The Charles E. Kaufman Foundation, a supporting organization of the Pittsburgh Foundation, has awarded grants totaling $2.1 million in support of scientific research at colleges and universities in Pennsylvania.

Grants totaling $1.9 million will fund innovative and interdisciplinary research by early-career and established scientists in the areas of biology, physics, and chemistry. Awards include New Investigator grants of $150,000 over two years in support of scientists transitioning to independent appointments and those engaged in new research; recipients of the awards include Katie Barott (University of Pennsylvania), whose project is focused on the effects of climate change on coral reefs, and Carl Rodriguez (Carnegie Mellon University), whose research is focused on the lives and deaths of star clusters and the gravitational waves they leave behind.

The foundation also awarded New Initiative grants of $300,000 over two years in support of interdisciplinary collaborations involving investigators with strong research records; recipients include Mikael Rechtsman and Randall McEntaffer (Pennsylvania State University), who are exploring methods for making photon light particles "feel" magnetic fields, and Aurelia Honerkamp-Smith and Damien Thevenin (Lehigh University), who are investigating how cells from the inner surface of mammalian blood vessels respond to flow, which influences biological processes such as cardiovascular health and embryonic development. And the foundation awarded an Integrated Research-Education grant of $100,000 over two years to Mark Ams (Allegheny College), who will work with undergraduates to explore alternatives to DNA as a pathway to the creation of synthetic cells. 

In addition, the Pittsburgh Foundation awarded unrestricted grants of $100,000 over two years in support of a program at Lehigh University aimed at enhancing understanding of light-initiated electron and proton transfer and advancing efforts to realize a clean-energy economy, and a study at Swarthmore College focused on examining B cell immune antibody reactions to viruses and bacteria — research that could pave the way to a deeper understanding of the causes autoimmune disease.

"With the coronavirus pandemic under way and a world waking up to the harmful effects of climate change, particularly on the most vulnerable among us, it's clear that our world needs basic scientific research more than ever," said Pittsburgh Foundation president and CEO Lisa Schroeder. "It's an honor for our foundation to carry forth Charles Kaufman's vision of enabling research that breaks down interdisciplinary barriers to enhance human understanding and improve quality of life."