PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Foundation has awarded nearly $650,000 in seed funding to 26 medical research projects, supporting work ranging from artificial intelligence applications in disease diagnosis to culturally tailored health programs and studies of chronic disease treatment.
The grants are intended to help early-stage researchers advance projects to a level where they can compete for national funding, bolstering the state’s life sciences sector.
“Through the generosity of our donors, we are able to provide the crucial seed funding that enables local researchers to pursue promising medical advances,” said Rhode Island Foundation CEO and president David N. Cicilline. “Although the grants are fairly modest, they can lead to big discoveries that will spark substantial new investments in the state’s research sector as well as create healthy communities across our state.”
Funded projects span laboratory, clinical and population-based research, including studies focused on infectious diseases, cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other conditions.
The University of Rhode Island received $25,000 to develop improved AI tools for diagnosing breast cancer by identifying and correcting flaws in existing models. Researcher Alina Jade Barnett said the work aims to create systems that can explain their reasoning, allowing physicians to better detect errors and ensure accuracy.
“AI models are very powerful predictors but are also prone to hidden errors,” Barnett said. “One way we can make these safer is to design AI that can explain its reasoning.”
Johnson & Wales University was awarded $24,425 to pilot a diabetes prevention program for Latina adolescents at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The project, in collaboration with Brown University Health, will assess how well a culturally tailored program can engage participants and improve health outcomes, with feedback used to refine the model.
“Latina adolescents experience elevated risk for Type 2 diabetes, yet prevention programs are often not designed with their cultural context in mind,” said Luciana Soares, director of JWU’s Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics program. “This study allows us to adapt an evidence-based intervention in a way that is both meaningful and effective.”
Miriam Hospital received $25,000 to study how to better support adults using GLP-1-based weight loss medications, including identifying why many patients discontinue treatment and developing strategies to improve adherence.
Additional Miriam Hospital projects include research into the broader effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists and efforts to improve infectious disease and substance use services.
Brown University received $25,000 to study mechanisms of DNA damage, while Providence College was awarded $23,242 for neuroscience research examining signaling in feeding and threat response.
Rhode Island Hospital received multiple $25,000 grants supporting research on topics including HIV treatment models, cancer therapies, heart failure detection using AI, CAR-T therapy toxicity prediction and medical education.
Several University of Rhode Island projects also received $25,000 grants, supporting research on topics including microbiome editing to reduce bacterial virulence, mental health interventions, antibiotic discovery, postpartum health, vaccine development and brain-computer interface technologies.
Veer Mudambi is the special projects editor for the Providence Business News. He can be reached at mudambi@pbn.com.
