George Alexopoulos, Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, received a $4 million, four-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to establish the center, which will investigate new ways of treating depression in older and middle-aged adults.

Huaizhu Oliver Gao, Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, along with a team of Cornell researchers, received funding under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program to lead a consortium of universities—University of California at Davis, University of Texas at El Paso, and University of South Florida—in advancing transportation research and technology.

Led by Kim A. Weeden, Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences, the center received a $10 million grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies to support new research and educational opportunities on the causes and consequences of inequality.

Steven W. Squyres and Alexander Hayes, Astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences, were chosen as leaders for a NASA astrobiology science mission. Squyres is principal investigator for the Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return (CAESAR)—a comet sample return mission—and Hayes is payload lead.

A team of Cornell researchers received $9.4 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to form the center, which spans the Cornell Ithaca campus, Weill Cornell Medicine, and Boyce Thompson Institute—investigating chronic fatigue syndrome. The researchers are Maureen R. Hanson, Molecular Biology and Genetics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Andrew W. Grimson, Molecular Biology and Genetics, College of Arts and Sciences; Dikoma Shungu, Radiology/Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine.

Saurabh Mehta, Nutritional Sciences, College of Human Ecology, and David Erickson, Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering, founded the institute to help solve complex nutritional and health problems, using modern technological tools and fostering nontraditional partnerships.

Three Cornell startups, ready to have an impact in the world, graduated from the McGovern Center: Embark (dog DNA testing), Lionano (improved lithium ion batteries), and Sterifre Medical (sterilization and decontamination).

Cornell received $9 million over five years from the National Science Foundation to establish a neurotechnology hub—developing new technologies for imaging the brain and disseminating them to the neuroscience community. NeuroNex’s principal investigators are Chris Xu, Applied and Engineering Physics, College of Engineering; Joseph R. Fetcho and Nilay Yapici, Neurobiology and Behavior, College of Arts and Sciences; Chris B. Schaffer, Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering; and Mert R. Sabuncu, Electrical and Computer Engineering/Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering.

A $10 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the center, led by Laura C. Harrington, Entomology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, to help understand, prevent, and treat diseases passed from insects to people.

Mark A. Rubin, Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, received a five-year, $11.3 million Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute. Rubin, along with Himisha Beltran, Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, will tackle research for improving the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of prostate cancer.