Funding and Grants
The Department of Biological Sciences supports the research of our faculty, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and undergraduates through funding obtained from many granting agencies, including both government and private foundations. Active and completed grants are listed on this page.
Updated March 6, 2024
| Research Project | Sponsor | PI | Period | Amount |
| Translation Dysregulation in Metastatic Breast Cancer: Implications for Disease and Immunotherapy Outcomes | US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity | Sarah E. Walker | 3/1/2024 – 2/28/2027 | $554,875. |
| Plant Terpenoids: Deciphering Metabolic Pathways and Improving Production in Microbes | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) | Zhen Q. Wang | 9/1/2023 – 6/30/2028 | $1,998,555. |
| PlantSynBio: Integrate Natural Product Biosynthesis into the Global Metabolic Network | National Science Foundation (NSF) | Zhen Q. Wang | 8/1/2023 – 7/31/2026 | $400,000. |
| Development of therapeutics for FOXG1 syndrome using patient-specific human iPSC and mouse models | Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative | Soo-Kyung Lee | 4/1/2023- 3/31/2026 | $1,500,000. |
| Parsing the central control of thirst and hunger using a rat model of diabetes insipidus | National Institutes of Health (NIDDK) | Daniels | 8/17/2022– 5/31/2026 | $2,117,234. |
| Molecular mechanisms of eukaryotic translational control | National Institutes of Health | Walker | 4/1/2022-2/28/2027 | $1,633,881. |
| Integrating paleogenomics, ecology, and geology to predict organism-environment coupled evolution during rapid warming and ice sheet retreat | National Science Foundation | PI: Lindqvist Co-PIs: | 2/1/2023-1/31/2027 | $2,945,234. total |
| Sirtuins as rewiring points to evolve new responses to low NAD+ stress in yeast | National Science Foundation | Rusche | 03/01/2020-02/28/2023 | $750,000. |
| Transcription Factors Governing The Development Of Ghrh-Neurons | NINDS/NIH | Jae Lee | 8/1/2021-7/31/2025 | $547,873. anually; $2.6M total award |
| Elucidating the role of protein arginine methylation in regulating RNA-binding protein function | National Science Foundation | Yu | 5/1/2021-4/30/2025 | $1,109,203. |
| Control of MAPK Signaling by Cell Polarity Proteins | National Institute of General Medical Sciences | Cullen | 9/1/2011-3/31/2025 | $212,500/year |
| Salivary proteome evolution as a framework to elucidate the mechanisms of functional change involving genomic structural variation | National Science Foundation | Gokcumen | 3/1/2021 - 2/29/2024 | $723,602 |
| Cisco (Coregonus artedi) reference genome project: an integrative resource for management and restoration of Great Lakes coregonines | Great Lakes Fishery Commission | Krabbenhoft | 1/1/2021 – 6/30/2023 | $197,434 |
| Genomic Architecture Underlying Biochemical Diversity and Molecular Convergence within the Carnivorous Plants | National Science Foundation | Albert, Co-PI (PI: Tanya Renner, Penn State University). | Starts: 1 October 2020 | $362,048 subaward of $975,421 |
| Discovering the molecular mechanisms that underlie the repeated evolution of gigantic tortoises | NSF | Lynch | 9/1/2020-9/1/2023 | $250,823 |
| Construction and characterization of humanized FoxG1 mouse models | FoxG1 Research Foundation | Jae Lee | 7/1/2020 - 6/30/2023 | $400,000/year |
| Molecular dissection of forebrain developmental deficits caused by mutations in human FoxG1 syndrome | FoxG1 Research Foundation | Soo Lee | 7/1/2020 - 6/30/2023 | $200,000/year |
| Transcriptional regulators of motor columnar specification | NINDS/NIH | Soo Lee | 4/1/2019 – 03/31/2024 | $2,494,667 |
| FoxG1-directed Gene network in forebrain development and FoxG1 syndrome | NINDS/NIH | Soo Lee | 6/1/2017 – 04/30/2022 | $2,412,778 |
| Roles Of Mll4-Complex In Development Of Hypothalamic Arcuate Neurons | NIDDK/NIH | Jae Lee | 7/1/2020 -6/30/2021 | $81,001 |
| Transcription Factors Governing The Development Of Ghrh-Neurons | NINDS/NIH | Jae Lee | 7/1/2020 - 6/30/2021 | $558,250 |
| Dissecting the in vivo role of glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3b) in the function of kinesin-1 using CRISPR/Cas-1 | NIH NINDS | Gunawardena | 7/1/2020—6/30/2022 | $157,138/year |
| Developmental changes in gene expression in wild and hatchery-raised cisco (Coregonus artedi) | U.S. Geological Survey | Krabbenhoft | 9/1/2019-8/31/2021 | $70,000 |
| Testing the Refugia Hypothesis in Southeast Alaska Using Paleogenetics and Glacial Chronology | National Science Foundation | Lindqvist | 5/1/2019-4/30/2022 | $542,156 |
| Role of olivocochlear efferents in age-related hearing dysfunction | National Inst on Deafness & Other Comm Disorders | Xu-Friedman | 7/9/2018-6/30/2023 | $299,585 |
| Evolutionary mechanics of adhesion complexes that mediate Amniote hearing | Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) | Lynch | 8/1/2018-8/1/2022 | $300,000 |
| Evaluation of potential metallic compounds that activate taste receptor cells in the mouth | Ajinomoto Company Incorporated | Medler | 8/2/2018-8/2/2021 | $108,220 |
| A novel therapeutic nano-vesicle for the clearance of axonal blocks to prevent Alzheimer's disease | BrightFocus Foundation | Gunawardena | 7/1/2018-6/30/2021 | $300,000 |
| Gap Junction-Mediated Regulation of Nociceptive Sensory Signaling | National Inst on Deafness & Other Comm Disorders | Ferkey | 12/1/2016-11/30/2021 | $1,660,417 |
| Activity-dependent regulation of auditory nerve synapses in the cochlear nucleus | National Inst on Deafness & Other Comm Disorders | Xu-Friedman | 3/1/2017-2/28/2022 | $1,674,771 |
| Functional genomics of Great Lakes ciscoes (Coregonus spp); identifying genetic markers consistent with morphological differences | Great Lakes Fishery Commission | Krabbenhoft | 5/1/2018-4/30/2022 | $289,156 |
| The adaptive variation of human skin: A comprehensive anthropological genetics examination of epidermal differentiation complex | National Science Foundation | Gokcumen | 7/15/2017-6/30/2020 | $377,886 |
| Dynamics and allostery in protein-RNA regulation | National Institutes of Health | Gollnick | 5/1/2017-2/29/2020 | $580,658 |
| Collaborative Research: Evolutionary trends and ecological drivers of eye reduction in bat flies (Hippoboscoidea) | National Science Foundation | Koudelka | 3/15/2016-2/29/2020 | $353,925 |
| Collaborative Research: A Paleogenetic Survey of Late Quaternary Mammal Biodiversity in Southeast Alaska | National Science Foundation | Lindqvist | 3/1/2016-8/31/2019 | $150,000 |
| Evolving contributions of the origin recognition complex (ORC) to subtelomeric chromatin | National Science Foundation | Rusche | 8/25/2016-8/31/2019 | $609,088 |
| Translational control by the eIF4 factors | National Institute of General Medical Sciences | Walker | 9/1/2015-8/31/2019 | $745,668 |
| Dimensions: Collaborative Proposal: Molecular, ecological and evolutionary dynamics of carbon fixation and diversification in Agavoideae (Asparagaceae) and Oncidiinae (Orchidaceae) | National Science Foundation | Albert | 8/1/2014-12/31/2019 | $477,624 |
| The Amborella Genome: An Evolutionary Reference for Plant Biology | National Science Foundation | Albert | 7/1/2010-9/30/2019 | $909,066 |
| Evolution of Silencing Proteins in Yeast | National Science Foundation | Rusche | 9/1/2012-7/31/2017 | $670,984 |