Pitt faculty receive awards to explore next-generation technologies

National Science Foundation CAREER Awards support emerging research in harvesting neural stem cells, analyzing DNA, developing sustainable power, creating better electronics and building smarter computers

PITTSBURGH—Communities powered by clean, local-source energy. Faster, more reliable technologies and computers with a better grasp of human language. Medical care tailored to your DNA, or neural stem cells readily available for treating neurological diseases and injuries.

Five University of Pittsburgh faculty members will advance the futures of energy, health, and technology as part of Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards they received this year from the National Science Foundation. The awards fund junior faculty members’ emerging careers and include an education component that encourages outreach to women and underrepresented minorities.

Four recipients teach in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering: Tracy Cui, an assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering; Di Gao, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering; Lisa Weiland, an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science; and Jun Yang, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Rebecca Hwa, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science in Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences, also received an award.

Pitt is among 22 schools to receive five or more of the nearly 400 CAREER awards granted so far this year—the award cycle ends Sept. 30. Matching Pitt with five awards are Cornell University, Harvard, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the University of Missouri at Columbia, and the University of Utah. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign tops the list with 16.

A description of each Pitt recipient’s research is below.

Tracy Cui will develop a platform for better understanding how to harvest neural stem cells for therapeutic use for neurological diseases and injuries. Her research involves creating a surface of electroactive polymers on which neural stem cells can be directed to become functional neurons. This technology would allow scientists to answer the predominant questions regarding neural stem cell growth and neural tissue regeneration, namely, if stem cells can become functional cells on an engineered surface and, if so, under what circumstances.