Rep. Fattah announces $1.8 million in science and medical research grants in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), the top Democratic Appropriator for neuroscience and federal science agencies, announced today that the Franklin Institute, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network will receive four grants totaling $1,812,496 for scientific and medical research projects.
"These renowned Philadelphia institutions are nationally recognized for their contributions to scientific and medical research," Fattah said. "Through these grants, they improve the rehabilitation process for veterans and others dealing with traumatic brain injuries, help students from diverse communities to engage in science and literacy, assist the blind in better navigating their world, and use the internet and textiles to engage students in science.
"This is the kind of cutting edge thinking we need in order to keep America number one in the world in the areas of science and technology," Fattah said. "I'm proud to lead the fight to fund scientific research in Congress, and I'm especially heartened to know that this research is being conducted right here in Philadelphia."
Fattah announced that the Franklin Institute Science Museum will receive $815,123 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a project entitled, "Full-Scale Development - LEAP into Science: Engaging Diverse Communities in Science and Literacy" under the direction of Dale McCreedy. This award is derived from a Philadelphia area pilot study which found that children and families learned Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) concepts better when an integrated system combined children's literature with hands-on experiments. The new phase of this effort will add 10 more sites across the country.
Fattah also announced that the University of Pennsylvania will receive an NSF grant of $499,873 for a project called, "Transforming STEM Competitions into Collaboratives: Developing eCrafting Collabs for Learning with Electronic Textiles," under the direction of Yasmin Kafai. The project supports the development of technological fluency and understanding of STEM concepts by implementing design collaboratives that use eCrafting Collabs to work with middle and high school students, parents and the community.
Fattah, who continues to work with veterans groups and others on the issue of traumatic brain injuries, also announced that the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network will receive a $447,500 grant from the Department of Education's Disability and Rehabilitation Research and Related Projects—Traumatic Brain Injury Program. In addition, Fattah announced that the University of Pennsylvania will receive a $50,000 NSF grant for a project entitled "I-Corps: BlindNav: Indoor Navigation for the Visually Impaired."
SOURCE Office of Congressman Chaka Fattah
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