The University of California, Davis, is pleased to announce new awards totaling $1.2 million from the Bridge Funding Initiative supported by the W. M. Keck Foundation. This investment will provide critical resources to six high‑impact basic science projects during a period when early‑stage research often faces significant funding uncertainty. The initiative will enable faculty researchers and graduate students to maintain continuity in their work across science, engineering and medicine.
“This one-time grant program by the Keck Foundation represents an important commitment to supporting and retaining early-career faculty and graduate researchers, strengthening their ability to advance innovative scientific discovery,” said Simon Atkinson, vice chancellor for research at UC Davis. “It also underscores our shared commitment to fostering innovation and supporting the next generation of scientific leaders.”
Last year, the Office of Research issued a campus-wide call for proposals from faculty–graduate student pairs, resulting in nine submissions. An internal review committee evaluated each application in alignment with the priorities outlined in the Bridge Funding Initiative guidelines. Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Cristina Davis evaluated the review committee’s recommendations out of which six projects were nominated for funding. The selected teams will use the funding to support ongoing experiments, acquire essential research materials, and maintain personnel continuity — elements that enable early‑stage projects to thrive and progress toward future external funding and long‑term success.
“We are grateful for the Keck Foundation’s support for the exciting and important research efforts of our early career researchers — both faculty and students,” said Davis. “The breadth of these projects is astonishing — from attacking the tiniest viruses to exploring the universe.”
Recipients of the bridge funding grant program
Understanding the impact of the gut microbiome on skeletal health
- One of the projects, led by Thomas H. Ambrosi, assistant professor, in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, in collaboration with graduate student Kelly C. Weldon is exploring how age‑related changes in the gut microbiome drive deterioration of the skeletal stem cell-derived microenvironment and how this contributes to osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and other degenerative musculoskeletal conditions.
Does inflammation drive the mitochondrial failure and DNA damage at the root of ataxia?
- Through this project, led by Jacqueline Barlow, associate professor in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, along with graduate student Judith Fishburn in Integrative Genetics and Genomics, the team will test whether early immune activation is the first driver of a self‑reinforcing cycle that worsens neurological decline.
Multi‑agent AI architecture aims to deliver traceable, constraint‑aware reasoning for safety‑critical decisions
- Led by Rich Whittle, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, with graduate student Kaisheng Li, the team is building an AI guidance system modeled on real emergency-operations teams, where specialized agents handle information lookup, simulation and decision-making under uncertainty. This allows complex procedures in safety‑critical domains such as disaster response to be broken down into coordinated steps clearly justifying each decision.
Molecular determinants governing evolutionary plasticity of flavivirus-host protein interactions
- Priya Shah, associate professor of chemical engineering in the Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, along with graduate student Chase L. S. Skawinski, is studying how certain related viruses — yellow fever virus, Zika virus, West Nile virus and dengue virus — evolve their protein interactions in seemingly counterintuitive ways. By the end of the project, the researchers hope to learn how viruses evolve new protein interactions. Their findings could point to new treatment strategies for virus infections that currently have no approved therapies.
Biofilms as active architects: Engineering microbial communities to steer subsurface fluid flow and transform transport in complex porous media
- This project, led by Verónica L Morales, associate professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and graduate student Hamidreza Khoshtarash, investigates the pore‑scale rules that govern how biofilms redirect flow, clog pathways and redistribute fluid phases. By combining microfluidics, imaging and simulations, the team aims to guide biofilm growth to steer subsurface fluids for applications in groundwater cleanup, energy storage and carbon management.
Polymer‑engineered electrodes unlock a new pathway for converting captured CO₂ into cement‑ready oxalate materials
- Another funded project led by Jesús M. Velázquez, associate professor of chemistry, and graduate student Richard Gómez Caballero is exploring a creative new way to turn captured carbon dioxide (CO₂) into a solid material that can be used to make cement. This approach could help reduce carbon emissions by actively utilizing CO₂ as a feedstock to create a valuable building product.
About the W. M. Keck Foundation
The W. M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 in Los Angeles by William Myron Keck, founder of The Superior Oil Company. One of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations, the W. M. Keck Foundation supports outstanding science, engineering and medical research. The foundation also supports undergraduate education and maintains a program within Southern California to support arts and culture, education, health and community service projects.