RI-INBRE is extremely pleased to announce that three RI-INBRE supported investigators have recently been awarded NIH R15 grants. Theis includes Dr. Susan Meschwitz at Salve Regina University, Dr. Arnob Dutta at URI, and Dr. Kristin Scaplen at Bryant University. Notably, the awards at Bryant University and Salve Regina University are the first multiyear federally competitive NIH funded projects at these institutions. This landmark achievement speaks to the hard work of the investigators and their students and to the institutional commitment to establishing and maintaining a strong research culture. [read more]

 

Susan Meschwitz, Professor of Chemistry at Salve Regina University has been awarded a R15 Award (September 2024-August 2027; $387,466 total costs) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support a project entitled “Peptide cues in the environment regulate bacterial dormancy.” Dr.Meschwitz has previously been the recipient of multiple awards from RI-INBRE, including Pilot Project and PUI-Early Career Development (ECD) awards, both INBRE-COBRE and Women’s Health supplemental funding, and multiple student training awards.

Regarding her experiences as a RI-INBRE investigator, Dr. Meschwitz said: “The RI-INBRE program has been an invaluable resource to me over the past 10 years, providing me the opportunity to build a vibrant and productive hands-on student research training program, establish crucial collaborations with faculty at URI, and contributing to Salve’s overall research capacity and infrastructure. I am extremely grateful for the support I have received from RI-INBRE over the years, and with this new R15 award I look forward to continuing training the next generation of scientists.”

 

 

Arnob Dutta, Assistant Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at URI has been awarded a NIH R15 award (July, 2024 – June, 2027; $455,630 total costs) to support a project entitled “Regulation of SWI/SNF chromatin remodeler composition and function”. Dr. Dutta has previously received both Pilot award and a URI/Brown Early Career Development (UB-ECD) awards from RI-INBRE. Dr. Dutta said of RI-INBRE support: “These grants were pivotal in establishing my research program and setting the path for our investigation of human SWI/SNF complexes in cancers and tumor development. I am particularly glad that this NIH R15 grant not only helps me further research in the area of SWI/SNF driven cancers but provides for an unique opportunity for undergraduate research and experiential training which helps further the mission of URI as a preeminent undergraduate training institution.”

 

 

Kristin Scaplen, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Bryant University received a NIH R15 award (September 2024-August 2027; $431,918 total costs) entitled “Neural Circuitry Mechanisms Underlying Maladapative Reward Memories in Drosophila”. It was funded through the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Dr. Scaplen was previously funded by a RI-INBRE PUI Early Career Development (PUI-ECD) award.

Dr. Scaplen writes, “This is the first NIH funded grant that Bryant has acquired, and our success simply would not have been possible without the support of RI-INBRE. My RI-INBRE ECD award was pivotal to establishing an independent research program and collecting preliminary data for this grant. It was also transformative in advancing the sciences here at Bryant. Providing undergraduates with opportunities to engage in research has paved the way for them to pursue advanced degrees in the biomedical fields. This past year alone, four students and one research assistant from my lab, all funded by RI-INBRE, applied to either master’s or biomedical PhD programs and all were accepted.”