First Recipients of University of South Alabama Research and Scholarly Development Grants Honored

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Posted on May 22, 2015

Alice Jackson

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The first faculty recipients of the University’s Research and Scholarly Development Grant Program (RSDG) were honored recently during the 2015 Research Forum held by the Office of Research and Economic Development Faculty Development Program.

The internal program was created to provide both tenure and non-tenure track faculty with funding to help build their research and scholarly careers. The money provides seed funding for new research projects and resources for planning and executing a major grant submission. The RSDG program is intended to stimulate interactions across disciplines, departments, schools, colleges and programs. The funding is designed to facilitate preliminary data collection or planning efforts to assist in the development of competitive proposals that will attract external funding. Each RSDG program proposal is required to demonstrate how funding for the project will lead directly to external funding requests. Awards are capped at $25,000.

“The ORED Faculty Development Programs have been instrumental in catalyzing research and scholarly activity; even in these early stages the impact of the awards is extremely impressive,” said Dr. Kimberly Littlefield, assistant vice president for research development and learning. “We thank the faculty applicants and reviewers who have participated in the program thus far and encourage faculty to apply to these programs for support.”

The 2014 RSDG recipients and their research projects:

• Dr. Ryan Littlefield, assistant professor of biology, “Investigating the Role of Myosin on Actin Filament Length Regulation in C. Elegans.” 
• Dr. Grant Glover, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, “Modification of Fibers Using Reactive Dye Chemistry.”
• Dr. Rob Barrington, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, “Tracking Influenza-Mediated Immune Responses in the Lung.”
• Dr. Lawrence LeClaire, assistant professor of biochemistry, “Invasive Aspergillosis and the Actin Cytoskeleton: Pathways for Targeting the ‘Achilles Heel’ of Fungus Growth.”

To learn more about the ORED Faculty Development Grant Program, visit the web site for the Office of Research and Economic Development. 

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