Faculty research seed money committee presents awards The Faculty Research Seed Money Fund, a grassroots faculty initiative at the University, was established in fiscal year 1999-2000 to help faculty members gather data to strengthen their research proposals to competitive funding organizations such as the National Science Foundation and others. Forty-seven research seed money proposals were received in March 2007. The proposals were initially reviewed by eight disciplinary area subcommittees. The subcommittees ranked the proposals based on academic strength and the likelihood that information gathered through the projects would make the researchers more competitive in the national funding arena. Attracting more national funding to the University and increasing the level of faculty research at UND are overarching goals of the seed money program. The subcommittees submitted recommendations to the Faculty Research Seed Money Committee which made awards in the amount of $335,580 at its meeting April 26 as follows: Basic Medical Sciences * James Foster (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), “Palmitoylation, Trafficking and Regulation of the Dopamine Transporter,” $10,570; * Hongwei Gao (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), “Defining the Role of STAT3 Transcription Factor in IgG Immune Complex-Induced Lung Injury,” $40,000; *Mikhail Golovki (Pharmacology, Physiology and Therapeutics), “A-Synuclein Effect on Astrocyte Cholesterol Efflux,” $7,870; Behavioral Sciences * Dmitri Poltavski (Center for Health Promotion), “Self-Report and Psychophysiological Gender Differences in Smokers Treated with Three Doses of Transdermal Nicotine in Response to Stress and Smoking Cues,” $18,030; * Richard Van Eck and Frank Bowman (Teaching and Learning; Chemical Engineering), “Promoting STEM Inquiry and Problem-Based Learning in Middle and High School Students: Design, Development and Evaluation of a Standards-Based Air Pollution Science Instructional Simulation Game Prototype,” $40,000; Engineering and Technology * Timothy Bigelow (Electrical Engineering), “Pressure Threshold for Vascular Damage from Contrast Agent Excitation in the Developing Fetus,” $28,440; * Matthew Cavalli (Mechanical Engineering), “Experimental Data to Support Diffusion Modeling of High-Temperature Alloys,” $20,000; * Brian Tande (Chemical Engineering), “Polymer Electrolyte Membranes from Highly Branched Polymers,” $10,000; Health Sciences * Mary Amundson (Center for Rural Health), “Non-Physician Clinician Workforce Study,” $30,000; Humanities and Fine Arts * Gaye Burgess (Theatre Arts), “2008 New York Showcase,” $16,000; * William Caraher (History), "Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project,” $8,000; * Kimberly Porter (History), “An Oral History Program at UND: A Validity Study,” $2,000; Mathematics and Natural Sciences * Frank Cuozzo (Anthropology), “Using Primate Dental Ecology to Test the Evolutionary Disequilibrium Hypothesis in Madagascar,” $24,180; * G. Kanishka Marasinghe (Physics), “Synthesis and Characterization of Novel High-Temperature Superconductors Using High Pressure/High Temperature Techniques,” $26,000; * Vasyl Tkach (Biology), “Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Life Cycles in the Cestode Order Cyclophyllidea,” $22,500; Professional Disciplines * Yanjun Zuo (Information Systems and Business Education), “Survivability Strategies and Techniques for Mission Critical Information Systems,” $8,500; Social Sciences *Abdallah Badahdah (Sociology), “Accessing HIV Care and Adherence to HIV Medication Among Women with AIDS in Jordan,” $23,490. -- Barry I. Milavetz, Associate Vice President for Research, Research Development and Compliance, barrymilavetz@mail.und.nodak.edu, 701/777-4278