John M. Wiencek - US grants

The equipment requested will be used for several projects, including: Structure and Dynamics of Antigen-Antibody Complexes; Applications of Antibody Engineering; Protein Engineering of Allosteric Antibodies; Protein Separations Utilizing Temperature Sensitive Microemulsions; Engineering Protein Crystallization Processes; Mechanisms of Neurite Outgrowth and Guidance; Development of Hepatocyte Long Term Culture and Storage Techniques; Cellular and Developmental Biology in Plant Cell Cultures; and Immobilized Recombinant Cells. The wide dynamic range offered by the combination of the two instruments, and the simultaneous use of the instruments in certain projects, will allow for an enhanced understanding of underlying biochemical and biophysical phenomena.

This proposal addresses the environmentally important task of removing certain hazardous small organic molecules (e.g. aromatic amines, PCBs and polycyclic aromatics) from water by a unique process utilizing enzyme catalysis in an organic phase. In this process, the aqueous phase is separated from in organic phase by a membrane. The enzyme is dissolved in the organic phase, and the membrane is selected to have a cutoff pore size so that the hazardous small organic molecule, but not the enzyme, can pass through the membrane. The organic molecule diffuses into the organic compartment where the enzyme polymerizes the organic into a high molecular weight species which can subsequently by removed from the organic phase via settling or ultrafiltration. To demonstrate the feasibility of this process, 2 chlorophenol (2CP) will be used as the example organic solvent, and the polymerization will take place in perfluorodecalin with horseradish peroxidase as the enzyme catalyst. This catalysis requires free radicals which will be provided by hydrogen peroxide, itself generated by alcohol oxidation catalyzed by alcohol oxidase.

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in diversifying the STEM workforce through the development of highly competitive students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African-Americans, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Hispanic Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. The goal of the LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Activity is to increase the quantity and quality of STEM graduate students from underrepresented populations, with emphasis on PhD matriculation and completion. BD programs implemented in the nation's institutions of higher education contribute to addressing one of the objectives in NSF's 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, namely to "foster the growth of a more capable and diverse research workforce and advance the scientific and innovation skills of the Nation." The vision of this grant is to provide a national model to produce underrepresented scientists and engineers with doctoral degrees in STEM.

The performance site for this LSAMP BD Activity is the University of Idaho (UI), one of the 35 college and universities included in the All Nations Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (ANLSAMP). The UI has its home on the ancestral homelands of the Nez Perce people, and is in close proximity to the traditional homelands of numerous Federally recognized Tribes both in Idaho and in the Northwest. The uniquely positioned project will bring to the forefront Indigenous values and ways of knowing to support Tribal sovereignty and self-determination through developing and seeking to understand culturally responsive educational pathways in which Indigenous scholars can thrive, from the baccalaureate to doctoral degrees. The project will be grounded in the core values of Indigenous methodologies for research, training and mentoring and builds on the success of recruitment, mentoring, and community-building lessons learned from ANLSAMP and campus programs which have demonstrated success with Native American students. The program will solely support LSAMP Native American students, which are historically underrepresented in the STEM disciplines, by providing: 1) culturally responsive recruitment which is connected to existing LSAMP and other Native American focused undergraduate programs and involves the prospective students' whole community; 2) an intensive community-based orientation to graduate school; 3) support for students financially and through a culturally-responsive mentoring model; 4) activities designed to support strong mentee/mentor relationship; 5) monthly seminars and professional training and support for both students and their faculty mentors; and 6) culturally responsive research projects grounded in an understanding of Indigenous Knowledge and Western science. In due course, the model created and researched through the ANLSAMP BD at UI will lead to a significant increase in Native American PhDs entering academics, government, and the private sector.

This project is jointly funded by the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

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.