Research Awards
February 2024
Dr. John Sabatini, Distinguished Research Professor in the Institute for Intelligent Systems, was awarded $1,171,855 from the Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) with the U.S. Department of Education (US DoEd) for his project “Scenario-Based Assessment in the age of generative AI: Making space in the education market for alternative assessment paradigm,” and $47,000 from the Trustees of Boston College with the International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement for his project “PIRLS26 Test Development – Subaward.”
Dr. Eddie Jacobs, professor in the Department of Electrical Computer Engineering, was awarded $1,121,937 from the U.S. Army Research Office for his project “Multi-UAS Multi-Sensor Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR).”
Dr. Daniel Foti, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded $1,070,000 from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) for his project “Cavitation Erosion: Model to Full Scale.”
Dr. Mohd, Ali, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was awarded $947,476 from EnViron Renewable Energy LLC for his project “Development of Training Program on Renewable Energy Systems.”
Dr. Mitchell Withers, associate professor in the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, was awarded $716,729 from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for his project “Operation of the Mid-America Integrated Seismic Network 2020-2024-CERI.”
Dr. Daniel Nascimento, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, was awarded $649,414 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “CAREER: Enabling the accurate simulation of multi-dimensional core-level spectroscopies in molecular complexes using time-dependent density functional theory.”
Dr. James Murphy, professor in the Department of Psychology, was awarded $313,138 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,” and $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. Farhad Jazaei, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, was awarded $258,210 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project “CAREER: Determining the mechanism and significance of microplastic pollution impacts on soil hydrology.”
Dr. Deepak Venugopal, associate professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Computer Science, was awarded $255,058 from Georgia State University (GSU) with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) for his project “ASTRA- AI-based Strategy Discovery.”
Dr. Mary Tucker, assistant director of Policy and Standards at University Schools, was awarded $225,000 from the Tennessee Department of Safety for her project “University Schools SRO School Safety Program.”
Dr. Aaron Robinson, associate professor in the Department of Electrical Computer Engineering, was awarded $174,194 from the University of Arizona with the United States Army Research Laboratory (ARL) for his project “Pilotage Program.”
Dr. Subhash Jha, associate professor and Ph.D. Coordinator in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, was awarded $168,144 from the Tennessee Highway Safety Office for his project “2024 - Education Program to Reduce Distracted Driving Among Shelby County Adolescents.”
Dr. Jasbir Dhaliwal, Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation, was awarded $78,523 from Epicenter for his project “Epicenter Cooperative Agreement.”
Dr. Meghan McDevitt-Murphy, Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychology, was awarded $48,622 from the University of Virginia with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for her project “The effectiveness of text-based messaging strategies for preventing subsequent problematic alcohol use among technical trainees in the U.S. Air Force.”
Dr. Jennifer Turchi, assistant professor in the Institute for Interdisciplinary Memphis Partnerships to Advance Community Transformation (iImpact), was awarded $45,807 from the First 8 Memphis LLC for her project “Seeding Success Pre-K Performance-Based Project.”
Dr. Latrice Pichon, professor in the School of Public Health, was awarded $45,000 from the Meharry Medical College (MMC) with the Center For Disease Control (CDC) for her project “Implementation of Rapid HIV Testing and Linkage to HIV Treatment or Prevention Among Vulnerable Populations in Tennessee.”
Dr. Jill Dapremont, professor and director of the Division of Family, Community and Health Systems Science, was awarded $39,430 from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for her project “Health Disparities: Black Women and Breast Cancer.”
Dr. Laura Casey, professor in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, was awarded $33,000 from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services with the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for her project “Regional Intervention Project -Expansion.”
Dr. Leslie Luebbers, director of the Art Museum of the University of Memphis, was awarded $23,790 from the Tennessee State Museum for her project “African Art Gallery Redesign Project.”
Dr. Jeffrey Marchetta, professor and Undergraduate Coordinator in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded $36,610 from Vanderbilt University with the National Aeronautics and Space Admin (NASA) for his project “University of Memphis Space Grant Program.”
Dr. Todd Zoblotsky, Research Director in the Center for Research in Educational Policy (CREP), was awarded $21,922 from the Shelby County Office of Reentry with the U.S. Department of Justice (US DoJ) for his project “Project Inspiring New Koncepts (INK).”
Dr. Erin Nelson, associate professor, associate director and MNM Coordinator in the Department of Public and Nonprofit Administration, was awarded $21,253 from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital – ALSAC for her project “ALSAC Executive Leadership Course.”
Dr. Yong Hoon Lee, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded $20,000 from the University of Illinois Urban-Champaign with the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy for his project “Wind Energy with Integrated Servo-control (WEIS): Phase II.”
Melissa Marshall, instructor in the Department of Instructional Design and Technology, was awarded $20,000 from Keep America Beautiful for her project “2023 Keep America Beautiful Grant Agreement with Keep Tennessee Beautiful.”
Dr. Marie van der Merwe, associate professor and APHN Program Coordinator in the College of Health Sciences, was awarded $16,200 from the Texas A&M University with Advanced Protein Technologies Corps for her project “Measurement of zonulin in response to milk oligosaccharides.”
Dr. Meredith Ray, associate professor in the Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Environmental Health and program coordinator for Biostatistics, was awarded $12,000 from the Research Foundation of CUNY with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for her project “Optimizing HIV prevention for highly vulnerable methamphetamine-using sexual minority men.”
Dr. Bernie Daigle, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded $4,000 from New York University (NYU) for his project “Leveraging systems pharmacology to advance precision medicine for Gabapentin treatment of AUD.”