Faculty Highlights: Recent Awards and Grants

Last term, Drexel University professors 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

Mark E. Schafer, PhD, research professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, and colleagues received a one-year, $454,049 National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) R21 grant for the project titled “Continuous Cardiac Output Monitoring with a Central Venous Catheter Ultrasound Sensor.”

Aleskandra Sarcevic, PhD, professor in the College of Computing & Informatics, was awarded a Research Project Grant (R01) from the NIH with research collaborators from Children’s National Research Institute and Rutgers University. The project, titled “NIH/NBIB R56: Development of a Video-Based Personal Protective Equipment Monitoring System,” aims to integrate video-based approaches and user-centered design to develop a system for automatically monitoring the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in settings at high risk for infection transmission.

Benjamin Binder-Markey, DPT, assistant professor of physical therapy and rehabilitation science in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, is one of 10 scientists in the U.S. to receive a 2023 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award and designation as a Hartwell Foundation Investigator. This award will receive research support for three years at $100,000 per year and funds a post-doctoral experience at the University working on pediatric research with a biomedical focus for two years. Binder-Markey’s project is titled “Targeting Recovery of Muscle Function Following Botulinum Neurotoxin Therapy in Cerebral Palsy.”

Annalisa Na, PhD, DPT, assistant research professor of physical therapy and rehabilitation sciences in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, received a NIH/National Institute on Aging award for $707,000 over a four-year period. The project is titled “Developing a nonpharmacological pain intervention for community dwelling older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia.”

Yury Gogotsi, PhD, Distinguished University and Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Professor and director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute in the College of Engineering, is Co-Principal Investigator on the NSF-funded Center for MXene Synthesis, Tunability and Reactivity (M-STAR) project.

Zhiwei Chen, PhD, assistant professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering, was awarded an NSF Rapid Response Research grant to study the effect that collapse and reconstruction of a section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia has had on commuters’ attitudes toward public transportation. Using ridership data from SEPTA and GPS requests collected from location service providers, and surveys of people using the trains and buses, Chen and his students hope to understand whether the incident drew more people to public transportation and whether they stuck with it after the road reopened.

Joshua Jackson, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology and physiology in the College of Medicine, received an NIH grant for his project “Dysregulation of Glutamate Transporter-Dependent Neurovascular Coupling in Alzheimer’s Disease.” The one-year grant is a total award of $430,678.

Peter Gaskill, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and physiology in the College of Medicine, received a one-year, $570,000 NIH grant for “Defining Molecular Mechanisms by Which Stimulant Evoked Dopamine Drives Inflammation and Neuronal Dysfunction in NeuroHIV.” 

Jan M. Eberth, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Health Management and Policy in the Dana and David Dornsife School of Public Health, received a $764,000 American Cancer Society research scholar grant to assess equity in shared decision-making, utilization and outcomes of lung cancer screening.

Esther Chernak, MD, clinical professor of environmental and occupational health in the Dornsife School of Public Health and College of Medicine, and Melissa Kaufman, EdD, interim associate dean for education in the Dornsife School of Public Health, received a $701,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health to develop training programs in infection control and emergency preparedness for nursing home and long-term care facilities’ staff.

Vera Lee, EdD, clinical professor and chair of the Department of Teaching Learning and Curriculum in the School of Education, and Jennifer Quinlan, PhD, professor in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, received a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture for a 36-month project titled “Immersive Experiential Education of Urban Educators in Food and Agriculture.”

Chris Baeza, assistant teaching professor of design & merchandising, and Raja Schaar, associate professor of product design, both in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, were awarded $15,000 by Colonial Academic Alliance to support their initiative to empower students in leading climate resilient change.

Agus Surachman, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology in the Dornsife School of Public Health, with a secondary appointment in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, with Co-PIs Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili, PhD, professor of nursing and senior associate dean for research in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, and Hee-Soon Juon, PhD, professor in the Thomas Jefferson University, received $50,000 in pilot funding from Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center — Drexel University Consortium for a project titled: “Financial Hardship, Daily Stress Process, and Inflammation Among Cancer Survivors.”

Major Gifts, Honors and Recognition

Jane Greenberg, PhD, Alice B. Kroeger Professor and director of the Metadata Research Center in the College of Computing & Informatics, is the recipient of the 2023 ASIS&T Research in Information Science Award from the Association for Information Science & Technology. The nomination notes evidence of the intellectual merit of Greenberg’s research, which is demonstrated in the citations to her publications, broad impact and serving in a leadership role as PI, co-PI or senior investigator on over $79 million in research funding.

Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili, PhD, received the Jonathan E. Rhoads Lecturer Award from the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. The lecturer is recognized internationally for major contributions to the field of nutrition and metabolic support and has demonstrated a career-long commitment to the improvement of the nutritional status of the patient.

Sharon L. Walker, PhD, dean and distinguished professor in the College of Engineering, was honored with the Mark A. Stevens Distinguished Alumni Award by the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California. The award is presented to an alumnus of the school in recognition of their exemplary professional accomplishments and in acknowledgement of its namesake’s exceptional contributions to the field of engineering. Walker was lauded for her commitment to increasing the rate of participation of women in engineering, including her leadership of the Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science at Drexel program. She also co-led an NSF ADVANCE-funded project with three other universities to explore the factors that influence pay scale differences across the faculty spectrum.

Masoud Soroush, PhD, professor of chemical and biological engineering in the College of Engineering, was awarded the 2023 Excellence in Process Development Research Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, sponsored by Pfizer, Inc. Soroush was recognized for his “extraordinary contribution to the field of process development.”

Caroline Schauer, PhD, Margaret C. Burns Chair in Engineering and interim associate vice provost for faculty advancement in the College of Engineering, is the recipient of the 2023 AWIS Elizabeth W. Bingham Award presented by the Philadelphia chapter of the Association for Women in Science “to a distinguished local scientist who has significantly influenced the advancement of women in science and has served women in science as a mentor and role model.” 

Daniel V. Schidlow, MD, dean emeritus and course director for Medical Humanities, Bioethics & Professional Formation in the College of Medicine, received AL DÍA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his legacy and impact on the Hispanic community in Philadelphia.

Garth Ehrlich, PhD, professor in the departments of microbiology & immunology and otolaryngology-head and neck surgery in the College of Medicine, was selected by the American Society for Microbiology to be a distinguished lecturer for the program’s 2023–2025 term.

Sharrelle Barber, ScD, assistant professor of epidemiology and director of the Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements and Population Health Equity, both in the Dornsife School of Public Health, received the Sherman A. James Diverse and Inclusive Epidemiology Award from the Society for Epidemiologic Research. This award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated research, teaching or service that expands the scope of the field to underrepresented or disadvantaged populations or researchers, and with an impact that has facilitated greater diversity and inclusiveness.

Usama Bilal, MD, assistant professor of epidemiology in the Dornsife School of Public Health and its Urban Health Collaborative, was awarded the Brian MacMahon Early Career Epidemiologist Award from the Society for Epidemiologic Research. This award recognizes early career epidemiologists who have already made substantial contributions to the field and are poised to become future leaders in epidemiology.

Glen Muschio, associate professor of digital media, and Brent White, assistant teaching professor of music, both in the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, were jointly awarded a $6,500 grant by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. The grant supports work toward a project to commemorate and celebrate Philadelphia’s historic Black Bottom neighborhood. Muschio has led STAR Scholars in advanced research, cultural anthropology and development of digital reconstructions of Black Bottom landmarks.

Kristine A. Mulhorn, PhD, Fulbright specialist, professor and chair of the Department of Health Administration in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, received a Fulbright grant to go to Biaka University in Cameroon.

Eric Brewe, PhD, professor of physics and science education in the College of Arts and Sciences, was appointed associate editor of the journal Physical Reviews Physics Education Research.

Abioseh Porter, PhD, professor of English and director of Africana studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, was honored with a House of Representatives Proclamation from New Jersey Congressman Donald Norcoss to recognize the Fulbright Fellowship he completed at Université Paul-Valéry III during the 2019–2020 academic year.

Susan Brooks, JD, professor of law in the Thomas R. Kline School of Law, was appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to serve on the National Council for Child Health and Human Development. 

Daniel Albert, PhD, assistant professor of management in the Bennett S. LeBow College of Business, received a distinguished paper award in Nonmarket Strategy from the Strategic Management Division of the Academy of Management.

Elea Feit, PhD, associate professor of marketing and vice dean of research in the LeBow College of Business, was named an associate editor of Management Science.

Kristy Kelly, PhD, associate clinical professor in the School of Education, was elected North American Regional Representative to the Gender and Society Research Committee of the International Sociological Association. She is also an invited Research Associate to the African Center for the Study of the United States at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.