May 2023 Grants and Awards

Data Science for Food and Agricultural Systems: Audio Data as a Novel Trait to Manage Welfare and Environmental Impact in Precision Cow Farming

Principal Investigator:
Chun-Peng Chen
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$649,741

Sponsor:
United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture

A Novel Treatment for Mastitis That Reduces Intramammary Antibiotic Use and Lessens the Concerns of Antibiotic Resistance on Virginia Dairy Farms

Principal Investigator:
Hollie H. Schramm
Veterinary Medical Research and Graduate Studies
College of Veterinary Medicine

Total Anticipated:
$11,444

Sponsor:
Virginia Agricultural Council

Enzyme-Activatable Substrate Probes for Fluorescence Imaging and Quantification in Cells

Principal Investigator:
Robin L. McCarley
Chemistry
College of Science

Total Anticipated:
$533,000

Sponsor:
National Science Foundation

AMPK-Ulk1 in Exercise-Induced Mitophagy in Skeletal Muscle

Principal Investigator:
Zhen Yan
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

Total Anticipated:
$477,461

Sponsor:
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Chatbots as Smart Guards Against Cyber Attacks

Principal Investigator:
Tremayne O. Waller
Dean - Engineering
College of Engineering

Total Anticipated:
$7,000

Sponsor:
Virginia Military Institute Research Laboratories

PFI-TT: Ultrafast Thermal Simulation of Metal Additive Manufacturing

Principal Investigator:
Prahalada K. Rao
Industrial and Systems Engineering
College of Engineering

Total Anticipated:
$250,000

Sponsor:
National Science Foundation

Cell Type-Specific Roles of the Na-Activated K Current in KCNT1-Related Epilepsy

Principal Investigator:
Matthew C. Weston
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

Total Anticipated:
$2,000,000

Sponsor:
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

CAREER: Towards Open World Event Knowledge Extraction with Weak Supervision

Principal Investigator:
Lifu Huang
Computer Science
College of Engineering

Total Anticipated:
$593,456

Sponsor:
National Science Foundation

Identifying Remaining Critical Demographic Information Gaps and Developing a Full Annual Cycle Population Model for Cerulean Warblers

Principal Investigator:
Elizabeth A. Hunter
Fish and Wildlife Conservation
College of Natural Resources and Environment

Total Anticipated:
$80,463

Sponsor:
United States Geological Survey

Effects of Origin Location on Translocated Gopher Tortoise Overwintering Behavior, Probability of Reproduction, and Adult Survival (Part 2)

Principal Investigator:
Elizabeth A. Hunter
Fish and Wildlife Conservation
College of Natural Resources and Environment

Total Anticipated:
$61,834.50

Sponsor:
VT Research Contracting Services LLC

Collaborative Research: SaTC: Core: Medium: Cryptographic Accumulators and Revocation of Credentials

Principal Investigator:
Taejoong T. Chung
Computer Science
College of Engineering

Total Anticipated:
$240,000

Sponsor:
National Science Foundation

Tolerance of Edamame to Soybean Herbicides, and Weed Management

Principal Investigator:
Vijay Singh
Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station

Total Anticipated:
$21,098

Sponsor:
Virginia Agricultural Council

Virginia's Land Use-Value Assessment Program, Memorandum of Understanding

Principal Investigator:
Jennifer Friedel
Agricultural and Applied Economics
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$225,000

Sponsor:
Virginia Department of Taxation

Develop Highly Fermentable Insoluble Dietary Fibers for a Healthy Gut Microbiome

Principal Investigator:
Haibo Huang
Food Science and Technology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$607,000

Sponsor:
United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Pre-Harvest Treatments for Improving Apple Fruit Coloration: Investigating the Potential of PGRs and Phosphorus-Containing Compounds

Principal Investigator:
Sherif M. Sherif
Alson H. Smith, Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station

Total Anticipated:
$16,314

Sponsor:
Virginia Apple Research Program

Maintaining and Evaluating Apple Seedlings from Honeycrisp X Cameo Crossings: Tree Growth and Fruit Quality Parameters

Principal Investigator:
Sherif M. Sherif
Alson H. Smith, Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station

Total Anticipated:
$12,314

Sponsor:
Virginia Apple Research Program

How mRNA Features of Cell Cycle Genes Support Proper Cell Division

Principal Investigator:
Silke Hauf
Biological Sciences
College of Science

Total Anticipated:
$1,871,153

Sponsor:
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Abdelazim Fellowship Full Title: The Effect of Blood Flow Changes in Brain Microvasculature on Pericyte-Endothelial Cell Interaction

Principal Investigator:
John C. Chappell
Vice President of Health Sciences and Technology
Faculty of Health Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$93,061

Sponsor:
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

Principal Investigator:
Thomas G. Archibald
International Research Education and Development
International Affairs

Total Anticipated:
$2,085,503

Sponsor:
International Research and Exchange Board

Effects of the Combination of Betaine and Butyrate on Broiler Chickens Raised on Used Litter with Different Amounts of Moisture

Principal Investigator:
Michael E. Persia
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$20,000

Sponsor:
Virginia Agricultural Council

Molecular Biomarkers for Early-Post Hatch Stress and Feeding Behavior in Chickens

Principal Investigator:
Elizabeth R. Gilbert
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$515,000

Sponsor:
United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture

To Support a National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab on the Arts, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation

Principal Investigator:
Richard B. Knapp
Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology

Total Anticipated:
$100,000

Sponsor:
National Endowment for the Arts

Can Blood Glucose Concentrations Predict the Response to Summer Heat Stress?

Principal Investigator:
Michelle Rhoads
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$12,644

Sponsor:
Virginia Agricultural Council

Optimization of High Frequency Irreversible Electroporation (H-FIRE) for Tumor Ablation and Immune System Activation in Pancreatic Cancer Applications

Principal Investigator:
Irving C. Allen
Veterinary Medical Research and Graduate Studies
College of Veterinary Medicine

Total Anticipated:
$2,656,117

Sponsor:
National Cancer Institute

Improving Ovum Pickup and Embryo Yield in Cattle

Principal Investigator:
Alan D. Ealy
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$15,000

Sponsor:
Virginia Agricultural Council

Early Season Nitrogen and Sulfur Application: is There a Return on Investment?

Principal Investigator:
William H. Frame
Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station

Total Anticipated:
$8,000

Sponsor:
Virginia Peanut Board

Modelling Pathogen and Surrogate Reduction Using Vacuum-Assisted Steam on Low Water Activity Foods as Impacted by Physical Properties and Heat Transfer in Package

Principal Investigator:
Monica A. Ponder
Food Science and Technology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$623,645

Sponsor:
United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Support for Scaling the African Drone and Data Academy (ADDA)

Principal Investigator:
Kevin B. Kochersberger
Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering

Total Anticipated:
$306,948

Sponsor:
VT Research Contracting Services LLC

Understanding How Variations in Nuclear Size After Whole Genome Doubling Affect Tumorigenesis

Principal Investigator:
Daniela Cimini
Biological Sciences
College of Science

Total Anticipated:
$83,886

Sponsor:
National Cancer Institute

Can Deep Learning (CNN) Detect Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) in Dogs Treated for Lymphoma?

Principal Investigator:
Kurt L. Zimmerman
Veterinary Medical Research and Graduate Studies
College of Veterinary Medicine

Total Anticipated:
$16,096.32

Sponsor:
American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation

Mammary Epithelial Cells Losses into Milk Affect Mammary Cell Number and Milk Yield of Lactating Dairy Cows

Principal Investigator:
Benjamin A. Corl
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$650,000

Sponsor:
United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture

2023 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Competition

Principal Investigator:
Kevin A. Shinpaugh
Aerospace and Ocean Engineering
College of Engineering

Total Anticipated:
$19,500

Sponsor:
National Institute of Aerospace

Lespedeza pellets: a supplement to reduce fescue toxicosis

Principal Investigator:
John H. Fike
School of Plant and Environmental Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$43,702

Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board

Virginia Tech ESTEEMED

Principal Investigator:
Edward J. Smith
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$1,024,633

Sponsor:
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

Development of Soybean Varieties and Germplasm with High Protein Digestibility Using both Genome Editing and Traditional Breeding Methodologies

Principal Investigator:
Bo Zhang
School of Plant and Environmental Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Total Anticipated:
$60,000

Sponsor:
Virginia Soybean Board

Rescue Fungicide Treatments, Tank-Mix Options and On-Farm Fungicide Strip Trials for Improved Disease Management in Virginia Peanuts

Principal Investigator:
David B. Langston
Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station

Total Anticipated:
$18,258

Sponsor:
Virginia Peanut Board

Development of Improved Soybean Varieties and Germplasm Adapted to Virginia

Principal Investigator:
Zhang, Bo
School of Plant & Environmental Sci
Agriculture & Life Sciences-College

Total Anticipated:
$70,673

Sponsor:
Virginia Soybean Board