Institute awards seed grants for computational, data science projects
Posted on May 11, 2022UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS) has awarded eight new seed grants to bolster computational and data science research projects throughout the University. The support will benefit researchers from five Penn State campuses studying topics ranging from weather prediction, to forecasting mortgage loan closures, to exploring engineering approaches for battery materials.
Each seed grant awards an allotment of time for a member of ICDS’s Research Innovations with Scientists and Engineers (RISE) team to work with a research team. The ICDS RISE team consists of individuals with research domain experience who are also experts in various facets of computational science. In 2020, ICDS received an NSF grant to provide research groups at all 24 Penn State campuses access to RISE team members.
Newly awarded projects include:
“Determination of the beneficial effects of vitamin D analogues in diabetic kidney disease”
Vitamin D is a known protective agent against diabetic kidney disease, but researchers have not established the molecular changes taking place within cells that allow for this protection. Nik Tsotakos, assistant professor of biology, Penn State Harrisburg, is exploring how genetic information can help bridge this knowledge gap. He and the RISE team will be developing several tools for data analysis that he hopes will be able to help identify potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets in diabetic kidney disease.
“Improving usability of automated data cleaning software”
Carrie Daymont, associate professor of pediatrics and public health sciences, Penn State Hershey, and her team developed a software application, growthcleanr, that cleans height and weight information from electronic health records in longitudinal data sets. The RISE team will be using tools to generate large synthetic datasets to test the software and also building a process for uploading the software to a website, the Comprehensive R Archival Network, which will allow it to be used by a wider swath of researchers for future studies.
“Programming a Novel Computational & Data Transfer Platform & User Interface to Automate the Healthy Mom Zone Intervention”
The Healthy Mom Zone is a project developed by Danielle Downs, professor of kinesiology, and other Penn State researchers, to provide personalized interventions to manage weight gain during pregnancy. Downs has recruited the RISE team’s help in developing an automated data pipeline and web-based user platform that integrates multiple mobile health application program interfaces, utilizes a dynamical model of energy balance and behavior to predict weight gain and produces customized strategies from the Healthy Moms Zone intervention toolbox to effectively regulate weight gain during pregnancy.
“Textual Analysis of Economic News Predicting Interest Rate Move in Application to Mortgage Loan Lock Fallout Forecasting”
When applying for a mortgage, prospective buyers “lock in” a mortgage interest rate that must be honored, regardless of whether interest rates change during this time. It’s challenging to predict how interest rates will move and even more so whether prospective buyers end up pursuing a loan, but Nonna Sorokina, assistant professor of finance, Penn State Scranton, is investigating whether economic news can help infer interest rate moves and improve accuracy of the forecasting of buyers’ decisions to close on a loan. She will partner with the RISE team to develop a model that uses textual analyses of publicly available news and announcements in predicting future interest rate dynamics.
“Exploring Interface Design in Multi-Valent Batteries”
Fernando A. Soto, assistant professor of engineering, Penn State Greater Allegheny, is using computer simulations to explore new design approaches for rechargeable batteries that have the potential to outperform existing lithium-ion batteries. Soto is partnering with the RISE team to characterize the molecular chemistry at interface regions in batteries and then propose a path toward designing rechargeable batteries with improved interfacial stability during cycling.
“Cognitive Models in the Capture-the-Flag Game”
Could a game of capture the flag in virtual reality help advance AI models? That’s one question that Farnaz Tehranchi, assistant professor in the School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs (SEDTAPP), hopes to answer through her RISE seed grant project. Working with both RISE and the Center for Immersive Experiences, which is part of ICDS, Tehranchi and her team at the Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Lab will develop human-like AI models in virtual environments to compete and collaborate in a game of capture the flag. The team hopes to understand how players interact with the environment and make decisions, which could shed light on complete human-like AI models.
“Short-Term Weather, Air Quality and Regional Climate Projections in SubSaharan Africa”
Gregory Jenkins, professor of meteorology and atmospheric science, will lead this project that seeks to use the Weather Research and Forecasting model to forecast weather in the southern regions of Africa. The RISE team will help set up the models to run on Roar, the research supercomputer ICDS operates for the Penn State community. This model will be used to provide daily forecasts for the Cabo Verde islands and for the regional communities.
“Predicting Ligand-Regulated Protein-Protein Interactions”
The RISE team will be helping C. Denise Okafor, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and chemistry, with applying machine learning models to understand factors affecting protein transcription. The team is specifically looking at ligands, a type of molecule that can impact gene expression. Ligands sometimes ‘recruit’ additional molecules to the process, and Okafor’s team is trying to characterize the circumstances under which recruiting takes place.
ICDS will be offering RISE seed grants periodically; for more information, visit the ICDS RISE webpage.
Share
Related Posts
- Featured Researcher: Nick Tusay
- Multi-institutional team to use AI to evaluate social, behavioral science claims
- NSF invests in cyberinfrastructure institute to harness cosmic data
- Center for Immersive Experiences set to debut, serving researchers and students
- Distant Suns, Distant Worlds
- CyberScience Seminar: Researcher to discuss how AI can help people avoid adverse drug interactions
- AI could offer warnings about serious side effects of drug-drug interactions
- Taking RTKI drugs during radiotherapy may not aid survival, worsens side effects
- Cost-effective cloud research computing options now available for researchers
- Costs of natural disasters are increasing at the high end
- Model helps choose wind farm locations, predicts output
- Virus may jump species through ‘rock-and-roll’ motion with receptors
- Researchers seek to revolutionize catalyst design with machine learning
- Resilient Resumes team places third in Nittany AI Challenge
- ‘AI in Action’: Machine learning may help scientists explore deep sleep
- Clickbait Secrets Exposed! Humans and AI team up to improve clickbait detection
- Focusing computational power for more accurate, efficient weather forecasts
- How many Earth-like planets are around sun-like stars?
- Professor receives NSF grant to model cell disorder in heart
- SMH! Brains trained on e-devices may struggle to understand scientific info
- Whole genome sequencing may help officials get a handle on disease outbreaks
- New tool could reduce security analysts’ workloads by automating data triage
- Careful analysis of volcano’s plumbing system may give tips on pending eruptions
- Reducing farm greenhouse gas emissions may plant the seed for a cooler planet
- Using artificial intelligence to detect discrimination
- Four ways scholars say we can cut the chances of nasty satellite data surprises
- Game theory shows why stigmatization may not make sense in modern society
- Older adults can serve communities as engines of everyday innovation
- Pig-Pen effect: Mixing skin oil and ozone can produce a personal pollution cloud
- Researchers find genes that could help create more resilient chickens
- Despite dire predictions, levels of social support remain steady in the U.S.
- For many, friends and family, not doctors, serve as a gateway to opioid misuse
- New algorithm may help people store more pictures, share videos faster
- Head named for Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering
- Scientific evidence boosts action for activists, decreases action for scientists
- People explore options, then selectively represent good options to make difficult decisions
- Map reveals that lynching extended far beyond the deep South
- Gravitational forces in protoplanetary disks push super-Earths close to stars
- Supercomputer cluster donation helps turn high school class into climate science research lab
- Believing machines can out-do people may fuel acceptance of self-driving cars
- People more likely to trust machines than humans with their private info
- IBM donates system to Penn State to advance AI research
- ICS Seed Grants to power projects that use AI, machine learning for common good
- Penn State Berks team advances to MVP Phase of Nittany AI Challenge
- Creepy computers or people partners? Working to make AI that enhances humanity
- Sky is clearing for using AI to probe weather variability
- ‘AI will see you now’: Panel to discuss the AI revolution in health and medicine
- Privacy law scholars must address potential for nasty satellite data surprises
- Researchers take aim at hackers trying to attack high-value AI models
- Girls, economically disadvantaged less likely to get parental urging to study computers
- Seed grants awarded to projects using Twitter data
- Researchers find features that shape mechanical force during protein synthesis
- A peek at living room decor suggests how decorations vary around the world
- Interactive websites may cause antismoking messages to backfire
- Changing how government assesses risk may ease fallout from extreme financial events
- Symposium at U.S. Capitol seeks solutions to election security
- ICS co-sponsors Health, Environment Seed Grant Program
- Using social media to solve social problems- study funded by ICS seed grant
- ICS Affiliate named AGU fellow