|
April 12, 2008
CSI Researcher
Receives $179K
Grant From U.S.
National
Academies
Shuiqin Zhou,
Professor of
Chemistry at the
College of
Staten Island,
has received a
three-year grant
from the U.S.
National
Academies, which
comprise the
National Academy
of Sciences, the
National Academy
of Engineering,
the Institute of
Medicine, and
the National
Research
Council.
The grant, in
the amount of
$178,645 and
part of the
Pakistan-U.S.
Science and
Technology
Cooperative
Program, will
help to fund
Zhou’s research,
“Synthesis and
Characterization
of Smart Polymer
Microgels for
Biomedical
Applications,”
which she is
conducting with
Dr. Muhammad
Siddiq of
Pakistan’s
Quaid-i-Azam
University.
In response to
her receipt of
the award, Zhou
notes, “I’m very
excited,”
adding, “This
program tries to
strengthen
cooperation and
linkages between
scientists from
Pakistan and the
U.S.”
Zhou explains
that smart
polymer
microgels are
useful in
biomedical
applications
because they can
be very
responsive to
environmental
stimuli such as
changes in
temperature, pH,
and glucose
concentration.
It’s this last
change, in
glucose level,
that allows
these polymers,
according to
Zhou, to be
potentially
useful in the
early detection
of diabetes and
“the treatment
of the disease
through the
self-regulation
of insulin
delivery.”
Besides funding
the research,
the grant money
will allow Zhou
to hire a
research
assistant and it
will give a
Pakistani
student the
opportunity to
receive hands-on
research
experience with
Zhou in her
laboratory on
the CSI campus.
From College of
Staten Island News
|
