Research Awards
July 2024
Dr. Melissa Marshall, executive director of Keep TN Beautiful, was awarded $1,862,546 from the Tennessee
Department of Transportation (TDOT) for her project “Keep Tennessee Beautiful Program.”
Dr. Ashish Joshi , dean and distinguished university professor in the School of Public Health, was
awarded $1,043,560 from the Shelby County Health Department for his project “A2 Y2
-Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce and Data Systems.”
Dr. Mihalis Golias, professor in department of Civil Engineering, was awarded $700,000 from the American
Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) for his project “Freight Truck Trajectory
Data.”
Dr. William Hunter, associate professor of special education in the department of Instruction and Curriculum
Leadership (ICL), was awarded $700,000 from Vanderbilt University for his project
“Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior and Academics.”
Dr. Susan Neely Barnes, Chair & Director in the department of Social Work, was awarded $479,856 from the
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for her project “INTEGRATE (INterprofessional
TEams GRounded in Apprenticeship, Telehealth, and Evidence).”
Dr. Gary Stinchcomb, assistant professor in the department of Earth Sciences, was awarded $431,158 from
the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “EA: Acquisition of a Micro
X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer for Research and Education in Earth and Environmental
Studies at the University of Memphis.”
Dr. Meghan McDevitt-Murphy, professor, clinical (psychotherapy) in the department of Psychology, was awarded
$430,522 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for her project
“Building the Memphis Opioid Workforce - Graduate Psychology Education II.”
Dr. Kathryn Ramsey Mason, associate professor of law; director, medical-legal partnership clinic in the School
of Law, was awarded $300,000 from The Urban Child Institute for her project “UofM
Autism Treatment, Training, and Research Clinic.”
Dr. Claudio Meier, associate professor in the department of Civil Engineering, was awarded $300,000
from Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) for his project “Connectivity-Based
Framework for Prioritizing the Location of Stormwater Control Interventions in Urban
Watersheds.”
Dr. Mohammadreza Davoodi, assistant professor in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was
awarded $250,037 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “Collaborative
Research: CPS: Medium: Multi-Scale Sensing and Control for Optimizing Crop Production
and Energy Efficiency in Networked Controlled-Environment Agriculture.”
Dr. Duane McKenna, William Hill Professor of Biology in the department of Biological Sciences, was
awarded $188,606 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. Xiangen Hu, professor, experimental (Cognitive), was awarded $170,003 from the American Institutes
for Research for his project “AIR and University of Memphis AutoTutor Project.”
Dr. Laura Casey , professor in the department of Instruction Curriculum Leadership (ICL), was awarded
$154,660 from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
for her project “Regional Intervention Project - Expansion 2025 - 2027.”
Dr. Susan Elswick, professor of Social Work, was awarded $150,000 from The Urban Child Institute for
her project “School Mental Health Access to Resources through Teletherapy (SMART)
Research, Training, and Treatment Center.”
Dr. Jennifer Mandel, associate professor in the department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $149,999
from the Delta Regional Authority for her project “Growing Agricultural Diversity,
Production & Prosperity in the Mid-South Mississippi Delta through Agri-STEM Career
Development and Specialty Crop Production & Value-Added Processing.”
Dr. Jessica Jennings, associate professor in the department of Biomedical Engineering, was awarded $115,509
from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project “CAREER: Tethered biofilm
dispersal signals for long-term protection of engineering materials.”
Dr. Loretta Rudd, project director, clinical associate professor, and program coordinator for child
development and family studies in the department of CEED, was awarded $100,000 from
The Urban Child Institute for her project “Community Partnership to Enhance Kindergarten
Readiness Through Quality Caregiver/Parent-Child Interactions.”
Dr. Thomas Watson, associate professor in the department in Computer Science, was awarded $91,375 from
the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “CAREER: Structural Communication
Complexity.”
Dr. Lan Wang, Dunavant Professor (on temporary assignment at NSF as Program Director) in the department
of Computer Science, was awarded $88,000 from Peraton Labs Inc. for her project “Mission-Integrated
Network Control (MINC).”
Dr. Keith Humphrey, chief of police in the department of Police Services, was awarded $81,000 from State
of Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs for his project “VOCA Grant.”
Dr. Thomas Goebel, associate professor in the department of Center for Earthquake Research and Information
(CERI), was awarded $80,528 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.”
Dr. Rory Pfund, research assistant professor the department of Psychology, was awarded $69,000 from
International Center for Responsible Gaming for his project “Modernized and Personalized
Prevention of College Student Gambling Harm. Expansion 2024 - 2027" and $5,000 from International Center for Responsible Gaming for his project “Gambling
Under the Influence of Cannabis: Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to Understand
the Impact of Simultaneous Engagement.”
Dr. Phillip Kohlmeier, assistant professor in the department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $53,000
from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “NSF GRFP Mitchell.”
Dr. Shawn Brown, associate professor in the department of Biological Studies, was awarded $51,000
from the USDA Forest Service for his project “Monitoring Pathogen Buildup in White
Oak Outplanted Restoration Sites.”
Dr. Xiaolei Huang, assistant professor in the department of Computer Science, was awarded $50,000 from
the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “AI for Headache Diagnosis.”
Dr. Al-Nasser, Thouraya, clinical assistant professor & director of clinical services in the department of
Instruction and Curriculum Leadership Department (ICL), was awarded $50,000 from the
University of Memphis Research Foundation (UMRF) for her project “UofM Autism Treatment,
Training, and Research Clinic.”
Dr. Isaiah Surbrook, assistant dean, engineering student services & diversity in the department of Engineering,
was awarded $44,857 from the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) for his project “University
of Memphis Engineering Redshirt.”
Dr. Jeffrey Marchetta, professor and undergraduate coordinator in the department of Mechanical Engineering,
was awarded $41,124 from Vanderbilt University for his project “University of Memphis
Space Grant Program.”
Sandra Guntharp, clinical assistant faculty in child development and family studies in the department
of Coordinated Effort to Enhance Development (CEED), was awarded $36,000 from University
of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) for her project “All Kids Academy.”
Dr. Jessica Jennings, associate professor in the department of Biomedical Engineering, was awarded $35,000
from the The Comhar Group for her project “Coating to prevent infection-related lameness
in sows.”
Dr. James Murphy, professor in the department of Psychology, was awarded $34,794 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. Thomas Goebel, associate professor in the department of Center for Earthquake Research and Information
(CERI), was awarded $21,042 from 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.”
Dr. Wesley James, Pat E. Burlison professor in the department of Sociology, was awarded $20,822 from
the Delta Health Alliance for his project “The Partnership to Optimize Women's Equity
in Reproductive health (POWER).”
Dr. John Jefferies, research professor in the School of Public Health, was awarded $17,676 from Wake
Forest University for his project “ECG-AI Based Prediction and Phenotyping of Heart
Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction.”
Dr. Brandon Booth, assistant professor in the department of Computer Science, was awarded $12,238 from
National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “NSF Student Travel Grant for 2024
ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI).”
Dr. Kristoffer Berlin, professor, clinical (Child, Adolescent, and Family Studies) in the department of
Psychology, was awarded $7,375 from Society of Pediatric Psychology for his project
“Values and Identities in Type 1 Amid Life Stress (VITALS) for Racially and Income
Diverse Youth with Type 1 Diabetes and their Caregivers.”
Dr. Jessica Jennings, associate professor in the department of Biomedical Engineering, was awarded $7,000
from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project “CAREER: Tethered biofilm
dispersal signals for long-term protection of engineering materials.”
Dr. Cynthia Muzzi , assistant director in the Center for Research in Educational Policy (CREP), was
awarded $5,193 from Tennessee Higher Educ Commission (THEC) for her project “2025
High School Senior Opinion Survey (HSSOS).”