The Charles E Kaufman Foundation

The Charles E. Kaufman Foundation promotes and supports fundamental scientific research activities in chemistry, biology, and physics at Pennsylvania educational institutions. With The aid of a scientific advisory board, The Foundation awards integrated research-education grants, new investigator and new initiative research grants. In 2023, grants were awarded for The following categories going to innovative and interdisciplinary scientific research at Pennsylvania universities.see continuation on schedule o.integrated research education grants provide support for research that focuses on direct engagement of undergraduate students along side innovative scientists in basic, fundamental, hands-on research that could lead to new discoveries and peer-reviewed publicaitons. Integrated research education grants were awarded to develop new approaches that could explain how to control what is produced in a chemical reaction using externally applied electric fields; and to investigate how a commonly mutated gene encoding that becomes hyperactive in high mortality cancer can be shut down by genetically altering The leukemic program of gene expression.new investigator grants provide research support for innovative basic scientists as they transition into an academic position as a new independent investigator. The Foundation awarded new investigator grants that address core principles in biology, physics and chemistry. Grants were awarded to enable undergraduate students to:1) explore and determine how bacteria make lifestyle decisions in realistic conditions that approximate The environments in which they naturally grow, where nutrients and cell-to-cell signals are in flux and other organisms are present; 2) address key knowledge gaps regarding The causes and consequences of behavioral plasticity in long-lived species, providing insight into their capacity for adaptation and resilience to climate change; 3) directly quantify The impact of cation identity on critical performance parameters under reaction conditions for The first time to design electrocatalytic systems with superior energy conversion efficiency, facilitating The commercial implementation of electrocatalytic technologies and easing The environmental burden of The chemical industry; and 4) further studies in The field of aging research that will enable us to determine how dentate gyrus (dg) synapses compensate for stem cell exhaustion and The other hallmarks of biological aging and to identify The distinct set of principles that govern synaptic aging to understand cognitive dysregulation due to disorders of aging.new initiative research grants stimulate existing investigators with strong records of research accomplishments to establish collaborations that facilitate innovative interdisciplinary approaches toward a common research question and that require expertise beyond that of any single researcher. New initiative grants were awarded to:1) research an integrated program that will create The knowledge to rationally design atomically precise metal nanoclusters (ncs) and nc assemblies specifically for materials in quantum computing and cryptography; 2) develop new algorithms to measure better stellar radial velocities by removing The effects of earth's atmosphere and make significant strides in worldwide efforts to detect and study earth-like extrasolar planets;3) study The mechanics, folding, and response of knit materials using principles of soft matter and a general, geometric framework to develop a completely new approach to quantitatively model fabric requiring a close collaboration between physicists, designers, engineers, and artisans, and 4) address which mutant-idh sensitive enzyme(s) contribute to divergent outcome and to determine how environmental cofactors (oxygen) impact enzyme activities by rp-abpp in different conditions to map cofactor-dependent enzymes driving cell growth and differentiation.