Dr. Aimin , a professor in the Department of Chemistry and a member of the Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease (), has been awarded a three-year, $445,500 grant by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant was awarded under the NIH's Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) R15 award program, which supports meritorious research that engages student researchers.

Dr. Zhou and his lab team will investigate the function of ribonuclease L () in regulating epidermal growth factor (EGF) excretion in urine. In addition, they will study kidney function under normal and pathological conditions and explore whether RNase L is involved in the transition of acute kidney injury (AKI) to chronic kidney disease (CKD).