Research Awards
November 2022
Dr. Richard Irwin, executive dean of UofM Global and College of Professional and Liberal Studies and the Center for Regional Economic Enrichment, was awarded $25,000,000 from the Tennessee Department of Human Services with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for his project “Growing Relational and Occupational Wealth in West Tennessee Households.”
Dr. Kurt Kraiger, professor and chair in the Department of Management, was awarded $1,400,393 from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for his project “Black wealth Advancement through New business and Knowledge development (BANK).”
Dr. Melvyn Harding, director of TRIOs, was awarded $536,993 from the U.S. Department of Education (U.S. DoEd) for his projects “TRIO Student Support Service – Classic and STEM.”
Dr. Mohd Ali, associate professor in the Department of Electrical Computer Engineering, was awarded $450,000 from the University of Arkansas with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for his project “CTG-22: Zero Trust: Identity & Access Management.”
Dr. Amanda Rockinson, professor in the Department of Instructional Design and Technology, was awarded $300,000 from the National Science Foundation for her project “Broadening Participation and Persistence in STEM: Empowering Women and Other Underrepresented Groups Professionally and Psychosocially Through a Virtual STEM Peer Mentoring Program.”
Dr. Brian Waldron, professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering and director of the Center for Applied Earth Science and Engineering Research, was awarded $172,174 from the City of Memphis with the State of Tennessee for his project “CoM Stormwater GIS reintegration.”
Dr. Ranganathan Gopalakrishnan, associate professor and graduate program coordinator in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded $107,528 from the U.S. Department of Energy for his project “Experiments to validate thermodynamic and transport models of strongly coupled dusty plasma matter.”
Dr. Latrice Pichon, associate professor in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, was awarded $91,466 from Vanderbilt University Medical Center with the Center for Disease Control for her project “Implementation of Rapid HIV Testing and Linkage to HIV Treatment or Prevention Among Vulnerable Populations in Tennessee.”
Dr. Chrisann Schiro-Geist, professor and director of the Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research Department, was awarded $78,000 from the Tennessee Department of Human Services with the U.S. Department of Education for her project “Pre-Employment Transition Services.”
Dr. Subhash Jha, assistant professor in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, was awarded $77,108 from the Tennessee Highway Safety Office with the Federal Highway Administration for his project “Education Program to Reduce Distracted Driving Among Shelby County Adolescents.”
Dr. Nathan DeYonker, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, was awarded $52,546 from the University of Arizona with the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “Examining Fundamental 3d Transition Metal Bonding: A Combined Spectroscopic and Theoretical Approach.”
Dr. Suzanne Onstine, associate professor in the Department of History, was awarded $43,806 from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project “In Search of the Ancient Nile and its Defunct Branches.”
Dr. Rebecca Laumann, executive director of the Center for International Education Services, was awarded $34,999 from World Learning with the U.S. Department of State for her project “Expanding Access to Study Abroad.”
Dr. Richard Bloomer, dean and professor in the College of Health Sciences, was awarded $33,550 from the Center for Applied Health Sciences for his project “Probiotics and biomarkers of health.”
Dr. Jennifer Turchi, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health, was awarded $25,717 from Youth Villages Incorporated for her project “Youth Villages Safe Community Plan 2022 Evaluation.”
Dr. Christodoulos Kyriakopoulos, assistant professor in the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, was awarded $20,000 from the Southern California Earthquake Center with the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “Is topography part of the "key" in the Cajon Pass earthquake.”
Dr. Huigang Liang, professor and FedEx Chair of Excellence in MIS, Department of Business Information and Technology, was awarded $19,490.17 from The University of Texas at Austin with the National Institutes of Health for his project “A sensor-controlled digital game-based approach to improve self-care behaviors among adults diagnosed with hypertension in a Native American community” and $13,683 from Wichita State University with the Sloan Foundation for his project “Enhancing Scientific Research Productivity with Foundation Model.”
Dr. Joel Bumgardner, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, was awarded $9,202 from Bionova Medical Inc. for his project “Chitosan dressing & NPWT.”
Dr. Mohammadreza Davoodi, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Engineering, was awarded $8,232 from the University of Texas at Arlington with the United States Army Research Laboratory (ARL) for his project “Development of an AI Baseline of Lay Error in Targeting.”
Dr. Laurie MacGillivray, professor in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, was awarded $4,000 from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for her project “Hear my Voice: A New Reading Nook, Lending Library, and Writing Club to Foster Literacy and Self-Efficacy.”