Research Awards
May 2023
Dr. Brian Waldron, associate professor of Civil Engineering and director of Center for Applied Earth Science and Engineering (CAESER), was awarded $1,625,000 from Memphis Light Gas and Water (MLGW) for his project “MLGW General WHPP” and was awarded $176,784 from the West Tennessee River Basin Authority for his project “BlueOval Muddy Creek.”
Dr. Abu Mohammed Naser Titu, assistant professor in the Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Environmental Health, was awarded $433,349 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his project “Effect of ambient heat and meteorological variables on chronic kidney disease progression among US veterans,” and was awarded $3,000 from The Campbell Foundation for his project “Work Order: Characteristics and determinants of pediatric firearm wounds in Memphis, 2010-2022.”
Dr. Melanie Burgess, assistant professor in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Research, was awarded $398,850 from the U.S. Department of Education (US DoEd) for her project “ASPIRE: Advancing School Counseling Programs by Increasing Representation and Experiences.”
Dr. Yufeng Zhang, assistant professor in the College of Health Sciences, was awarded $391,858 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “IOS IEP Collaborative Proposal: Costs and Trade-offs of Phenotypically Flexible Responses to Winter Temperature Variability in Birds.”
Dr. Daniel Foti, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded $309,083 from the U.S. Army Research Office for his project “Network-based modeling of energy transfer mechanisms of turbulent coherent structures.”
Dr. Laura Casey, professor in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, was awarded $202,800 from the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (US DHHS) for her project “UofM CBEI Services.”
Dr. John Sabatini, professor in the Department of Institute for Intelligent Systems, was awarded $200,000 from Trustees of Boston College for his project “PIRLS 2026 - Test Development.”
Dr. Bernie Daigle, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $187,851 from Harvard University (HU) with the US Army Research Office for his project “Robust PTSD diagnosis through refinement of candidate biomarker panels.”
Dr. Duane McKenna, William Hill Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $135,821 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “Investigating chemosensory evolution in longhorned beetles using a comparative phylogenomic framework that integrates genomic, morphological, and biochemical data.”
Dr. Ana Doblas, assistant professor in the Department Electrical and Computer Engineering, was awarded $106,706 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project “CAREER: Three-dimensional super-resolution light microscopy of thick, unprocessed biological samples.”
Dr. Sandra Richardson, department chair and associate dean in the Fogelman College Department of Management Information Systems, was awarded $99,059 from the Economic Club of Memphis for her project “The Economics Club of Memphis.”
Dr. Yu (Joyce) Jiang, associate professor in the Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Environmental Health, was awarded $45,951 from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) for her project “Data management and data analyses.”
Dr. Courtnee Melton-Fant, assistant professor in the Division of Health Systems Management and Policy, was awarded $43,417 from the William T. Grant Foundation for her project “Applying a critical lens to use of research evidence in a state policymaking.”
Dr. Lan Wang, department chair and Dunavant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, was awarded $41,039 from Peraton Labs Inc. with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for her project “Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC).”
Dr. Eunseo Choi, associate professor in the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, was awarded $28,907 from the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) for his project “Viscoelastic numerical modeling of crustal deformation in the Korean Peninsula after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.”
Dr. Shawn Brown, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $25,190 from Mississippi State University (MSU) with the Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board for his project “Impacts of charcoal rot (Macrophomina phaseolina) epidemiology on drought resistant soybean cellular metabolism and accompanying tissue microbiome for identifying alternative breeding targets under increasing environmental stress.”
Dr. Jeffrey Marchetta, professor and undergraduate coordinator in the Department of Mechanical Engineering,was awarded $20,000 from Tennessee Technological University with the U.S. Department of Energy (US DoE) for his project “TN 3-Star Industrial Assessment Center.”
Dr. Sabyasachee Mishra, professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, was awarded $8,898 from Connect Dynamics, Inc. for his project “NDA: FR8relay.”
Dr. Michelle Brasfield, assistant professor and program coordinator in the Institute for Interdisciplinary Memphis Partnerships to Advance Community Transformation, was awarded $5,795 from the Collierville School District (CSD) with the Tennessee Department of Education (TDoEd) for her project “Collierville Resilient School Grant.”