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2016-2017 President's Faculty Grant Winners

Activity Trackers and Health Education to Improve Employee Health Indices

Overweight and obesity are huge public health issues in the United States.  Sedentary lifestyles have been associated with increased risk of overweight and obesity. Efforts to promote more...

Angiotensin II-mediated Signaling in Astrocytes: Role of Beta-arrestins

Hypertension is the major risk factor that plays a crucial role in damaging vital organs leading to cardiovascular diseases. It has been demonstrated that the brain renin-angiotensin system (RAS)...

Aquaculture of Giant Clams Tridacna Squamosa: the role of the symbiont

Fluted giant clams Tridacna squamosa are highly priced and in high demand in the ornamental aquarium trade across the United States. As a result, the natural stocks of this species in the South...

Assessing the Efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Older Adults

Mindfulness-based interventions use meditation (and other skills-based learning exercises) to help individuals become more aware of their current physiological and emotional experiences. A large...

Autophagy-Mediated Responses to Inflammation

Heart diseases are the leading cause of death among people in industrialized nations, and once a myocardial infarction occurs, no standard treatments exist to reverse the injury. Therefore, we and...

Biomarkers of Persistent Effects of Cumulative Exposure in Gulf War Veterans

Need/background Veterans who served in the Gulf war report debilitating health symptoms 2-3x more frequently than military personnel who were not deployed to the Gulf. These symptoms are...

Can DNA Repair Capacity in Breast Cancer Stem Cells Predict Recurrence?

Cancer stem cells are a subset of tumor cells that are believed to be the origin of metastasis. They are considered by many to be the newest target in the development of drugs for cancer. If we...

Development of a Novel Angiotensin Receptor Blocker for Heart Failure Therapy

Heart failure (HF) represents one of the most significant health problems worldwide and new and innovative treatments are urgently needed. Aldosterone is one of a number of hormones with...

Effects of Oxidative Stress on Microtubules and its Role in Tauopathic Disease

Oxidative stress is a pathological hallmark of tauopathic disorders; diseases that can change the microtubule associated protein tau (MAPT) into forms that disrupt nerve impulses, including...

Effects of Soft Information in Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending is the debt-based subset of crowdfunding, which is an open call through the Internet for the provision of financial resources by multiple investors to fund products,...

Examining the Stress-Gut Microbiome Interface: A Systems Biology Approach

Unique, often diverse symbiotic microbial communities are harbored on and within most eukaryotic host organisms, including humans as “microbiomes”. The human gut microbiome...

Feasibility of Adapting RUBI Parent Training Manual to ASD Outpatient Clinic

The primary purpose of the proposed study is to evaluate the feasibility of adapting an experimentally validated manual-based parent training program to an applied behavior analysis (ABA)...

Hybrid Antibacterial Agents

We are currently witnessing a dramatic and alarming increase in the incidence of bacterial infections resistant to most common antibiotics. This may also be attributed to the overuse of...

Identification of Bacterial Type III Secretion System Inhibitors Produced by Soil Bacteria

Overuse of antibiotics has led to the emergence of “super bugs”, posing a threat to global health. Commonly used antibiotics are becoming less effective; therefore, the...

Map and Characterize Large Dense Staghorn Coral Patches in SE FL

The primary objective of this project is to supplement a planned study that characterizes previously known and newly identified large and dense patches of threatened staghorn coral, Acropora...

Mechanisms Underlying the Cognitive Protective Effects of Exercise

Women who undergo bilateral oophorectomy before menopause have increased risk of developing cognitive impairment and dementia than age-matched women, with greater risk the younger the age at...

Multi-Decadal Assessment of Heavy Metals in Subsistence-Harvested Alaska Pinniped

The coastal, indigenous communities around Alaska have subsisted on marine organisms for generations, often focusing on large apex predators such as seals, sea lions, and whales. Three species of...

Novel Cell Death Mechanisms in Autism

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder whose prevalence is now increasing at an alarming rate. There are believed to be a combination of factors that cause autism; oxidative stress is one factor...

Orofacial Stem Cells for Craniofacial Bone Regeneration

Bone regeneration in craniofacial region represents a substantial component in clinical practices with ~15 million fractures being treated in the United States alone. Approximately,...

Potential effects of the DWH oil spill on lipid content of Crassostrea virginica

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill which leaked an estimated 685,000 tons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) between April and August 2010, is the largest accidental spill in maritime...

South American Fur Seals (Arctocephalus australis) as Archivist of ENSO Effects

Environmental fluctuations in the eastern Pacific Ocean are reflected in the tissues of one of its most vulnerable apex predators, the South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis). These seals...

Targeted Aerobic Rehabilitation in ME/CFS Using a Novel Metabolic Testing Model

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a challenging chronic disease, characterized by persistent disabling fatigue, accompanied by post-exertional malaise, impaired memory...

The Firefighter Assessment of Stress Test (FFAST)

Over the past few years, there has been increased awareness of the negative effects of long-term unmanaged stress on firefighters, due to the rise in health concerns and deaths. However, there is...

Walk 'N Roll: A pilot physical activity program for people with a disability

It is a fact that people with disabilities have poorer overall health, less access to healthcare and lead sedentary lifestyles (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2014). Adults with developmental...

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