By GAIL GALLESSICH

THE NATIONAL SCIENCE Foundation (NSF) has awarded almost
$6.1 million over five years to extend support for the Center for Nanotechnology in Society (CNS). The grant represents an increase of almost 21 percent from the initial funding in 2005.

In addition, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded $2 million to the Materials Research Lab as part of the renewal of its Programs for Nanotechnology Research.

Founded in 2006, CNS is a Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, and is the sole national center in the humanities and social sciences at UCSB. Barbara Herr Harthorn, an anthropologist and associate professor of feminist studies, will continue as director of the center.

“I believe CNS researchers are contributing an essential new form of social science input to the nanoscale science and engineering and materials research community in our focus on the societal contexts for responsible development of nanotechnologies in vital application areas of energy, water, health, food, and environment,” Harthorn said.

Richard P. Appelbaum, MacArthur Chair and professor of sociology and global and international studies; W. Patrick McCray, professor of history; and Craig Hawker, professor of materials science and director of the Materials Research Laboratory, will serve as co-principal investigators and executive committee members of CNS-UCSB in its next five years.

The Programs for Nanotechnology Research supported by the NHLBI are focused on helping researchers develop tools based on materials designed at the molecular level to detect and deliver treatments for heart, lung, and blood diseases.

“The grant will allow UCSB researchers to exploit recent discoveries in functional polymers and develop nanotechnology-based tools and devices for use in the diagnosis and treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases,” said Hawker. “Through collaborations with some of the best medical schools in the U.S., our long-term goal is to apply these nanotechnology systems to clinical diagnosis and therapeutics for major unmet U.S. medical issues.”

The UCSB funding is part of a $17.2 million collaboration with Washington University, Texas A&M University, UC Berkeley, and the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center.