Downey and Dr. MacDonald, this REU site provides research opportunities for regional, and deaf and hard of hearing students. The students include those from JMU as well as students from outside institutions that do not have extensive research infrastructure. The award will support research across the department for three summers (2015-2017).
Dr. Kevin Caran and Dr. Kyle Seifert (JMU Biology) were awarded $5,000 from James Madison Innovations (JMI) to aid in the development of novel antibacterial compounds for a variety of applications.
Dr. Christine Hughey, an Associate Professor of analytical chemistry and a mass spectrometrist, obtained a grant from the Chemical and Measurement Program within the National Science Foundation in Fall 2013. Her collaboration with mathematician Dr. Stephen Lucas will investigate negative ion electrospray ionization fundamentals. Approximately $238k will be awarded over a three-year period.
Dr. Barbara Reisner, a professor of inorganic chemistry, is a co-PI on the grant “IONiC: Transforming Educations through Collaborative Development of Materials at the Frontiers of Inorganic Chemistry.” This multi-institution 4-year grant from NSF for $437,962 is to build the IONiC (Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists) network by hosting workshops in the summers of 2013-2016. Dr. Reisner was the lead organizer of the first workshop, “Solid State Materials for Alternative Energy Needs," in June 2013 at Penn State.
Dr. Nathan Wright was awarded one of the first 4-VA grants, a mini-grant that fosters research collaborations between four of Virginia’s universities: JMU, University of Virginia, George Mason and Virginia. Dr. Wright received $5,000 to support a collaboration with a bacterial pathogen lab at U.Va. Jointly, they will investigate the structure a bacterial transcription factor that 'turns on' virulence factors, which in turn can cause Travelers' diarrhea. Between 2012 and 2014 Dr. Wright has also received $45,000 from the Jeffress Memorial Trust for structural characterization of obscurin-titin interactions in muscle cells. In 2014, Dr. Wright was awarded a two-year $45,000 grant from Research Corporation grant to study the structure/function relationship of giant muscle proteins, and how they contribute to human musculoskeletal diseases.
