University of California Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC-CEIN)

加州大学洛杉矶分校http://www.cein.ucla.edu/new/index.phpInstitutional合作伙伴：哥伦比亚大学西北大学不来梅大学加州大学戴维斯分校加州大学河滨分校加州大学圣巴巴拉分校新墨西哥大学德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校该奖项继续资助一个中心，开展纳米材料与生命系统和非生物环境相互作用的研究和教育。该中心的目标是发展对纳米材料的生物和生态毒理学的预测性理解，以及它们在环境中的运输和转化。该中心由一个高度跨学科、多机构的团队参与一个综合研究项目，以确定纳米材料的物理和化学性质如何决定其从细胞尺度到整个生态系统的环境影响。该研究方法将高通量筛选分析与计算和生理建模相结合，以预测更高水平生物组织的影响，有望对生态毒理学科学产生变革。该中心将联合工程、化学、物理、材料科学、细胞生物学、生态学、毒理学、计算机建模和风险评估等领域，为一门新的科学学科奠定基础：环境纳米毒理学。纳米材料的研究和纳米技术的发展正在迅速扩大，并产生了有望造福国家的发现。提高我们在地球上可持续生活的能力。现在迫切需要减少纳米材料在环境中可能产生的负面影响的不确定性，同时为其安全设计提供指导方针，以防止环境和毒理学危害。该中心通过开发一种科学的风险预测框架来解决这一社会需求，该框架在跟上纳米技术商业扩张的潜力方面正在发生范式转变。该中心的另一个影响将是通过培训下一代纳米级科学家、工程师和管理者来预测和减轻纳米技术未来潜在的环境危害，从而为学术界、工业界和政府开发人力资源。与其他中心的伙伴关系将成为向国内和国际科学界、教育界和工业界传播和整合研究成果的有力门户。该中心将为纳米技术中心网络做出贡献，以满足国家需求，并通过针对加州大学的项目，为代表性不足的群体提供服务，扩大对这一研究和知识网络的代表性和访问。外展活动，包括记者？科学家交流项目，将有助于告知专家和广大公众关于纳米技术的安全问题以及如何安全生产、使用和处置纳米材料。

University of California-Los Angeles http://www.cein.ucla.edu/new/index.phpInstitutional Partners:Columbia University Northwestern UniversityUniversity of BremenUniversity of California-DavisUniversity of California-Riverside University of California-Santa BarbaraUniversity of New MexicoUniversity of Texas-El Paso This award continues funding of a Center to conduct research and education on the interactions of nanomaterials with living systems and with the abiotic environment. The goals of this Center are to develop a predictive understanding of biological and ecological toxicology for nanomaterials, and of their transport and transformation in the environment. This Center engages a highly interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team in an integrated research program to determine how the physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials determine their environmental impacts from the cellular scale to that of entire ecosystems. The research approach promises to be transformative to the science of ecotoxicology by combining high throughput screening assays with computational and physiological modeling to predict impacts at higher levels of biological organization. The Center will unite the fields of engineering, chemistry, physics, materials science, cell biology, ecology, toxicology, computer modeling, and risk assessment to establish the foundations of a new scientific discipline: environmental nanotoxicology.Research on nanomaterials and development of nanotechnology is expanding rapidly and producing discoveries that promise to benefit the nation?s economy, and improve our ability to live sustainably on earth. There is now a critical need to reduce uncertainty about the possible negative consequences of nanomaterials in the environment, while at the same time providing guidelines for their safe design to prevent environmental and toxicological hazards. This Center addresses this societal need by developing a scientific framework of risk prediction that is paradigm-shifting in its potential to keep pace with the commercial expansion of nanotechnology. Another impact of the Center will be development of human resources for the academic community, industry and government by training the next generation of nano-scale scientists, engineers, and regulators to anticipate and mitigate potential future environmental hazards of nanotechnology. Partnerships with other centers will act as powerful portals for the dissemination and integration of research findings to the scientific, educational, and industrial communities, both nationally and internationally. This Center will contribute to a network of nanotechnology centers that serve the national needs and expand representation and access to this research and knowledge network through programs directed at California colleges serving underrepresented groups. Outreach activities, including a journalist?scientist communication program, will serve to inform both experts and the public at large about the safety issues surrounding nanotechnology and how to safely produce, use, and dispose of nanomaterials.