Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid recently announced the awardees from Wayne State's Research Enhancement Program, a nearly $2.4 million investment designed to strengthen the university's position as a nationally recognized research institution. It was also created to contribute towards developing research themes for the university that are consistent with an emphasis on its urban mission and global presence.

The program, now in its fifth year, was divided into four sub-programs this year. The sub-programs included:

• Funding for the Center for Urban and African American Health (completing a three-year commitment);
• Seed grants for projects in the Arts, creative arts research, or research that engages the arts in carrying out the university's urban research mission (the first year of a three-year commitment);
• Seed grants for research in the Social Sciences and Humanities that address issues affecting women and girls (the first year of a three-year commitment); and
• Seed grants for interdisciplinary research in Computational Biology, in part to support the university's progress toward developing an institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award proposal for the National Institutes of Health.

"Wayne State has great strengths in a number of research areas that ultimately will lead to stimulating our local economy through commercialization and job creation," said Hilary Ratner, vice president for Research. "This important investment in our faculty will support Michigan in advancing technology in computational biology, the arts, and knowledge involving women and girls in an urban environment. This investment is expected to lead to increased federal funding for Wayne State University and the state of Michigan, and the development of spin-out companies generated from university research," Ratner added.

All awarded projects are expected to lay the foundation for further study beyond the award end date and will result in external funding appropriate for the field of study. Each program will culminate in a national conference to be held on the WSU campus to share the research resulting from this program and ignite further collaboration and generation of ideas.

School of Medicine award recipients for the 2007 President's Research Enhancement Program are:

Computation Approaches to Identify Human Disease Genes - $177,669

Russell Finley, Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics
Farshad Fotouhi, Computer Science
Gerard Tromp, Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics
Hasan Jamil, Computer Science
Derek Wildman, Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics

This project will develop and use computational approaches to identify genes involved in human diseases, an important step in understanding pathogenic mechanisms and developing effective diagnostics, treatments and preventive measures.

A Computational Enzymology Initiative at Wayne State University - $231,475

Domenico Gatti, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Brian Edwards, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
H. Bernard Schlegel, Chemistry

This project will develop a strong research and educational program in Computational Enzymology, focused on the use of quantum mechanics, molecular mechanics methods and normal mode analysis to elucidate catalytic mechanism of enzymes starting from the knowledge of their atomic structures.

A Multidisciplinary Strategy to Identify Matrix Attachment Regions (MARS) - $217,259

Stephen Krawetz, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Institute for Scientific Computing
Randall Armant, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Anatomy and Cell Biology
Henry Heng, Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics
Shiyong Lu, Computer Science

This project will bring together wet-bench and in silico strategies and technologies to understand nuclear organization and genomic regulation.

A Computational Model of Human Epilepsy - $292,609

Jeffrey Loeb, Neurology, Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics
Aashit Shah, Neurology
Craig Watson, Neurology
Darren Fuerst, Neurology
Matthew Galloway, Psychiatry and Anesthesiology
Jiani Hu, Radiology
Sandeep Mittal, Neurosurgery
Shiyong Lu, Computer Science
Jing Hua, Computer Science
Farshad Fatouhi, Computer Science

This project will develop a bioinformatics workflow for human epilepsy, focusing on one of the most complex human diseases in the most complex human tissue the brain.

Engineering Computational Simulation of Membrane Fusion at the Atomic Level - $333,423

Charles Manke, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Bhanu Jena, Physiology
Jeffrey Potoff, Chemical Engineering and Material Science

This project aims to understand membrane fusion at the atomic level in real time that will provide a fundamental understanding of membrane fusion in cells, which will lead to an understanding of basic physiological processes such as neurotransmission, digestion and hormone secretion, and enable the design and development of biosensors, drugs and drug delivery systems.