SBMI Lab logo SBMI LabZadegan Lab · JSNN & NC A&T
Funding & Awards

Grants, awards & service

~$8M in competitive funding as Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, and Collaborator — from NSF, NIH, DEVCOM Soldier Center, and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

2024
Center for Innovative Recycling and Circular Economy (CIRCLE) — NSF — $125,000 · PI: T. Moon (NC A&T) · Role: Co-PI · 08/24
2022
Advanced Materials for Chemical and Biological Sensor Technology to Protect the Soldier — DEVCOM Soldier Center — $525,000 · PI: K. Dellinger · Role: Co-PI · 10/22
Developing DNA-Based Molecular Robots — NIH (1R16GM145671) — $669,000 · Role: PI · 06/22
2021
NC A&T ESTEEMED Program — NIH (1R25EB031517-1) — $1,069,000 · Role: Co-PI · 07/21
2020
DNA Mutational Overwriting Storage (DMOS) — NSF (SemiSynBio-II) — $1,500,000 · Role: PI · 08/20
Developing a Chromatin Analogous Gene Expression Robot to Detect Viruses — North Carolina Biotechnology Center — $20,000 · Role: PI · 11/20
Developing a Chromatin Analogous Gene Expression Robot to Detect COVID-19 — Centers of Excellence: Summer SEED Funding for Preliminary R&D Efforts & Portfolio Development, Center of Excellence in Product Design and Advanced Manufacturing — $5,000 · Role: PI · 05/20
2018
Nucleic Acid Memory — IGEM (Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission) — $2,000,000 · PI: W.L. Hughes · Role: Co-PI · 04/18
2017
Nucleic Acid Memory — NSF (ECCS, CCF, & MCB) + SRC + IARPA through SemiSynBio — NSF — $1,500,000 · PI: W.L. Hughes · Role: Co-Creator · 10/17
2016
Extension to DeoxyNucleic Acid (DNA) Memory Information Retention — Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) — $100,000 · PI: W.L. Hughes · Role: Co-Creator · 10/16
2015
Deoxynucleic Acid (DNA) Memory Information Retention — Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) — $100,000 · PI: W.L. Hughes · Role: Co-Creator · 11/15
Deoxynucleic Acid (DNA) Memory Information Retention — Micron Foundation — $100,000 · PI: W.L. Hughes · Role: Co-Creator · 11/15
See what these grants enabled

Service

Departmental, university, and professional service.

Department & University

  • Developed and helped establish the Synthetic Biology concentration for the Nanoengineering Department
  • Helped establish the Systems and Synthetic Biology certificate program for the Nanoengineering Department
  • Member of NC A&T's Resigned Time for Faculty Committee
  • Member of NC A&T's Journey to R1 Implementation: Faculty Engagement
  • Member of NC A&T's University Academic Programs and Curriculum Committee (UAPCC)
  • Member of the Research Excellence Committee at the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering
  • Judge for NCAT's Research Awards
  • Member of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering Dean search committee
  • Served in Nanoengineering Department chair search committee
  • Served on the Nanoengineering Department faculty search committee
  • Served on the Nanoengineering Department admission committee

Professional & Reviewing

  • Reviewer for journals including Nature Materials, Nature Communications, JACS, Nanoscale, ACS Nano, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, JOVE, 3 Biotech, Nature Nanotechnology, Advanced Functional Materials, Small, Science
  • NSF (National Science Foundation) panelist
  • Reviewer for the French National Research Agency (ANR), DOE, and Eshelman Institute for Innovation (EI)
  • Guest editor of a special edition on DNA nanotechnology — journal IJMS, July 2017–December 2018

Awards & Honors

Recognition across research, teaching, and early-career distinction.

Awards 12

  • Interdisciplinary Team of the Year Award (Role: Team Lead)05/24
  • Nominated for Piedmont Triad Biotechnology Research and Development Excellence Award Triad BioNight06/24
  • Nominated for Piedmont Triad Biotechnology Excellence Awards Triad BioNight06/22
  • Nominated for Piedmont Triad Biotechnology Research and Development Excellence Award Triad BioNight06/22
  • NC A&T 2021 Rookie of the Year Award05/21
  • Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering 2021 Research Excellence Award05/21
  • IJMS Junior Scientists Travel Award04/17
  • Ph.D. fellowship; Danish National Research Foundation03/08
  • Award; Research and Prime Ideas of Fars Province Universities — Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran09/07
  • The best thesis of the year; Electrical Engineering, Biology, and Physics Departments — Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran09/07
  • Award; Iranian Olympia of Biology (7210 participants) — Shahid Beheshti University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran09/04
  • Award; High School Students Research Competition — Shiraz, Iran05/97