Winners of ACES+ 2016 Opportunity Awards announced

ACES+, the continuation of Academic Careers in Engineering & Science (ACES) program, announced the recipients of the 2016 ADVANCE Opportunity Grant Awards. Thirteen proposals representing academic disciplines—ranging from biostatistics to engineering to pharmacology—have been awarded a total of $43,019.43. "We're thrilled to have the support of President Barbara R. Snyder and Provost Bud Baeslack to continue these awards, and this year additional funding was provided from the Flora Stone Mather Center For Women funded by the Gloria Steinem event,” said Lynn Singer, deputy provost and vice president for academic affairs. ADVANCE Opportunity Grants are competitive annual awards selected by the Opportunity Grant Oversight Committee who reviewed a total of 19 proposals in 2016. Opportunity grants, first launched in 2004 under the NSF-ADVANCE grant ACES, provide small amounts of supplemental support of current or proposed projects and activities where funding is difficult to obtain through other sources. All Case Western Reserve University faculty members are eligible to apply. According to the Office of the Provost, the following is a list of 2016 ADVANCE Opportunity Grant Award winners and information about their projects:

David Clingingsmith, Department of Economics, Weatherhead School of Management

Award: $2,000 to research if colorblindness reduces or increases racial bias in distributional choice.

Jessica Cooke Bailey, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine

Award: $846.43 to deliver oral presentation on kidney disease genetics and the importance of diversity in precision medicine at the Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing (PSB) 2016 meeting.

Norah Feeny, Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences

Award: $3,500 for a transformational project to improve understanding of risk for posttraumatic stress disorder and identify biological and psychological targets for evidence based screening and prevention.

YeongAe Heo, Department of Civil Engineering, Case School of Engineering

Award: $5,000 for the initiation of a Joint Industry Project on a sensitivity study of scenario selection and Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation approach to probabilistic design load estimation for vapor gas cloud explosion with GexCon US office.

Chao-Pin Hsiao, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing

Award: $4,500 to obtain training needed for advanced knowledge and skills related to mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics.

Paul Iverson, Department of Classics, College of Arts and Sciences

Award: $5,000 for equipment to research the Epigraphical finds for the Lechaion Harbor & Settlement Project.

Jessica Kelley-Moore, Department of Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences

Award: $4,400 to continue as the representative from the United States on The Urban Aging Network international collaborative working on reducing old-age social exclusion and collaboration in research and policy.

Soumyajit Mandal, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Case School of Engineering

Award: $4,998 to purchase hardware to utilize the CWRU radio station for experiential learning and wireless systems research.

Pete Moore, Department of Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences

Award: $2,250 to fund field research critical to the completion of a book manuscript on war and the Hashemite Kingdom Jordan: State, Capital and Fiscal Underdevelopment.

Clara Pelfrey, Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine

Award: $3,250 for professional development in the 21st century evaluation methods for measuring the impact of research programs.

Damaris Punales-Alpizar, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, College of Arts and Sciences

Award: $2,000 to complete the publication of a volume of articles about the power and literature in revolutionary Cuba.

Shasto Sabo, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine

Award: $4,750 for research to understand the pathogenesis of autism: mutations in NR2B and dysregulation of dendrite development.

Catherine Stein, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Medicine

Award: $525 for travel to present and collaborate at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.