The President's Council of Cornell Women (PCCW) at Cornell University has awarded 17 grants to help advance the careers of women in academia through support of the completion of dissertations and research leading to tenure and promotion.

The new grants bring the total number of research studies and projects supported by PCCW to 96 since the award program was established in 1992, and a total of $165,000 in awards. The alumni group is building an endowment to ensure the funding of future grants and projects for women.

Seven faculty members and 10 Ph.D. candidates are recipients of 1997 PCCW grants, representing women in five colleges and 16 departments.

The faculty members and their projects are: Beth A. Ahner, assistant professor, agricultural and biological engineering, on "The effects of multiple pollutants on freshwater and marine microalgae: Evaluating detoxification mechanisms that utilize glutathione"; Sheila Danko, associate professor, design and environmental analysis, "Making a difference by design: A collection of design strategies and products that demonstrate social change"; and J. Ellen Gainor, associate professor, theater, film and dance, "The plays of Susan Glaspell: A Contextual Study and Reading Ballroom Dance."

Also, Katrina Greene, assistant professor, human development and family studies, "Socialization practices of minority families"; Patricia Fogarty Mack, assistant professor, anesthesiology, Cornell Medical Center, "Serum and cerebrospinal fluid cytokine levels in craniotomy patients"; Nena J. Winand, assistant professor, pathology, "Role of the human MSHS protein in meiotic recombination"; and Binsheng Zhao, assistant professor, radiology, Cornell Medical Center, "Effects of correlated noise and random signals on signal detection when performing wavelet-based lossy image compression."

Ph.D. candidates receiving PCCW grants are: Deborah L. Bella, nutritional sciences, "Regulation of cysteine metabolism"; Gisele G. Bernstein, nutritional sciences, "Targeting skin cancer protection by selenium"; Laura M. Brown, natural resources, "Genetic population structure of understory birds in tropical rainforest"; Claudia Coen, ecology and systematics, "A comparative study of the digestion and assimilation of blood by two genera of vampire bats: diaemus and desmodus"; and Susan E. Coombs, biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, "Functional characteristics of neuornal nicotine acetylcholine receptors."

Also, Kathie T. Hodge, plant pathology, "Monophyly and host switching in Hirsutella"; Jennifer K. Ketzis, animal science, "The feasibility of using a medicinal plant (Chenopodium ambrosiodes) as an anthelmintic in goat production in the tropics"; Tamara Loos, social sciences, "Gender adjudicated: A social history of Siam through court cases, 1860s-1930s"; Amy Elizabeth Ostenso, history of art and archaeology, "Late Bronze Age glass of the Aegean"; and Gayle M. Volk, plant biology, "Identification of plasmodesmata- and intermediary cell-specific transcripts."

PCCW was established in 1990 as an advisory council to the university's president, with the mission of improving the status and advancing the leadership of women faculty, staff, students and alumnae both on campus and in constituent groups. There are approximately 280 members, invited by the president to serve three-year renewable terms. All current women trustees serve as ex-officio members.

Information about PCCW is available from the PCCW office on the third floor of 626 Thurston Ave., (607) 255-6624.