13 projects boosted by KU Research GO

Mindie Paget
 
Split image showing a closeup view of microplastics on human fingers at left, next to a skyline view of KU's Lawrence campus.

LAWRENCE — Thirteen projects have been selected for funding through KU’s 2023 Research Grant Opportunity program. KU Research GO aims to expand the university’s research enterprise by providing seed funding for projects poised to compete for external funding opportunities with application deadlines in the near future. The Office of Research received 47 proposals, which underwent peer review by 62 KU faculty experts. Recipients represent STEM, social science and humanities fields in departments and research centers across the university.

Projects are listed alphabetically by principal investigator:

  1. Rafe Brown, professor, ecology & evolutionary biology, and herpetology curator-in-charge, Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum; and Ana Motta, herpetology collection manager, BI/NHM
    Decolonization Through Digitization: Enabling Free and Equitable Access to KU's Historically Unique and Globally Significant Reptile and Amphibian Collection with the Emerging Field of Museum Genomics
     
  2. Lena Hileman, professor and chair, ecology & evolutionary biology
    Connecting Genome to Phenome in the Evolution of Trait Complexity
     
  3. Yunfeng Jiang, professor, mathematics
    Gromov-Witten Counting Surface Invariants
     
  4. Stuart Macdonald, professor, molecular biosciences
    Dissecting the Genetic Basis of Longevity in Drosophila
     
  5. Kirti Mahajan, postdoctoral researcher, civil, environmental & architectural engineering
    Assessment of In-Vehicle Human Machine Interfaces (HMI's) Based on Cognitive-Visual Load
     
  6. Suzanne Myers, assistant research professor, Center for Research on Learning, Life Span Institute
    Writing with Purpose: Improving Adolescent Writing Achievement through a Focus on Authentic Purpose
     
  7. Dmitry Ovchinnikov, assistant professor, physics & astronomy
    Electric Field Control of Magnetism in Two-Dimensional Quantum Materials
     
  8. Tarun Sabarwal, professor, economics
    Control and Spread of Information in Decentralized Networks
     
  9. Alana Schnitz, assistant professor, special education, and assistant research professor, Juniper Gardens Children's Project, Life Span Institute
    Development of the Blended Early Literacy, Language & Social-Emotional Intervention (BELLS) for Preschool Teachers
     
  10. Nancy Snow, professor, philosophy
    The Meaning and Importance of 'Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself' in Today's World
     
  11. Belinda Sturm, professor, civil, environmental & architectural engineering
    Investigating the Role of Microplastics as Carriers of Antibiotic Resistance into the Environment
     
  12. Aaron Teator, assistant professor, chemistry
    Cyclopolymer Materials Enabled by Spring-Loaded Polymerization
     
  13. Jingxin Wang, assistant professor, medicinal chemistry
    Development of an Oral STING Agonist for Cancer Treatment