March 2022 Research Awards
Dr. Mitchell Withers, associate research professor in the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, was awarded $702,675 from the U.S. Geological Survey for her project “G21AS00001, Operation of the Mid-America Integrated Seismic Network 2020-2024--CERI Year 3.”
Dr. William Hunter, associate professor in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, was awarded $700,000 from Vanderbilt University with the Tennessee Department of Education for his project “Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior and Academics.”
Dr. Tracy Collins, director and clinical professor in the Loewenberg College of Nursing, was awarded $678,170 from the Health Resources and Services Administration for her project “Health, Education, and Access for Rural Tennesseans.”
Dr. Matthew Smeltzer, associate professor in the Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Environmental Health, was awarded $604,492 from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for his projects “Tennessee Sickle Cell Disease Surveillance Program (Optional Component),” “SCDC Covid Supplement,” and “Tennessee Sickle Cell Disease Surveillance Program (Optional Component).”
Dr. James Murphy, professor in the Department of Psychology, was awarded $315,140 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his project “Behavioral economic and wellness-based approaches for reducing alcohol use and consequences among diverse community-dwelling emerging adults.”
Dr. Marian Levy, interim dean and professor in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, was awarded $273,060 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for her project “University of Memphis: Eradicating Systemic Racism and Promoting Social Justice through Academic Public Health.”
Dr. Aaryani Sajja, assistant professor in the department of biomedical engineering, was awarded $261,714 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for her project “Modeling MRI-based tissue relaxation in the presence of iron overload and steatosis.”
Dr. Wesley James, Pat E. Burlison professor in the department of Sociology, was awarded $234,489.60 from the Delta Health Alliance with the U.S. Department of Education (US DoED) for his project “Evaluate Impact of Health and Education Programs in the Mississippi Delta.”
Dr. Brian Waldron, associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and director of the Center for Applied Earth Science and Engineering (CAESER), was awarded $227,348 from Conch Technologies, Incorporated for his project “Master - MLGW GSR.”
Dr. Richard Bloomer, dean and professor in the College of Health Sciences, was awarded $204,714 from Mannatech Incorporated for his project “Comparison study of aloe dose on immune function, microbiome, and related variables in men and women,” and $156,551 from Mannatech Incorporated for his project “Comparison study of Manapol and DaltonMax on immune function, microbiome, and related variables in men and women.”
Dr. Thomas Goebel, assistant professor in the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, was awarded $189,965 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “CAREER: From slow to fast, micro to macro, single events to cascades: A multi-scale study of seismic event triggering in lab and nature,” and was awarded $30,000 from the Southern California Earthquake Center with the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “Conditions that promote deep induced earthquakes in California hydrocarbon basins.”
Dr. Mark LeDoux, research professor in the Department of Psychology, was awarded $287,000 from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for his project “Long-Read Sequencing in Isolated Dystonia” and was awarded $179,375 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his project “Pathobiology of GNAL-Associated Dystonia.”
Dr. Bradley Harrell, assistant professor and director of MSN and TNeCampus in the Loewenberg College of Nursing, was awarded $150,000 from the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) with the Tennessee Higher Educ Commission (THEC) for his project “GIVE 2.0.”
Dr. Loretta Rudd, clinical associate professor in the Department of child development and family studies, was awarded $105,000 from the University of Memphis Research Foundation with The Urban Child Institute (TUCI) for her project “Community Partnership to Enhance Kindergarten Readiness Through Quality Caregiver/Parent-Child Interactions.”
Dr. Mohamed Laradji, professor in the Department of Physics and Materials Science, was awarded $102,822 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “Membrane-Induced Self-Assembly of Anisotropic Nanomateria.”
Dr. Thomas Watson, UMRF Ventures Professor and assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, was awarded $87,652 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “CAREER: Structural Communication Complexity.”
Dr. Latrice Pichon, associate professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, was awarded $60,672 from Vanderbilt University Medical Center with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for her project “Multi-Method Approaches to Inform the Implementation of Trauma-Informed Care for Youth Living with HIV in Memphis, TN.”
Dr. Robert Smalley, research professor in the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, was awarded $59,359 from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for his project “GPS Array for Mid-America - monitoring deformation in the New Madrid seismic zone.”
Dr. Ranganathan Gopalakrishnan, UMRF Ventures Professor and assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded $50,000 from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for his project “PK-4 data organization for NASA Physical Sciences Informatics.”
Dr. Richard Sweigard dean and professor in the Herff College of Engineering, was awarded $39,600 from Tennessee State University with the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation.”
Dr. Sandra Nichols, professor and chair in the Department of Instruction Curriculum Leadership, was awarded $39,426 from Tennessee Department of Human Services with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (US DHHS) for her project “Tennessee Technology Access Program.”
Dr. Claudio Meier, associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, was awarded $29,975 from the University of Tennessee - Knoxville with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for his project “Auto-Depuration Due to Hyporheic Exchange/Filtration under Bars of Headwater Streams in Tennessee” and was awarded $24,998 from the U.S. Department of State for his project “ITESO-Memphis Engineering Exchange.”
Dr. Maryam Salehi Esfandarani, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, was awarded $27,325 from Brown and Caldwell for her project “Development of a Novel Nanofibrous Media to Remove the Microplastics from Water.”
Dr. Yufeng Zhang, assistant professor in the College of Health Sciences, was awarded $25,773 from Calerie LLC for his project “In vivo examination of nicotinamide mononucleotide and superoxide dismutase administration in mice.”
Dr. Kenneth Ward, professor and director in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, was awarded $23,270 from Florida International University (FIU) with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his project “Eastern Mediterranean Waterpipe.”
Dr. Russell Deaton, dean of Academic Affairs and Administration and Kanuri Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was awarded $20,000 from the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance for his project “State A/E Board Grant.”
Dr. Eddie Jacobs, professor in the Department of Electrical Computer Engineering, was awarded $19,740 from the University of Arizona with OHB Italia S.p.A. for his project “Feasibility of Infrared Measurements of Antenna Temperature.”
Dr. Michael Hagge, professor and chair of the Department of Architecture, was awarded $16,484 from the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance for his project “A + E Board Grant Funds.”
Ms. Joanne Rhodes, instructor in the Department of Physics and Materials Science, was awarded $15,000 from Vanderbilt University with the National Aeronautics and Space Admin for her project “Voyager - TN Space Consortium.”
Dr. Mohd Ali, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Electric Power and Energy Systems Laboratory, was awarded $5,000 from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for his project “Design of Mobile Renewable Micro Power Grid for Vehicles.”
Dr. Susan Elswick clinical assistant professor in the College of Social Work, was awarded $4,000 from the University of Tennessee - Knoxville (UTK) for her project “Susan Elswick Dual Service UTK Spring 2022.”