Three research projects have received a UCR School of Medicine Dean's Collaborative Seed Grant for 2026.
The annual program provides up to $25,000 in seed grant funding for interdisciplinary research projects working toward grant funding from the National Institutes of Health or similar organizations. The grants encourage collaboration between faculty in the Division of Biomedical Sciences and other faculty at UCR.
“As federal research funding becomes increasingly competitive, investigators face high pressure to demonstrate robust preliminary data to secure major extramural grants like those from the NIH,” said Associate Dean of Biomedical Research Meera Nair, PhD. “We are excited to provide these seed grants to move promising, conceptual-stage ideas forward.”
“The projects funded this year showcase an exciting mix of clinical medicine, advanced virology, and innovative stem cell applications,” Nair added.
The 2026 recipients are:
Metformin in Pregnancy: Outcomes on the Offspring Immune Health
Djurdjica Coss, PhD, Biomedical Sciences and Brenda Ross, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology
Metformin is a widely used medication for gestational diabetes and crosses the placental barrier, but its impact on a developing fetus's immune system is an important but understudied area. Through this collaborative effort, Ross and Coss will address this gap in knowledge providing important insights for clinical guidelines regarding how common pharmaceuticals impact the immune health of the offspring. Knowledge gained from this research will be impactful for the health of our Inland Empire community with higher incidence rates of diabetes compared to California average and national benchmarks.
RdRp-Host RNA Interactions as Conserved and Druggable Vulnerabilities in Influenza Pathogenicity
Joy Xiang, PhD, Biomedical Sciences and Rong Hai, PhD, Microbiology and Plant Pathology
This collaborative project will establish innovative molecular approaches, including eCLIP and nucleic acid therapeutics, to identify and therapeutically target a subset of conserved FluPol-host RNA interactions required for viral infection. These studies will reveal a new class of druggable vulnerabilities that may provide a higher barrier to antiviral resistance than existing direct acting antivirals.
Interrogating the Ciliome of NCC and Cornea Endothelia for Regenerative Applications
Martín García-Castro, PhD, Biomedical Sciences and Xuecai Ge, PhD, Biomedical Sciences
This project will use cutting-edge stem cell and subcellular proteome research to advance our understanding of cornea development, their cellular origin (the neural crest), and their associated pathologies. An estimated 12 million people need corneal transplants worldwide. Their proposal will map out the ciliome within neural crest cells and the cornea's endothelium and identify key signaling molecules responsible for differentiation. Knowledge gained from this technologically innovative project will provide insight into clinical strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of cornea related pathologies.
