The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State has selected eight research teams that span 12 departments across six colleges to receive 2025-26 seed grant funding.
"Our greatest scientific and societal challenges can only be solved by collaborative teams that bridge multiple disciplines," said Christina Grozinger, Publius Vergilius Maro Professor of Entomology and director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. "However, these types of projects are usually not supported by traditional funding programs in the early stages. We designed the 2025-26 Huck seed grant program to incentivize the formation of collaborative, cross-college teams. I am so excited to see the new discoveries and solutions that these teams will create."
The teams are developing approaches to answer questions or solve challenges under the Huck Institutes' seven strategic research themes, including working to understand the impacts of microplastics on crops; harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to identify crop genotypes that are resilient to climate variation; developing AI-enabled personalized nutrition recommendations; elucidating how the microbiome colonizes the gut; designing new therapies for neurodegenerative disorders and diabetic wound healing; leveraging fungi to create new sustainable feedstocks for livestock; and creating miniature robots to interact with bees, potentially revealing information about their complex social behavior.
2025 Huck seed grant projects and recipients:
- "Selective tagging and tracking of microplastics during the growth of plants"
- Principal investigator: Bryan Vogt, professor of chemical engineering; with collaborators: Charles Anderson, professor of biology; Robert Hickey, associate professor of materials science and engineering
- Huck research themes: Future Foods, Health for Life, Engineering Resilient Ecosystems, Translational Science & Public Impact, Life at All Scales
- The researchers aim to understand which crops are most at risk of microplastic contamination. In this project, they will work to develop new systems to fluorescently label common microplastics so researchers can observe how they enter and move through plants.
- "Evidence-based AI Platform for Personalized Nutritional Recommendations: Bridging Scientific Literature and Consumer Health"
- Principal investigator: David Koslicki, associate professor of computer science and engineering; with collaborators Vishal Singh, associate professor of nutritional physiology and microbiome; Rita Castro, associate teaching professor; Ryan Geftman-Gold, Office of Entrepreneurship & Commercialization
- Huck research themes: Health for Life, Translational Science & Public Impact, AI to Action
- The researchers are building an AI tool that scans scientific papers to create personalized nutrition plans linked directly to published evidence. Unlike current services, it emphasizes transparency by showing exactly which studies support each recommendation.
- "A New Strategy to Improve Global Crop Yield: Genomic Adaptability Prediction (GAP)"
- Principal investigator: Angel Ferrero-Serrano, associate research professor
- Huck research themes: Future Foods, Engineering Resilient Ecosystems, Translational Science & Public Impact, AI to Action
- Ferrero-Serrano plans to use machine learning on thousands of rice varieties and their local climates to predict which crops will thrive best in specific environments. The new approach could guide both farmers and seed companies and eventually boost yields for multiple staple crops.
- "Understanding the Evolution of Microbial Niche Specificity"
- Principal investigator: Emily Weinert, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology; with collaborators Edward Dudley, professor of food science; Jordan Bisanz, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology
- Huck research themes: Health for Life, Emergent Intelligence in Organisms, Translational Science & Public Impact, Life at All Scales
- The team will study how bacteria sense oxygen to determine where in the body they live, such as the gut or urinary tract. This could lead to ways of predicting or even engineering beneficial bacteria for targeted health uses.
- "Reverse neurodegeneration through coated neural graft capable of evading immune rejection"
- Principal investigator: Yingwei Mao, professor of biology; with collaborator Yong Wang, professor of biomedical engineering
- Huck Research Themes: Health for Life, Translational Science & Public Impact
- Mao and Wang are developing innovative approaches to treating neurodegenerative diseases like ALS and Alzheimer's by improving stem-cell-based therapies. They aim to implant specially prepared stem cells with a hydrogel coating into the brain so they can both replace damaged neurons and release helpful growth factors without the need for immunosuppressant drugs.
- "Utilizing Acetate and Low-carbon Feedstocks for Sustainable Alternative Protein Production through Precision Fermentation"
- Principal Investigator: Rui Shi, assistant professor of chemical engineering; with collaborator Yi Zhang, assistant professor of food science
- Huck research themes: Future Foods, Engineering Resilient Ecosystems, Translational Science & Public Impact
- A novel fermentation platform will explore using fungi with acetate, a low-cost, low-emission, and potentially carbon-negative feedstock, as the carbon source for protein production. They hope to reduce greenhouse emissions from traditional livestock agriculture while lowering costs.
- "Polymeric Micelles for Delivery of Hydrogen Sulfide for Accelerating Diabetic Wound Healing"
- Principal Investigator: Urara Hasegawa, assistant professor of materials science and engineering; with collaborators Yuguo Lei, associate professor of biomedical engineering; Dino Ravnic, professor of surgery
- Huck research themes: Health for Life, Translational Science & Public Impact, Life at All Scales
- This team is working on a new approach that will tackle slow-healing diabetic wounds, which are complicated by aggressive immune responses. They have developed a nanoparticle that will release hydrogen sulfide at controlled, continuous rates to suppress overzealous immune reactions and support healing.
- "Revealing mechanisms of visuo-olfactory integration by bee-robot interactions"
- Principal Investigator: Etya Amsalem, associate professor of entomology; with collaborator Jean-Michel Mongeau, Shuman Family Early Career Professor of Mechanical Engineering
- Huck research themes: Emergent Intelligence in Organisms, Engineering Resilient Ecosystems, Life at All Scales
- Tiny robotic bees will test how bumble bees integrate social signals and adjust their behavior. The innovative "beerobot" system could reveal new insights into insect social behavior and communication
