Last term, Drexel University faculty members were recognized for their scholarly research and prolific academic and professional contributions. This update offers a snapshot of activity courtesy of the Office of the Provost.
Sponsored Research
College of Computing & Informatics faculty Mat Kelly, PhD, assistant professor of information science, and Alex Poole, PhD, associate professor of information science, received a 2024 National Leadership Grant for Libraries from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for their proposal, “Preserving Personalized Advertisements for More Accurate Web Archives,” along with colleagues from Old Dominion University. Kelly and Poole, as principal investigator and co-principal investigator, respectively, will study the preservation of personalized digital advertisements viewed live by users. The grant, amounting to $398,927, will fund the development of best practices and tools to archive future web content and reconstruct ads from previously archived content.
Researchers from the College of Computing & Informatics and College of Engineering are among the first cohort tapped by the U.S. National Science Foundation to approach the challenge of advancing safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence programs. In a ceremony at the White House, the president’s Office of Science and Technology Policy introduced Drexel’s effort to use brain-inspired machine learning algorithms to improve transparency and oversight of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT as one of the first recipients of resource allocation under the National AI Research Resource Pilot program. The project, entitled “Neuro-inspired Oversight for Safe and Trustworthy Large Language Models,” will be led by Edward Kim, PhD, associate professor of computer science in the College of Computing & Informatics, and Matthew Stamm, PhD, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering.
Margaret Finely, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, has been awarded a $1.7 million Clinical Translation Research Award by the Department of Defense. The project aims to examine the preliminary clinical efficacy, platform safety, feasibility and acceptability of a 12-week home-based virtual reality (VR) fitness program to improve aerobic capacity and cardiometabolic risk factors among individuals with spinal cord injuries. Secondly, the project will examine changes in biopsychosocial outcomes (self-efficacy, resilience, positive effect and well-being, quality of life, sleep pain interference) following participation in the VR fitness program.
Jessica Chou, PhD, assistant professor of counseling and family therapy in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, was awarded an R03 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for her project titled “Maternal Mentalizing as Protective Factor Against Racism-Related Trauma and Maternal Substance Use.” This is a two-year grant for $152,000. Knowledge gained from the study will help clinical researchers develop culturally responsive, evidence-based assessment tools and intervention strategies.
Ni Ou, associate teaching professor of global studies and modern languages in the College of Arts and Sciences, received a $300,000 National Security Agency STARTALK grant to support an immersive Chinese language study program for local high school students.
Peter Baas, PhD, a professor of neurobiology and anatomy at the College of Medicine, received a $729,878 S10 shared instrument grant from the National Institutes of Health. The funding will support acquisition of a Leica Stellaris 5 confocal microscope shared resource facility.
Hang Jun Ke, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the College of Medicine, was awarded a one-year, $532,022 grant from the National Institutes of Health for the project “Proton Pumping and Energy Metabolism of the Ring Stage Malaria Parasites.”
Jithu Thazhathel, BSBA accounting ’12, MBA ’19, assistant clinical professor of accounting in the Bennett S. LeBow College of Business, received a $9,750 Accounting Education Research grant from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) to support his study, “Balancing Books and Bytes: A Survey of Accountants’ Use of AI in the Workplace.”
School of Education faculty Sheila Vaidya, PhD, professor, and Michael Kozak, EdD, assistant clinical professor, and PhD students Monica Blaisdell and Alene O’Malley completed their research project titled “The Social and Structural Role of School Leaders in Teacher Retention.” The project was funded through a grant from the Noyce Foundation.
Michael Haslip, PhD, associate professor of early childhood education in the School of Education, received a grant from Public Health Management Corporation for the Early Childhood Education Scholarship program. The program provides academic scholarships to allow teachers in early childhood education programs across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to earn PreK–4 teacher certification.
Antonio Molina-Martinez, associate teaching professor in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, is leading the Drexel team in an academic partnership with Howard University titled “Howard University/Drexel University Partnership to Foster Diverse Leadership in Clean and Just Energy Transition.” In February, Howard was one of 10 winners to receive $100,000 to develop plans with Drexel. In June, the partnership received a portion of $4 million to continue developing plans. Through the partnership, Drexel and Howard faculty members are devising workshops and experiential learning activities for students and educators from multiple colleges and schools from each institution and industry experts. This winter, three of the 10 winners will enter the third phase, based on implementation of the programming and could receive an equal part of $1.75 million in funding. The program is the Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Clean Energy Education Prize - Partnership Track, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Hasan Ayaz, PhD, associate professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania and West Chester University received a Wellcome LEAP grant that is focused on addiction research.
Major Gifts, Honors & Recognition
The Academy of Natural Sciences was awarded a 2024 Pennsylvania Museum Award for their recent in-house ornithology exhibition Conversations With Birds, which was given in recognition of the Academy’s effort to expand and diversify participation in the natural world while generating greater appreciation, understanding and awareness of birds.
David E. Breen, PhD, professor of computer science in the College of Computing & Informatics, has been named a 2024 Dresden Senior Fellow by the Technical University (TU) of Dresden, Germany. During his fellowship in fall 2024, Breen pursued his joint research project, titled “3D-Scan to Knit: Digitization for the Creation of Customized Knitted Garments,” in collaboration with TU Dresden’s Institute of Textile Machinery and High-Performance Material Technology (ITM).
Aleksandra Sarcevic, PhD, professor of information science in the College of Computing & Informatics, was named a senior member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ACM senior members are selected for their demonstrated performance through technical leadership and technical or professional contributions.
Allison Denman, the clinical director and forensic nurse manager of the Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response Center in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, is one of the 2024 honorees in the Independence Blue Cross Celebrate Caring campaign, which recognizes extraordinary nurses in the region.
Yury Gogotsi, PhD, Distinguished University and Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Professor of materials science and engineering in the College of Engineering, received the 2024 Materials Research Society (MRS) Communications Lecture Award.
Reneé H. Moore, PhD, research professor of community health and prevention and associate dean for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the Dana and David Dornsife School of Public Health, and fellow researchers won the San Francisco University of California Stress Measurement Network’s first-place award for empirical human/clinical research. Their research is titled “Network stressors, personal stressors, and ambulatory blood pressure in African American women—Does superwoman schema play a role?”
Barbara Grein, PhD, associate professor and department head of accounting in the LeBow College of Business, received a PwC INQuiries Grant for $20,000 to support the Accounting department’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The primary use of the funds is the Accounting Finance Business Initiative summer program, which exposes high school students from underrepresented groups to careers in accounting, finance, business and technology.
Donna Marie De Carolis, PhD, founding dean of the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship, has been named a recipient of the Philadelphia Business Journal's 2024 Fire Awards. This award celebrates the most promising individuals and businesses driving success and innovation in the Greater Philadelphia startup ecosystem.
College of Arts and Sciences faculty Kelly Joyce, PhD, professor of sociology (PI) and co-PIs Dan Driscoll, coordinator of writing curriculum initiatives in the University Writing Program and teaching professor of English; Emmanuel Koku, PhD, associate professor of sociology
and department head; and Kylie Wright, adjunct instructor in the Westphal College of Media Arts & Desgin, received $34,604 for the Colonial Academic Alliance and IN/CO proposal for “Visualizing Mental Health and Wellness in a Time of Cascading Disasters.” Drexel is partnering with Northeastern and Monmouth Universities on the award, which received a total of $79,564.
Tiago Saraiva, PhD, professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded the book of the year prize by the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) for his book “Moving Crops and the Scales of History.”
Mark E. Schafer, PhD, research professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, was named a Fellow of the Ultrasonic Industry Association.
Xiao Huang, PhD, assistant professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, received a Carl June CAR-TCR Travel Fund Award to present his microparticles and human CAR-T cells in vitro research at the ninth CAR-TCR Summit.
Charles N. Haas, PhD, LD Betz Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering, has been elected as vice president of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) and will assume the position in January. AAEES provides board certification, has an extensive workshop program and participates in accrediting universities through ABET.
Nicole Iannarone, JD, associate professor of law in the Kline School of Law, has been appointed as Board Member/Executive Committee of the new Association of American Law Schools’ Race and Private Law Section.
College of Arts and Sciences faculty R. Andrew Hicks, PhD, professor of mathematics, and Ronald Perline, PhD, associate professor of mathematics, received a 2024 MAA Paul R. Halmos-Lester R. Ford Award.