the Appalachian Freshwater Initiative (AFI) and Gravitational
Wave Astrophysics (GW). The goal of AFI is for the EPSCoR
grant team to conduct research to manage the risks of environ-
mental contamination and ensure a future clean water supply
in West Virginia and across the nation while the GW program
will use local resources to build a nationally and internationally
competitive gravitational waves detection program.
“The value of the EPSCoR-RII project, particularly the
Appalachian Freshwater Initiative, is that it presents very clearly
defined problems of great importance to society,” says Dr. Michael
Norton, a chemistry professor at Marshall University.
According to Norton, the two fundamental missions of any
university are developing new knowledge and contributing to the
next generation. It is when students address difficult problems
with creativity that they transform into scientists.
“Our research thrust is focused on the development of
nanoscale sensing systems with densities only rivaled by the
sensing systems of biological origin,” he explains. “We use
DNA as information-encoded organizing material. Because I
know this is very difficult, I also know it has the potential to
be transformative and that students working in this project
domain will be prepared to face other difficult tasks, which
will, in all likelihood, not be in the domain of sensors so small
they are invisible. We win as a research group, as an institution
and as a state when we recruit and nurture excellence.”
Research Challenge Grant
Federal funding is not the only source of research grant
money available. The Research Challenge Fund, state-funded
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
grant money supporting all WVSR programs outside of
EPSCoR, also offers opportunities. The largest of those
opportunities is the RCG, a STEM-focused grant for ambi-
tious research projects that may lead to research centers and
economic development. These projects assist their institution
in its ability to successfully compete for external funding on
a national and international basis by providing incentives to
significantly increase capacity. In 2018, WVSR awarded three
West Virginia University (WVU) faculty members nearly $4
million in RCG funding. One of those researchers, Dr. Heath
Damron, assistant professor of microbiology, immunology and
cell biology, created the Vaccine Development Center within
the WVU Health Sciences Center.
“The Research Challenge Fund has energized our efforts to
develop new vaccines, train scientists and interface with in-
dustry partners,” says Damron. “Specifically, the funding has
accelerated projects, resulting in the acquisition of new extra-
mural National Institutes of Health R01 grants within the first
year of our RCG. We now have 11 different projects funded
by the center, and our portfolio of partnerships is growing.”
STEM Fellows Program
For those seeking valuable hands-on experience, the STEM
Fellows Program provides fellowship funding to help recruit
and support outstanding STEM graduate students at Marshall
University and WVU.
“The STEM Fellows grant for Marshall University’s biomed-
ical research graduate program provides important support to
increase the number and diversity of graduate students in the