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.
Student Recreates “Awe-Inspiring” Marie Antoinette Dress with the Help of Honor College Grant
Maya Jones, a 20-year-old Pitt junior who is studying French culture, history and theatrical costume design was able to use a Creative Arts Fellowship grant of $4,000 from the David C. Fredrick Honors College to research and design a ball dress in the style of Marie Antoinette.
Graham Hatfull Discusses Phages, Superbugs
Graham Hatfull, the Eberly Family Professor of Biotechnology, gave CNN's Sanjay Gupta an inside look at the Hatfull lab which stores 23,000 bacteria phages that could potentially be used to treat antibiotic resistant infections.
Distinguished Faculty Elected to National Academy of Inventors
Since its inaugural class of fellows in 2015, the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) fellows program has awarded 12 Pitt faculty for facilitating innovative discoveries and stimulating economic activity.
Water Collaboratory Report Links Industrial Development and Pollution
Daniel Bain, associate professor of geology and environmental engineering, and a team at the Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory, released findings from a study investigating the rivers and tributaries in and around the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers.School of Social Work Appoints Associate Dean for Research
Jaime Booth, associate professor in the School of Social Work, has been named associate dean for research in the school.
Jamelle Price Selected to Participate in Appalachian Leadership Prog
Jamelle Price, external relations manager of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, joins 39 fellows from 423 counties and 13 states across the Appalachian Region in the 2023-2024 Class of the Appalachian Leadership Institute, a federal leadership development program focused on economic development in the Appalachian region. The nine-month program will conclude with a graduation in Washington, D.C., in July 2024.
SVCR Welcomes Five New Associate Deans for Research
This fall, five schools at Pitt appointed new associate deans for research (ADRs). The ADR committee meets with the senior vice chancellor for research regularly to discuss and review policies and procedures related to research, large research initiatives and programs, and ideas and insights from their respective schools to contribute to institutional research strategies.
“The ADRs as a group are the key connectors between Pitt Research and the wide and vibrant universe of research across all of the schools at Pitt,” says Rob A. Rutenbar, senior vice chancellor for research.