Olivia DrakeThe Wesleyan University Press and the Center for the Arts have received a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants in December 2008. Wesleyan University Press received a $35,000 grant to help publish the work of the following poets: Kazim Ali, Rae Armantrout, Adrian Blevins, Kamau Brathwaite, Brenda Hillman, Ed Roberson, Afzal Ahmed Syed, Roberto Tejada and Tan Lin. The Center for the Arts received $10,000 grant to help fund the "Breaking Ground Dance Series and DanceMasters Weekend.
Gloster Aaron, assistant professor of biology, assistant professor of neuroscience and behavior, received a $50,000 grant from The Epilepsy Foundation on Dec. 6 titled "STEP Regulation of Epileptogensis in the Hippocampus." Drugs prescribed to combat epilepsy can yield unwanted side effects. One reason that drugs have side effects is that they can affect almost every neuron in the brain, regardless of their roles in spreading seizures. Aaron will research ways target only the neurons that may be most important in stopping the spread of seizures. Previous work has shown that a certain protein, STEP, is found in select groups of…
Martha Gilmore, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, received a grant from NASA on Nov. 18. The award, worth $212,000, will fund a study titled "Mapping and Structure Analysis of Fold Belts in Tessera Terrain, Venus." Gilmore is conducting the study with Phil Resor, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences.
The Wesleyan-Middletown Area School Collaboration received a grant from Nellie May in September 2008. The grant will support the program during the 2008-09 academic year. The collaborative programs are run through Wesleyan's Office of Community Relations.
The Green Street Arts Center received a grant worth $12,500 from the Bissell Foundation in support of the GSAC AfterSchool Program; a $500 award for the Summer Video Project from the Middletown Commission on the Arts & Cultural Activities; and a $200 award from the New England Foundation for the Arts to support the fall 2008 GSAC Latino Series.
Barry Chernoff, professor of biology, Robert Schumann Professor of Environmental Studies, director of the environmental studies certificate program, received a $6,950 renewal award to support his continued research of Fish and Benthic Invertebrate Assemblages-Zemko Dam from the Nature Conservancy.
Masami Imai, assistant professor of economics, assistant professor of East Asian Studies, received a research grant from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Center for Financial Research for a proposal titled "Real Effects of Finance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Japan" on April 30.
Janice Naegele, professor of neuroscience and behavior, professor and chair of biology, is the co-recipient of a grant from the Fragile X Foundation worth $69,450 for the "Role of STEP in Fragile X Syndrome." The grant was awarded May 1. Fragile X is the most common inherited cause of mental impairment and the most common known cause of autism. About 25 percent of children with Fragile X have seizures and epilepsy. The grant will support research on the causes and potential treatments for epilepsy in a mouse model of Fragile X. In addition to the grant, Professor Naegele and her…
Barbara Juhasz, assistant professor of psychology, received a contract worth $19,818 to examine eye movements of older adults during webpage viewing.
David Beveridge, the University Professor of the Sciences and Mathematics, professor of chemistry, received a National Institutes of Health grant renewal to support the Molecular Biophysics Training Program. Wesleyan is the only liberal arts college to have such a program. The grant will support the program for an additional three years.
Ann Burke, associate professor of biology, and Sonia Sultan, professor of biology, received individual grants from the Eppley foundation for research. The Eppley Foundation for Research supports advanced post-doctoral work in the physical and biological sciences, computer science, social sciences, and educational programs. Burke's grant, worth $32,442, will help to support her postdoctoral research fellow, Rebecca Shearman. Sultan's grant, worth $25,000, provides support while she writes a book.