How do we distinguish motion in the world from similar retinal image displacements due to eye movements? This problem has particular importance in diseases such as vertigo and various spatial orientation disorders, where deficits in motion perception?including the suppression of self-motion?lead to devastating conse- quences. Impaired balance and motion perception substantially impact people's daily lives, hindering spatial judgments, and impeding performance during bodily motion tasks, such as ambulating or driving a vehicle. This research supplement application seeks to replace a critical position cut during the JIT phase after the parent project (R01EY031971) was selected for funding. Specifically, the award notice cut the project's engineer, Ms. Olivya Caballero. The loss of the position reduces the team's abilities to complete the Specific Aims, as acknowl- edged by the award notice. More importantly, for this supplement request, the National Eye Institute (NEI) may not have realized that Ms. Caballero is a female Native American biomedical engineer (Baccalaureate holder) with an established interest in research training. Had she been funded, she would have highly enhanced the diversity of researchers funded by the NEI. According to the NSF WMPD (the arbiter of diversity statistics cited by the administrative supplement program, PA-20-222), about 22% of engineering degrees were granted to females in the most recent survey. Only 0.3% of engineering degrees are granted to Native Americans. Thus, the combined probability of funding a female Native American engineer on an NEI grant is 1:1515 (assuming all other effects are held equal). It seems likely (> 50%) that, unless the NEI currently funds ? 3030 engineering FTEs through its various programs, cutting Ms. Caballero's position might have resulted in eliminating the only female Native American engineer in its ranks. This supplement application seeks to reestablish Ms. Caballero's position. It will significantly enhance the diversity of the NEI's ranks (following from the NIH's Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity: NOT-OD-20-031) and restore a substantial cut to the funded research project. The MPIs will train the candidate in multiple aspects of oculomotor electrophysiology, data analysis, and computational modeling?to prepare her to pursue her interest in entering graduate school in biomedical engineering. The supplement will moreover serve to enhance the project's ability to elucidate the loss of function in various oculo- motor and neurological disorders, and as such, is directly relevant to the research priorities of the Strabismus, Amblyopia, and Visual Processing program at the NEI.
This research supplement application seeks to fund Ms. Olivya Caballero, a female Native American biomedical engineer (Baccalaureate holder) with an established interest in research training, as a researcher on an NEI grant?R01EY031971?for up to two years, to prepare her for entry into a Ph.D. program in biomedical engi- neering. Note that the original application budgeted for the candidate's position, but NEI cut the position as part of the JIT process, and they acknowledged the potentially deleterious effects of cutting this staff member on the fulfillment of the project's Specific Aims. Beyond the candidate's contribution to the project's success, she more- over brings a highly positive diversity enhancement to the national workforce. Thus, the requested supplement will both increase diversity in research (following from the Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity: NOT-OD-20-031) and also replace a significant loss to the program by reinstating funding for this candidate through the diversity supplement program (PA-20-222).
