NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Iona College was recently awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant of $324, 999 for continued support of research activities in soft materials chemistry.
The funded project, entitled “RUI: Structural Determinants of Permeation and Nucleation at a Self-Assembled Interface”, will support the investigations of Dr. Sunghee Lee, Board of Trustees Endowed Professor and Chair of Chemistry, and her active undergraduate research program for the period of September 1, 2016 to August 31, 2020.
Through this research program, Dr. Lee will work to secure greater fundamental understanding of how living cells maintain their water balance essential to the sustenance of life, and will use the nature-inspired techniques discovered through this work to create tailor-made particles for a wide variety of uses in technology and industry.
“This NSF award will enable significant advances in the fundamental understanding of the cellular mechanisms of water transport, while training the next generation of scientists in state-of-the-art scientific techniques,” said Dr. Lee. “I am very grateful for the recognition and continuous support from the NSF.”
The NSF support has led to a productive output in undergraduate research training and education, including international research collaboration with the University of Tokyo, Japan. “The depth and breadth of quality research training for our students will continue to expand, thanks to the nationally-recognized support for our exertions here at Iona,” added Dr. Lee.
