August 2025 Grants and Awards
Neurological Markers of Mid-Life Depression and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Dementia Caregivers: The Role of Inflammation
Principal Investigator:
Georgia E. Hodes
Assistant Professor
School of Neuroscience
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$10,000
Sponsor:
Baycrest Academy for Research and Education
Support and Continued Development of the Occoquan Model for Fiscal Year 2025
Principal Investigator:
Siddharth Saksena
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$312,849
Sponsor:
Northern Virginia Regional Commission
Assessing Changing Salinity in Water Sources
Principal Investigator:
Stanley Grant
Nick Prillaman Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$50,000
Sponsor:
Loudoun Water
Digital Transformation for Shipboard Spectrum Analysis
Principal Investigator:
Bradley A. Davis
Research Associate Professor
Virginia Tech National Security Institute
Total Anticipated:
$450,000
Sponsor:
United States Naval Surface Warfare Center
Unraveling Nickel Delivery Pathways in Methanogenic Archaea
Principal Investigator:
Kylie D. Allen
Associate Professor
Department of Biochemistry
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$300,000
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Multinuclear Dioxygen-Utilizing Copper Enzymes: Diverse Roles for Aromatic Redox Active Amino Acids
Principal Investigator:
Shabnam Hematian
Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$1,201,164
Sponsor:
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Leveraging Combination Histotripsy Tumor Ablation and N-Dihydrogalactochitosan Immunostimulation to Advance Osteosarcoma Therapy
Principal Investigator:
Joanne Tuohy
Associate Professor
Veterinary Medical Research and Graduate Studies
College of Veterinary Medicine
Total Anticipated:
$419,080
Sponsor:
National Cancer Institute
Workshop on Quantum Graph States: Bridging Classical Theory and Quantum Innovation
Principal Investigator:
Vito W. Scarola
Professor
Department of Physics
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$27,797
Sponsor:
Office of Naval Research
Enabling Precision Feeding and Fermentation Through Time-Series Sampling and Sensing
Principal Investigator:
Robin White
Professor
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
One Year Feasibility Study: Describing New Roles for Interferon-Tau in Pregnancy and Health in Cattle
Principal Investigator:
Alan D. Ealy
Horace E. and Elizabeth F. Alphin Professor
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$50,000
Sponsor:
Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund
Modeling Learning Engagement Using Gaze Data to Improve Visual Attentional Guidance in Immersive Training
Principal Investigator:
Brendan M. David-John
Assistant professor
Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology
Total Anticipated:
$260,000
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Demystifying Accounting and Using Immersive Analytics to Increase Enrollment, Recruitment, and Retention
Principal Investigator:
Denis Gracanin
Associate professor
Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology
Total Anticipated:
$9,750
Sponsor:
National Association of State Boards of Accountancy
Practical Generative Artificial Intelligence to Enhance Security Classifiers by Overcoming Data Challenges
Principal Investigator:
Bimal Viswanath
Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$320,000
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Impact of BDGR-49 Treatment on Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus Induced Neurological Sequelae
Principal Investigator:
Kylene W. Kehn-Hall
Professor
Veterinary Medical Research and Graduate Studies
College of Veterinary Medicine
Total Anticipated:
$452,769
Sponsor:
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Investigating the Role of Aging and Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus Collagen Network Impairments on Fracture Behavior Across Physiological and Fall Strain Rates
Principal Investigator:
Caitlyn J. Collins
Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$270,189
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Polymer Science Advancing Biologically-Inspired Research Opportunities Across Disciplines (Poly-ABROAD)
Principal Investigator:
John Matson
Professor
Department of Chemistry
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$450,000
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Effects of Chromium Propionate on Performance, Reproductive, and Metabolic Responses of Replacement Heifers
Principal Investigator:
Rodrigo da Silva Marques
Assistant Professor
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$24,950
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
Understanding the Molecular Mechanisms of Disease Resistance in Lettuce to Support the United States Department of Agriculture Lettuce Breeding Program: The Role of Root Exudates
Principal Investigator:
Yun Yin
Assistant Professor
Department of Food Science and Technology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$23,558
Sponsor:
California Leafy Greens Research Board
Development and Application of a Framework for Assessing Resource Trade-Offs for Stream Restoration Designs
Principal Investigator:
Theresa M. Thompson
Associate Professor
Department of Biological Systems Engineering
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$50,000
Sponsor:
Chesapeake Bay Trust
Super Dual Auroral Radar Network Facility Research and Operations: Imaging Convection at Small Scales Globally
Principal Investigator:
John M. Ruohoniemi
Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$1,438,206
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Stream Floodplain Restoration to Counter Increased Peak Flows from Climate Change at Watershed Scales
Principal Investigator:
Erich T. Hester
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$298,519
Sponsor:
Chesapeake Bay Trust
Coding for Storage, Computing, and Quantum Error Correction
Principal Investigator:
Hiram H. Lopez Valdez
Assistant Professor
Department of Mathematics
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$300,000
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Student Experience and Pathways to Success of “Non-Traditional” Students in Chemical Engineering
Principal Investigator:
Stephen M. Martin
Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$199,968
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Partners in Documentation Grant Request—Amonate Methodist Church Historic American Buildings Survey Documentation Project
Principal Investigator:
Lisa M. Tucker
Professor
School of Design
Total Anticipated:
$5,865
Sponsor:
Historic Preservation Education Foundation
Two-Layered Reduced Order Modeling for Multiscale Kinetic Transport Problems in Rarefied Gas Dynamics and Plasma Physics
Principal Investigator:
Yingda Cheng
Professor
Department of Mathematics
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$370,000
Sponsor:
Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Focused Ultrasound Therapies for the Non-Invasive Treatment of Tendinopathies
Principal Investigator:
Vincent M. Wang
Associate Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$428,579
Sponsor:
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
A Daily Diary Study of Latina Sexual Assault Survivors’ Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Alcohol Use, and Racial-Ethnic Experiences: Toward Culturally-Responsive Intervention Development
Principal Investigator:
Meagan J. Brem
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$3,748
Sponsor:
American Psychological Foundation
Collaborative Research: Flocculation Dynamics in Estuarine Boundary Layers - Advancing New Understanding Through an Integrated Field, Laboratory, and Computational Study
Principal Investigator:
Kyle B. Strom
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$439,621
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Western Virginia Water Authority Fellowship
Principal Investigator:
Cayelan C. Carey
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$42,490
Sponsor:
Western Virginia Water Authority
Responsible Robot and Artificial Intelligence Literacy: Embodied Informal Learning on Ethical Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Through the Robot Theater Afterschool Program
Principal Investigator:
Myounghoon Jeon
Professor
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$500,000
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Testbed for Enhancing Privacy and Robustness of Federated Learning Systems
Principal Investigator:
Muhammad Ali Gulzar
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$366,670
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Certified Modeling of Structured and Nonlinear Dynamical Systems Using Hardy Measures
Principal Investigator:
Serkan Gugercin
Professor
Department of Mathematics
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$38,400
Sponsor:
The Simons Foundation
Exploring Gene Expression and Hormone Production in Response to Nutritional Stress
Principal Investigator:
Alan D. Ealy
Horace E. and Elizabeth F. Alphin Professor
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$17,000
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
Genetic Variants That Cause Embryonic Death
Principal Investigator:
Fernando H. Biase
Associate Professor
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$30,000
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
Virginia Beef Liquidity Initiative: Experiential Finance Education for Virginia–Virginia Beef Supply Chain Success
Principal Investigator:
Mario A. Ortez Amador
Collegiate Assistant Professor
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$6,258
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
2025 Augusta County 4-H Meat Judging Team Journey to the National 4-H Meat Judging Contest
Principal Investigator:
John K. Benner
Extension Agent
Northwest District Cooperative Extension
Director of Cooperative Extension
Total Anticipated:
$2,000
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
Organizer of the Semester Program “Stochastic and Randomized Algorithms in Scientific Computing: Foundations and Applications” Jan. 20–Apr. 24, 2026
Principal Investigator:
Paul I. Cazeaux
Assistant Professor
Department of Mathematics
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$26,000
Sponsor:
Brown University
Monitoring of Synthetic Organic Chemicals in the Occoquan Watershed - Fiscal Year 2026
Principal Investigator:
Megan A. Rippy
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$99,985
Sponsor:
Fairfax County
Expanding Safe Water Access to Improve Health Outcomes in Appalachia: The Rural Water Filtration and Health Trial
Principal Investigator:
Alasdair G. Cohen
Assistant Professor
Veterinary Medical Research and Graduate Studies
College of Veterinary Medicine
Total Anticipated:
$3,652,458
Sponsor:
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
A Novel Architecture for Secure and Adaptive Spectrum Management Enabling Registration-Free Federal Users
Principal Investigator:
Wenjing Lou
W.C. English Endowed Professor
Department of Computer Science
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$522,499
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Explainable Auditing of Machine Learning Models for Privacy Violations
Principal Investigator:
Murat Kantarcioglu
Professor
Department of Computer Science
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$400,000
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Discovering Best Practices for Intelligent Augmented Reality Design in an Ecologically Valid Inspection Setting
Principal Investigator:
Joe L. Gabbard
Professor
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$484,980
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Ultracompact Spacecraft Hyperspectral Imaging
Principal Investigator:
Zin Lin
Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$30,000
Sponsor:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration John C. Stennis Space Center
Developing and Validating a Lifecycle-Based Typology of Threats Through Critical Incident Analysis and Participatory Engagement
Principal Investigator:
Qin Zhu
Associate Professor
Department of Engineering Education
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$300,000
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Endothelial Reactive Oxygen Species in Exercise Metabolism
Principal Investigator:
Siobhan Craige
Assistant Professor
Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$3,172,495
Sponsor:
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases