2012-2013 President's Faculty Grant Winners

A CBPR Approach to Capacity Building among Latino Migrant Workers to Prevent HIV

While the Latino community living in the United States has been disproportionately impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, prevention efforts targeting Latinos lag behind those targeting other...

A Comparative Study of Air Quality between South Florida and Southern California

This project aims to understand the similarities and difference in the air quality between South Florida (SoFl) and Southern California (SoCal), two coastal, urban areas with distinct geography,...

Age and Growth of Coastal Pelagic Tunas

Understanding the life history of a species is essential for comprehending its role within an ecosystem. However, many of the fish species of high ecological value have not been studied due to...

Assessing Male Batterers - Development of the Power and Control Inventory

This proposal describes a quasi-experimental cross-sectional clinical interview of domestic violence offenders' key personality characteristics. Lack of accurate assessment of the batterer is...

Attention Bias in Dental Anxiety: An Examination and Experimental Manipulation

The primary aim of this project is to examine a one-session attention training protocol for individuals with dental anxiety. Approximately 10-20% of adults have dental anxiety, which is associated...

Breast Epithelial Stem Cell Number and Potency in African American Women

5-year breast cancer survival among African American women is 74%, significantly lower than the 88% survival observed in women of European white ancestry. Although this difference has, in the past,...

Central Mechanisms of Angiotensin II in Hypertensive Rat Astrocytes

Hypertension (increased blood pressure) is an insidious pathological condition that leads to numerous diseases. There are many antihypertensive medications available; however, the number of cases...

Connectivity of Reef Fish Between Mangroves and Coral Reefs in Broward County, FL

Mangrove forests dominate the low-energy intertidal zones of river deltas, lagoons, estuaries, and coastal systems in the tropics, subtropics, and along some temperate coasts. This ecosystem cycles...

Crystal Engineering Strategy for Prevention of Hepatotoxicity

Drugs are an important cause of liver toxicity. More than 900 drugs, and natural products have been reported to cause liver toxicity, and drugs account for 20-40% of all instances of fulminant...

Demographic Monitoring of the Threatened Staghorn Coral, Acropora cervicornis

The staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, over the past three decades has undergone dramatic population decreases throughout the greater Caribbean. To formally initiate actions to conserve and...

Developing Diagnostics for Oil Exposure in Marine Sponges

The deleterious effects of oil and dispersants on marine sponges and their microbial symbionts have yet to be examined for ecotoxicological purposes. In this study, we will examine the impacts of...

Development and Assessment of Scenario Based Cyber Security Skills Index CSSI

Need/background: Cyber-security threats are causing substantial financial losses for individuals, organizations, and governments. Computer users' mistakes, due to poor cyber-security skills,...

Development of Radioligands for ACE-2 and the (Pro)Renin Receptor (P)RR

Recent discoveries of a (pro)renin receptor ((P)RR) and the monocarboxypeptidase angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) have revolutionized thinking about the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and...

Ecology of the "Living Fossil" Holopus rangii (Echinodermata: Crinoidea)

This project will investigate the ecology and biology of the "living fossil", Holopus rangii, one of only eight living species of Cyrtocrinida, an aberrant, enigmatic group that first...

Evaluation of a Holistic Program for Military Service Members and their Families

Approximately 2 million U.S. troops have been deployed to combat zones since September 2001 (Tan, 2009). Many soldiers and marines returning from Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation...

Evolution of Eusociality in Southern Hemisphere Marine Amphipod Crustacea

Eusociality, the apex of animal social organization is distinguished by: (i) overlapping generations, (ii) reproductive division of labor, (iii) cooperative care of young, and (iv) defense of the...

Examining the Mechanisms Involved in Stress Induced Working Memory Impairments

Experiencing stress is a common occurrence in daily life. The types of stressors humans encounter can vary greatly from naturalistic physical stressors to traumatic life stress. Stress has a...

Exercise Adherence and Virtual Reality Gaming for Older Adults at Risk for Falls

The phenomenon of interest is fall prevention exercise programs in older adults who live in the community. Evidence suggests that fall prevention exercise programs can help improve balance, thus...

Impact of Child Testimony on Adult Attachment and Quality of Relationships

Child involvement in court custody determinations has been drastically increasing within the past two decades. Previous research has not touched upon the long term effects on children who testify...

Injured Children Due to Urban Violence: Psychological and Familial Impact

Urban Violence is becoming increasingly prevalent and children are often unwitting victims of its effects. Little research has been conducted that has specifically examined the psychological...

Interaction between Simvastatin and Oncolytic VSV: Role of Lipid Rafts

Development of antiviral agents acting on host-defense mechanisms rather than on specific viral pathways is needed to achieve broad-antiviral action. Statins, the LDL-Cholesterol lowering drugs,...

In Vitro Evaluation of an Injectable Tissue-Engineered Nanocomposite Scaffold

Cleft palate is the second most common congenital malformation in the US. It is formed due to failure of closure of two palates of the skull that forms the hard palate. Reconstruction of bony part...

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Bullying in Early Childhood

Bullying is regarded as a serious problem that affects many children and is associated with significant psychosocial and academic adjustment difficulties for both the victims and perpetrators...

Molecular Mechanism of DNA Repair Deficiency in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a common disease, with nearly 200,000 newly diagnosed cases annually in the U.S., with a similar frequency in Europe. Because breast cancer can affect younger women, and these...

Neurocognitive Sequelae of HIV Infection in the Older Hispanic Adult

By 2015, more than 50% of HIV+ persons in the United States (US) will be 50 years of age and older. Hispanic* elders in the US are particularly affected, as their rate of HIV/AIDS is 5 times higher...

Paleoceanographic Productivity Reconstruction Using Marine Mammal Bone Collagen

Changes in primary ocean productivity play a key role in determining the structure and biomass yield of the North Pacific ecosystem. Are recent dramatic fluctuations in marine ecosystem...

Parasite Fauna and Parasite Release Potential of Atlantic Invasive Lionfishes

Two species of invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish, Pterois volitans and P. miles, are rapidly spreading throughout the greater Caribbean region and the U.S. southeastern Atlantic coast. One of the...

Past Sea Level & Climate Change during a Critical Time Period from Broward County

Of the many profound and contentious consequences Greenhouse warming poses, sea-level rise and large-scale coastal flooding will have the greatest impact on societies globally. There has been...

Regulation of Intracellular Trafficking in Skeletal Muscle of Type 2 Diabetics

Type 2 diabetes ranks among the top ten causes of death in most developed nations, and its worldwide incidence is rapidly increasing. Central to type 2 diabetes is loss of sensitivity of cells to...

Sexual Identity Development and Well-Being in Same Sex Attracted Older Adults

Although they are a growing segment of today's population, we know relatively little about the psychological well-being of older individuals who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB)....

Sleep Gene Polymorphisms and Psychological Health: A Translational Approach

A large and growing body of research suggests that sleep loss results in changes to psychological health such as dysregulated emotional behavior, cognitive impairment, and psychopathology....

Status of the North American River Otter in Big Cypress National Preserve

The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) is found throughout North America ranging from the coastal areas of Canada, the Atlantic States, the Pacific Northwest, the Gulf of Mexico, as...

The Effect of Sudden Onset Glare on Motion Detection and Shape Discrimination

Disability glare happens when a light source causes a diffusive intraocular light scattering, which reduces target visibility and results in functional impairment. It is important to understand how...

Thinking of Changing your Alcohol and Tobacco Use? There's an App for That!

Self-change is a well-documented phenomenon in the addiction field. Because many individuals with alcohol problems do not seek treatment due to stigma, cost, and their problems are not severe,...

Trophic Relationships within the Seabird Community of Southeast Florida

The development of the ecological models used for fisheries and wildlife management require input values for the main components of the ecosystem. While such ecological values exist for plankton, a...

Understanding the Reaction Mechanism of the Drug Metabolizing P450 Enzyme

Mammalian P450s are unusual enzymes capable of binding and modifying many different drugs mainly through hydroxylation. The P450 protein uses a heme group as its reactive site. The hydroxylation...

Using Intentional Play Based Experiences to Enhance Development

Research consistently demonstrates that well-designed outdoor play spaces offer considerable benefits to young children. Through free play and active exploration during playground time, children...