Program Grants
Institutional USDOE Title III grants have contributed $34.4M to CUH’s transformation since 2003. Notably, these provided a large proportion of a $16.5M science lab renovation and, under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, an initial injection of $2.5M in advanced instrumentation. In 2014, CUH secured a new 5-year, $10M Title III grant that will largely be spent on next-generation educational technology. CUH grants also include the transformative NIH BRIC P20, and ongoing significant support from the Air Force Research Laboratories Minority Leaders and Research Competitiveness Programs. Research funding has derived from these programs as well as investigator-initiated Foundation and NIH (R01, R21) grants. Since 2014, we have been starting the transition from capacity-building to investigator-initiated grants, exemplified by recent NIH R01 and R15 submissions (one successfully scored and pending funding), NSF DRL and successful NIJ applications.
Chaminade has active partnerships with UH in several STEM programs, notably the ongoing NIH INBRE, NSF EPSCoR and LSAMP grants where UH is the primary institution. These have provided tremendous capacity building, research and student enrichment support since 2010. A further layer of interaction with UH major grants comes from our access to core facilities supported by UH NIH RCMI, NIH RMATRIX and COBRE grants, and our role as collaborators on the UH NCI U54 partnership for support of Guamanian students and the UH R25 MDIRT NIH program in support of international research experiences for NHPI students. The next generation of the partnerships is exemplified by the inclusion of CUH as a partner on recent Track I and II EPSCoR renewals and the role of Dr. Turner as co-PI on a UH pre-proposal for an NSF Science and Technology Center.
I Am A Scientist
The successful “I Am A Scientist” mobile outreach program shares our labs beyond the campus. It is part of a broader initiative to encourage science awareness and education in Hawaii’s public schools. “I Am a Scientist” is a collaboration between the Chaminade University faculty, staff and student service clubs. Fun projects such as the “Germs on Me” program are engaging for all ages and are presented assembly-style, with professional equipment such as microscopes, petri dishes and lab coats supplied by Chaminade. Chaminade student service club member volunteers (such as the Biology Club members)
I Am a Scientist was founded in 2009 by Lori Shimoda. The program is committed to encouraging the next generation of scientists through entertaining activities such as “Germs on Me” and “Gene Genius”. These experiments are conducted assembly-style and integrate professional equipment such as microscopes, and petri dishes. Chaminade University also supplies lab coats that the students get to keep as a souvenir. “Gene Genius” involves extraction and collection of the students own DNA, which they will be able to take home in tiny, glass vials. From this activity the students will learn about the genetic code and the future of genomics in medicine and forensic science. Whereas the “Germs on Me” experiment shows students how an infection, like the cold or the flu, can spread rapidly through their classroom. Each student is given a tube filled with clear liquid and are asked to share amongst one another. One student will have a tube containing a non-toxic base component and after the sharing is complete each student will be given drops of an indicator by a Chaminade volunteer, which will turn the “infected” tubes pink.