Earlier this semester, Pitt Research awarded several grants through its Momentum Funds, including two scaling grants, which provide up to $200,000 for one year to help projects do the detailed work necessary to pursue large external funding.

Those two projects are:

A Randomized Phase 1 Pilot Clinical Trial Evaluating the Safety, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Microbiological Efficacy of PseudoPhage, a Multi-Phage Cocktail Targeting Pseudomonas Aeruginosa.

The team is led by Ghady Haidar, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. Additional team members are from the departments of Biological Sciences and Physical Therapy. The team is working to develop new antibiotics to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, like those caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, using bacteriophages (phages) — naturally-occurring viruses that kill bacteria.

INfrastructure Sensing for Intelligent Transportation and Energy Systems (INSITES)

The team is led by Paul Ohodnicki, associate professor of mechanical engineering & materials science in the Swanson School of Engineering. Additional team members are from the Departments of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Geology & Environmental Science, and Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science. The project involves application of distributed sensing combined with advanced analytics using machine learning and artificial intelligence as well as physics based modeling and digital twins to the real-time monitoring of critical infrastructure. Reading more about it on the Swanson School website.

Teaming Grants

• Advancing Pitt’s LSET Hub for Human-Centered Emergent Technologies in Teaching and Learning, led by Jennifer Iriti, Learning Research and Development Center.

• Milk Match: Developing a Data-Driven Solution for Safe and Optimal Human Milk Sharing, led by Jill Demirci, Health Promotion & Development, School of Nursing

• Hybrid Quantum-Classical Computing Applications for Engineering, led by Juan José Mendoza Arenas, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Priming Grants

• Data-Driven Allocation of Scarce Nursing Resources to Improve Patient Outcomes, led by Andrew Dierkes, Acute & Tertiary Care, School of Nursing

• Single-Layer Graphene as a Thermally Transparent Membrane for Nanoscale Heat Exchangers, led by Haitao Liu, Chemistry, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences

• Open-Label, Flexible-Dose, Adjunctive Aromocriptine for Patients with Schizophrenia and Metabolic Dysfunction, led by Heeyoung Lee, Health & Community Systems, School of Nursing

• From Overflow to Opportunity: A Systems-Level Approach for Managing Beneficial Use of Stormwater in the Pittsburgh Region, led by Vikas Khanna, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Swanson School