New Grants or Gifts Relating to Women in Higher Education

Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has received a $50,000 grant from Susan G. Komen for the Cure for health education, referrals, and breast cancer screening for visitors to the Mexican Consulate in Little Rock. Under the grant program the university provides personnel and support for the Mexican Consulate’s health programs.

Dominican University of California in San Rafael has received more than $450,000 in grants from the National Institutes for Health for research on the role of the heavy metal, cadmium, in the incidence of breast cancer. Levels of cadmium are found food, water, cigarette smoke, and in many cosmetic products. The research has shown that cancer cells become increasingly aggressive the longer they are exposed to small concentrations of cadmium.

The research is under the direction of Maggie Louie, an associate professor of biochemistry at the university. Dr. Louie is a native of China and moved to the United States as a child. She holds bachelor’s degrees in nutritional sciences and molecular biology from the University of California at Berkeley. She earned a master’s degree in biochemistry from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California at Davis.

Texas Woman’s University received a $469,999 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The grant will be used for the university’s Literacy Matters: Educating Librarians to Serve Families With Young Children project. The funds will be used for scholarships for students in its master of library science program who will specialize in early literacy programs.

Maria Cahill, assistant professor of library and information science at the university and co-principal investigator of the grant project, stated, “This project seeks to increase the pool of librarians who can work with children to nurture the early literacy skills critical to lifelong success.” Professor Dr. Cahill holds a master of library and information science degree from the University of South Carolina and a doctorate in literacy education from the University of Tennessee.