Faculty Pilot Projects

Faculty Pilot Project Awards of up to $30,000 for a maximum of 2 years were available for faculty at UAS, UAF and our partner campuses: Ilisaġvik College, Alaska Pacific University, Salish Kootenai College, Dine College and Fort Lewis College. Eligible faculty must have had a desire to conduct biomedically relevant research designed to provide undergraduate research and mentored opportunities for undergraduate students. Mentoring assistance and resources were provided. There are no current awards after June 30, 2024. Read more about the FPPs who were awarded in BLaST.

Collins

Fort Lewis College

Principal Investigator: Collins, William
Title: Natural Products as Antivirals
Abstract: North American honey bee populations are in a state of instability, and the corresponding beekeeping profession is in economic distress. While this is believed to be a multifaceted problem, the pest-pathogen-host relationship among Varroa destructor (an ectoparsitic mite), their accompanying viruses, and the honey bees they infect is understood to be a major cause of the decline of honey bee health globally.
Dates of Award: 07/01/2022-06/30/2024
Institution: Fort Lewis College
Email: collins_w@fortlewis.edu
Faculty Page

Clinton

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Principal Investigator: Clinton, Morag
Title: Clinical Health Indicators in Fish
Abstract: Ichthyophonus infection is an important cause of disease in Yukon Chinook, but current methodologies in screening require killing fish. Fisheries managers perform this sampling to understand the health status of fish and monitor infectious challenges within the river system. However, Yukon Chinook are a valuable subsistence stock and important to the cultural identity of native Alaskans, making studies that require their removal from an already reduced population undesirable. This research seeks to explore non-destructive indicators of Ichthyophonus infection in salmon towards the goal of non-lethal disease surveillance approaches on the Yukon river.
Dates of Award: 07/01/2022-06/30/2024
Institution: University of Alaska Fairbanks
Email: mclinton2@alaska.edu
Faculty Page

schuette

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Principal Investigator: Schuette, Ursel
Title: Characterization of jost immunity response in trembling aspen to a fungal pathogen causing widespred mortality across the boreal forest
Abstract: Alaskans are experiencing changes in their environment due to climate change including disease spread and virulence of plant pathogens. A fungal pathogen develops an aggressive running canker causing widespread mortality in aspen in the boreal forest. The continued loss of aspen will have wide ranging implications for ecosystem health and social-ecological dynamiccs essential to the Alaskan subsistence lifestyle. We characterize host immune defense mechanisms in trembling aspen to N. populina.. Using transcriptomics we determine differences in gene expression among infected tissue and healthy tissue in trembling aspen with focus on genes involved in immune response and environmental stress response.
Dates of Award: 07/01/2022-06/30/2024
Institution: University of Alaska Fairbanks
Email:uschuette@alaska.edu
Faculty Page

Harley

University of Alaska Southeast

Principal Investigator: Harley, John
Title: Drivers of variation in paralytic shellfish toxins in butter clams
Abstract: John's current research interests include environmental drivers of paralytic shellfish poisoning in Southeast Alaska. In addition to his research John spends a lot of time in the outdoors paddling, climbing, and forgetting maps. He recently was appointed to University of Alaska Southeast and looks forward to being lost in new places.
Dates of Award: 07/01/2022-06/30/2024
Institution: University of Alaska Southeast-Juneau Campus
Email: john.harley@alaska.edu
Faculty Page

Past Faculty Pilot Projects

Principal Investigator	Title	Dates of Award	Institution	Email
2021-2023 GY8-9
Drew, Elaine	Developing an integrative explanatory model of prenatal care in Interior Alaska	07/01/2021-06/30/2023	University of Alaska Fairbanks	emdrew@alaska.edu
Harms, Tamara	Geohealth: rock-derived nitrogen as a potential contaminant in drinking water	07/01/2021-06/30/2023	University of Alaska Fairbanks	tkharms@alaska.edu
Jessing, Jeff	Optimization and Validation of a Novel Lung-on-a-chip (LOAC) microfluidicdevice	07/01/2021-06/30/2023	Fort Lewis College	jrjessing@fortlewis.edu
Kulesza, Caroline	Transcriptional Regulation in HCMV Models of Latency	07/01/2021-06/30/2023	Fort Lewis College	cakulesza@fortlewis.edu
Muscarella, Mario	The Alaska Wild Berry Microbiome Project	07/01/2021-06/30/2023	University of Alaska Fairbanks	memuscarella@alaska.edu
Philip, Jacques	Getting through a Pandemic: The Role of Culture and Traditions in a Rural Alaska Native Community	07/01/2021-06/30/2023	University of Alaska Fairbanks
Thompson, Melissa (Missy)	The Role of Plantar Sensory Feedback in Plantar Pressure and Plantar Pressure Variability	07/01/2021-06/30/2023	Fort Lewis College	mathompson@fortlewis.edu
2020-2022 GY7-8
Badiei, Alireza	Cross talk between hydrogen sulfide and Vitamin D in diabetes	07/01/2020-6/30/2022	University of Alaska Fairbanks	abadiei@alaska.edu
Blake, David	Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Drug Candidates to treat Leishmaniasis	07/01/2020-6/30/2022	Fort Lewis College	blake_d@fortlewis.edu
Drown, Devin	Mentored Undergraduates Decoding Pathogens In Permafrost	07/01/2020-6/30/2022	University of Alaska Fairbanks	dmdrown@alaska.edu
Leahy, Patrick	Development of a Quality of Motion-Optimized Cerviccal Intervertrbral Replacement Disc	07/01/2020-6/30/2022	Fort Lewis College	pdleahy@fortlewis.edu
Lowell, Jennifer	Characterizing antimicrobial resistance in the Animas River Watershed using a meagenomic approach	07/01/2020-6/30/2022	Fort Lewis College	jllowell@fortlewis.edu
McFarlane, Jeffrey	Characterization of polyamine biosynthetic enzymes from human gut microbes associated with colon and pancreatic cancer	07/01/2020-6/30/2022	Fort Lewis College	jsmcfarlane@fortlewis.edu
Meister, Konrad	High-Yield Purification of Antifreeze Glycoproteins For Red Blood Cell Cryopreservation	07/01/2020-6/30/2022	University of Alaska Southeast - Juneau	kkmeister@alaska.edu
Morris, Aimee	Synthesis and Characterization of Cobalt(IIi) Complexes with Monodentate N-Heterocyclic Ligands as Potential Anti-Cancer Prodrugs	07/01/2020-6/30/2022	Fort Lewis College	ammorris@fortlewis.edu
Skaltsas, Demetra	Developing Diné student Biomedical Research Literacy through Bioprospecting of Endophytic Fungal for Potential Bioactive Metabolites on the Navajo Nation.	07/01/2020-6/30/2022	Dine College	demetraskaltsas@gmail.com
Westbroek, Wendy	Gut Microbiome Analysis of Participants in a Healthy Diets Community Engagement Intervention on the Flathead Reservation	07/01/2020-6/30/2022	Salish Kootenai College	n/a
2018-2020 GY5-6
Bergstrom, Carolyn	Bioelectrical impedance analysis and the development of a predictive model of the health and energetic status of estuarine fishes	07/01/2018-06/30/2020	University of Alaska Southeast - Juneau	cabergstrom@alaska.edu
Bersamin, Andrea	Tundra to table: Instruments and education pilot testing	07/01/2018-06/30/2020	University of Alaska Fairbanks	abersamin@alaska.edu
Leigh, Mary Beth	Phytoremediation of diesel-contaminated soil in rural Alaska	07/01/2018-06/30/2020	University of Alaska Fairbanks	mbleigh@alaska.edu
Mao, Jingqiu	Characterizing transition metals in ambient PM2.5: A link to air pollution and human health	07/01/2018-06/30/2020	University of Alaska Fairbanks	jmao2@alaska.edu
Pearson, Heidi	Innovations in biologger technology to assess ocean health	07/01/2018-06/30/2020	University of Alaska Southeast - Juneau	hcpearson@alaska.edu
Tallmon, David	Rural Undergraduate Research and Learning using Salmon Adaptation Genomics and Experiments (RURALSAGE)	07/01/2018-06/30/2020	University of Alaska Southeast - Juneau	datallmon@alaska.edu
Weltzin, Maegan	Rabies glycoprotein interacts with neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in a subtype-selective manner	07/01/2018-06/30/2020	University of Alaska Fairbanks	mmweltzin@alaska.edu
Zhang, Lei	Porous metal–organic-framework carrier as a potential platform for drug	07/01/2018-06/30/2020	University of Alaska Fairbanks	lzhang14@alaska.edu
2017-2019 GY4-5
Bowers, Angela	Nutritional quality of Macrocystis pyrifera at the northern end of its range	07/27/2017– 06/30/2019	University of Alaska Southeast - Sitka	fisheggenator@gmail.com
Coker, Robert	Influence of SkiKu on Resilience in Alaska Native Youth	08/04/2017-06/30/2018	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Biology	rcoker@alaska.edu
Drown, Devin	Mobilizing Alaskan Genomics with Nanopore Sequencing	07/01/2017-06/30/2019	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Institute of Arctic Biology	dmdrown@alaska.edu
Green, Carie	Measuring emotions in children's environmental identity development	07/01/2017-06/30/2019	University of Alaska Fairbanks - School of Education	cjgreen2@alaska.edu
Hansen, Cristina	Surveillance for and characterization of Leptospirosis in Alaskan caribou and reindeer	07/01/2017-06/30/2019	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Dept of Veterinary Medicine	cmhansen@alaska.edu
Kuhn, Thomas	HIV-1 gp120-induced actin rod formation: a novel mechanism for HIV associated neurodegeneration	07/01/2017-06/30/2019	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Chemistry	tbkuhn@alaska.edu
Lopez, Andres	Investigating the roles of Arctic lamprey populations in Alaskan aquatic ecosystems	07/01/2017-06/30/2019	University of Alaska Fairbanks - College of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences	jalopez2@alaska.edu
Lupinek, Joshua	Virtual reality fitness: A rural Alaskan health examination	07/01/2017-06/30/2019	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Business	lupinekj@montclair.edu
O'Hara, Todd	Assessment of diets and Hg exposure in Alaskans	07/01/2017-06/30/2019	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Dept of Veterinary Medicine	tmohara@alaska.edu
Oxtoby, Laura	Unalakleet River salmon: Investigating linkages between nutrient and life cycles	08/04/2017-06/30/2019	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Space Physics	leoxtoby@alaska.edu
Philip, Jacques	Stories and images of community strength from a youth dog mushing program in rural Alaska	08/01/2017-06/30/2019	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Institute of Arctic Biology
2016-2018 GY3-4
Bult-Ito, Abel	CREB-mediated modulation of compulsive behaviors in spontaneous OCD mouse model	05/06/2016-05/06/2018	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Biology	abultito@alaska.edu
Dunlap, Kriya	Exploring traditional ecological knowledge on the Yukon River	05/06/2016-05/06/2018	University of Alaska Fairbanks	kldunlap@alaska.edu
Eckert, Ginny	Clams as subsistence foods in rural communities in Southeast Alaska	05/06/2016-05/06/2018	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Fisheries & Ocean Sciences	gleckert@alaska.edu
Guerard, Jennifer	Health impact of toxic metal(loid)s from coal fly ash leaching into boreal waters	05/06/2016-05/06/2018	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Chemistry	jguerard@alaska.edu
Hoferkamp, Lisa	In situ studies of halogenated contaminant biotransformation in forage fish	05/06/2016-05/06/2018	University of Alaska Southeast - Juneau Campus	lahoferkamp@alaska.edu
Podlutsky, Andrej	DNA repair and virus infection	05/06/2016-05/06/2018	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Biology
Tamone, Sherry	An insulin-like peptide that functions in sexual differentiation	05/06/2016-05/06/2018	University of Alaska Southeast - Juneau	sltamone@alaska.edu
2015-2016 GY2
Edmonds, Brian	Functional properties of novel modulators of human nicotinic receptors	04/27/2015-06/30/2016	University of Alaska Fairbanks	bwedmonds@alaska.edu
Ihl, Claudia	Mentoring rural students to investigate common concerns regarding subsistence species	04/27/2015-06/30/2016	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Northwest	cihl@alaska.edu
Nicholas-Figueroa, Linda	Arctic microbes: Population abundance and the effects of a warming environment	04/27/2015-06/30/2016	Illisagvik Tribal College	linda.nicholas-figueroa@ilisagvik.edu
Seitz, Andy	Alaskan subsistence food: Characterizing runs of salmon in the Yukon River	04/27/2015-06/30/2016	University of Alaska Fairbanks	acseitz@alaska.edu
Pearson, Heidi	Subsistence health and kelp forest dynamics in Southeast Alaska	04/27/2015-06/30/2016	University of Alaska Southeast - Juneau	hcpearson@alaska.edu
Pandya, Anshul	Neonicotinoid-induced toxicity and risk of Autism-like symptoms in mice	04/27/2015-06/30/2016	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Chukchi/IAC	aapandya@alaska.edu
Douglas, Hector	Measuring unique pigments to assess animal health	04/27/2015-06/30/2016	University of Alaska Fairbanks - Kuskokwim	hddouglas@gmail.com