Research Awards
June 2023
Dr. Wesley James, Pat E. Burlison Professor in the Department of Sociology, was awarded $2,161,986 from the Delta Health Alliance for his project “Evaluation of Health and Educational Interventions.”
Dr. James Whelan, Research Professor (Clinical Health) in the Department of Psychology, was awarded $1,970,290 from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for his project “Change the odds: a multi-platform approach to gambling treatment.”
Dr. Jeremy Whittaker, associate dean for Student Success and Inclusion in the Loewenberg College of Nursing, was awarded $648,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for his project “Supporting the Retention of Next Generation Registered Nurses (STRONG-RNs).”
Dr. Susan Neely-Barnes, professor, director and chair of the Department of Social Work, was awarded $646,001 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for her project “Memphis Social Work Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (MSW-SDS).”
Dr. Linh Luu, director in the Department of Student Health and Counseling Services, was awarded $500,000 from the Tennessee Department of Health (TDoH) with the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) for her project “ELC Grant.”
Dr. Meghan McDevitt-Murphy, clinical (Psychotherapy) professor in the Department of Psychology, was awarded $456,076 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for her project “Building the Memphis Opioid Workforce - Graduate Psychology Education II.”
Dr. Xiaohua Huang, Dunavant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, was awarded $415,516 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for her project “Surface exosome integrin profiling to predict organotropic metastasis of breast cancer.”
Dr. Carl Herickhoff, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, was awarded $396,930 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “CAREER: Super-Resolution 3D Ultrasound Imaging of Brain Activity.”
Dr. Richard Bloomer, dean and professor in the College of Health Sciences, was awarded $343,696 from Nature's Fusion for his Liquid IV project “A Randomized, Placebo Controlled, Semi-Blind, Crossover Study to Evaluate the Effects of Two Novel Hydration Beverage Formulas on Rehydration in Healthy Adults.”
Dr. Thouraya Al-Nasser, clinical assistant professor & director of Clinical Services in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, was awarded $132,160 from the Tennessee Department of Education (TDoEd) with the U.S. Department of Education (US DoEd) for her project “TEIS Vendor Services.”
Dr. Sabyasachee Mishra, professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, was awarded $129,999 from the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) for his project “Asset Management Plan for Memphis Transit Fleet.”
Dr. Susan Elswick, faculty director and principal investigator in the Interprofessional Community Health Clinic, was awarded $125,000 from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for her project “Public Behavioral Health Workforce Recruitment and Outreach Initiative.”
Dr. Bernie Daigle, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $114,157 from New York University (NYU) with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for his project “Advancing Precision Psychiatry for Military Service-Related PTSD by Enhancing Knowledge of Clinical Subtypes and their Endophenotypes.”
Dr. Jessica Jennings, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, was awarded $114,098 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project “CAREER: Tethered biofilm dispersal signals for long-term protection of engineering materials.”
Dr. Courtnee Melton-Fant, assistant professor in the Division of Health Systems Management and Policy, was awarded $112,885 from The Commonwealth Fund for her project “Structural and political impediments to improving health outcomes in the U.S. South.”
Dr. Alexander Headley, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded $99,943 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for his project “MidSouth Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy Audit Program.”
Dr. Thomas Watson, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, was awarded $90,098 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “CAREER: Structural Communication Complexity.”
Dr. Satish Kedia, professor, Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and SBS PhD Program Coordinator in the School of Public Health was awarded $80,000 from Mending Hearts, Inc. with the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for his project “Expanding integrated housing, substance abuse/co-occurring treatment, and support services for homeless women in Tennessee by Mending Hearts.”
Dr. Xiangen Hu, experimental (Cognitive) professor in the Department of Psychology, was awarded $73,436.60 from the American Institutes for Research for his project “AIR and University of Memphis AutoTutor Project.”
Dr. Robert Smalley, research professor in the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, was awarded $52,359 from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for his project “GPS Array for Mid-America - monitoring deformation in the New Madrid seismic zone.”
Dr. James Murphy, professor in the Department of Psychology, was awarded $36,814 from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his project “Testing the Effects of Contingency Management and Behavioral Economics on Buprenorphine-Naloxone Treatment Adherence Using a Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART) Design.”
Dr. Laura Casey, professor in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, was awarded $30,000 from the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities with the U.S. Department of Education (US DoEd) for her projects “Early Intervention Tennessee Certificate” and “Therapy Vendor Expansion Task Force.’
Dr. Lan Wang, Department Chair and Dunavant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, was awarded $16,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project “CC* Integration-Large: mGuard: A Secure Real-time Data Distribution System with Fine-Grained Access Control for mHealth Research.”
Dr. Meredith Ray, associate professor and Masters Program Coordinator for Biostatistics in the Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Environmental Health, was awarded $13,949 from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) for her project “Statistical Evaluation-Agreement with UTHSC.”
Dr. James McCutcheon, associate professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, was awarded $9,600 from the City of Memphis Police Department (CMPD) with the U.S. Department of Justice (US DoJ) for his project “Evaluation of Sexual Assault Kit Testing.”
Dr. Justin Lawhead, Dean of Students and Chief Health and Safety Officer in the Department of Student Academic Success, was awarded $9,457.76 from the Tennessee Department of Human Services with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for his project “SNAP Outreach.”
Dr. Maxime Paquette, associate professor in the College of Health Sciences, was awarded $5,744 from Decathlon SE for his project “Anatomical and biomechanical factors influencing gait performance in special populations.”
Dr. Marian Levy, associate dean and professor in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, was awarded $4,890.96 from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) for her project “Analyze Focus Groups.”
Dr. Farhad Jazaei, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, was awarded $2,500 from Christian Brothers University (CBU) with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for his project “Review and Commentary on the new Storm Water Management Manual (SWMM) of Memphis and Shelby County.”
Dr. Emerson Keith Bowers, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $2,000 from the Animal Behavior Society (ABS) for his project “Influence of brood size on parental favoritism and sibling conflict.”