Sentence:  Among the specific areas of concentration in which the staff <WSD>is</WSD> engaged , are such projects as biological and biochemical studies of the effects of microwaves ; study of motor end plates in man and animals ; investigation of respiratory diseases of laboratory animals ; metabolic responses to reduced oxygen tension ; neuropathology of nuclear and cosmic radiation ; carcinoma of prostate ; evaluation of histochemical techniques ; and hip dysplasia in dogs . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)