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Stimulus Research Program announces 2020 projects

Staff Report //August 31, 2020//

Stimulus Research Program announces 2020 projects

Staff Report //August 31, 2020//

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Under the S.C. EPSCoR Stimulus Research Program, state universities are delving into projects ranging from replacing damaged blood vessels to transcending the boundaries of lithium ion batteries.

The SRP program, initiated in 2017, helps increase the research capacity of researchers and institutions, boosts collaboration between colleges and helps those schools achieve large-scale national funding for research, according to a news release.

The projects include:

A team lead by Wayne Carver, professor and chair of cell biology and anatomy at the University of South Carolina, including students from USC, Claflin University, Clemson University and Winthrop University, is exploring synthetic materials to use in the replacement of small blood vessels. Vessels of this size, like coronary arteries, tend to be much more difficult to replace than vessels like the aorta, according to the release.

Clemson University, Benedict College, Furman University and USC are working under Scott Husson, professor at Clemson’s chemical and biomolecular engineering department, to use anaerobic membrane bioreactors as a new technology for use in sustainable municipal wastewater treatment, according to the release.

Physicists, astronomists, chemists and mechanical engineers at Clemson University, Claflin University, College of Charleston and USC are working to develop new strategies to produce lithium sulfur, aluminum ion, sodium ion and potassium ion batteries under the leadership of Apparao Rao, associate dean of Clemson’s College of Science and director of the school’s nanomaterial institute.

According to the release, Jeff Twiss, professor and SmartState Chair in Childhood Therapeutics at USC’s biological sciences department, is spearheading an effort to uncover the link between epigenetic regulation and mitochondrial function in autism along with a research team from USC, Claflin University, Clemson University and Furman University.

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