HCAS Chemistry Research Grant Gains Supercomputer Time

This year, Halmos College chemistry professors Brian Van Hoozen, Ph.D. and Maria Ballester, Ph.D. received a grant from the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), a division of the National Science Foundation. XSEDE is a single virtual system that scientists can use to interactively share computing resources, data and expertise. People around the world use these resources and services — things like supercomputers, collections of data and new tools — to improve our planet.

This grant allows three undergraduate biology majors (Rade Jibawi Rivera, Senior; Anthony Bianco, Junior; and Ramson Munoz, Junior) to do computational chemistry research which focuses on trying to model a pathway by which the body may naturally avoid skin cancer by simulating molecular vibrational coupling between model systems for DNA base pairs and nearby water molecules. The project is also supported by a President’s Faculty Research and Development Grant.