Momentum Funds Continue to Catalyze Discoveries Throughout the Pitt Community
Since 2019, the Pitt Momentum Funds have offered internal funding to faculty representing fields and disciplines across the University to catalyze high-quality research and creative endeavors.
Pitt Continues as a National Leader in NIH Funding
The University of Pittsburgh is a prominent research institution, as evidenced by its notable performance in securing funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Innovative Faculty Honored by the National Academy of Inventors
Leah Byrne, Department of Ophthalmology, and Greg M. Delgoffe, Department of Immunology, have been elected Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
Pitt Astrophysicist Comments on Black Hole Discovery
Rachel Bezanson, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, provided comments on a recent discovery of a black hole 40 million times as massive as the sun.
Cyber Accelerator Grant Helps Fuel Student Research
Amin Rahimian, assistant professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, is using his recent Pitt Cyber Accelerator Grant to teach students to create human-centered algorithms to solve real-world problems in the Pittsburgh region.
Research on Heart-Protein Link Draws Attention
New cardiology research led by Babak Razani, professor of cardiology in the School of Medicine, has been featured in national news media for research published in Nature Metabolism that links excessive dietary protein to heart disease.
Rory Cooper Elected to National Academy of Engineering
Rory Cooper, Distinguished Professor of Rehabilitation Science and Technology and FISA/PVA Professor of Rehabilitation Engineering, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences; assistant vice chancellor for research for STEM-health sciences collaborations; and founding director and VA Senior Research Career Scientist of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories, was among 114 new U.S. members elected to the National Academy of Engineering Class of 2024, considered among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.
Pitt Joins NSF Regional Energy Transformation Initiative
A team from the University of Pittsburgh, West Virginia University and Carnegie Mellon University was awarded a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation designed to encourage energy transformation at a regional level.
Pitt Joins Keystone Regional Collaborative to Advance Space Research
Pitt recently became part of the non-profit Keystone Space Collaborative, which supports the growing space industries in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia by bringing together representatives from academia, industry, business and government.
Two Prestigious Awards for Early Career Engineer
Nathan Youngblood, Swanson School of Engineering, received a $552,166 Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation and a $449,240 award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research through its Young Investigator Program.
Civil Engineer Wins NIH Trailblazer Award for AI-Designed Spinal Implants
Amir Alavi, Swanson School of Engineering, received a three-year Trailblazer Award from the National Institutes of Health to test the first “metamaterial” orthopedic implants, using his expertise in bridges and infrastructure to develop new materials that better treat spinal injury, repair and recovery.
Expert Comments on Nanoplastics in Bottled Water Study
A ground-breaking study from Columbia University published in January found hundreds of thousands of micro- and nanoparticles in water from plastic water bottles, roughly 10 to 100 times more than has been previously reported.
$5M Grant to Improve Training in Disability and Chronic Condition Care
A team led by Janet Freburger, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, will co-lead a five-year, $5 million grant to improve training in the care of disabilities and chronic conditions, joining the Brown University School of Public Health and Boston University School of Public Health, along with UPMC and other health systems.
GSPIA Faculty Member Named Inaugural Executive Director
Sera Linardi, associate professor of economics in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), has accepted a position as the inaugural Executive Director of Equity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and Optimization (EAAMO). Linardi, who is also affiliated with Pitt’s School of Computing and Information and the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, will build out funding streams for EAAMO's interdisciplinary, grassroots-led, and practice-focused approach to computing research.
